Finis Tasby and Chris Andersen’s Snap your Fingers is available exclusively through BlueBeat Music. It was released to the public on May 18^th. Fifty percent of the proceeds from the sale of this record go directly to Tasby’s medical relief fund. Finis Tasby has been a fixture on the Southern California blues scene for over four decades. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Finis first made his mark on the Bihari Brothers Big Town label in the 1970s. He has continued recording for labels as diverse as Ace, Evidence, Electro-Fi and Delta Groove. As the lead singer of The Mannish Boys, Finis has added his authentic soulful singing to their many fine releases over the past few years. This set is reminiscent of early 70's radio blues with hits originally recorded by the likes of B.B. King, ZZ Hill and Bobby Bland. Kid Andersen's production is clear and crisp with just the right touch of sweetness for Finis' gritty style. For our jukebox selection I pulled Tasby and Andersen’s take on the slinky Bobby Bland number Rockin’ The Same Old Boat.  - CL

Little Jonny and the Giants is another band who recorded a fine album in Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studios in San Jose, California. The bulk of this brand new album, entitled We Got It Goin’ On! was recorded back in January of this year. The band is fronted by guitarist and vocalist Jonny Lawton. He is backed by a stellar group of mostly Bay Area musicians. They are harp man Aki Kumar, multi-instrumentalist Bob Welsh, who is heard here playing piano, bassist Vance Ehlers, Marty Dodson on drums and tenor sax man Frankie Ramos. The band is joined by baritone and tenor sax great, Doug James. Kid Andersen himself can be heard here, on not only guitar, but on the B3 as well. This album was also cobbled together with two live tracks recorded way back in 2006 and two tracks from the final Tip of the Top sessions in 2012. It is from the 2013 sessions that I chose a Lawton original featuring the full band doing a tune called, I Want You Bad.  - DM

Trickbag with Friends Vol. 1 is a brand new release from the Swedish based band. This band is anchored by double bassist Lars Nasman and vocalist Tommy Moberg. The album was produced by guitarist Anders Lewen, whose fret work is featured throughout the CD. The band is joined by contributing songwriter and harmonica player, Steve “West” Weston from the U.K.  Even the Godfather of the modern European blues movement, Sven Zetterberg makes an appearance here. The album features a whole host of other European musicians as well as their contemporaries from across the pond including James Harman, John Nemeth, R.J Mischo, Bob Corritore and Barrelhouse Chuck. Of all the great tracks on this healthy sixteen song collection  of houserockin’ rhythm and blues, I went with a very swinging version of the old Jimmy Rogers tune, That’s Alright which features Lynwood Slim singing like only he can and playing some very tasty chromatic harmonica. It is the album’s only live track and was recorded by John Reilly at the Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa, California on May 17^th, 2012. - DM

The Silver Kings haven’t even played their first live public performance and yet already have out a six song EP and now have an eleven song LP. Both are available in the popular CD format. This brand new band is led by young men who are already blues veterans, harmonica player and vocalist Karl Cabbage of Red Lotus Revue fame along with guitarist and vocalist Mark Mumea who also plays a suitcase bass drum. Mumea is known primarily as part of the international band, The Elgins. They are joined by a relative newcomer but an emerging talent on upright acoustic bass Jerry Careaga. Their new album, which will be made available to the public on Saturday, June 8^th, at the Epic Lounge in Downey is entitled 74 Blues. This CD is a big slab of early post war electric blues. I chose a song off of this album entitled That’s Alright. Yes, I know Lynwood Slim just sang that same song. I did this because sometimes it’s fun to see just how pliable a great song can be. Jimmy Rogers himself recorded this song a few times in his career. It has been covered by countless blues musicians, but I don’t know if I ever heard anyone find the headroom in this tune that Karl Cabbage discovers with some unique phrasing.  - DM

Egidio “Juke” Ingala and the Jackknives are an Italian band that just released a superb album entitled, Tired of Begging. The band is made up of Ingala on harmonica and vocals, guitarist Marco Gisfredi, Massimo Pitardi on bass and drummer Enrico Soverini. This fourteen track CD is made up of a nice mix of covers as well as some well crafted original material. This very talented quartet touches on several blues idioms from mid-fifties Chicago to Sun Records and a little Excello music and that’s just in the album’s first three tracks. By the time you get to the album’s first instrumental and original number you are hearing west coast blues. The album never lets up and by the time you are only half way through the CD you realize you are listening to a strong contender for album of the year. For our jukebox selection I chose another beautiful instrumental, and Ingala original, entitled Fallen Teardrops (A Tribute to George Smith). It is a beautiful, languid tribute to one of Egidio’s heroes. - DM

Barrelhouse Chuck & Kim Wilson’s Blues All-Stars: Driftin’ from Town to Town is a solid release of traditional Chicago blues and a watermark in the strong musical bond between Kim Wilson & Barrelhouse Chuck. Their soul lays in the straight ahead sound of classic Chicago blues ala Sunnyland Slim, Floyd Jones & Howlin’ Wolf. This set could be the best recording of their careers. It really does not get much better than this these days. It features the always exciting Billy Flynn and Jeremy Johnson on guitars and the west coast rhythm machine of Richard Innes and Larry Taylor. Sax Gordon’s tenor rounds out the sound. I chose the old Jody Williams instrumental, Lucky Lou.  – CL 

The Mighty Mojo Prophets’ Flying Home from Memphis is this band’s second major blues label release and their debut on Delta Groove Music. This energetic band from Southern California has come a long way in a short time. Their song writing and playing reflects an understanding of the music that is rare in younger bands. Their music is honest and straightforward without the amped up, over hyped jive that shows its ugly head so often in today’s blues marketplace. The tune The Gambler is a fine example of just how much this band has grown, as the tune starts out with a swinging guitar riff from Mitch “Da Switch” Dow before the organ of Mike Malone swirls underneath and vocalist Tommy “Big Son” Eliff makes his entrance to create a ruckus. He fires out mean as hell lyrics with an edgy authority. – CL/DM

Remembering Little Walter is yet another tribute to one of the single most influential blues musicians of the post war era. On this new Blind Pig Records release, five contemporary harmonica players take on two tracks each, pulled from Jacobs’ catalogue. The five players assembled here are Billy Boy Arnold, Sugar Ray Norcia, James Harman, Mark Hummel and Charlie Musselwhite. On the album’s final track they all join forces on the iconic and perhaps best known song from Jacobs’ discography, My Babe. The backing band is led by a guy who knows a little about accompanying a harmonica on guitar and that is Little Charlie Baty. He worked with one of the great contemporary blues harp men, Rick Estrin in their fine band, The Nightcats, for 30 years. It is great to hear Charlie again as he has been in what he describes as a soft retirement or a few years now. - DM

Johnny “Clyde” Copeland’s It’s Me is a brand new re-issue on the Kent Label out of the U.K.  This is the most comprehensive collection of Copeland’s mid 60s to early 70s recordings ever assembled. Here are the Huey Meaux produced Wand, Suave, Jet Stream, Boogaloo and Wet Soul singles material Johnny recorded in Houston. They were either sold to or cut directly for Kent-Modern label in the early 1970s. There are two rare duets he recorded with South Texas R&B heroine Miss Lavelle White as Johnny & Lilly. These sides were submitted to Wand for a proposed album that never happened. For various reasons there are several simply outstanding tracks that have never been issued before. I dropped a nickel on one of the duets with Miss Lavelle White, entitled, Somebody’s Been Scratchin’ - CL

Sun Blues Box: Blues-R&B & Gospel in Memphis/1950-58 is a Bear Family release that is six pounds of hardcore, low down blues and gospel. This ten CD set includes a 180 page hardbound book. This is finally the last word on the Sun and pre-Sun blues recordings. Nearly thirty years after the original Sun Blues Box was released on LP, its back on CD with much more material than was on the original set. This package includes recently discovered music from well known artists. These recordings which were produced by Sam Phillips, but issued on Chess, RPM, Trumpet and other labels were unavailable in 1983, but they are now. Researcher Steve LaVere finally allowed the world to hear the Sun audio and see the Sun related photos he collected back in the late 1960s. In fact, the entire blues research community came together to make this a once in a lifetime blues experience. This box is a jukebox unto itself and picking just one song seems kind of silly but I chose one of my favorite instrumentals, Earl Hooker’s The Hucklebuck. - CL