Happy New Year to everyone out there in the world!

As we change the dates on the calendar, I look at the first day of the year a little differently, as many of us do. We make New Year’s resolutions that we don’t keep but we make them anyway. I don’t beat myself up too hard for not keeping these. I reason that at least I gave it some thought.

However, as time marches on and we all get a little older and hopefully wiser, I do think  more intently about legacy. We all have one. I think about what we leave behind. Who will remember us? Will anybody remember us? 

This is also the time of year where scribes, pundits and the like look back on the previous year. What’s new and what’s old and out of step? What is trending…up or down? What I do know is that blues music soldiers on, as it has for most of its existence with very little fanfare outside of a relatively small circle of likeminded individuals. Long gone are the halcyon days of the 80’s and mostly 90’s blues revival when the music seemed to have a measure of success never before or since equaled.  

Now those earnest blues players that emerged in the 80’s and 90’s are starting to fade away. To make a list of the blues and jazz musicians we lost this past year doesn’t do any of them any justice. From stars to relatively unknown players, many are known by virtually everyone who cares about such things, others may be just recognized by relatively few, usually within their own communities or hometown. 

What got me thinking along these lines was James Harman, who we lost back on May 19^th, 2021. JSP Records out of the U.K. gave us his first posthumously released album in 2022 entitled Sparks Flying Live in 1992. Virtually every participant in our annual feature entitled Dave’s Top Ten List of Top Ten Lists mentioned that if this album met our eligibility requirements for new music that it would be included on their lists.  With this in mind, I thought I’d share with you an appreciation of the late great blues man.

Speaking of legacy, Mike Finnigan left us in 2021. He was a member of the Phantom Blues Band (PBB) among many other recording credits. Here in 2022 the PBB made a post Finnigan album that pays tribute to his legacy. The proceeds from the sale of this Little Village Foundation release, Blues for Breakfast, are being donated to the scholarship program at the Mike Finnigan school of music in Salina, Kansas.

Nothing, I suppose, speaks to the concept of legacy, like the 2022 album by Bob Stroger & the Headcutters, entitled That’s My Name. Smilin’ Bob turned 93 just a few days ago.

Rick Holmstrom has honored the legacy of Roebuck “Pops” Staples since he became the guitarist and band leader for Mavis Staples in 2007. Here in 2022, he released a terrific album under his own name, Get It!

We welcome the return of Hash Brown this year. Not that he went anywhere. He has been, and is still, holding down the fort in Dallas but in 2022 he released the first album under his own name  in 17 years. It is entitled, Stop! Your Evil Ways and it is a beauty.

Every one of these albums made it into my Top Ten List and are given a full album review here in the Best of 2022 edition of BLUES JUNCTION.

The 2022 winner of the Album of the Year goes to Duke Robillard and his winter release They Called it Rhythm & Blues. Duke has been knocking at the door for some time and this time he knocked it off its hinges. On this spectacular album Duke generously shares the spotlight with a cadre of blues musicians who bring a wide-ranging aural experience to these recordings. Congratulations Duke!

I would like to thank all ten of our participants in our annual feature entitled, Dave’s Top Ten List of Top Ten Lists. This year when these cats hadn’t heard from me after the first week of December, several reached out to me and wanted to participate, if I was still hip to the idea. Truth be known it has become an annual tradition which I enjoy very much.

I have a challenge to the ten wise men. Find a replacement for yourself. I am not bumping anybody. I always find a recording or three that I hadn’t heard or a band of whom I wasn’t even aware. Can you imagine how much good we can do, if us old timers began mentoring some younger people?

One of my mentors was younger than me. His name was Tom Hyslop. He died on 1/2/20. Read my appreciation of a man who participated in Dave’s Top Ten List of Top Ten Lists yearly from its inception, up until his death in 2020, two weeks after publication. As always, I dedicate this feature to Tom, his memory and his legacy.

Happy New Year. Be well and be in touch.

- David Mac