Welcome to the May edition of BLUES JUNCTION.

I try very hard to fully appreciate those things that make us human. What are the things in our daily lives that connect us to our humanity and empathy for our fellow earthly inhabitants? One of these is of course great music. Music that has a timeless beauty and made by people who have dedicated their lives to this elusive language we call the blues is what we support with an undying dedication.

It is why we support anything that involves the three “E’s” Education, Environment and Empathy. It is why we support the Little Village Foundation for instance. You are always welcome to go to our links page and find out more about that and other organizations we endorse.

While on this topic you are welcome to read what I consider an affront to humanity and something that just might signal the end of our civilization as we know it in an article called The Trouble with Table Top Tablet Technology. This piece also deals with the immutable law of unintended consequences.

It has been duly noted right here in the ‘pages’ of BLUES JUNCTION that in our digital cyber world anybody and everybody can make a record album. It has also been noted that anybody and everybody, it seems, thinks there is the blues surging through their veins and that this music is easy to play. All of this leads to a world full of really bad blues music. I have been accused of having fun at the expense of some of these artists by writing negative reviews. That is in fact untrue and one can scour the archives of this site for any evidence to the contrary. We have a saying around here, “Life is too short to listen to bad music.” So I focus on, and try to direct your attention to, the good stuff and thankfully there is lots of that too. 

However, Ruf Records mailed me a CD that was so bad, even by their standards, that I just had to take one for the team. So this month we have four complete album reviews, three I admire very much. The other is more of a public service announcement than a review. You are welcome to read my thoughts on new records by John Long, Big Jon Atkinson & Bob Corritore on Delta Groove Music, as well as a band called, Jane Lee Hooker on the Ruf Record label.  

The fourth brand new album I discuss came to the JUNCTION last week and it is a beauty. It sits in the May Monthly Album Spotlight. It comes by way of San Francisco Bay Area guitarist, J. Beyer. It is called Time of Gathering and receives my highest recommendation. If you don’t know about J. Beyer, that’s okay, you are about to discover an artist with an interesting story.

Our Re-Visited feature centers around an album made during the glory days of the blues, the 1990’s.  Many of our readers look back on those days as I do, with a great deal of affection, as our economy was booming, we had peace breaking out all over the world and the blues business was thriving. There were three wonderful albums made by a Southern California based label that came and then sadly went before practically anybody knew it even existed. We tell the story of that label and focus on one of those records, Mr. Blake’s Blues by Big Al Blake and the Hollywood Fats Band.

This is a great time of year as the Blues Festival season is in full swing and so are all the "mobile record stores" - the musicians.  If you see one of these individuals do yourself a favor and buy one or more CD from them. It will lead to a lifetime of joy. If you don’t happen to make it to a show that’s okay, from the comfort of your own home you can visit Bluebeat Music.

To help you with your selections we have ten brand new and soon to be released albums which we want to also bring to your attention in our New Music/Recommended Listening feature. 

On May 21^st and 22^nd, Omega Events presents the 19^th installment of the Doheny Blues Festival in Dana Point, California. As always the festival is a variety pack. It includes some great acts inside and outside the blues field. You are welcome to check out the archive section of our site where you can find features on several of this year’s festival artists. They include: James Hunter, Helge Tallqvist & Ina Forsman, Kirk “Eli” Fletcher, long time keyboard player with Sugar Ray and the Bluetones, Anthony Geraci and others.

Here in May we review an album by a festival artist making his Doheny Blues Festival debut, John Long. It is also a tremendous privilege to present to you the musician sitting in the May Monthly Artist Spotlight, Sugar Ray Norcia. He leads one of the most accomplished award winning bands in modern blues, Sugar Ray and the Bluetones. They will be performing on Sunday, May 22^nd. If you are a blues fan or just a fan of great music, this is an act you don’t want to miss. Enjoy an in-depth interview I had with the one and only Sugar Ray Norcia.

Thanks always for all the kind words of encouragement that you send via email and Facebook. Remember I love running into our readers out at the shows and festivals. I hope to see some of you out at the Doheny Blues Festival later this month. Until then...be well and be in touch.

-  David Mac

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