Houstonian Diunna Greenleaf grew up in a musical family where Gospel deeply informed her singing. I Ain’t Playin’ is enriched by this pedigree. This Little Village Foundation release was recorded, mixed and mastered by Kid Andersen at his Greaseland Studios in San Jose, California. Andersen plays guitar throughout and leads a core band that includes Jim Pugh on piano, organ and clavinet. The great Derrick “D’mar” Martin plays drums and the legendary Jerry Jemmott is on bass. Trombonist Mike Rinta is responsible for the crisp horn arrangements. Greenleaf is a vocalist who seems to be imbued with a naturalistic quality in her presentation which resonates with a depth of knowledge that drips with authority. She doesn’t engage in the vocal clichés and over the top histrionics that mar so many female vocalists in the modern blues field. Greenleaf is simply a beautiful singer who know what she wants to say. She is able to find what she’s looking for in every situation and gets right to the heart of the matter. On I Ain’t Playin' Greenleaf has found that magical combination of great material, arrangements and production to go along with her wonderful vocal chops. While Diunna Greenleaf has made wonderful albums in the past I believe that I Ain’t Playin’ is her Magnum Opus.

Balta Bordoy is a veteran Spanish blues guitarist who is a member of Los Peligroso Gentlemen. He is truly a first rate, first call guitarist in the burgeoning European blues scene. Rock My Blues Away is the first album under his own name. Borday’s Texafornia guitar stylings underscore one of the greatest truisms ever uttered by a musician or anybody else for that matter. “It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing.” Here he is paired with Victor Puertas who on this outing plays the Hammond organ as well as carries the lead vocal duties. Puertas also handles the bass duties on organ. The third member of the quartet is Nil Mujal who plays saxophone. Arnau Julià  holds everything together on drums. The Bad Boys employ a true ensemble sound that applies some jazz sensibilities to blues material. A wonderful selection of covers and swinging instrumentals highlight this strong contender for BLUES JUNCTION Productions' Album of the Year.                                                                                                                 

This 2022 JSP release is the first posthumously released album from James Harman. It is a welcome addition to his impressive canon. How the future of his music will be presented is anybody’s guess and I dare not speculate how this undoubtedly contentious saga will unfold. However, from a fan’s point of view we are off to a tremendous start. Sparks Flying is a live recording from Belgium. This mid-career performance captures Harman at the top of his game. Great sound and song selection from a master make this a real treat. Harman who always has a terrific band in tow had guitarist Joel Foy and long-time Harman side kick, Jeff Turmes playing the Fender bass and bottle neck slide on this particular European tour. This is a wonderful snap shot of a great bluesman doing his thing back in the halcyon days of the last blues revival. 

Veteran songwriter, arranger, vocalist and harp player Kurt Crandall has just released his strongest album to date. It is straight ahead blues with a swinging flair. Crandall’s Starts On The Stops delivers a healthy dose of this magic elixir. Eight of the ten songs presented here were written by Crandall. Covers include Rudy Tombs’ Home at Last and John Lee Williamson’s Blue Bird Blues. Both numbers are handled like everything else here, that is with the sensitivity and integrity that this material deserves. The entire album was recorded with two distinct bands divided by the first five tracks and then the second five numbers. Guitarist Karl Angerer appears on nine of the ten tracks on Starts on the Stops and provides very supportive accompaniment to Crandall’s superb harp playing and effective vocals.  Highly Recommended! 

Konstantin Kovelev is the leader, producer, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of this Finish based band. He sounds like the illegitimate love child of James Hunter and Nick Curran whose voice may put you in mind of Little George Surreff. But make no mistake there is a fresh originality that imbibes the material here, making for a truly enjoyable listening experience. The album was recorded right before the pandemic in February, 2020, at Tomi Leino’s Suprovox Studios in Karkkila, Finland, and mixed by Kid Andersen at his Greaseland Studios in San Jose, California.

Rick Holmstrom gets it. This all-instrumental album is a fun, danceable, groove laden affair where the brilliance of Holmstrom’s attack on the guitar does not impede the accessibility of the music. He doesn’t engage in unnecessary histrionics or lengthy improvisational side trips. He gets into each song quickly, says what he wants to say and gets out. Get It! sounds like an old-fashioned jukebox in the future. This program of all original tunes has Holmstrom with one eye focused on the rearview mirror and one looking straight ahead. Editor’s Note: There is a full album review of Get It! in this month’s edition of BLUES JUNCTION.

That’s My Name by Bob Stroger and a band called The Headcutters is a first-rate example of a nearly forgotten artform. They play lo-fi, post war, Chicago blues with authority. Stroger’s vocals have a relaxed, unhurried, self-assured quality that has been all but neglected in the modern blues world. The band’s accompaniment of Stroger is nothing short of sublime. If these two musical entities sound like they fit like a very comfortable pair of old shoes, there is a very good reason.  Editor’s note: To find out about that very good reason, this album sits in our Monthly Album Spotlight feature here in March.                

With Duke Robillard, one can always count on more. Nobody has produced more albums over the past 40 years than Robillard. One can go back further than that if you want to talk about the seminal rhythm & blues band he founded and led for more than a decade before that, Roomful of Blues.  Nobody puts out more music on an album. They Called It Rhythm & Blues is 18 songs and 70 minutes worth of music.   There isn’t a stinker in the bunch on this March 18th, Stony Plain Records release. With They Called it Rhythm & Blues, Duke has gathered up more guests than I can recall on any CD in recent years. Even the Duke Robillard Band has more players in it. The band (including Duke) has expanded from four to six musicians. In this world where we have learned to expect less, Duke gives us more and for that we should be thankful. If anyone were to suggest that Duke sacrifices quality for the sake of quantity it might be those rare occasions where the incredibly versatile guitarist hop scotches over to the wrong genre. When this National treasure lands on rhythm & blues one can be assured that everything is going to be alright. R&B of this nature is a very big tent and Duke knows how to fill it.

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