“Laying it deep, playing for keeps. Live long, party strong!”  is the motto of Raphael Wressnig. That message couldn’t be delivered with more enthusiasm, verve and conviction than in the music of Groove & Good Times. The latest album by this Austrian Hammond organist is set to be released on September 17th on the German based Pepper Cake Record label. He is joined by Brazilian musicians Igor Prado on guitar and his brother Yuri on drums. It picks up where Raphael’s 2018 collaboration with Alex Shultz and James Gadson entitled Chicken Burrito left off. Wressnig is a multi-genre artist who combines instrumental soul/funk/jazz and blues in various quantities and combinations which are irresistible. On Chicken Burrito, Wressnig and company perform a program of original tunes that had a decidedly 70’s soul and funk sensibility with a contemporary edge. Here they go directly to the source material in that niche, sub-genre for inspiration. Songs by James Brown, the Meters, Johnny ‘Guitar” Watson, Bill Withers and others are given the Wressnig/Prado treatment. Groove & Good Times was recorded by the Sao Paulo based blues impresario Chico Blues. Chico, along with Igor Prado, mixed and mastered the entire album. They sound like they were held hostage by the almighty groove and trust me, that’s a very good thing. They have created an entire album which sounds dedicated to and specifically designed for forty plus minutes of booty shaking good times. It is great to hear music that is just plain fun.  – D.M. 

The human voice is the ultimate musical instrument. This made Wee Willie Walker the ultimate head cutter. His final album was released on July 16th. It is entitled Not In My Lifetime and it is a beauty. Walker, who passed away back in November of 2019, is backed by the Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra. They offer very sympathetic support to Walker who, as always, is in exceptional form. Original songs and arrangements highlight this tour deforce. Editor’s Note: For more on Wee Willie Walker check out our Monthly Artist Spotlight feature in this month’s edition of BLUES JUNCTION. – D.M. 

Inferno is the brand-new album by British guitarist Chris Corcoran. Here, the very talented and tasteful plank spanker uses a stripped-down ensemble to deliver a program of all original tunes. Five of the tracks feature the Hammond B3 of Claudio Corona. These have a Barney Kessel meets Jack McDuff vibe which is a lot of fun. Some tracks offer soundscapes with moody thematic elements. Others sound like Duane Eddy driving to Lower Tressles in a Tesla. Editors Note:  You can read more about Chris Corcoran and this new album in our Monthly Album Spotlight Feature in this edition of BLUES JUNCTION. -D.M. 

Spider In My Stew continues Bob's musical adventures featuring some of the best artists in the blues today. With Special Guests: Sugar Ray Rayford, Lurrie Bell, John Primer, Alabama Mike, Diunna Greenleaf, Francine Reed, Johnny Rawls, Oscar Wilson, Willie Buch, Bill & Shy Perry, Bob Stroger, Bob Margolin, Junior Watson, Kid Ramos, Johnny Main, Jimi "Primetime" Smith, Adrianna Marie, L.A. Jones, Fred Kaplan, Doug James, and more. - C.L. 

This is the first of two new solo releases from this extremely talented singer and guitarist which features all original material written during the pandemic of 2020.  Like much of the blues lexicon, the songs reflect a reality lived by the artist and show the loneliness and hopelessness that a year in isolation can trigger.  Not all the songs are topical with Little Wheel Rag and That Medicine Show reflecting the rag influenced blues of the Southeastern states of the 1930's & 40's.  Slim sings with an authority seldom heard in contemporary blues and his guitar playing always is right for the song. - C.L.

This solo release features fourteen original songs which deal with the reality of life in the 21st century played in a style that harkens back to the 1930's depression era.  Slim plays and sings in a style similar to Son House, Charlie Patton and many of the Delta Blues greats but never imitates their unique personalities. He plays with a ferocity on his National Steel guitar and his voice is strong and natural. His boundless creativity really shows through on these solo recordings where hiding behind a rhythm section is not an option. - C.L. 

Paul Size is best known for his guitar playing on the 1992 release by the Red Devils, King King.  Earlier, he collaborated with Johnny Moeller on the Bluebeat Music favorite, Return of the Funky Worm recorded for the Dallas Blues Society.  This new release carries on the tradition of taking your time putting out something new and this one was worth the wait.  Featuring Hash Brown as a guest, the CD burns through some of the classics of post war blues from Earl Hooker, Walter Horton, Frankie Lee Sims and Sam Myers.  B.B. King's Do the Boogie sits comfortably alongside Ivory Joe Hunter's Shooty Booty in this mostly covers CD.  Remember it's better to hear good covers, rather than bad or boring originals. -C.L

Finnish blues harmonica ace Helge Tallqvist has become quite adept at introducing us to fresh and exciting new female talent and his latest CD Voodoo Woman is no exception. Building off past successful collaborations with vocalists Ina Forsman and Emilia Sisco, Helge retains that winning formula by presenting us with his latest discovery, Charlotta Curves. Recorded at Tomi Leino’s Suprovox Analog Studio, Charlotta’s powerful pipes are evenly matched by Tallqvist's savvy ensemble featuring guitarists Jonne Kulluvaara and Tomi Leino (who doubles on bass), keyboardist Harri Taittonen, drummer Jim Korpi, as well as Trickbag’s own Lars Näsman who sits in on upright bass for two songs. Comprised of only one cover and nine original songs that echo the vintage blues and R&B sounds of yesteryear ensures this effort as another top-notch entry into Helge's ever-growing discography.  - J.S.F

These sessions date back to 1998-1999 and were recorded in Oakland, California. You take twenty years off of an already aggressive guitar player like Goldwasser and listeners are left ringing wet from head to toe. Like kids who just opened a fire hydrant on a hot, Chicago summer day, Goldwasser splashes notes all over the neighborhood. These manic displays of urban Chicago style blues guitar stand in contrast with his supple, uptown, West Coast style of playing influenced by Lowell Fulson and Goldwasser’s days in East Bay clubs. His take on T-Bone Walker’s Love is Just a Gamble is a great example of this style and is simply breathtaking. Back to Paris is a nice companion piece to Goldwasser’s 2020 release, Sweet Little Black Spider. On that two-disc set Goldwasser returned with a vengeance. The second disc includes Goldwasser as raconteur. Here he weaves stories of his background and interactions with the blues giants of a bygone era. His skills in this area are remarkable and make for an entertaining listening experience. After taking a few years off as a solo artist, he became a founding member of the Mannish Boys. Those eight albums find Goldwasser as essentially a side man. Outside of label boss Randy Chortkoff’s painful cameos, Goldwasser is the only person, in that ever-changing ensemble, to appear on all of the Mannish Boys albums. It is great to have Franck Goldwasser back recording under his own name. Going Back to Paris, as well as 2020’s Sweet Little Black Spider, receive my highest recommendation. – D.M

Eddie Stout’s Dialtone Records has just released an honest to gosh vinyl record album. That’s right, a niche subgenre of a niche market is making available a vintage way to listen to brand new vintage music.  All kidding aside, Crystal Thomas’ brand new album, Now Dig This is so good you will want to buy a turntable. Before you can ask a friend to blow on your stylus, you should know what you are getting into here. This Louisiana native has some serious pipes and knows how to use them. She is simply an outstanding vocalist and is fronting a band that delivers the goods. They are guitarist Johnny Moeller, the legendary Chuck Rainey on bass whose recording credits are just plain ridiculous, Jason Moeller is on drums and the late Lucky Peterson plays the Hammond B3 organ. This combo is lethal. -D.M

This Oakland area native and long-time East Bay resident first hit my radar back in 2012 when she appeared as one of several guests on the Igor Prado Band’s Blues & Soul Sessions. While better known guests including vocalists J.J. Jackson and Curtis Salgado likely garnered more notice, the voice and vocal delivery of Tia Carrol was a revelation. Then in 2014 she released a full album under her name with the same cast of characters entitled The Brazilian Sessions. That effort garnered Carroll a BLUES JUNCTION Productions Award for “Best Soul Blues Album of the Year.” Now, all these years later, it is a thrill to hear her back in the studio. This time she strikes it rich (musically speaking) by mining the same territory without having to travel as far. San Jose, California, and Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studios is where this material was recorded, mixed and mastered for Jim Pugh’s Little Village Foundation label. With the gospel group the Sons of the Soul Revivers lending support and a five-piece horn section led by trombonist Mike Rinta You Gotta Have It, is a gut punch of vintage soul done right. Do yourself a favor and get hip to Tia Carrol. - D.M