This brand-new offering by B.B. & the Blues Shacks is the best collection of new material by this great band from Hildesheim, Germany, in several years. While I have, and continue to enjoy virtually every album that they have produced over the past thirty years or so, this album recorded between June 28 and July 2 of this past year has really recaptured the past glory of the late 90’s formula of their Great Blues and Big Swing releases. Led by co-producers, the brothers Arlt, Andreas on guitar and vocalist/harp player Michael, they wrote all 12 of the original tunes on this 15-song collection. Breaking Point is the band’s third release on Rhythm Bomb records. The band includes Blues Shacks veterans Fabian Fitz on piano and organ, Andre Werkmeister on drums along with long time bassist Henning Hauerken. Their rich ensemble sound is enhanced by the sax and trumpet of Tom Muller and Stefan Goosinger respectively. B.B. & The Blues Shacks are not only one of the leading European exponents of blues music, they are at the top of the heap world-wide. Breaking Point simply drives this point home with great clarity. It is a strong contender for a BLUES JUNCTION award for Album of the Year. -D.M.

Veteran Finnish blues man Jussi Raulamo aka Jo’ Buddy has much to celebrate this holiday season. Soul 'N’ Roll Jubilee marks the 30^th year he is enjoying as a recording artist. It is his 10^th album on his Ram Bam Record label which dates back to 2000. Soul 'N’ Roll Jubilee is also my favorite album, to date, from his impressive catalogue. Here the wildly eclectic guitarist and vocalist, who is likely to move in any direction, presents eleven original numbers in a B3 trio format. The beautiful greasy sounds of the Hammond Organ come from Sami Nieminen. Down Home King III is on drums and percussion. The entire affair was recorded at Tomi Leino’s Suprovox Studios in Karkkila, Finland. Exceptional sound and stellar musicianship are in service of some deep guitar grooves and seriously swinging organ. -D.M. 

Swiss organist, pianist, vocalist, songwriter and band leader, Bernet, leads a trio through a fifteen-song journey, an original program that for my ears has a decidedly gospel feel to it. The band is made up of a stunning double bass player, Markus Fritzsche and drummer, formerly of B.B. & the Blues Shacks (with whom our readers are familiar), Bernhard Egger. They touch on several traditional, American musical dialects including blues, New Orleans R&B and boogie woogie. - D.M.

Editor’s Note: There is an interview with Elias Bernet in this month’s BLUES JUNCTION.

While enjoying the debut album of the band called The Lowdown Saints it occurs to me what a terrific vocalist Tommy Moberg has become over the years. Our readers may be familiar with the strong pipes of Moberg, as he was the long-time front man of Trickbag. Now Moberg takes the back seat behind the drum kit in The Lowdown Saints. Stylistically, the 2021 Lowdown Saints album Hit Me Hard hits almost as hard as Trickbag’s 25 Years of House Rockin’ Rhythm & Blues. On that program it was the original material that highlighted that Swedish based international ensemble of musicians. Hit Me Hard is full of mostly covers, but good covers, with no less than four tunes penned by Californians Kim Wilson, Jeff Turmes, Rusty Zinn and Jimmy McCracklin and his blues tune de jour Georgia Slop. This powerhouse ensemble also features Felix Matthiessen and Hannes Mellberg on guitars and double bassist Karl Ivert. While a handful of guests make fine contributions throughout, Torbjörn Eliasson should be singled out here, as he plays piano on seven tracks, organ on two others and plays sax on three of these. The punch delivered on Hit Me Hard would not pack the wallop without him. – D.M. 

This album sounds like Hound Dog Taylor and Jimmie Reed playing in the back of a 1957 convertible, hurtling down a swampy back road in south Louisiana with Iggy Pop at the wheel. It is lots of fun, if not a little dangerous.  Songs by Jerry “Boogie” McCain, Papa Lightfoot, Clarence Garlow, Doctor Ross and others are taken out back and beaten to a bloody pulp. What’s not to like about that or this little band with a big sound from Holland? Little Hat is comprised of three men who like to wear big hats. These rapscallions from Rotterdam are Machiel Meijers on vocals and harmonica, guitarist Willem Van Dullemen and drummer Paolo de Stigter. What could be lost on some listeners is that despite this trio’s frenzied attack and unconventional dynamics, they are three very talented musicians. They understand what they are doing and why they are doing it.  This 2021 release on Rhythm Bomb Records was produced by Little Victor. Wine, Whiskey & Wimmen has a tough and pungent sound that is reminiscent of an over cooked chunk of liver. Despite this, or more likely because it, this album is a contender for a BLUES JUNCTION Productions album of the year. Highly recommended.  - D.M.  

“Playing 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 was 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 Schultz 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. – 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. Corcoran told me recently that the song titles are all based on the text of Dante’s Inferno. Having heard the album several times before becoming armed with this information, I had already drawn my own conclusions as to the material contained within. I didn’t divine anything remotely as dark as the nine concentric circles of hell but the album does offer some soundscapes with contemplative thematic elements. The album’s eleven tracks hold together conceptually where the poetic vision of the auteur is fulfilled. Five of the tracks feature the Hammond B3 of Claudio Corona. These have a Barney Kessel meets Jack McDuff vibe that is a lot of fun.  Others tracks have a surf feel that sound like Duane Eddy driving to Lower Tressles in a Tesla. -D.M.

The Kokomo Kings continue their Chuck Berry inspired rockin’ blues with A Drive by Love Affair. Featuring all original material penned by bassist Magnus Lanhammar and the tasty guitar of Ronni Audar Boysen, the band moves through tunes that have the spunk and vitality of Chuck Berry in his prime.  The band provides driving support throughout and the fun never stops till the last note.  As with many of their earlier releases, fish and fishing are a main topic of the songs. Magnus is even pictured with a fishing pole rather than a bass guitar. What's up with that?  This is a great catch. Don't miss it. - C.L. Editor’s Note: Blue Beat Music has A Drive By Love Affair in stock (direct from the band) two months before the Rhythm Bomb Records release date.  -C.L. 

As far as famous guitars are concerned it’s certainly not “Lucille”. It isn’t even the most famous guitar in the Texas Hill Country. That would be “Trigger,” but make no mistake, “Pinky” is the star of this show. That’s right, Sue Foley slings her paisley adorned, pink Telecaster all over the joint on Pinky’s Blues. Pinky’s Blues is a straight-ahead, guitar-centric affirmation of Lone Star blues traditions. Foley originals sit beside tunes penned by Angela Strehli, Miss Lavelle White, Frankie Lee Sims and others associated with Texas blues. Pinky’s Blues continues a great career renaissance that started with 2018’s Ice Queen and continues here on her sophomore outing on Stoney Plain Records. Unlike Ice Queen, which was a guest heavy affair, Foley has the spotlight to herself on this October 22nd release. She is backed by bassist Jon Penner who goes all the way back with Foley to her earliest recordings. Chris Layton handles the drum duties. Producer Mike Flanigin plays B3 on a couple of tracks and brings in his musical colleague Jimmie Vaughan to play rhythm guitar on another. Pinky’s Blues' live, in-studio sound has an organic, spontaneous feel that is as meaty as a rack of ribs, hotter than a jalapeno pepper and as cool as a pint of Shiner Bock. – D.M

If you died during our recent world-wide pandemic then I’m guessing you won’t appreciate what I am about to tell you. That is, some real good came from the horrors visited upon us. One of these things is that Corey Harris returned to the recording studio for the first time in three years and, just as significant, he returned to the solo acoustic blues which he excelled in early in his career. Fifteen tunes written and/or arranged by Harris cover the 100 plus year spectrum of the blues. From traditional tunes written by Charlie Patton, Skip James, Blind Blake and others to the album’s title track, this is a welcome reprieve from the “blues adjacent” acts that have come to dominate the landscape. Harris himself seemed lost in that world for the better part of the last several years. I welcome him back. The Insurrection Blues was recorded on May 21st, 2021, and was released by MC Records on November 5th. This album is an adult dose of brand new, old blues performed with verve and conviction. -D.M

For all your gift giving needs, click here: