They Called It Rhythm & Blues is 18 songs and 70 minutes worth of music and there isn’t a stinker in the bunch on this 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. 

If you took the formidable blues force of the one-man band of Gerry Hundt and his prodigious talents and combined that with a songwriter of immense talent and seemingly endless creativity, not to mention guitar prowess, like Andrew Duncanson, with the harp of Ronnie Shellist who simply reeks of blues chops, that might give you some idea of what is in store for listeners of The Dig 3. But that is just the nuts and bolts. What the eponymously named new album by this trio of like-minded musicians sounds like is both familiar and fresh at the same time. It takes timeless traditional blues and makes a new statement in our post pandemic world of 2022. This album comes to you with my highest recommendation. 

Two longtime favorites here at the JUNCTION got together to record again in 2019, and in the spring of 2022, finally released their second collaboration. Big Creek Slim aka Mark Rune is a Danish blues man who steers mostly towards the acoustic sounds of the 1930's and 40's. Rodrigo Mantovani is a Brazilian multi-instrumentalist who is an internationally revered bass player. The fact that these two uber talented, kindred spirits have found one another is something for which blues fans from around the world can rejoice. Rune has released eleven albums over the past ten years. Each of them garnering tremendous accolades. Mantovani has stunned listeners since 2003 with his bass playing as a member of The Prado Blues Band. In recent years he has relocated to Chicago where he has become a member of The Nick Moss Band. Because this music was recorded in 2019, Rune didn’t have to address the elephant in the room which was of course the world-wide pandemic. It was a refreshing return to the more timeless universal themes of love and all the baggage that comes with that. Rune has made terrific solo albums, but benefits greatly from the double bass playing of Mantovani. It allows him to slide over to the piano bench and give the album some textural variety. The tasteful, low-key accompaniment of drummer Mikki Peltola adds even more flavor to this savory dish.  

After 17 years between albums bearing his name, Brian Calway aka Hash Brown is back with a terrific 2022 release.  Stop! Your Evil Ways on Jeff Berg’s fledgling Massachusetts based Feffrey Records label is drenched with Texas grit, more than a hint of uptown cool, and a splash of cocktail blues, all stirred with the same straw that mixed the drinks of T-Bone Walker.  Stop! Your Evil Ways was produced and engineered by Jeff Berg. He also plays bass throughout this 12-song offering. The disc features drummer Mark Teixeira and Bruce Bears, who plays organ and piano. They are joined by Doug James who handles all the saxophone duties. These three veteran musicians are all long-time members of Duke Robillard’s studio and road band.  This ensemble provides confident, solid support for Calway, who seems to know exactly what to play in each song. As important, his instincts tell him what not to play. His interaction with James’ sax passages is nothing short of sublime and harkens back to the halcyon days, when blues, rhythm & blues and, to only a slightly lesser extent, jazz got all mixed up in a mesmerizing soundscape that is simply intoxicating. 

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 knows 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. 

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.  

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 which 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.   

The Phantom Blues Band released their latest CD in 2022 entitled Blues for Breakfast on the Little Village Foundation label. Like ordering a chili omelet with hash browns at 11:30 at night in a 24-hour diner, Blues For Breakfast goes down good at any time. The Phantom Blues Band, which of course isn’t a blues band at all hence the “Phantom”, is in fact one of the great soul ensembles to mount a bandstand. Soul, blues, rhythm & blues, pop, gospel, world music...The Phantom Blues Band plays it all. Like so many of the great ensembles of the past, The Phantom Blues Band plays everything as if their lives depend on it. The band careens between interesting interpretations of songs originally written and performed by Curtis Mayfield, Little Milton, Isaac Hayes and Dave Porter (via Sam & Dave), Ike Turner, Sonny Thompson (via Freddy King), Sam Cooke, Jimmy McCracklin and others. These songs are taken out for a joy ride as this six-member wrecking crew rolls down the windows, revs the engine and lets ‘er rip. 

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. Bordoy’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 highlights this top ten selection.

Veteran songwriter, arranger, vocalist and harp player Kurt Crandall has 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 and provides very supportive accompaniment to Crandall’s superb harp playing and effective vocals. Highly Recommended!