Monday, May 16, 2011

For The Harp Players In Us

Here's a few goodies beginning from the top with Bob Corritore's Harmonica Blues. Blogger has made it a PITA (for me anyway) to get pictures to format where I'd like them to land, so I'm making do with where they ended up. Corritore's release has been out on Delta Groove Productions since last year and features him backing a slew of heavyweights at his famous Rhythm Room club in Phoenix. Feature tunes from Little Milton, Louisiana Red, Koko Taylor, Robert Lockwood Jr., Pinetop Perkins and many more.

Chicago Downhome Harmonica Vol. 1 features a great collection from a variety of Chi-town blowers from back in the day. Big Walter, Little Walter, Big John Wrencher, Little Mack Simmons, Little Sonny, and several others display their talents at blowing the nasty ol' blues the way it's supposed to be be blown, either in support of other Chicago stalwarts like John Brim or showcasing their own stuff.

Ditto for Juicy Harmonica Vol. 2, except the range is not Chi-town centric. Big and Little Walter are present (mainly in supporting roles, which sometimes represents them at their best), along with a couple of nice '60s era James Cotton, and some folks you may not know as well, such as Birmingham Junior, Little Willie Foster, Papa Lightfoot, Little Sam Davis, and others.

Last, but certainly not least is a June release from one of the current bosses of the blues, Rod Piazza and his Mighty Flyers. Delta Groove Productions has scheduled a release of Almighty Dollar on 6/21/11, so I haven't much of a clue as to what to say about it. Well, that's wrong. I do have a clue. This is Piazza, and he rarely puts out anything that doesn't represent the best of what bluesharp blues is all about.

That's it. Just wanted to share what I think will turn your crank if your looking for something to satisfy your bluesharp habit. The two collections can be had at http://www.bluebeatmusic.com/


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Ricky,
As always, love your blog. You're very effective in helping me lighten my wallet with you CD reviews. I would however suggest you re-read your description of Piazza's new CD.
DS Portland

Ricky Bush said...

Dang. Thanks for the copy edit. Illustrates my allergy to proofreading. Fixed it.