Released January 21, 2014 on Signature Sounds. The 14-song album was recorded live at Boston’s Lizard Lounge on January 24, 20,13. The Sacred Shakers are comprised of Eilen Jewell and her band: Jason Beek, Jerry Miller, Johnny Sciascia and rounded out by Daniel Fram, Greg Glassman, Daniel Kellar, and Eric Royer. Together, they offer new life to the gospel genre by revisiting the stripped down country and bluesy gospel material that inspires them.
Billy Boy Arnold is one of the last of the legendary Chicago Blues harmonica players. In addition to his solo releases, he recorded with Bo Diddley in the Fifties and has been covered by David Bowie, The Yardbirds and The Blasters. Produced by Duke Robillard and backed by stellar musicians, including the Roomful Of Blues Horns, this release showcases a brilliant artist still in his prime. Billy Boy was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2013. "Billy Boy Arnold's talent as a songwriter, singer, harp master and blues historian is still in full swing and here, on this album, he demonstrates his flair and love for many different facets of the blues. This recording is surely a remarkable achievement."
Funky blues work from Howlin Wolf – his key entry into the funked-up genre that Chess Records was cutting at the end of the 60s with other blues artists like Etta James, Bo Diddley, and Muddy Waters! As on records with those artists, Wolf's older modes are updated here for a hipper, younger audience – backed up with a bouncing batch of electrified backings arranged by Sonny Thompson, and conducted by Thompson and Cash McCall, the latter of whom is most likely playing a bit of guitar here. Tracks are a bit longer than usual, and filled with plenty of heavy guitar bits next to the vocals – and titles include "I Smell A Rat", "Miss James", "If I Were A Bird", "She's Lookin Good", "Turn Me On", and "Message To The Young".
Time Ain’t Free finds an inspired Nick Moss extending his creative streak, offering an intelligent, updated take on ’70s rock and R&B, marked by daring arrangements and surprising juxtapositions. The set encompasses Muscle Shoals sweetness, stormy postmodern boogie, greasy roadhouse R&B, soul-tinged rock, and gospel-inflected ballads, all filtered through Moss’ deep-blue lens. Distinct, honest, and intense — a blend of traditional blues and progressive, jam-oriented blues rock. Face-melting guitar solos that rise above the crowded field of pretenders, and a versatile band that brilliantly delivers unparalleled improvisational jams to packed houses night after night, city after city.
Six years after the classical Music of the Spheres, Mike Oldfield returns to his version of rock. Man on the Rocks is a slick production that recalls the AOR sounds of the late '70s and early '80s. He plays many instruments here but concentrates mainly on guitar…