Booker T. Jones The Cool Dude

“In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues” is a PBS special taped in the East Room of the White House celebrating Blues music. President and Mrs. Obama will host the concert event in recognition of Black History Month. The evening will include program host Taraji P. Henson and performances by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Jeff Beck, Gary Clark, Jr., Shemekia Copeland, Buddy Guy, Warren Haynes, Mick Jagger, B.B. King, Keb Mo, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, with Booker T. Jones as music director and band leader.

At nine discs and 244 tracks, The Complete Stax-Volt Singles: 1959-1968 is far too exhaustive for casual fans, but that's not who the set is designed for – it's made for the collector. Featuring every A-side the label released during those nine years, as well as several B-sides, the set is a definitive portrait of gritty, deep Southern soul. Many of the genre's major names – Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Booker T. & the MG's, William Bell, Rufus Thomas, the Bar-Kays, Albert King – plus many terrific one-shot wonders are showcased in terrific sound and augmented with an in-depth booklet.

Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, is releasing a pair of new Willie Nelson titles to celebrate the artist’s 90th birthday year and his abiding contributions to American popular music and culture. Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 Live At The Hollywood Bowl, produced by Blackbird Presents, will be released December 15 as a 2CD+Blu-Ray deluxe edition, a complete digital edition and as a 2xLP highlights.

The This Is the Blues series from Eagle Records (there are four volumes thus far) features players from the late-'60s/early-'70s golden age of classic British blues-rock covering, for the most part, songs by Willie Dixon and John Lee Hooker, all drawn from a series of tribute albums originally produced by Peter Brown. The fact that everything on these volumes was overseen by the same producer means that there’s an unusual unity of sound throughout the series, and listening to these collections feels a bit like listening to concert recordings at some super all-star British blues festival. The lineup is impressive, including the likes of Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger, Rory Gallagher, Jack Bruce, former members of Foghat (Lonesome Dave Peverett, Rod Price), and Peter Green, who has several of his own songs also covered in the series…