Chris Anderson Blues One

Chris Anderson is one of the unsung heroes of modern jazz piano. A revered figure among musicians, largely for his role as mentor to a young Herbie Hancock, Anderson has long been hindered by illness from aggressively pursuing his rightful place in the jazz limelight. As Charlie Haden poignantly states in the album's liner notes, "Chris is risking his life with every chord, that's how much it means to him." Although he has performed with everyone from Charlie Parker to Sun Ra over the course of his lengthy career, Anderson remains mostly unknown even to serious jazz fans. One hopes that this outstanding new duo effort with bass master Haden on the British Naim label helps to earn him some richly deserved acclaim.

Chris Anderson has been a mainstay on the Southern Rock scene since the 1970s, playing with, touring, or writing songs in groups such as the Outlaws, Grinderswitch, Lucinda Williams, The Allman Brothers, Bad Company, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackhawk, Hank Williams Jr, Steven Stills, Johnny Neel, Neil Carswell and many others. His Debut Album “Old Friend” has been described as a cross between Stevie Ray Vaughan Eric Clapton, and Duane Allman. The New York Times described it as one of the 10 best albums you’ve never heard. Rolling Stone Magazine gave it Five Stars. “Old Friend” is a well rounded effort charged by Anderson's vibrant guitar playing and the emotional depth of great songs sung with unremitting conviction, and delivered with the authority of a veteran bluesman.

Forty years ago, this original of this album almost appeared on Island Records, and therein lies a tale almost as interesting as the record itself. Ian A. Anderson, as he was then known, almost shared a name with Jethro Tull's frontman. The band's management decided the label wasn't large enough for two Ian Andersons and the newcomer was shuffled off elsewhere. As an anecdote it's priceless, but so is this artefact of the British blues boom of the late 1960s. It was, perhaps, great hubris on Anderson's part to believe he could write blues songs equal to those of the greats (and he probably cringes these days over "Short Haired Woman Blues"), but in many ways they hold up well, and he's helped out by some excellent musicians, notably the great Bob Hall on piano, while Chris Turner turns in some stunning harmonica performances…

Alexander has always been in the game it seems. He’s played with everyone from Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes to Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint. With Knockin’ Glenn and company take their in-your-face, guitar driven, horn-laced music to the next level…

Roots 'N Blues: The Retrospective 1925-1950 is a four-CD box set released on Columbia Records in June 1992. The set features five hours worth of early blues, folk/country and gospel recordings from a variety of American artists. Many of these recordings had never previously been issued in any medium.

It takes an aircraft-carrier of a release such as Live at the Beacon Theatre to remind us just how unique the Allman Brothers Band always was and still is. Traditionally a byword for down-home R&B/country blues-rock, the reality is that the band's gigantic sound is almost a musical form in itself. Make no mistake, the Allmans are still making big music, now with a two-guitar front line as well as their trademark two-drummer rhythm section (augmented these days with an additional percussionist), plus Gregg Allman's Hammond cutting through all of this like a serrated knife.

Jethro Tull was a unique phenomenon in popular music history. Their mix of hard rock; folk melodies; blues licks; surreal, impossibly dense lyrics; and overall profundity defied easy analysis, but that didn't dissuade fans from giving them 11 gold and five platinum albums…

Jethro Tull was a unique phenomenon in popular music history. Their mix of hard rock; folk melodies; blues licks; surreal, impossibly dense lyrics; and overall profundity defied easy analysis, but that didn't dissuade fans from giving them 11 gold and five platinum albums…

Jethro Tull was a unique phenomenon in popular music history. Their mix of hard rock; folk melodies; blues licks; surreal, impossibly dense lyrics; and overall profundity defied easy analysis, but that didn't dissuade fans from giving them 11 gold and five platinum albums…