How Tyrants Fall Mr. New Orleans By: Matthew Randazzo V, Frenchy Brouillette

Why so much of what pianist/vocalist James Booker recorded in the 1970s didn't surface until the '90s is a mystery, but that's secondary compared to the greatness routinely presented on this CD. It contains nine Booker selections that he performed at the 1977 Boogie Woogie & Ragtime Piano Contest held in Zurich. His relentless, driving style, ability to switch from a hard-hitting tune to a light, soft one without skipping a beat, and his wild mix of sizzling keyboard licks and bemused, manic vocals are uniformly impressive. Piano Wizard a bit short for a CD at 37 minutes, but it has so much flamboyant music and singing that it shouldn't be missed.

Like many black American blues and R&B artists, New Orleans singer and pianist Champion Jack Dupree found more respect and recognition in Europe than he did in his homeland, and he relocated to Europe in 1959, only rarely returning to the U.S. He cut several albums there, including the two included in this double-disc set from Beat Goes On, From New Orleans to Chicago, recorded in London in 1966, and Champion Jack Dupree and His Blues Band, tracked in the same city a year later (both were originally released on London Decca). Of the two, the latter release is the stronger (thanks in no small part to guitarist Mickey Baker), although From New Orleans is probably better known, mainly for the presence of Eric Clapton and John Mayall at the sessions…