International Watch Company

Lou Rawls had such a long career, his music appealed differently to changing generations. In the 1950s he recorded doo-wop, in the 60s it was jazz, blues and big band swing, then come the 70s it was silky soul as epitomised by Gamble & Huff's. You'll Never Find (Another Love Like Mine) for Philadelphia International Records. Now Is The Time and Close Company, neither previously available on CD, find Lou at the tail end of his soul years ahead of his return to jazzier roots and a record deal with Blue Note.

This band is hot. Very, very hot. And those aren't just empty words. After all, the Blues Company from Osnabrück, Germany is neither a hodgepodge of rank beginners nor - to borrow business lingo - a group of new business starters. Rather, they are a team of artists who have made their mark, musicians with experience and know-how aplenty. The musicians at work here have long since ensured that the name of their “company” is a recognised “seal of approval”. In a nutshell, “Blues Company” stands for German's longest-running and most successful blues band. And with each new recording, with each concert, these pros underscore that their passionate love affair with the blues is burning brightly as ever.