Pan Alley

Magic Slim & the Teardrops proudly uphold the tradition of what a Chicago blues band should sound like. Their emphasis on ensemble playing and a humongous repertoire that allegedly ranges upwards of a few hundred songs give the towering guitarist's live performances an endearing off-the-cuff quality…

Description
Day is Done boasts a smartly selected range of original and borrowed material, from Tin Pan Alley jazz standard "No Moon At All," made famous by Nat King Cole, to "Knives Out" from Radiohead's Amnesiac. Day is Done also includes two of Mehldau's own pieces, "Artis" and "Turtle Town," plus a cover of contemporary tenor sax player Chris Cheek's "Granada," which Mehldau originally performed on Cheek's vine.

He started as the Artful Dodger in David Lean's "Oliver Twist" and ended up as an inspiration for Austin Powers. In between he was a groundbreaker in theater and a terrific songwriter. What a life!

The second outing from North Mississippi Allstars Luther and Cody Dickinson consolidates their growing strengths, both instrumental (read: fewer drum machines) and compositional (only two covers here, as opposed to the raft of Fred McDowell/R.L. Burnside titles on 2000's Shake Hands With Shorty)…..

There weren't many blues albums issued during the early '70s that hit harder than this one. First out on the short-lived Playboy logo, the set firmly established Walker as a blistering axeman sporting enduring Gulf Coast roots despite his adopted L.A. homebase. Of all the times he's cut the rocking "Hello My Darling," this is indeed the hottest, while his funky, horn-driven revival of Lester Williams's "I Can't Lose (With the Stuff I Lose)" and his own R&B-drenched "It's All in Your Mind" are irresistible. After-hours renditions of Sam Cooke's "Laughing & Clowning" and Long John Hunter's "Crazy Girl" are striking vehicles for Walker's twisting, turning guitar riffs and impassioned vocal delivery.