Ring of Hate: Joe Louis Vs. Max Schmeling

As one of the few roots bluesmen not afraid to experiment with different musical forms, Joe Louis Walker takes a substantial departure from the rest of his catalog on his third album in little over a year. Pasa Tiempo maintains Walker's blues roots, but infuses them with jazz, R&B and soul - most underpinned by a strong Latin vibe, as the title indicates - with stirring results. Much of Walker's contributions to this project rely on his gospel-hued vocals, with his guitar taking a decidedly supporting role. Certainly early Van Morrison is an influence, and the disc's opening track is a stirring soul-drenched version of the Irishman's "Sweet Thing." The singer/songwriter/R&B/jazz direction continues with covers of Boz Scaggs' "I've Got Your Love," John Hiatt's "Love Like Blood," and Otis Redding's "Direct Me," all relatively obscure tracks from these artists that Walker makes his own…

Bay Area singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Lindsay Olsen is the mind behind the warped and magical project Salami Rose Joe Louis. Drawing from her studies in planetary sciences, she creates a unique experience: exploring ideas of multiverses and climate change through the lens of a fictional post-apocalyptic keyboard-toting earthling with a flashlight, a can of cashews and a hopeful optimism. Melding influences from jazz, rock and hip-hop – Shuggie Otis, Captain Beefheart, Stereolab, and R. Stevie Moore – she creates a unique blend of experimental galaxy sounds with jazz influenced vocals and keys.

More from Joe Louis Walker's searing Slim's engagement, Live at Slim's, Vol. 2 includes Joe Louis ripping through Ray Charles' "Don't You Know," and Little Milton's "Love at First Sight," and Rosco Gordon's overworked "Just a Little Bit," along with his own gems. Huey Lewis turns up again as the harpist on Walker's version of Haskell Sadler's "747."

By no means a bad album, Walker's major-label debut just wasn't quite as terrific as what directly preceded it. The studio atmosphere seems a bit slicker than before, and the songs are in several cases considerably longer than they need to be (generally in the five- to seven-minute range). A reworking of Howlin' Wolf's "Shake for Me" is the only familiar entry.

In 1997, Dave Alvin – former guitarist and songwriter with the Blasters, and one of the leading advocates of classic blues and R&B on the West Coast roots rock scene – played a special show in Long Beach, California, where he was joined by three very special guests. The fabled Texas fiddler and guitarist Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Chicago harmonica master Billy Boy Arnold, and San Francisco-born blues guitarist Joe Louis Walker all sat in with Alvin that evening, making for a very eventful evening for fans of blues and American roots music. The show was captured on tape, and Live in Long Beach 1997 allows listeners to hear Alvin mix it up on-stage with a few of his heroes. Songs include "Barn Burning", "Long White Cadillac", "I Wish You Would", "Chains of Love", "Jolie Blon", "Wabash Cannonball", and more.

Rootsier than Robert Cray, more soulful than Jimmie Vaughan, and boasting a gospel background similar to the great Sam Cooke, Joe Louis Walker is a contemporary soul/bluesman who flawlessly and effortlessly mixes his diverse influences. On his first album in three years (and Telarc label debut), Walker proves he's an artist capable of terse, searing guitar solos, as on the R&B "Do You Wanna' Be With Me?"; mid-tempo, jazzy soul such as "Leave that Girl Alone"; or rugged acoustic Delta blues like the appropriate album-closing "Strangers in Our House." Walker - who began his career playing religious music - not surprisingly proves himself a more than adequate soul/gospel vocalist in the Al Green vein on the spiritual "Where Jesus Leads"…