Tom Hutchison

My influences for the music on this record were so sprawling, that there had to be some elements (apart from my brilliant band) to hold it all together as one cohesive sound. So fundamentally this is my love letter to the many beautiful Afro Brazilian rhythms that I have studied over the past few years.‘Terra Boa’ is Portuguese for ‘Good earth’. In respect to the vibrant and fertile musical landscape of Brazil. Good earth which nourished the growth of my own unique musical branches from strong and deep roots. The grooves are heavily influenced by Afro Brazilian rhythmic traditions, which along with contemporary jazz harmony and improvisation, form the backbone of the music.

Amazon Review by Stuart Jefferson
If you're a blues fan chances are you're already familiar with (if you don't already own) some/many/all of these albums. But if you don't own these sets (or have only a few) this is a good way to own all 20 albums in one nice, neat box. The sound is the same as the individual albums which is very good for the various periods when these tracks were originally recorded. The jackets are fairly thick cardboard and are reproductions of the original covers. The outer box is also of good quality. There's a 34 page booklet that has a few paragraphs on each disc, and track lists, but no detailed liner notes to really put this music into some kind of perspective, but information on these artists and styles is available in various blues books/encyclopedias and on the internet.

AMERICAN EPIC, a film series produced by Allison McGourty, Duke Erikson and Director Bernard MacMahon, explores the pivotal recording journeys at the height of the Roaring Twenties, when music scouts armed with cutting-edge recording technology captured the breadth of American music and discovered the artists that would shape our world. The recordings they made of all the ethnic groups of America democratized the nation and gave a voice to everyone. Country singers in the Appalachians, Blues guitarists in the Mississippi Delta, Gospel preachers across the south, Cajun fiddlers in Louisiana, Tejano groups from the Texas Mexico border, Native American drummers in Arizona, and Hawaiian musicians were all recorded. It was the first time America heard itself.

From the very start, blues guitarists forged an irresistible partnership with the slide, the sound of which epitomizes the very essence of the genre, this Rough Guide highlights the revolutionary players who pioneered this most captivating of styles during the early recorded heyday of the blues.