Texas Piano Blues

This is a good collection of piano-accompanied vocals sporting bluesmen who worked the lumber camps and oil fields of rural Texas, as well as the red-light districts of cities like Galveston and Houston. Big Boy Knox shows a strong city influence in his decorative right-hand work, as does Robert Cooper, whose playing points to the influence of Fats Waller. Joe Pullem is on board with his hit, "Black Gal," which is perhaps overstated by three takes and a variation. The vocals are good, however, and the piano playing is uniformly excellent. Stylistically, this music falls somewhere between ragtime, blues, and vaudeville.

Texas Rhody Blues, featuring Jimmie Vaughan and Duke Robillard, is the third Knickerbocker All-Stars CD release. The project was supported by the Knickerbocker Music Center, a non-profit organization formed in partnership with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School. The Knickerbocker Music Center will have an exciting performance venue and an exceptional center for music education. This CD has its roots in The Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals of the late 1950s and early ‘60s which turned many white soul searchers on to blues, rhythm and blues, and jump blues. In 1963, Blues at Newport was recorded live at the Newport Folk Festival, which featured many of the greatest folk and delta blues musicians.

Dallas-based guitarist, singer, and songwriter Bob Kirkpatrick may not be a household name, but he's been quietly building an audience for the last 30 years in clubs around Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Although he hadn't recorded in 23 years prior to 1996's Going Back to Texas, Kirkpatrick has long been a regional star in the Texas triangle, but since he has always made family his first priority, his recording/blues career fell somewhere down the ladder. Kirkpatrick, born in 1934 in Haynesville, LA, became interested in music at age six, starting out on piano and switching to guitar. Kirkpatrick worked with Ivory Joe Hunter while attending school at Grambling, doing some road dates, but it wasn't until he saw B.B. King in 1958 that he became a true convert to the blues.

From the earthy guitar-driven country blues of Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charley Patton to the sequined glamour of the classic blues singers Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, this Rough Guide charts the early recorded history of the blues through its key pioneers.

I've heard about Javier Vargas for a few years now, and my first real introduction to him was a live CD that I was able to obtain a couple months back. Since then I've been able to locate several other CD's that's he's recorded over the last few years. "Gipsy Boogie" is a different CD from the previous one's that I've obtained. While most of the others were solidly into Texas style blues overall, this CD strays in style to a more latin flavored blues. Think Texas blues mixed with Carlos Santana style latin sounds along with a strong dose of Spanish classical and flamenco music. This CD over the others that I've obtained shows Javier Vargas at his most diverse musical styles.