Tribute to Jim Hall

The intimate musical get together that occurred in June 1969 was due to a large extent to the close friendship between the inimitable American guitarist Jim Hall and Producer Joachim Ernst Berendt. As Hall was visiting him in Berlin, Berendt proposed a recording with bassist Jim Woode and drummer Daniel Humair; this configuration developed into an intensely introspective session.

The intimate musical get together that occurred in June 1969 was due to a large extent to the close friendship between the inimitable American guitarist Jim Hall and Producer Joachim Ernst Berendt. As Hall was visiting him in Berlin, Berendt proposed a recording with bassist Jim Woode and drummer Daniel Humair; this configuration developed into an intensely introspective session.

The intimate musical get together that occurred in June 1969 was due to a large extent to the close friendship between the inimitable American guitarist Jim Hall and Producer Joachim Ernst Berendt. As Hall was visiting him in Berlin, Berendt proposed a recording with bassist Jim Woode and drummer Daniel Humair; this configuration developed into an intensely introspective session.

Peter Green was regarded by some fans as the greatest white blues guitarist ever, Eric Clapton notwithstanding. Born Peter Greenbaum but calling himself Peter Green by the age of 15, he grew up in London's working-class East End. Green's early musical influences were Hank Marvin of the Shadows, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Freddie King, and traditional Jewish music. He originally played bass before being invited in 1966 by keyboardist Peter Bardens to play lead in the Peter B's, whose drummer was a lanky chap named Mick Fleetwood. The 19-year-old Green was with Bardens just three months before joining John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, whose rapidly shifting personnel included bassist John McVie and drummer Aynsley Dunbar.

Spanning the years 1993 – 2004 this collection features remastered versions of the albums ‘Living On the Outside’ and ‘Poor Boy Blue’, and also includes a further 35 additional tracks drawn from demos, studio out-takes and previously unreleased live recordings from Jim’s personal archive. The album ‘Living On the Outside’ was first released in 2001 and featured guest appearances by such notable musicians as George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Paul Weller, Ian Paice and Gary Moore. ‘Poor Boy Blue’ would be Jim’s final album and was issued in 2004.

Blues Hall of Fame inductee Walter Davis was a prolific and innovative artist who played an influential role in the creation of the pre-war Blues scene. On The Walter Davis Project a diverse collection of Blues Legends pay tribute to the man and his music, including Billy Boy Arnold, Jimmy McCracklin, Charlie Musselwhite, Christian Rannenberg and Keith Dunn, and Henry Townsend with Bob Corritore. The 17 track collection of Walter Davis' compositions include R&B Legend Jimmy McCracklin's final recordings as well as an interview with Mr. McCracklin, who was taught piano as a child by Walter Davis, by producer Christian Rannenberg, plus 2 tracks from Charlie Musselwhite and an unreleased track from 2002 by Henry Townsend with Living Blues Award winner Bob Corritore. 2012 Blues Hall of Fame member Billy Boy Arnold contributes 9 tracks. The Walter Davis Project album will be treasured by both Blues music lovers and collectors. "To me, Walter Davis's singing, piano playing and lyrics are really deep blues…about as deep as you can get. His lyrics are true blues poetry. His sound has such a deep deep feeling to it. It does what only deep blues can do: it touches your heart and comforts you in a poignant way." – Charlie Musselwhite

New York-based guitarist Larry Newcomb's latest album, Living Tribute, isn't directed toward a single honoree but several, some of whom are living and some of whom are not. One of them, fellow guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, even bolsters Newcomb's regular quartet, playing with the sort of bounteous energy that makes it hard to believe he would be celebrating his ninety-first birthday a month after the studio date was held in December 2016.