New Blues 10-28-25
By Jack Roy
Erin Harpe and Jim Countryman – Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me: A Tribute To Mississippi John Hurt- Vizztone – A wonderful CD from a Duo that has been playing, teaching and providing enjoyable Country Blues for quite a while. Erin’s voice super solid and believable in the music that they play. Some Great covers of John Hurt.
Randy Lee Riviere – Farmhand Blues – Wilderness – Interesting CD, kind of Rock/Blues. The band consists of Randy Lee Riviere on vocals and guitar, Doug Lancio on guitar, Bob Britt on guitar, Michael Saint-Leon on guitar and harmonica, Mike Rojas on keyboards, Robert Kearns on bass and Tom Hambridge on drums, percussion and background vocals. Some great grooves on this album.
The Luck Losers – Arrival – Momojo Records – Nice mellow full band with the duo of Cathy Lemons and Phil Berkowitz heading up the band. The rest of the band consists of Chris Burns on Keys, Simon Govan Smith on Guitar, Edgar San Gabriel on Bass, Jon Otis on Drums with special guests of Danny Caron on Guitar, Kid Anderson on Guitar, Keys and Bass, Endre Tarczy on Bass and Paul Revelli on Drums. Phil, while lending a hand to vocals, mostly play Harmonica through out the Album.
Manu Lanvin – Man On A Mission – GEL Production – French Blues/Rock artist, maybe leaning towards the Rock. Great Voice and Great Guitar playing. Very big band supporting him on this CD including Raphael Chassin, Mickael Desir, Julien Audigier, Jimmy Montout, & Karim Bouazza on drums/percussion, Axel Bauer on electric guitar/drum machine, Laurent Vernerey & Nicholas Bellanger on bass, Bennett Holland on keys, Michael Robinson, Zhane Lanvin, Julie Layse, Jenny Bonneau, Ahmed Mouici, BJ Scott, Chantal & Steve Kashala on background vocals, Malcolm Strachan & Athol Ransome on Horns, Psot Boys on percussion, Bako Mikalian on harmonica, Quentin Bachelet on vinyl scratch/piano, and Mick Ravassat on slide guitar.
Otis Taylor – Otis Taylor Live – Trance Blues – Finally a new album from Otis Taylor. Live recordings with some of Otis’s standard hits from the years like Nasty Letter, Hey Joe and Rain So Hard. It’s out on Spotify, but not much more info even off of his official website. Really good to hear him again.
North Mississippi Allstars – Still Shakin‘ – Luther and Kody Dickinson do their self proud celebrating 25 years of their unique sound and their musical nod to the greats of the North Mississippi Hill Country. Band consists of Luther and Kody with Joey Williams (the Blind Boys of Alabama), and Rayfield “Ray Ray” Holloman (Eminem, Ne- Yo). They have also brought some amazing guest musicians including Duwayne Burnside, Robert Kimbrough, Jojo Hermann and Joey Williams. This is an excellent CD!!
