Category: Blues Wednesday

Blues gets us over the hump and heading for the weekend

Blues Wednesday – Sean Chambers

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So for the last couple of weeks I’ve had Sean Chambers second album Humble Spirits on the mp3 player and have enjoyed it. Sean is a Florida bluesman in the mold of Stevie Ray Vaughan, i.e. blues with a rock edge. Humble Spirits, was produced by Bud Snyder (The Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule), and featured featured such special guests as Bernard Allison, Frankie and Dan Toler (The Allman Brothers), Bobby T. Torello (Johnny Winter) and Greg Allman band alumnus Bruce Waibel.

Sean has been ranked in the Top 50 blues rock guitarists by Britain’s “Guitarist Magazine” and he can really play! I feel that his guitar playing carries his ok vocals on the album!

Anyway there are a lot of decent songs on the album and it’s certainly worth several listens and will probably stay on the player for a while!

Sean Chambers Release Ten Til Midnight

Today I listened to his current release Ten Til Midnight.  I was only able to listen to a few of the tracks but what I heard sounded pretty good. If it cools off tomorrow the album will probably be playing when I run!

Here’s what it says on Sean’s website about the album:

On Ten ‘Til Midnight co-producer Tim Blair wanted to go for a live sound similar to their incendiary concert shows; so most of the tracks were recorded with few overdubs. They feature Chambers on guitar and vocals, and his regular touring band: Tim Blair on bass and Paul Broderick on drums. Special guests includes Ben Crider on Hammond B-3 organ, Jack Henriquez on piano, Gary Keith on harmonica, and Robin Bouie and Clarence L. Stevenson on backing vocals.

Here’s what Blogcritics says about Ten ‘Til Midnight:

Ten Til Midnight is a high-energy, pedal-to-the-metal, blues rock album that will leave you plastered against your seatback. Remember that speaker ad a few years back showing the guy sitting in a chair in front of his speakers, his hair blowing back? Yeah! That’s it, that’s the one. And that’s this CD, too. Ten cuts, 41 minutes of rockin’ blues.

So if you like Stevie Ray, Corey Stevens and other blues rock guitarists check out Sean!

Here’s “In the Winter Time” from Ten ‘Til Midnight

Common Ground- Walter Trout on a “Blues Wednesday”

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Common Ground Walter Trout

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Walter Looks for Common Ground

“If there’s a place where the truth can still be found, Lord, lead us to the common ground.” so sings one of my favorite blues artist Walter Trout on the title track of his new album Common Ground. Common Ground is Trout’s 20th album and only a few are in my collection, but those that are get listened to a lot!

From his website Trout says this about the song

“I am blown away by the polarization and cruelty in the world today,” Trout explains. “It goes beyond my understanding. I wrote the lyrics to that song as an attempt to come to terms with that, and as a wish that somehow — regardless of our faiths and nationalities and politics — we can find a place where truth and compassion can take us beyond our differences.”

Thoughts About Common Ground

Common Ground is another winner of an album by Trout full of great guitar licks and some great songwriting. To me it seems that there my be a little more acoustic guitar intros. Trout says this about making the album,:”I’d play each song for the guys on acoustic guitar, and then everybody would pitch in ideas and we’d cut the tracks while the excitement level was high,”

The guys in this case are band mates Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, John Fogerty, Elton John, etc.) on drums, Hutch Hutchinson on bass and pianist Jon Cleary (both of Bonnie Raitt’s band), and famed producer John Porter, whose credits span from Brit-pop legends the Smiths to John Lee Hooker and B.B. King to Santana. These are the same guys that played on Trout’s 2008 release The Outsider

Walter’s Influences.

In researching this piece I found this tidbit from Trout’s biography at his website, yet another guitarist influenced by Mike Bloomfield:

For Trout the journey began in 1965 when his brother brought the first album by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band into his family’s New Jersey home. “On the back cover it said, ‘Play this album loud,’ so we cranked it up and we literally had to sit down and stay there with our jaws on the floor.”

The twin guitars of Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop, and Butterfield’s juggernaut harmonica and voice, worked their magic. And the direction of Trout’s life was determined. Of course, it helped that his parents were musically informed; raising their kids on a diet of sounds that included Hank Williams, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, John Coltrane, Bo Diddley, Ray Charles and more.

Like I said this is one of Trout’s best albums and all the songs from the opening track “Maybe a Fool” to the closing track “Excess Bagge are good. I particularly liked “Hudson had Help” which is not you typically blues number!

What Others Say….

Blues Matter says this about the album: “Walter just keeps getting better….a CD full of master class guitaring, with the signature Trout, gritty impassioned vocal and composed of well structured songwriting. Another cracker!”

Final Thoughts!

So check it out! Oh, and another thing that I learned about Walter he played with John Mayall on several of John’s albums in the 1980s including one of my favorites Chicago Line and I thought that Coco Montoya was the lone guitarist on that album!! and another thing he was born in Ocean City, NJ!!!

The Video

Walter Trout performs” Common Ground” in Stanhope NJ in 2011

Blues Wednesday – James Cotton – Giant

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James Cottom Giant

So sometimes artist fall into that category of you know their name, you know they’re great and yet you’ve never listened to their music. An artist like that for me is the great James Cotton. I’ve known the name since the 60’s then the James Cotton Blues Band, but never really sought out his music only hearing it now and then on the radio’

So when I saw that the 75 year old Cotton had released a new album Giant a few weeks ago I said in my best Toyota Commercial Voice “Now is the Time!” and downloaded the album on to the player and after listening I had one of those “What was I thinking” moments! “Superharp” at 75 has made a great blues album! You can read the press release from Alligator News here

About James Cotton-Giant

Of the 12 tracks on Giant four are new Cotton originals and co-writes. The other tracks include songs made famous by Muddy Waters (with whom Cotton playeds for several years), B.B. King, Ivory Joe Hunter and others. Cotton has always had great bands throughout his career. On Giant his band mates are Slam Allen and Tom Holland who share guitar and vocal duties, Noel Neal on bass (except for one song where Ronnie James Weber plays bass) Kenny Neal, Jr is the drummer.

Throughout the album from the opening track “Buried Alive in the Blues” to the closing track “Blues for Koko” Cotton’s harp work is outstanding. On several of the tracks like, “How Blue Can You Get?” the guitar work also stands out!

So if you like blues harmonica, like I do, don’t put off listening to James Cotton, like I did. Check out Giant, well, because James Cotton is and at 75 he’s still blowing strong!

Thinking about not listening to James Cotton makes me think about the author and book I’m reading now Greg Iles’ True Evil. Iles is one of those authors that when I pick up one of his books and read it I end up saying “wow!” and thinking why don’t I read this author’s new books as soon as they come out!!

Anyway here’s “How Blue Can You Get?” featuring Slam Allen’s guitar work!

Blues Wednesday – Hubert Sumlin

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About Them SHoes-Hubert Sumlin

Near the end of the day today I put on some Hubert Sumlin from his two albums from the 2000’s About Them Shoes and Heart and Soul and both of the albums have the later heart and soul! Sumlin played guitar for Howlin’ Wolf in the 60’s and is till going strong as a matter of fact he was the winner of The Blues Music Award for Best Tradition Artist of the Year!  You can check out his gallery here with pictures of Hubert with a boat load of stars! Ok so now I’m listening to The London Howlin’ Wolf  Sessions which I think I had on vinyl at one point but don’t know where it is now! Anyway I think I’m going to give that and some other Howlin’ Wolf music a listen tomorrow. Maybe even some Muddy Waters!

Here’s Hubert with one of my favorites “Killing Floor”

Albert Castigilia – Keepin On on a “Blues Wednesday”

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Albert Castigilia - KeePim' On

Originally posted Aug 2010 Revised July 2025

The one blues album that I listened to this was the soon to be released album by Albert Castiligia pronounced (“ka-STEEL-ya)” Keepin On.

This is how it happened

So, we’re at The College of William and Mary sweating and moving my daughter into her new dorm room on the third floor with no air conditioning and thankfully we’re done!

Yesterday was the trip down and tomorrow the trip back a little bit of music listening! The one blues album that I did listen to was the soon to be released album by Albert Castiligia pronounced (“ka-STEEL-ya)” Keepin’ On.

Discovering Albert Castiglia

I had never heard Albert Castigilia’s music until the other day when I turned on the Blues station on XM Radio and they were playing some tracks from an XM live performance and it sounded great. So I came home and listened to his release before his new albumThese are the Days and really liked it, particularly his cover of a favorite of song on mine “Loan Me a Dime”.

About Keepin On

From his website about the new album:

Most of his new CD release, Keepin On, was recorded live with very few overdubs. He enlisted five session musicians to help on the project, including harmonica master Sandy Mack, who played on “I Could Not Ask for More,” a Peter Green song. 

Mack had played on “Ghosts of Mississippi,” a track from Albert’s A Stones Throw album in 2006. According to Castiglia, “He kicked butt then and he picked up where left off on this session.

”Keepin On features five new original tunes, plus other covers of songs by John Lee Hooker, Mack Rice, T-Bone Walker, Robert Nighthawk and Bob Dylan

Castigilia met blues legend Junior Wells in 1996 and became his lead guitar player until Junior’s death in 1998. After Junior’s passing he toured with Sandy Hall and then started a solo career in 2002 with the release of his first CD Burn.

Since then he’s released  three other albums making his new album his fifth. His album These are the Days earned him a Blues Music Award nomination for “Song of the Year” for his original, “Bad Year Blues.” 

Castiglia was nominated again by the Illinois Blues Blast Awards and this time walked away a winner for “Song of the Year” for “Bad Year Blues,” as well as being nominated for the “Sean Costello Rising Star Award.”

I enjoyed Castiglia’s vocals and guitar work throughout the album. Standout tracks include the opening track “Cadillac Assembly Line, the title track “Keep On, Keepin’ On” and the closing track “Closing Time”.  But there’s good work on every track. This CD will be on the player with a while along with These Are the Days when I get home!

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The Video

Here’s “Cadillac Assembly Line” from Keepin’ On by Albert Castigialia

Joe Bonamassa – Black Rock on a “Blues Wednesday”

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Joe Bonamassa - Black Rock

So today started out a lot like yesterday, still no coffee at the 7-Eleven due to remodeling! Then I listened to tracks from several different blues albums and again nothing caught my attention.

Joe Bonamassa – Black Rock Catches My Attention

So at lunch I checked out the Billboard Blues charts and there are number one sat Joe Bonamassa’s new album Black Rock and at Number 9 Derek Trucks new album Already Free so I loaded both on the mp3 player and set out for a site to do some testing and listening on the way!

Now Bonamassa was a name I’d always heard (seems like I say this a lot!) but never listened to, my mistake! Anyway since I heard one of his albums about a year ago his music gets steady play.

So I anticipated that I would enjoy Bonamassa’s great playing and good vocals and all around strong sound.

Black Rock Doesn’t Disappoint

The first two tracks did not disappoint me and on the third track “When the Fire Hits the Sea” I caught myself saying is he playing slide guitar on this track – yep – and it was good!

Then came “Quarryman’s Lament” which opened with a different sounding instrument, which I have since learned was a clarino (a Greek type clarinet) and I said this is a great album.

“Bird on a Wire” is a Highlight!

But the best was yet to come probably the best cover I have ever heard of Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on a Wire” which opens with Greek musician Thanasis Vasilopoulos on the nei, a Greek flute-like instrument. Bonamassa took  a favorite Leonard Cohen song of mine and made it a favorite Joe Bonamassa song of mine!! It just blew me away!

Other highlights on the album include a cover of Jeff Beck’s “Spanish Boots” and Otis Rush’s “Three Times a Fool”  and a great duet with B.B. King  as they covered “Night Life”

Greek Influences Galore!

More Greek influences (a result of the album being recorded at Black Rock studios in Greece, hence the name of the album) are heard on “Athens to Athens” and the opening of a Bonamassa original “Blue and Evil”  that opens with Joe on acoustic guitar trading licks with Manolis Karadinis playing bouzouki (think mandolin or Indian instrument sarod), which quickly changes to hard guitar and sounds a little like Led Zeppelin!

Final Thoughts

Throughout the album Bonamassa’s guitar playing is awesome as usual and I think his vocals are some of the best I’ve heard from him. But the cover of “Bird on a Wire” and the use of the Greek instruments and some of the acoustic stuff just sends this album a whole different level, definitely a  5 out of 5 if not higher! I am sure this album will get lots of plays over the next few months!

Now like I said I also downloaded and listened to Derek Trucks CD Already Free which I also liked but can’t put in the same class as Black Rock. but I don’t think it’s fair to comment on that CD today so I will listen to it again and comment on it tomorrow!

The Video

Here’s “Bird on a Wire” – I think Leonard would Approve!