Awesome Live disc by this way-kool blues/rock axeslinger from Arkansas featuring 14 songs that deliver true, retro-sonic, blues-based, heavy guitar power trio rockin' excellence. Recorded live in Germany, the "Official Live Bootleg" disc includes a killer set of great original songs plus covers by Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, ZZ Top, Alvin Lee, Freddie King & Eric Clapton that showcase Tony Spinner's impressive, kick-ass, guitar playing talents & excellent soul-powered vocals. Captured live without a net with his long-time rock solid rhythm section of Michel Mulder on bass & Alex Steier on drums complete with an excellent sonic production, Tony Spinner lands down 100% authentic as a genuine, modern day "old-school" guitar hero who speaks the six string truth & rocks the blues forever on the "Official Live Bootleg" disc released by Grooveyard Records.

This was the last of the six albums John Mayall originally made for Blue Thumb/ABC Records between 1975 and 1978, about which he has said, "ABC released six of my albums as a tax write-off. A week after they were released you couldn't find them in any store." It's a live album on which Mayall fronts a quartet consisting of guitarist James Quill Smith (who sings lead on several songs), bassist Steve Thompson, and drummer Soko Richardson. The approach is rock-oriented, and the set list includes such Bluesbreakers favorites as Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm," and Freddie King's "Hideaway" (taken at a frantic tempo), along with the usual complement of generic Mayall originals, among them, a remake of "The Bear," from Blues From Laurel Canyon.

The sounds of New Orleans have always been in Maria Muldaur's blood and catalog. Dr. John appeared on her first solo album back in 1974 and she arguably hit a career high point on her first full-fledged love letter to the city, 1992's Louisiana Love Call. She returns to the Crescent City for this 2011 release, employing veteran New Orleans keyboardist Dave Torkanowsky as musical director and "facilitator" and returning to the swampy "Bluesiana music" sound that includes heavy doses of gospel and blues along with touches of jazz, soul, and funk. This is a major shift from her past two acoustic jug band releases and plays to her sultry strengths as a vocalist who can convincingly sing any style of music she feels passionate about. Muldaur revisits a few tracks she has previously recorded (an earlier version of "As an Eagle Stirreth in Her Nest" was included on 1976's Sweet Harmony) but with a band that features guitarist Shane Theriot and Subdudes bassist Johnny Allen, they and the rest of the handpicked material boil with fresh enthusiasm.

Give Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd credit for at least one thing: the subtitle of "Big Men - Big Music" to their 2003 album, Have Love Will Travel, is pretty fun, and partially accurate. The two comedians-cum-retro-bluesmen are indeed big men, and they at the very least have a big band: the back cover features no less than 12 musicians, including the duo, begging the question of just how much does the Have Love Will Travel Revue actually pull in per gig. That's a question better settled by accountants and auditors, of course, but a lot of musicians does mean that the music at the very least sounds busy, even if it doesn't necessarily sound big. But that's really no change from Aykroyd's previous musical excursion, the Blues Brothers, who always utilized a big band to make faithful music.

Journeyman blues icon vocalist/guitarist/violinist Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown delivers another solid mix of electric Texas blues, country, and swing on Timeless. At this point in his career, Brown essentially represents all that is "roots" music, which is another way of saying he has nothing to prove and the listener has everything to gain. To these ends, Brown's impassioned wail fills the sky on the slow blues "For Now So Long," he reworks "Unchained Melody" into an atmospheric John Coltrane-inspired piece, and he delivers a funny yet compelling Sun Ra-esque spoken word intro on "The Drifter." Featuring a full complement of horns and a rhythm section, Timeless showcases all that makes Brown a living national treasure.

Now You Can Talk About Me collects mid- and late-period Smith, with the harmonica genius' '60s sides for the microscopic imprint Sotoplay sampled on the first five cuts. The remainder of the album is from a 1982 session for the Murray Brothers label with Rod Piazza behind the board, which produced the Boogie'n with George album. Also included are the previously unreleased "Last Chance" and a powerful instrumental slow-burner. Junior Watson shines on guitar on these tracks and Smith's tone is big, fat, rich, and full of ideas galore on tunes like "Bad Start," "Astatic Stomp," "Sunbird," and the title track. But Smith's use of a chromatic harp will strike most blues mavens as something unique and out of the ordinary, as he tackles such standards as "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and "Peg o' My Heart" with considerable élan, imparting both with a bluesy feel that Jerry Murad & the Harmonicats could only envision. If you like great blues harmonica playing, you're going to love Now You Can Talk About Me. Add Smith's name to the list of all-time greats near the top with this one.

Living Proof is Buddy Guy's 26th studio album. After nearly fifty years in the music business, this was Buddy's highest charting album ever, peaking at #46 on the main Billboard album chart. The album loosely follows the progression of Buddy Guy's life. "Living Proof was designed partially as an aural autobiography from the legendary Buddy Guy, opening up with the stark summation “74 Years Young,” then running through songs that often address some aspect of a working musician's life."

Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton was Eric Clapton's first fully realized album as a blues guitarist – more than that, it was a seminal blues album of the 1960s, perhaps the best British blues album ever cut, and the best LP ever recorded by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Standing midway between Clapton's stint with the Yardbirds and the formation of Cream, this album featured the new guitar hero on a series of stripped-down blues standards, Mayall pieces, and one Mayall/Clapton composition, all of which had him stretching out in the idiom for the first time in the studio. This album was the culmination of a very successful year of playing with John Mayall, a fully realized blues creation, featuring sounds very close to the group's stage performances, and with no compromises.

Phil Guy didn't eclipse his older brother Buddy's status as a blues superstar, and in reality, Phil's funky brand of blues was not captured correctly for posterity. But he remained an active attraction on the Chicago circuit, following in his sibling's footsteps and patiently waiting for his own star to rise up until his death. Like his sibling, Phil Guy played with harpist Raful Neal (for a decade) before leaving the Baton Rouge scene for Chicago in 1969. There he played with his brother's high-energy organization as well as behind harpist Junior Wells (Phil handled guitar duties with Sammy Lawhorn on Wells' underrated mid-'70s Delmark album On Tap).]

Eric Gales was hailed as the second coming of Jimi Hendrix when he first hit the blues circuit, an anointment that carries with it impossible pressures, and while Gales is a wonderful guitarist (naturally right-handed, he was taught to play the guitar left-handed, an odd thing, but again, Hendrix-like), he isn't Hendrix, nor will he or anyone ever be. Working out of the power trio format, Gales has more than proven he can play on his many albums, but his voice is average at best, and his songs tend toward the generic, often more like vehicles for guitar leads than actual songs that are crying out to be sung. That's why Ghost Notes is so intriguing, because it's Gales' first all-instrumental album, and therefore it bypasses his weaknesses as a performer and plays to his strengths – the man sure can play guitar.

Matt Schofield is regarded as one of the most distinctive and innovative British blues guitarists, and has been rated in the top ten of British blues guitarists by Guitar & Bass Magazine. Schofield's prowess has taken his band to twelve countries; seen him playing with musicians including Buddy Guy and Robben Ford; and brought a note in the Penguin Book of Blues Recordings as one of only two living British artists to gain the maximum four-star rating. In addition, he has been admitted to the British Blues Awards Hall of Fame. His debut album for Provogue, Schofield finds himself as representative for the long tradition of British Blues on the ultimate blues guitar label, and gaining a home amongst his peers - the world's greatest contemporary blues players.