Like everything on Memphis Slim's album Goin' Back to Tennessee or Alvin Youngblood Hart's "Tallacatcha" (a Western swing performance worthy of Bob Wills), Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's 1975 Barclay album Down South in the Bayou Country completely transcends any and all attempts to confine this diverse artist within the artificial parameters of blues or any other preordained category. Consisting mostly of songs written by Hoyt Garrick, Jr., Charles Gressett, and David Craig with additional tunes by J. Loyd and Joe Stampley, this pretty parfait of country & western, Southern rock, cowboy hoedown, and electric Cajun soul music was recorded during February and March 1974 in Bogalusa, LA. Gatemouth, fresh from his tenure as Deputy Sheriff of San Juan County, NM, sounds particularly pleased to be active at the center of a project so completely infused with authentic Southern sensibilities. Perhaps the most satisfying track off of the original album is "Loup Garou." This hoodoo funk ritual with background vocals by Geraldine "Sister Gerry" Richard sounds as if it might have been influenced by Dr. John's "Loop Garoo," which had appeared on that artist's Atco album Remedies in 1970.

Based in Memphis, Georgia native Victor Wainwright has a shelf full of Blues Music Awards and a Grammy nomination. Memphis Loud confirms the singer-pianist’s reputation as a dynamic performer and songwriter who’s expanding his roots music foundation in captivating directions…

Before Gate was able to rebuild a following stateside, he frequently toured Europe. He recorded the contents of this inexorably swinging set in France in 1973 with all-star backing by keyboardists Milt Buckner and Jay McShann, saxists Arnett Cobb and Hal Singer, among others. Brown indulges his passion for Louis Jordan by ripping through "Ain't That Just like a Woman" and "Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens" and exhibits his immaculate fretwork on the torrid title item.

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown was one of the most jazz-oriented of bluesmen, a colorful guitarist and a primitive but swinging fiddler. On this release he includes many instrumental sections in his performances including four all-out boppish jazz jams ("Digging New Ground," "C-Jam Blues," "The Peeper" and the stomping "We're Outta Here"). Brown's vocals, which feature consistently intelligent lyrics ("Better Off With The Blues" is particularly memorable), are part of the music rather than the entire show; he even gives his obscure backup horns chances to solo. The set is a particularly strong example of Gatemouth Brown's music with each of the 11 selections (except perhaps for "I Will Be Your Friend," a poppish vocal duet with Michelle Shocked) being well worth hearing.

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's tough-minded approach to the blues, country, Cajun, and jazz insures a minimum of nonsense and a maximum of variety, while his virtuosity on the guitar and fiddle insures the highest standards. Nonetheless, Brown's 1997 album is a landmark for the 73-year-old picker who won a Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award. All 13 tunes on Gate Swings find Brown working with his regular road quartet plus a 13-piece horn section, enabling him to prove that Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Lionel Hampton have been as important to his music as any bluesman or Creole fiddler. Gate Swings includes tunes by all three of those big-band leaders as well as compositions by Buddy Johnson, Percy Mayfield, Louis Jordan, and Brown himself, and they all swing with the massive force that only a big horn section can muster. Brown has leaned in this direction before, but Gate Swings is special, because it features the horn arrangements of Wardell Quezergue, an alumnus of the Dave Bartholomew band who arranged many of the best New Orleans R&B hits in the '60s and '70s.

Dr. John has recorded many great albums, but it's difficult to argue with such a perfect distillation of his catchy, grooving, slapdash pop work as this Rhino set. Coming out of the R&B studio subculture of New Orleans, the former Mac Rebennack possessed songwriting smarts and reams of recording expertise, each of which had reached their peak by the early '70s. Focused squarely on that prime era, 1970 through 1974, the collection begins with his only Top Ten hit, 1973's irrepressibly fatalistic "Right Place, Wrong Time." Two others come from his best album (1973's In the Right Place), the jaunty "Such a Night" and "Qualified." 1972's Dr. John's Gumbo also rates three tracks: the New Orleans classics "Iko Iko" and "Tipitina," plus "Junko Partner." The compilers were also wise to choose three songs from Gris-Gris, his unjustly neglected psychedelic debut, including "Mama Roux" and "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" (but unfortunately, not the glorious "Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya"). A version of Jimmy Liggins' jump-blues classic "Honeydripper," from 1981's Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack, spotlights his sparkling boogie-woogie piano, and the set closes with a pair of standards from his latter-day Warner Bros. years (one of which is the unofficial Mardi Gras theme "Goin' Back to New Orleans"). Whether it's for a first listen or the perfect road-trip disc, The Very Best of Dr. John has all of the New Orleans master's best recordings in one spot.

From the title of this CD, the listener can guess where zydeco artist C.J. Chenier is going with this one. Recorded in 1995, Too Much Fun features a big sound filled with multiple electric guitars, saxophones, trumpet, and percussion instruments, along with the more traditional accordion and rub boards that distinguish the genre of zydeco. C.J. Chenier contributes to the party spirit by playing the accordion, alto saxophone, and providing vocals on the CD. The rest of the Red Hot Louisiana Band gears up for an album of party music meant for dancing. It would be unthinkable in the zydeco tradition to have too much fun without dancing being on the agenda, so dance tunes rule the record. Especially hot dance tunes include "Zydeco Cha Cha," "Louisiana Two Step," "Squeaky Wheel," and "Give Me Some of That," along with the title cut. There is a humorous and admiring nod to the ladies in "Man Smart (Woman Smarter)," as well as some gritty blues on "Louisiana Down Home Blues" and "Lost in the Shuffle." The CD goes out with one last lively dance number, "Louisiana Two-Step," so that no one can ever say that C.J. Chenier kept the dancers from having too much fun.

Any cd which starts out with Blues Power featuring Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown on vocals, Eric Clapton on guitar, and Leon Russell playing piano and doing vocals is worth a listen to. Long Way Home continues to impress with every track. Brown demonstrates his musical skills, and careful choice of music. His all star cast includes Clapton, Russell, Ry Cooder, John Loudermilk (who wrote Tobacco Road and does the vocals on the cd) Sonny Landreth and Maria Muldaur. Great tracks besides Blues Power are Don't Think Twice with Maria Muldaur doing vocals with Gatemouth, Mean and Evil with Leon Russell sharing the stage with Gatemouth and of course Tobacco Road. This is a great cd for a blues or rock fan.

These are Landreth's earliest known recordings, half of them made in a single afternoon 1973 when he was just 22 years old, the other half recorded in 1977. They display Landreth in the wine of his youth, looking outward for inspiration, sounding more generally Southern than uniquely Louisianan. If you are seeking an album of Louisiana music, I suggest you look elsewhere. But if it is the long-lost first album of an acknowledged slide guitar king you seek, perhaps the finest of his generation, look no further. It is in your hands.

In response to criticism that her records weren't "country" enough, Harris recorded Blue Kentucky Girl, one of her most traditional outings. Relying on a more acoustic sound, the album largely forsakes contemporary pop songs in favor of standard country fare, including the Louvin Brothers' "Everytime You Leave" and Leon Payne's "They'll Never Take His Love from Me."…

While Emmylou Harris spent much of her career carrying on the legacy of Gram Parsons, Elite Hotel ranks among her most overt tributes to his genius, thanks to its covers of the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Sin City" and "Wheels," along with "Ooh Las Vegas" from the Grievous Angel album…