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This is definitely not an album for the blues purists. However, it is well-crafted, full of memorable
songs, and very strongly blues-inflected. If that suits, do lend an ear!

Norman Darwen

Bob Corritore—Spider In My Stew—Southwest Musical—ASIN :

B08ZJMNDSP

As well as being an excellent blues harp player Bob Corritore is
also proprietor of Phoenix, Arizona’s blues club The Rhythm
Room and he gets performers at the club to play and record with
him. This new album features no less than 38 performers (!)
playing on 14 tracks, including blues classics such as Willie
Dixon's 'Wang Dang Doodle' and J.B. Lenoir's 'Mama Talk To
Your Daughter'. Featured artists include Sugaray Rayford, John

Primer, Lurrie Bell, Alabama Mike and Johnny Rawls as well as
three female vocalists - Diunna Greenleaf, Shy Perry and Asleep
at the Wheel's Francine Reed. As usual with Bob's records
everything sounds really good, very authentic and these are very much band albums with Bob's
harp featured but not excessively and the different singers and musicians bringing a pleasing
variety from straight Chicago blues and jump blues, to R&B and soul. My personal favourites were
Sugaray Rayford's rocking 'Big Mama's Soul Food', Johnny Rawls' soulful 'Sleeping with the Blues'
and Francine Reed's 'Why Am I Treated So Bad' although most of the tracks were equally as good,
the only track I wasn't too keen on was Dylan's 'I Shall Be Released' which I didn't think worked.

Graham Harrison

The Black Keys—Delta Kream—Nonesuch—ASIN : B08QW81HSJ

I probably shouldn't admit it but I've never really got the Black
Keys, although I can't deny that they have been very successful
with the extremely unlikely blueprint of updating hill country
'trance' blues with rock overtones. On this new album recorded
at Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville they forego
original songs to re-visit their blues roots and they are joined by

Kenny Brown (guitar) and Eric Deaton (bass) who played with
both R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. The album takes its
name from William Eggleston’s iconic Mississippi photograph
that is on its cover.

'Crawling Kingsnake' originally by John Lee Hooker but also recorded by Junior Kimbrough sets the
tone for the album with Patrick Carney and Deaton laying down a basic but rock solid base, with
Auerbach adding his rhythm guitar and vocals and Kenny Brown topping it off with his slide guitar.
Fred McDowell's 'Louise' is more of the same but with a more relaxed groove - it eventually breaks

down towards the end and you hear "We'll fade out on that..." - but they just left it all, emphasising
the impromptu nature of this project, recorded in just ten hours over two days. R. L. Burnside's
'Poor Boy a Long Way From Home' picks up the pace with a great guitar sound from Dan and
Patrick's drums skipping along behind, while Kimbrough's 'Stay All Night' reverts to the laid-back,
hypnotic trance blues. Sam Bacco adds additional percussion and Ray Jacildo adds his organ on a
couple of tracks, including Big Joe Williams' 'Mellow Peaches' and Kimbrough's 'Come And Go With
Me', but it's very much in the background. This is essentially a guitar album featuring Auerbach