Recommended BLUES recordings

a new taj mahal cd, "shoutin' in key", is an excellent live recording, combining instumental and vocal blues selections. (yeah, i know blues is supposed to be a vocal genre, but there's a helluva lot of instrumental stuff out there that clearly mimics the aab rhyming scheme.) taj's backup, the phantom blues band, is comprised of absolutely first-rate musicians. IMHO, a little better sounding cd by taj mahal is "an evening of acoustic music." some may catagorize the latter recording as more "folk" than "blues," but it does have several classic blues numbers on it, including 2 great covers of robert johnson: dust my broom & come on in my kitchen. try 'em; i think you'll like 'em.

try miles davis,kind of blue on columbia #ck 64935 and mighty sam mcclain, soul survivors on audio quest. lots agree it's miles davis best work.kind of blues have several re-issues you must get columbia ck64935.

try "preaching the blues" on mapleshade. terrific slide & piedmont blues + great recording.

"Where it all begins" by the Allman brothers. Their best album by far. Incredible blues guitar and vocals. A little on the rock side, but awesome. Chill-out by JL Hooker is good too.