We loved the sexy, hard-as-nails Denise LaSalle for creating a series of titanic grooves, and also because we were never certain that she couldn’t have kicked our ass.

The late New Orleans soul-blues great Rockie Charles stashed a dandy little Christmas treat deep within his terrific 1996 ‘Born For You’ LP.

At a young seventy-six years old, Jerry Granelli still pushes forward even when his muse beckons him back, as it does for the Bill Frisell/Robben Ford reunion ‘Dance Hall.’

Right at the time southeastern Texas was beset by a major hurricane in late summer of 2017, the Wood Brothers recorded a song that perfectly captures that catastrophic time in their signature folksy manner.

Older, wiser and brimming with confidence, Jonny Lang makes his strongest case yet for his early fans who fell in love with that high school phenom to come running back to him. In 2017, ‘Signs’ fulfills the promise of 1997.

With Taj Mahal and Keb Mo’s ‘Tajmo,’ you have two folk/blues legends, two generations – and one marvelous meeting.

Though mainly thought of as a premium blues singer and guitarist, I tend to see Robert Cray as part of a long line of great soul men.

Eric Bibb’s awareness-raising ‘Migration Blues’ soothes the soul as it kindles the mind.

On ‘Live At The Barn,’ The Wood Brothers brought Little Feat attitude with Taj Mahal worldliness and soul to Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble Woodstock barn last summer.

The Rolling Stones bring an effervescence and a sense of fun to ‘Blue and Lonesome’ that makes it entirely listenable.