by Nick DeRiso It’s been more than 50 years since Stan Lewis opened Stan’s Record Shop in downtown Shreveport. From his vantage point at the the top of Texas Avenue (I used to sneak down there after class), he would go on to create a once-lucrative business, then see theRead More

1) Little Walter, “His Best”First gaining fame as a member of Muddy Waters band, Marksville, La.-native Little Walter pioneered the amplified harp sound that is often imitated but has not since been duplicated. Chess Records (now part of MCA) released a “Best” series that rank as one of the bestRead More

by Nick DeRiso While it doesn’t have the cohesiveness of 1992’s “Portraits of Ellington,” this makes its own kind of statement. The playlist is an evocative pairing of older, traditional big-band selections by composers like Billy Strayhorn, with more modern tunes from Miles, Monk and Coltrane. In that way, theRead More

Fans of his so-called comeback projects shouldn’t skip over ‘Connected’ as they make a bee line for Allen Toussaint’s classic-era albums.

 by Nick DeRiso One of her best Rounder releases, and hilariously named, is “Let Me Play With Your Poodle.” Featured is legendary guitar virtuoso Clarence Holliman, the guy who burned through Bobby “Blue” Bland’s classic 1950s and ’60 sessions. In fact, the old album titles tell it best, when talkingRead More

by Nick DeRiso “Sitting on a suitcase, in the Memphis depot – wishing to God I could fly,” sings Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown on my old record. “Catching this train is my way of telling Memphis and Mildred goodbye.” People have actually asked me to bring it to parties. The albumRead More

Neatly mixing two of our favorite topics, Branford Marsalis pays no empty lip-service to exploring blues through the jazz idiom here. In fact, you don’t have to listen more than once to hear that’s he’s gone off the deep blue end. Any CD with appearances by B.B. King, Linda HopkinsRead More