Nearly a year in the making and brimming with a newfound focus on original material, Already Free is The Derek Trucks Band's natural evolution as they move forward integrating influences that span a variety of musical genres. Known for their blues roots, the group takes this album well beyond blues to incorporate the larger sounds of rock & soul. Already Free, features a stirring cover of Bob Dylan's Down In The Flood as well as the new songs, Down Don't Bother Me and Get What You Deserve. Guest appearances on the album include vocals from Susan Tedeschi and Doyle Bramhall II. Amazon

There is nothing blues-conventional about Kennedy's background: he comes from Hamilton,in southern Ontario, and had a spell in the 70's with the Chairmen Of The Board. As he says "I have few links to any recognised tradition." He doesn't stand entirely outside the soundworld of the blues: his voice and geniality recall Taj Mahal,and he is happy to work with familiar structures and themes, though he uses those tools to fashion original blues of charm and individuality. what sets this album apart from many - including its predecessor, Voice + Story {Black & Tan ,2005} - is the ingenious variety of the musical arrangements,which deploy accordion, keyboards,guitars and assorted percussion. the result is that uncommon thing, a blues album you can leave on 'repeat' setting.-- Tony Russell

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Eric Clapton: his music, his story. 36 of Eric's greatest songs from 1968 to 2006 in one collection for the first time ever! This 36 selection multi-disc set features hits from 1968 to 2006 including "Crossroads," Badge," "Layla," "Tears In Heaven," "Change The World" and much more. Amazon

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As authentic as the lines on his forehead and his droopy eyes, veteran bluesman Charlie Musselwhite gets better with age. (At 62, he's a respected survivor with dozens of albums to his credit.) On Delta Hardware the journeyman musician pays tribute to, and revels in, his Mississippi roots. Although he's spent time in Chicago and on the West Coast, for this album of churning swamp and deep Southern blues he taps his formative years in the town of Kosciusko.

Musselwhite's poignant voice and crying harmonica convey loss and sadness on the tense, swirling "Black Water," one of two tracks dealing with Hurricane Katrina. His full-bodied, amplified harp cuts like Paul Butterfield and especially Little Walter, two of whose songs he covers here. Give Musselwhite's backing group credit too, especially guitarist Chris "Kid" Anderson, who slices into the slow, riff-based, Walter-penned "Just a Feeling" with Ronnie Earl-styled precision. Even on the straight-ahead shuffle of "Blues for Yesterday," the band nails a sweaty, edgy groove that's as genuine as it is driving. Producer Chris Goldsmith keeps the sound lean, mean, and just muddy enough to conjure images of the band churning out these dark, dusky Delta blues on a porch in the midst of a sweltering summer's night. The no-frills approach is perfect for Musselwhite's otherworldly harp playing to express his years and miles on the endless blues highway. --Hal Horowitz

This collection of modern soul/blues has reverberations of past singers and yet is a forward leap for the music. Truly a hand-made project, A New Point of View was made the “old-school” way with tender loving care. Originals like “Long Way Home” give a nod to Issac Hayes, while Johnnie Taylor's “Ain't That Lovin' You (For More Reasons than One)” draws more inspiration from Dennis Brown's version than the original. Each song creates a balance between classic and modern style.

Horn and string arrangements by arranger Willie Henderson (Tyrone Davis, Chi-Lites), burnish the tracks with harmonic sophistication never sacrificing Robinson's vocals in the process.

The band's performance is a marvel of democracy; equal parts blues and soul coming together to create the canvas that Robinson is free to fill with color and personality. (Review Severen Records)

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Product description on Amazon.com
Hailed by Newsweek Magazine as a cross between Billie Holiday and Lauryn Hill, British soul singer Amy Winehouse's U.S. debut, Back To Black hits the US amid a flurry of accolades, radio and TV buzz unprecedented in recent years for a young siren.
Her brassy mix of emotive vocals tinged with 60's girl-group stylings, sly funk, and anguished jazz, sparked the New York Daily News to crown Back To Black a "marvelous debut that would do Etta James proud" while New Yorker Magazine called her "a fierce English performer whose voice combines the smoky depths of a jazz chanteuse with the heated passion of a soul singer," and Spin Magazine affirming "there's never been A British star quite like her."

Back To Black smolders with a bristling fusion of old school doo-wop/soul inflected uprisings, (the charismatic singer/songwriter wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album) brewing instant classics such as the Shirley Ellis influenced "Rehab," the Supremes tinged title song "Back To Black," the aching "Wake Up Alone," and the album's closer, "Addicted."

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