I've said it before, and I'll say it again - bluesman Otis Taylor is one of the most interesting and complex artists on the contemporary blues scene. A natural story-teller who has never been afraid to tackle complex issues of race or romance, Taylor's intelligent lyrics are overshadowed only by the distinctive style that he's developed that's known as "trance blues." Taylor is also an amazingly prolific artist, releasing nine albums over the past ten years, garnering 19 W.C. Handy/Blues Music Award nominations, including a win for his 2001 debut album White African and another as "Best Instrumentalist" in 2009.

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Regular readers know that Alligator Records celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2011, a milestone that we recognized with our "Alligator Records Album of the Month" reviews throughout the year. To cap off an incredible year that saw acclaimed CD releases by artists like JJ Grey and Mofro, Marcia Ball, Tommy Castro, and the label's 40th Anniversary Collection set, now comes the news that Alligator founder Bruce Iglauer...

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Christmas shopping continues, but the Billboard magazine blues chart for the week ending December 31, 2011 shows little change as the usual suspects continue to move copies of their latest CDs and a couple of others drop out of sight. Joe Bonamassa continues to hold on to his status as one of the best-selling artists in the blues, his Dust Bowl album sitting at number eight, while his excellent collaboration with singer Beth Hart, Don't Explain, remains at number six. Grammy® Award interest, as well as his annual Christmas benefit shows, has seemingly moved Warren Haynes' Man In Motion album back onto the chart at number fourteen.

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It's back to usual as the Billboard magazine blues chart for the week ending January 7, 2012 pretty much shakes off the Christmas sales season and settles back into the old normal. Marsalis and Clapton, Hugh Laurie, and the Tedeschi Trucks Band continue to dominate the top three spots, while mainstream awareness of R&B great Etta James' ongoing health problems (even USA Today is reporting on James now) helped push her latest collection, The Dreamer, back onto the chart.

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Every year for the past dozen or so turns around the sun, the good folks at The Oxford American - a Southern literary journal - have published their annual "Music Issue," focusing on the rich diversity and musical heritage of a single state. For the publication's 13th annual music issue, they're taking a look at the great state of Mississippi, much beloved of blues fans and the birthplace of all sorts of interesting and influential music.

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As the Billboard magazine blues chart for the week ending January 14, 2012 continues to spin in circles, it's becoming abundantly clear that current sales of blues albums is being fueled by the casual, or more mainstream music fan than by the hardcore blues faithful. How else does one explain the ascendance of Hugh Laurie's Let Them Talk album back into the number one spot this week after a couple of months simmering at number two? And how does the otherwise mediocre Play The Blues collaboration between jazzman Wynton Marsalis and part-time blues guitarist Eric Clapton continue to sell enough copies to just now sink to number two after holding the top spot in a stranglehold for several weeks?

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Shreveport, Louisiana television station KTBS is reporting on its website that Texas blues pianist Omar Shariff (a/k/a David Alexander) passed away on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at the age of 73 years old, evidently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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Bluesman Gary Davis is a true triple threat entertainer - a talented guitarist and songwriter as well as an accomplished stage actor - who has continued to raise awareness of classic blues music through his work. On February 21st, 2012 Davis will release his two-disc "audio play,"The Adventures of Fishy Waters: In Bed With The Blues, on his own independent Smokeydoke Records label. The culmination of almost 20 years of work, Davis originally performed the one-man play onstage in New York City in 1994, and has revisited it several times since in front of diverse audiences in several cities.

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The good folks at Blurt, our favorite music magazine, released their latest print issue a couple months back, and there's lots of great stuff in those pages for a music lover. Blurt consistently offers up a diverse range of music coverage, but you don't have to wait until another issue hits the newsstand in order to get your groove on 'cause Blurt online is updated daily with news, reviews, and a slew of music videos. As this list of recently published CD reviews shows, Blurt has a firm handle on the kind of music that we like to hear: blues, blues-rock, rhythm & blues, and soul. Stop by and see them sometime, and tell 'em the Reverend sent you!

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While we're always saddened by the passing of blues talents that leave behind a lifetime of great music and mourning fans, it seems like 2011 had more than its share of artist deaths. We lost a handful of elder statesmen of the blues this year in Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, and David "Honeyboy" Edwards, while on the peripheral of the blues world, talents like Clarence Clemons, Gary Moore, and Gil Scott-Heron passed on to the other side.

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Things got kind of shaken up again this week on the Billboard magazine blues chart for the week ending December 10, 2011. Gary Clark, Jr. finally rode his Rolling Stone magazine-fueled chart status into the sunset, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Joe Bonamassa jumped back on the train, and the great Etta James showed the youngsters how it's done.

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The 2012 inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio have been announced and, as usual, the artists chosen offer little relevance for blues (or even blues-rock) fans. The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Guns N' Roses are the two best-known inductees this year - Rock Music Guide Tim Grierson has the complete rundown - but there's a little surprise hidden in the fine print of the announcement. Blues guitar legend Freddie King will be inducted into the Hall in the "Early Influences" category, joining other influential artists like Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, and Robert Johnson. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but I guess that we blues fans will take any scraps that Jann Wenner and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation (which actually picks the artists sent to the physical hall in Cleveland) deign to toss our way....

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This year's Grammy® Award nominations were announced on Wednesday, but there was a bit of controversy surrounding the event even before the Academy trotted out its dog and pony show. At issue is the decision by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, which awards the Grammies, to cut the number of eligible categories this year from 109 to 78 awards. As reported by the The Independent newspaper website in the U.K. a number of former Grammy® winners like Bonnie Raitt, Carlos Santana, Paul Simon, and Herbie Hancock have criticized the cutbacks.

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Chicago blues legend Hubert Sumlin - longtime Howlin' Wolf guitarist and acclaimed solo artist - passed away today at the age of 80 years old. The beloved elder statesman of the blues reportedly died of heart failure while in a Wayne, New Jersey hospital.

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The harmonica has a lengthy and respected tradition in blues music, and its role as a lead instrument is second only to the guitar in blues history. There have been a number of amazing, innovative, and influential harmonica players through the years, from pioneers like Hammie Nixon and John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson in the 1920s and '30s to Chicago blues giants like Little Walter, Big Walter Horton, and others in the 1950s and '60s, to the current crop of talented harpslingers.

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The latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine has hit a newsstand near you, and much as they have with various "best of" lists in the past, the rag's editors have stirred up a bit of controversy of the issue's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list. The spin on this list, however, as compared to similar previous efforts, is that all of the "best" instrumentalists were chosen by a voting panel of their peers.

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Just because it's the Christmas season doesn't mean that you have to give up your blues music. Sure, holiday blues albums are scarcer than hen's teeth, and there's not a whole heck of a lot to choose from beyond our annual "It's A Blues Christmas" list. Two of the albums on that list come courtesy of our friends at Alligator Records, who definitely with all of you a "Merry Blues Christmas!" with their Genuine Houserockin' Christmas and The Alligator Records Christmas Collection album.

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The Lancashire Evening Post newspaper is reporting that British blues pioneer Keef Hartley passed away on Saturday, November 26, 2011 at the age of 67 years old. Hartley's cause of death has yet to be established.

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You all can go back to sleep, as the Billboard magazine blues chart for the week ending December 17, 2011 shows that sales seem to have entered into a Christmas slumber. Not much change from last week; Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan swaps places, as do Etta James and the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Otherwise, Hugh Laurie inexplicably retains his stranglehold on the number one slot, and record buyers still haven't gotten tired of the Wynton Marsalis/Eric Clapton collaboration.

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The holidays are upon us once more, and it's time for the Reverend to make recommendations for that special person on your gift list (or yourself, if you're prone to buying yourself a few items this time of year).

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If you're anywhere in the Sarasota, Florida area this coming weekend, there will be a couple of benefit shows held for guitarist "Dangerous" Dan Toler at Herschberger Ranch on Saturday, November 12th and Sunday, November 13th, 2011.

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Another week, and mostly more of the same...Hugh Laurie retains his death-grip on the number one spot while Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton keep on playing those blues. The Billboard magazine blues chart for the week ending November 12, 2011 holds only one surprise as guitarist Leslie West's Unusual Suspects re-enters the chart at number seven, knocking Imelda May back down the chart and out of the top ten.

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Blurt magazine, Rolling Stone, and other publications are reporting on the death of Texas blues legend Doyle Bramhall. The veteran blues band leader, drummer, and songwriter passed away on Saturday, November 12, 2011 at his Alpine, Texas home, reportedly from heart failure after suffering a bout of pneumonia.

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We told you last week that the phenomenal Ruthie Foster would be releasing her first studio album since 2009's The Truth According To Ruthie Foster, on January 31, 20121 via her own independent Blue Corn Music imprint. Titled Let It Burn, the album was recorded in New Orleans with some of the city's best and brightest blues and R&B talents.

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Blues Blast magazine held its annual awards ceremony last night with a blow-out celebration and musical party at Buddy Guy's Legends club in Chicago. Guy, and the young band Trampled Under Foot were the big winners at this year's event. See who else won a 2011 Blues Blast Music Award....

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The Toronto Blues Society has announced the nominees for the 15th annual Maple Blues Awards, which recognize excellence and achievement in blues and roots music. This year's list offers nominees in sixteen categories, from individual instrumental talents to artist awards.

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One of the fastest-rising young talents in the blues world is singer and songwriter Ruthie Foster. Since her 2007 breakthrough album The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster made heads snap around with whiplash intensity, Foster's inspired creative mix of blues, soul, rock, folk, and gospel music has earned the singer a pair of seemingly contradictory Blues Music Awards - the "Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year" in 2010 and, earlier this year, the "Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year)".

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The well-respected blues label Severn Records is far-too-often overlooked in the shadow of larger and more prolific records labels. Nonetheless, it's easy to tell that the folks behind Severn are true blues fans, and during the past couple of years they've released solid albums from folks like Sugar Ray & the Bluetones, guitarist Johnny Moeller, singer Tad Robinson, and many others. After receiving a couple of recent press releases from the company, however, one has very good reason to believe that Severn is going to the birds!

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Former Guns 'n' Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash, who recently released his solo debut album, is a major league advocate for blues-rock guitar legend Rory Gallagher's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Ultimate Guitar website reports that Slash recently posted a petition to Twitter that says, in part, "Rory has legions of fans the world over, and his music and guitar playing continue to captivate fans and musicians worldwide. Indeed he has influenced and inspired many artists including Slash, Brian May, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, John Hammond, The Edge, Gary Moore, Joe Bonamassa, and was invited by Muddy Waters to play on one of his albums."

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Another week and it's like déjà vu all over again! Much like last week, the Billboard magazine blues chart for the week ending November 5, 2011 offers few surprises. The Tedeschi Trucks Band's Revelator moves up a spot, pushing down Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa. Stevie Ray Vaughan vaults to the number seven slot and Etta James slides down to number ten, yada yada yada. Meanwhile, Carolyn Wonderland's Peace Meal and Leslie West's Unusual Suspects continue to bubble under at #11 and 12, respectively.

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If you're in the Chicago area this coming Wednesday, October 19th, 2011 you may want to drop by Buddy Guy's Legends that evening. The club is holding a benefit fundraiser for the Honeyboy Edwards Fund For The Blues at the National Blues Museum. The night will celebrate the lives and career of Edwards and contemporaries like Pinetop Perkins, Homesick James, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Henry Townsend, and Robert Lockwood Jr.

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Unfortunately, we have to report this week on the postponement of the scheduled "3 Guitar Heroes" tour which was to feature blues-rock guitarist Leslie West, and legendary hard rock fretburners Michael Schenker and Uli Jon Roth. The talented trio couldn't overcome travel plans complicated by the recent emergency amputation of West's leg. West is currently confined to a wheelchair, and while he's been fitted with a prosthetic leg, it's going to take months of therapy before he could perform with the new appendage. We'll let you know when the tour is re-scheduled. In the meantime, you can check out the Reverend's review of West's new Unusual Suspects album and see what the guitarist is up to these days.

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Bluesman Otis Taylor has always - to use a well-worn cliché - thought outside of the box musically. Now he's taking his influence and participation in blues music to a new level, from performing to promoting with the scheduling of the artist's first annual "Otis Taylor Trance Blues Festival," which will be held from November 25th - 27th, 2011 in Boulder, Colorado.

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Blues harpist George "Mojo" Buford, best known for his work as part of the great Muddy Waters' band, passed away on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 in a Minneapolis hospital after suffering from various health issues since the summer. Buford was 81 years old.

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British blues-rock legends Savoy Brown return to the trenches on November 8, 2011 with the Ruf Records release of the band's new album, Voodoo Moon. Savoy Brown will celebrate its ...

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The Reverend realizes that not every About.com Blues reader is a vinyl-munching, CD-hoarding music collector, but it's probably safe to say that a lot of you have been known to buy a new CD or two sometime or another. The Rev also realizes that there's a recession/depression kind of thing going on these days, and that every dollar counts. That's why I'm going to clue you all in on a way to stretch your entertainment budget to the max with this handy shopping tip.

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