Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Take Your Time , from Ben Levin and it's a super entry to a strong line of super releases by Levin. Opening with title track, Take Your Time , Levin on piano and vocal fronts a band of great players including my man Johnny Burgin on guitar and Shorty Starr on drums. A cool shuffle track this is a strong opener and gives Burgin space to lay down some real nice riffs. Lil Ed Williams joins on Why Do Things Happen To Me with his distinctive guitar feel and vocal work. I really like the work that Levin has been doing and paired with Lil Ed on guitar, Aron Levin on guitar, Walter Cash on bass and Ricky Nye on drums, he's on fire. Burgin is up again as featured lead player on Latin influenced, Out Of Your Own Way . Burgin can really set the fuel and ignite it and I can tell his playing style immediately. I didn't know he was playing on this release on the first pass through and I heard this track and said... wow Joh...

FIVE ALLIGATOR ARTISTS RECEIVE ELEVEN BLUES MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS Toronzo Cannon Leads With Four, Followed By Curtis Salgado With Three Lil' Ed Williams Receives Two Award Nominations Shemekia Copeland and Moreland & Arbuckle Receive One Nomination Each On Monday, January 9, 2017, The Blues Foundation announced the nominees for the 38th Annual Blues Music Awards, the blues world's highest honors. Five Alligator recording artists received a total of eleven nominations. Chicago bluesman Toronzo Cannon received four nominations, including Album Of The Year and Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year for his Alligator debut, The Chicago Way . He was also nominated for Song Of The Year (for Walk It Off ) and Contemporary Blues Male Artist Of The Year. Cannon has one previous nomination. Soul and R&B singer Curtis Salgado received three nominations including Soul Blues Album Of The Year (for The Beautiful Lowdown ) and Song Of The Year (for Walk A Mi...

Lil' Ed Williams (born April 18, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. With his backing band, the Blues Imperials, slide guitarist Williams has built up a loyal following Williams and his half-brother James "Pookie" Young, received childhood encouragement and tutelage from their uncle, J. B. Hutto, and by 1975 the half-siblings had formed the first version of the Blues Imperials. A decade later and Alligator Records offered them the chance to record for a forthcoming compilation album. In the event they cut a full album's worth of material that was released as Roughhousin' (1986). They then appeared at music festivals and toured widely. Their second album release was entitled, Chicken, Gravy & Biscuits (1989), and their third LP, What You See is What You Get was issued in 1992. At this point the group disbanded, while Williams issued two solo albums; Keep On Walking, followed by Who's Been Talking (...