Reviews from these publications are listed below in chronological order. Scroll to see all reviews.
American Blues Scene
Blues Blast Magazine
Blues Bytes
Blues In The South (Australia)
Blues Matters (U.K.)
Blues News (Finland)
Bluestown (Netherlands)
Blues Roadhouse
Bman’s Blues Report
Chicago Blues Guide
Downbeat Magazine
Goldmine Magazine
Historias Del Blues
La Hora Del Blues (Spain)
Living Blues Magazine
Keys And Chords
Paris Move (France)
PhillyCheeze’s Rock & Blues Reviews
Rock And Blues Muse
Rock Doctor
Sound Guardian (Hungary)
Take Effect
WTJU
Bluestown (Netherlands) (January 26, 2023)
Het begint zo onderhand een traditie te worden , een nieuwe release uit de ‘From The Vaults Series’ en andermaal een voltreffer.
Twee oudgedienden die samen komen, verdeeld over een aantal sessies, om lekker muziek te maken samen en het resultaat daarvan vast te leggen op een plaat. Het zijn de standaard ingrediënten voor een hoop van de albums die uit de kluis van Bob Corritore komen, begeleid door de huisband van The Rhythm Room en aangevuld met wat gasten. Het is een keer op keer een prima formule gebleken en ook hier spat het plezier uit de speakers.
Bob Corritore en Jimi “Primetime” Smith kennen elkaar sinds de twee heren eind jaren ’70 beide in Chicago woonden. Toen Jimi zo’n zeven jaar geleden naar Phoenix verhuisde werden de oude banden al spoedig weer aangehaald met nu dus een album als resultaat. Voor de totstandkoming van ‘World In A Jug’ werden vier sessies gebruikt tussen 2017 en 2020, sommige in de Tempest Recording Studio te Arizona en ook de Rhytm Room werd gebruikt voor enkele live opnames. Voor de productie tekende Bob zelf samen met Kid Andersen (ook al zo’n bekende vriend van Bob en wiens naam we vaker tegen zijn gekomen in The From The Vault Series). Diezelfde Andersen nam ook de mix voor zijn rekening.
De tien tracks vliegen voorbij want vanaf opener I Got The World In A Jug tot aan afsluiter Fire and Ice is het simpelweg genieten van een bonte verzameling aan muzikanten die met hoorbaar plezier staan te spelen. Natuurlijk wisselen Bob en Jimi beurtelings hun plek in de spotlight met verve in maar de begeleidende band die daar de ruimte voor creëert verdiend evenzoveel krediet, dit is een formatie van grote klasse.
Met het risico nemend dat ik herhaling begin te vallen, kan ik eigenlijk alleen maar stellen dat deze uitgave andermaal verplichte kost is en dat het gerust meer dan deze tien nummers had mogen bevatten.
– Jan Wolf
Blues News (Finland) (January 2023)
Huuliharpisti ja tuottajavelho Bob Corritore jatkaa superaktiivista julkaisutoimintaansa ilmeisen
ehtymättömistä äänitearkistoistaan löytyvillä tallenteilla, omaa nimeään kantavassa “From The
Vault” -sarjassaan. Nyt on framilla kitaristi/laulaja Jimi “Prime Time” Smith, jonka taltioinnit ovat
perua neljästä eri levytyssessiosta vuosilta 2017-2020. Aivan uunituoreesta materiaalista ei siis ole
kyse.
CD hurahtaa liikkeelle nimikappaleellaan huomattavan vintage-henkisesti, johtaen oitis mieli- ja kuulokuvani niin soitannollisesti, rytmisesti kuin Smithin laulun välityksellä blueslegenda Jimmy
Reediin. Esityksen keskivaiheilla kuultava kehotushuudahdus Bob Corritorelle töräyttää sekaan
munnarisoolo on kuin suoraan joltain Reedin 50-luvun äänitteeltä. Samanoloista rennon lakoonista
Reed-henkistä rytmiseilailua on tarjolla mm kappaleilla “You For Me” sekä “We Got To Stick
Together”.
Tässä kohden minun oli pakko porautua historian lehdille. Vuonna 1959 syntynyt Smith ei nimittäin
ole blueskuvioissa mikään eilisen teeren poika. Eikä teeren poika laisinkaan, sillä hänen äitinsä oli
ihan kohtuullista mainetta (ainakin historian perspektiivistä) nauttinut laulaava rumpali Johnnie Mae
Dunson. Sattumoisin edellä mainituista esityksistä sekä CD:n nimikappale että “Stick Together” ovat
äiti-Smith Dunsonin sävellyksiä, jotka tämä julkaisi yhdessä – kuinkas sattuikaan – itsensä Jimmy
Reedin kanssa, pienen ja lyhytikäisen Magic -levymerkin neljävitosena noin vuonna 1972. Sittemmin
äitee-Dunson sai vuosituhannen taitteessa, liki kahdeksankymppisenä, levyttääkseen ihka oman
CD:n “Big Boss Lady” (Lakada Music), jolla poikansa “Prime Time” oli oikea-aikaisesti mukana
taustabändin yhtenä kitaristina. Omissa nimissään Smith on purkittanut (ainakin) kaksi ihan
kelvollista CD:tä, “Give Me Wings” (Atomic Theory, 1998) sekä “Back On Track” (Cool Wind, 2005).
Lisäksi Jimin kerrotaan toimineen mm sukunimikaimansa Big Walter Smithin Groove Merchants –
yhtyeen kitaristina, mutta ainakaan omissa kokoelmissani olevilla yhtyeen kolmella albumilla hän ei
ole mukana.
Minford James Jimi “Prime Time” Smith on itse säveltänyt CD:n kymmenestä kappaleesta kuusi.
Niistä “Blinded” soljahtaa sutjakkaasti shuffleosastoon, kun taas heti perään kuultava, Corritoren
kuulakkaan munnarin siivittämä “In A Spin” taipuu milteinpä lattariksi. Muut ovatkin sitten
tyylipuhdasta Chicagoa, reipaspoljentoinen “Southbound”, slidekitaran dominoima “Walkin’”, sekä
“Fire And Ice” Eddie Taylor -tyylisine kitaroineen. Levyn muutamasta lainakappaleesta tempoltaan
eniten valtavirrasta poikkeaa rivakkaa sielunruokaa tarjoileva “Soul Food”. Se on myös ainoa
tulkinta, jota taustoittaa saksofonisti sekä parit taustalaulajattaret. Freddy Kingin “Love Her With A
Feeling ei ole mielestäni levyn kokonaisilmeen kannalta kaikkein paras valinta.
CD:n säestysjoukoissa on Corritoren julkaisuille tuttuun tapaan luonnollisesti mukana legenda-
ainesta. Pianisti Henry Grayn hersyvää soittoa kuullaan parilla kappaleella, samoin on parille vedolle
joukkueeseen värvätty basisti-ikoni Bob Stroger.
“Prime Time” Smith ei välttämättä kuulu aivan bluesin ykkösdivisioonaan, mutta vahvaäänisenä
laulajana tarjoilee ihan kelpoa, rehellistä ja takuuvarmaa perinnebluesia sellaista halajaville. Levyn
toinen voimahahmo on itsestään selvästi ja sen enempiä superlatiiveja viljelemättä Bob Corritore.
Kokonaisuuten hyvä ja riittävän monipuolinen julkaisu.
Mainostettakoon lopuksi tulevan toukokuun viimeisenä viikonloppuna pidettävää, 30. juhlavuottaan
viettävää Mönsterås bluesfestivaalia, jossa mm tämä parivaljakko tulee esiintymään kera
basistilegenda Bob Strogerin. Ainakin meiltä lastataan auto ruåtsinlaivaan ja pikkurapakon ylitettyä
suunnataan keula kohti etelää ja Mönsteråsin pikkukapunkia. Siinäpä turismivinkkiä loppukevään
bluesmatkailulle.
– Pertti Nurmi
Paris Move (France) (February 8, 2023)
Si l’on ne présente plus dans ces colonnes le master harmonica player Bob Corritore (chroniques ICI, ICI, ICI, ICI, ICI, ICI et ICI…), il n’en est peut-être pas de même pour son comparse du moment, le guitariste et chanteur Jimi “Primetime” Smith. Né à Chicago en 1959, ce dernier n’est autre que le fils de la batteuse, manageuse et occasionnelle songwriter d’une légende du blues local, Jimmy Reed: Johnnie Mae Dunson. Outre ce dernier, son foyer familial accueillait régulièrement des figures majeures de cette scène, telles qu’Albert King, J.B. Hutto, Willie Dixon, Phil Upchurch, Freddie Below et Hubert Sumlin. Avec de tels parrains, il n’est guère étonnant que le jeune Minford James enregistrât son premier titre (“Young Boy Blues”) dès son huitième anniversaire! Le gamin n’en attendit pas moins encore quatre ans avant d’aborder l’apprentissage de la guitare, pour se produire deux ans plus tard (âgé de 14 ans à peine) lors de l’édition 1973 du fameux Ann Arbor Blues Festival, dans le Michigan. Ses 18 ans à peine sonnés, le jeune Jimi écumait ainsi les clubs de la Windy City aux côtés de pointures telles que Fenton Robinson, Jimmie Johnson, Big Walter Horton, Floyd Jones et Eddie Taylor, avant de se relocaliser à Minneapolis, où il ne tarda pas à nouer compagnonnage avec des locaux tels que Lazy Bill Lucas et Richard Duran, alias Lynwood Slim. Dès lors, le garçon commença à enregistrer confidentiellement sous son nom, tout en accompagnant lors de tournées européennes des artistes tels que Otis Rush, Albert Collins ou Etta James. Ce n’est qu’en 1994 qu’il se résolut à former son propre band en tant que leader, enregistrant au passage le live Give Me Wings sur Atomic Theory Records, pour s’imposer en tant que house band du Blues Alley Club de Minneapolis. Chaque fois qu’il repassait par Chicago pour rendre visite à sa mère, “Primetime” y recevait un accueil triomphal, et si sa carrière discographique demeure restreinte, il n’en élargit pas moins sa réputation jusqu’à New-York et en Floride. Captées en quatre sessions distinctes (de 2017 à 2020) aux studios Tempest en Arizona (où Bob Corritore jouit de son propre rond de serviette) ainsi que, pour deux titres, live en son propre club, le Rhythm Room à Phoenix (dans le même État), ces dix plages présentent un aréopage de gunslingers de premier rang: des pianistes Henry Gray et Fred Kaplan au regretté bassiste Bob Stroger, en passant par les batteurs Marty Dodson, Allen West et Brian Fahey, ainsi que le saxophoniste émérite Doug James et les guitaristes Johnny Rapp et Patrick Skog, on ne recense ici que du beau monde. Mais l’architecture de cet album repose bien sur son noyau dur. Y évoquant celles qui liaient de grands duos guitare/harmo du passé (on songe ainsi souvent à la paire Buddy Guy/ Junior Wells, comme sur la plage titulaire), la complémentarité et la complicité dont témoignent ici Smith et Corritore alignent cinq originaux pour autant de covers (parmi lesquelles trois de la défunte maman de Jimi, ainsi que le “Love Her With A Feeling” de Freddie King), et l’ombre tutélaire du grand Jimmy Reed nimbe plusieurs d’entre elles (“You For Me”, “We Got To Stick Together”). À noter également, “Walkin” (dans une veine réminiscente d’Elmore James), ainsi que “Southbound” et “Fire And Ice” (dans celle de Muddy Waters): deep Chicago blues not deat at all!
– Patrick Dallongeville
Keys And Chords (February 9, 2023)
Jimi “Primetime” Smith absorbeerde de blues in en rond de befaamde Maxwell Street. Hij is de zoon van blues diva Johnnie Mae Dunson en leerde als tiener gitaar spelen van Jimmy Reed. Bob Corritore werd geboren in Chicago op 27 September 1956 en schuimde er als tiener de bluesclubs af. Bob verhuisde naar Phoenix, Arizona waar hij al geruime tijd de befaamde club The Rhythm Room uitbaat. Naast een befaamd mondharmonicavirtuoos is hij ook radiopresentator, record producer en talentschout. In 2007 ontving Bob een Keeping The Blues Alive Award van de Blues Foundation. In datzelfde jaar werd de release ‘Travelin’ The Dirt Road’, een samenwerking met Dave Riley, genomineerd voor een Blues Music Award. In 2011 won zijn album ‘Harmonica Blues’ een Blues Music Award voor Best Historical Blues Release. Een jaar later ontving hij een Living Blues Award in de categorie Harmonica én in 2019 won hij een Blues Blast Music Award voor Best Traditional Blues Album voor zijn release ‘Don’t Let The Devil Ride’. Bob heeft ook al enkele versies met bevriende musici van zijn ‘From The Vaults’ uitgebracht, Jime “Primitime” Smith kon dan ook in het gerenommeerde rijtje niet ontbreken. Samen met een hele rits gastmuzikanten trokken ze de studio in en openen met het swingende ‘I Got The World In A Jug’, een nummer van ma Dunson én met naast Jimi op gitaar en vocals, ook drummer Brian Fahey, pianist Fred Kaplan, de baslijnen van Bob Stroger en mondharmonicavirtuoos Corritore in de spotlights. Ieder nummer heeft -naast Bob en Jimi- wel een andere line-up. De ballade ‘Love Her With A Feeling’ is gecrediteerd Freddie King. De legendarische pianist Henry Gray mag zijn vingers opwarmen in ‘You For Me’, net zoals Patrick Skog met zijn gitaarriffs de shuffle ‘Blinded’ mag inkleuren. Het jazzy ‘In A Spin’ divergeert met de soulblues song ‘Soul Food’ en het Chicago blues extatische ‘Walkin’. We duiken nog eens in het rijkelijke songarchief van Johnnie Mae Dunson met de slijper ‘We Got To Stick Together’, om te vervolgen met het swingende ‘Southbound’ en het meesterlijke Chicago bluesje ‘Fire And Ice’. Whow!
– Philip Verhaege
American Blues Scene (February 10, 2023)
Chicago Blues veterans Jimi “Primetime” Smith and Bob Corritore deliver a collaboration of hard-hitting, real-deal blues. Having met more than 40 years ago in the Chicago blues clubs, they each followed their own star and had amazing, star studded careers before reconnecting seven years ago in their new home base of Phoenix, Arizona. Bob and Jimi have been teaming together up ever since, and this album documents their musical adventures so far — lots of good, rowdy blues fun, including two songs by Jimi’s storied mother.
Jimi “Primetime” Smith was born in 1959, smack dab in the heart of Chicago’s blues scene. The son of immensely important female blues drummer, singer, and songwriter Johnnie Mae Dunson, who partnered with Jimmy Reed, worked with the likes of Willie Dixon and ran rehearsals over her restaurant. Smith’s extended family included blues pioneers Jimmy Reed, Eddie Taylor, Willie Dixon, Koko Taylor and others. Jimmy Reed, who lived in their household, schooled young James on guitar and brought him to play at the Ann Arbor Blues Fest at the age of 14. He would go on to play with many popular Chicago musicians, including Big Walter Horton, Eddie Taylor, Big Moose Walker, Big Time Sarah and Sunnyland Slim.
Jimi moved to Minneapolis at age 19, and was soon called on to back Etta James, Albert King, Otis Rush and others. He did gigs with Lynwood Slim and Big Jay MdNeely, and went abroad with Bernard Allison and Shawn Holt and the Tear Drops. When he began appearing as a bandleader, he started spelling his name “Jimi” so that he wouldn’t be confused with organist Jimmy Smith. Jimi returned periodically to Chicago for gigs with his acclaimed Mother. Jimi released two solo albums, Give Me Wings (1998) and Black On Track (2002). He was inducted into the Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame in 2014, before he relocated to Arizona, where he soon teamed up with harp player/producer Bob Corritore, doing studio work with John Primer, Johnny Rawls, Oscar Wilson, Alabama Mike, and Sugar Ray Rayford.
“I’ve had a love affair with the blues since I first was bitten by the Muddy Waters bug,” harmonica ace Bob Corritore once told us. A disciple of and minister to the post WWII, electrified Chicago blues, Corritore calls Phoenix, Arizona his home, but the music he creates with fellow storied masters of the craft, is the sound of the South and West sides of the Windy City.
Born in Chicago in 1956 and heard Muddy Waters on the radio at age 12, and within a year he was playing harmonica and collecting blues albums. He saw blues shows in his early teens and cut his teeth sitting in on Maxwell Street until he was old enough to get in the clubs. He hung around great harp players such as Big Walter Horton, Little Mack Simmons, Louis Myers and Junior Wells, and received harmonica tips and encouragement from many of them.
Bob became friends with many blues veterans, working with many of them in the late 70s and 80s, and going into the studio to produce some classic albums. In 1981 Bob ventured southwest to live in Phoenix, Arizona, where he was soon joined by Chicagoland friend Louisiana Red. Bob started his still-running Blues radio show in 1984, and in 1991 opened the now famous Blues and Roots Concert club, The Rhythm Room. In 1999 Bob released his first CD as a national recording artist.
His many albums have now been released on Hightone, Blue Witch, and Delta Groove, and digging into his vast vault of recordings, Bob has released 10 albums since 2018 through his own Southwest Musical Arts Foundation in affiliation with VizzTone. Bob’s work has garnered a Keeping The Blues Alive Award, Blues Music Award, Living Blues Award, and Blues 411 Jimi Award. Bob remains very active with his own releases as well as numerous guest appearances on others’ albums. He performs regularly across the country and around the world with numerous projects. Bob has also become well known for organizing multi-artist showcase sets and events featuring traditional blues artists.
Together, Jimi and Bob are a musical match made in Blues Heaven. Both immensely talented and sensitive players who hit the perfect note without ever overplaying or showboating. Corritore says, “Jimi’s a gentle giant of the blues. He’s the consummate guy to back anybody. He’s always going to be the right guy for anything. Jimi will play egolessly in a second guitar part, but then shine when it’s his time to. He’s blessed our town with his presence here.”
Jimi adds, “Seems like God had a plan for me to move to Arizona and reconnect with Bob Corritore, my brother in the blues.”
The rest, as they say, is Blues Magic.
Chicago Blues Guide (February 10, 2023)
Flash back to forty or so years ago on the musically rich west side of Chicago. There you’d find one Jimi “Primetime” Smith, son of the “Big Boss Lady,” blues drummer Johnnie Mae Dunson who made her mark on Maxwell Street.
As befitting someone born into blues royalty, Smith grew up with mentors like Jimmy Reed and Eddie Taylor. He was playing the Ann Arbor Blues Festival at the tender age of fourteen and soon joined B.L.U.E.S in Chicago’s house band, playing alongside the likes of Big Walter Horton, Tenner “Playboy” Venson and Floyd Jones.
Meanwhile, “cutting his teeth” over on Maxwell Street was a brash young harpist by the name of Bob Corritore. He had caught the blues bug at the age of twelve when he heard Muddy Waters on the radio. It wasn’t long before Corritore picked up a harmonica and started obsessively collecting blues records. After seeing Waters play at his North Suburban high school gym, Corritore went all in on the blues life.
These two fellows might have come from different parts of town with disparate backgrounds, but they eventually became familiar with each other on the Chicago blues circuit where everyone speaks the same musical language.
Corritore summed up his first encounter with Smith in a recent interview with Living Blues magazine. He recalls walking into B.L.U.E.S and hearing Smith on guitar there. Corritore remembers that “I enjoyed his guitar playing, which was straight ahead, very cool.”
Although Chicago was a hotbed of blues music during this time, both musicians made the move to different parts of the country. After local gangs tried to recruit him, Smith hightailed up to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he continued to bolster his blues credentials, culminating in being named to the Minneapolis Blues Hall of Fame in 2014.
Meanwhile, Corritore made the break from the frenetic scene that was so prevalent in Chicago during the early eighties. He headed out to the Arizona desert where he continued to devote his life to playing, producing, and proselytizing the blues. About a decade later, he opened his Rhythm Room in Phoenix and began collaborating with a full slate of great musicians whenever they would play there.
As fate would have it, “Primetime” decided to make the move to the Phoenix area where he reconnected with Corritore who said in a recent Living Blues interview that, “Jimi will play egolessly in a second guitar part but then shine when it’s his time to. He’s blessed our town with his presence here.”
Smith was equally grateful for the partnership, saying, “Seems like God had a plan for me to move to Arizona and reconnect with Bob Corritore, my brother in the blues.”
With this kind of chemistry, these two kindred spirits started making beautiful music together beginning in 2017. This storied partnership resulted in The World in a Jug, which is chock full of great blues in the best Windy City tradition. It’s yet another release springing out of Corritore’s “From the Vaults” collection through the VizzTone Label Group and the Southwest Musical Arts Foundation.
On The World in a Jug, Corritore continues to build on his archival music legacy with this 10-song CD that celebrates a great musical collaboration while also paying tribute to Johnnie Mae Dunson’s songwriting talents. While she never got the recognition and royalties she deserved, she was a prolific songwriter who turned out hundreds of songs for Jimmy Reed and many others.
Her son also proves that he’s no slouch as tunesmith; Smith’s songwriting skills are showcased on six songs on World in a Jug that run the gamut from the somewhat sappy ‘You for Me” to begging his baby to head down to Alabama with him on “Southbound. This wily blues veteran also has the vocal chops that are pitch perfect for each track’s specific vibe.
It goes without saying that Corritore’s harmonica is in sync with every musical twist each track takes. As someone who has jammed with everyone from RL Burnside and Pinetop Perkins to John Primer, Mud Morganfield and so many others, Corritore’s harp always manages to complement the artist’s musical delivery, style, and identity. This is especially evident on The World in a Jug where Smith and Corritore play off each other letter perfectly. Given that they both “came up” in Chicago around the same time, this is not at all surprising.
Smith and Corritore are in tandem right out of the gate as they take on Dunson’s “The World in a Jug,” which also features the 92-year-old Chicago-based bluesman, Bob Stroger, who continues to amaze with his ageless nature and great bass contributions.
Stroger also appears on the second track as Corritore and company do a fine job on Freddie King’s “Love Her with a Feeling.” On this track, “Primetime” is right on time with his plaintive wails punctuated by some soulful spoken word.
Like other “From the Vaults” releases, The World in a Jug features impassioned performances by brilliant blues artists who are no longer with us. Such is the case with “You for Me” and “Southbound” where the late Henry Gray’s keyboard artistry is front-and-center.
“Soul Food” is another standout on The World in a Jug. This upbeat track is complete with sassy background singers and Doug James’ snazzy saxophone. In addition to this appetizing musical mix, Smith does a fine job on vocals as he checks off all the soulful delicacies he’s been craving.
From upbeat numbers like “Soul Food” to smooth grooves like “Fire and Ice,” The World in a Jug serves up a full plate of great traditional blues in various forms. Like so many other artists he’s partnered with, Corritore’s collaboration with Smith has yielded another stellar release. As is the case with all the “From the Vault” partnerships, blues fans reap the benefits of Corritore’s many jam sessions with the best and brightest in the business.
– Robin Zimmerman
Sound Guardian (Hungary) (February 13, 2023)
Glazbeni portal SoundGuardian.com i njegova rubrika “Blues Corner” ponovo vam donosi ekskluzivnu promociju. Ovaj put riječ je o albumu “The World In A Jug”, koju potpisuju Jimi Primetime Smith i Bob Corritore. Naime, već postaje tradicija izdavanja albuma iz “From The Vaults Series”, koju tako zdušno potiču i na njoj inzistiraju Bob Corritore, Clarke Rigsby, Kid Andersen i John Wroble. Upravo danas, 10. veljače, izdavačka kuća VizzTone Label Group objavljuje ovaj album, koji doslovno pršti od tradicionalnog blues ugođaja. Naravno, sve to globalno radijski promovira Amy Brat i njena BratGirlMedia.
U razdoblju od 2017. do 2020. godine održana su 4 sessiona u studiju i ovo je zapravo 42′ koje se provlače kroz 10 skladbi, putem kojih dobivamo doista impresivnu količinu bluesa. Već smo se navikli da svako malo Bob iz svoje zbirke izvlači dragulje i nudi ih svima onima koji kuže ovu spiku, koji kuže ovo bogatstvo zvuka koje nam izlazi iz zvučnika. Uz pratnju kućnog benda The Rhythm Room i pridruženih im gostiju nastaje istinski blues tulum kojeg nitko ne želi napustiti, niti izvođači, niti slušatelji. Svi su skužili da je ova priča dobitna formula, koju valja iskoristiti i jednostavno blues poklonicima svako malo ponuditi istinsko blago.
Bob Corritore i Jimi “Primetime” Smith poznaju se otkad su obojica živjela u Chicagu kasnih 1970-ih. A kada se Jimi prije otprilike sedam godina preselio u Phoenix, stare su veze ubrzo oživljene, a rezultat je upravo pred vama. Album “The World In A Jug” zapravo od prve naslovne pa do zadnje pjesme “Fire And Ice” svake svoje milisekunde nudi nam istinsku blues uživanciju i uz ovakav sadržaj vrijeme leti i već smo na samom kraju. Ovakvo uživanje prezentira i nudi nam izuzetna ekipa glazbenika, koji jednostavno uživaju i prenose ovo raskošno blues nasljeđe svima koji to znaju cijeniti.
Preporuka
Kad malo bolje razmislim, nakon svakog preslušavanja stječem dojam da nam je album “The World In A Jug” trebao ponuditi još pjesama, jer ove 42′ doslovno su nam protutnjale. Svi mi koji volimo blues točno znamo kada nam je blues titar u krvi na onoj dobroj razini da sve je OK, ali već nakon samo par sati ponovo se kreće po dopunu, pale se uređaji i ponovo sve ide dalje, ponovo osjećam kako se sve puni, kako ta plavičasta stvar preuzima moje biće i, iskreno, ponovo sam sretan i zadovoljan; do sljedećeg punjenja, oprostite, slušanja. A što ćete, ovisnik sam! Uostalom, Bob Corritore kaže: “Jimi’s a gentle giant of the blues. He’s the consummate guy to back anybody. He’s always going to be the right guy for anything. Jimi will play egolessly in a second guitar part, but then shine when it’s his time to. He’s blessed our town with his presence here.” a potom Jimi nadodaje: “Seems like God had a plan for me to move to Arizona and reconnect with Bob Corritore, my brother in the blues.” A ostalo je “Blues Magic”,kako oni kažu .
Yours bluesy,
Mladen Loncar – Mike
Rock Doctor (February 13, 2023)
****+
Another stunning release from Bob Corritore’s vaults. The World In A Jug is real deal Chicago blues as these two friends and blues vets tear it up through a rousing selection of tunes. This stuff is down ‘n’ dirty good time music to keep you going through your dark times.
Corritore is a harp maestro and his from The Vaults series of releases continues to satisfy, delight and amaze. Jim “Primetime” Smith learned guitar from Jimmy Reed as a teenager and over the years has performed with many other artists at major clubs and festivals. Bob has been teaming up with Jimi since the two reconnected in Arizona 7 years ago, and this disc is a fair document of their musical adventures so far. 8 of the 10 tracks presented here were recorded during 4 sessions between 2017 and 2020 at Tempest Recording in Tempe, Arizona, while 2 were captured live at Corritore’s club “The Rhythm Room”.
The World In A Jug is good, rowdy blues, the kind of stuff you’d want to hear when you walk into any legendary joint on the Southside. You can feel the friendship between Corritore & Smith as they counter-punch their way through these lively tracks with big smiles, each giving the other room to swing. This is one of those instances where you give a listen and think “yeah, these guys should be playing together”. Jimi is a fine blues guitarist with a husky voice, and Bob’s harp playing on this disc is so evocative that if you close your eyes, you can almost see the sessions as they unfold, as if you were in a front row seat.
Lots of people involved but it’s Jimi “Primetime” Smith and Bob Corritore’s show. The World In A Jug is blues you can feel and use… gotta spin this again before I turn in tonight.
– John Kereiff
WTJU (February 14, 2023)
Jimi Smith and Bob Corritore come together to put out an incredible Chicago Blues album with a sound that could have been recorded from the 60’s. Jimi Primetime Smith is the son of blues woman Johnnie Mae Dunson. She was a major force in the shaping of Chicago blues back in the 1950’s, working alongside of the infamous American blues musician and songwriter, Jimmy Reed. I can really hear some Jimmy Reed in Jimi’s guitar playing and Muddy Waters in his voice. His guitar playing is on point and a big nod to his predecessors. What not to say about Bob Corritore, one of the best harp players on the scene today. I just love his tone and his ability to play that huge fat harp and go up to the high positions without skipping a beat. The track, You For Me, is very represented of what Jimmy Reed would have played back in the day. Soul Food is a fast Cajon influenced blues song about all those tasty dishes from down south and “Walkin’”, one of the many songs written by Jimi brings out the slide guitar with super fat, overdrive harp from Bob (So Good). Although most of the album is shuffle type blues, I think “Blinded” is my favorite off this CD, but there is so much good on this one. Listen Here. This is a great album that brings back some of the great blues that we all grew up with, I will give this an 9 in blues content and an 9 on music content. (my highest rating so far!!)
– Juke Jackson
PhillyCheeze’s Rock & Blues Reviews (February 18, 2023)
I find the Blues is still quite alive when listening to The World in a Jug, the new collaboration between Maxwell Street blues veterans Jimi “Primetime” Smith and Bob Corritore. The two reconnected seven years ago in Arizona, and this album documents ten songs they have recorded since. With Smith on vocals/guitar and Corritore on harmonica, the album features a cast of fifteen backing musicians and vocalists coming together in different configurations on each track.
Things get off to a foot-stomping start with title-track Jimmy Reed’s “I Got the World in a Jug”. I dig the pounding keys of Fred Kaplan, and the fiery harp accompaniment Corritore dishes out for Primetime’s commanding vocals. Freddy King’s “Love Her With Feeling” nicely follows up with a smokin’ hot plate of Chicago blues. “In a Spin” is a song I keep returning to for a second listen. Smith sings this confluence of blues and jazz with a suave finesse. Shoutouts to a menu full of tasty down-home dishes secure Rex Garvin’s “Soul Food” as an absolute favorite. The flawless harp performance from Corritore is delectably coupled with an incredible slide guitar on “Walkin’”.
Smith and Corritore sound fantastic together and I’m hoping The World in a Jug leads to another collaboration between the two in Bob Corritore’s critically acclaimed ‘From the Vaults’ series.
Goldmine Magazine (February 25, 2023)
The latest from the deep vault of recordings of harmonica man/producer/composer Bob Corritore, this one, with Jimi “Primetime” Smith, The World In A Jug (VizzTone/Southwest Musical Arts Foundation), as usual, has 10 rollicking slices of pure raw organic Chicago blues. How deep is Corritore’s vault anyway? He’s been putting out these “From The Vaults” records for years now, subtitled “Historic Blues Recordings from Bob’s Vast Archives.” Primetime plays guitar and sings up a storm. He’s a Maxwell Street regular, the street where they say Chicago Blues was born (as well as the “Maxwell Street Polish,” a world-famous sausage sandwich). Smith learned guitar at the knee of Jimmy Reed himself. He reconnected with Corritore in Arizona seven years ago and they’ve been making music together ever since. These sessions—from 2017 to 2020—have songs by Corritore and Smith’s mother (noted blues singer Johnnie Mae Dunson Smith). Highlight has to be Freddy King’s arrangement of Tampa Red’s 1938 “Love Her With A Feeling.”
– Mike Greenblatt
Blues Bytes (February 2023)
Jimi “Primetime” Smith has been on the Phoenix blues scene for around seven years since relocating from Minneapolis, with his musical roots stretching back to both the Twin Cities and Chicago. His music has been heard on several of the compilations put out by musical partner Bob Corritore, but we now have a full album in The World In A Jug (SWMAF / VizzTone).
Smith handles guitar and vocals on all ten cuts and Corritore provides his usual exquisite harmonica accompaniment. They are backed by a host of the usual session cats that Corritore brings into the studio, with these recordings taken from four sessions done between 2017 and 2020, with the exception of two numbers recorded live at Corritore’s landmark blues club, The Rhythm Room.
Opening the album is the title cut, an up-tempo 12-bar blues with good harmonica by Corritore and piano from Fred Kaplan. This one was written by Smith’s blueswoman mother, Johnnie Mae Dunson Smith. Up next is the Freddy King blues classic, “Love Her With A Feeling,” with Smith pumping plenty of emotion through his vocal chords. Smith then does his best Jimmy Reed imitation on his own composition, “You For Me,” a mid-tempo shuffle with Corritore playing his harp notes in the higher register of the instrument, while the recently-departed Henry Gray provides a hot piano solo.
Another Smith original, “Blinded,” may be the hit of the album. It’s an up-tempo B.B. King-style blues shuffle, with strong guitar from Smith and a dirty harmonica solo from Corritore. Another original, “In A Spin,” is a slow, jazzy blues with Corritore switching to his chromatic harmonica and Smith laying down an appropriately tasty guitar solo.
Feeling hungry right now? If not, you will be when you hear “Soul Food,” as Smith sings about everything he wants to eat while backing singers Celia King and Eboni McDonald egg him on. This one has kind of a Five Royales feel to it, at least until Corritore’s harp playing and the sax work of Doug James gives off the mood of a Chicago blues club in which someone is cooking barbeque and collard greens in the back room.
“Walkin’,” another Smith-penned song, is a mid-tempo shuffle that’s highlighted by a very, very hot slide guitar solo, before the beat slows down for another song by Smith’s mother, the Jimmy Reed-style “We Got To Stick Together.” That leads into Smith’s own “Southbound,” an up-tempo 12-bar blues with the whole band giving off more of a jangly sound.
The World In A Jug concludes with one more Smith original, “Fire And Ice,” a slow blues in the style of Muddy Waters, with our star capturing the mood quite well. Smith gets the Muddy vocal style down right, and he and Corritore trade instrumental breaks throughout, with the harmonica parts being exceptionally strong.
It’s been a long wait for Smith to step to the front with his own recording, with A World In A Jug being just what the blues doctor ordered. He’s still young enough for at least another ten or so albums, so this is a good start.
– Bill Mitchell
Blues Blast Magazine (March 2, 2023)
Two native Chicagoans with deep roots in the blues, guitarist/vocalist Jimi “Primetime” Smith and harp player Bob Corritore now call the Phoenix, Ariz., area home, where they’ve worked together frequently since reconnecting in the Southwest seven years ago. But they team on a full-length CD for the first time with this pleasing album, a star-studded effort chockful of plenty of Windy City appeal.
Jimi’s son of the legendary Johnnie Mae Dunson, who began her career as a drummer and gutbucket singer on Maxwell Street in the 1940s, wrote songs with both Muddy Waters and bandmate Jimmy Reed, worked with Willie Dixon and others and was an annual fixture at the Chicago Blues Festival prior to passing at age 86 in 2007. Reed taught him how to play six-string when living in the family’s home.
Now in his early 60s, a Minnesota Blues Hall of Famer and a booming baritone vocalist, Smith worked for years in support of Etta James, Albert King, Otis Rush, Bernard Allison and others before debuting as a front man in 1998 with Give Me Wings on the Atomic Theory imprint and Back on Track on Cold Wind in 2007. In the years since, he’s been a first-call session musician for John Primer, Sugaray Rayford, Johnny Rawls and others.
One of the most frequently recorded artists in the blues today and a product of Chicago’s north suburbs, Corritore’s a self-taught harmonica player who cut his teeth playing behind Tail Dragger and Willie Buck on the city’s West Side. Based in Phoenix since 1981, he’s owned and operated The Rhythm Room – one of the most important stops on the blues highway – for the past 32 years.
All of the material here was captured between 2017 and 2020 at either Tempest Recording in Tempe or live at The Rhythm Room. Jimi provides guitar and vocals on all tracks along with Bob on harp in a lineup that includes Henry Gray, Fred Kaplan and Shea Marshall on keys, Johnny Rapp and Patrick Skog on guitars, Bob Stroger, Yahni Riley, Troy Sandow and Tony Tomlinson on bass, and Brian Fahey, Marty Dotson and Allen West on drums. Celia King and Eboni McDonald provide backing vocals and Doug James sits in on sax on one cut.
“I Got the World in a Jug,” first released on the Magic label by Dunson and Reed in 1963, opens atop a driving shuffle with Smith declaring: “I’ve got all of you women right here under my command” as Corritore rips and runs with fat single-note runs and chords in support. The action slows for the stop-time, Freddie King pleaser, “Love Her with a Feeling,” before the action ticks up a notch or two for “You for Me,” a Jimi original that borrows heavily from Reed’s “You Don’t Have to Go” complete with Bob working the high end of the reeds.
The medium-fast shuffle, “Blinded,” gives Corritore plenty of space mid-tune to show off his chops on chromatic before the sound takes a major shift with “In a Spin,” a quiet, Latin-tinged ballad on which the focus centers on Smith’s voice before a haunting solos that open on harp and close on guitar and include tasty organ runs from Marshall. “Soul Food” – a sprightly rocker first recorded by Rex Garvin & the Mighty Cravers in 1963 – precedes “Walkin’,” another number with traditional West Side Chicago flair.
Originally the B-side of the song that opened, Reed and Dunson’s “We Got to Stick Together” kicks off with a solitary guitar run. It’s a molasses-slow shuffle that flows into “Fire and Ice,” which comes across with Muddy Waters feel, before the rapid-fire “Southbound” urges a lady to climb aboard for a trip down South atop a rolling railroad shuffle to close.
If you’re a fan of old-school blues, you’ll love this one. Traditional to the core, it’s as old-school never boring and always fresh.
Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life. Now based out of Charlotte, N.C., his first experience with live music came at the feet of the first generation of blues legends at the Newport Folk Festivals in the 1960s. A former member of the Chicago blues community, he’s a professional journalist and blues harmonica player who co-founded the Nucklebusters, one of the hardest working bands in South Florida
La Hora Del Blues (Spain) (March 3, 2023)
Harmonica player Bob Corritore’s historic recordings with legendary blues musicians are deeply appreciated by blues lovers. Most of them can be found in a recording collection entitled “From The Vaults series”, coming from Corritore’s immense archives.
This time and, for the pleasure of the most genuine Chicago blues fans, Bob presents the recordings he did in four sessions from 2017 to 2020 with Chicago guitarist Jimi “Primetime” Smith, a musician coming from legendary Maxwell Street and son of Johnnie Mae Dunson. Jimi learned to play guitar with Jimmy Reed and developed a fruitful career, performing in all Windy City venues and clubs.
After playing together along the Arizona area, the chemistry, good work and feeling that appeared between the two musicians can now be felt and found in this album with the most genuine Chicago blues, where both musicians are backed by some excellent players who alternate in the recording, like Henry Gray, Fred Kaplan, Bob Stroger, Brian Fahey, Johnny Rapp, Marty Dodson or Doug James among others.
A magnificent blues album in every aspect, as we are used to enjoy in each record coming from this great harmonica player and prominent outstanding blues lover called Bob Corritore, every fan owes a lot for the huge and tireless work he has done over the years and still does to keep alive the blues flame.
– Vicente Zumel
Blues Roadhouse (March 3, 2023)
Sometimes I just want to luxuriate in some good, old-fashioned, down-home blues. Especially when there’s a hole in my soul that needs. Well you know that anytime Bob Corritore opens his music vaults, some great blues is waiting to be exhumed. This album by guitarist Jimi “Primetime” Smith plus Corritore is taken from four recording sessions between 2017 and 2020 — but still digs way back into the last century for its roots.
Smith plays guitar that stings behind his rich vocals, and Corritore’s harp adds deep blue texture. Among my favorites are the rollicking title track, a scorching Jimmy-Reed style “We Got To Stick Together” and “You For Me,” and the slightly salacious “Love Her With A Feeling.”
Just incidentally, the phrase captured in the title track “The World in a Jug,” has a history as old as the history of blues recording. The line, “I got the world in a jug, the stopper in my hand,” was added by Bessie Smith when she recorded “Downhearted Blues,” with lyrics by Alberta Hunter, in 1923.
Both Corritore and Smith have deep Chicago blues roots, and this session speaks well of its heritage.
– Jim White
Historias Del Blues (March 14, 2023)
Jimi “Primetime” Smith y Bob Corritore son dos hijos del blues de Chicago. Ambos nacieron en la ciudad del viento y bebieron directamente de las fuentes. En el caso de Smith, es hijo de la baterista y compositora Johnnie Mae Donson, quien hizo parte de la banda de Jimmy Reed. “Primetime” Smith estuvo rodeado en su infancia de artistas como el propio Reed, quien le dio sus primeras clases de guitarra, y de Eddie Taylor, Big Walter Horton, Floyd Jones o Etta James, a quienes después acompañó en sus respectivos grupos.
Por su parte, Bob Corritore ha acompañado con su armónica a herederos del sonido eléctrico de Chicago como Tail Dragger, John Primer, Bob Stroger y Henry Gray entre otros, convirtiéndose en un devoto de este estilo, llevandolo a diferentes partes del mundo. Tanto Corritore como Smith emergieron de las profundidades de la escena de Chicago para forjar su propio nombre en el blues.
Luego de trabajar juntos en la meca del blues, Jimi “Primetime” Smith y Bob Corritore tomaron sus propios caminos hasta que hace siete años se volvieron a encontrar en Arizona, estado en el que Corritore tiene actualmente su base. Allí volvieron a sellar ese pacto del blues y por eso es que llega “World in a jug”, trabajo que hace parte de la colección de archivos que Bob Corritore publica con frecuencia.
“World in a jug” recoge sesiones grabadas entre 2017 y 2020 en Tempe, Arizona, algunas en estudio en Tempest Recording y otras en vivo en The Rhythm Room. Las diez canciones que integran el disco muestran el talento y la sensibilidad de Jimi “Primetime” Smith y Bob Corritore, con todas las ideas y la influencia del blues de Chicago posterior a la segunda guerra mundial, manteniendo vigente su espíritu.
Si a usted le gusta el blues de la vieja escuela, “World in a jug” le va a tocar el alma enseguida. Jimi “Primetime” Smith y Bob Corritore hacen que esa escuela, la de Maxwell Street, permanezca siempre fresca.
– Diego Luis
Rock And Blues Muse (March 29, 2023)
Chicago blues veterans Jimi “Primetime” Smith and Bob Corritore throw down a ten-song set of the real stuff on their new album The World In A Jug.
The record dropped via the VizzTone Label Group and SWMAF Records and contains a sample of the heat Smith and Corritore have been generating together for the past seven years since rekindling their 40-year friendship in Phoenix, Arizona, where both now live. Smith’s guitar and vocal work and Corritore’s harmonica prowess were made to be heard alongside each other and their sound is one of the most listenable experiences in the present-day blues scene. Both men nail the real Chicago vibe effortlessly because they came up in the Windy City blues community, learned directly from the greats, and have this music in their veins.
Jimi “Primetime” Smith grew up in a house full of blues music. His mother was Johnny Mae Dunson, a blues singer and drummer who wrote songs for Jimmy Reed, Koko Taylor, and Muddy Waters. He learned the guitar as a young boy from blues legend Jimmy Reed, who was a family houseguest, and did his first pro gig with Reed at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1973. He’s worked with Bernard Allison, Shaun Holt, and Big Walter Horton and developed into a top-flight solo artist in his own right.
Bob Corritore cut his teeth in the clubs of Chicago, watching and learning from blues masters including Little Mack Simmons, Louis Myers, Junior Wells, Big John Wrencher, and Carey Bell. He’s played with Tail Dragger, Big Moose Walker, Willie Buck, Louis and Dave Myers, and Eddie Taylor, become an acclaimed producer, a radio show host, a club owner, and an arts foundation founder. He’s been releasing music since 1999 and is one of the most visible personalities in roots music.
The tunes on The World In A Jug are a joyous bunch and overflow with the magic that turned us all on to the blues in the first place. The title cut “I Got The World In A Jug” is up first and gets the party started with an uptempo groove that blends Jimmy Reed and Muddy Waters influences. Smith’s vocals are wise and refined and Corritore’s harp licks are plump and juicy. Right away, you’ll know that listening to every song on this release is a major priority.
Smith and Corritore turn in a mighty version of Freddy King’s classic “Love Her With A Feeling” that grinds, shakes, and shimmys. Smith lets his guitar wail over a pocket that’s so tight that it snaps and Corritore does the same with his harp. It’s the kind of cut that grabs hold of your soul after midnight and creates a mood that can’t be denied. File this one under “Deep, Deep Blues.”
“In A Spin” is minor, mellow, and moody. Smith sings to the woman who broke his heart and left it on the ground in a genuine way that will let you share the pain of it all. Smith and Corritore pull back on this quiet gem and play excellent solos full of chill lines and ideas. Don’t be surprised if this becomes one of your favorite songs on the record.
The driving “Soul Food” is a solid sender with a 50s rock and roll flavor. Smith runs down his favorite menu items on the vocal mic and his enthusiasm is guaranteed to make you hungry. The whole thing is a ton of fun and certain to fill dance floors everywhere.
Every bit of The World In A Jug will improve your day and set your bones in motion. Smith and Corritore are a duo to be reckoned with and are well able to throw the hottest blues bash in town. Their lowdown, barroom style is what you need and will treat you right. All that’s left to do is dance.
– Mike O’Cull
Blues Matters (U.K.) (March 2023)
This particular set of songs was recorded between 2017-2020 from what can only be described as one of the finest back-catalogues and blues history vaults in the business. I refer to Bob Corritore, of course. Throughout his illustrious career as one of the blue’s finest exponents of the harmonica, Corritore has become the most sought-after guy on the scene. What Vizztone have done is unearth classic blues tunes from yesteryear and breathed new life into them. Jimi “Primetime” Smith is the son of the very influential blueswoman, Johnnie Mae Dunson. He began his recording career at the tender age of eight, after hanging around blues stalwarts such as Jimmy Reed, Hubert Sumlin, and Eddie Taylor. The title track, I Got The World In A Jug, was written by his mother, Johnnie Mae Dunson, a fine tune to start with, may I add. Jimi plays guitar and does the vocals on all tracks, alongside Corritore who plays harmonica on all the tracks. Love Her With A Feeling (Freddie King) is a slightly more mellow and softer version than the original, but don’t let that put you off, these two guys give this song the eloquence and respect that it rightly deserves. Every time an album like this drops through my door from Vizztone, I know that I’m in for a treat, and this album is no exception. Soul Food, with brilliant backing vocals from Celia King, and Eboni McDonald respectively, is a joy. So full of life and happiness, if you question what this song is about, just refer back to the title. Walkin’ brings you back down to the blues with a bang. Nothing happy nor upbeat about it, this is the blues told in a tune, the way the blues should be told. I have enjoyed this album immensely, I sincerely hope that having found a formula that works as well as this does, Vizztone produces more of the same in the future.
– Stephen Harrison
Blues In The South (Australia) (April 2023)
This is another album from Bob’s “From the Vault” series (he seems to have an album out every other week!). It’s based on four sessions recorded between 2017 and 2020 in both the TempestStudio and Bob’s Rhythm Room club, with Kid Andersen handling production and also mixing. Bob and Jimi knew each other in the70s when they both lived in Chicago and when Jimi moved to Phoenix in 2016 they renewed their friendship. Jimi was brought up in Chicago and went on to work as a sideman with Etta James,Albert King, Otis Rush and Bernard Allison amongst many others and the backing musicians here are Bob’s usual excellent session musicians. We begin with a swinging version of Canned Heat’s T Got the World in a Jug’, followed by FreddyKing’s ‘Love Her with a Feeling’, the sound is very much Muddy Waters – Jimi’s voice out front, his guitar and with a great band behind featuring Bob’s wonderful harmonica, tinkling piano and a rock-solid rhythm section. ‘You for Me’ is in the Jimmy Reed style and ‘Soul Food’ is a fun song with Jimi singing about the joys of ham hock, fried chicken, black eyed peas and rice etc. complete with backing singers and a honkin’ sax solo. ‘Walkin’ features Jimi on slide guitar and the closing ‘Fire and Ice’ is a classic Chicago slow blues. There is nothing new or particularly original here but 1 can’t help liking most of what Bob releases – I love the way that he gets the classic Chicago blues sound in Arizona – with the help of the talented musicians he’s assembled plus Kid Andersen twiddling the knobs.
– Graham Harrison
Downbeat Magazine (May 2023)
(Four Stars) Near the high end of the best blues partnerships today. Jimi Smith and Bob Corritore have the songs of this archival collection — recorded at four sessions in recent years — carry solos and dialogs that show their unwavering commitment to Chicago blues. Singer and guitarist Smith has sterling pedigree: he grew up on the Chi-town scene in the 70s as the son of drummer-singer Johnnie Mae Dunson and as a guitar student of giants Jimmy Reed and Eddie Taylor. Throughout the album, he projects an absolute naturalness in complaints about soured romance. Corritore, who earned his stripes playing in Chicago clubs of the 70s and ’80s, brandishes his harmonicas with complete assurance. Songs penned by Smith or his mother are worthy of their talents. Nice surprise: a revival of Rex Garvin’s ’60s R&B single “Soul Food.”
– Frank John Hadley
Living Blues Magazine (May 2023)
Grammy Award nominee Bob Corritore has had a long and esteemed career in and around the blues. As a harmonica player, venue owner, radio show host, and multiple award winner (Living Blues Award and more), he has done a great deal to shine a light on the blues. In addition to his own deep catalog of releases featuring his music, Corritore’s record label SWMAF (Southwest Musical Arts Foundation) has titles highlighting the work of other significant artists. Just since 2020, SWMAF has released at least ten albums of new material. The latest among those is Women in Blues Showcase.
Part of Corritore’s “From the Vaults” series, this new collection brings together a dozen studio tracks, all recorded between 2001 and 2022. Half of the cuts are previously unreleased. The vocalists showcased on the set include (in alphabetical order) Carol Fran, Diunna Greenleaf, Valerie June, Barbara Lynn, Shy Perry, Aliya Primer, Francine Reed, and Koko Taylor. Those eight names offer listeners a pleasing cross-section of blues royalty (Taylor, guitarist-singer Barbara Lynn), current-day stars (Greenleaf, June), and up-and-comers (Perry).
The ladies all hold their own across this collection that mixes original compositions (like Greenleaf’s loping Be for Me) and classics (Aliya Primer’s slinky reading of Tee Ni Nee Ni Nu, Reed’s haunting reinvention of the Staple Singers’ Why Am I Treated so Bad, and more). Corritore—who co-produced the sessions with Clarke Rigsby and John Wroble in Tempe. Arizona. and Chicago—drew upon some impressive players to provide top-flight instrumental support on the sessions; guitarist Bob Margolin backs Taylor and Greenleaf.
There’s an admirable variety in texture, tone, and overall musical approach across the selections. Carol Fran’s I Just Need a Friend is soulful, subtle, and impassioned. Valerie June’s Americana-flavored blues is exemplified by her stripped-down reading of the traditional Crawdad Hole. Taylor’s outsized, raucous, and swaggering persona comes to the fore on her original What Kind of Man Is This.
Shy Perry displays guts in taking on Willie Dixon’s chestnut Wang Dang Doodle, but she handily puts her own stamp on the tune. Carol Fran digs deep into the grooves on her own statement of purpose, I Needs to Be Bed With. Diunna Greenleaf’s take on Willie Dixon’s Don’t Mess with the Messer perfectly nails the sweet spot in which R&B and blues meet: the spirited horn charts on the tune are spot-on, too. Carol Fran ably fronts a big band arrangement on Walkin Slippin” and Slidin’ to great effect.
Throughout the proceedings, Corritore deftly weaves his blues ham into the arrangements, always adding just the right texture, and never overplaying or taking the focus away from the featured vocalist. On one track he might lay down clean, single-note melodic lines; on another he blasts out with wonderfully distorted fury. It’s a testament to his good taste in playing and production that these disparate recordings all fit together as a cohesive whole.
– Bill Kopp
Bman’s Blues Report (June 26, 2023)
I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The World In A Jug, from Jimi “Primetime” Smith and Bob Corritore and it’s a healthy dose of pure Chicago blues. Opening with title track, I Got The World In A Jug, Jimi “Primetime” Smith on lead vocal and guitar really gets this set rolling in Morganfield style. Bob Corritore shares the spotlight and shows the great tone and phrasing that he’s know for. With Fred Kaplan on piano, Johnny Rapp on guitar, Bob Stroger on bass and Brian Fahey on drums, this is an excellent opener. Corritore really ramps it up on You For Me with classic high octave octane and with Henry Gray on piano, Rapp on guitar, Troy Sandow on bass and Marty Dodson on drums, this is a definite favorite. Blinded, is also one of my favorites on the release, really showcasing Primetime’s excellent guitar phrasing and vocals and a strong solo by Corritore on harmonica, backed by Shea Marshall on organ, Tony Tomlinson on bass and Allen West on drums. Primetime slips on his slide for an Elmore James flavored Walkin’. His vocals are very soulful and Corritore really uses his amp to his advantage getting just that right tone. With Yahni Riley on bass and Fahey on drums, this is a real nice track. Wrapping the release is another great Chicago style slow blues, Fire and Ice. Primetime on vocal shows gripping emotion and Corritore milks the juice out of his harmonica. With Rapp on guitar, Riley on bass and Fahey on drums, this is an excellent closer.
Take Effect (July 12, 2023)
9/10
The Chicago legends Bob Corritore and Jimi “Primetime” Smith come together for firm, authentic and modern blues fun that brings a small army of players to the 10 lively tracks.
“I Got The World In A Jug” gets the listen off to a lively start, where Fred Kaplan’s animated piano and Brian Fahey’s crisp drums complement Smith’s gritty pipes and Corritore’s flowing harmonica, and “Love Her With A Feeling” follows with Johnny Rapp’s warm guitar and Bob Stroger’s bouncy bass adding much to Smith’s emotive pipes.
Further down the line, “In A Spin” finds an intimate place to reside, where the romantic demeanor benefits from Shea Marshall’s organ and Yahni Riley’s bass, though Corritore’s moody harmonica is quite luminous, too, while the dance floor ready “Soul Food” showcases Doug James’ radiant sax and soulful backing vocals from Celia King and Eboni McDonald.
“Southbound” and “Fire And Ice” exit the listen, where the former shakes and rattles with Henry Gray’s playful keys and Mary Dodson’s agile drums amid the soaring harmonica and frisky singing, and the latter finishes with a gentle yet powerful spirit of timeless blues that pairs Smith’s inimitable voice with Corritore’s distinct harmonica.
Smith and Corritore reconnected 7 years ago, and let’s hope the collaborations don’t stop anytime soon, cause they make some fantastic, hard hitting and memorable blues that the world needs more of.
Bob Corritore - Official Website 