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Night Train to Nashville
(more) »rank: 4572by: Tab Benoit
:Album Description:Following the release of 'Brother to the Blues' in the spring of 2006, the Blues Foundation convened in Memphis on May 10, 2007, for their annual Blues Music Awards ceremony and honored guitarist Tab Benoit with the dual awards of B.B. King Entertainer of the Year and Best Contemporary Male Performer of 2006. For anyone who saw Benoit play a two-night stand in Nashville at The Place On Second Street just prior to the 2007 Blues Music Awards ceremony, the reasons for the accolades were crystal clear. Backed by Louisiana's LeRoux and a handful of high-profile guest performers representing a range of ...
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Power of the Pontchartrain
(more) »rank: 13986by: Tab Benoit
: :Tab Benoit's album titles leave little doubt as to where he's from or the music he plays. Brother to the Blues, Fever for the Bayou, Wetlands, and now Power of the Pontchartrain exude the sweaty Louisiana swamp, blues, and R&B inherent in their names. But that only tells part of the story--the rest is in the grooves where Benoit's distinctive, grainy voice and tough Telecaster leads bring soul, grit, and intensity to a sound already infused with an earthy sensibility. There's more of the same on this disc, but that's no criticism. Benoit generally sticks with others' songs here, yet he unearths hidden ...
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Blues Blast
(more) »rank: 11842from: Telarc Blues
:Album Description:Debbie Davies follows up her last release 'All is Found' (2005) with the August 28, 2007, release of 'Blues Blast' (CD-83669), a pressure cooker recording that showcases her seasoned guitar and vocal capabilities and includes guest appearances by three high-profile bluesmen: guitarists Tab Benoit and Coco Montoya, and harpist Charlie Musselwhite. 'Like a master chef's gourmet meal offering exquisite courses, Debbie has crafted a nine-course wallop of her musical vision and spirit,' says Art Tipaldi, senior writer for Blues Revue and the author of the album's liner notes. 'One listen to Debbie's tribute [to guitar mentor Albert Collins] with Coco, the opening ...
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Fever for the Bayou
(more) »rank: 15227by: Tab Benoit
: :Houma homeboy Tab Benoit may have snuck up on some blues fans, but his status as the best and brightest of modern Louisiana bluesmen is now too obvious for any to ignore. His swamp-saturated sound and incisive Telecaster attack, also heard on the Whiskey Store and Whiskey Store Live dueling-guitar albums with Jimmy Thackery, easily personalizes classics, such as Elmore James's 'I Can't Hold Out,' featured here with saxist Jimmy Carpenter. But Benoit's at his best with the bayou beat. As on 2003's The Sea Saint Sessions, Benoit spotlights the musical heritage of New Orleans by using two guest vocalists who are Crescent ...
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Best of the Bayou Blues
(more) »rank: 34844by: Tab Benoit
: :What's best about Best of the Bayou Blues is Tab Benoit's spankin' electric guitar tones and lean 'n' nasty licks on numbers like the ode to Cajun living 'Voodoo on the Bayou' and the stinging, vibrato-drenched epic 'These Blues are All Mine.' This collection of Louisiana-themed tunes plucked from Benoit's five early Vanguard albums relate to the singer-and-six-stringer's swampland raising. They also showcase his versatility--veering from his customary plugged-in blues framework to a gentle acoustic take on the Delta classic 'Mother Earth' to a roaring zydeco romp through Clifton Chenier's dancehall anthem 'Hot Tamale Baby.' Willie Nelson guests on 'Rainy Day Blues,' trading ...
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Nice & Warm
(more) »rank: 30795by: Tab Benoit
: :Blues purists are sure to chafe at the sound of Benoit's heartfelt but eminently smooth guitar lines. Nevertheless, this 1992 debut is easily his best effort to date, an unstrained mix of Cajun, R&B, and blues stylings honed by his then-recent apprenticeship in the bars of Baton Rouge. Recorded live over a two-day period, Benoit's clean, spontaneous phrases avoid both New Age somnabulence and overheated roadhouse clichés. His extended solo at the end of 'I Put a Spell on You' puts a silky, authoritative sheen on that rabble-rousing staple, and both 'Bone Pickin'' and 'Voodoo on the Bayou' acknowledge his Louisiana roots without ...
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Whiskey Store Live
(more) »rank: 55558by: Tab Benoit & Jimmy Thackery
: :At first glace, the combination of blues-roots guitarists Tab Benoit and Jimmy Thackery doesn't seem like a logical one. Both are barnstorming bandleaders, and Benoit's clipped Louisiana Telecaster would appear to be at odds with Thackery's tougher Strat attack. But, as 2002's Whiskey Store collaboration proved, the duo's strengths complement, even invigorate each other. The resulting tour is captured here, in all its volatile glory. Both headliners, along with gutsy saxist Jimmy Carpenter and dynamic B3 organist Ken Faltinson, are in smashing form. As you would expect, the studio work is expanded, extended, and juiced with additional moonshine for the live experience. Benoit's ...
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These Blues Are All Mine
(more) »rank: 115238by: Tab Benoit
: :On his Vanguard debut, guitarist Tab Benoit favors his usual workmanlike approach, serving up standard blues and Cajun riffs with ease. Though not technically flashy, Benoit is a solid songwriter with enough musicality to more than make up for the lack of fireworks. He can give his songs a restrained ('I'm Tired') or relaxed ('Raided That Joint') feel and he emotes as well as anybody on the title track. The rollicking 'Crawfishin'' and 'Jambalaya' recall Louisiana, and Benoit closes things off with the frenetically up-tempo 'Bayou Boogie.' The one possible misstep here is his take on the Willie Dixon classic 'Twenty-Nine Ways (to ...
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Brother to the Blues
(more) »rank: 74634by: Tab Benoit, Billy Joe Shaver, Jim Lauderdale, Louisiana's LeRoux
: :Louisiana native Tab Benoit has been slinging his swamp-R&B-blues-rock concoction for the better part of 15 years, and from the sound of this disc's opening two tunes, it seems that little besides his backing band has changed. But when the title track kicks in with sorrowful fiddle, crying pedal steel (also played by Benoit), and a lovely, lonely honky-tonk melody, it's clear the singer/guitarist has decided to visit some unique territory. Country stalwarts Jim Lauderdale and Billy Joe Shaver swing by to provide duet vocals for Benoit's versions of their songs. Even Hank Williams Sr.'s 'I Heard That Lonesome Whistle' gets covered as ...
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The Sea Saint Sessions
(more) »rank: 91938by: Tab Benoit
: :Soulful singer and guitarist Tab Benoit has never made secret his devout allegiance to the Louisiana music tradition. With The Sea Saint Sessions, Benoit, ably assisted by several Crescent City stalwarts, takes his music back to the source, setting up shop at the famed hit factory to cook up a sonic gumbo that successfully recaptures the spontaneity of the classic Sea Saint sound. Benoit's guests conjure up some of the studio's old musical magic as 'Big Chief' Monk Boudreaux infuses Mardi Gras Indian spirit into 'Monk's Blues,' Meter man George Porter Jr. funkifies 'Making the Bend,' and Cyrille Neville sings on his own ...
