Mike Zito, Vanja Sky, Bernard Allison – Blues Caravan 2018 (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:12:10 minutes | 830 MB | Genre: Blues, Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Ruf Records GmbH
This is no ordinary club tour. This is the Blues Caravan 2018. If you’ve followed Ruf’s rolling revue since it started life in 2005, you’ll already know that these shows are must-see events, throwing together three stellar artists on one bill – then letting the chemistry do the rest. Traditionally, the Blues Caravan lineup has showcased the label’s breaking talent – from Aynsley Lister to Samantha Fish – and given fans a chance to catch the blues titans of tomorrow before they go ‘boom’. But in 2018, it’s time to mix things up. On this year’s Blues Caravan, you’ll not only find one young gun with a dazzling career ahead of her, but also two heavyweights with a sky-high reputation. Let’s welcome them to the stage…
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Bernard Allison – Triple Fret (2005)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 49:58 minutes | Front/Rear Covers | 3,38 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Front/Rear Covers | 1,05 GB
Features Stereo & Multichannel Surround Sound / JSP Records # JSP5108 | Genre: Blues
As the title and cover art suggests, Triple Fret is a player’s album. Although Bernard Allison gets star billing (and does all the vocals), this is a trio record, with fellow electric blues guitarists Larry McCray and Carl Weathersby contributing as much guitar firepower as Allison. Even better, second-generation Hammond organ legend Lucky Peterson guests, adding some welcome musical variety to the otherwise fret-heavy selection and getting his own showcase, the smoking seven-minute instrumental workout “Where’s Lucky?” That leaves the songwriting as the only weak spot, but unfortunately, it’s pretty seriously weak. Most of the songs on Triple Fret are hackneyed Chicago blues riffs with self-referential lyrics about how hard it is to be a bluesman. Tune out the lyrics and the undistinguished chord changes and the sheer enjoyment of the trio’s playing comes through. For some, however, that might not be quite enough.
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Bernard Allison – Songs From The Road (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:16:00 minutes | 896 MB | Genre: Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Ruf Records GmbH
The great Chicago bluesman Luther Allison lived by a simple philosophy that he was happy to share (“Leave your ego, play the music, love the people”). Now, twenty-three years after Luther’s passing, the great man would surely be thrilled to hear Bernard Allison’s Songs From The Road, and proud to find that his ferociously talented son is sworn to the same mission, bringing soul-soaked, all-guns-blazing blues to audiences who need it more than ever. Released in January 2020 as a CD/DVD set on Ruf Records, Songs From The Road is a live snapshot so raw and real that hearing it feels like hanging off the security barrier of Dortmund’s Musiktheater Piano club when Bernard and his crack-squad band hit town last October 23rd. With an A-list crew on-hand – and a dynamic mix from industry legend Jim Gaines this immersive recording catches every last flash of virtuosity, bead of sweat and drop of atmosphere. Since he embarked on his acclaimed solo career with 1990’s The Next Generation, Bernard’s studio catalogue has been heavy with highlights, and that night in Germany, every fan in the house got something off their wish-list. This prolific songwriter reminded us that his recent output is his strongest to date, with five cuts from last year’s acclaimed Let It Go. But Bernard is happy to embrace his past glories, too, on a setlist that spans from 1998’s Times Are Changing to 2015’s In The Mix – and gives long-standing fans a treat with Let’s Try It Again, borrowed from his father’s classic 1984 album, Life Is A Bitch. You might know the songs – but you don’t know these interpretations. With Bernard leading the lineup on vocals and searing lead guitar, backed by Dylan Salfer (guitar), George Moye (bass), Mario Dawson (drums) and José James (sax/percussion), this is a live band whose chemistry lets them stretch out and shake up these classic songs. On Songs From The Road, the result is a glorious exchange of energy between band and crowd – and evidence that Luther’s old philosophy is burning brighter than ever. “Our shows aren’t like going to the movies and staring at the big screen,” Bernard considers. “We’re there for the people to enjoy each other’s stories for the evening.”
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Bernard Allison – Let It Go (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 53:11 minutes | 595 MB | Genre: Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Ruf Records GmbH
Blues musician Bernard Allison began his musical career in the early 1990s and since then he been leading the blue scene as one of the best blues guitarists. He is especially thankful for the other members playing on this album because their collaboration give Allison great hope for the future of the blues all over the world. “We made the decision to not flood the album with keyboards or horns, to go back to the true basic rhythm section sound – and to show more mature songwriting” – Bernard Allison
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Bernard Allison – Highs & Lows (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 45:06 minutes | 508 MB | Genre: Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Ruf Records GmbH
Last October, when Bernard Allison returned to his old haunt of Bessie Blue Studios, Tennessee, to be greeted by fabled producer and career-long collaborator Jim Gaines, it felt like coming home. And when Allison fired up the amps, counted in the band and embarked upon his latest studio album, Highs & Lows, everything felt right with the world. “Just to be able to create music again after the pandemic,” he says of that long-awaited rebirth, “was incredible.” For 56 years, music has been Bernard Allison’s essence. As the youngest son of the much- missed Chicago bandleader Luther Allison, he was a bluesman from birth. One week after graduating high school, Bernard cut his teeth on the road with Koko Taylor’s Blues Machine lineup – and ended up staying for most of the ’80s. By the close of the decade, however, he assumed a twin identity, leading and writing for his father’s band, while forging a solo career that exploded in Europe off the back of early albums like The Next Generation (1990), No Mercy (1994) and Funkifino (1995).
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