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| Maximum Mojo from Electro-Fi Records Electro-Fi Records celebrates it's tenth anniversary (1997-2007) with Maximum Mojo, a specially priced, 32 track-2 CD Blues extravaganza featuring the music of Blues legends: Snooky Pryor, Mel Brown (the artist Rolling Stone calls “Funky, Primeval and Perfect”), West Coast harp ace Mark Hummel, Billy Boy Arnold, Pinetop Perkins, Finis Tasby, acoustic Blues troubadour Fruteland Jackson, Harmonica Shah, Paul Osher (he played in the Muddy Waters' band), and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith. As well as some of this generation's leading Blues lights: Li'l Dave Thompson, Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne, Julian Fauth, Harrison Kennedy, Sharrie Williams, Enrico Crivellaro, and Braithwaite and Whitely. Also included is an incredible, previously unreleased track from the late, great Sam Myers. It's a Simple Formula - No teenage guitar heroes; no aging rock stars re-discovering their imaginary “blues roots;” no fawning tribute CDs; no pointless Blues “fusion” CDs;” no flavor of the month meets the Blues CDs; no “the Blues is broken, and here is how we are going to fix it” CDs; Instead, just plenty of straight natural Blues music served up by some of the real originators from Blues music's greatest generation alongside with the best of this generation's emerging artists, to whom the torch of the Blues tradition has been passed. Keeping that torch burning and having the privilege of releasing music that is much loved and has received critical acclaim, this is what Electro-Fi is most proud. Electro-Fi Records, North America's fastest growing blues and roots label, continues to garner global acclaim. Real Blues magazine proclaims that the “Electro-Fi label has moved up the ladder to become one of North America's leading independent blues labels thanks to an imaginative agenda,” and “Electro-Fi Records continues its ascension to the top ranks of international blues labels.” In its catalog U.K.'s Red Lick Records declares, “Electro-Fi Records are gettin' dangerous!” Britain's Juke Blues magazine heralds “Electro-Fi [as] a label that is quickly establishing itself as a serious Blues and Roots imprint.” Electro-Fi was founded in October 1996 by blues aficionado Andrew Galloway, with the support of long time friend Gary Collver, whose photographs grace the covers of most Electro-Fi releases. Harmonica ace Little Mack Simmons launched the Electro-Fi label with his critically acclaimed CD Little Mack Is Back. Living Blues magazine hailed Simmons' release for its “sure vocal sense and tasty harp licks . . . fresh and unexpected . . . From an artistic standpoint, Little Mack Simmons is definitely back.” Blues & Rhythm called it “a stomping beauty . . . Mack's harp playing is very refreshing, strong and inventive.” Along with Simmons' second offering Somewhere On Down The Line, Electro-Fi introduced the world to the rock-blues band Fathead, whose Electro-Fi recording Blues Weather won Canada's esteemed Juno Award for Best Blues Recording of 1998. After a 26-year hiatus from the studio, keyboard virtuoso Curley Bridges scored top marks with his Electro-Fi CD Keys To The Blues. The Red Lick chart of best-selling blues albums, published in Britain's Blues & Rhythm magazine, listed it last spring as the third most popular blues CD in the U.K., and Blues & Rhythm named it Album of the Month. “Bridges can still shout it down like a major leaguer,” Blues Revue applauded. “His keyboard work is fluent and assured, his comping is incredibly deep, and his vocal power is on par with any R&B vocalist you'd care to name, past or present. . . . If you're into R&B standards, Bridges is playing your song. Can't Stop Blowin', released by legendary harp pioneer Snooky Pryor, has been recognized as one of the best recordings of his celebrated career. It held strong at number eight on Living Blues magazine's radio charts for both January and February. The Red Lick chart in Blues & Rhythm magazine listed it as the number-one best-selling blues CD in Britain. Living Blues raved, “Chalk up another win for Snooky Pryor; he's been threatening to retire for years now, but from the sound of this disc, he's having too much fun to quit.” “Pryor hollers and blows like it was his last night on earth,” wrote an enthusiastic critic for Cadence magazine. “This is terrific stuff from a grand master of the blues.” Electro-Fi introduced blues fans to a slice of Chicago recording history in fall 1999 with the release of The P.M./Simmons Collection, the first reissue of the best cuts from Little Mack Simmons' own recording companies, which operated on the South Side (of Chicago) from 1972 to 1982. Featuring Little Mack on vocals and harp, the CD also includes tracks that Simmons produced for the late Fenton Robinson and Arelean Brown. It was described by Blues Beat magazine as “a valuable collection that demonstrates both Mack's musical and creative talents. . . . An important document in the history of Chicago blues.” Also released at this time was Blues Burnin' In My Soul by the maestro of seductive, soul-drenched blues, Chicago's Johnny Laws, who presents the blues from an urban perspective, crafted into an irresistible groove. Blues Beat proclaimed, “Blues Burnin' In My Soul is an exceptional display of his enormous gifts, containing more than sixty minutes of the gentlest, sexiest blues you'll ever hear. . . . One of the year's very best!” The millennium began stronger than ever with two new impressive CDs: Neck Bones and Caviar by one of the last great blues guitarists of his generation Mel Brown, and I Claim Nothing But The Blues by the exceptional acoustic singer/songwriter Fruteland Jackson. Neck Bones And Caviar was nominated for a W.C. Handy Blues Award as Best Comeback Album of the year and won the Grand Prix de l'Academie du Jazz as best blues album in France. Blues Revue magazine praised it as “first-rate . . . dangerously intense . . . Just say it's so good it almost isn't fair. Track this one down and savor it.” I Claim Nothing But The Blues received acclaim from Blues & Rhythm magazine: “Jackson has a strong virile voice and is a fine picker . . . An album of well-crafted songs . . . A hugely enjoyable CD, a sure-fire winner.” In June 2000, Electro-Fi released Upside 'n' Down Tight: Electro-Fi's Finest, 1997-2000, a tantalizing collection of favorite cuts from the Electro-Fi archives. In September the label presented Double Shot!, a duo CD by harp master Snooky Pryor and guitar ace Mel Brown, which was nominated for a W.C. Handy Blues Award as Traditional Blues Album of the Year. Snooky also received two Handy nominations: for Traditional Blues--Male Artist of the Year and for Blues Instrumentalist--Harmonica. Double Shot!, a two-fisted wallop of real-deal blues, begs the question: Is there a stronger combination of pure talent in the blues world today than Snooky Pryor and Mel Brown? Electro-Fi mourned the death of Chicago harp master--and the label's first artist -- Malcolm “Little Mack” Simmons on October 24, 2000. “While his loss is deeply felt, we were proud to announce our first release of the year 2001: The Best Of Little Mack Simmons: The Electro-Fi Years. This superb collection will do much to preserve Little Mack's musical legacy and honor his memory.” With its ongoing slate of impressive CDs, Electro-Fi continues to delight blues fans around the world. Watch and listen as Electro-Fi Records claims its place in the upper echelon of blues and roots labels by recording an outstanding lineup of established, rediscovered and up-and-coming talent. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |