You probably first heard of Jimmy Hall from his recordings with Wet Willie back in the 1970s. Many of those tunes still are getting a lot of airplay on Classic Rock radio. Over the years, Jimmy has sung on stage and played his harmonica with a Who’s Who of the roadhouse blues and put out some great albums including Rendezvous with the Blues in 1996 that is among my personal blues favorites. He still has one of the great voices of his generation and Joe Bonamassa & Josh Smith bring out the best in him as his producers on the new recording, Ready Now. And Jimmy has an all star list of contributors on the album including Warren Haynes, Reese Wynans, Michael Rhodes, Greg Morrow, and Jared James Nichols as well as Joe and Josh.

The title cut for the recording features Warren and is drenched in the sounds that epitomize Jimmy’s southern style. My favorite song on the recording is A Long Goodbye featuring a stellar contribution on guitar by Joe. Jumpin’ for Joy, Girl’s Got Sugar (featuring Josh), and Love For It are also songs that I loved.

Jimmy Hall has stood at the musical crossroads of the blues, soul, R&B, and southern rock all of his life playin’ his harmonica and singin’ his tunes. There are plenty of places to sit and kickback at that junction from where ever you are. Find yourself a spot, relax, and enjoy this album.

Jimmy Hall – Ready Now (KTBA Records 2022)

#blues #modernblues #contemporaryblues

Ben Vee started out spinning songs on terrestrial radio and at nightclubs back in the 1970’s in his home state of Louisiana. After a career in the construction business, he returned to DJing in 2011. He now hosts two shows each week on http://www.bluesmusicfan.com and writes about the blues at http://www.benveeblues.com from his home in Connecticut. He also has a personal 24 hour stream devoted to the Roadhouse Blues… WRHB as well as a Youtube channel.