Black blues bands in Blues Music

"Spirit of the Black Territory Bands" (11/10/1992) Blues Otis, Johnny, ArhoolieRecorded in Los Angeles, California in 1990. This recording is an evocation of the great Southwestern swing bands of the '30s and '40s that preceded the R&B/rock and roll era. This nostalgic throwback to the big-band jazz era is competent but hardly thrilling. ~ Bill Dahl

"Black Cat Blues *" (07/03/2004) Blues The Sana Band, The SaNa Band

"Black Appalachia: String Bands, Songsters and Hoedowns" (03/09/1999) Blues Various Artists, Rounder SelectThe DEEP RIVER OF SONG series features African-American field recordings made for the Library Of Congress from 1933 to 1946. Performers include: Leadbelly, Sid Hemphill, Sonny Terry, Jimmie Strothers, Theopolis Stokes, Nashville Washboard Band, Blind pete & george Ryan, John "Black Sampson" Gibson, Allen Prothero, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee. Producer: Alan Lomax. Compilation producers: Anna Lomax Chairetakis, Jeffrey A. Greenberg. This is part of Rounder's Alan Lomax Collection. Another sub-series in Rounder's Alan Lomax collection, these are field recordings documenting African-American life in the Appalachia chain, from the Blue Ridge mountains to the hill country of Northeast Mississippi. It's music that spans from string bands to blues solos and hoedowns to songsters. Performers aboard this collection (recordings made by Lomax between 1933 and 1946) include Leadbelly, Jimmie Strothers, Sid Hemphill, the Nashville Washboard Band and Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. Highlights include "Cripple Creek," "Skillet Good and Greasy," "The Red Cross Store," "How Long" and a five-minute-plus rendition of "Arkansas Traveler." Like other volumes in the series, this sheds some serious light on a chunk of American history not often documented. ~ Cub Koda