If you were going to buy one BLUES album from the past 5 years...

Also -- Junior Kimbrough -- You Better Run (comp.) and Alvin Youngblood Hart -- Start With the Soul.

Revive

Stormy Davis and I were repping for Otis Taylor on some other thread in 2005, and missed this one.

The only thing I can think of from the last five years would probably be the last Sean Costello disc, but I think I need to look into Otis Taylor. On the other hand, I think Loren Mazzacane Connors & Jandek have consistently expanded on the blues tradition instead of chugging through the ten millionth half-assed version of "Dust My Broom" or "Spoonful." In this respect they're similar to many of the folks from the '60s who added their own voices to the tradition in distinctive ways. Captain Beefheart springs to mind.

Jandek's noise does not impress me-- except maybe as novelty--I haven't really listened to him since the '80s though so maybe I am missing something. I haven't listened to Loren Connors since way back when and blues never came to mind, but maybe again I am missing something.

Otis Taylor and the Mississippi Fat Possum folks have added to the blues tradition while still staying somewhat within it. They do not resemble cliched blues-rockers or others simply covering blues standards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gv9usGhOK4

Noise strikes me as a definite surface impression of Jandek. He has even been known to use the word "blues" in recent years. To be sure, he's pushing the boundaries but that's what keeps an artform from getting stale. And by "stale" I mean utterly co-opted by middle-class white guys who've memorized all the licks but have none of the feel.

Connors has even been known to re-work standards in beautiful swirls of strident guitar work in addition to his own compositions.

I'm more into contemporary African-American bluesy soul (that XChuk E and I have been posting about on the Chitlin Circuit Soul thread), iconoclasts like Otis Taylor (who sometimes gets formulaic), and Fred McDowell inspired Fat Possum folks (many who are now dead--RL Burnside, etc) than avante guitar experimental stuff, but to each his/her own. I know what you mean by guys who've memorized the licks but have none of the feel(I still get e-mails from publicists touting generic blooz-rockers to me), but I find that some avante and improv folks like Jandek get into their own ruts as well, just a different kind; plus they seem to be so far outside the artform that they are not influencing it or keeping it fresh. My favorable memories of Connors though are coming back, I should look him up again.

jandek has always played largely out of a blues idiom but not so much that I'd call him "blues"
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sG_ol0ZWrtg/Sv8uuoMAqTI/AAAAAAAAAHg/mOgGvGxrPU8/s400/jandek2.jpghttp://thehelplessdancer.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/robert-johnson.jpg

ha

On the other hand Jandek may play out of an avant garde idiom, but not so much that I'd call it "avant garde."

He seems to be tipping his hat at the rut as he jumps back & forth over it. FOlks like Jandek can get in ruts to be sure, but he hasn't. His releases are far too eclectic.

Here are four from the past five years that I've liked a lot:

Luther Lackey – Preacher’s Wife (Ecko 2010)
Tim Woods – The Blues Sessions (Earwig 2010)
Rufus Huff – Rufus Huff (Zoho Roots 2009)
The Mighty Jeremiahs – The Mighty Jeremiahs (Ear X-Tacy 2005)

I may have missed some. If blues-influenced country and rock acts count, I could come up with a much longer list. And I assume there are plenty of great Soul Blues/Chitlin Circuit albums that I haven't heard.

New Dr. John album (due out in August) isn't bad either, fwiw.

I saw this band at an outdoor festival recently (not with Dan Aykroyd) - they were a lot of fun. I'm not sure if they've got any recordings that capture their live energy though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndKoPI0J24s