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           Buddy Guy — Blues Is Alive and Well (15 Jun 2018) Pamela MÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃéndez ÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃâ Time (22 Feb 2019)
♦    Kytarová ikonay šíří své gospelové blues s kamarády, jakými jsou Mick Jagger a Keith Richard. Objevil se i Jeff Beck a James Bay. Samotný Buddy je tak trochu soutěžící o titul největšího bluesového kytaristu vůbec, s ohnivou, screechy, super~rychlou technikou, která ovlivnila bezpočet následovníků.
♦    Buddy Guy je jedním z největších žijících bluesových umělců na světě, který svými divokými představeními a ječícími kytarovými sóly definuje Chicagské blues druhé generace. Vítěz Grammy Award a člen Rock & Roll Hall of Fame disponuje ikonickou sílou, která dokazuje, že blues je živý a dobrý. Své 41. album natočil v pěti studiích v USA a v Anglii, čemuž odpovídá počet režisérů (6). Autorství je různé, jak vidíte dole. Buddy Guy začíná své album z roku 2018 „The Blues Is Alive and Well“, zpěvem „pár dobrých let je vše, co teď potřebuji“. Potvrzení, že v 81~ti letech je blíž ke konci svého života, než na začátku. Tohle není poprvé, kdy udělal tak citové přiznání. Před osmi lety otevřel „Living Proof“ (2010) chválou, že byl teprv „74 let mladý“, takže jeho postupující roky mu přišly na mysl každou chvíli, ale „Blues Is Alive and Well“ je plný písní nabitých mortalitou. Je rezervován v úvodní „A Few Good Years“ a jemným boogiem „End of Line“, pak Guy přemýšlí o „Někom tam nahoře“ a rozjímá nad tím, co se stane „Když přijde můj den,“ zároveň však uznává, že je „Old Fashioned“. Nemyslím si však, že je opravdu staromódní. To je spousta písní o životě a smrti, ale „The Blues Is Alive and Well“ má obecně spoustu písní — plných 15, které dohromady trvají dobře přes hodinu. Tato nadměrná délka znamená, že je zde také dostatek prostoru pro lehkomyslnost, včetně účasti Jamese Baye, kterému to sedlo v duetu „Blue No More“, Mick Jaggerova wailing harfa na „You Did The Crime“ a nejlépe ze všeho — otevřená konfrontace, utkání kdo z koho, rozhodující souboj (showdown) s Keith Richardsem a Jeff Beckem v songu „Cognac.“ Guy má samozřejmě několik dobrých okamžiků sám — jeho kytarová žihadla píchají pořád a může vyprodávat rockerské domy i díky „Guilty as Charged“ s rázností, která odporuje jeho věku — důraz na přežívající melodie je však trochu těžkopádný. Možná proto album končí „Milking Muther for Ya“, minutkovou kostičkou a špinavým vtípkem, přerušující náladové vibrace v „End of the Line“. Právě jeho přítomnost naznačuje, že Buddy Guy by raději žil naplno, dokud ještě zbývá pár dobrých let. 
Location: Chicago, IL
Album release:  15 Jun 2018
Recording Location:
♠→     Blackbird Studios, Nashville, TN
♠→     Germano Studios, New York, NY
♠→     No. 1 Baltic Place, London, England
♠→     Power Station, New York, NY
♠→     River Hall Mill, London, England
Record Label: RCA Records / Silvertone Records
Duration:     64:10
Tracks:
01 A Few Good Years   4:48
02 Guilty as Charged   3:20
03 Cognac (feat. Jeff Beck & Keith Richards)   5:22
04 The Blues Is Alive and Well   5:14
05 Bad Day   3:49
06 Blue No More (feat. James Bay)   3:39
07 Whiskey for Sale   4:03
08 You Did the Crime (feat. Mick Jagger)   6:53
09 Old Fashioned   3:57
10 When My Day Comes   4:38
11 Nine Below Zero   6:20
12 Ooh Daddy   3:17
13 Somebody Up There   4:28
14 End of the Line   3:25
15 Milking Muther for Ya   0:57
Written by:
♦    Richard Fleming / Tom Hambridge   1, 2, 8, 12 
♦    Richard Fleming / Buddy Guy / Tom Hambridge   3
♦    Tom Hambridge / Gary Nicholson   4
♦    Mac Davis / Tom Hambridge   5
♦    Tom Hambridge / Jamey Johnson   6
♦    Tom Hambridge   7
♦    Buddy Guy / Tom Hambridge   9
♦    Tom Hambridge / Bill Sweeney   10
♦    Sonny Boy Williamson II   11
Credits:
•♦•     Zach Allen Engineer
•♦•     Sean R. Badum Assistant Engineer
•♦•     James Bay Featured Artist, Guitar, Vocals
•♦•     Jeff Beck Featured Artist, Guitar
•♦•     Chris Bynum Guitar Technician
•♦•     Greg Calbi Mastering
•♦•     Ducky Carlisle Engineer
•♦•     Dan Chertoff  A&R
•♦•     Jack Chown Assistant Engineer
•♦•     Mac Davis Composer
•♦•     Ben Findlay Engineer
•♦•     Richard Fleming Composer
•♦•     Erwin Gorostiza Creative Director
•♦•     Buddy Guy Composer, Fender Stratocaster, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electroacoustic), Vocals
•♦•     Rachel Hambridge Vocals (Background)
•♦•     Tom Hambridge Composer, Drum Loop, Drums, Mixing, Percussion, Producer, Vocals (Background)
•♦•     Roy Henderson Engineer
•♦•     Steven Herrman Trumpet
•♦•     Jim Hoke Sax (Baritone)
•♦•     Mick Jagger Featured Artist, Harmonica
•♦•     Jamey Johnson Composer
•♦•     Emil Justian Harmonica
•♦•     Chuck Lanza Photography
•♦•     Tommy Macdonald Bass, Production Assistant
•♦•     Ann McCrary Vocals (Background)
•♦•     Regina McCrary Vocals (Background)
•♦•     Kevin McKendree Clavinet, Hammond B3, Mellotron, Piano (Upright), Wurlitzer
•♦•     Rob McNelley Guitar (Rhythm), Slide Guitar
•♦•     Doug Moffet Sax (Tenor)
•♦•     Paul Natkin Photography
•♦•     Red Nelson Composer
•♦•     Gary Nicholson Composer
•♦•     Keith Richards Featured Artist, Guitar
•♦•     Charles Rose  Horn Arrangements, Trombone
•♦•     Michael Saint~Leon  Mixing
•♦•     Jeff Schulz Art Direction, Design
•♦•     Eddie Serafica Engineer
•♦•     Neal Shaw Assistant Engineer
•♦•     Jason Staniulis Assistant Engineer
•♦•     Bill Sweeney Composer
•♦•     Willie Weeks Bass
•♦•     Sonny Boy Williamson II Composer
•♦•     Kenta Yonesaka Engineer
Background
♦    The title of Buddy Guy’s latest album says it all: The Blues Is Alive and Well. The legendary blues artist’s eighteenth solo LP and follow~up to 2015’s Born to Play Guitar showcases his raw and unadulterated sound, its fifteen tracks a true pleasure for aficionados and genre newcomers alike. “I got children and grandchildren who didn’t know who I was, but nowadays we can play outdoor concerts and see kids that are eight, nine, twelve years old coming to me and saying, ‘I didn’t know who you was, but I read what Eric Clapton said about you,’” Guy explains when discussing his mindset around the new record. “I’m always trying to make an album that someone accidentally plays where some kid hears it, picks up a guitar, and helps keep the blues alive.”
♦    And it only takes one listen to The Blues Is Alive and Well to realize that Guy’s mission has been more than accomplished here. The record is arriving on the heels of a spate of high visibility for the 82~year~old performer: at the 2016 Grammys, he picked up a trophy for “Best Blues Album” honoring Born to Play Guitar, and that same year he hit the road for a U.S. tour opening for Jeff Beck. In addition to bringing the house down for a recent sold~out performance commemorating the closing of New York City’s B.B. King’s Blues Club and Grill, he recently appeared on David Letterman’s Netflix talk show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. A truly restless and energetic performer, The Blues Is Alive and Well is the latest triumph in an already~legendary career.
♦    The Blues Is Alive and Well began to come together when Tom Hambridge, frequent Guy collaborator and producer, came to the man with a collection of songs he figured would be perfect for a new full~length. “He’s like some of the older guys I used to play with,” Guy enthuses about working with Hambridge. “When you play with a band for ten or twelve years, they almost know what you’re gonna do. He’s the type of guy who feels what I’m gonna do. Even in my early Chess Records days, you had Willie Dixon and several other guys affiliated with those hit records, and this kid just has that feel too. He brought the songs in, and hopefully we did a good job.”
♦    And how: The Blues Is Alive and Well‘s fifteen tracks feature pristine production without losing the signature lived~in grit that Guy’s been known for his entire career, from the low~slung riffage of “Bad Day” to the squealing solos of “Somebody Up There.” Guy sounds every bit as vital and youthful here as he did dating back to his early collaborations with the late Junior Wells, and it’s inspiring to hear a veteran artist laying down the blues with such gusto.
♦    Among the contributors to The Blues Is Alive and Well: young gun James Bay, who joins him on the aching “Blue No More,” as well as Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who contributes to the stomping barroom rambler “You Did the Crime.” “Mick made a comment to me when he heard the song: ‘Is that my voice? I didn’t know it was still that strong,'” Guy states. “Before the late Junior Wells passed away, we did a whole tour with Mick. They exposed us a lot. I owe a lot of things to those guys, because they put us in places that we hadn’t been, and they haven’t forgotten that. We got a relationship between us. Whenever they come to town, they stop in the loudest blues club in Chicago and call me, and I’ll go in the kitchen and fix us something. We still have a lot of fun.”
♦    And Jagger’s not the only Rolling Stone to hop on The Blues Is Alive and Well: Keith Richards contributes to the warm “Cognac,” as does Jeff Beck. “Those guys have been my friends before they got famous,” Guy reminisces while discussing his rejoining with old friends. “I went to England and those guys looked at me while I was playing a Stratocaster and said, ‘Don’t you know a Stratocaster can’t play the blues?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ It was a joke, because it was a country/western instrument before that — it wasn’t supposed to play the blues. We all bought Stratocasters after that.”
♦    And even as Guy pushes forward with his astounding career, he’s careful not to forget his late contemporaries who inspired him along the way. “I went to sleep yesterday and woke up and all the great blues players are no longer with us. Muddy, Wolf, B.B. — they’re all gone. Before they passed away, when they were in their prime, we used to have a drink and a laugh and talk about how when one of us is gone, the others have to keep it going. I’m trying to do something to keep this music that I love so well alive.” And with The Blues Is Alive and Well, it’s clear that the music — and Guy himself — ain’t going away anytime soon. ♦    
♦    https://www.mayoarts.org/ 
Website https://www.buddyguy.net/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealbuddyguy  
FB: https://www.facebook.com/therealbuddyguy 

ALBUM COVERS XI.