Down Home Blues: New York, Cincinnati & The North Eastern States (4-CD)

by Various Artists

The box set contains the down home blues of the territories of the North Eastern States that encompasses two important cities that certainly helped in the development and growth of this blues genre. Mainly from artists who were far more comfortable playing their music within the bars and out-of-town juke joints. The tough little venues that were quite different from the bigger rhythm and blues, jazz orchestrated venues that New York and Northeastern cities had established for those bigger sounds.

This is black American musicians, many with pre-war country blues roots which had evolved with an edge that didn't have to come out of the Delta and migrate up to the Illinois or Michigan cites during and after the Second World War. Here, many hailed from Florida, Georgia, Alabama and The Carolinas. 110 performances from single solo artists who were lucky enough to get just one, sublime record release, up to the tight small combo groups of musicians whom all produced equally fine intense recordings.

• Features 37 artists, many of whom were influential in developing the down home blues scene, including Brownie McGhee, Big Chief Ellis, Alonzo Scales, Cousin Leroy and others
• A four CD set, packaged in a deluxe digipak with an outer slip case, featuring 110 rare tracks, all digitally remastered, some of which have never been reissued since their original release
• Also features an 80 page book on the origins of the music and the blues scene in this region by eminent blues writer and scholar Chris Bentley, complete with essay, rare photos, tracklisting and full sessionography