GREAT music - lousy recording
Pros - I first heard a few cuts off of this album on Sirius and was truly impressed with this collaberation of fantastic artists. They really turn it up and 'rock the joint'.

Cons - The recording quality is lousy - plain and simple. There is so much distortion from the recording levels being set too high it really takes away from a great album. I hope mine is just a bad CD, but I don't think so. I did contact Delta Groove Productions and am awaiting their response.

Extremely Impressive
I saw the show at BB King's in Manhattan about 2 months ago (before the official release of the disc). Grabbed one on the way out, and have been listening ever since. Been a fan of Tommy Castro and of course the incomparable Magic Dick for years (when are he and Peter Wolf gonna get together again !!). They are both in fine form. The ensemble cast is great, with guest Curtis Salgado ripping through a cover of the Jimmy Reed tune It Ain't Me. Great stuff throughout. Highly recommend this disc. From beginning to end--you will not be disapointed.

Crusin' for a Bluesin'
The Tommy Castro Band (with associates and friends) delivers a Stax/Volt Carribean vacation workshop on how to play the blues! This is a live powerhouse set from the best of the best including the mouth harp of J.Geils frontman "Magic Dick," the piano and sax stylings of the east coast "Girl in the Band" Deanna Bogart and the Chicago guitar bluesman Ronnie Baker Brooks who sounds like Otis Redding himself reincarnated on the soulful "See You Hurt No More."

The best of the blues is the "Shuffle" beat and Castro regulars Scot Sutherland-bass and Chris Sandoval on percussion are simply "smokin" throughout the entire CD particularly on the CD's best number "I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On."

Deanna Bogart is a real treasure as she nails the piano and then fills in with a "FAT" Tenor Sax on the closing number "Sea Cruise" with the added attraction of Louisiana swamp keyboardist Marcia Ball and Castro stalwarts, Trumpeteer Tom Poole and sax phenom Keith Crossan. The CD also features San Fran sideman Mike Emerson on the Hammond B-3.

This is one terrific CD featuring the blazing guitar and vocals of the best of the new generation of bluesmen Tommy Castro...six minutes of "If I had a Nickel" just wasn't enough.

Five stars for the CD and two more stars for Ronnie Baker Brooks when he opines the nasty "She's Nineteen Years Old!"

My next vacation will be aboard the Rhythm and Blues Cruise!