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Artist
The Jim Liban Blues Combo
4+ albums
blues rockbluesharmonica bluesharmonica
about
Just a few hours north of Chicago, the blues scenes in Milwaukee and Madison have been a vibrant, if often overlooked, Wisconsin secret for more than two decades. These cities have developed some stellar players, and many have been plucked away by some of the best-known blues acts, including Luther Allison, Jimmy Rogers, Jimmie Vaughan, Mike Morgan, the T-Birds and others. Jim Liban is the reigning harp player in Milwaukee, and although he toured the Midwest and both coasts for 15 years fronting his band, Shortstuff, he’s generally kept close to home, all the while developing a word-of-mouth reputation as one of the "great undiscovered" on his instrument. He’s best known outside of Milwaukee as a fine writer, penning songs for John Mayall, Johnny Winter and the Legendary Blues Band, among others, and his live set list has long been built around his own songs. On this casual set, recorded live and direct-to-disc, he’s taken a look back at favorite tunes by some of his influences — Little Walter, Willie Dixon, Detroit Jr. and Pee Wee Crayton. The result is one of the finer releases of the year, ranking in many ways with Kim Wilson’s My Blues for Liban and the band’s unique take on a group of thoroughly familiar classics. Both of these releases are great because they remain true to the spirit and feel of the songs chosen, but the playing and arrangements are fresh and exciting, proving that even the most familiar blues songs come alive in the right hands. Liban has a firm ha
