Provogue

Recorded at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in 2019, Weekend in London captures legendary singer/guitarist George Benson in an intimate performance that marks his first official concert recording in 30 years. Produced by Kevin Shirley, the album finds Benson framed in illustrious fashion, backed by a funky jazz ensemble, strings, and a horn section. In many ways, the record brings to mind his classic 1978 live album Weekend in L.A. and finds him reinvestigating many of his most beloved recordings. The album opens with an effusive take on his 1980 hit "Give Me the Night" that perfectly sets the tone for the vintage '70s and early-'80s soul-jazz vibes that follow. We get equally inspired readings of cuts like "Turn Your Love Around," "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You," and "Never Give Up on a Good Thing." Benson also dips into his varied catalog, offering a rendition of Dave Bartholomew's "I Hear You Knocking" off his 2019 album Walking to New Orleans: Remembering Chuck Berry and Fats Domino, as well as a stirring take on Donny Hathaway's "The Ghetto," which he first covered on 2000's Absolute Benson. Although 76 years old at the time of recording, Benson sounds as engaged as ever, even as his bright tenor croon has gained just a modicum of grit and gravitas in the years since Weekend in L.A. marked him as an R&B superstar. Weekend in London is a fitting showcase for Benson's smooth jazz skills and a further reminder of his soulful legacy. © Matt Collar /TiVo

War on her mind? Whatever Beth Hart’s mind-set was in Autumn 2019, the Californian tigress has long shown her feisty side without ever getting caught up in the clichés. With the album War in My Mind, she adds the finishing garnish to her classic rock’n'blues’n’soul cocktail by looking inwards and confronting her inner demons. “More than any record I’ve ever made, on 2019’s War In My Mind I’m more open to being myself on these songs”, she explains. “I’ve come a long way with healing, and I’m comfortable with my darknesses, weirdnesses and things that I’m ashamed on – as well as all the things that make me feel good.” On songs such as Bad Woman Blues, Let It Grow and Woman Down, Hart pours her heart out – without being overly gushy - and uses her voice as an irresistible magnet that pulls every word, every sentence, every chorus. The cherry on the cake is that we find Rob Cavallo behind the console, crafting a slick yet never rushed production. © Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz

Bluesman Walter Trout returns with a record a little different than his usual output. Survivor Blues is comprised exclusively of covers, and he has chosen to record mainly obscure, old blues songs rather than more well-known picks. The album follows 2017's We're All in This Together and features his take on Jimmy Dawkins' "Me, My Guitar and the Blues." © Bekki Bemrose /TiVo

Beth Hart commands the stage with just one click of her fingers! The Californian tigress is still as feisty as ever without getting caught up in the clichés. In this live performance recorded on May 4th 2018 in London’s most prestigious setting, the Royal Albert Hall, she sets up her very own cabaret mixing blues, jazz and vintage soul. A woman who honours Nina Simone, Howlin’ Wolf, Dinah Washington, Buddy Guy and so many other key personalities of rhythm’n’blues, she shows us the full extent of her talent during this two-hour show. With a microphone to hand or sat behind her piano, what impresses us most is Beth Hart’s ability to mix all her musical influences and produce one very personal cocktail. Her secret? Her voice, of course. A kind of unstoppable magnet that pulls every word, every sentence, every chorus and which is made even more powerful by her contact with the audience. © Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz

Beth Hart is never out of the charts. Working solo or with Joe Bonamassa, the beauty is throwing out albums at an impressive rate. But her live recordings are somewhat rarer. After two live recordings in Amsterdam, the first at the Paradiso in 2005, the second with Bonamassa, her follower since 2010 and a tattooed Californian panther, she has brought out an American release, recorded for the show Front and Center, in the close atmosphere of New York's Iridium. A smoky vocal power sanctified in the intimacy of a jazz club will please the faithful. In it, the beautiful Hart shows off the spirit of her latest solo works Fire On The Floor, Jazz Man, No Place Like Home and Fat Man as well as older numbers like Baddest Blues, recalling the twenty-year stretch of hard happiness she sentenced us to. © Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz