Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue

“Big Sister’s Radio” by Tommy Castro, from Painkiller (Blind Pig):

Hoping to re-create the raucous feel of his annual seaborne showcase for landlocked Midwesterners, Blues Cruise founder and former Grand Emporium owner Roger Naber has teamed with California-based guitar slinger Tommy Castro to establish the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue. Castro’s quintet serves as the house band, with boogie-woogie pianist and sax blaster Deanna Bogart, erstwhile J. Geils Band harmonica player Magic Dick and funk-and-hip-hop-infused Chicago blues heir Ronnie Baker Brooks (son of Lonnie Brooks) taking turns at the reins. After each artist has completed a solo set, the featured performers form like Voltron (with Castro as the head) for a feverish jam-session finale. The collaborative format reduces set-change delays, leaving a four-hour block of solid soul from acts that don’t need a boat to rock.