Reviews
Some press comments on the release of the series: Our thanks to the blues and jazz magazines for permission to reproduce these reviews in whole or in part:
JAZZ RAG: http://www.bigbearmusic.com
BLUES & RHYTHM: http://www.bluesandrhythm.co.uk
BLUES IN BRITAIN: https://www.bluesinbritain.org
BLUES MATTERS: https://bluesmatters.com
LIVING BLUES: https://livingblues.com
It just doesn’t get any better! Highly recommended.
EarlyBlues.com
Valuable service to early blues, unearthing fascinating nuggets from the pioneers of the genre.
LONDON JAZZ
This week I have been immersing myself in the root of all jazz, the blues , and the first two volumes in the Matchbox Bluesmaster series I eagerly look forward to future volumes in the Bluesmaster series.
PRESTO MUSIC, USA
The Matchbox Bluesmaster series is the most comprehensive survey tracing the origins of Black American Blues Music offering a rare insight into the world of black musicians of the day…. the blues here is timeless.
BLUES IN BRITAIN
…..All in all the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series is quite fascinating, really bringing to life the richness of the blues genre which would go on to fuel the best of our popular music. Highly recommended.
ARTMUSELONDON
….It is the cumulative effect, though, of the eight hours or so of music in these two sets that really lingers in the mind…. painted by these uniquely valuable recordings.
London Jazz News Review – Jan 2021
One of the many great pleasures of being a blues fanatic, and a writer for this wonderful magazine, is exposure to collections like this…. Listen, and hear the influences being formed and created, scholarship and musical pleasure combined. … Without doubt, the birth of blues music started with tracks like this. Utterly fascinating.
BLUES MATTERS
It is an immense undertaking……The price per set is extremely competitive and it’s invigorating to see this pioneering series back in the marketplace. It represents a primary go-to resource for Blues and roots aficionados everywhere…These Bluesmasters have been adroitly selected and make for excellent boxes.
musicweb-international.
They absolutely remain a pleasure to listen to but more to the point they still resonate through modern day popular music….. Well it is a treasure trove, there’s no doubt about that, but because the Blues is a generic term and you have all of these different schools, these different approaches, these sub-genres….. I think is important and that really comes across in the collection.
BBC Radio 4 – Front Row Tuesday 5th January 2021
“This piece of living social history. Without doubt, the birth of blues music started with tracks like this. Utterly fascinating” (Blues Matters)
“An important part of the United States' musical heritage” (Los Angeles Jazz Scene)
“Matchbox … are doing the musical world a great service with this excellent series of reissues” (London Jazz)
“The Matchbox Bluesmaster Series is quite fascinating, really bringing to life the richness of the blues genre which would go on to fuel the best of our popular music. …..Highly recommended” (Artsmuse London)
“It just doesn’t get any better!.....Highly recommended” (EarlyBlues.com)
“A vivid portrait of a long-vanished society…. is painted by these uniquely valuable recordings” (London Jazz News Review)
“Explores the roots of a music that has been the back-bone of popular music” (New Classics review)
“The overarching concept of the series being to provide insight into how Black music was first released on record…. I eagerly look forward to future volumes” (Presto Music, USA)
“An extraordinary musical archive of Early Blues recordings often made on location…. Well it is a treasure trove, there’s no doubt about that” (Front Row, BBC Radio 4)
“The most comprehensive survey tracing the origins of Black American Blues Music offering a rare insight into the world of black musicians of the day… the blues here is timeless” (Blues In Britain)
“It is an immense undertaking” (Music Web International)
“It's the real thing, exactly as would have been heard when strolling down Beale Street in the late 1920s or early 1930s” (Henry’s Blueshouse/Jazz Rag)
Songlines Magazine – Jan 2021 An extraordinary archive of early blues recordings put into the spotlight once more.
MSESET 1 & 2 “A rare insight into the world of black musicians of the day….what you have in these sets is an absolute goldmine of early blues…..These fantastic albums suggest those following during the year will be well worth waiting for….these are an absolute must. …. the blues here is timeless.” (Blues In Britain)
MSESET 1 & 2 “…..The early blues was an amalgam of musical styles: country blues, ragtime and gospel to name but a few. This I discovered when I received two CD box sets of the ‘Matchbox Bluesmaster series’. 12 CDs was enough to keep me busy listening for the entire Christmas period and beyond. Presented with such choice, I found myself awed by the profusion of artists on offer. ….. All in all the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series is quite fascinating, really bringing to life the richness of the blues genre which would go on to fuel the best of our popular music. …..Highly recommended to blues enthusiasts and to aspiring musicians wishing to brush up their harp and guitar technique.” (Artsmuse London – Jan 2021)
MSESET 1 & 2 “This major release from Saydisc Records is an extremely well-produced and comprehensive compilation from across the whole blues music genre…. the liner notes are from the writings of Paul Oliver, a world authority on the blues…. It just doesn’t get any better!.....Highly recommended.” ALAN WHITE (EarlyBlues.com)
MSESET 1 & 2 “….[that] this music richly rewards close listening merely for its own sake is demonstrated over and over again by the 12 albums that constitute the initial releases….Paul Oliver (who died in 2017) has provided characteristically learned notes, and the recordings have been skilfully transferred to CD by Norman White…. It is the cumulative effect, though, of the eight hours or so of music in these two sets that really lingers in the mind…. a vivid portrait of a long-vanished society…. is painted by these uniquely valuable recordings.” (London Jazz News – Jan 2021)
MSESET 1 & 2 “…This comprehensive new Matchbox Bluesmaster Series explores the roots of a music that has been the back-bone of popular music from rhythm and blues to reggae, rock and roll, Motown and gospel music….” (New Classics – Jan 2021)
MSESET 1 & 2 “This week I have been immersing myself in the root of all jazz, the blues, and the first two volumes in the Matchbox Bluesmaster series, which documents some of the earliest recordings of blues, ragtime, hokum and gospel music. Drawing on the legendary forty-two LP set released by the UK’s Saydisc Records in the eighties, Bluesmaster focuses on extremely rare 78s recorded between 1926 and 1934, with the overarching concept of the series being to provide insight into how Black music was first released on record…. I eagerly look forward to future volumes in the Bluesmaster series.” (Presto Music, USA - Jan 2021)
MSESET 1 & 2 “….Authentic historical detail is the very essence of the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series, an extraordinary musical archive of Early Blues recordings often made on location…. Well it is a treasure trove, there’s no doubt about that, but because the Blues is a generic term and you have all of these different schools, these different approaches, these sub-genres…They absolutely remain a pleasure to listen to but more to the point they still resonate through modern day popular music.”(Front Row, BBC Radio 4, 5th Jan 21)
MSESET1 The UK-based classical label Nimbus is overseeing the digital and CD reissue of the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series, which debuted on vinyl in the 1980s. It was one of several reissue projects envisioned by Austrian collector Johnny Parth, whose goal was to bring to prewar blues reissues the scholarly oversight and completeness then largely associated with jazz. He enlisted the dean of British blues scholars, Paul Oliver, in his cause and Oliver brought his gravitas and years of research to the notes he contributed to the Matchbox releases. Decades later, their accomplishment remains impressive. (Living Blues Magazine, USA)
MSESET1 It is an immense undertaking……The Bluesmaster series offered and still offers a very special panorama of blues roots, sourced from largely excellent copies which have been finely transferred. The discs are laced with those top of the range booklet notes and full discographical information. The price per set is extremely competitive and it’s invigorating to see this pioneering series back in the marketplace. (Music Web International)
MSESET1 One of the many great pleasures of being a blues fanatic, and a writer for this wonderful magazine, is exposure to collections like this. Listening to the huge amount of music presented on this six-disc set, I felt less like a reviewer, and more like a musical archaeologist, digging down into the hidden foundations of the blues music we all love and enjoy so much…. Listen, and hear the influences being formed and created, scholarship and musical pleasure combined. ANDY HUGHES (BLUES MATTERS Jan/Feb 2021)
MSESET 2 Blues Matters - April / May 2021 The second set in this peerless retrospective of vintage blues recordings turns the spotlight on country blues and the great harp players from 1927 to 1932….a fascinating set of vintage blues recordings being released for the entertainment and education of the blues scholar, but lets not forget the avid listeners who read about such collections and should be steered towards these compilations to find out the rich heritage and even greater influences that these early blues Masters would bring on the artists who followed, developing their basic earthy styles in the multiple blues styles and genres that followed, and continue to follow today. Without doubt, the birth of blues music started with tracks like this. Utterly fascinating. ANDY HUGHES
MSESET3 and 4 From lowdown blues to goodtime music, traditional folk songs to spontaneous originals, the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series is full of unique performances that, while mostly by long-forgotten artists, are an important part of the United States' musical heritage. And most importantly, the music is enjoyable to hear, even 90 years later. (Los Angeles Jazz Scene - July 2021)
MSESET3 “I remember grumbling a bit when the Bluesmaster series first appeared, as at first I just didn't get what they were trying to do. The penny dropped eventually and I came to regard Johnny Parth's complete/chronological project with enormous respect” (Blues & Rhythm Sept 21)
MSESET3 Jazz Journal June 2021 “Putting this music into perspective are the masterful liner notes by respected blues historian Paul Oliver. They alone are worth the purchase….Saydisc say that they have in their vaults many more pre-Bluesmaster blues albums which may be issued on CD in due course. Let us hope so. The CD sets are available at a realistic price (£29.99) and the release of this important series for the first time on CD should appeal to serious blues collectors and also attract (hopefully) a new generation of early blues lovers.”
MSESET3 London Jazz With this latest set of discs, the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series continues to perform a valuable service to early blues, unearthing fascinating nuggets from the pioneers of the genre. MSESET3 2021 seems to be shaping up to be a good year for those of us who are interested in those earliest recorded blues, with the release of seven CD sets, each set comprising of six CDs, in the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series…. it's the real thing, exactly as would have been heard when strolling down Beale Street in the late 1920s or early 1930s. (Henry’s Blueshouse/Jazz Rag - May 2021)
MSESET 3 Space sadly does not permit a full analysis of this six-CD collection of vintage blues, the next in the Matchbox series. But hopefully a brief excursion will encourage the serious blues collectors and historians among the BM community to acquire and enjoy this piece of living social history. (Blues Matters - Aug/Sept 21)
MSESET3 The third box in this reissue series proves just as invigorating as its confreres…. has plentiful variety, from harmonica to solo guitar and vocal, vocal duets and good old ‘Country Girls’…. The late Paul Oliver’s notes were always a wonderful addition to this series telling the reader everything necessary and known about the musicians and their backgrounds and songs. There’s much more to come in this sequence and much to relish here. Jonathan Woolf (Music Web International)
MSESET4 Matchbox triumphantly vindicates the 1912 prediction of pioneering civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson that the music of the South he so beguilingly describes in his Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (as productive of ‘one of the most thrilling emotions which the human heart may experience’) will one day constitute African Americans’ ‘most treasured heritage’….plus Paul Oliver’s “characteristically erudite liner notes” There are, it is good to report, three more six-CD sets to come from Matchbox; they are doing the musical world a great service with this excellent series of reissues. (London Jazz)
MSESET4 “This collection is a look as far back into blues history as blues history goes, it’s some of the very earliest recordings ever made…. Wonderful blues” (BLUES MATTERS Sept 2021)
MSESET4 Set 4 comprises six CDs with meticulous track-listing and original liner notes by the respected blues historian Paul Oliver…. Comprising just under 100 tracks and lasting approximately five hours, this is blues-fan heaven…. The sound is more than acceptable considering the variable quality of the sources. This is pre-war US country blues at its finest and its rawest….. Matchbox have done a splendid job – first in preserving and committing the source to vinyl and then digitalising the entire Bluesmaster Series…. This Bluesmaster Series should not be seen as the preserve of the serious blues collector. It can be appreciated by anybody with an interest in the history of music, America and social change…. This may not be your usual CD purchase, but I doubt you will be disappointed if you take a chance. (Ian Lomax, JAZZ JOURNAL Sept 2021)
MSESET3 + 4 Recorded between 1926 and 1950, these are pure blues gold. Many of the artists you may not have heard of before but don't let that put you off…. Along with the six discs in each set, Paul Oliver's extensive original notes make very interesting reading, an insight into these largely unknown musicians and their recordings. (Pete Clack BLUES IN BRITAIN)
MSESET3 and 4 July 2021 issue of the Los Angeles Jazz Scene From lowdown blues to goodtime music, traditional folk songs to spontaneous originals, the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series is full of unique performances that, while mostly by long-forgotten artists, are an important part of the United States' musical heritage. And most importantly, the music is enjoyable to hear, even 90 years later.
MSESET4 London Jazz Matchbox triumphantly vindicates the 1912 prediction of pioneering civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson that the music of the South he so beguilingly describes in his Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (as productive of ‘one of the most thrilling emotions which the human heart may experience’) will one day constitute African Americans’ ‘most treasured heritage’….Paul Oliver’s “characteristically erudite liner notes” There are, it is good to report, three more six-CD sets to come from Matchbox; they are doing the musical world a great service with this excellent series of reissues.
MSESET 3 Blues Matters Aug/Sept 21 Space sadly does not permit a full analysis of this six-CD collection of vintage blues, the next in the Matchbox series. But hopefully a brief excursion will encourage the serious blues collectors and historians among the BM community to acquire and enjoy this piece of living social history. The Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Tracing the Origins of Black American Blues Music.
Released on CD and digital for the first time ever, the Matchbox Bluesmaster series is the most comprehensive survey tracing the origins of Black American Blues Music offering a rare insight into the world of black musicians of the day……. All the releases are tied together by the erudite notes of Paul Oliver, a leading authority and researcher on jazz and blues music. Fascinating for blues enthusiasts and collectors, this series will bring to the attention of younger people, the power and importance of this music. It is clear that 'black music matters' and that it has been the back-bone of almost all popular music forms, from rhythm and blues, to reggae, rock and roll, Motown and gospel…….These fantastic albums suggest those following during the year will be well worth waiting for. For any follower of country blues guitar these are an absolute must. Even allowing for the background noise because of their age, the blues here is timeless. BLUES IN BRITAIN
The Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Tracing the Origins of Black American Blues Music. Released on CD and digital for the first time ever, the Matchbox Bluesmaster series is the most comprehensive survey tracing the origins of Black American Blues Music offering a rare insight into the world of black musicians of the day……. All the releases are tied together by the erudite notes of Paul Oliver, a leading authority and researcher on jazz and blues music. Fascinating for blues enthusiasts and collectors, this series will bring to the attention of younger people, the power and importance of this music. It is clear that 'black music matters' and that it has been the back-bone of almost all popular music forms, from rhythm and blues, to reggae, rock and roll, Motown and gospel…….These fantastic albums suggest those following during the year will be well worth waiting for. For any follower of country blues guitar these are an absolute must. Even allowing for the background noise because of their age, the blues here is timeless. BLUES IN BRITAIN
MATCHBOX BLUESMASTER SERIES – SOME REVIEWS OF SET 3
Matchbox Bluesmaster Series – Set 3 (Six-CD set)
LONDON JAZZ May 2021 Album Review by Chris Parker) The latest set in the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series, like its two predecessors is taken from the 42 albums released by Saydisc between November 1982 and June 1988. They concentrate on blues recordings, but also contain examples of hokum (described by Paul Oliver’s exemplary liner notes as ‘a kind of arch, nudging blues style … entertainment with suggestive lyrics’) and gospel, originally recorded by companies such as Okeh and marketed to the black community …….. With this latest set of discs, the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series continues to perform a valuable service to early blues, unearthing fascinating nuggets from the pioneers of the genre.
It just doesn’t get any better! Highly recommended. EARLYBLUES.COM
Valuable service to early blues, unearthing fascinating nuggets from the pioneers of the genre. LONDON JAZZ
This week I have been immersing myself in the root of all jazz, the blues , and the first two volumes in the Matchbox Bluesmaster series I eagerly look forward to future volumes in the Bluesmaster series. PRESTO MUSIC, USA
The Matchbox Bluesmaster series is the most comprehensive survey tracing the origins of Black American Blues Music offering a rare insight into the world of black musicians of the day…. the blues here is timeless. BLUES IN BRITAIN
…..All in all the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series is quite fascinating, really bringing to life the richness of the blues genre which would go on to fuel the best of our popular music. Highly recommended. ARTMUSELONDON
….It is the cumulative effect, though, of the eight hours or so of music in these two sets that really lingers in the mind…. painted by these uniquely valuable recordings. LONDON JAZZ NEWS REVIEW – JAN 2021 One of the many great pleasures of being a blues fanatic, and a writer for this wonderful magazine, is exposure to collections like this…. Listen, and hear the influences being formed and created, scholarship and musical pleasure combined. … Without doubt, the birth of blues music started with tracks like this. Utterly fascinating.
BLUES MATTERS It is an immense undertaking
……The price per set is extremely competitive and it’s invigorating to see this pioneering series back in the marketplace. It represents a primary go-to resource for Blues and roots aficionados everywhere…These Bluesmasters have been adroitly selected and make for excellent boxes. MUSICWEB-INTERNATIONAL. They absolutely remain a pleasure to listen to but more to the point they still resonate through modern day popular music….. Well it is a treasure trove, there’s no doubt about that, but because the Blues is a generic term and you have all of these different schools, these different approaches, these sub-genres….. I think is important and that really comes across in the collection. BBC RADIO 4 – FRONT ROW TUESDAY 5TH JANUARY 2021 MSESET 5 “I wish I could write more about this compilation so that I could exude my delight at the production of such fine material” (Stephen Harrison, BLUES MATTERS) MSESET 5 “this collection is a motherlode of gems for fanciers of pre-war guitar styles” LIVING BLUES (USA) Jan-Feb 2022 Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol. 5 Here it is, box set no. 5 in this wonderful series, another six albums and 107 tracks of the very finest in recorded blues, hokum and gospel recorded between 1926 and 1932. Previous sets have included some fairly unknown artists, but this time we have some real nuggets of blues gold. First released on LP between 1982 and 1988, the wait for them to be available on CD has been worth it…. Age has done little to diminish the quality of these performances. Pete Clack, Blues In Britain Jan 2022 Blues From The Avon Delta - The Matchbox Blues Story Mark Jones's book chronicles the history of the Saydisc label and its series of 1920s and 1930s blues music CDs, itemising who did what and when, through the manufacturing process, the artists, the tracks and the sleeves. This is a hugely informative book that's been made possible with the help and input of the people who were there. Pete Clack, Blues In Britain Jan 2022 RnR Jan 2022 Matchbox Bluesmaster Series – Set 5 **** This latest six-disc set from the Saydisc archives will be a welcome treat for blues historians and collectors alike….. So sit back and enjoy the sources behind the birth of so much of the music we enjoy to this day. (Morgon Hogarth, RnR Jan 2022) “…every backwater and flowing mainstream of Western popular music is rooted in this stuff. .. collections like the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series, which Saydisc has reissued with such meticulous care in these multi-disc sets, are so important …It’s a helluva legacy.” STUART MAXWELL (JAZZ RAG) Set 5 Review Blues & Rhythm set 6, Mar 22 This penultimate set of 42 albums that were originally released in the 1980s, has some interesting and some fine music…. As always it is a pleasure to read Paul Oliver's comprehensive and detailed notes and using some recent information, Tony Russell has updated a couple of Oliver's comments. BLUES IN BRITAIN MARCH 2022-02-25 Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Volume 6 MSESET6 (6 CD box set) Matchbox When I began reviewing these amazing box sets last year I said they were a rare insight into the world of black music and, as each set comes along, that view has grown stronger… These are nuggets of pure blues gold. This series is proving beyond doubt to be something to treasure. Pete Clack LIVING BLUES, USA Mar/Apr 2022 Matchbox Bluesmaster Series: Set 6 MSESET6 The penultimate entry in the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series is a particularly enjoyable one, both in terms of musical variety and sound quality. The featured artists not only represent very different approaches to blues in its first recorded generation, they incorporate disparate musical tributaries that made that era’s “blues” idiom far less formulaic than it arguably became later. Mark Humphrey RnR Mar/Apr 2022 Matchbox Bluesmaster Series - Set6 **** The albums, which were sourced from obscure 78s, are currently being reissued in six-CD volumes which retain blues historian Paul Oliver's original notes…. blues buffs will relish the opportunity to own such rare and inimitable music. Trevor Hodgett
BLUES BLAST MAGAZINE 14th April 2022 Matchbox Bluesmaster Series – Sets 5 and 6 Each album on it’s own is a wonderful listen; each of the 6 CD sets is amazing and the 7 sets make up a huge collection of early blues that give the listeners much to appreciate. Whether you are new to this music or a seasoned blues fan, these recordings are an amazing combination of music that can be enjoyed over and over again. The nuances and glimpses into what created our music over the years and up to today are here in these recordings. These bluesmasters gave us the roots of all of America’s popular music and having this huge collection to savor gives the listener a superb view of blues as it began to be put down on records. I most highly recommend these sets to new and old blues lovers. There is something on each CD for the listener to appreciate and the sets become a huge compendium of great music for the collections of listeners. Steve Jones (president of the Crossroads Blues Society), USA
BLUES IN BRITAIN, MAY 2022 Matchbox Bluesmaster Series: Volume 7 'Songsters & Saints'
MSESET7 (6 CD box set) ….Set 7 of the stunning Matchbox Bluesmaster Series….. British writer Paul Oliver wrote several highly regarded books on the history and roots of the blues, including in 1984, Songsters & Saints, but until now the recordings that went with the book have not seen the light of day on CD. Here they are at last and the wait has been more than worthwhile….. You could write pages on these wonderful recordings…..each bring you music you will never forget. Long overdue for release, grab yourselves copies while these remain available. This is the blues as good as it will ever get. Pete Clack
BLUES BLAST MAGAZINE 5th May 2022 Matchbox Bluesmaster Series – set 7: One marvels at the incredible gospel and blues tunes included… I highly recommend this and the entire series…All of America’s popular music came from these early blues and gospel music and hearing it gives us a great look into how that all happened. Steve Jones (President of the Crossroads Blues Society, USA) SETS 6 AND 7: It is quite rewarding that the entire Matchbox catalog is now available on CD. Paul Oliver’s original definitive liner notes are also included and are a major bonus to this highly recommended series. Scott Yanow (Los Angeles Jazz Scene)
BLUES IN BRITAIN NOVEMBER 2022
Matchbox Bluesmaster Series:
Volume 8: Big Road Blues
MSESETS (6 CD box set)
If there's ever been a better series of archived blues recordings made available than this, I'd be surprised. Each set offers something new to the ears: many recordings you may never have heard before, nearly all previously unavailable on CD. The Bluesmaster Series is proving a real blues treasure trove… and to put it simply, this is pure blues heaven… These sets are absolutely unmissable. Together, they are undoubtedly one of the finest blues collections you will ever find.
Pete Clack (Blues In Britain)
JAZZ JOURNAL Feb 2022
Matchbox Bluesmaster Series – Set 6
If you have read my previous reviews of this series, you will know by now that I am a big fan… This one has more of a good-time feel than previous sets and opens with some splendid banjo playing by Papa Charlie Jackson…. Once again Matchbox have excelled themselves. As I have said previously, this music has appeal beyond the blues enthusiast and historian. It is the birthplace of all modern music and needs to be better appreciated. Thankfully, Matchbox and Nimbus are working hard to ensure that we all have easy access to it.
IAN LOMAX
JAZZ JOURNAL June 2022
Matchbox Bluesmaster Series – Set 7
Following previous reviews of this groundbreaking series I am running out of superlatives to use… There are some wonderful and memorable tracks… I have said it many times, but Matchbox/Nimbus do deserve our praise for their work in keeping this music alive. They also deserve our support, and I would wholeheartedly recommend that you go out and buy one or more sets from this groundbreaking Bluesmaster Series. IAN LOMAX
JAZZ JOURNAL 24 Oct 2022
Matchbox Bluesmaster Series – The eighth set in the epic Bluesmaster series:
Set 7 was meant to be the last of the current series, so you can imagine my delight when Set 8 dropped through the door. Titled “Big Road Blues” and subtitled “1966-1972: The Tradition Continues”, the collection is more focused on individual artists than styles or themes.
Matchbox played an important role in the 60s British blues boom and this set is devoted to recordings made in the USA between 1966 and 1972 of singers in the classic blues tradition. One album, Big Road Blues, has had to wait for 50 years to be released….Once again, Saydisc have surpassed themselves with this latest release from the Bluesmaster Series and I sincerely hope that Set 9 is currently in the planning. Ian Lomax
JAZZ JOURNAL Dec 2022
Matchbox Bluesmaster Series – Set 9
Volume 9, six further CDs, captures in unvarnished and nascent form more of what would become a worldwide phenomenon… Most of the people featured on this giant set…subtitled Library Of Congress Field Recordings 1934-1943, are considerably more unrecognised, even by the average blues fan which, in my view anyway, makes this sort of compilation all the more valuable and fascinating.
The Library of Congress recordists, including the legendary John Avery Lomax and Ruth Terrill Lomax, perhaps took greater care over sound quality than did the commercial scouts as they were preserving for posterity rather than seeking immediate commercial success.
LIVING BLUES (USA) Jan 2023
Big Road Blues, 1966-1972:
The Tradition Continues
Matchbox Bluesmaster Series – MSESET8
Here are six CDs offering 79 tracks and over four hours of recordings made during the blues revival. Spurred on by the spectacular rediscoveries of John Hurt in 1963 and Son House and Skip James in 1964, the blues revival would inspire fresh recordings of artists largely inactive for decades and seek out previously unrecorded ones whose playing echoed the sounds of a vaunted Golden Age. Mark Humphrey
