Charles Brown - These Blues (1994)

Brown was enjoying the peak of an astounding career resurgence when he recorded THESE BLUES in 1994. Amazingly, his powers were in no way diminished. It has been said before that Brown sounds here almost exactly like he did on his breakthough hits of the late '40s, when his urbane brand of post-Nat King Cole blues provided a blueprint for such artists as Ray Charles and Chuck Berry.

Backed by an excellent small combo, Brown tears into a set of blues and bluesy pop songs. He even goes solo on Duke Ellington's "I Got it Bad (And that ain't Good"). While his vocals are as insinuating as ever, it's Brown's piano playing that astonishes-an amazing mix of traditional blues licks, Erroll Garner-ish block chords, and quicksilver octave passages that seem to appear out of nowhere.~These Blues Review by AllMusic