Revered as one of the originators of swamp rock, Tony Joe White has recast a number of his classic songs on Deep Cuts, proving that time has no jurisdiction over funky. His signature groove, starting from his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie," is what he uses to paint a vivid picture of the world he experienced growing up, where poverty provided unity between otherwise divided races and bad-news women were sometimes too good to pass up. Tony Joe cut the tracks with his son Jody providing a rich palette of beats and loops, utilizing both digital and live drums, strings, organs, and the unmistakable timbre of his guitar. White's time-worn baritone is positively haunting, like a restless spirit conjured by the funk that was always the core of his music.

Recorded during a month in Louisiana and sounding it, Tab Benoit's sixth album is a swampy example of the best of that state's music. Rocking, bluesy, and filled with soul, guitarist/vocalist Benoit keeps his sound stripped down to just a three-piece, giving his voice and greasy guitar plenty of room to maneuver. From obscure Professor Longhair second-line tunes ("Her Mind Is Gone") to a cover from zydeco king Boozoo Chavis ("Dog Hill") to a version of Otis Redding's "These Arms of Mine" that makes it seem like a lost New Orleans classic, Benoit traverses a lot of territory over this hour of music. Like his influences, Benoit never overdoes his approach, preferring to keep the focus on his gritty voice, lean guitar, and stark accompaniment of his backing duo. This is music caught between rootsy rock, funk, R&B, and blues, but far from sounding schizoid, it revels in its multiple inspirations. Benoit is in wonderful voice and spirits throughout, sounding loose yet in control regardless of what style he's playing. His guitar solos are taut and succinct, capturing the essence of the atmosphere without reverting to needless showboating. This is music from the heart, played with class, subtlety, and a reverence for its past squeezed into every spirited groove.

You'll recognise the wonderful Steamy Windows (covered by good friend Tina Turner with TJW backing her) but the awesome opening track Tunica Motel which tells of Tony Joe's return to his blues roots sets the stage for the whole album. Tunica Motel has it all - strong hooks and TJW's strong songwriting which starts as a song about getting away from it all, and becomes, gradually, a gut-spilling account. "I'm so tired of fighting with myself…" confesses TJW. Later, when he's contemplating his musical direction, he "sees the ghost of Robert Johnson" and for me the line brings an involunatary tingle down my spine every time I hear it, which is often. Tony Joe is Back! In this album he reintroduces us to his warm Stratocaster blues in gorgeous tracks: Ain't Going Down This Time and You're Gonna Look in Blues. In some ways these marked a new sound that he'd develop on subsequent albums - moving us closer to his use of Spanish guitar.

On his Vanguard debut, guitarist Tab Benoit favors his usual workmanlike approach, serving up standard blues and Cajun riffs with ease. Though not technically flashy, Benoit is a solid songwriter with enough musicality to more than make up for the lack of fireworks. He can give his songs a restrained ("I'm Tired") or relaxed ("Raided That Joint") feel and he emotes as well as anybody on the title track. The rollicking "Crawfishin'" and "Jambalaya" recall Louisiana, and Benoit closes things off with the frenetically up-tempo "Bayou Boogie." The one possible misstep here is his take on the Willie Dixon classic "Twenty-Nine Ways (to My Baby's Door)"; anyone who remembers Koko Taylor's earthshaking version will find this one a little tame./quote]

Tony Joe White, aka the Swamp Fox, has been on a roll these past few years, issuing album after self-released album of quality original material full of deep, dark, blues-flavored Florida vintage roots music.Heroines is no exception, but it is a record with a twist. First, it's on the Sanctuary label. Secondly, five of the record's 12 tracks are recorded with female vocalists in duet. They include the great Jessi Colter, Shelby Lynne, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, and Michelle White. The set opens with "Gabriella," a brief, jazzy flamenco-kissed instrumental, played on a pair of acoustic guitars. "Can't Go Back Home" stars Lynne. A true laid-back Tony Joe nocturnal swamp blues, it nonetheless carries within it that slightly menacing tension. Lynne's voice, which is well known for its power, showcases its other side here, one that is expressive, soulful and sensual even on slow burn. White's vocal whispers its edgy truth, underscored by his signature guitar sound.

Tony Joe White's albums from the 1990's are all more stripped down and blues-oriented than his more well-known material from his "Polk Salad Annie"/"Rainy Night In Georgia" heyday. But although blues has been his main idiom for the past decade or so, "Lake Placid Blues" is mainly distinguished by two of the finest rockers of White's career, the title track and "The Beach Life". This set also includes "Let The Healing Begin", which had been covered to fine effect by Joe Cocker, but I like Cocker's version much better. Other highlights include "Louisiana Rain", "Down Again", and "The Guitar Don't Lie". Another fine set by a woefully underappreciated talent.

Tony Joe White says he always saw the friends he invited to play on this album–Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, J.J. Cale, Michael McDonald, and the late Waylon Jennings–as "keepers of the fire." They're also premier custodians of loneliness and despair, the two emotions that lie at the heart of this hypnotic submersion into country/swamp blues. From the kickoff track, "Run for Cover," with Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns, these meditations on mourning–lost lovers, spiritual struggles, anxiety that knows no name and no bottom–grab the listener fast and pull him down into swirling dark waters.

The 21st century saw Tony Joe White resume his recording and performing career, and experience a resurgence of critical interest in his older music as well. Since 2002, "the Swamp Fox" has recorded sporadically for his own Swamp imprint, and also had his back catalog remastered and reissued. Earlier in 2010, Rhino Handmade made available That On the Road Look, a previously unreleased live date. The Shine is a (mostly) low-key, basic affair. White wrote or co-wrote everything here with his wife, Leann. The band is a quintet: White plays guitars and harmonica with drummer Jack Bruno, cellist John Catchings, bassist George Hawkins, and Tyson Rogers on piano, organ, and Wurlitzer. The sound is warm and raw; the album feels like it was cut mostly live from the floor (with guitar and vocal overdubs added) and it's full of natural atmospherics. White's acoustic nylon-string guitar is prevalent, sometimes more so than his quavering, downright spooky baritone. His electric six-string work paints the backdrop.

Tab Benoit has gone the live route before on his recordings, and he's smart to keep reminding listeners every so often that that's where he's at his best. Which is not to take away from Benoit's studio recordings, all of which – including last year's excellent Power of the Pontchartrain – are admirable showcases for his consistently solid blues guitar chops and gritty vocalizing. As on the last effort, Benoit is backed here by the New Orleans fixture Louisiana's Leroux, who provide the kind of muscular foundation that makes Benoit's funk that much funkier. They're all most at home when churning out a basic boogie like "Muddy Bottom Blues," one of a trio of songs on which Benoit and band are joined by Wet Willie's Jimmy Hall, and "Too Sweet for Me," which spotlights Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds on harp. But on the occasions when they lay low, like "Fever for the Bayou," with guest Jumpin' Johnny Sansome sailing on the accordion, Benoit finds a deeper connection with the soul of New Orleans, a soul that, in this post-Katrina age, we all need to connect with more than ever.

Louisiana journeyman swamp rocker Tab Benoit has been churning out an album a year since at least 2002, and between them he stays on the road playing every festival, club, and bar that'll have him. It would seem inevitable that the quality of these studio recordings would decline. But, at least as of 2007's Power of the Pontchartrain, that isn't the case. If anything, this might be the best of a very good lot, as Benoit again teams with Louisiana's Le Roux group (who once backed legend Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and helped on Benoit's previous release) for another 52-minute wade through muggy yet taut bayou blues. Part of the reason Benoit's recent albums are so strong is that he doesn't insist on playing original material, instead cherry-picking nuggets rearranged to suit his approach. This works particularly well here since he unearths terrific, often obscure material from writers such as Julie Miller (two tracks), David Egan (two others), and even Stephen Stills (a not entirely necessary "For What It's Worth").

Tab Benoit's latest release on Telarc, Fever for the Bayou, continues in what has become Benoit's signature territory, a funky, ragged blend of Louisiana swamp blues and East Texas guitar, with hints of funk, soul, and country thrown in to give the gumbo just the right spice. If it sounds like a formula, well, Benoit's jagged guitar playing and increasingly soulful vocals make it clear that this is the music he loves, so it hardly matters. He touches a lot of bases here, including an eerie approximation of Elmore James' slide sound on a cover of James' "I Can't Hold Out" (which also features some cool tenor sax work from Jimmy Carpenter), then conjures Buddy Guy on Guy's "I Smell a Rat," fires up on the old Slim Harpo chestnut "Got Love if You Want It," and tears through a wonderfully swampy take on Levon Helm's "Blues So Bad" before ending things with an acoustic version of Clarence Williams' "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" (made famous by another Williams, Hank Williams Sr.).