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Multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945)

John Lee Hooker

Otis Redding, 1966. Photo : Bent Rej.

Slim Harpo delivers a fine example of his signature swamp blues sound here: sparse, hypnotic, and rhythmically loose.

Nat King Cole, Eartha Kitt, and Cab Calloway on set of ST. LOUIS BLUES (Allen Reisner, 1958)

Alice Skinner Ochs Blues Musician Reverend Gary Davis Playing While Meegan Ochs (the Daughter of Photographer Alice Skinner Ochs and Folksinger Phil Ochs) Dances, New York City c.1968

Bessie Smith - Lost Your Head Blues

Junior Wells, Late 1960s.

Billy Preston was 16 years old at the time of the recording of Sam Cooke's "Night Beat" album.

(via Strokin’ - Clarence Carter (1986)

Little Richard at the Star Club, Germany, in 1962.

This recording spent 30 years out of print. I picked it up on a recommendation from a guy at Amoeba Records in San Francisco. It’s one of a rare handful of recordings John Gilmore made outside Sun Ra’s Arkestra. It also catches Chick Corea in his very early days. The recording is far from perfect (LaRoca sounds like he’s 30 yards from the mic), but the late 60s vibe encapsulated by Gilmore’s amplified sax is “outta sight.”