2025 – Nola Blue Records
Release Date : September
26, 2025
By Phillip
Smith; December
8, 2025
Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com
Deep Mud, the sixth studio album from Mud Morganfield
is as real-deal Chicago Blues as it gets.
Featuring twelve original tracks along with a couple dedicated to his
father, the legendary Muddy Waters, this record hits like a long-lost
classic. Produced by Studebaker John, the Deep Mud features Mud
on vocals with Rick Kreher on guitar, Melvin “Pooky Styx” Carlisle
on drums, Studebaker John on harmonica, Mike Wheeler on guitar, E.G.
McDaniel on bass, Sumito Ariyo Ariyoshi on piano, and Roosevelt
Purifoy on piano/organ. Also appearing
is Rodrigo Mantovani on upright bass, Phil Perkins on trumpet, and
backing vocalists Felicia Collins, Kristen Lowe, Jacole Avent,
and Demetrias M. Hall.
From the first few seconds of “Bring Me My Whiskey”, I knew this was going to be a smoldering album of blues. Kreher and Studebaker stick the matchstick to the fuse while Pooky and E.G. keep that rhythm tight as hell. Kreher’s slide wonderfully pours on the grease. A searing harp performance and a buttery bassline build a fitting launch pad for Mud to roll “Ernestine” in with his blues-soaked voice. It wonderfully sets the stage for an immaculate piano solo from Purifoy and a beautifully toned solo from Kreher. “Cosigner Man” is a most interesting six and half minute track. Ushered in a on a blast of brass, this song dances outside the blues lines just a smidge, as flavors of jazz intermingle through the piano and horns. I would love to hear this one live, played as a long and extended jam. I feel totally immersed in the blues when the crawling rhythm of Muddy Waters’ “Strange Woman” sweeps me away. Mud is also playing bass on this track. He sounds wonderful. The other track Mud honors is father with is “Country Boy”, I like to think of it as a follow up to “Strange Woman”. These recordings are so good, I forget they are brand new.
There’s just a handful of artists who can bring this high level of authenticity to the blues, and Mud Morganfield is definitely one of them. Deep Mud is a surefire favorite of blues records released in 2025.
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For more information about Mud
Morganfield, visit his website https://mudmorganfieldblues.com/
For other PhillyCheeze
reviews featuring Mud Morganfield, visit https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=mud+morganfield