119. Clifford Brown Brown and Roach Incorporated (EmArcy Records): A great trumpet talent snuffed out too early swings with class on blowers and ballads.
120. Clifford Brown/Max Roach Pure Genius (Elektra Musician): A posthumously-released life set with Max Roach and Sonny Rollins that will blow your doors off.
117. Anthony Braxton with Muhal Richard Abrams Duets 1976 (Arista): Braxton and Abrams mingle standards and a lovely ballad with the usual challenging Braxtonian geometry.
118. Clifford Brown Brownie Eyes (Blue Note): Some of the swinginest music ever laid down on wax, especially “Hymn of the Orient.”
114. Boogie Down Productions “Why Is That?” 12″ (Jive): KRS-One fiercely interrogates the His-Story version of history.
115. Billy Bragg Brewing Up With (CD Presents): One man, one guitar.
116. Billy Bragg Talking With the Taxman About Poetry (Elektra): Billy broadens the musical palette.
113. The Bonzo Dog Band The History of the Bonzos (United Artists Twofer): Of urban spacemen, Adolf Hitler on vibes, and meditations on trouser presses.
111. Blues Compilation Southern Prison Blues (Tradition-Everest): Prisoners in the pokey (most memorably, Hogman Maxey) sing the blues about all manner of things.
112. Blues Compilation Angola Prisoner Blues (Arhoolie): Hogman Maxey and friends (notably, Robert Pete Williams) are back and in a rather dark frame of mind.
109. Blues Compilation Country Blues Classics, Vol. 2 (Arhoolie): Another hodge podge of assorted goodies from the Arhoolie folks.
110. Blues Compilation New Deal Blues (Mamlish): Fair to middlin’ collection of blues sides laid down during the Great Depression years.
107. Blues Compilation The Roots of Robert Johnson (Yazoo): The moving, the frightening, the silly roots of the superstar of Country Blues.
108. Blues Compilation Fort Worth Shuffle (Krazy Kat): A collection of obscure but righteous r&b floor stompers, including, in one case, guitar picking with teeth.
105. Blues Compilation Bottleneck Trendsetters of the 1930′s Casey Bill Weldon & Kokomo Arnold (Yazoo): Zany, manic, and out-of-the-box bottleneck guitar performances from these two very untraditional bluesmen.
106. Blues Compilation Ramblin’ on My Mind (Milestone): Mostly pedestrian but occasionally interesting recordings from a hodgepodge of bluesmen on the subject of travel by train, bus, foot, etc.
103. Blues Compilation Boogie Blues Women Sing & Play Boogie Woogie (Rosetta): A formidable collection of women, including Ella Fitzgerald, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Memphis Minnie and Dorothy Donegan, play and sing the boogie woogie style for your carnal and spiritual pleasure.
104. Blues Compilation The Voice of the Blues Bottle Neck Guitar Masterpieces (Yazoo): A gang of bottleneck hotshots make their marks for posterity on the ol’ shellac.
101. The Blue Sky Boys (Rounder): Bill and Earl Bolick deliver elegant testaments of tragedy and faith (and a little fun).
102. Blues Compilation Chicago Blues at Home (Advent): Blues veterans do their thing in sweet home Chicago—with the notable exception of an intense Johnny Shines performance of “Ramblin’” recorded in North Hollywood.
