City Blues Connection - Who Do You Think You Are: Favorite Recording Sessions Vol. 2 (2024) [CD Rip]

The City Blues Connection, led by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Norbert Egger, is indeed celebrating its 45th anniversary. To mark the occasion, band members and several guests met throughout the year at their home base in Berchtesgaden to play various jam sessions. The compilation album "40 Years" was released at the end of 2019 to celebrate the 40th anniversary, and "Favorite Recordings Sessions Vol. 1" followed almost exactly two years ago, though under the banner of Norbert Egger & Bands, as he also performs with other bands besides the City Blues Connection (both reviews are available on our website).

The main protagonist has a wonderfully aged and raspy voice, and he's also a truly excellent guitarist. This is evident in the ten tracks on this CD. It features seven original compositions as well as three blues standards (including the opener, "T'Aint Nobody's Bizness If I Do" by Bessie Smith). A 16-page, full-color, glossy booklet not only provides insights into the history of the CBC but also introduces all the musicians involved with detailed photos, which I think is fantastic. Perhaps the most remarkable thing isn't even the music itself, which is stylistically rooted in many blues genres and includes numerous horn sections, but rather the motto as the subtitle, "Who Do You Think You Are - Who Do You Think We Are," which takes a clear stance against war, environmental destruction, social injustice, and, not least, right-wing extremism! This message is also very effectively conveyed in the cover artwork, in my opinion. As if to prove the point, the final, highly topical statement, sung in German, was "We Stand Together Against the Right!" That's quite rare in the blues genre; at least, I've never heard of anything like it! Therefore, a strong recommendation for all you blues nerds out there! ~Peter Hollecker