Nothin' But The Blues

Why it matters

Joe Williams's baritone and Red Holloway's saxophone circle each other here like two old friends who finish each other's sentences, turning twelve blues into a single unhurried conversation.

Williams built his name shouting big-band blues, but on "Going to Chicago Blues" and "Sent for You Yesterday" he pulls the volume back and lets the phrasing do the work, trusting a room to lean in rather than bracing for the punch. Holloway answers every line without stepping on it, and the small-combo setting exposes how much of Williams's authority lives in timing—where he sits behind the beat, when he lets a note fray. "Alright, OK You Win" is the tune everyone knows, but the quieter numbers are where the pairing pays off, two veterans who have nothing left to prove and everything left to say. That ease is the record: no fireworks, just command.

Listen

Tracklist

1. 01Who She Do5:19
2. 02Just a Dream4:47
3. 03Hold It Right There2:44
4. 04Please Send Me Someone to Love5:15
5. 05Going to Chicago Blues4:52
6. 06Ray Browns in Town3:55
7. 07In the Evening / Rocks in My Bed6:59
8. 08Alright, OK You Win4:44
9. 09Mean Old World7:37
10. 10The Comeback5:08
11. 11Tell Me Where to Scratch4:29
12. 12Sent for You Yesterday3:29