Mr. B – Shining The Pearls – Blind Pig Records BP 71886 

Mr. B (Mark Braun) is unfortunately not nearly as well-known as he ought to be given his extremely rich history of dedicated persistence to keeping vital the blues and boogie styles he directly learned and honed at the feet of legends of the piano designs including Little Brother Montgomery, Blind John Davis, and Boogie Woogie Red, among many others.  As the masters of the genres slip away from us more each year, artists such as Mr. B carry on the modern-day blues and boogie work of keyboard giants such as Chicago’s departed Barrelhouse Chuck and the thankfully-still-with-us Erwin Helfer.   

Mr. B has always greatly impressed with his artistic range and inventiveness, and this 1985 17-track outing that also includes selections from Partners In Time, a set featuring vocals by J.C. Heard, delivers on showcasing his varied, inspiring, and wide-ranging band of influences including Mercy Dee Walton, Blind John Davis, Bessie Smith, Jimmy Yancey, and Big Maceo, amidst others, along with fantastic originals written with the likes of guitar greats George Bedard and Steve Freund (both, by the way, deserving of a much higher levels of awareness).

This is one of those collections that supremely satisfies with its significantly fulfilling diversity, all pleasingly delivered by Mr. B’s obvious musical passions.

This is a highly recommended set!