Reviews & TV

The current issue of Finland's Blues News magazine includes a nice review of the "Someplace Nice" single with British harmonica player Steve Lury by TT Tarkiainen, expressing hopes for a full-length release from this line-up & noting that "one should remember that with Andres, there's always a healthy dose of alt.blues included, resulting in unusual, original roots music." 

Roots, Lury & Piik @ Shetland Blues Festival 2013, by Chris Brown.

Meanwhile, Finnish harpist Jantso Jokelin has published a comprehensive book on the harmonica, covering everything from its history to traditional and contemporary playing techniques. Under 21st century blues, the recommended listening section lists the Bullfrog Brown "With Steve Lury" album from 2009 alongside works by Jason Ricci, Paul Oscher, and Mark Hummel, to name but a few. Like "Someplace Nice", the Bullfrog album features Lury, Roots, and Peeter Piik.

The November issue of Estonia's Muusika magazine comes with a lengthy review of the latest Andres Roots Roundabout album "Three!", written by Margus Haav who claims that "the blues of Andres Roots are always a joy to hear, regardless of the line-up".  

In accordance with that statement, it was not the Roots-Eessalu-Terep line-up heard on the record but a different version of Roundabout, comprising Roots, Piik, & drummer Raul Terep that took a trip to the ETV studios in Tallinn on November 5th to record two tunes to be broadcast on December 1st. The tracks? A new Roots original called "Silver Lining" & a combination of several standards titled "Funky Rooster". Watch this space for broadcast details!