Guitar Roberts (Loren Mazzacane Connors & Susan Langille) - Bluesmaster 2 (St. Joan, 1988)

"Guitarist Loren Connors was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1949. Best known as a composer and improviser, Connors has issued over 50 guitar records on his own imprints (Daggett, St. Joan, Black Label) since the late 1970s and over two dozen on other labels across the globe. He has recorded under the names Guitar Roberts, Loren Mattei, Loren MazzaCane Connors and other variations. Connors' singular adpation of the blues is a distinct personal vision combining the Delta bottleneck sound and the ancestral blues voice (appearing as distortion, baying hounds or multi-tracked guitar), with hauntingly unexpected sounds..." (fvrec)

"It was on [the Bluesmaster] recordings that [Loren Connors] first played with his future wife Suzanne Langille. Together they performed Langille-adapted traditionals and gospel standards, slowing them "down to a crawl." Two albums were released on his own St. Joan label under the moniker Guitar Roberts with Suzanne Langille, entitled BLUESMASTER 1 and BLUESMASTER 2...

In her spare and "deeply considered" arrangements for these songs, Suzanne allows all the room necessary for their collective personality to shine through, making for truly timeless performances. These recordings were Suzanne's first to be released publicly. They showed a singer who was unafraid to push herself to lay claim to these folk tunes and make them her own, particularizing them with her own experience and thus imbuing them with a rare vitality. These recordings layed the groundwork for the work they would later do on the albums COME NIGHT, THE ENCHANTED FOREST, LET THE DARKNESS FALL and with their new group Haunted House." (source)

Bluesmaster 2 is a live set from Connors and Langille's Dome Room Concert of August 26, 1988. It was released on vinyl in an approximate edition of 200-300 copies. Some of these tracks were sourced for an eventual Connors/Langille 1987-1989 collection on Secretly Canadian. This is yet another rare specimen of fine of " exploratory guitar" recently lent to me by my pal David. Muchas gracias, amigo. 320 vinyl rip by yours truly. Enjoy.


Download: Guitar Roberts (Loren Mazzacane Connors & Susan Langille) - Bluesmaster 2 (St. Joan, 1988)

St.J.9

A1 Bluesmaster 3:18
A2 Slim's Blues 2:20
A3 TB Blues (Jimmy Rodgers) 7:40
B1 Burden Blues 4:40
B2 Wee Wee Hours (Chuck Berry) 4:35
B3 The Thrill Is Gone (B.B. King) 3:50
B4 Horses Blues 4:50