Metacritic Aggregate: 2023 New Music: Blues/Gospel/R&B

Notes

For information on what lists are consulted, and what the various abbreviations and notes mean, click here.

For reissues and compilations, click here.

Sub-Lists

Some breakdowns by genre:

Ranking

  1. Taj Mahal: Savoy (Stony Plain) {35}: DB:+, DW:66, EWi:24, PO:109, Rx:5, TH_n:54, XCI:11, XSP:15; am_b:+, j91:+, jy:7, xci:10, xde:+, ydho:+, xjdc:7, xjl:6, ymr:13, ysp:+, yst:+, yst:2 -- RC:A, TH:A-
  2. Lonnie Holley: Oh Me Oh My (Jagjaguwar) {27}: BS:8, Mj:58, Ne:24, P:43, Pf:37, TSG:14, U:7, VF:+; aqd:+, ay_r:17, bv_i:+, n_ap:8, pf_j:+, vjk:+, vmk:4, xjdc:+, xrr:9, ysw:1 -- TH:*
  3. Durand Jones: Wait Til I Get Over (Dead Oceans) {20}: Mc:17, PM:2, RT:16, SE:50, STi:18; am:+, am_r:+, ay_r:3, pf_s:1, tmr:+ -- TH:*
  4. Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter: Saved! (Perpetual Flame Ministries) {14}: Fa:18, K:44, Ne:35, No:19, On:44, P:32, PM:73, Qt:80, Tr:37, UPC:81; yrs:3
  5. Robert Finley: Black Bayou (Easy Eye Sound) {11}: EWi:+, Gl:+, Mj:75, PO:8, S:+; ro_b:2 -- TH:**
  6. Yazmin Lacey: Voice Notes (On Your Own/Believe) {9}: Al:+, Cl:23, NR:48; am_r:+, ay_r:11, ynn:3 -- TH:**
  7. Clarence "Bluesman" Davis: Shake It for Me (Music Maker) {7}: PO:222, TH_n:56, TN:+ -- TH:A-
  8. Tracy Nelson: Life Don't Miss Nobody (BMG) {7}: DB:+, PO:188, TL:63; am_b:+, xgm:24 -- TH:**
  9. Ishmael Reed/West Coast Blues Caravan of All-Stars: Blues Lyrics by Ishmael Reed (Reading Group) {6}: Cpu:+, TH_n:40 -- TH:A-
  10. Bobby Rush: All My Love for You (Deep Rush/Thirty Tigers) {6}: JC:+, PO:59; am_b:+, jmm:+ -- TH:**
  11. Eric Bibb: Ridin' (Stony Plain) {4}: am_b:+ -- TH:***
  12. Nat Myers: Yellow Peril () {4}: H:10; am_b:+
  13. Parchman Prison Prayer: Some Mississippi Sunday Morning (Glitterbeat) {4}: EWi:+ -- RC:***
  14. Jeffrey Scott: Going Down to Georgia on a Hog (Music Maker) {4}: YW:80 -- TH:***
  15. Jimi "Primetime" Smith & Bob Corritore: The World in a Jug (Vizztone/SWMAF) {4}: DB:+ -- TH:***
  16. Joe Bonamassa: Blues Deluxe Vol 2 () {3}: DB:+; am_b:+, ro_b:9
  17. Coco Montoya: Writing on the Wall (Alligator) {3}: Cpu:+, DB:+; am_b:+
  18. Ole Lonesome: Tejas Motel (Gulf Coast) {3}: ro_b:1
  19. John Primer: Teardrops for Magic Slim: Live at Rosa's Lounge (Blues House) {3}: -- TH:***
  20. William Bell: One Day Closer to Home (Wilbe) {2}: -- TH:**
  21. Selwyn Birchwood: Exorcist (Alligator) {2}: am_b:+ -- TH:*
  22. Rory Block: Ain't Nobody Worried: Celebrating Great Women of Song (Stony Plain -22) {2}: -- TH:**
  23. Gail Caesar: Guitar Woman Blues (Music Maker) {2}: -- TH:**
  24. Sue Foley: Live in Austin Vol 1 (Stony Plain) {2}: -- TH:**
  25. Gov't Mule: Peace . . . Like a River (Concord) {2}: am_b:+, ro_b:7
  26. Tom Hambridge: Blu Ja Vu (Quarto Valley) {2}: ro_b:3
  27. Shelton Powe: Shelton Powe (Music Maker -22) {2}: -- TH:**
  28. Robert Jon & the Wreck: Ride Into the Light (Journeyman) {2}: ro_b:5
  29. Teskey Brothers: The Winding Way (Ivy League) {2}: ro_b:4
  30. Blind Boys of Alabama: Echoes of the South (Single Lock) {1}: TL:70
  31. Blue Moon Marquee: Scream, Holler & Howl (Ilda) {1}: -- TH:*
  32. Jesse Dayton/Samantha Fish: Death Wish Blues () {1}: am_b:+
  33. Chris Duarte: Ain't Giving Up () {1}: am_b:+
  34. Ghost Hounds: First Last Time (Gibson) {1}: ro_b:8
  35. Christone "Kingfish" Ingram: Live in London () {1}: am_b:+
  36. Eric Johanson: The Deep and the Dirty () {1}: am_b:+
  37. Sass Jordan: Bitches Blues (Stony Plain -21) {1}: -- TH:*
  38. Dom Martin: Buried in the Hail (Forty Below) {1}: ro_b:6
  39. Noble Rot: Heavenly Bodies, Repetition, Control () {1}:
  40. Dex Romweber: Good Thing Goin' (Propeller Sound) {1}: yrs:7
  41. Staples Jr Singers: Tell Heaven (Luaka Bop, EP) {1}: PO:215
  42. Ally Venable: Real Gone (Ruf) {1}: -- TH:*
  43. Joe Louis Walker: Weight of the World (Forty Below) {1}: am_b:+ -- TH:B
  44. Walter Wolfman Washington: Feels So at Home (Tipitina's Record Club) {1}: -- TH:*
  45. When Rivers Meet: Aces Are High (One Road) {1}: ro_b:10