Having already watched the Bob Brozman concert DVD I knew what to expect, but if you have never experienced watching Bob, his performance of "Rolling Through The World" will leave you stunned. The sounds he is able to generate from his un-amplified Resonator guitar are astounding. He epitomizes the labels adage of the Blues Crossing Over like few others do. The title of the song refers to the numerous genres of music he incorporates seamlessly into the one song. From the sound of the sitar to a taste of Spain, but always centered in the Blues, he literally crosses over continents and oceans while playing this one song.
Like the anthology, there's no way I can do justice to all the performers on the Ruf label. These two discs provide a sampling of what Thomas Ruf considers the highlights of twelve years of music. Of course no compilation from Ruf would be complete without cuts from Luther Allison, the man for whom the label originally was formed, and each of the discs ends with the old master's work.
Thomas Ruf says that he started the label as a response to Luther challenging him to put his money where his mouth is, (it's only fitting that the CD closes with Luther's song of that name) judging by this compilation disc one would have to say that Thomas Ruf has given answer to that challenge.
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