Jim Kweskin - Never Too Late: Duets With My Friends (2024) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Featuring a collection of 18 recordings and storied collaborations with some of his favorite female musicians, the new album stands as a testament to the generation and genre-spanning brilliance that has defined Kweskin's illustrious career for the past six decades. Throughout the album, recorded almost completely in one or two takes, Kweskin showcases the captivating, boundless essence of his artistry alongside guests such as Maria Muldaur, who first worked with Kweskin in the 1960s as part of Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band. Other special appearances include Samoa Wilson and Meredith Axelrod, who have released LPs with Kweskin throughout the years, while Rose Guerin and Juli Crockett have been frequent performers at his concerts on both the East and West coasts. Fiona Kweskin, his granddaughter, also lends her vocals to several tracks such as the album’s latest single and music video, “You’re Just In Love.”

Jim Kweskin recorded Never Too Late in early 2023 at Dimension Sound Studios in Jamaica Plain, MA, near his Boston home base, with an all-star band of fiddler Suzy Thompson, dobro & steel guitar player Cindy Cashdollar, harmonicist Annie Raines, and his regular bassist/producer Matthew Berlin. The album presents a Great American Songbook where Leadbelly’s “Relax Your Mind” precedes the Tin Pan Alley tune “Sheik of Araby,” seamlessly leading into the 1940s country hit “Remember Me.”

Jim Kweskin's music career took off in 1963 when Maynard Solomon, Vanguard Records co-founder, saw him play at Club 47 in Cambridge, MA. Suitably impressed, Solomon offered to record Kweskin, leading him to assemble the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, featuring key members Geoff Muldaur and Fritz Richmond. This unconventional group gained fame with their spontaneous and unscripted performances, in contrast to the formal folk groups of the early 60s. Despite only lasting five years and releasing four studio albums, they left an enduring impact on the music scene. Esteemed critic Ed Ward ranked them among the most important bands of the early 60s, and their influence can be seen in the likes of the Lovin' Spoonful, the Grateful Dead, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks.

Tracklist:
1 Let’s Get Happy Together - with Maria Muldaur
2 You’re Just In Love - with Fiona Kweskin
3 Honey In The Rock - with Samoa Wilson
4 Mother Earth - with Rose Guerin & Group
5 Leaving Home (Frankie and Johnny) - with Meredith Axelrod
6 Side By Side - with Fiona Kweskin
7 Sally Don’t You Grieve - with Meredith Axelrod
8 Never Too Late - with Juli Crockett
9 Engine 143 - with Samoa Wilson
10 The Lone Pilgrim - with Nell Foote & Group Choir
11 Moby Dick - with Juli Crockett
12 Relax Your Mind - with Rose Guerin
13 The Sheik Of Araby - with Maria Muldaur
14 Remember Me - with Samoa Wilson
15 What Does The Deep Sea Say - with Fiona Kweskin
16 Live And Let Live - with Juli Crockett
17 I Ain’t Never Been Satisfied - with Rose Guerin, Samoa Wilson, & Fiona Kweskin
18 The Cuckoo - with Jessie Benton


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