Joanna Connor - Best Of Me (2023) [CD Rip]

Special guests on Best of Me by the acclaimed Joanna Connor include labelmates Eric Demmer (saxophone) and Jason Ricci (harmonica) and guitarists Joe Bonamassa, Josh Smith, Gary Hoey and Gulf Coast president Mike Zito (guitar) David Abbruzzese on drums and the Grooveline Horns. Best of Me was produced by Shaun Gotti Calloway, Jason J Roc Edwards, and Joanna Connor, and recorded at Studio2424 in Chicago.

Joining Joanna Connor (guitar and vocals) on the recording is her regular “Wrecking Crew” touring band with Shaun Gotti Calloway (bass) Dan Souvigny (guitar and keys), Curtis Moore Jr. (keys) and Jason J Roc Edwards (drums and vocals.)

“There are musicians that play together and may do it extremely well,” Joanna said about the Best of Me recording sessions. “Then, there are musicians that move as one, that share moments of creating music that is mystically telepathic. The group of musicians we assembled here created a free-flowing and fiery blend of soul, rock, funk and country, all rooted in the blues.”

Joanna continued. “Making this record with the go ahead from Mike Zito and Gulf Coast Records to have free rein was uplifting and inspiring. This recording definitely brought out the’ best of me,’ and solidified my band as a force to be reckoned with. Guitar power and nuance is evident on this record but so are convincing vocals, soul-stirring keyboard work, tighter than tight horns and a rhythm section that propels and compliments each song. The album touches on my maturing as a woman, facing mortality with grace and thanks, celebrating love won, love lost, lust and passion, the pain and pleasure of having this human experience. I hope the listener enjoys this record as much as we had making it.”

Joanna Connor was born in Brooklyn, New York, raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, and after beginning her career there at the age of 17, packed a suitcase, a Fender Twin Amp, a guitar and bought a bus ticket to the Blues Mecca of Chicago, where her goal was to be in a cracking blues band learning from the best . A mere month after moving to the Windy City, Delta blues heavyweight Johnny Littlejohn hired her.

Dion Payton then enlisted her to be a part of his 43rd Street Blues Band, where they held residencies at the hallowed Checkerboard Lounge and the Kingston Mines blues clubs, and were the backing band behind every major talent in the city. Joanna went on to tour with sax great AC Reed before starting her own band at the urging of the Kingston Mines owner. Blind Pig Records signed Joanna in 1989 and released several records on her before she went on to become the second artist to sign with Ruf Records, subsequently releasing many records for the German-based label, which led to a decade of touring throughout Europe.

In 2002, The House of Blues in Chicago offered Joanna and her band a weekly residency, and with her additional residency at the Kingston Mines, Connor made the decision to come off the road touring grind for a while and work locally four nights per week, while raising her two children as a single mom. Joanna also recorded several albums for the highly-respected MC Records during that decade.

In 2019, one of the videos of her fierce guitar work caught the eyes and ears of one of the most prominent guitarists of the modern era -Joe Bonamassa – as well as director Adrian Lynne (Flash Dance, Fatal Attraction). Lynne offered her a scene performing in the movie, Deep Water, starring Ben Affleck. At the same time, Joe Bonamassa and his KTBA Records label gave her the opportunity to make a studio album. Both projects happened right before the COVID 19 epidemic and subsequent lockdown. The KTBA album, 4801 South Indiana, was released in February of 2021 to immense critical acclaim and a number one spot on the Billboard blues chart. The Deep Water film was released on Hulu in March, 2022.

Now being a part of the Gulf Coast Records family, Joanna Connors career path is in full-bloom, playing with sympathetic musicians and a support staff all in lock-step, along with a common purpose and goal of reaching for the top of the blues world. Joanna’s tsunami of musical energy and passion is now unleashed on record with Best of Me. ~Martine Ehrenclou