Tab Benoit - Blues Masters Live [180 Gram]

The unreleased Blues Masters at the Crossroads set! Double LP 33 1/3 RPM. Recorded live at Blue Heaven Studios in October 2002! Recording Engineers: David Baker and Katsuhiko Naito. Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original analog master tapes. Direct-to-board gatefold jacket. The Tab Benoit performance was recorded in October 2002. His guitar has real presence, bite and texture while the rhythm section sounds powerful and natural. The record has excellent dynamics, strong bass and a wonderfully open sound that allows the performance to breathe. It captures the energy of a live blues show without sounding overly polished or restrained. ... I know, I know. Saying that a record sounds like the musicians are right there in the room with you may be one of the oldest audiophile clichés around. But with these (White and Tab Benoit), it really is true. ... What a joy these records are. - Steve Westman, www. Liveaudiophileroundtable. com, September 2026 - Issue 11. When Tab Benoit stepped onto the Blue Heaven Studios stage in October 2002 for the fifth annual Blues Masters at the Crossroads, the room was already vibrating with anticipation. Benoit wasn't just a rising Louisiana bluesman at the time - he was a full-force phenomenon. With a full house brimming with excitement, ready for the fire and finesse that Benoit promised - what he delivered was nothing short of a Louisiana storm! Born Nov. 17, 1967, Benoit grew up in Houma, Louisiana and began playing country and Cajun guitar at 9 years old. He found the blues as a teenager at the Blues Box, a ramshackle music club in nearby Baton Rouge run by guitarist Tabby Thomas. Benoit played guitar alongside Thomas, Raful Neal, Henry Gray and other high-profile regulars, learning from this cast of living blues legends. This unreleased album captures Benoit at a pivotal moment in his career. Already acclaimed for his searing tone, soulful delivery and swamp-thick grooves, with something to prove - and proved it from the very first notes of Muddy Bottom Blues. His guitar didn't just ring; it testified. Her Mind Is Gone followed with a razor-sharp sting, and by the time he tore into Nice and Warm, the crowd was fully under his spell - every bend, every slide, every vocal phrase greeted with roars that filled the vaulted ceilings. Benoit's appearance at Blues Masters came during his tour behind Wetlands (2002), the album that put him firmly on the national map. LP 1 Side B shows Benoit in complete command, shifting from the soulful uplift of Let Love Take Control to the raw, rhythmic thump of Dog Hill.