Blues For Next vol.1 "Plus"  (52:48)
	01	Rollin' & Tumblin'						03:22
	02	Long Dark Sky						07:45
	03	As It Falls						05:10
	04	Baptism of Concrete						03:51
	05	S-Boogie						06:24
	06	Slow Drag						06:59
	07	Train						04:16
	08	Chemically						08:23
	09	Feel Each Day						06:38
Blues For Next vol.2 "Quartet"  (53:57)
	01	Work or Leave						05:10
	02	Twistin						09:36
	03	Rails						10:46
	04	Like Showers of Rain						06:19
	05	Diallo Blues						08:41
	06	Othar						04:36
	07	Clank						08:49

Date of Release Sep 12, 2000

Sim Cain - drums and electronic percussion
Sam Furnace - alto and baritone saxophones
David Hofstra - electric and acoustic basses
E# - electric guitars, console steel guitar, National steel guitar, tenor saxophone

Dean Bowman - vocals (As It Falls, Train, Feel Each Day)
Eric Mingus - vocals (Long Dark Sky, Baptism of Concrete, Slow Drag, Chemically)
Hubert Sumlin - electric guitar (Rollin' & Tumblin', S-Boogie)

Executive Producer: Michael Dorf
Recorded, mixed and mastered at Studio zOaR NYC
Engineers: Cy Fore, Daniel Goldaracene, Kacy Wiggins * Design: Janene Higgins
Photos: Cover photo: Andreas Sterzing * Hubert Sumlin/E#: Alex Kahan * Band: Cy Fore

Thanks: Allen Kaatz, Lennart Stahle, Wendy Oxenhorn, Floyd Lee, Jack Womack, Alanna Heiss, Gordon, DJ Soulslinger, Chris Mojo, Kurt Ralske, David Seitz, Oliver Belopeta, Hubi, Charles K. Noyes, Rea Mochiach, Brad Jones, Henry Kaiser, Zeena Parkins, Bill Singer, Alex, Red, Dan@BluesPlanet, Andreas, KF (Mano, Glenn Max, Stephanie, Mitch, Mike, Kirk), & J.

Publishing: Eric Mingus: Sugnim Cire Music - SESAC; Dean Bowman: Blak Berry Jams - SESAC; Hubert Sumlin: Lucky Cat Music - ASCAP; Elliott Sharp: zOaR Music - BMI

Tenth Avenue, unnoticed, became Amsterdam. As scenes unwound before me in unending loop my head's throb redoubled, but each sight fascinated so that I could do no other than to try blinking away the pain as every vision passed. Long low blocks of tenement drabness, unshattered by highthrown stone and glass spears; taxi's lemon exoskeletons amidst hundreds of gray scuttlers parked and mobile; fitfully illumined allnighters hawking crates of produce, restaurants IDed with neon curls, newsstands safe behind paper battlements; olive-hued mailboxes, enameled blue street-signs, black iron lampposts and chirches' stained glass; deadhour strollers rambling under jacket, tie and hat, free of sweat's gel, pacing night's walks as if en route to office: all bespoke a different world's thrall, newmade flesh form history's dust. That we could spend many unguided minutes here seemed unimaginable; doubtless the late hour sent optimism into coma. Doc's breath seemed to be coming easier to him now; perhaps he'd calmed enough to talk of other puzzlements.

Quote from "Terraplane" by Jack Womack, courtesy Grove Press


AMG EXPERT REVIEW: With Blues for Next, Elliott Sharp has turned in the best update on the blues since Skip McDonald's Little Axe project. This is a set that honors and respects the classic sounds of the '50s, while adding elements that make it sound contemporary - without making it sound like rock. The first disc of the two-disc set features Sharp's Terraplane quartet with a handful of guests; the second is simply the quartet. The quartet itself brings an amazing breadth of experience to the table. At the time of this recording, Sharp had been one of the most visible proponents of the New York "downtown" musical aesthetic for over 20 years. Longtime cohort bassist Dave Hofstra had experience ranging from John Zorn and William Parker to Luka Bloom, and had even been a member of the Waitresses. Sax player Sam Furnace worked with both Julius Hemphill and Johnny Copeland, and drummer Sim Cain spent many years in the Rollins Band. The collaborators on the first disc (only one guest for any given tune) are vocalists Dean Bowman and Eric Mingus, and legendary guitarist Hubert Sumlin. Mingus (yes, Charles was his father) and Bowman both wrote their own lyrics, which are virtually devoid of any standard blues cliches. That in itself is a major accomplishment, but they show themselves to be excellent vocalists as well. Sumlin's participation is not particularly revelatory, but it's great to hear him playing and having fun in this setting. They cover plenty of blues territory as well, from the classic boogie of "Rollin' & Tumblin'" to the New Orleans second-line rhythms of "As It Falls," played with two tenors, drums, and a tuba, with Bowman showing off with musical coughing and a little Leon Thomas-type yodeling.
As great as the first disc is, things really start to get interesting on the second disc, where the band experiments a little more with the blues form and Sharp brings a little more of his personal vocabulary to the proceedings. This disc is all instrumental, and really showcases Sharp's techniques in a setting far different than his usual avant excursions. The band will be playing in the blues idiom, then switch gears and move into a reggae/dub-influenced rhythm, with Cain switching to electric drums to add a drum'n'bass flavor, then back again. Even when Sharp is using effects and extended techniques, or the band is playing something different than a standard blues sound, the feeling of the blues is never lost. Sharp is no blues guitar technician, but then neither is Sumlin or John Lee Hooker; it's all about feeling, and Sharp's got that. This recording is a lot closer to the real spirit of the blues than a truckload of teenage Stevie Ray Vaughan wannabes. - Sean Westergaard