BEST OF ME

Joanna Connor. Gulf Coast Records.

This latest album from Chicago blues guitar great Joanna Connor offers a cornucopia of blistering solos, but there’s also a lot of depth in the writing.

I especially liked the title track, “Best of Me,” written by her bassist and co-producer Shaun Calloway, as well as a piece she wrote, “I Lost You,” but there are many other highlights, too.

Calloway and Connor collaborated on six of the songs on this 11-set disc. Both also wrote two apiece by themselves. The other, “Mercury Blues,” was written by Robert Geddins and KC Douglas.

Like a lot of good blues albums, this one wavers between heartache and happiness.

Conner’s a pretty amazing guitarist herself and has a knack for the blues as a vocalist. That she caught the attention of famed guitarist Joe Bonamassa in 2019 and that he appears with her on this album speaks volumes in itself.

But three other guitarists appear with her, too, including Josh Smith, Gary Hoey, and Gulf Coast Records president Mike Zito, who has put out several albums with powerful guitar riffs himself, including ones highlighting his connections to Texas and his home state of Missouri.

Best of Me is Connor’s first release on Zito’s Gulf Coast label. Past releases have been on labels such as Blind Pig Records and German-based Ruf Records, the latter of which included a decade of touring through Europe.

Connor was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Worcester, Mass., but has spent most of her life immersed in the Chicago blues scene since leaving the East Coast at age 17. She’s released several previous albums and even had a part in the movie Deep Water starring Ben Affleck. 

Though the first thing you’ll notice about this disc is the guitar chops, pay attention to the lyrics and her vocals, too. There’s some good storytelling here.

“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,” Connor said.

First Published June 14, 2023, 1:30 p.m.