No less a blues expert than B.B. King has said of Ronnie Earl, “He’s one of the most serious blues guitarists you can find today.” That belief is supported by another exquisite outing from Earl, the former Roomful of Blues master who has twice won the W.C. Handy Award for guitarist of the year. The “Good News” title celebrates Sam Cooke’s album “Ain’t That Good News,” which came out 50 years ago; here, Earl enlists Boston singer Diane Blue to belt Cooke’s epic “Change Is Gonna Come.” While most tracks are instrumental jams, vocal tunes with Blue stand up to any of them. She nails the spiritual “Six String Blessing” and the celestial “Runnin’ in Peace,” an elegy for the Boston Marathon victims with words by Ilana Katz Katz, who was 50 feet from the first explosion. Kudos to the world-class Broadcasters who help write the songs: organist Dave Limina (a professor at Berklee), drummer Lorne Entress, and bassist Jim Mouradian, who runs the Mouradian Guitar Co. in Winchester. (Out now)
ESSENTIAL “Runnin’ in Peace”
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