For friends and fans of ... Lester Chambers

My "friend of a friend of ..." series may have been interrupted a bit lately, but it's not done yet.  Consider this more along the lines of "halftime" in that series.  None of the "connections" I've taken a look at so far would have been made if I hadn't had the opportunity to meet legendary blues and soul musician Lester Chambers in person at a birthday party in Petaluma, California, on New Year's Eve 2011.

Now, Lester Chambers' time has come.

Lester Chambers

After teaming with Reddit.com co-founder Alexis Ohanian on a successful Kickstarter funding campaign last winter, Lester has released a new album of music, "Lester Chambers' Time Has Come."  And, as of today, he also has a new website at www.lester-chambers.com.  The website has photos, videos, biographies, links to song samples, contact information, and a link to order the CD.

The album features Lester and his five-piece band, The Mud Stompers -- David Aguilar on guitar, Kenneth Roy Berry on keyboards and percussion, Marcia Miget on saxophone, Kenny "Mo" Susan on drums, and Baron Chase on bass along with music director, engineering, and producing duties.

Not surprisingly, the album includes a mix of rock, soul, blues, and gospel-tinged classics that harken back to the days when Lester and his siblings, The Chambers Brothers, rode the top of the charts in the 1960s and '70s on songs like "People Get Ready" and the timeless classic "Time Has Come Today," both part of the new album with a crisp, modern sound.

The band also shines on classic tunes like "Are You Ready?", "Let's Get Funky," "I Got The Blues," "Hold On," and "Boogie Children," along with the Christmas "teaser" tunes that were released early to Kickstarter donors, "Merry Xmas Happy New Year" and "Jingle Bells."

Now, after the fund-raising campaign followed by recording sessions and engineering and working out copyright issues, the album is ready.

Lester and The Mud Stompers are more than ready themselves.  The time has come.