Photo by Joe Clay

David Katznelson is the owner, president and producer of Birdman Recording Group, Inc., home to multiple independent record labels including the flagship label, Birdman Records. He's all about offering support and precise representation to artists, putting out quality music of all genres, and making the best records around! Recently, David started another label called Sutro Park – a vinyl-only reissue label of the blues category (although there is some stuff by Mudhoney and Sun Ra), and along with his wife Barbara, he's also started a blues vinyl reissue subscription service called "The Cotton Exchange."

As if the man isn't busy enough, for the past year he's been doing a show on KUSF in EXILE, also called "The Cotton Exchange," on Sunday nights from 8-10 p.m. He often has guests on the show playing blues music, and when they ask how to frame their set, David always tell them not to play blues music they think they SHOULD play, but to play the stuff that they are really grooving on. Well, David followed his own advice and made a mix for us that's full of the tunes he's been into lately. All in all, it's a mix to raise a glass of whiskey and shake it on down to.

Here is David's mixtape, called "The Cotton Exchange-Italicized."

1. Baby, Please Don't Go– Mississippi Fred McDowell
2. Old Black Mattie– R.L. Burnside
3. Blue Jumped The Rabbit – Elmo Williams & Hezekiah Early
4. Jessie's Love Song (Tell Me You Love Me) – Jesse Mae Hemphill
5. Special Stream Line – Bukka White
6. Hole In The Wall – Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee
7. John Henry – Josh White
8. Dying Crapshooter's Blues– Blind Willie McTell
9. Last Kind Words – Geechie Wiley & Elvie Thomas
10. Glory Glory Hallelujah – Otha Turner

Birdman Records just released the vinyl version of the amazing and blistering record by the Bay Area's own Howlin Rain called The Russian Wilds. Make sure to check it out! Also, a while back Ethan Miller, the singer-guitarist of Howlin' Rain made us a mix called, "Howlin' She-Wolves for Winter Nights" – so, make sure to listen to that, too!

Are you the music master at your place of work? Do you want to make a mixtape for The Bold Italic? Email me here: nikkigrattan@yahoo.com