Bman's Blues Report

Don Abney (John Donald Abney; March 10, 1923 in Baltimore, Maryland – January 20, 2000 in Los Angeles, California) was an American jazz pianist. Abney studied piano and french horn at the Manhattan School of Music, and he played the latter in an Army band during military service. After returning he played in ensembles with Wilbur de Paris, Bill Harris, Kai Winding, Chuck Wayne, Sy Oliver, and Louis Bellson.[1] He had a sustained career as a session musician, playing on recordings for Louis Armstrong, Benny Carter, Oscar Pettiford, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughan, Eartha Kitt, and Pearl Bailey. He also played on a large number of recordings for more minor musicians and on R&B, pop, rock, and doo wop releases. After moving to Hollywood, he worked as musical director for Universal Studios/MCA. He appeared as a pianist in the film Peter Kelly's Blues behind Ella Fitzgerald. Additional credits include recording and arrangements for the film "Lady Sings The Blues....

James Hubert Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, Blake and long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote the Broadway musical Shuffle Along, one of the first Broadway musicals to be written and directed by African Americans. Blake's compositions included such hits as, "Bandana Days", "Charleston Rag", "Love Will Find A Way", "Memories of You", and "I'm Just Wild About Harry". The musical Eubie! featured the works of Blake and opened on Broadway in 1978. Blake was born at 319 Forrest Street in Baltimore, Maryland to former slaves John Sumner Blake (1838–1917) and Emily "Emma" Johnstone (1861–1917). He was the only surviving child of eight, all the rest of whom died in infancy. In 1894 the family moved to 414 North Eden Street, and later to 1510 Jefferson Street. John Blake worked earning US$9.00 weekly as a stevedore on...

For a player who rates only three lines of biographical information in one major jazz reference book, Jerome Darr had an incredibly versatile and prolific career, showing up on sessions from blues to bebop and even strumming a few arpeggios behind Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. He was one of many fine players to hail from Baltimore and his first major professional affiliation was in sort of a jug band, the Washboard Serenaders. The guitarist was a member of this group from 1933 through 1936, a tenure that included a well-received European tour. Jazz researchers find great, glaring holes in Darr's activities from this point, either picking back up on him in the classic jazz context of Buddy Johnson's band in the early '50s, or wondering about his involvement with the much more modernistic Charlie Parker during roughly the same period. The guitarist was not hiding in a closet during the '40s, however: he simply focused on work as a studio musician during an era wh...

Joe Turner (November 3, 1907 – July 21, 1990) was an American jazz pianist. Joseph H. Turner was born in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. One of the masters of the stride piano style associated with Harlem, New York City, Turner got his first big musical break in 1928 with his hiring by the Benny Carter Orchestra. He also played with Louis Armstrong. After World War II, he settled in Europe, living in Paris from 1962. He played at La Calavados, a nightclub situated on the Champs Elysees until his death from a heart attack in 1990, at the age of 82 If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

I just received Live at the Temecula Theater featuring the Dennis Jones Band . Dennis is a young axe slinger with a tight backing made up of Michael Turner on Drums and Sam Correa on Bass (both on vocals). The band opens with Kill The Pain , a blues rock track with the underlying rhythm of a Jeff Beck like track (solid) and featuring Jones out front with his honey burst Les Paul. Jones has a very versatile voice and has mastered the guitar quite well. His vocal styling is definitely influenced by Jimi and certainly not a bad choice. His riffs, played in a modern style have their roots in the delta. Next up is Him Or Me , which actually has the construction of a Hendrix track but of course is totally original. Jones seems to prefer Bogner amplification for his dirty sound and Fender Blonde Vibrolux Custom for his clean channel. This is a cool song with again a blues rock feel there are definitely some Jimi influenced riffs on this track. Jones, now on a sunburst Stratocaster with a ros...

NEW CDS ON BOTH IN PRODUCTION AT SEVERN STUDIOS FOR RELEASE LATER THIS YEAR ANNAPOLIS , MD – David Earl, president of Severn Records, has announced the signing of New Orleans-based blues guitarist/singer Bryan Lee and Baltimore-based soul and blues singer Ursula Ricks to the label. Both artists are recording albums at Severn’s new state-of-the-art studios in Annapolis for release later this year. Severn Records is distributed in the U.S. by City Hall Records. Although raised in a small Wisconsin town near the shores of Lake Michigan, Bryan Lee has been a New Orleans resident since 1982, so much so that he’s been called a “New Orleans Blues Institution;” and is also known as the “Braille Blues Daddy,” dubbed so because he’s been blind since the age of eight. Eric Clapton called Bryan Lee “one of the best bluesmen I have ever heard.” He's played the prestigious New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival over 25 years and his new Severn CD will be his debut for an Amer...

Is this Blues? Frank Vincent Zappa (play /ˈzæpə/; December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for percussion-based avant-garde composers such as Edgard Varèse and 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands—he later switched to electric guitar. He was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often impossible to categorize. His 1966 debut album with the Mothers of Invention,...