Review of Walter Trout's Performance at the Maui Sugar Mill in Tarzana, CA - the bluezy redhead - Guest Writer

The Southern California heat wave started last Monday night when the Sugaray Rayford Band took center stage (and left, right and rear). This past Monday night at the Maui Sugar Mill, for Cadillac Zack's Monday Night Blues Party, it was exceedingly hot outside - 100 degrees - with a 100% chance the inside of the venue would reach 120!! Reach it did... into every nook and cranny of the small dive bar. The A/C was flowing through the vents. The fans were moving in a circular motion. Both operational. When the headliner and his band hit the stage, the temps began to rise... and rise... and rise... to a sweltering surreal meltdown of blues/rock! Two words: Walter Trout. Two more words: Unofficial comeback. An abundance of more words: Walter was on death's bed waiting for a liver transplant not too long ago. He had lost 140 pounds, could barely speak and thought he was at the end of his life. His wife, Marie, constantly told him it was not his time to leave, so he held on to her words. The good news came that they found a liver for him. He had the surgery and recovered and now he is back to carry on his legacy as one of THE best blues/rock guitar slingers and vocalists; without a doubt... not even a shadow of one! This writer had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Trout once before in 2004ish at Humphrey's by the Bay in San Diego. Never having heard of him before, I was in utter disbelief by the talent that he exuded. I mean, come on, he is only one human being and since he doesn't wear a superhero costume or even a cape... how could he be who he was? He was born to play the blues and he will leave this earth playing the blues, as did BB King. With his new zest for living a brand new life, he has an even more impeccable and renewed sense of who he is and exudes it with a heightened stage persona. Dressed in a purple shirt (purple for empowerment) I knew the packed-to-capacity audience was in for a heavy-hitting set! Rounding out the band: Sammy on keys, Michael Leasure on drums, John on bass. First song in the set was "Can't do it by Myself" and what a great message that is... he couldn't have survived without the donor, his wife, the rest of his family, his friends and his fans. When he started performing "I'm Back" I got teary-eyed. He picked these songs to play for obvious reasons and it touched me deeply... the message and his performance. He plays the hell out of his guitar and sings as if it were his last song. He welcomed another legendary blues man, John Mayall, up to the stage; playing keys for several songs. They dedicated a song to BB King "Say Goodbye to the Blues", which was so poignant in its lyrics, yet sensually alive; a contradiction in a beautiful way! Other guests he called up to the stage were Bob Langreth on harp, his son John Trout on guitar and Jimmy Vivino of the Conan O'Brien show. The last song was a tribute that Walter wrote for his wife Marie. It was an instrumental that relayed, even without words, the beauty that he sees in her, the love that he has for her, and the gratitude he will hold in his heart forever. Beautiful. Haunting. This set could not have been more powerful in its delivery, its lyrical meaning, its sound, its visual. It was hot as hell; sexy as sin and as sensual as the purest sensuality. Thank you once again to my friend Cadillac Zack for bringing THE best blues to Southern California! Pasadena on Saturday. Long Beach on Sunday. Tarzana on Monday.

 the bluezy redhead

Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Elvin Bishop To Appear On CONAN on May 11

Blues guitar master Elvin Bishop -- newly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -- will appear on TBS' CONAN on Monday, May 11. The legendary guitarist will sit in with Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band for the duration of the show.

Last month, Bishop was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the groundbreaking music he made with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Bishop's latest solo album, Can't Even Do Wrong Right, has been hailed as the best of his long career. Rolling Stone says the CD is "among Bishop’s very best...Impeccable playing by a legendary guitarist…engaging singing and most notably, good spirits…a great showing for a distinguished American player."

Can't Even Do Wrong Right finds Bishop playing, writing and singing some of the most distinctive blues and roots music today. The album proves that Bishop is as vital and creative an artist now as he was when he first hit the national scene in 1965 with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He is as slyly good-humored and instantly crowd-pleasing as he was when he was scoring Southern rock-styled hits during the 1970s. For five decades, he has never stopped touring or releasing instantly recognizable music featuring his inventive playing, easygoing vocals, witty lyrics and good-time humor.

In addition to his new album and his Rock Hall induction, Bishop's 1975 hit Fooled Around And Fell In Love found new life in the 2014 box-office smash Guardians Of The Galaxy. The soundtrack hit #1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and received a Grammy Award nomination.

Aquinnah Records artist: Arlen Roth - Slide Guitar Summit - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Slide Guitar Summit, from Arlen Roth and it definitely lives up to all the pre hype. Roth, well known for his own guitar styling, especially on the tele with the likes of Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton, has put together a group of the best known slide players on the planet for a full blown celebration of all things slide. Opening with Do What's Right, Roth teams up with Jack Pearson on vocal and slide guitar as well as Tom Hambridge on drums and backing vocal and Tommy MacDonald for a country two step rocker. This track moves along nicely with lead and harmonic sliding... a terrific opener. Robert Johnson's Dust My Broom is next featuring Lee Roy Parnell on vocal and slide and adding Kevin McKendree on piano. With the feel of Elmore James and a nice thick slide texture, this track is hot. McKendree adds significantly to the mix with hot piano riffs. Much like a live recording, Parnell and Roth take turns on lead slide making for a hot track. Clarinetist Acker Bilk wrote this next track, Stranger On The Shore, and performed it on clarinet in the early 60's. It has since been performed by a number of artists including the Beatles but none quite as sensuously as this take by Cindy Cashdollar on lap steel with just a touch of Hawaiian flare. Beautiful. Sonny Skies features Sonny Landreth and Roth joined only by Eddie Denise on upright bass. A jazzy track with Roth's signature sound, this is a great showcase for tow of today's masters to team up and show how it's done. Jackie Breston's Rocket 88's features Johnny Winter on slide (his last session) along with Roth on slide and lead vocal. Scott Spray and Tyger MacNeal join on bass and drums respectively. A bright toe tapper, the two guys blend nicely and Roth pulls out some of his trademark riffs making this a particularly cool track. Lowell George's Dixie Chicken gets the full Little Feat treatment with Tommy MacDonald on bass, Kevin MacKendree on piano, Hambridge on percussion. Leroy Parnell takes the lead vocal and shares slide with Roth. I don't know about my readers, but there are a few places that you need to tread lightly and Lowell George territory is one of them. I think that these guys did a great job of paying tribute and MacKendree really did a nice job on Bill Payne's work as well. Excellent! Jimmy Ninino brings the first delta style acoustic track with only he and Roth and their guitars on Poor Boy Blues. Possibly my favorite track on the release. Following with Laura Nyro's And When I Die made popular by Blood, Sweat and Tears again only Vivino and Roth on acoustics. Keeping it simple and playing it pure country blues style gives it a new life. Jimmie Rodgers' Peach Pickin' Time In Georgia features Roth on lead vocals and Greg Martin joining him on slide. McKendree takes a real nice piano bar on the track but the release is about sliding and in country 2 step style, the boys do bring it! Paradise Blues is a simple quiet guitar ballad with nice Les Paul like harmonics and Hawaiian style blending. Rick Vito and Roth blend their guitar vocals nicely for a really pretty instrumental track. Cindy Cashdollar is back on lap steel again on Steel Guitar Rag and Roth this makes two. A simple instrumental track with just a twist of country styling shows the chops of these two guitar super stars. Smokey Robinson's ballad, You Really Got A Hold On Me is delivered nicely with Roth and Vito playing the lead and harmony on slide with no vocals. This is a great track and these guys give it new life in this instrumental form. Roy Byrd's Her Mind Is Gone features the incredible David Lindley on lead vocal and lap steel, joined by Roth on lap steel. Everyone knows that Lindley is one of the best guitar players on the planet and especially creative on lap steel. This is a great little blues addition from the masters, jamming together in one of the tightest acoustic blues jams in a while. Wrapping the release is Roth and Greg Martin on Amazing Grace with Hambridge and Tommy MacDonald. Nicely done and heartfelt it is a really clean and creative ending to a long awaited tribute to slide guitar featuring today's modern masters. Very nicely done.

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

 

Arlen Roth Gets His Mojo Workin' On New Album Deal with King Mojo/Garage Door Records, Due Out April 14; Acclaimed Guitarist Convenes a "Slide Guitar Summit" on Latest CD

Arlen Roth Gets His Mojo Workin’ On New Album Deal with King Mojo/Garage Door Records, Due Out April 14

Acclaimed Guitarist Convenes a Slide Guitar Summit on Latest CD, with Special Guests Johnny Winter, Sonny Landreth, David Lindley, Rick Vito, Jimmy Vivino, Jack Pearson, Lee Roy Parnell, Cindy Cashdollar and Greg Martin,

Produced by Tom Hambridge

RIDGEFIELD, CT - Guitarist Arlen Roth announces that his new CD, Slide Guitar Summit, which teams the acclaimed musician with fellow slide guitar greats Johnny Winter, Sonny Landreth, David Lindley, Rick Vito, Jimmy Vivino, Jack Pearson, Lee Roy Parnell, Cindy Cashdollar and Greg Martin, will be released April 14 under the terms of a new deal signed with King Mojo/Garage Door Records, distributed nationally by Burnside Distribution. Slide Guitar Summit was produced by Grammy-winner Tom Hambridge, and recorded at studios in New York, Nashville and Connecticut.

Called “The Master of the Telecaster,” Arlen Roth recently celebrated the upcoming release of Slide Guitar Summit with a special show at the City Winery in Nashville, where he was joined onstage by album participants Rick Vito, Jack Pearson, Lee Roy Parnell and Greg Martin for an amazing night of music. Fans that night were also treated to an advance screening of the one-hour film, Glass, Brass and Steel: The Making of Arlen Roth's Slide Guitar Summit Album.

“This Slide Guitar Summit album was a longtime dream come true for me,” recalls Arlen Roth about the recording sessions. “It's like a group of old friends getting together for a great time that is rooted in our serious and mutual love for what we do.”

Recording with the late Johnny Winter was also special for Roth, since it turned out be Winter’s last session before he passed away in 2014. “Getting to work with the legendary Johnny Winter was such an incredible feeling, and it got the album totally off on the right foot,” says Roth. “It was hard to believe that I was sitting there playing ‘Rocket 88’ with him, when I could remember being 16 years old and watching Johnny from the very front at Woodstock in 1969....this album is of course, dedicated to this slide and blues guitar master who always served to inspire us all.”

Roth has fond memories of all the tracking sessions. “Each player brought something unique to this project and the interaction between me and them is what I was looking for in making each track truly unique” he says. “And Tom Hambridge and I go way back together as musicians and as friends, so I was really happy to be able to see this great producer lend his magic touch to this project. I also loved how so many of the artists came in with some very strong choices for the songs for us to do, and how we got to pay tribute to many of the great slide players before us such as Lowell George, Elmore James and Duane Allman. I suppose the thing about this album that intrigues me the most is how with the common thread of slide guitar we were all able to touch upon so many styles, emotions, traditions and also break new ground at the same time!”

Guitar legend Arlen Roth is considered one of the most influential guitarists of all time, and during the course of his 45-year-career has toured the world and recorded with an amazing list of artists, including Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Phoebe Snow, Levon Helm, Ry Cooder, Eric Andersen, Dusty Springfield, Janis Ian and The Bee Gees, among others. His teaching and creation of the Hot Licks Video pioneered music and guitar education all over the world, with his videos having sold in excess of 2.5 million copies. His current online lessons and blogs for Gibson.com have over 1 million followers. Arlen was also the man behind the legendary blues film, Crossroads, creating the guitar parts, directing the guitar scenes and working alongside fellow guitarist Ry Cooder and actor Ralph Macchio during the film’s production. He was voted in the “Top 50 Acoustic Guitarists of All-Time” by Gibson.com and in the “Top 100 Most Influential Guitarists of All-Time” by Vintage Guitar Magazine. He has eight best-selling books to his credit, and his book, Hot Guitar, is a compilation of 10 years of his wildly popular column for Guitar Player Magazine.

Roth’s first album Guitarist, won the Montreux Critics Award for “Best Instrumental Album of the Year” in 1978, and his last album, All Tricked Out!, garnered four Grammy nominations. His new Slide Guitar Summit CD is similar in approach to his classic and legendary album, Toolin’ Around (1993), which featured duets with guitar greats such as Danny Gatton, Duane Eddy, Brian Setzer, Duke Robillard, Albert Lee, Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas, and which also became a film documentary. He followed up that album with Toolin’ Around Woodstock, with Levon Helm, Sonny Landreth and Bill Kirchen.

Arlen Roth continues to record and tour all over the world. His current band, The Cordobas, features Eddie Denise on bass, Shannon Ford on drums and Chris Foley on second guitar. His daughter, Lexie Roth, also sings with the band, and has become a superb recording artist, vocalist and songwriter in her own right, with many credits to her name, such as singing on the recent Les Paul tribute album (she sang "Vaya Con Dios”), plus singing the blues classic, “Night Life,” on the album with Levon Helm.

With songs that cover multiple genres of music, Slide Guitar Summit promises to reach a wide ranging audience of fans and promises to be one of the most celebrated albums of the year.

Arlen Roth is also the founder and CEO of the “International Guitar Hall of Fame and Museum,” which has been a long-time dream for him to create.

To download a hi-res color photo of Arlen Roth (photo credit: Diana), click here:

http://www.markpuccimedia.com/ArlenRoth.jpg. For more information, visit www.arlenroth.com, www.facebook.com/arlenroth and www.guitarhalloffame.com

Acclaimed Guitarist Arlen Roth Convenes a "Slide Guitar Summit" on New CD, Due January 13

Acclaimed Guitarist Arlen Roth Convenes a Slide Guitar Summit on New CD, Due January 13,

with Special Guests Johnny Winter, Sonny Landreth, David Lindley, Rick Vito, Jimmy Vivino, Jack Pearson, Lee Roy Parnell, Cindy Cashdollar and Greg Martin, Produced by Tom Hambridge

CD Release Performance with Special Guests Set for Nashville’s City Winery on January 20 to Include Screening of Film Documentary on the Making of the Album

RIDGEFIELD, CT - Guitarist Arlen Roth, the “Master of the Telecaster,” announces a January 13 release date for his new CD, Slide Guitar Summit, which teams the acclaimed musician with an incredible lineup of fellow slide guitar greats – Johnny Winter, Sonny Landreth, David Lindley, Rick Vito, Jimmy Vivino, Jack Pearson, Lee Roy Parnell, Cindy Cashdollar and Greg Martin – for what promises to be one of the most celebrated albums of the new year. Produced by Grammy winner Tom Hambridge, Slide Guitar Summit was recorded at studios in New York, Nashville and Connecticut. Roth will release the new CD on his own Aquinnah Records imprint.  

Arlen Roth will celebrate the release of Slide Guitar Summit with a special CD release show at the City Winery in Nashville on Tuesday, January 20, where he’ll be joined onstage by many of the guitarists on the new album (http://www.citywinery.com/nashville/). Fans at the album show premiere will also be treated to a screening of the film documentary about the making of the album (Doors open at 5:30 PM; show time: 7:00 PM). An announcement of additional Slide Guitar Summit CD release shows in the northeast will be forthcoming. 

“This Slide Guitar Summit album was a longtime dream come true for me,” recalls Arlen Roth about the recording sessions, “and it's like a group of old friends getting together for a great time that is rooted in our serious mutual love for what we do.”

Recording with the late Johnny Winter was also special for Roth. “Getting to work with the legendary Johnny Winter was such an incredible feeling, and it got the album totally off on the right foot,” says Roth. “It was hard to believe that I was sitting there playing ‘Rocket 88’ with him, when I could remember being 16 years old and watching Johnny from the very front at Woodstock in 1969....this album is of course, dedicated to this slide and blues guitar master who always served to inspire us all.”

Roth has fond memories of all the tracking sessions. “Each player brought something unique to this project and the interaction between me and them is what I was looking for in making each track truly unique” he says. “And Tom Hambridge and I go way back together as musicians and as friends, so I was really happy to be able to see this great producer lend his magic touch to this project. I also loved how so many of the artists came in with some very strong choices for the songs for us to do, and how we got to pay tribute to many of the great slide players before us such as Lowell George, Elmore James and Duane Allman. I suppose the thing about this album that intrigues me the most is how with the common thread of slide guitar we were all able to touch upon so many styles, emotions, traditions and also break new ground at the same time!”

Guitar legend Arlen Roth is considered one of the most influential guitarists of all time, and during the course of his 45-year-career has toured the world and recorded with an amazing list of artists, including Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Phoebe Snow, Levon Helm, Ry Cooder, Eric Andersen, Dusty Springfield, Janis Ian and The Bee Gees, among others. His teaching and creation of the Hot Licks Video pioneered music and guitar education all over the world, with his videos having sold in excess of 2.5 million copies. His current online lessons and blogs for Gibson.com have over 1 million followers. Arlen was also the man behind the legendary blues film, Crossroads, creating the guitar parts, directing the guitar scenes and working alongside fellow guitarist Ry Cooder and actor Ralph Macchio during the film’s production. He was voted in the “Top 50 Acoustic Guitarists of All-Time” by Gibson.com and in the “Top 100 Most Influential Guitarists of All-Time” by Vintage Guitar Magazine. He has eight best-selling books to his credit, and his book, Hot Guitar, is a compilation of 10 years of his wildly popular column for Guitar Player Magazine.

Roth’s first album Guitarist, won the Montreux Critics Award for “Best Instrumental Album of the Year” in 1978, and his last album, All Tricked Out!, garnered four Grammy nominations. His new Slide Guitar Summit CD is similar in approach to his classic and legendary album, Toolin’ Around (1993), which featured duets with guitar greats such as Danny Gatton, Duane Eddy, Brian Setzer, Duke Robillard, Albert Lee, Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas, and which also became a film documentary. He followed up that album with Toolin’ Around Woodstock, with Levon Helm, Sonny Landreth and Bill Kirchen.

Arlen Roth continues to record and tour all over the world. His current band, The Cordobas, features Eddie Denise on bass, Shannon Ford on drums and Chris Foley on second guitar. His daughter, Lexie Roth, also sings with the band, and has become a superb recording artist, singer and songwriter in her own right, with many credits to her name, such as singing on the recent Les Paul tribute album, plus singing the blues classic, “Night Life,” on the album with Levon Helm.

Arlen Roth is also the founder and CEO of the new “International Guitar Hall of Fame and Museum.”

Slide Guitar Summit Track Listing

Do What's Right: Jack Pearson & Arlen Roth

Dust My Broom: Lee Roy Parnell & Arlen Roth

Stranger on the Shore: Cindy Cashdollar & Arlen Roth

Rocket 88: Johnny Winter & Arlen Roth

Sonny Skies: Sonny Landreth & Arlen Roth

Her Mind is Gone: David Lindley & Arlen Roth

Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia: Greg Martin & Arlen Roth

Paradise Blues: Rick Vito & Arlen Roth

Dixie Chicken: Lee Roy Parnell & Arlen Roth

One Child Born (And When I Die): Jimmy Vivino & Arlen Roth

Steel Guitar Rag: Cindy Cashdollar & Arlen Roth

You Really Got a Hold on Me: Rick Vito & Arlen Roth

Poor Boy Blues: Jimmy Vivino & Arlen Roth

Amazing Grace: Greg Martin & Arlen Roth

New Jimmy Vivino video

NEW JIMMY VIVINO VIDEO   Jimmy Vivino has just released a video introducing "13 Live," his new album with his re-assembled Black Italians band, a heralded ensemble he put together in the early 90's during a residency at New York City's Downtime Bar.  Spotlighted are outstanding singer Catherine Russell and harmonica player Felix Cabrera. To see the video, please click HERE. Vivino, who serves as the bandleader and musical director of the Conan TV show's "The Basic Cable Band," recorded the album in front of a live audience at Levon Helm's beautiful barn studio in Woodstock, NY. The album intersperses Jimmy's original songs with covers of tunes by the likes of Bob Dylan, James Brown, Traffic, Johnny Winter, and The Band, rousing renditions of roots standards and "Third World blues with New Orleans swagger." For more info, please click HERE.

Jimmy Vivino, Little Walter Tribute releases May 7th

BLIND PIG ANNOUNCES MAY RELEASES Jimmy Vivino, Little Walter Tribute Albums Set To Drop May 7th On Tuesday, May 7, 2013 celebrated American roots music label Blind Pig Records will release new titles from well known guitarist and band leader Jimmy Vivino and a loving tribute to Little Walter from five of the best blues harmonica players around,   JIMMY VIVINO & THE BLACK ITALIANS "13 LIVE" Jimmy Vivino, Music Director and leader of the house band for Conan O'Brien's TV show on TBS, got the band back together for a memorable two night concert recording session.  The occasion was the reunion of his fabled New York City "Black Italians" band   at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY to record 13 Live.   On November 30, 2012, the reunited Black Italians hosted a public rehearsal followed by a live recorded concert the next night at Levon Helm's beautiful barn studio. The group had performed together only sporadically in the last several years, but one would never have guessed that once the lights came on and they hit the stage. Interspersing Jimmy's original songs with covers of tunes by the likes of Bob Dylan, James Brown, Traffic and Johnny Winter, the Black Italians immediately fell into a soulful, joyous groove, enlivening the audience. A night of truly inspired music making was capped off by "Song For Levon," written by Jimmy for the occasion, and a rousing version of The Band's "Shape I'm In." The Black Italians were originally formed twenty years ago around a residency at the legendary Downtime Music Bar on W. 30th Street in New York City. The group, which had been serving as the band for the legendary pianist Johnnie Johnson, started attracting local and national touring musicians to their shows eager to participate in impromptu jams of what Vivino describes as "Third World blues with New Orleans swagger." He jokingly dubbed the communal group of musicians of various ethnicities "The Black Italians," which he says was really "about being soulful cats." The aggregation lasted about two years, until Vivino became too busy with his television gig. To watch Jimmy performing with the Allman Brothers at the Beacon Theater in New York City on St. Patrick's Day, please click HERE. "REMEMBERING LITTLE WALTER" Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Little Walter Jacobs receives a fitting tribute on this sparkling live recording which brings together five of the greatest harmonica players currently on the blues scene - Charlie Musselwhite, Billy Boy Arnold, Mark Hummel, James Harman, and Sugar Ray Norcia.  The virtuosic Little Walter is without doubt one of the most influential blues harmonica players of all time.  All five of these fine players share a deep love for and keen insight into the revolutionary force that Walter's music brought to bear on the Chicago blues scene of the 50's and 60's.  In fact, two of the participants, Charlie Musselwhite and Billy Boy Arnold, actually knew and played with Little Walter. Charlie recalls that Walter "started phrasing on harmonica like a saxophone. This phrasing combined with his creativity and amplification really took harmonica playing to a whole new level that hadn't been heard before." Arnold adds, "He was miles ahead of all the other harp players on the scene. No one could touch him. He was creative, innovative, and spontaneous. Little Walter is still the top and most influential harp player that ever played." Musselwhite and Arnold are joined here by three other harpists, each renowned in his own right. Producer Mark Hummel has toured and recorded with Lowell Fulson, Eddie Taylor, Charles Brown, Brownie McGhee, Jimmy Rogers and many other blues legends. James Harman has been a mainstay on the scene for forty years, having played with everyone from Canned Heat to ZZ Top. Sugar Ray Norcia is best known for his lengthy tenure with the acclaimed Roomful of Blues and with the Bluetones - a band he started thirty years ago with guitarist Ronnie Earl. On Remembering Little Walter each artist performs two tracks from Jacobs' discography, then they collaborate on a spirited, jamming finale of Walter's signature tune, "My Babe." Backing throughout is crisp and solid, featuring Little Charlie Baty, world renowned guitar slinger and former bandleader of Little Charlie and the Nightcats. This one of a kind live harp showcase is a recording no blues fan will want to miss.

Blind Pig Signs Jimmy Vivino!

BLIND PIG SIGNS JIMMY VIVINO!

Leading American roots music label Blind Pig Records has announced the signing of Jimmy Vivino and the Black Italians.   For the recording sessions Vivino will reunite his R&B influenced band The Black Italians for two shows in front of live audiences at Levon Helms Studios in Woodstock, New York. The shows will take place on Friday, November 30 and Saturday, December 1. In addition to Vivino on guitar the band features Mike Merritt (bass), James Wormworth (drums), Felix Cabrera (harp/vocals), Gov't Mule's Danny Louis (keys), Catherine Russell (vocals), Fred Walcott (percussion) and Mike Jacobson (percussion).
For the past two years guitarist, singer, songwriter and bandleader Vivino has enjoyed a high-visibility gig as the musical director for Jimmy Vivino and The Basic Cable Band, the house band for the TBS late night program "Conan."  Vivino has been a consistent element in Conan O'Brien's late night TV career, starting with the first episode of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in September 1993.  In June of 2008 he moved from New York to Los Angeles to work on "The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien."
When not appearing weeknights on TBS, Vivino divides his time between recording sessions and live gigs throughout the country.  In addition to his solo work, Vivino plays with the successful Beatles tribute band The Fab Faux. He has also recorded and played with such legends as Johnnie Johnson, Hubert Sumlin, Son Seals, Levon Helm and Al Kooper. Earlier in his career Jimmy got his start producing, playing and arranging for such artists as Phoebe Snow, Laura Nyro, John Sebastian, Donald Fagen and Felix Cavaliere.  Prior to landing in television, Vivino worked on Broadway and in film.
The Black Italians were originally formed twenty years ago around a residency at the legendary Downtime Music Bar on W. 30^th Street in New York City.  Vivino, Merritt and Wormworth, who had been serving as the band for the legendary pianist Johnnie Johnson, started attracting local and national touring musicians to their shows eager to participate in impromptu jams of what Vivino describes as "Third World blues with New Orleans swagger."   Vivino jokingly dubbed the communal group of musicians of various ethnicities "The Black Italians," which he says was really "about being soulful cats."  The aggregation lasted about two years, until Vivino became too busy with his television gig.
Jerry Del Giudice of Blind Pig recently suggested to Jimmy that he get the band back together for a recording.   Says Vivino, "I was taken by surprise when Jerry asked, but it was the perfect thing, because it really excited me."
The group has only made a few select appearances in recent years (including a notable gig at New York's Cutting Room in 2008).  While at Helm's barn, The Black Italians will host a public rehearsal on Friday, and record a live album on Saturday. The Black Italians' Friday show is described as an interactive rehearsal.