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I started a quest to find terrific blues music and incredible musicianship when I was just a little kid. I also have a tremendous appreciation of fine musical instruments and equipment. One of my greatest joys all of my life was sharing my finds with my friends. I'm now publishing my journey. I hope that you come along!


Please email me at Info@Bmansbluesreport.com
Showing posts with label Missouri. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Missouri. Show all posts

Monday, January 30, 2023

Rick and Friends - self titled - New Release Review


 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent self titled release, Rick and Friends and it's chocked full of melodic, rock and blues rock flavored tracks. Opening with Forever Home, Rusty Wright is featured on lead vocal, with Rick Drevet on guitar, Mark Pappalardo on thumping drums and Bill Adams on bass. Showing a Hatchett meets Boston attack, this track is radio ready and polished. Drevet creates a Tucker kind of guitar richness on the intro that flows throughout the track with nice interwoven lead work and Pappalardo's drum thunder really adds a lot under the finesse of Wright on lead vocal. With an attack reminiscent of Trower in Procol Harem, Book of Wreckage brings that sound to the current day with super vocal blending by Wright and contemporary guitar and drum riffs. I funky rock sound on Smokey Whiskey with slide and dobro by Drevet and booming drum work by Pappalardo. Bluesy Cold Steel Blues has a great bass line by Drevet and fully blended vocals, and of course heavy drums, leading to some nice blues lead work by Drevet. Wrapping the release is Shakin Sally with it's straight forward sound over the distinctive motorcycle rumble. Rick Melick adds in some powerful B3 taking Wright's lead vocal to an even higher level. Solid closer for a solid rocker. 


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Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Delta Groove Music artist: John Long - Stand Your Ground - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Stand Your Ground, by John Long and it has a great authentic feel. Opening with Homesick James' Baby Please Set A Date, Long is stroking the slide, Elmore James style, backed by Fred Kaplan on piano, Bill Stuve on acoustic bass and Washington Rucker on drums. This track could easily have been recorded in the 40's or 50's by Muddy with a rich early feel. In addition to Long's slide work, Kaplan's exceptional piano work is sweet! Great opener. Son House style creeps into Red Hawk and long shows his powerful vocal style as well as his command of House's excellent slide style. Excellent! On country style blues, Things Can't Be Down Always, Long continues to demonstrate his versatility in style and delivery. His vocals are pure and his playing clean. On title track, Stand Your Ground, Long introduces a bit of New Orleans feel with Stuve and Rucker. A cool rhythmic track with a more contemporary feel. Welcome Mat is an excellent Delta blues track with early Muddy /JL Hooker delivery. Because of Long's vocals and guitar phrasing, this may be my favorite track on the release. On No Flowers For Me, Long pulls out his harmonica to assist in his delivery and with his guitar, delivers some of the best vocals on the track. It's really quite hard to imagine that these tracks are contemporary and not 75 years old. Very nice! One Earth, Many Colors has a gospel swing, punctuated by Stuve, Kaplan and Rucker. Kaplan's solo is jangly and stylish and Stuve's bass right in the groove. Healing Touch has a real soulful style and again essential vocals by Long. His harp work is nicely complimentary to his unadorned guitar work. Very nice. Willie Johnson's I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole is a cool track with slide / vocal melody. A cool entry among mostly all original tracks. Mike Cronic's Mop, Bucket and Broom is a cool, 30's style swing track with Long showing yet another style and doing it nicely with fine picking, chords and a light dusting by Rucker. Blind Wilie McTell's Climbing High Mountains has a spiritual swing but updated with a swing rhythm. Morphing his vocals to a more pure smooth singing style, Long shows he can sing it all. Very nice! Rev. Thomas Dorsey's Precious Lord, Take My Hand maintains much of the original gospel feel but with just a light touch of blues. This is an excellent interpretation of this classic gospel number, given it isn't being sung by the likes of Aretha or Mike Farris and more in the style of Ray Charles. Wrapping the release is Suitcase Stomp, a great boogie woogie track with Long chasing himself on guitar and harp. This is an excellent release with a lot of heart and reality. Check it out!


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Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Big Muddy Blues Festival Announces 2014 Artist Line-up

Big Muddy Blues Festival
Announces 2014 Artist Line-up

 
Local acts compliment regional and national touring artists
 






St. Louis, MO – The Big Muddy Blues Festival is St. Louis’ largest Blues festival, with 24 renowned acts
+ more to be announced from across the nation and around St. Louis, filling three stages on historic Laclede’s Landing, August 30 and 31, 2014. This year, Big Muddy not only has more national, regional and local artists, the festival also offers a wider variety of artists than recent years. Festival goers will experience a full range of Blues styles, from Louisiana, Chicago, St. Louis and more throughout the newly rebuilt cobblestone streets of the Landing.

National, regional and local acts in 2014 will include:

Saturday, August 30th

Main Stage
  • 4:30 p.m.         Steve Scorfina’s Soul Steel
  • 6:30 p.m.         Nashville, TN artist Goodbye June
  • 8:30 p.m.         Chicago, IL. artist Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials
  • 10:30 p.m.       Kansas City, MO. artist Samantha Fish 
Morgan Stage
  • 3 p.m.              Hudson and the HooDoo Cats
  • 5 p.m.              Melissa Neels
  • 7 p.m.              Everett Dean
  • 9 p.m.              Trip Daddy’s
Lucas Stage
  • 3 p.m.              Miss Jubilee & the Humdingers
  • 5 p.m.              Eugene Johnson & Co.
  • 7:30 p.m.         Billy Barnett Blues Band
  • 9:30 p.m.         Atlanta, GA artist Tinsley Ellis

Sunday, August 31st

Main Stage    
  • 3 p.m.              The Brothers
  • 5:30 p.m.         Kim Massie

  • 8 p.m.              Baton Rouge, LA artist “American Bluesman”
                             Kenny Neal

  • 10 p.m.            Houston, TX artist Guitar Shorty
Morgan Stage
  • 3 p.m.              Wrath of Khan
  • 5 p.m.              Tony Campanella
  • 7:30 p.m.         Steve Pecaro
  • 9:30 p.m.         Marsha Evans and the Coalition
Lucas Stage
  • 3 p.m.              Blue Bayou (Tribute to Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville)
  • 5 p.m.              Tommy Halloran’s Guerilla Swing
  • 7 p.m.              Big Mike
  • 9 p.m.              Tupelo, MS young artists Homemade Jamz Blues Band
In total, this stellar line up of 24 acts + more to be announced, lighting up three stages, will offer St. Louis a weekend full of all things “Blues.”

Big Muddy will take place from 3 p.m. to midnight. Saturday, August 30 and Sunday, August 31 on Laclede’s Landing. The Main Stage will be located at North 1st & Lucas, the Lucas Stage will be located at North 2nd & Lucas St., and the Morgan Stage will be located at North 2nd & Morgan St.

The Morgan and Lucas stages are both free, while Main Stage tickets will be $10 General Admission (Chairs welcome, sorry no umbrellas or tents), $50 for a single day VIP (Seat in the VIP area right in front of the stage, premium open bar, festival t-shirt), and $90 for two-day VIP per person.

Parking ranges from $10 to $20 in public garages throughout the Landing.


More information on what to bring, transportation, concert times and ticket prices can be found at
www.bigmuddybluesfestival.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BigMuddyBluesFestival or on Twitter @BigMuddyBlues

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Blue Edge Records artist: 'Rock-n-Rick' Patterson - Beat A Deamon - New Release Review

I just received a copy of the newest release, Beat A Demon, from Rock-n-Rick Patterson and it's really different. Opening with the title track, Beat A Demon, Patterson unleashes a voodoo sounding blues track that will stick you. With a voice like Captain Beefheart and a melody that could be right off of a Screamin Jay record, Patterson really lays out some cool guitar riffs and effects. St. Louis Girl is an upbeat swing blues with Patterson and Nick Schnebelen on guitar joined by Kris Schnebelen on drums and Danielle Schenebelen on bass. I've Been Thinkin' "Bout You has a cool bass line which really sets the track up nicely. A more contemporary blues rock style makes it practical for broad airplay and the hook is solid. Don't Have To Worry is a spiffy blues infused rock track with delta roots, cocky guitar work and spot on percussion. Sonny Kenner is a story tellers track. I've always liked tracks like this (Billy The Mountain, Mind Bender, Jack The Toad to name a few) and Patterson does a real nice job, complimented by James Whitney on keys. A laid down funky track, Still In The Game, gives Patterson a cool groove to jam over and jam he does. Some of the nicest guitar work (as well as instrumentation) on the release is on this track... think Steely Dan. On rockin' boogie, Don't Need No Woman, Patterson takes a more straight on blues attack and ready rock riffs. The release closes with Evil Train returning full circle to a similar feel of the first track with greasy smimmery guitar riffs and swampy vocals. This is a release that grows on you so you may want to give it a few listens.

  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”

 

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Mike Henderson

Mike Henderson was born in Independence, Missouri, just outside Kansas City. He grew up in a household humming with music and he’s grateful to his mother for spinning the records of everyone from bluesman John Lee Hooker to big band leader Tommy Dorsey as she did her housework. Listening to Top 40 radio in the 60’s opened Mike’s ears, too. “That was the old Top 40,” says Mike, “there was Slim Harpo, Ray Price, Ray Charles, and The Beatles and everybody was on one station. That’s what you heard. So, I grew up hearing a really wide variety.” Beginning with the harmonica at the age of five and graduating to guitar at around the age of twelve or thirteen, Henderson dove head first into music. During his years in high school he played rock & roll in garage bands but rock music soon wore thin for the teenage musician and that’s when he discovered country music. Mike put away his electric guitar and got hold of a flat top acoustic while listening more and more to folk and bluegrass. Upon moving to Columbia, Missouri, to attend the University of Missouri, he quickly fell in with the local bluegrass and old-time country music crowd and found himself playing fiddle and mandolin for seven years in a succession of bluegrass bands. He also soaked-up old-time fiddle music wherever he could. “I’d play in fiddle contests,” recalls Mike, “ and back up the old guys, too. I learned a lot from them. After his bluegrass gigs ran their course, for a change of pace, Henderson joined a blues band, the Bel Airs, touring the Midwest for five years. The experience helped him develop his distinctive guitar style he aptly describes as “half Bill Monroe and half Muddy Waters.” Mike’s left hand had become pretty strong after playing mandolin for so many years, he had the string action set quite high because as he says, “You’ve gotta crank the action up on a mandolin to get it to be loud, to sound out.” So, anytime he picked up an ordinary electric guitar Mike found himself pushing the strings right across the fret-board, if they didn’t break first! At the time Mike had an old Silvertone guitar and he began to use very heavy gauge strings and kept the action high, just like on his mandolin. It was this that made Mike’s guitar playing sound different to everyone else. Though the gigs in and around Missouri were good, Mike eventually felt a need to reach a wider audience and take his love of country music to another level. His wife agreed: Nashville was the place. When the Hendersons arrived in Nashville in 1985 they didn’t know anyone. He and his wife drove down one weekend, rented a house, turned around and drove back. The next time they drove into in Nashville Mike was behind the wheel of a U-Haul truck with all their possessions stacked in the back. It took Mike around a year to break in to the local music scene, but when he did he found the right people, joining a band called The Roosters along with Wally Wilson, Kevin Welch, Gary Nicholson, Harry Stinson and bassist Glenn Worf. This was the first time Mike had mixed with writers and from The Roosters, and a spin-off band called The Snakes – still fondly remembered in Nashville for their blistering Monday night roots rock shows at the Bluebird Café and a 1989 album on Curb Records - Henderson built a solid reputation as a distinctive singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist capable of holding forth on electric guitar, harmonica, National/Dobro, mandolin or fiddle. It wasn’t long before offers came pouring in for studio work. Emmylou Harris called Mike in for her Bluebird album and that was followed by John Hiatt’s Stolen Moments, Joy Lynn White’s Between Midnight and Hindsight, and Kelly Willis’ self-titled album. Mike has also worked with other major artists such as Johnny Lang, Bob Seger, Guy Clark, Mark Knopfler, Hank Williams Jr, Dixie Chicks, Sting, Lucinda Williams, Tracy Nelson, Patty Loveless, Delbert McClinton, Albert King, Travis Tritt and others. Mike’s songs have been recorded by a number of acts including Randy Travis, Trisha Yearwood, Dixie Chicks, Neal McCoy, Highway 101, Johnny Lang, and Patty Loveless. Mike’s Powerful Stuff was covered by the Fabulous Thunderbirds for the 1988 multi-million selling soundtrack of the film Cocktail. With these successes came a deal from RCA which led to the 1994 release of Mike’s Country Music Made Me Do It. Sadly, critical acclaim did not produce the kind of country radio airplay the album deserved leaving Mike and RCA to part. Mike’s first Dead Reckoning effort, Edge of Night, went to number one on the Americana chart. Subsequent blues releases, First Blood and Thicker Than Water earned several Nashville Music Awards, a W. C. Handy nomination and Best Slide Guitarist of 1998. Mike spent 2001 recording and touring with Mark Knopfler, from Mexico City to Moscow, and everywhere in between.  

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 favorite band!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Oh Wee...These Blues is Killing Me! - A.C. REED

Aaron Corthen, better known as A.C. Reed (May 9, 1926 – February 24, 2004) was an American blues saxophonist, closely associated with the Chicago blues scene from the 1940s into the 2000s. Reed was born in Wardell, Missouri, United States, but grew up in southern Illinois. He took his stage name from his friend, Jimmy Reed. He moved to Chicago during World War II, playing with Earl Hooker and Willie Mabon in the 1940s. He toured with Dennis "Long Man" Binder in 1956, and did extensive work as a sideman for Mel London's blues record labels Chief/Profile/Age in the 1960s, with Lillian Offitt and Ricky Allen, amongst others. He had a regionally popular single in 1961 with "This Little Voice" (Age 29101), and cut several more singles over the course of the decade. He became a member of Buddy Guy's band in 1967, playing with him on his tour of Africa in 1969 and, with Junior Wells, opening for The Rolling Stones in 1970. He remained with Guy until 1977, then played with Son Seals and Albert Collins in the late 1970s and 1980s. He began recording solo material for Alligator Records in the 1980s. On his 1987 offering, I'm in the Wrong Business, came cameo appearances by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Bonnie Raitt. He played in Chicago with his band, The Spark Plugs, until he died of cancer in Chicago in 2004

 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”

 

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Moanin' - Richard 'Groove' Holmes

Richard Arnold "Groove" Holmes (Camden, New Jersey, May 2, 1931 – St. Louis, Missouri, June 29, 1991) was an American jazz organist who performed in the hard bop and soul jazz genre. He is best known for his 1965 recording of "Misty", and is considered a precursor of acid jazz. Holmes' first album, on Pacific Jazz with guest Ben Webster, was recorded in March 1961. His sound was immediately recognizable in the upper register, but even more so because of his virtuosity in creating, undoubtedly, the most rapid, punctuating, and pulsating basslines of all the jazz organists.[citation needed] Though he died at the age of 60, he established a recognition within the community of jazz organ giants of Jimmy Smith (The Sermon!), Brother Jack McDuff (A Real Good 'Un), Jimmy McGriff (I've Got a Woman). He recorded many albums for Pacific Jazz, Prestige Records, Groove Merchant and Muse Records, many of which featured Houston Person. Holmes died after a long struggle with prostate cancer, having performed his last concerts in a wheelchair. One of his last gigs was at the 1991 Chicago Blues Festival with his longtime friend, singer Jimmy Witherspoon. A year after his death, the Beastie Boys honoured Holmes by adding an organ-based instrumental track, Groove Holmes to their album Check Your Head.

  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”

 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

I'm Hurting - Billy Gales

Billy Gales, d April 8, 1993, drummer and singer with Ike Turner band. Not much more info on this guy. 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 favorite band!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Clarinet blues - Gene Sedric, Mezz Mezzrow, Red Richards, Kansas Fields

Gene Sedric (June 17, 1907, St. Louis, Missouri – April 3, 1963, New York City) was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. He acquired the nickname "Honey Bear" in the 1930s because of his large camelhair coat. Sedric's father played ragtime piano. He played with Charlie Creath in his hometown and then with Fate Marable, Dewey Jackson, Ed Allen (1922), and Julian Arthur. He joined Sam Wooding's Orchestra in 1925, and toured Europe with him until 1931, when the unit dissolved; while in Europe he recorded with Alex Hyde. He returned to New York City and played with Fletcher Henderson and Alex Hill, then joined Fats Waller's Rhythm in 1934, remaining in Waller's employ until 1942. When Waller went on solo tours Sedric found work gigging alongside Mezz Mezzrow (1937) and Don Redman (1938-39). Sedric put together his own group in 1943, then played with Phil Moore in 1944 and Hazel Scott in 1945. He put together another ensemble from 1946-51, playing in New York. Later associations include time with Pat Flowers (1946-47), Bobby Hackett (1951), Jimmy McPartland, Mezzrow again (1953), Conrad Janis (1953), and Dick Wellstood (1961). Sedric recorded sparingly as a leader, in 1938, 1946, and with Mezzrow in 1953.

  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 favorite band!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Chelsea Bridge - Ben Webster

Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973), a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. Known affectionately as "The Brute", he had a tough, raspy, and brutal tone on stomps (with his own distinctive growls), yet on ballads he played with warmth and sentiment. Stylistically he was indebted to alto star Johnny Hodges, who, he said, taught him to play his instrument. Webster learned to play piano and violin at an early age, before learning to play the saxophone, although he did return to the piano from time to time, even recording on the instrument occasionally. Once Budd Johnson showed him some basics on the saxophone, Webster began to play that instrument in the Young Family Band (which at the time included Lester Young). Kansas City at this point was a melting pot from which emerged some of the biggest names in 1930s jazz, and Webster joined Bennie Moten's legendary 1932 band that included Count Basie, Oran "Hot Lips" Page and Walter Page. This era has been recreated in Robert Altman's film Kansas City. Webster spent time with quite a few orchestras in the 1930s, including Andy Kirk, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in 1934, then Benny Carter, Willie Bryant, Cab Calloway, and the short-lived Teddy Wilson big band. Playing with Duke Ellington's orchestra for the first time in 1935, by 1940 Ben Webster had become its first major tenor soloist. He credited Johnny Hodges, Ellington's alto soloist, as a major influence on his playing. During the next three years he was on many famous recordings, including "Cotton Tail" and "All Too Soon"; his contribution (together with that of bassist Jimmy Blanton) was so important that Ellington's orchestra during that period is known as the Blanton–Webster band. Webster left the band in 1943 after an angry altercation, during which he allegedly cut up one of Ellington's suits After leaving Ellington in 1943, Webster worked on 52nd Street in New York City; recorded frequently as both a leader and a sideman; had short periods with Raymond Scott, John Kirby, and Sid Catlett, as well as with Jay McShann's band, which also featured blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon. In 1948 he returned briefly to the Ellington orchestra for a few months. In 1953 he recorded King of the Tenors with pianist Oscar Peterson, who would be an important collaborator for Webster throughout the decade. Along with Peterson, trumpeter Harry 'Sweets' Edison and others he was by now touring and recording with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic organisation. Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster with fellow tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins was recorded on December 16, 1957 along with Peterson, Herb Ellis (guitar), Ray Brown (bass), and Alvin Stoller (drums). The Hawkins and Webster recording is a jazz classic, the coming together of two giants of the tenor saxophone, who had first met back in Kansas City. In 1956 he recorded a classic set with pianist Art Tatum, supported by bassist Red Callender and drummer Bill Douglass. Webster generally worked steadily but in 1964 he moved permanently to join other American jazz musicians in Europe, where he played when he pleased during his last decade. He lived in London for one year, followed by four years in Amsterdam and made his last home in Copenhagen in 1969. Webster appeared as a sax player in a low-rent cabaret club in the 1970 Danish blue film titled Quiet Days In Clichy. In 1971 Webster reunited with Duke Ellington and his big band for a couple of shows at the Tivoli Gardens in Denmark and he recorded "live" in France with Earl Hines. He also recorded or performed with Buck Clayton, Bill Coleman and Teddy Wilson. Webster suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in Amsterdam, North Holland in September 1973, following a performance at the Twee Spieghels in Leiden, and died on the 20th. His body was cremated in Copenhagen and his ashes were buried in the Assistens Cemetery in the Nørrebro section of the city. Although not all that flexible or modern, remaining rooted in the blues and swing-era ballads, Webster could swing with the best and his tone was a later influence on such diverse players as Archie Shepp, Lew Tabackin, Scott Hamilton, David Murray, and Bennie Wallace.

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Pee Wee Russell

Charles Ellsworth Russell, much better known by his nickname Pee Wee Russell, (27 March 1906 – 15 February 1969) was a jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but he eventually focused solely on clarinet. With a highly individualistic and spontaneous clarinet style that "defied classification", Russell began his career playing Dixieland jazz, but throughout his career incorporated elements of newer developments such as swing, bebop and free jazz. In the words of Philip Larkin, "No one familiar with the characteristic excitement of his solos, their lurid, snuffling, asthmatic voicelessness, notes leant on till they split, and sudden passionate intensities, could deny the uniqueness of his contribution to jazz." Pee Wee Russell was born in Maplewood, Missouri and grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma. As a child, he first studied violin, but "couldn't get along with it",then piano, disliking the scales and chord exercises, and then drums – including all the associated special effects. Then his father sneaked young Ellsworth into a dance at the local Elks Club to a four- or five-piece band led by New Orleans jazz clarinetist Alcide "Yellow" Nunez. Russell was amazed by Nunez's improvisations: "[He] played the melody, then got hot and played jazz. That was something. How did he know where he was or where he was going?" Pee Wee now decided that his primary instrument would be the clarinet, and the type of music he would play would be jazz. He approached the clarinettist in the pit band at the local theatre for lessons, and bought an Albert-system instrument. His teacher was named Charlie Merrill, and used to pop out for shots of corn whiskey during lessons. His family moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1920, and that September Russell was enrolled in the Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois. He remained enrolled there until October the following year, though he spent most of his time playing clarinet with various dance and jazz bands. He began touring professionally in 1922, and travelled widely with tent shows and on river boats. Russell's recording debut was in 1924 with Herb Berger's Band in St. Louis, then he moved to Chicago, where he began playing with such notables as Frankie Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke. From his earliest career, Russell's style was distinctive. The notes he played were somewhat unorthodox when compared to his contemporaries, and he was sometimes accused of playing out of tune. In 1926 he joined Jean Goldkette's band, and the following year he left for New York City to join Red Nichols. While with Nichols's band, Russell did frequent freelance recording studio work, on clarinet, soprano, alto and tenor sax, and bass clarinet. He worked with various bandleaders (including Louis Prima) before beginning a series of residences at the famous jazz club "Nick's" in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, in 1937. He played with Bobby Hackett's big band, and began playing with Eddie Condon, with whom he would continue to work, off and on, for much of the rest of his life – though he complained, "Those guys [at Nick's and Condon's] made a joke, of me, a clown, and I let myself be treated that way because I was afraid. I didn't know where else to go, where to take refuge". From the 1940s on, Russell's health was often poor, exacerbated by alcoholism – "I lived on brandy milkshakes and scrambled-egg sandwiches. And on whiskey ... I had to drink half a pint of whiskey in the morning before I could get out of bed" – which led to a major medical breakdown in 1951, and he had periods when he could not play. Some people considered that his style was different after his breakdown: Larkin characterized it as "a hollow feathery tone framing phrases of an almost Chinese introspection with a tendency to inconclusive garrulity that would have been unheard of in the days when Pee Wee could pack more into a middle eight than any other thirties pick-up player". He played with Art Hodes, Muggsy Spanier and occasionally bands under his own name in addition to Condon. In his last decade, Russell often played at jazz festivals and international tours organized by George Wein, including an appearance with Thelonious Monk at the 1963 Newport Festival, a meeting which has a mixed reputation (currently available as part of the Monk 2CD set Live at Newport 1963–65). Russell formed a quartet with valve trombone player Marshall Brown, and included John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman tunes in his repertoire. Though often labeled a Dixieland musician by virtue of the company he kept, he tended to reject any label. Russell's unique and sometimes derided approach was praised as ahead of its time, and cited by some as an early example of free jazz. Coleman Hawkins, who considered Russell to be color-blind, at the time of the 1961 Jazz Reunion (Candid) record date (they had originally recorded together in 1929) dismissed any idea that Russell was now playing modern, saying that he had always played that way. By this time, encouraged by Mary, his wife, Russell had taken up painting abstract art as a hobby. Mary's death in the spring of 1967 had a severe effect on him. His last gig was with Wein at the inaugural ball for President Richard Nixon on 21 January 1969. Russell died in a hospital in Alexandria, Virginia, less than three weeks later.

 “Like” Bman’s Facebook page. I use Facebook to spread the word about my blog (Now with translation in over 50 languages). I will not hit you with 50 posts a day. I will not relay senseless nonsense. I use it only to draw attention to some of the key posts on my blog each day. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here Get Facebook support for your favorite band or venue - click HERE

 

SIT AND CRY - Buddy Guy with Harold Ashby

Buddy Guy - Guitar and Vocals Otis Rush - Guitar Willie Dixon - Bass Odie Payne - Drums Harrold Burrage - Piano Bob Neely - Tenor Sax Harold Ashby - Tenor Sax McKinley Easton - Baritone Sax Harold Ashby (March 21, 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri – June 13, 2003 in New York City) was a jazz tenor saxophonist. He is perhaps known for his work with Duke Ellington's band (having replaced Jimmy Hamilton in 1968) and stylistic similarities with Ben Webster. He worked as a freelance musician after leaving the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1975, and took part in various reunions of Ellington alumni, as well as recording and gigging with his own bands.

“Like” Bman’s Facebook page. I use Facebook to spread the word about my blog (Now with translation in over 50 languages). I will not hit you with 50 posts a day. I will not relay senseless nonsense. I use it only to draw attention to some of the key posts on my blog each day. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here Get Facebook support for your favorite band or venue - click HERE

 

Saturday, March 16, 2013

FANNY MAE - THE ED EARLEY BAND

EDWARD J. EARLEY, JR. - Ed is the "trombone player's" trombone player. He has played with just about everybody in the blues world from Albert King to John Lee Hooker. In addition to his own band, Ed is currently performing with Elvin Bishop, as well as teaching and writing music. With his charismatic stage presence, he is a true professional...

  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 favorite band!

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Bluin´ The Blues - Wilbur Sweatmans Original Jazz Band

Wilbur C. Sweatman (1882 Р1961) was an African-American ragtime and dixieland jazz composer, bandleader, and clarinetist. Sweatman was one of the first African-American musicians to develop a nationwide fan base. He was also a trailblazer in the racial integration of musical groups Wilbur Coleman Sweatman was born February 7, 1882 in Brunswick, Missouri to parents Matilda and Coleman Sweatman. Wilbur's father ran a barbershop in the riverside town to provide for his family, which also included daughters Eva and Lula. His mother was apparently of mixed racial background as she and the children were listed as mulatto on some census reports. While Wilbur was still a toddler his father abandoned the family, moving to St. Joseph, Missouri and starting a new family. His mother persevered, continuing to operate the barbershop as well as taking in boarders. Wilbur received his education at the segregated Elliott School in Brunswick and helped out around the barbershop after school. His older sister Eva was responsible for much of Wilbur Sweatman's early music training, teaching him to play piano. Later Sweatman would become a self-taught violinist, and then taking up the clarinet. Over the years he would also learn to play trombone, bass clarinet and organ. Wilbur Sweatman's professional music career began in the late 1890s when, still a teenager, he toured with circus bands, first with Professor Clark Smith's Pickaninny Band from Kansas City, then with the P.G. Lowery Band. By 1901 he had become the youngest orchestra leader in America by fronting the Forepaugh and Sells Circus band. Sweatman briefly played with the bands of W.C. Handy and Mahara's Minstrels before organizing his own dance band in Minneapolis, Minnesota by late 1902. It was there that Sweatman made his first recordings on phonograph cylinders in 1903 for the Metropolitan Music Store. These included what is reputed to have been the first recorded version of Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag";no copies of these are known to exist today. In 1908 Sweatman moved to Chicago, playing around the city in places like the Pekin Inn and the Monogram Theater before becoming the bandleader at the Grand Theater, and began to attract notice; a 1910 article referred to his nickname, "Sensational Swet." By 1911, he had moved to the vaudeville circuit full-time, developing a successful act of playing three clarinets at once. An Indianapolis account described his performance there: Though somewhat diminutive in stature, Wilbur C. Sweatman has a style and grace of manner in all of his executions that is at once convincing, and the soulfulness of expression that he blends into his tones is something wonderful. His first number was a medley of popular airs and "rags" and had everybody shuffling their pedal extremities before it was half over. He wrote a number of rags, 1911's Down Home Rag being the most commercially successful. The song was recorded by multiple bands in America and Europe. Sweatman moved to New York in 1913, touring widely. He was one of the few black solo acts to appear regularly on the major white vaudeville circuits. Around this time he became close friends with Scott Joplin; Joplin's will would name Sweatman as executor of his estate. Joplin's musical papers, including unpublished manuscripts, were willed to Sweatman, who took care of them while generously sharing access to those who inquired. However, as Joplin's music came to be considered pass̩, such requests were few. After Sweatman's death in 1961, the papers were last known to have gone into storage during a legal battle among Sweatman's heirs; their current location is unknown, nor even whether they still exist. In December 1916, Sweatman recorded for minor label Emerson Records, including his own "Down Home Rag". Some historians consider these recordings among the earliest examples of jazz on record. Taking note of the commercial success of the Original Dixieland Jass Band and the Original Creole Orchestra, Sweatman abruptly changed his sextet's sound and instrumentation in early 1917. Sweatman's band consisted of five saxophonists and himself on clarinet, a combo which soon signed with Path̩. They recorded rags, as well as some of the hit songs of the day. Sweatman was the first African American to make recordings labeled as "Jass" and "Jazz". Since Sweatman can be heard making melodic variations even in his 1916 recordings, it might be argued that Sweatman recorded an archaic type of jazz earlier than the Original Dixieland band. In 1917, he became one of the first blacks to join ASCAP. In 1918, Sweatman landed with major label Columbia Records, where he would enjoy a meteroic success with a wide variety of songs under his own name. His band also delivered several shorter anonymous performances for the label's "Little Wonder" line of 90-second-long budget releases. The Sweatman band's first release, "Regretful Blues"/"Everybody's Crazy" would ship 140,000 copies, in a time when a third as many sales was considered a hit. Sweatman singles shipped over a million copies in 1919 alone. Several more successful releases followed in 1918-19, Sweatman's peak of popularity. His best-selling song was 1919's "Kansas City Blues", which shipped 180,000 copies. However, by 1920, sales were on the wane, perhaps reflecting the ephemeral interest in his novelty style of jazz, and the growing popularity of syncopated big bands such as Columbia's own Ted Lewis. Sweatman continued to ply his somewhat dated style in live appearances throughout the Northeast. Several notable musicians passed through his band, including Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, and Cozy Cole. Sweatman also continued to record for such labels as Gennett, Edison, Grey Gull, and Victor. Sweatman frequently played at the well known Harlem club Connie's Inn. He continued playing in New York through the 1940s and early 1950s, but increasingly concentrated his efforts on the music publishing business and talent booking. His earlier compositions provided Sweatman a steady income. In 1937 alone, ASCAP reported that "Down Home Rag" had been played on the radio over 2,000 times, with Sweatman receiving royalties for each play. Wilbur Sweatman died in New York City on March 9, 1961. His illegitimate daughter Barbara initially inherited his estate, consisting mostly of his publishing business and some personal papers. However the estate, which included the papers of Scott Joplin as well, eventually ended up with Sweatman's sister Eva

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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Where Do You Go - Bobby Foster

Bobby Foster’s first records were cut under the direction of Ike Turner when he was based in St Louis in the late 50s for Bill and eponymous Stevens label. Although Turner’s time with them is perhaps most famous for his “Icky Renrut” disguise he produced product on several other artist of whom I’d say Bobby Foster was the most talented singer. In my view his high tenor voice and thrilling falsetto were hear to best effect on the slow doo-wop ballad “Angel Of Love” although the rock n roll freaks go for the rockabilly styled “Star Of Love” for Turner’s unmistakeable wild “Slash and burn” guitar solo. I would place Foster’s superb - and rare - Rahall 45 as his next release after the Stevens sessions. “True Love” is a strong upbeat number on which he sounds like Ted Taylor thanks to his concentration on his falsetto range, but the flip is the one to go for. ListenSoothe Me Baby has nothing to do with The Sims Twins but is a classically formed deep soul number, complete with a screaming vocal, good horn support and an arpeggio guitar. Love the way it ebbs and flows. Soothe me baby - RAHALL 1000By the mid 60s Foster was in Memphis cutting at Sam Phillips studio. Both the Souncot and Select-O-Hit 45s come from these sessions. Foster is relatively restrained here, concentrating mostly on his tenor range, but still capable of generating considerable emotional effects with a more sparing use of his stratospheric falsetto. All four cuts are fine southern soul, with ListenThis Time I’m Really Leaving, a really nice country soul slowie my personal choice. Foster’s final sessions were again held in Memphis and the results leased out to John R. The dancers have a fondness for the thumping “If You Really Need A Friend” but my taste is much more towards the better melody of ListenBuilding Up (For A Let Down), another fine piece of country soul. Foster’s gentle, rather breathy delivery was very suited to this sort of material.

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Friday, February 22, 2013

Secretly Famous - The Rev Jimmie Bratcher - New Release Review

Got another new one here for ya! Just received the new release, Secretly Famous, from The Rev Jimmie Bratcher. The release opens with Jupiter and Mars a cool laid back Texas style blues number. I like the drone note blues style used on rhythm and the slide work is just a taste of what's to come on later. 57, a tribute track to the Shure SM57 microphone is a great sticky funk number. I like Bratcher's voice and Craig Kew brings a nice bass line on this track shoring up strong guitar work by the Rev. This track has the light funk attack that I've seen used by my friend Hamilton Loomis as well as others and it's a lot of fun. Feels Like Friday is a driving jazzy blues track with rhythm sounding a bit like Golden Earring. This is a much cooler track. I hope that the Rev gets as much mileage out of it. The Rev stretches a sweet solo on this track showing his super taste. Check Your Blues At The Door is a blues rock shuffle with just north of a Texas lope. Never over the top guitar soloing nicely compliments The Rev's fine vocals. JD Loudermilk's Tobacco Road gets a total makeover and certainly almost a different from the first cover of it that I head by Edgar Winter. This is done as a straight out rocker and to cool result. Nowhere To Go But Down has a bit of what to me sounds like a British blues feel ... reminds me of early Savoy Brown but with a definite twist. Kew plays some real nice bass lead on this track with The Rev keeping it contained and Lester Estelle keeping the drums solid. Bratcher plays a real nice jazz influenced solo as a sweet diversion to this tack giving it an entire different texture. When I Fall Apart is another track that gets a cool rock funk to it and a I think that the band does a real nice job on it as well as adds some interesting vocal harmonies to an already cool track. Rick Steff adds some keys on this track rounding out the mix. The Rev pulls out a real unexpected number with the Association's Never My Love. This is a real clean version of the original track but with a little soul added to the mix. Nice job! I Can't Shake That Thing is another cool funky blues rock track and you all know what a sucker I am for this stuff. The Rev has a super voice for this music and Estelle does a nice job of driving this train. Bratcher plays some cool blues riffs on this track and all of a sudden the dance floor is full...sit the hell down...I can't see! The looser Bologna Sandwich Man is a little 2 step kind of track with a slick little slide guitar work. Overall this is a really cool release and one I think anyone liking their blues funky style served up with some cool guitar isn't gonna wanna miss!

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 Sorry that I could not find an appropriate video... this one is cool but not from the cd.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

WANG DANG DOODLE - MS. SILKY SO L

WHO IS “MS. SILKY SOL” If you love Etta James, Tina Turner, Chaka Kahn, Jill Scott, Aretha Franklin and Koko Taylor, “You’ve got to experience” Ms. Silky Sol the RED AFRO QUEEN After serving as a PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND SINGER for major recording labels, artist and producers for over 27 years, sharing the stage Head Lining with or as a Background Singer to name a few such artists as: The O Jays The Whispers Chrisette Michele Frankie Beverly & Maze, Tina Marie R-Kelly Narda Michael Walden India Arie, Pebo Bryson Jeffery Osborn The Mighty Clouds of Joy Andrea Couch Gladys Knight Barbara Mandrel Mary j Blige Death Row Records Epic Records Warner Brothers Records As an Independent Solo artist, her quest is to “Bridge the Gap” between traditional and new generational SOULFUL BLUES listeners with her “Bluesy/Gospel tones and Neo- Soul Funky Style that captures the ears and sights of both Young and Old while “KEEPING SOULFUL BLUES ALIVE”! TESTIMONIALS: • THE LATE GREAT SOLOMON BURK: (opening act 2009 New Orleans Jazz Festival) “That lil lady brings the “ HOT SAUCE TO THE STAGE” • JAZZ GREAT AND MR. NEW ORLEANS ALLEN TOUSSAINT: “POWERHOUSE – ELECTRIC – SOULFUL BLUES DIVA” I look forward to her performance every year! • KEVIN JOHNSON Music Critic St. Louis Post Dispatch: Ms. Silky Sol is “REFRESHING”, “ HOT”; “ HER MUSIC AND DELEVERY TELLS IT LIKE IT IS” Ms. Silky Sol’s musical roots run extremely deep beginning with the love of gospel music. Born as Felicia Summerville, daughter of the late great gospel artist, promoter and radio announcer Ruby Summerville Dickson & her late father & quartet singer Deacon Elmer Jones; her uncle Deacon Willie T. Summerville, music professor at the University of Illinois & and the minister of music for 43 years of the National Baptist Convention her grand- father, the late Deacon Moses Summerville, Silky spread her wings early at the age of three in her church choir. 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 favorite band!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

I Ain't Got Nobody - Red McKenzie & His Mound City Blue Blowers

Red McKenzie (William McKenzie) (Oct. 14, 1899, St. Louis, Missouri - Feb. 7, 1948, New York City) was an American jazz musician. He was the best-known, and one of the only, comb players in jazz history. McKenzie played the comb by placing tissue paper over the tines and blowing on it, which produced a sound similar to a kazoo. McKenzie also played the kazoo proper, and occasionally sang. He was a co-founder, with Jack Bland, of the Mound City Blue Blowers, who released a number of titles between 1924 and 1925 and were, for a time, a sensation. At the same time, McKenzie also recorded solo as Red McKenzie & the Candy Kids. In 1928, he fronted a group called McKenzie and Condon's Chicagoans for a few sides on Okeh Records. He returned to the Mound City name again in 1929, 1931, and 1935-36. Beginning in 1931 (no doubt due to the popularity of crooners like Bing Crosby and Russ Columbo), he started recording as a singer, processing a very warm crooner style as a solo for Columbia and with Paul Whiteman in 1932. He sang again with the Spirits of Rhythm in 1934 and the Farley-Riley group in 1935. He made two swinging vocal records for Variety in 1937. Between 1939 and 1943 he went into retirement, moving back to his birthplace of St. Louis and working in a brewery, but appeared with Eddie Condon between 1944 to 1947 as a vocalist. Known as heavy drinker, he died of liver cirrhosis in 1948. 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 favorite band!

Monday, January 28, 2013

My Heart Is Crying - Cash McCall

Guitarist Cash McCall has segued from gospel to soul to blues over a distinguished career spanning more than three decades. Born Morris Dollison, Jr. in 1941 in Missouri, he found that the best way to exit his rural existence was to enlist in the Army. After completing his hitch, he relocated in Chicago (where his family lived for a time when he was a child). Gospel was Dollison's initial passion -- he sang with the Gospel Songbirds (he also played guitar with the group, recording with them for Excello in 1964 with fellow future R&B hitmaker Otis Clay singing lead) and the Pilgrim Jubilee Singers. By age 20, he was working as a songwriter for Chess Recording Company in Chicago, writing for such artists as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Johnny Taylor and Little Milton. His list of published songs number over 360. As a guitarist, he developed a style and stage presence he best put to use with his long time friend Minnie Ripperton, as well as with Natalie Cole, Etta James, Willie Dixon, The Temptations, The Drifters, The Coasters and Rotary Connection. McCall was a valuable session guitarist and composer at Chess, learning the business end of his trade from Chess in-house legend Willie Dixon. McCall's blues learnings grew more prominent during the next decade. He cut an LP for Paula in 1973 called Omega Man before relocating to L.A. in 1976. In 1983 McCall released his first solo record in ten years, No More Doggin', and followed it up with Cash Up Front in 1987. McCall's ties to Willie Dixon remained strong; he co-produced Dixon's Grammy-winning Hidden Charms in 1988 and worked as a sideman with Dixon's band, the Chicago All-Stars. McCall has since toured frequently as a solo blues artist and has often appeared on stage with the Chicago Rythym and Blues Kings (who were formerly known as the Mellow Fellows), backed singer Big Twist, and performed in the Chicago Blues Review. Now, after 20 years, Cash was picked by Alex Dixon (grandson of the legendary Willie Dixon) and has come back strong with his new CD titled The Vintage Room. The songs have a true Chicago Blues feel, and were written, arranged and produced by Alex Dixon. His raspy vocals and amazing guitar solos capture a sound unlike many today. If you are a fan of Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf…..you will soon be a fan of Cash McCall! 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 favorite band!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Night Train - Jimmy Forrest with Count Basie

Jimmy Forrest (January 24, 1920 – August 26, 1980) was an African American jazz musician, who played tenor saxophone throughout his career. Forrest is famous for his first solo recording of "Night Train". It reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart in March 1952, and stayed at the top for seven weeks. "Hey Mrs. Jones" (#3 R&B) and "Bolo Blues" were his other major hits. All were made for United Records, which recorded Forrest between 1951 and 1953. He recorded frequently as both a sideman and a bandleader. Born Jimmy Robert Forrest Jr., in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, he played alongside Fate Marable as a young man. He was with Jay McShann in 1940-42 and with Andy Kirk from 1942–48, when he joined Duke Ellington. During the early 1950s, he led his own combos. He also played with Miles Davis, in early 1952 at The Barrel Club. After his solo career, he played in small combos with Harry "Sweets" Edison and Al Grey, as well as appearing with Count Basie. Late in life Forrest married Betty Tardy, and settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he died in August 1980, aged 60. 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”