Bman's Blues Report

Pat "Mother Blues" Cohen, a Music Maker Relief Foundation partner artist sings weekly outside of a nursing home that's had an outbreak of COVID, where her brother lives. Pat's is a powerful story of artist giving back the way they can, even while the artist herself, with cancelled shows, little money, little digital literacy, and underlying health problems, is at a disadvantage. This is true of so most of the MMRF partner artists, primarily older black musicians. Pat had to leave New Orleans after Katrina flooded her house and was set to make a major comeback there with a slot at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest, which is obviously not happening now. She lives outside of Charlotte, NC these days. Following are pieces from PBS NewsHour, CNN, and Rolling Stone.com on Pat, as well as her compatriots Sam Frazier, Jr. of Birmingham, AL, Ironing Board Sam (also formerly from NOLA) of Montgomery, AL, and New Orleans' Alabama Slim, and how Music Maker works clo...

Previously called the Bluesbug, Gugun Blues Shelter is an Indonesian blues power trio that is a breath of fresh air in the seemingly dying Asian blues scene these days. Influenced by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bettie Davies, and Led Zeppelin among others, the band forced many music fans to take notice of its powerful, flawless genre-crossing blend of blues that incorporate influences from rock, funk, and soul. Led by guitarist/vocalist Gugun, Gugun & Blues Shelter has released two albums under the Bluesbug moniker "Get The Bug" (2004) and "Turn it On" (2007) that has been gaining praises from music critics and fans alike. "Turn It On" was voted as one of the best Indonesian album in 2007 by Rolling Stone Indonesia Magazine and Gugun was noted as one of the most promising local guitar player by the same maga-zine. In the same year, Indonesia's Trax Magazine also voted Gugun as the best guitar player in South East Asia. Gugun Blue...

Lonnie Brooks (born Lee Baker Jr., December 18, 1933) is an American blues singer and guitarist. He was born in Dubuisson, Louisiana, United States. Rolling Stone stated, "His music is witty, soulful and ferociously energetic, brimming with novel harmonic turnarounds, committed vocals and simply astonishing guitar work." The New York Times added, "He sings in a rowdy baritone, sliding and rasping in songs that celebrate lust, fulfilled and unfulfilled; his guitar solos are pointed and unhurried, with a tone that slices cleanly across the beat. Wearing a cowboy hat, he looks like the embodiment of a good-time bluesman. He learned to play blues from his banjo-picking grandfather, but did not think about a professional career until he moved to Port Arthur, Texas in the early 1950s. There he heard live performances by Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Long John Hunter and others and began to think about making money from his music. One day, wh...

Paul Bernard Rodgers (born 17 December 1949, Middlesbrough) is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with another 1970s band, Queen. Rodgers has been dubbed "The Voice" by his fans. A poll in Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 55 on its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rodgers has been cited as a significant influence on a number of notable rock singers, including David Coverdale, John Waite, Steve Overland, Lou Gramm, Jimi Jamison, Eric Martin, Steve Walsh, Joe Lynn Turner and Jimmy Barnes. Write on our Facebook Wall or post your Photos of great blues events! -  Here

Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré (October 31, 1939 – March 7, 2006) was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues. The belief that the latter is historically derived from the former is reflected in Martin Scorsese’s often quoted characterization of Touré’s tradition as constituting "the DNA of the blues". Touré was ranked number 76 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” Write on our Facebook Wall or post your Photos of great blues events! -  Here

TO VIEW THIS MESSAGE AS HTML - CLICK HERE   The Blues Foundation has just announced the nominations for the 2012 Blues Music Awards and we are proud to let you know that 10 Delta Groove artists picked up a total of 14 nominations in 12 categories! The 33rd annual award ceremony will take place at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, TN on May 10th, 2012 . Show your support for your favorite artists and releases by voting today! To register and become a member of The Blues Foundation and be eligible to vote for your favorite Delta Groove artists, please visit the Blues Foundation website at www.blues.org . VOTING ENDS THURSDAY, MARCH 1ST 2012! We encourage you all to become a member of the Blues Foundation and vote! If you aren't yet a member, click here to sign up and be eligible to vote fo...

Hubert Sumlin (November 16, 1931 – December 4, 2011) was an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer.[1] He was best known for his celebrated work, from 1955, as guitarist in Howlin' Wolf's band. His singular playing was characterized by "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions". Sumlin was listed as number 43 in the Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Sumlin favored a Louis Electric Model HS M12 amplifier and a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop guitarHubert Sumlin talks about playing on Maxwell Street in Chicago. For more on Hubert Sumlin, Chicago's Maxwell Street and the electric blues, check out the critically-acclaimed documentary, "Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street" “Like” Bman’s Facebook page (available in over 50 languages). I will not relay senseless nonsense. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - cl...

Hubert Sumlin, the longtime collaborator with Howlin' Wolf whose playing on such songs as "Wang Dang Doodle," "Spoonful" and "Backdoor Man" influenced generations of guitarists died Sunday in New Jersey. He was 80. Sumlin was ranked number 43 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time and was a mainstay of the Chicago blues scene. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2008. Sumlin influenced Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa, among others. Hubert Sumlin was born in Mississippi, raised in Arkansas and moved to Chicago to play with Howlin' Wolf. After Wolf's death in 1976, Sumlin continued to play with the rest of Wolf's band under the name The Wolf Gang. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002 and had a lung removed. In recent years Sumlin continued to perform when his health permitted.

Andy Aledort has been a significant figure in the international music scene over the last 20 years. As a senior editor for the top guitar-oriented music magazines GUITAR WORLD, GUITAR FOR THE PRACTICING MUSICIAN, GUITAR EXTRA, GUITAR LEGENDS, and GUITAR WORLD ACOUSTIC, among others, his work is unsurpassed as a music transcriber, instructional columnist and journalist. He has authored over 200 books of guitar transcriptions as well as a series of guitar-related instructional books and videos/DVDs, all of which are distributed worldwide, for the leading music publishers Hal Leonard Corp., Warner Brothers Publishing and Cherry Lane Music. Aledort is a performing musician as well: along with leading his own ensembles in the New York/tri-state area, he is often tapped for high-profile appearances with artists such as Buddy Guy, Dickey Betts, and the Allman Brothers band. Over the last three years, he has also participated in a series of Jimi Hendrix Tribute concerts, most recently e...

Saul Hudson (born July 23, 1965), known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N' Roses, Slash formed the side project Slash's Snakepit. He then co-founded the supergroup Velvet Revolver, which re-established him as a mainstream performer in the mid to late 2000s. In 2010, Slash released his eponymous debut solo album, featuring an all-star roster of guest musicians. Slash has received critical acclaim as a guitarist. Time named him runner-up on their list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009, while Rolling Stone placed him at No. 65 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2011. Guitar World ranked his solo in "November Rain" No. 6 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar S...

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is widely considered to be the greatest guitarist in musical history, and one of the most influential musicians of his era across a range of genres. After initial success in Europe with his group The Jimi Hendrix Experience, he achieved fame in the United States following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Later, Hendrix headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. He often favored raw overdriven amplifiers with high gain and treble and helped develop the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback. Hendrix, as well as his friend Eric Clapton, popularized use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock which he often used to deliver an exaggerated sense of pitch in his solos, particularly with high bends, complex guitar playing, and use of legato. As a recor...

Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll". Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue.[ Success followed with a string of hits including "River Deep, Mountain High" and the 1971 hit "Proud Mary". With the publication of her autobiography I, Tina (1986), Turner revealed severe instances of spousal abuse against her by Ike Turner prior to their 1976 split and subsequent 1978 divorce. After virtually disappearing from the music scene for several years following her divorce from Ike Turner, she rebuilt her career, launching a string of hits beginning in 1983 with the single "Let's Stay Together" and the 1984 release of her fifth solo album Private Dancer. He...

Hubert Sumlin (born November 16, 1931) is an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer, best known for his celebrated work, from 1955, as guitarist in Howlin' Wolf's band. His singular playing is characterized by "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions". Listed as number sixty-five in the Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, Sumlin continues to tour and play blues guitar. “Like” Bman’s Facebook page. We use Facebook to spread the word about our blog. We will not hit you with 50 posts a day. We will not relay senseless nonsense. We use it only to draw attention to some of the key posts on our blog each day. In this way we can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here

LaVern Baker (November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American rhythm and blues singer, who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedlee Dee" (1955), "Jim Dandy" (1956), and "I Cried a Tear" (1958) She began singing in Chicago clubs such as the Club DeLisa around 1946, often billed as Little Miss Sharecropper, and first recorded under that name in 1949. She changed her name briefly to Bea Baker when recording for Okeh Records in 1951, and then became LaVern Baker when singing with Todd Rhodes and his band in 1952. In 1953 she signed for Atlantic Records as a solo artist, her first release being "Soul on Fire". Her first hit came in early 1955, with the Latin-tempo "Tweedlee Dee" reaching #4 on the R&B chart and #14 on the national US pop charts. Georgia Gibbs scored the bigger hit with her version of "Tweedle Dee", for which Baker unsuccessfully at...

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is widely considered to be the greatest guitarist in musical history, and one of the most influential musicians of his era across a range of genres. After initial success in Europe with his group The Jimi Hendrix Experience, he achieved fame in the United States following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Later, Hendrix headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. He often favored raw overdriven amplifiers with high gain and treble and helped develop the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback. Hendrix, as well as his friend Eric Clapton, popularized use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock which he often used to deliver an exaggerated sense of pitch in his solos, particularly with high bends, complex guitar playing, and use of legato. As a recor...

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (born October 18, 1926) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958), Chuck Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, with lyrics focusing on teen life and consumerism and utilizing guitar solos and showmanship that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music. Born into a middle class family in St. Louis, Missouri, Berry had an interest in music from an early age and gave his first public performance at Sumner High School. While still a high school student he served a prison sentence for armed robbery between 1944 and 1947. On his release, Berry settled into married life and worked at an automobile assembly plant. By early 1953, influenced by the gu...

This superb documentary vividly illustrates the enduring vitality of country blues, an idiom that most mainstream music fans had presumed dead or, at best, preserved through more scholarly tributes when filmmaker Robert Mugge and veteran blues and rock writer Robert Palmer embarked on their 1990 odyssey into Mississippi delta country. What Arkansas native and former Memphis stalwart Palmer knew, and Mugge captured on film, was that the blues was not only alive but still intimately woven into the daily lives of rural blacks. Palmer, a former rock musician and Memphis Blues Festival cofounder best known for his bylines in The New York Times and Rolling Stone, had already chronicled the saga of Southern blues in his seminal book that provides the film's title. He's an astute guide, and Mugge underlines this role by pairing him with British rocker Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), whose avid interest in the music makes him an effective foil. The film's real triumph, however, rests in ...

(photo: Erika Goldring) Last night at the 2011 Americana Music Association Awards at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN, Justin Townes Earle won the award for Song of the Year for “Harlem River Blues” from the album of the same title. Released in late 2010, Harlem River Blues was also nominated for Album of the Year at this year’s honors ceremony. In addition to Thursday night’s win and nomination, Earle performed a rousing rendition of the song for the gathered crowd of peers and fans, a performance that can be heard HERE , courtesy of NPR. [Justin’s performance can be found at the 35:35 mark, and his Song of the Year category announcement at 1:01:43.] An edited version of the award show will be aired November 19, 2011 as a special episode of the new season of the highly-acclaimed PBS series Austin City Limits (check local listings for exact local day and time). "ACL PRESENTS: AMERICANA MUSIC FESTIVAL 2011" will reach approximately 98% of American TV households ...

Samuel David Moore (born October 12, 1935) is an American Southern Soul and Rhythm & Blues (R&B) singer who was the tenor vocalist for the soul vocal duo Sam & Dave from 1961 through 1981. Sam Moore is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame (for "Soul Man", The Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and a Grammy Award and a multi-Gold Record award winning recording artist. Sam & Dave were the most successful and critically acclaimed duo in Soul Music history. Moore has also achieved a distinguished 25 year career as a solo performing and recording artist. In 2008, based on a poll of other musicians, Rolling Stone Magazine named Sam Moore one of the 100 greatest singers of the rock era (1950s-2008) Get Facebook support for your favorite band or venue - click HERE

Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker. Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues rock, hard rock and psychedelic rock, combining the psychedelia-themed lyrics, Eric Clapton's blues guitar playing, Jack Bruce's voice and blues bass playing and Ginger Baker's jazz-influenced drumming. The group's third album, Wheels of Fire, was the world's first platinum-selling double album. Cream are widely regarded as being the world's first successful supergroup. In their career, they sold over 15 million albums worldwide. Cream's music included songs based on traditional blues such as "Crossroads" and "Spoonful", and modern blues such as "Born Under a Bad Sign", as well as more eccentric songs such as "Strange Brew", "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and "Toad". Cream's biggest hits were "I Feel Fre...