Bman's Blues Report

I just received the new release by Scissormen and have listened to it a number of times. In fact, I listened to it a few times yesterday, watched the DVD which comes with the recording last night, and then listened to it again a few times today. I don't know if the cd accompanies the DVD or vice verse but I'll start with the DVD. The footage on the DVD is actually a 90 minute feature directed by legendary Robert Mugge [Gospel According to Al Green, Saxaphone Colossus (starring Sonny Rollins), Deep Blues and New Orleans Musicians in Exile]. I loved Deep Blues and this movie is every bit as captivating but for different reasons. It captures singer, songwriter, guitar player Ted Drozdowski along with drummer R.L. Hulsman reconnecting with the early primitive blues and the life that still exists with it. Drozdowski went to North Mississippi after seeing Mugge's Deep Blues and visited RL Burnside, Jesse Mae Hemphill and Junior Kimbrough. These interactions had a profound affect ...

"KING OF THE ROCKIN' BLUES!" The Official Gregg Wright Newsletter February 29, 2012 THE ONEZIA UPSCALE LOUNGE, GONZALES, THIS SATURDAY! The Onezia Upscale Lounge, This Saturday! Greetings friends. We're proud to announce we'll be at the fantastic Onezia Upscale Lounge in Gonzales, this Saturday, March 3rd. I sincerely hope you'll come join us, because this is one you won't want to miss. My good firend Chris LeBlanc www.chrisleblanc.com is going to come by and sit in with us for a spell. It'll be a night of total guitar madness!!! Onezia owner Kyle Sonnier is a great guy who has put together a really nice, relaxing atmosphere at Onezia, with big, comfortable sofas, and great drinks. We love playing here! Special discount on CDs will be available at the show! The Onezia Upscale Lounge 13091 Airline Highway Gonzales, LA 70737 Tel: 225-647-2447 Showtime: 9:30 PM Admission: $10 http://www.on...

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. - Music Maker Relief Foundation is excited to announce the release of Shelton Powe's first album, Carolina Blues and Gospel. The 14 tracks on Carolina Blues and Gospel are a blend of fresh and traditional, combining intricate melodies with a feel of spontaneity. The album will be available March 13, 2012, on iTunes and through the Music Maker online store. Born in 1957 in Charlotte, N.C., Powe grew up on the tent revival circuit, surrounded by a family of Gospel musicians. Early on, he absorbed the influence of legends on the Atlanta blues scene including Cora Mae Bryant, Neal Pattman, Cootie Stark and Frank Edward, collecting a wide range of lyrics and melodies along the way. Listen to "Diving Duck Blues" from the ablum here: http://www.musicmaker.org/jukebox/2055 Powe, a self-taught musician who now plays the Piedmont finger-style guitar, calls his music "old style country picking." He has had the opportunity to play on several Atlan...

Amos Easton (May 7, 1905 – June 8, 1968), better known by the stage name Bumble Bee Slim, was an American Piedmont blues musician. Easton was born in Brunswick, Georgia, United States. Around 1920 he left home to join the Ringling Brothers' circus before returning to Georgia, marrying briefly, and then heading north on a freight train to Indianapolis where he settled in 1928. There, he met and was influenced by pianist Leroy Carr and guitarist Scrapper Blackwell. By 1931 he had moved to Chicago, where he first recorded as Bumble Bee Slim for Paramount Records. The following year his song, "B&O Blues", was a hit for Vocalion Records, inspiring a number of other railroad blues and eventually becoming a popular folk song. Over the next five years he recorded over 150 songs for the Decca, Bluebird and Vocalion labels, often accompanied by other musicians such as Big Bill Broonzy, Peetie Wheatstraw, Tampa Red, Memphis Minnie, and Washboard Sam. In 1937, he returned to Geor...

Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. (born February 26, 1928) is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language. Like my Facebook Page, Post your video on my wall or post great blues photos or events! Share your favorite postings and get more exposure for your favorite band! - ”LIKE”

The Aces was one of the earliest and most influential of the electric Chicago blues band in the 1950s. Led by the guitarist brothers Louis and Dave Myers, natives of Byhalia, Mississippi, the brothers originally performed under the name The Little Boys; with the subsequent addition of harmonica player Junior Wells, they rechristened themselves the Three Deuces, followed by the Three Aces. The 1950 enlistment of drummer Fred Below prompted another name change, this time to the Four Aces; finally, to simplify matters once and for all, the group performed as just The Aces. Influenced in large part by jazz, they developed an urbane, sophisticated style well ahead of its time; in particular, Below's refined rhythms led to the rise of the blues shuffle beat, and helped launch the drums to a new prominence within the blues band hierarchy. In 1952, Wells quit to join the Muddy Waters band, filling the vacancy created by the recent departure of Little Walter; Walter himself quickly signed t...

Booker T. Laury (September 2, 1914 – September 23, 1995) was an American boogie-woogie, blues, gospel and jazz pianist and singer. Over his lengthy career, Laury worked with various musicians including Memphis Slim and Mose Vinson. He appeared in two films, but did not record his debut album until he was almost eighty years of age. Lawrence Laury was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and grew up with his lifelong friend, Memphis Slim. At the age of six, after helping his mother play the family's pump organ, Laury learned to play the keyboards. His barrelhouse playing style, which he developed alongside Slim, was based on the influence gained from regular Memphis performers Roosevelt Sykes, Sunnyland Slim, and Speckled Red. In the early 1930s, and in the company of the younger Mose Vinson, Slim and Laury began playing in local clubs. In 1935, Sykes suggested to Laury and Slim that they relocated to Chicago, with a view of obtaining a recording contract. Slim took up the advice, but Laury ...

It is a matter of public record that Phillip Walker was born in Welsh, Louisiana, February 11, 1937. Phillip was the seventh of twelve children of Malvin and Viola Weber Walker, sharecroppers who were married at ages 14 and 13 and began raising a family when they were only children themselves. Malvin was a smart hardworking farmer who always managed, somehow, to keep a roof over the heads of his family. Malvin could fix anything, and Phillip seems to have followed in his dad's footsteps with a mechanical aptitude nothing short of amazing. When Phillip was 8 years old his family moved to Port Arthur, Texas. It is this combination of Louisiana Creole, French, and Indian (his mother’s mother was full-blooded Cherokee), and Texas western gunslinger that combines to prod Phillip’s unique speech patterns, accent and dialect. His mother spoke in the French Creole dialect (Cajun) of the area. Things went smoothly in Port Arthur for a while, but by the time he was 12 years old, his father’s...

Frankie Lee Sims (April 30, 1917, New Orleans, Louisiana – May 10, 1970, Dallas, Texas) was an American singer-songwriter and electric blues guitarist. He released nine singles during his career, one of which, "Lucy Mae Blues" (1953) was a regional hit. Two compilation albums of his work were released posthumously. Sims was the cousin of another Texas blues musician, Lightnin' Hopkins, and he worked with several other prominent blues musicians, including Texas Alexander, T-Bone Walker, King Curtis and Albert Collins. Sims is regarded as one of the important figures in post-war Texas country blues. Frankie Lee Sims was born on April 30, 1917 in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Henry Sims and Virginia Summuel. He claimed he was born on February 29, 1906, but 1906 was not a leap year and April 30, 1917 is generally accepted as his birth date. He was the nephew of Texas blues singer Texas Alexander, and the cousin of Texan guitarist Lightnin' Hopkins. Both Sims's parents we...