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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!
NEW BLUES FESTIVAL II ON LABOR DAY WEEKEND IN EL DORADO
PARK CONTINUES LONG TRADITION OF THE SOUTHLAND'S FIRST BLUES
FESTIVAL - 2 DAYS, 2 STAGES, WITH OVER 30 BIG BLUES ACTS!
Saturday,
September 5 & Sunday, September 6 /Music Starts 10 a.m.
Visit the Vendor Village - Food Court, Beer Garden, & VIP
Lounge
Award-winning jazz/blues vocalist extraordinaire, Barbara Morrison, showcases her impressive talents on Saturday.
Repping SoCal blues with style since 1995: guitarist Kid Ramos,
who performs with The 44's on Sunday.
(Long Beach, CA) - The place to be for Blues lovers this
Labor Day Weekend is the New Blues FestivalII,
taking place over two big days, Saturday, September 5 and Sunday, September
6, in El Dorado Regional Park, 7550 E. Spring St. Gates open at 9 a.m.,
and music starts at 10 a.m. each day. Tickets $25, available now at http://www.newbluesfestival.com/.
Tickets also available at six Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ
locations, including Long Beach, Long Beach Towne Center, and the
Cerritos Mall (Lucille's is the festival's Title Sponsor this year). Also
available at the gate both days. Amenities include a huge Vendor Village;
Food Court; Beer Garden; and all-new VIP Lounge. Bring the family and and
settle in amidst the cooling Long Beach ocean breezes!
The festival has expanded due to the overwhelming
success of last year's inaugural NBF, when over 2,000 music lovers of all
ages filled POA Park in Long Beach. "Los Angeles and Orange Counties
have responded very well to the (New Blues Festival) concept. We
definitely hit on a pent-up demand for a long-running inter-generational
tradition, and we are excited to once again share all this great music
with the public", says William Grisolia, Producer of the New Blues
Festival, whose own band, New Blues Revolution, is one of Sunday's Main
Stage Headliners.
Master harmonicist-vocalist, James Harman, performs Saturday.
Saturday, September 5 - Main Stage
Headliners
Youth is served: Teen guitar prodigy Ray Goren opens NBF II on Saturday.
Saturday's powerful lineup is headlined by harmonica
master James Harman, who has been playing music since the
1960's and whose James Harman Band over the years has included such
musical luminaries as Dave Alvin, Gene Taylor, Kid Ramos and the late
Hollywood Fats, among countless others. Also topping the first day of music:
jazz/blues singing great Barbara Morrison, who continues to maintain a full
touring schedule well into her fourth decade of performing, and whose
sparkling resume' includes a Who's-Who of musicians including Jimmy
Smith, Kenny Burrell, Etta James, Dr. John, and more. Also: Long Beach
legend, acoustic guitarist, Bernie Pearl; Southland staples 2000 Lbs of Blues, fronted by colorful Mike
"Pink" Arguello, blues guitarist (and nephew of legendary John
Lee Hooker), Teddy Lee Hooker; Americana-Roots artist, Sean Lane; blues-rock quarter, Union Hobos; and opening the show, fifteen-year-old
SoCal guitar wunderkind, Ray Goren.
Guitar dynamo Laurie Morvan shows off her considerable chops,
Sunday.
Sunday, September 6 - Main Stage Headliners
Sunday sees
no letup with top headliners, the eleven-piece Caravan of All-Stars, a powerhouse R&B/Soul/Blues
revue assembled to showcase some of the unsung heroes of West Coast
Blues, representing the Bay Area Blues Society. Also: the Laurie Morvan Band, fronted by Red-Hot rockin' blues
guitar ace, Laurie Morvan, who has entertained Southland audiences and
toured nationally for the better part of two decades, and of whom has
been written, "has all the soulfulness of Bonnie Raitt and the
swaggering, muscular guitar tone of Stevie Ray Vaughan"; New Blues Revolution, leading Long Beach-based
innovators of the New Blues movement; The 44's with Kid Ramos, an exciting pairing of the
popular Johnny Main-fronted Roots/Blues ensemble with the legendary SoCal
guitarist; another great pairing of talents, respected Inland
Empire-based Latin blues group The Delgado Brothers with soulful chanteuse, Sherry
Pruitt; San Pedro guitarist-vocalist, Dave Widow, whose "Waiting For The World To
End" was voted a "Top 5 Best CD" in the IBC's; rising L.A.
quartet, the George Foster Band; and opening Sunday's show, the Chase Walker Band, fronted by the prodigious teen
prodigy of the same name.
Eleven-piece R&B/Soul/Blues revue the Caravan of All-Stars from the Bay Area Blues Society,
are Sunday's top Main Stage headliners.
New Blues Revolution, leading Long Beach-based
innovators of the New Blues movement, take center stage at the NBF II
Main stage on Sunday.
More First-Class Blues Each Day On The
Golden Groove Stage!
Saturday: Lil' A & the
Allnighters; Kelly Chappue & The Soul Collectors; The Other Mules;
Shadow Blue featuring Lady Faye; L.A. Parks & Wrecks; Kenny "Big
Daddy" Williams and BLUESPOWER; South River Slim; The Arc Flash
Blues Band.
Sunday: East Falsted Blues Project; Jack Roberts
Harvey Band; Tracy Niles; Crooked Eye Tommy; Frankie and the Crew;
Seatbelt; Matt Picarelli and Raul Watson.
Orange County's blues scene is ably represented by
guitarist-vocalist Kenny "Big Daddy" Williams (center) and BLUESPOWER on the Golden Groove Stage, Sunday at New
Blues Festival II.
I just received the latest release from Grateful Dead's Dick's Picks, Vol Seven and it's a strong set. Opening with Scarlet Begonias the Dead wastes no time whatsoever getting the groove going. Western flavored Mexicali Blues has a great feel and Weir's vocals are strong and clear. Row Jimmy is a nice change up and Garcia plays some shimmery guitar riffs that are actually chilling. Very cool! On Black-ThroatedWind the Dead's blues influences are particularly strong. Lesh's contribution on bass are vital on this track. A cool little (extended) ditty, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo has a real nice swagger and clean guitar solos. Garcia's vocals are spot on and fine! Beat It On Down The Line is of course one of the band's rockers and has great drive. Keith Godchaux lays down some nice piano work on this track and Donna Jean adds nice vocal harmonies. Tennessee Jed has just the right groove and Garcia leads it perfectly. Keith, Jerry, Bob and Phil really get a solid footing on this track held tight by Bill Kreutzmann for my favorite track on disc one. Band hit, Playing In The Band wraps side one in classic style with a 23 plus minute jam.
Opening disc two is Weather Report Suite, opening with it's classical nature but evolving into a rowdy Dead western rocker with Weir and Donna Jean taking the vocal lead. Stella Blue is a classic Dead blues ballad and finds Garcia in some of his best vocals for my own personal preference in a long time. Jack Straw has a particularly cohesive feel with tight overlayed guitar and bass work. Brown-Eyed Women is as straight up crowd pleaser with no extraneous jams as I've heard the band perform. It is well received and clear. Big River has a hard driving feel and Weir coupled with Keith really gets it going on this one. Of course there is plenty of guitar to go around but the boys keep it reeled in and tight. Classic Dead track, Truckin' is a very short 10 plus minute version of one of their mist popular tracks ever. Nice! Blending straight into Wood Green Jam the band get creatively loose and although cohesive, more expressive. Wrapping disc 2 is Wharf Rat. Compelling vocals by Garcia as well as bass work by Lesh, piano by Keith and tight rhythms by Bill give this track real texture.
Western flavored Me and My Uncle is a great opener for disc 3 featuring Weir on vocal and fast paced soloing. This is a great toe tapper and gives Garcia a real opening to play some of his best riffs on the release. Just the opening of Not Fade Away elicits a crowd roar. Weir and Garcia sing in tandem as Lesh and Bill drive the rhythm train. Melodic soloing by Jerry and Lesh gets this track flying and it doesn't land for over 16 minutes. Clocking in at over 24 minutes, Dark Star pushes the envelope for free form jamming, with a solid melody falling out of the mist a times but only briefly. A continuation of the jam, Spam Jam, is much more wide open and experimental although a really cool jazz formation does appear. Interesting. Morning Dew is wound way down from Spam Jam with cohesive bass lines from Lesh driving Jerry vocally. Nice tight piano work from Keith leads to some frenzied guitar work and nicely woven solo lines between Weir and Garcia. Wrapping the release is U.S. Blues, an all time favorite with ideal framing and strong closing capabilities. Tight and powerful, the Dead crushes it.
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”
For immediate
release August 14, 2015 (Victoria, BC) - For over two decades David Gogo
has been recording and performing all over the world, bringing his
magnetic and accessible groove-fueled blend of blues and rock to
audiences of all ages. The British Columbia based guitarist and
vocalist's name has become synonymous with the Canadian blues scene, and
with good reason. Vicksburg Call (September 4) is Gogo’s
14th release and is poised to add even more acclaim to an already
impressive inventory. He’s earned numerous accolades, including
five JUNO nominations and multiple Maple Blues Awards. He has
thousands of tour miles under his belt and has played on stage with B.B.
King, Johnny Winter, Bo Diddley and Otis Rush as well as opened for ZZ
Top, Buddy Guy, Charles Bradley and many others.
Undoubtedly a
rockin’ blues album, Vicksburg Call was recorded in a studio with
a live, intimate atmosphere, which yielded an overall grittier sound with
lots of feeling. "I wanted this album to have more of a “band”
feel to it, rather than just going into the studio and basically
dictating the parts to the musicians", says Gogo. "I also
wanted as many songs as possible to have a very live feel and be easily
transferrable to the stage."
With the help of
his backing band consisting of Bill Hicks on drums and Jay Stevens on
bass, each of the tracks on Vicksburg Call are replete with the grooves,
emotion and soulful delivery that David Gogo is known for. From the
opening rocker “Cuts Me To The Bone”, the bluesy “Fooling Myself”,
featuring Kim Simmonds and the haunting “There’s A Hole” with a
guest appearance from Shawn Hall of The Harpoonist & The Axe
Murderer. Vicksburg Call also highlights Gogo’s aptitude for
selecting cover songs that one would not expect to hear on a blues album
including Neil Young’s “The Loner”, Stephen Stills’ “Jet Set (Sigh)”, and
Annie Lennox’s “Why”.
“In the time that
has passed since the last album, there has been a lot of loss in my life
with the passing of friends and colleagues in the world of music. There
were many sad days, but also tears of joy when I think back at fond
memories from my time on the road”, Gogo recalls. “Relationships can also
have their ups and downs as the years pass by, and many of my new songs
deal with this. I tried to write from many viewpoints of love and loss,
reconciliation, regret, acceptance and hope for new horizons.”
Gogo’s passion for
blues and his extraordinary, virtuosic guitar talents are laid bare
alongside his emotions on this album - a combination that grabs you from
the opening bars and keeps you hooked through all 10 tracks.
I just received the latest release from Grateful Dead's Dick's Picks, Vol Seven and it's a strong set. Opening with Scarlet Begonias the Dead wastes no time whatsoever getting the groove going. Western flavored Mexicali Blues has a great feel and Weir's vocals are strong and clear. Row Jimmy is a nice change up and Garcia plays some shimmery guitar riffs that are actually chilling. Very cool! On Black-ThroatedWind the Dead's blues influences are particularly strong. Lesh's contribution on bass are vital on this track. A cool little (extended) ditty, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo has a real nice swagger and clean guitar solos. Garcia's vocals are spot on and fine! Beat It On Down The Line is of course one of the band's rockers and has great drive. Keith Godchaux lays down some nice piano work on this track and Donna Jean adds nice vocal harmonies. Tennessee Jed has just the right groove and Garcia leads it perfectly. Keith, Jerry, Bob and Phil really get a solid footing on this track held tight by Bill Kreutzmann for my favorite track on disc one. Band hit, Playing In The Band wraps side one in classic style with a 23 plus minute jam.
/DavidGogoBlues
@DavidGogoBlues