Kentucky Headhunters w/Johnnie Johnson - New CD Meet Me In Bluesland - June 2

ALLIGATOR RECORDS SET TO RELEASE MEET ME IN BLUESLAND BY
THE KENTUCKY HEADHUNTERS WITH JOHNNIE JOHNSON ON JUNE 2

Alligator Records has set a June 2 street date for Meet Me In Bluesland, a previously unreleased album by Grammy-winning Southern blues-rockers The Kentucky Headhunters with pianist Johnnie Johnson, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. The performances found Johnson -- the man Rolling Stone called “the greatest sideman in rock and roll” for his groundbreaking piano work with Chuck Berry -- playing some of the deepest and most rocking blues piano of his legendary career. With The Kentucky Headhunters at their down-home best, the record is a country-fried, blues-infused party from start to finish.

On January 25, 2003, Johnson joined his hosts, The Rolling Stones, for a rousing rendition of Honky Tonk Women at Houston, Texas’ Reliant Stadium. After hanging out all night with Keith Richards, Johnson got on a plane and flew to Kentucky. There he reunited with his good friends, brothers Richard and Fred Young, Greg Martin, Doug Phelps and Anthony Kenney, known worldwide as The Kentucky Headhunters. The plan was to have Johnnie lay down some piano for the band’s upcoming release, Soul. But the vibe was too strong and the music too good, so the tape just kept rolling. With songs and arrangements furiously being created on the spot and everything recorded live as it happened over the course of three days, a magical musical event was underway. Because the whole session was spontaneous, there were no immediate plans to release an album. After Johnnie’s death in 2005, the tapes, while never forgotten, remained unissued.

With the release of Meet Me In Bluesland, these timeless and rollicking performances are available for the first time. The record grooves from the raunchy rock of Stumblin’ to the slide-fueled Superman Blues to the roof-raising version of Little Queenie to the rocking Party In Heaven to the salacious She’s Got To Have It (the last vocal Johnson ever recorded).

Click here to listen to Stumblin', She's Got To Have It, and Party In Heaven:
https://soundcloud.com/alligator-recs/sets/kentucky-headhunters-w-johnnie/s-KrTVX
“The minute Johnnie sat down with us, the music was a kind of ecstasy,” says guitarist/vocalist Richard Young. “Johnnie made us play like real men,” adds guitarist/vocalist Greg Martin. “Playing with him, the groove got bigger and much more grown up.” Drummer Fred Young explains, “We all admired Johnnie from the start. The first time we played with him was the first time I ever felt like we were doing it right. The music we made on Meet Me In Bluesland is as good as it gets.”

The relationship between Johnson and The Kentucky Headhunters dated back to 1992. Headed to New York for a Grammy Awards party, Greg picked up the new Johnnie Johnson CD, Johnnie B. Bad, for the ride. The band listened to nothing else all the way to New York. Having no idea he’d be at the party, they were shocked to see Johnnie Johnson sitting alone at a table. After some quick introductions, the musicians talked for hours, becoming fast friends. In 1993 they released their first collaboration, That’ll Work, on Nonesuch. They took the show on the road, playing gigs from the West Coast to New England, from Chicago’s Buddy Guy’s Legends to New York City’s Lone Star Café. They performed at The Jamboree In The Hills in Belmont County, Ohio, where Johnson, with the Headhunters triumphantly jamming behind him, played to over 30,000 fans.

From their very first meeting, Johnson and The Kentucky Headhunters stayed close, getting together whenever possible. In 2003, when the band asked Johnson to record with them again, he couldn’t wait to get back to Kentucky and make music with his friends. “Johnnie’s music was spontaneous, organic, magic energy,” says Greg. “During the recordings, everything was off-the-cuff and easy; a higher power just took over. This album is special, and we’re very happy in 2015 that it’s coming to fruition.” Adds Fred, “Johnnie gave us the gift of letting us know what it was like to do something great.”
___________________________________________________________________

The Kentucky Headhunters, declared “the great American rock ‘n’ roll band” by Billboard magazine, began their professional journey in 1968 when brothers Fred and Richard Young and cousins Greg Martin and Anthony Kenney formed the Southern blues-rock band Itchy Brother. The band morphed into The Kentucky Headhunters in 1986. Their first album, 1989’s Pickin’ On Nashville, was released by Mercury Records and surprised the world, becoming a bona fide hit, selling over two million copies. The album won a Grammy Award, three Country Music Awards, an American Music Award and an Academy Of Country Music Award. It spawned four consecutive Top 40 Country hits. Currently, the band is made up of Richard Young, Fred Young, Greg Martin and Doug Phelps.

Growing up on a 1300-acre family farm in Edmonton, Kentucky, the Young brothers, Martin and Kenney heard plenty of raucous R&B and deep, soulful blues courtesy of Fred and Richard’s mother, who listened to powerhouse radio station WLAC late at night. “She was real hip,” Richard says. “She was a huge influence on us.” Their father loved big band jazz, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Sarah Vaughan. “Music in our home was a mixture, unlike what most farm kids heard.” Part of their musical upbringing included their friendship with three African-American families who lived and worked on nearby farms. The boys heard gospel and blues, both sung by their neighbors in the fields and blasting out of their radios. They were reared on Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters (the name Headhunters was a nickname given to Waters and Jimmy Rogers when they came into a club ready to take on all comers). “All of these things taught us the blues,” says Richard. They loved Chuck Berry, and were especially wowed by Berry’s piano player, Johnnie Johnson. Befriending him and recording with him was a dream come true for the band. According to Fred, “We were fortunate to know him. It was a good marriage.” Richard adds, “Anyone who ever played with him became a better player.”

Johnnie Johnson was born on July 8, 1924 in Fairmont, West Virginia. He began playing piano at age five and never stopped. While serving in the Marines, he joined The Barracudas, a Marines servicemen’s band. He moved to Detroit and then Chicago, eventually playing with Muddy Waters and Little Walter. He landed in St. Louis in 1952 where he formed The Sir John Trio, playing jazz, blues and pop standards. Chuck Berry, an ambitious local guitarist and songwriter, was added to the group the same year and eventually took over leadership of the band. After Berry scored a contract with Chess Records, the hits came fast and furious. Many, including Maybellene, Nadine, Carol and School Days, were fueled by Johnson’s two-fisted piano. He was the high-octane gasoline in Chuck Berry’s rock ‘n’ roll engine. When Chuck wasn’t touring, Johnson played with Albert King, and recorded a number of singles with him for the Bobbin label. Tired of the road, Johnson left Chuck’s band in 1973 and returned to St. Louis to become a bus driver. With the 1987 release of the Chuck Berry documentary, Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll, Johnson found himself back in the spotlight, reintroduced to the world by his friend-to-be Keith Richards. After three solo recordings, Johnson joined his musical cohorts The Kentucky Headhunters for 1993’s That’ll Work. In 1996 and 1997 he toured with Ratdog, the band fronted by The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir. Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and continued to perform and record until his death in 2005. His 2003 sessions with The Kentucky Headhunters, released now for the very first time as Meet Me In Bluesland, are some of the most spirited and organic recordings of his remarkable and still influential career.

Leo "Bud" Welch, 82-year-old Mississippi bluesman, readies second-ever album for March 24 release.

82-YEAR-OLD MISSISSIPPI BLUESMAN LEO “BUD” WELCH RAISES SONIC HELL ON HIS RAUCOUS SECOND ALBUM FOR BIG LEGAL MESS RECORDS Garage-rock flavored I Don’t Prefer No Blues features guests Jimbo Mathus and Sharde Thomas, and production by Bruce Watson. Street date is March 24. BRUCE, Miss. — At age 82, bluesman Leo “Bud” Welch rocks on stage like a teenager — dancing and spinning as he beats out jagged chords and grimy solos on his pink, sparkle-covered guitar. That raw youthful energy and Welch’s old-school juke-joint jones blend full-throttle in the 10 songs on I Don’t Prefer No Blues, his second release for Fat Possum Records’ subsidiary Big Legal Mess. The album is a garage-blues manifesto that weds waves of prickly six-string distortion and gutbucket drums with Welch’s smoke-and-ash voice and mud-crusted guitar — and lives up to Fat Possum’s history of producing edgy but deeply rooted recordings by artists like Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside. I Don’t Prefer No Blues, due out March 24, 2015 on Big Legal Mess, is the follow-up to last year’s Sabougla Voices, an all-gospel disc that marked Welch’s debut as both a recording artist and a songwriter. That album was heralded as a fresh breath of rust-bearing air — a throwback to an era of rural music free from outside influences and a reminder that blues-fueled primitivism is still personified by a handful of living Southern artists. I Don’t Prefer No Blues is what the preacher at Welch’s church said when he found out Welch was making a blues album. “Up until Sabougla Voices came out, I had only played spirituals in the church and in tents for about 50 years,” Welch explains. But these days Welch does prefer blues. Playing blues on stage since Sabougla Voices’ release has proven transformative for the octogenarian resident of Bruce, Mississippi. He’s toured parts of the U.S. and Europe, and played for audiences of all ages at international festivals and such prestigious events as the Americana Music Association Festival and Conference in Nashville. “I’m doing things I never thought I’d do,” Welch relates. “I never thought I’d get to play outside of Mississippi or travel to other countries. Now I’m playing for all kinds of people and seeing the world. Just so, the first time I had to go on a plane I thought they’d have to blindfold me, knock me out and tie me up to get me on board. I’m also keeping all my bills paid up to date, which I couldn’t before.” Getting on board for his first blues album was easier. Big Legal Mess owner and house producer Bruce Watson took the wheel, steering Welch into crunching, genre-blending sonic and creative territory. “The deal I made with Leo was the first record would be gospel and the second would be blues,” Watson says. “Honestly, I was just trying to do something different than your typical blues record — trying to f--k things up a bit. I think I succeeded.” That’s clear from the opening cut, a take on the traditional “Poor Boy.” The tune, which is the sole track produced by Mississippi neo-trad firebrand Jimbo Mathus, frames Welch’s scorched-oak singing with a rattling drum kit, upright bass, a choir and the angelic voice of Sharde Thomas — a doyenne of ancient Mississippi music who inherited the Rising Star Fife & Drum Band from her late grandfather Othar Turner. The contrast between the innocence in Thomas’ honeyed tones and the weathered experience in Welch’s woof antes up the drama that’s maintained throughout I Don’t Prefer No Blues. Mathus also added clangorous guitar to the album. “Girl in the Holler” thrives on his and Welch’s angular, dueling riffs. And Mathus provides psychedelic fuzz for the Watson-penned “I Don’t Know Her Name,” where Welch literally barks for his would-be lady like a lusty dog.   Welch’s “So Many Turnrows” is about his many years plowing behind a mule during his youth and young manhood. “I grew up on a farm and had to walk two miles to school in the rain and mud,” he recounts. “Most of the time we didn’t have no money from March to November, when the crops came in, but I made it through eighth grade and then I started plowing mule and hoeing cotton.” Welch worked as a logger for the 35 years before he retired in 1995. “I stood next to that chain saw all day, so that’s why I don’t hear too good.” Which explains the consistently raw, buzzing volume of Welch’s guitar, both live and on I Don’t Prefer No Blues, where his guitar colors even the blues classics “Sweet Black Angel” and “Cadillac Baby” with a patina of rock ’n’ roll overdrive. “Playing guitar is my favorite ‘like,’ ” Welch says. “I learned by hearing records by Jimmy Reed, B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters … and I saw them when they came through Bruce. I once even had a chance to audition for B.B. King’s band, but I didn’t have the bus fare to get to Memphis.” “Right now is a great point in my life,” Welch continues. “I’m doing things I’ve never been able to do before and I feel good doing them at an age when a lot of people are dead. So as long as I can I want to go around the world trying to send satisfaction to people. Doing that is a great feeling to me.” ###

Bobby Rush garners second consecutive Grammy nomination plus Blues Music Award noms

BLUES LEGEND BOBBY RUSH GARNERS SECOND CONSECUTIVE BEST BLUES ALBUM GRAMMY NOMINATION   Rush’s Decisions, recorded with funk band Blinddog Smokin’ and special guest Dr. John, continues to grab accolades with four Blues Music Award nominations

LOS ANGELES, Calif. —Twenty years in the making, Decisions, the first collaboration between blues legend Bobby Rush and Southern California band Blinddog Smokin’, featuring six-time Grammy winner Dr. John, is being rewarded with end-of-the-year music industry honors including a recent Grammy nomination in the Best Blues Album category.  Also this week, Bobby Rush picked up four Blues Music Awards from the Blues Foundation, including B.B. King Entertainer of the Year and Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year. Decisions secured a Best Soul Blues nod and Best Song nom for “Another Murder in New Orleans,” written by Carl Gustafson and Donald Markowitz, performed by Rush and Dr. John w/Blinddog Smokin’. Gustafson, the band leader, vocalist, and harmonica player of Blinddog Smokin,’ says, “I’d really like to see people in the United States take a look at [Bobby Rush and Dr. John] and see what they have before they’re gone, and feel their power, feel their love . . . Who knows how long Bobby or Mac are going to last? Now we have a chance. We have the two of them together for the first time in their careers, and they’re two of the rarest characters in American music culture.” “Just to be in the running and to be involved is meaningful,” says Rush on receiving his third Grammy nod. “It makes me feel like a winner already. I want to thank everyone in the category, the voters, and anyone that had anything to do with helping me get to where I am right now. I want to thank everyone from a fan standpoint and from a voter standpoint for everything they have done for Bobby Rush. I’m happy to be an old man but this makes me feel young again.” In October, Decisions won Best Soul Blues Album at the Blues Blast Music Awards, where Rush was also singled out with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Decisions is the first-ever teaming on record of three unlikely friends united by their love of the blues — Rush and Malcolm John “Mac” Rebennack were both born in the same town of Homer, Louisiana.   Rush, 80 years old, continues his late-career emergence from the Chitlin’ Circuit underground to music mainstream. His crossover arguably began after achieving a Grammy nomination in 2000 for his album Hoochie Man, being featured in the “Road to Memphis” segment of the 2004 Martin Scorcese documentary The Blues, and last year’s Grammy-nominated record Down in Louisiana, which recently won Soul Blues Album of the Year at this year’s Blues Music Awards.  Rush performed in July on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with Dan Aykroyd and The Roots, as a part of the promo for the film Get On Up. Dan Aykroyd noted, “Okay, so like James Brown is gone, eh, and Richard Penniman a.k.a Little Richard … he’s not going to tour no more, and B.B. King is slowing down. Bobby Rush is the last one left of that generation.” In September the documentary Take Me to the River came out in theaters nationwide, with a soundtrack on Stax Records/Concord Music Group. The film is about the soul of American music and follows the recording of a new album featuring legends from Stax Records and Memphis, mentoring and passing on their musical magic to stars and artists of today. Rush co-stars alongside Terrence Howard, Snoop Dogg, the late Bobby “Blue” Bland, Mavis Staples, Charlie Musselwhite, among others. Rush, born Emmett Ellis, Jr., started playing music in his early teens, changing his name out of respect for his preacher father and fronting, for a time, a band that featured a young Elmore James on guitar. In his 20s, Rush landed in the booming Chicago blues scene where he bumped up against Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and, most notably, a back-alley neighbor, blues harmonica great Little Walter, whose example inspired Rush to master the instrument. In the ’80s Rush relocated to his current home of Jackson, Mississippi, where he embarked on the hard-touring career that has earned him the title of King of the Chitlin' Circuit. Meanwhile, about the time Rush was making his name in Chicago, Blinddog Smokin’ leader Carl Gustafson was learning the blues in, of all places, Laramie, Wyoming. He ran away from home at 16, making it as far as the railroad tracks and the Pic-A-Rib Café. Through the owner, Miss Peggy, and her son Ricky, Gustafson learned about African-American culture and through the establishment’s jukebox he discovered the sounds of American blues and R&B, an experience detailed in Gustafson’s 2010 memoir Ain’t Just Blues, It’s Showtime: Hard times, heartache, and glory along Blues Highway. In 1964, Gustafson started his first band, a James Brown-inspired 13-piece revue called Ali Baba & the Thieves. In 1993 he founded Blinddog Smokin’, which has become a force on the blues scene, playing 200-320 dates a year at juke joints, clubs, and festivals around the world, including the Snowy Range Music Festival (which Gustafson directs) in Laramie, and the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas, where in 1995 he met Bobby Rush.  “Bobby was performing, and I was just mesmerized with his show,” Gustafson recalls. “I met him afterwards, and it’s a weird thing: we just had a connection and struck up a friendship. We started calling each other and checking in on each other, and over the years started touring together. One thing led to another, and we just got this strong bond between us.” Nineteen years later that friendship finally spilled over into the recording studio, with Gustafson and his band — including drummer “Chicago” Chuck Gullens, bassist Roland “Junior Bacon” Pritzker, keyboardist/vocalist Mo Beeks, guitarist Chalo Ortiz, and backing vocalists Chris White (nephew of folk singer Josh White) and Gustafson’s wife Linda — backing Rush on ten songs plus a bonus song on Decisions. The leadoff track, “Another Murder in New Orleans,” paired Rush with another longtime friend, New Orleans music legend Dr. John. Two of the most colorful figures in the blues, Rush and Dr. John — whose real name is Malcolm John “Mac” Rebennack Jr. — have known each other for more than 50 years, first meeting as young men in their 20s on the early 1960s R&B circuit and remaining good friends ever since. “When they’re telling stories it’s hilarious because they’re talking about bluesmen so ugly they had to turn their backs to the audience to play guitar,” says Gustafson, a mutual friend of both men. “And in some cases running from the same women.” Despite their decades-long relationship, Rush and Dr. John had never recorded together until “Another Murder in New Orleans.” Written by Gustafson and Decisions producer Donald Markowitz (an Oscar, Golden Globe, and Grammy winner for the Dirty Dancing soundtrack smash “I’ve Had the Time of My Life”), the song addresses in graphic terms the street violence that has ravaged that city post-Hurricane Katrina, offering a message for change. The track was cut in New Orleans in 2012 around Mardi Gras. The setting inspired Gustafson to ask if Rush’s old friend might want to guest on the song, which the 74-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer eagerly did. “We come up as kids together, man, but I never even thought about recording together before,” says Rush. “How great is it that this late in the game we can do something together while we can still talk about it and smile about it and laugh about it? It came to pass, and I’m so proud I did this with Dr. John.”  “Another Murder in New Orleans” and Rush’s morals-seeking title track “Decisions” are the rare serious notes on an otherwise light-hearted blues romp that is rooted in Rush and Gustafson’s friendship. Other songs include the autobiographical “Bobby Rush’s Bus,” about the singer’s constantly-moving tour vehicle, “Funky Old Man,” the rap-flavored “Dr. Rush,” the acoustic jam “Too Much Weekend,” and “Skinny Little Women,” which tackles an issue Rush has been preoccupied with for some time. “Little bitty woman why you always in the mirror talking ’bout how good you look/You ought to be doing like that fat woman in the kitchen seeing ’bout how good you cook,” sings Rush, who had one of his biggest successes in the ’90s with the album Lovin’ a Big Fat Woman. “It’s a joke-y thing. But if you notice that little skinny ladies all the time they look cute and good and smell good and look good. All that’s good but the big lady has got somebody, too. She needs some lovin’, too.” Bobby Rush continues to perform more than 200 concerts a year and into 2015 will do so in support of the latest Grammy nominated album Decisions, see his upcoming announced dates below. On the horizon, be on the lookout for a definitive anthology of Bobby Rush. BOBBY RUSH on tour December 19 – JACKSON, MS – Christmas Party December 20 – MEMPHIS, TN – Minglewood Hall December 23 – NEW ORLEANS, LA – Loyola University Hospital Holiday Party December 27 – LULA, MS – Isle of Capri Casino January 10 – TALLAHASSEE, FL - BCC January 17 – Robinsonville, MS – Sam’s Town Casino January 18 – 25 – Blues Cruise from Ft. Lauderdale, FL March 13 – DETRTOIT, MI – Detroit Opera House March 14 – MERRILVILLE, IN (CHICAGO metro) – The Blues is Alright Tour April 17 – CHICAGO, IL – Buddy Guy’s Legends April 16 – JACKSON, MI – UAW Hall (7pm & 10pm) April 25 – SARASOTA, FL – SunCoast Blues Festival September 10-12 – Las Vegas, NV – Big Blues Bender (specific date TBA) # # # Music video for "Another Murder in New Orleans" by Dr. John and Bobby Rush with Blinddog Smokin’ from the Grammy nominated album Decisions: http://youtu.be/UYOB5HW8gAc Watch Dan Aykroyd talk about Bobby Rush on The Tonight Show: http://youtu.be/AqZDI2iNQrE Watch Bobby Rush and Dan Aykroyd with The Roots perfrom on The Tonight Show: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21qgsa_hd-dan-aykroyd-i-ll-go-crazy-ft-bobby-rush-jimmy-fallon_people Watch the trailer for the film Take Me to the River with Bobby Rush: http://youtu.be/RFmULZOFaIM Watch Bobby Rush with Blinddog Smokin' live here: http://youtu.be/Iq2KsjaHads Bobby Rush and Blinddog Smokin’ on the Web: www.bobbyrushbluesman.com www.facebook.com/bobbyrushbluesman www.blinddogsmokin.com www.facebook.com/blinddogsmokin www.SilverTalonRecords.com

Lead Foot Music - Mark T Small - Smokin' Blues - New Release Review

I just received the newest release (January 28, 2014), Smokin' Blues, from Mark T Small and it really is smokin! Opening with Blind Boy Fuller's guitar boogie, Step It Up And Go, Small is cooking right out of the gate. A straight simple acoustic guitar boogie with vocals its a great start. Next Up is Tampa Red's Sell My Monkey, a slow acoustic blues with really clean walking bass line and blues riffs. Cool track. My Daddy Was A Jockey is right out of John Lee Hooker's songbook and Small gets the feel of Hooker with his relentless vamp and 2 note solos. Very cool. Jimmy Oden's Going Down Slow has really expressive vocals and exceptional acoustic blues riffs. Really really nice. Gary Davis' Buck Rag is really well executed. Davis was one of my favorite acoustic players and Small has done an excellent job of playing tribute to a great player. Rufus Thomas' Walkin The Dog is always a fun track and Small gives it a new run. He coaxes himself on in a calling style as he plays cool guitar riffs. Howlin' Wolf's Moanin' At Midnight finds Small joined by Walter Woods on harp. Woods is a nice addition playing some smokin riffs and Small lays down some cool slide to boot! Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning, another Gary Davis tune but played on a resonator and with slide giving it more of a delta feel. Elmore James' Early In The Morning is up next and given a walking blues sound but with some slick James riffs thrown in. Again very nice. Sam McGee's Railroad Blues is one of the most meomorable tracks on the release with some exceptional flatpicked guitar runs. Whew! Charlie Patton's Stone Pony Blues has a real authentic feel with thick delta vibe. Wrapping up the release is Americana Medley, a ragtime style arrangements of America The Beautiful/Take Me Out To The Ballgame/Yankee Doodle Dandy sounding not unlike Chet Atkins. This is a real nice conclusion to a really clean release.

  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”

 

Your Mind Keeps Ramblin' - SMALL BLUES TRAP

Small Blues Trap is a Greek blues band formed in August 2004. The band members are: Paul Karapiperis /vocals, harmonica, steel guitar Panagiotis Daras /guitar Lefteris Besios /bass Stathis Evageliou /drums INFLUENCES S.B.T. is a band with multiple influences: classic rock, jazz and of course the blues. Artists such as Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Albert King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson (1&2), Jimmy Reed, T-Bone Walker, Elmore James, Tampa Red, Son House, Robert Johnson, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Campbell, Paul Butterfield, Peter Green, Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Led Zeppelin, The Doors...and many more! PARTICIPATION AND CD RELEASES -In October 2004 S.B.T. recorded a CD containing known songs that were arranged to express their very personal style and common influences. In addition, the CD includes three original SBT compositions. ("Small Blues Trap") -From December 2004 until April 2005 S.B.T. recorded 12 new songs in a new CD with the general title ''Our Trap''. This album was presented by the cultural radio of ERT3 (95,8FM) in Thessaloniki.(Elias Zaikos/ “Stories From Vinyl”) -The S.B.T.'s participated with 2 songs in the music competition sponsored by the Virtual Studio Magazine and received the first prize. -The Summer of 2006 found S.B.T. in a studio recording the album ''Crossroad Ritual'' which is distributed by ANAZITISI RECORDS . -In May 2007, “Diapason”, a noted Greek music magazine released a CD containing two of S.B.T. 's compositions. -In September of 2008 S.B.T. participated with 3 songs in a blues collection CD called "Magic Bus Sessions'' distributed by Universal Music. -In April of 2010 the S.B.T. presented their new album titled: “Red Snakes and Cave Bats”. The new release contains 12 new songs and an arrangement of the song “Buy a Dog” that was firstly written and sang by the front man of the BLUES WIRE the oldest and most popular Greek Band, Mr. Elias Zaikos. Nowadays , S.B.T. continue to work on new material.... The band has played in some of the biggest clubs in Greece such as ATHINA LIVE, PLANET MUSIC, STON AERA, SYRMOS, BLUES, PARAFONO, VINILION, TSAI STI SAHARA, SMALL MUSIC THEATRE, LAZY, IN VIVO, LIFE JAZZY BAR, CAMELOT, NOSOTROS, BARAKI TOU VASILI, DOUBLE TROUBLE, BOOZE COOPERATIVA, CAFÉ AMERICAIN, CAFODEIO, MAD, CYBER’S, CAFETHEATRO, COKATLAN, ROADHOUSE BLUES, 140 LIVE, DAVOS, LA BOHEME, ATLADIS… Furthermore, they have taken part in the every blues-rock festival in Greece.

  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!

Walter “ Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters – Live at dba New Orleans - New Release Review - Stilladog - Guest Writer

As soon as I heard that Walter “Wolfman” Washington had a new live album out I had to get a copy. I have been a fan of his ever since Bman turned me on to him back in 1991. But back in October I met and made friends with him out on Duval Street in Key West. This album was recorded shortly after and was released on November 21, 2013 at the dba music club on Frenchmen Street in the Marginy. The Roadmasters consist of Jack Cruz, bass; Wayne Maureau, drums; Antonio Gambrell, trumpet; and the hardest working tenor man I know of, Jimmy Carpenter, sax. This is exactly the same band he had with him on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise when I last saw him. The horns of Gambrell and Carpenter are a frequent feature on nearly every song and they are fantastic. Better on this record than I remember on the cruise. The album starts off with an instrumental introduction, Funkyard, from the Funk Is In The House album. It’s a tune that features solos by both horn men as well Walter himself including his familiar Wolfman howl. It is quickly followed by a classic Wolfman number, I’m Tiptoeing Through, which was originally recorded for his Wolf Tracks CD in 1986 and re-released on his 2000 On The Prowl album. Walter and the band ease seamlessly into more of a Soul groove with a 6 ½ minute version of When The Answer Is Clear followed by At Night In The City. Both contain the understated tasteful picking for which Walter is famous. After that, the tempo picks up a bit with Girl I Want To Dance from his Sada album –which I just recently picked up and also highly recommend. Walter lays down some fantastic licks on this number as well along with a sprinkling of some hot trumpet. It’s at this point I got the feeling I was right there in the club the night these tracks were recorded. Walter slows the pace a bit for the next number a Bill Withers-esque, You Got Me Worried. The horn arrangements over top of the funk groove on this tune are really great. But the band quickly changes gears to nearly bossa beat with I’m In Love. Jimmy Carpenter takes a beautiful solo on this song that accentuates how diverse a sax man he is. Blue Moon Risin’, the slowest number –and closest to real blues– follows. So, at 45 minutes into the set the band then goes into somewhat of a structured jam on Tweakin’ from his Doin’ The Funky Thing release. This one injects a little hip-hop into the set as if jazz, soul, funk, and blues weren’t enough!

The only cover on the album is next with the Jimmy Reed classic, Ain’t That Lovin’ You? It is done completely Walter-style, which is to say, very tastefully. The horn heavy numbers Tailspin and Stop and Think conclude the album except for the typical Wolfman Washington exit instrumental, Wolfman Outro, complete with Wolfman howl. It’s clear that this album was recorded in front of an audience familiar with Walter’s music. He has a weekly gig at dba and obviously played the crowd favorites. I would almost call it a “greatest hits” style of live album (as many are). The only reason I would not is that it does not contain many of my favorite Walter “Wolfman” Washington tunes such as, It Was Fun While It Lasted, Crescent City Starlight, and Use Me. If you can handle the kind of musical diversity Wolfman Washington brings to the stage then this album is for you. As a side note, Walter celebrated his 70th birthday Friday night with a star studded gig at the Maple Leaf Bar out on Oak Street in New Orleans. The band included both Cyril and Ivan Neville, Anders Osborne, and Stanton Moore. So happy birthday Wolfman! This is a great album. Stilladog says, “Woof!” 

  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”

 

Now We Are Strangers - Small Blues Trap

Paul Karapiperis /vocals, harmonica, steel guitar Panagiotis Daras /guitar Lefteris Besios /bass Stathis Evageliou /drums S.B.T. is a band with multiple influences: classic rock, jazz and of course the blues. Artists such as Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Albert King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson (1&2), Jimmy Reed, T-Bone Walker, Elmore James, Tampa Red, Son House, Robert Johnson, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Campbell, Paul Butterfield, Peter Green, Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Led Zeppelin, The Doors...and many more! -In October 2004 S.B.T. recorded a CD containing known songs that were arranged to express their very personal style and common influences. In addition, the CD includes three original SBT compositions. ("Small Blues Trap") -From December 2004 until April 2005 S.B.T. recorded 12 new songs in a new CD with the general title ''Our Trap''. This album was presented by the cultural radio of ERT3 (95,8FM) in Thessaloniki.(Elias Zaikos/ “Stories From Vinyl”) -The S.B.T.'s participated with 2 songs in the music competition sponsored by the Virtual Studio Magazine and received the first prize. -The Summer of 2006 found S.B.T. in a studio recording the album ''Crossroad Ritual'' which is distributed by ANAZITISI RECORDS . -In May 2007, “Diapason”, a noted Greek music magazine released a CD containing two of S.B.T. 's compositions. -In September of 2008 S.B.T. participated with 3 songs in a blues collection CD called "Magic Bus Sessions'' distributed by Universal Music. -In April of 2010 the S.B.T. presented their new album titled: “Red Snakes and Cave Bats”. The new release contains 12 new songs and an arrangement of the song “Buy a Dog” that was firstly written and sang by the front man of the BLUES WIRE the oldest and most popular Greek Band, Mr. Elias Zaikos. Nowadays , S.B.T. continue to work on new material.... The band has played in some of the biggest clubs in Greece such as ATHINA LIVE, PLANET MUSIC, STON AERA, SYRMOS, BLUES, PARAFONO, VINILION, TSAI STI SAHARA, SMALL MUSIC THEATRE, LAZY, IN VIVO, LIFE JAZZY BAR, CAMELOT, NOSOTROS, BARAKI TOU VASILI, DOUBLE TROUBLE, BOOZE COOPERATIVA, CAFÉ AMERICAIN, CAFODEIO, MAD, CYBER’S, CAFETHEATRO, COKATLAN, ROADHOUSE BLUES, 140 LIVE, DAVOS, LA BOHEME, ATLADIS… Furthermore, they have taken part in the every blues-rock festival in Greece.

  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!

Speakin' Evil - Hot Monkey Love

Hot Monkey Love are a blues band with a rock edge that combines the heart and soul of blues artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and John Lee Hooker, with the groove and vocals of British blues-rock bands like The Rolling Stones and Free. Band members have performed, recorded and toured with Bryan Adams, David Johansen, Noel Redding, Bon Jovi, Luther Vandross, David Sanborn, Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana. Founded by the late, great Frankie "Spider" LaRocka in the Fall of 2003, the Love is being sustained by vocalist extraordinaire, Jack "Beau Jack" O'Neill, and groovemaster "Jumpin'" Jordan Lee on the Fender bass. Since Spider's untimely ascent to rock-n-roll heaven, these two original Monks have been supported by an array of outstanding pro-guitarists (incl. Earl Slick, Arthur Neilson, Anthony Krizan, Jimmy Bennett, Dee Meyer & Mike Krizan) and ace-drummers (incl. Ray Grappone, Nat Seeley, Dan Hickey, Eddie "the Elf" Piotrowski & Steve Merola).  

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!

Early Morning Lover - John Ellison and Jean Jacques Milteau

Listening to one of Sonny Terry’s albums touched Jean-Jacques Milteau to the core, although he did confess, “I’d already heard a bit of harmonica...”. So we can just imagine this young Parisian born in 1950 and living in the 13th arrondissement, not far from the Porte d’Italie, and how his childhood and youth must have been lulled by one of the chromatic instruments of someone like Albert Raisner. The latter, once past the golden age of his second trio (i.e. 1947 – 1953) had now become a radio and TV star, and had been broadcasting bravura pieces such as Le Canari since 1959. Or maybe Milteau, like most of his fellow-countrymen, didn’t even know Jean Wetzel’s name but been nourished, perhaps even to excess, on his mouth organ – Jean was that enigmatic performer (1954) of Jean Wiener’s theme specially composed for the film Touchez Pas Au Grisbi. Here indeed was stuff to render the ears of a young man more sensitive, forge them even, but from there to inspiring a true vocation, there’s a whole world! And that world is the Blues. We can imagine Jean-Jacques Milteau much more sensitive to the You’re No Good that opens Bob Dylan’s first revolutionary album (March 1962) – and what do you bet he used to listen over and over again to the new Dylan version of the famous Freight Train Blues? Then in October 62, Milteau fell under the spell of The Beatles’ first single Love Me Do, a Paul McCartney composition given extra polish by John Lennon with a riff on harmonica inspired by Delbert McClinton (who’d recently scored a hit with Hey Baby! by Texan Bruce Channel [February 62]). Like most of his contemporaries, he only discovered recordings made by Cyril Davis and Paul Butterfield much later, yet as early as 1963, they were taking up position as real ambassadors for the instrument. But in February 1964, one thing our hero didn’t miss was the Rolling Stones’ first single, Not Fade Away, suffused from beginning to end with Brian Jones’ flaming harmonica, true to his own nature. “I bought a harmonica because there was some kind of rock-folk fashion at the time on the part of blokes like Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Donovan, John Mayall...” John Mayall was on the scene from 66 and before that, in 1965, there’d been Sonny Terry and his breathtaking Lost John. From that moment on, this was the music, with that special sound, that form of expression that by common accord “could only come from the blues”. That title comes from a 1954 Folkways recording; the label founded by Moses Asch in 1948 proposed recordings by the heroes of the folk scene at the same time – people such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Dave Van Ronck (all Bob Dylan’s idols)... and some survivors of the golden age of Country Blues such as Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Willie Johnson, Brownie McGhee, Jazz Gillum, LeadBelly, Josh White, Big Joe Williams, Reverend Gary Davis... Outside the USA the label was distributed by Le Chant du Monde – and this would be Jean- Jacque Milteau’s first producer. Surprisingly enough, the harmonica was put aside or remained unknown to all those who took part in the Rock ‘n Roll revolution started by Elvis Presley, with one noteworthy exception: Bo Diddley, who took Billy Boy Arnold on board, whose incisive and decisive style on (most notably) Bring It To Jerome, Diddley Daddy and Pretty Thing struck home. When a so-called rocker wants a “blower” with him, he ‘s usually more likely to take a saxophone! So it’s not the least of the merits we can credit Dylan with, as we can many of the early idols of English pop, who all worshipped the likes of Presley, Cochran, Berry, Holly and Jerry Lee, but didn’t forget to bring their other heroes lurking in the shadows to our attention too – Sonny Boy Williamson, for example (the real one, n° 1, John Lee Curtis d. 1948 and the fake, n° 2, Rice Miller), Bill Jazz Gillum, Howlin’ Wolf, Peg Leg Sam, Sonny Terry, Walter Horton, Slim Harpo, Jimmy Reed, Little Walter, Junior Wells, James Cotton... Like Bob Dylan, Brian Jones, Keith Relf, Cyril Davis, Paul Jones, John Mayall in England, Don Van Vliet and Alan Wilson in the USA, were all hammering out the same message through their records, and the Rolling Stones’ first album was typical of what groups such as the Pretty Things, the Yardbirds, The Blues Incorporated, Manfred Mann and so many others were doing at the time... Some famous names and titles are recalled or evoked on their albums: Little Walter, I Just Want To Make Love To You (a Willie Dixon theme first sung alongside Muddy Waters in 54); Jimmy Reed Honest I Do; Billy Boy Arnold Mona – I Need You Baby (by and with Bo Diddley); James Moore (ex Harmonica Slim) alias Slim Harpo I’m A King Bee. Jean- Jacques Milteau received the message loud and clear and, fired with delight and passion, he took a new, exciting turn to set him on his personal “road to Damascus”. Soon he knew before many others who DeFord Bailey, Jaybird Coleman and Noah Lewis were... His first harmonica cost him the small fortune of 8.50 FF. No question of lessons or teaching; like the Jew’s harp, the harmonica always responds to self-teaching. Jean-Jacques Milteau concluded his autodidactic period in autumn 1970 by taking a trip to the USA. This immersion in the home of the blues allowed him to drink at the source and tap into the true roots of this music that was his personal obsession. He got to know of contemporaries who were already fine marksmen on the scene: Charles Musselwhite who’d been recording since 67, and Carey Bell, since 69. There was also talk about a certain Charlie McCoy in Nashville working as a sideman since 61 under Chet Atkins’ leadership, though he’d recorded a promising first album in his own name in 1967. Once back home, Milteau was aware he was ready to start a professional career, though for the moment he lived off odd jobs (some say he was a cook and a record dealer!). “It was pure chance, I was playing for sheer pleasure. Certain people needed what I could do and I happened to meet them”. (Standing at the crossroads bending on his knees? History doesn’t tell us). For the moment, one day in 1977, our humble servant met Eddie Mitchell just back from Nashville, where, incidentally Charlie McCoy had become the star not to be missed on any account. In Milteau, Monsieur Eddy found his own McCoy; it turned into an adventure that lasted till 1987. “I was playing with Eddy Mitchell in the late seventies. He’d had Charlie McCoy come to the Palais des Congrès and we’d played some harmonica duets. I still considered myself a beginner at the time and for me this was hugely exciting.” Jean-Jacques’ fate was sealed, whether he liked it or not, and from now on he was a professional musician. The offers of jobs weren’t in short supply – concerts, music for advertising, film scores, recording sessions all lined up. In France it was clear as spring water for everyone – he was the one and only! Recently a commentator called our attention to the fact that it would be easier to list the artists Milteau hasn’t accompanied than try and draw up a list of those he has. In 1973 his first recording for Le Chant du Monde was released, an album devoted to the harmonica in the Instrumental Special series. Then Blues Harp was released in 1980 and Just Kiddin’ in 1983. (The Blues Harp CD released in 1989 brings together pieces selected from both these albums). In 1991 Explorer does as it names suggests, going into all the potential areas for diatonic accordion except the blues. The following year Jean-Jacques Milteau was awarded a Victoire de la Musique (national music awards) for this same album. Meantime, he went on to record another album in 1992 with the Grand Blues Band before appearing as first part of Michel Jonasz’s and Eddy Mitchell’s shows. He was a member of the Enfoirés collective for the show Regarde les riches! [Look At The Rich!], staged at the Garnier Opera House in Paris. His next album Live (1993) is evidence of his intense work for stage and theatre. In 1994, again with the Enfoirés, he went onstage at the Grand Rex with Eddy Mitchell, Paul Personne and Renaud for the show La route de Memphis [The Road To Memphis]. In 1995 he added texts to of 15 of his own compositions (sometimes penned jointly with Jean-Yves D’Angelo or Manu Galvin) for another album Routes. Then in 1996 came the deliberately chanson-oriented Merci d’être venus; many of the guest stars here had once been his boss - Francis Cabrel, Maxime Leforestier, Charles Aznavour, Florent Pagny, Eddy Mitchell, Richard Bohringer, Michel Jonasz and Claude Nougaro. In 1997 he worked with the organisation Enfance et Musique by leading a workshop for sick children at the Bullion Rehabilitation Centre in the Yvelines. His assistant on this project was one of his pupils and another harmonica player, Greg Szlapczynski. In 1998 came Blues Live, a double album with 22 titles recorded at the Petit Journal Montparnasse club during a particularly “hot” evening. Bastille Blues came out in 1999, and consisted almost entirely of his own new compositions, sometimes signed together with producer Michel-Yves Kochmann. This new programme plus his most bravura pieces were his arms for his forthcoming appearance at the Olympia. A new short-lived album of live music entitled Honky Tonk Blues appeared in 2000 as the record of this event. In 2001 another new album, Memphis, produced by Sébastien Danchin and recorded with some of the great names of American blues such as Mighty Mo Rodgers, Little Milton and Mighty Sam McClain, earned him another Victoire de la Musique, followed the next year with a major Sacem award, their Grand Prix du Jazz, the crowning honour for his whole career and his artistic itinerary. In 2003, Milteau went to New York to record the material for his new album Blue 3rd; his fellow-musicians and guests this time were such notables as Gil Scott-Heron, Terry Callier, N’Dambi and Howard Johnson. In 2006, with a smaller gathering, he recorded Fragile, of much more intimate nature. 2007 saw the release of quite the opposite, Live, hot ‘n Blue, a return to music with a bit more muscle and flesh! In 2008 he recorded Soul Conversation with singers Michael Robinson and Ron Smyth. Jean-Jacques Milteau has travelled many different roads in both the geographical and musical sense of the term. From China to South Africa, from Nashville to New Orleans, or Ireland to Mexico, he is a musician whose curiosity knows no limits; he’s forever searching for new encounters, open to others, ready for every new musical experience that might cross his path. And what about that question on everyone’s lips? How far is he responsible for France’s annual sales figure of 20 000 harmonicas?! Maurice Bernard Translation Delia Morris

 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!

Lover Man - Sonny Stitt

Sonny Stitt Alto Sax, Walter Bishop Piano. Tommy Potter Bass, Kenny Clarke Drums. Edward "Sonny" Stitt (born Edward Boatner, Jr., February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern, in reference to his relentless touring and devotion to jazz. Edward Boatner, Jr. was born in Boston, Massachusetts,and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. He had a musical background; his father, Edward Boatner, was a baritone singer, composer and college music professor, his brother was a classically trained pianist, and his mother was a piano teacher. Boatner was soon adopted by another family, the Stitts, who gave him his new surname. He later began calling himself "Sonny". In 1943, Stitt first met Charlie Parker, and as he often later recalled, the two men found that their styles had an extraordinary similarity that was partly coincidental and not merely due to Stitt's emulation. Stitt's improvisations were more melodic and less dissonant than those of Parker. Stitt's earliest recordings were made in 1945 with Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie. He had also played in some swing bands, though he mainly played in bop bands. Stitt was featured in Tiny Bradshaw's big band in the early forties. Stitt replaced Charlie Parker in Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1945. Stitt played alto saxophone in Billy Eckstine's big band alongside future bop pioneers Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons from 1945 until 1956, when he started to play tenor saxophone more frequently, in order to avoid being referred to as a Charlie Parker imitator. Later on, he played with Gene Ammons and Bud Powell. Stitt spent time in a Lexington prison between 1948–49 for selling narcotics. Stitt, when playing tenor saxophone, seemed to break free from some of the criticism that he was imitating Charlie Parker's style, although it appears in the instance with Ammons above that the availability of the larger instrument was a factor. Indeed, Stitt began to develop a far more distinctive sound on tenor. He played with other bop musicians Bud Powell and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, a fellow tenor with a distinctly tough tone in comparison to Stitt, in the 1950s and recorded a number of sides for Prestige Records label as well as albums for Argo, Verve and Roost. Stitt experimented with Afro-Cuban jazz in the late 1950s, and the results can be heard on his recordings for Roost and Verve, on which he teamed up with Thad Jones and Chick Corea for Latin versions of such standards as "Autumn Leaves." Stitt joined Miles Davis briefly in 1960, and recordings with Davis' quintet can be found only in live settings on the tour of 1960. Concerts in Manchester and Paris are available commercially and also a number of concerts (which include sets by the earlier quintet with John Coltrane) on the record Live at Stockholm (Dragon), all of which featured Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers. However, Miles fired Stitt due to the excessive drinking habit he had developed, and replaced him with fellow tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley. Stitt, later in the 1960s, paid homage to one of his main influences, Charlie Parker, on the album Stitt Plays Bird, which features Jim Hall on guitar and at Newport in 1964 with other bebop players including J.J. Johnson. He recorded a number of memorable records with his friend and fellow saxophonist Gene Ammons, interrupted by Ammons' own imprisonment for narcotics possession. The records recorded by these two saxophonists are regarded by many as some of both Ammons and Stitt's best work, thus the Ammons/Stitt partnership went down in posterity as one of the best duelling partnerships in jazz, alongside Zoot Sims and Al Cohn, and Johnny Griffin with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Stitt would venture into soul jazz, and he recorded with fellow tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin in 1964 on the Soul People album. Stitt also recorded with Duke Ellington alumnus Paul Gonsalves in 1963 for Impulse! on the Salt And Pepper album in 1963. Around that time he also appeared regularly at Ronnie Scott's in London, a live 1964 encounter with Ronnie Scott, The Night Has A Thousand Eyes, eventually surfaced, and another in 1966 with resident guitarist Ernest Ranglin and British tenor saxophonist Dick Morrissey. Stitt was one of the first jazz musicians to experiment with an electric saxophone (the instrument was called a Varitone), as heard on the albums What's New in 1966 and Parallel-A-Stitt in 1967. Later life In the 1970s, Stitt slowed his recording output slightly, and in 1972, he produced another classic, Tune Up, which was and still is regarded by many jazz critics, such as Scott Yanow, as his definitive record. Indeed, his fiery and ebullient soloing was quite reminiscent of his earlier playing. He also recorded another album with Varitone, Just The Way It Was - Live At The Left Bank in 1971 which was released in 2000. Stitt joined the all-star group Giants of Jazz (which also featured Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Kai Winding and bassist Al McKibbon) and made albums for Atlantic Records, Concord Records and Emarcy Records. His last recordings were made in Japan. In 1982, Stitt suffered a heart attack, and he died on July 22 in Washington, D.C.  

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!