Bman's Blues Report

Opening with Deploy The Bird, Scott McCord and the Bonafide Truth comes out, horns blazing. Gotta Be Something is a funk, soul, pop track with a bit of Philly sound to my ear. Lead vocalist Scott McCord is backed by Ben Rollo (drums,percussion), Charles James (bass,vocals), Simon Craig (Electric guitar), David Atkinson (Keys), Todd "Storm Shadow" Porter (bari sax), Steve Dyte (trumpet, flugelhorn, vocal and Christian Overton (trombone, vocal) with a high energy, horn infused sound. A relaxed and unusual cover of Beatles track, Baby You're A Rich Man, adds a different flavor featuring primarily McCord on vocal, accented with horns. A little track, Interlude, is actually a very nice little instrumental intro to contemporary sould ballad Where Did You Go. Bringing to mind the work of Michael Franks, McCord sings a very strong vocal pop track with soul roots. The instrumentation is very smooth and subtle. Very nice. Turn Around starts out very quiet and acoustic but opens int...

Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923 – August 21, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader. Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, to a musical family of ten (an older brother was pianist Hank Jones and a younger brother was drummer Elvin Jones). Thad Jones was a self-taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen. He served in U.S. Army bands during World War II (1943–46). After Army service including an association with the U.S. Military School of Music and working with area bands in Des Moines and Oklahoma City, Thad became a member of the Count Basie Orchestra in May 1954. He was featured as a soloist on such well-known tunes as "April in Paris", "Shiny Stockings" and "Corner Pocket". However, his main contribution was his nearly two dozen arrangements and compositions for the Basie Orchestra, including "The Deacon", "H.R.H." (Her Royal Highness, in honor of the band’s command performanc...

Ike Isaacs (March 28, 1923 - February 27, 1981) was an American jazz bassist from Ohio. Isaacs played trumpet and tuba as a child before settling on bass. He served in the Army during World War II, where he took lessons from Wendell Marshall. Following this he played with Tiny Grimes (1948-50), Earl Bostic (1951-53), Paul Quinichette (1953), and Bennie Green (1956). He led a band locally in Ohio in 1956, then played for two years in the trio of Carmen McRae, whom he married late in the decade. He worked with Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, then with Count Basie (1962), Gloria Lynne (1962-64), and Erroll Garner (1966-70), as well as with his own small groups. He recorded only once as a leader, in 1967 for RGB Records. On this recording he plays in a trio with Jack Wilson on piano and Jimmie Smith on drums.   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’...

Dizzy Gillespie, Harry Edison (t) Clark Terry (fl-h) Clifford Jordan (ts), Oscar Peterson (p) Dave Young(b) Louis Bellson (d) Clifford Jordan was a fine inside/outside player who somehow held his own with Eric Dolphy in the 1964 Charles Mingus Sextet. Jordan had his own sound on tenor almost from the start. He gigged around Chicago with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some R&B groups before moving to New York in 1957. Jordan immediately made a strong impression, leading three albums for Blue Note (including a meeting with fellow tenor John Gilmore) and touring with Horace Silver (1957-1958), J.J. Johnson (1959-1960), Kenny Dorham (1961-1962), and Max Roach (1962-1964). After performing in Europe with Mingus and Dolphy, Jordan worked mostly as a leader but tended to be overlooked since he was not overly influential or a pacesetter in the avant-garde. A reliable player, Clifford Jordan toured Europe several times, was in a quartet headed by Cedar Walton in 1974-1975, and during his last...

Born 1906 in Columbia, TN Died 1985 in Memphis, TN Aliases Baby Ma Rainey Lille Mae Hardison 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!

Rhett Tyler, guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, and producer, is best known for his explosive style of scorching modern blues guitar and high-octane, house-rocking live performances. Born in San Antonio, Texas, and raised in Mississippi, Ohio, and St. Louis, Rhett grew up listening and learning about music and the blues from his father, an Air Force officer and talented classical, boogie, and blues pianist, and about writing from his mother, a published poet. He discovered his own God-given musical talent at the age of 15 when his parents gave him his first electric guitar. Rhett attended both Mannes College of Music (he had been accepted by Juilliard, but there was no guitar program) and the Berkley School of Music in the early 70s, where he feverishly worked at honing his skills as a player, performer, and writer. He soon found himself on tour as bandleader for R&B recording artist Ruth Copeland that climaxed at the Baltimore Civic Center, where Rhett received a standing ovation ...

Lawrence Eugene "Larry" Williams (May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams is best known for writing and recording some rock and roll classics from 1957 to 1959 for Specialty Records, including "Bony Moronie", "Short Fat Fannie", "High School Dance" (1957), "Slow Down", "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (1958), "Bad Boy" and "She Said Yeah" (1959), which were later covered by British Invasion groups and other artists. John Lennon, in particular, was a fan of Williams, recording several of his songs over the course of his career. "Bony Moronie" is listed as one of the Top 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll. Williams lived a life mixed with tremendous success and violence-fueled drug addiction. He was a long-time friend of Little Richard. As a child in New Orleans, Williams learned how to pl...

Sherman Robertson (born October 27, 1948, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, United States) is an American blues guitarist, songwriter and singer, who has been described as "one part zydeco, one part swamp blues, one part electric blues and one part classic rhythm and blues." Robertson was born in Louisiana and raised in Houston, Texas. At the age of 13, he watched a performance on television by Hank Williams. Duly inspired and equipped with a cheap guitar purchased by his father, he started playing the songs previously performed by Freddie King and Floyd London. As he lived close to the Duke/Peacock recording studio, Robertson took the opportunity to acquaint himself with some of the musicians who recorded there. At the same time, in his late teens, Robertson played in a band in various bars of his Fifth Ward, Houston neighborhood. In 1982, Clifton Chenier heard Robertson's band playing at the Crosstown Blues Festival. Robertson moved back to Louisiana, learned to play slide gui...

I just received the new release, All In , from Sena Ehrhardt and parts of it are quite amazing. Opening with Buried Alive, Ehrhardt shows her vocal range and seductive singing style. Edward Ehrhardt on guitar plays some smokin' hot guitar riffs elevating the track from a radio play to a "check it out". On All In , a little funk gets stirred into the ballad stew allowing Sena to show a little more depth in her vocal talents. Cold Cold Feeling digs in for winter and E Ehrhardt chokes a real nice intro out of his axe. This track sets up nicely to showcase a bit more substance in Sena's vocal contributions. All of the tracks are solid but a strong track really helps to pull the best from the young artist. Although Sena's vocal style does not really mimic Janis Joplin, the style of this track elicits a bit of the feeling created when listening to old Big Brother tracks, with stylistically creative and frenzied guitar soloing, solid backing from Harold Smith (rhythm g...

                   Hey San Diego: Want Some? Come Get Some - Blues, That Is! Charles Burton Band In Concert At Tio Leo's Thursday Night                 (San Diego) - Kick off the upcoming Easter weekend early with some tasty blues courtesy of the Charles Burton Blues Band at Tio Leos , 5302 Napa St., Thursday, March 28. 8-11 p.m. $10. cover. Info: (619) 542-1462 or  https://www.facebook.com/TioLeos.        Check out a feature on Burton in the March 2013 issue of Blues E-News :      Known as "San Diego's Blues Ambassador to the World," Burton has performed for over forty years and has released four Cd's with the Charles Burton Blues Band. Burton currently spends about six months a year touring throughout Europe. In addition to his own group, Burton also often ...

Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973), a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. Known affectionately as "The Brute", he had a tough, raspy, and brutal tone on stomps (with his own distinctive growls), yet on ballads he played with warmth and sentiment. Stylistically he was indebted to alto star Johnny Hodges, who, he said, taught him to play his instrument. Webster learned to play piano and violin at an early age, before learning to play the saxophone, although he did return to the piano from time to time, even recording on the instrument occasionally. Once Budd Johnson showed him some basics on the saxophone, Webster began to play that instrument in the Young Family Band (which at the time included Lester Young). Kansas City at this po...

Charles Ellsworth Russell, much better known by his nickname Pee Wee Russell, (27 March 1906 – 15 February 1969) was a jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but he eventually focused solely on clarinet. With a highly individualistic and spontaneous clarinet style that "defied classification", Russell began his career playing Dixieland jazz, but throughout his career incorporated elements of newer developments such as swing, bebop and free jazz. In the words of Philip Larkin, "No one familiar with the characteristic excitement of his solos, their lurid, snuffling, asthmatic voicelessness, notes leant on till they split, and sudden passionate intensities, could deny the uniqueness of his contribution to jazz." Pee Wee Russell was born in Maplewood, Missouri and grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma. As a child, he first studied violin, but "couldn't get along with it",then piano, disliking the scales and chord exercises, and then...

Buddy Guy - Guitar and Vocals Otis Rush - Guitar Willie Dixon - Bass Odie Payne - Drums Harrold Burrage - Piano Bob Neely - Tenor Sax Harold Ashby - Tenor Sax McKinley Easton - Baritone Sax Harold Ashby (March 21, 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri – June 13, 2003 in New York City) was a jazz tenor saxophonist. He is perhaps known for his work with Duke Ellington's band (having replaced Jimmy Hamilton in 1968) and stylistic similarities with Ben Webster. He worked as a freelance musician after leaving the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1975, and took part in various reunions of Ellington alumni, as well as recording and gigging with his own bands. “Like” Bman’s Facebook page. I use Facebook to spread the word about my blog (Now with translation in over 50 languages). I will not hit you with 50 posts a day. I will not relay senseless nonsense. I use it only to draw attention to some of the key posts on my blog each day. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blue...

Paul Gayten (January 29, 1920 – March 26, 1991) was an American R&B bandleader, pianist, songwriter, producer and record company executive. Gayten was born in Kentwood, Louisiana, the nephew of blues pianist Little Brother Montgomery. In his teens he played piano in local bands while also setting up his own group, Paul Gayten's Sizzling Six, which featured future bebop saxophonist Teddy Edwards. During the war, he led a band at the Army base in Biloxi, Mississippi. He then moved to New Orleans and, with a new trio, established a residency at the Club Robin Hood. In 1947 the trio recorded two of the first New Orleans hits of the R&B era, "True (You Don't Love Me)", and "Since I Fell for You", the latter featuring singer Annie Laurie. Both made the top ten in the US Billboard R&B chart. Gayten also backed singer Chubby Newsom on her hit single "Hip Shakin' Mama". In 1949, Gayten expanded his combo into a nine-piece orchestra and mov...

Steven Tyler (born Steven Victor Tallarico on March 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'" due to his high screams and his wide vocal range. He is also known for his on-stage acrobatics. During his high-energy performances, he usually dresses in bright, colorful outfits with his trademark scarves hanging from his microphone stand. In the 1970s, Tyler rose to prominence as the frontman of Aerosmith, which released such milestone hard rock albums as Toys in the Attic and Rocks. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Tyler had a heavy drug and alcohol addiction, and the band's popularity waned. He completed drug rehabilitation in 1986 and subsequently maintained sobriety for over 20 years, but had a relapse with prescription painkillers in the la...

Maurice James Simon (born March 26, 1929, Houston, TX) is a jazz saxophonist. A high school classmate of Eric Dolphy (1945-6) Simon appears on an early 1945 Los Angeles recording in a band led by Russell "Illinois" Jacquet and which also included Teddy Edwards, Charles Mingus, Bill Davis and Chico Hamilton. In 1948, again with Jacquet as leader, Simon was in an all-star band recording in Detroit, which included Sonny Stitt, Leo Parker, Sir Charles Thompson, Al Lucas and Shadow Wilson He went on to join the Gerald Wilson Orchestra which also included Snooky Young, Red Kelly and Melba Liston. In 1950 he recorded for Savoy Records backing Helen Humes in a big band with Dexter Gordon, Ernie Freeman, Red Callender and J.C. Heard. In the 1970s he was a member of the Duke Ellington orchestra. He also played with Fats Domino, Papa John Creach, Big Maybelle, Faye Adams, Bumble Bee Slim, Percy Mayfield and B. B. King.  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents...

Real Gone Music has got another gem here with the re release of The Grateful Dead's Dick's Pick Volume 25 . This four CD (HDCD) set includes classic concert recordings from the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New Haven, CT on May 10, 1978 and the Springfield Civic Center in Springfield, MA on May 11, 1978. Consisting of 35 extended tracks, these recordings are certainly for GD/jam connoisseurs but even for your average music listeners there are some real gems here. The Dick's Picks series which started in 1993 was named for Grateful Dead Dick Latvala who selected shows with the band's approval and oversaw production of the releases. After Latvala's death David Lemieux took over responsibility for the Dick's Picks releases. Some of my favorite tracks on this super deluxe set are Ramble On Rose , Deal , Estimated Profit and Eyes Of the World from the New Haven Show but not to miss extensive jamming on Drums , The Other One and Wharf Rat are also sure to be fav...

                        GIRL WITH GUITAR: LAURIE MORVAN IS SPECIAL GUEST FOR VENTURA COUNTY BLUES SOCIETY-SPONSORED JAM THIS WEDNESDAY AT THE TAVERN  - WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27TH           (Ventura, CA) - The special guests just keep getting bigger and better at the weekly  Ventura County Blues Society-sponsored Jam session . This Wednesday night, March 27, the very talented Laurie Morvan is the special Guest of "house band,"  Tommy Marsh and Bad Dog . It all takes place at The Tavern, 211 Santa Clara Ave. 8-11 p.m. No cover! Info: (805) 643-3264.       No stranger to Southern California blues fans and music lovers, Morvan is the 2010 Blues Foundation winner for "Best Self-Produced CD." Playing a blistering brand of red-hot blues-rock, the popular Long Beach-based band's ...

BLIND PIG ANNOUNCES MAY RELEASES Jimmy Vivino, Little Walter Tribute Albums Set To Drop May 7th On Tuesday, May 7, 2013 celebrated American roots music label Blind Pig Records will release new titles from well known guitarist and band leader Jimmy Vivino and a loving tribute to Little Walter from five of the best blues harmonica players around,   JIMMY VIVINO & THE BLACK ITALIANS "13 LIVE" Jimmy Vivino, Music Director and leader of the house band for Conan O'Brien's TV show on TBS, got the band back together for a memorable two night concert recording session.  The occasion was the reunion of his fabled New York City "Black Italians" band   at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY to record 13 Live .   On November 30, 2012, the reunited Black Italians hosted a public rehearsal followed by a live recorded concert the next night at Levon Helm's beautiful barn studio. The group had performed together only sporadicall...

WXRT'S BLUES BREAKERS TO PREMIERE TWO TRACKS FROM HARMONICA LEGEND JAMES COTTON'S COTTON MOUTH MAN On Monday, March 25, Tom Marker, host of Chicago radio station WXRT-FM's Blues Breakers program, will premiere two new songs from Grammy-winning harmonica giant James Cotton 's upcoming CD, C otton Mouth Man . The CD, to be released on Tuesday, May 7,  is a joyous celebration of Cotton's 69 years as a professional musician (beginning at age nine). Recorded in Nashville and produced by Grammy-winning producer/ songwriter/ drummer Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, Joe Louis Walker, Susan Tedeschi), the album is a trip through sounds and scenes from Cotton's long and storied career. Cotton co-wrote seven of the tracks with Hambridge (who co-wrote five additional tracks). The songs were inspired by Cotton's colorful and sometimes perilous life and his memories of the Mississippi Delta, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Memphis, Sun Records, C...