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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!
Your deposit to reserve a stateroom is $500 per
person ($1000/single) payable by Visa, MasterCard or Discover. Please email
Bluesin@BluesCruise.com for a copy of
applicable terms and conditions.
Buddy Guy, one of this year's Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients,
is headlining the October cruise, marking his First Appearance Ever on our Blues
Cruise Charters!
"Whenever I accept an award like this I do it for all the Blues
men and women who came before me and never got the recognition they truly
deserved." - Buddy Guy
For a man who name is nearly synonymous with the Chicago blues sound, Buddy
Guy has one of the warmest smiles in the business. Rock titans, including Jimi
Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Keith Richards and Stevie Ray Vaughan have all
cited him as a major influence on their own music. Now 78, the 2005 inductee to
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has barely slowed down as he continues to
encourage and inspire a new generation of musicians. A Self-Taught Legend: Born to Louisiana sharecroppers Sam
and Isabel Guy on July 30, 1936, George "Buddy" Guy taught himself to play
guitar as a young boy. He took a train to Chicago in 1957, and landed at the
famous 708 Club where he became a sideman for legends such as Howlin' Wolf,
Little Walter and Muddy Waters. By the early 1960s, Guy was a first-call session
man at Chess Records.
After years of touring and recording, the musician opened Buddy Guy's Legends
in Chicago in June of 1989. As the premiere blues club in the world, its stage
has hosted myriad of blues and rock greats. Guy inked a deal with Silvertone for
three albums that began with the 1991 comeback smash Damn Right, I've Got
the Blues (reissued in 2005), which he followed up with 1993′s Feels
Like Rain and 1994′s Slippin' In. All three earned Grammy
Awards.
Guy has firmly cemented a blues legacy that places him squarely in the
company of his heroes who came before. In 2012, he published his autobiography,
When I Left Home: My Story. He has said he feels an obligation to keep
their legacy alive. Guy still holds a 16-show residency at his eponymous Legends
club in Chicago every January. After one of his shows seven years ago, Guy met
then eight-year-old Quinn Sullivan(who also joins us on LRBC
#25), a budding blues guitarist. Now a mentor to the teenaged musician,
Guy tours with him and produced his first album. "I learn from Buddy every day,"
Sullivan says.
KEY WEST The clubs are
lining up bands already...
NEW ORLEANS Announcement
soon, including Surprise/Special Guests!
I received multiple copies of this release for my birthday this year from friends and family that knew that I regard D'Angelo so highly. Well, it was worth the wait! This new release, Black Messiah is spectacular! Opening with Ain't That Easy, an extremely contagious R&B track with D'Angelo's trademark syncopation this track is off the hook. An instant radio track and great groove. 1000 Deaths is a heavy impact track with ministerial vocal delivery (excerpt fromThe Murder of Fred Hampton) and plucked bass riffs over sub bass rudiments and multiple timed bass. Incredible! I have listened to this CD so many times and this track continues to blow me away. Put it in your car and listen to it drive your car crazy. This insane groove finally forms to a classic D'Angelo melody with multi vocal harmonies and over the top drum rhythms. A Eddie Hazel like guitar frenzy is created as well by Excellent! The Charade falls into more of the groove closely associated with earlier D'Angelo tracks with a beautiful bass guitar lead and simple vocal harmonies. On Sugah Daddy a simple piano riff develops into a track that is hard to get out of your head. With vocal harmonies and hand claps this track takes you for a super ride. Horns and funky rhythm guitar delivers the track but it's the groove factor here! Spanish guitar intro...yes Spanish guitar intro and quiet whispering opens Really Love one of the most beautiful compositions on the release. This is a track that will haunt you all day and night. Masterfully created, performed and delivered it excellent. Again, D'Angelo uses his strong sense of off rhythm delivery for strong impact. Warm vocal blending and a nice walking bass line sends this track over the top. I saw this track performed live and the song has so much soul that I can even remember certain motions made by D'Angelo because they were so effective that you are compelled to do it. Back To The Future (Part I) starts out very simply with D'angelo delivering with his groove but over the symphony of strings (keys) emerges a little ditty bringing to mind music from South Carolina in the 20's. Tight guitar articulation sets this track off nicely. Til It's Done (Tutu) is another of my favorites with complex timing and a sweet melody. With only dangling keyboard and twinkling guitar riffs over a bass and drum rhythm, D'Angelo delivers very effective vocals. Simply beautiful. Prayer again returns to a more basic D'Angelo groove that gets in your spine. Simple keyboard base and drums kick, this track carried almost exclusively by the artistry of D'Angelo's vocals is really strong. Another of my favorite tracks on the release is Betray My Heart. This track has quick guitar riffs and a 12 note bass line that drives the track under D'Angelo on vocals. This track blooms in jazz with brass and quick guitar underpinning. Excellent! Opened by a simple whistling melody, The Door is a bit more complex that it appears. With even a blues slide guitar riff appearing in this stripped down track of mostly percussion and hand clap, this is a real contrast to some of the heavies of parts of this release. Back To The Future (Part 2) has complex vocal intro and along the same theme as Part I continues a party groove. The final track on the release is absolutely stunning. One of the most beautiful soul tracks to hit my ears in many years, Another Life is simply off the hook. With just a taste of guitar, sitar guitar sounds and a solid groove D'Angelo lays down beautiful vocals on a beautiful melody. This is absolutely the best release I have heard this year and in a long time for that matter. Don't listen to it and try to hear VooDoo or Brown Sugar. This release is much more complex. Put it in your car and listen to it about 20 times... you will... and you may never take it out. Yes, it really is that great!
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”
I just received the newest release, With All Due Respect, from Misty Blues and it's solid. Opening with a classic blues track / R&B classic Stagger Lee made popular by Lloyd Price, Gina Coleman on lead vocals settles in a nice groove. Benny Kohn lays down a nice key line and Jason Webster and Jeff Dudziak rip a few nice guitar riffs followed by Aaron Dean on sax. Nice! Another blues classic, Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out, is up next and Coleman shows her vocal chords nicely. Benny Kohn really does a nice job of highlighting the piano lead on this track and modern guitar work shines. Again Aaron Dean steps up with a hot sax solo to seal the deal. 44 Blues stays true to it's roots and again Coleman's voice is well adapted to the job. The specific guitar solos aren't noted in the liner notes but there are some particularly nice guitar solos on this track. Randall Bramblett like piano solo's on this track give it a slightly more modern feel. On Taint Nobody's Biz-ness, Dean again steps up with a really hot horn solo and Kohn lays down some really nice piano lines. Coleman's vocal versatility profiles nicely over the solid bass lines of Bill Patriquin. Take This Hammer is an old school revival style track along the lines of Will The Circle Be Unbroken. Nicely done. House Of the Rising Sun follows closely the Animals version of this classic. Coleman really handles the vocals nicely with a crisp guitar solo, hot horn solo and nice organ backing. Rollin' and Tumblin' has it's classic bounce with original hollerin' style. I particularly like Kohn's key work on this track. Baby Won't You Please Come Home has a real nice easy swing to it and the guitar phrasing on the solo riffs is particularly fluid. Dean again steps up with some ultra tasty horn work floating on smooth key work from Kohn. Going Down The Road Feeling Bad has a lot of the Delaney and Bonnie feel but with a bit more rock. Along with solos from Kohn and Dean, Webster, Patriquin, Tatten, Kohn and Dudzink all contribute to the vocal harmony. Very nice. WC Handy's St. Louie Blues holds with a jazzy blues feel. Coleman stays in the lower register of her range giving the track a particular feel. Stylistic guitar riffs and light piano work contrasted to the crisp horn overlay by Dean gives this track a particularly cool feel. Wrapping the release is Down Home Blues with a feel not unlike a Jimmy Reed tune with it's easy sway. The entire gang joins in vocally and instrumentally with a summary jam.
Very nice ending to a cool 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”
Multiple award winning East Coast blues guitarist
John Campbelljohn is set to release his 12th album, titled Chin
Up on March 10, 2015.
A master slide guitarist and songwriter,
Campbelljohn hails from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and over the course of
his four decade-long career has won or been nominated for countless music awards
including Maple Blues Awards, East Coast Music Awards, Real Blues Awards, Music
Nova Scotia Entertainer Of The Year, Blues Recording Of The Year & Musician
Of The Year.
His newest release, Chin Up features 12
original tracks covering a myriad of topics and sub-genres all highlighting
Campbelljohn’s prowess as a guitarist and vocalist. From the up-beat opening
number “The Mumble Boogie” the progressive blues sounds of “Meet My Maker”, the
rocking blues track “Castaway”, and the folk blues based “How Stupid Is That”,
Cambelljohn proves with each song why Blues Revue Magazinedeemed him a “guitar-god-in-the-making”.
During his career John Cambelljohn has been
featured on recordings and live shows that include names like Sting, Joni
Mitchell, Emmy Lou Harris, Leonard Cohen, Joe Ely, Willie Nelson, Robben Ford
& Alvin Lee (Ten Years After) as well as TV productions bySony Music Entertainment.Rich vocals and
distinctive slide guitar playing has made him a favourite at music festivals in
eastern Canada & Europe.
John Campbelljohn’s sophisticated and progressive
approach to song writing gives him a distinctive edge, mixing rock, blues,
reggae, Celtic & country into his signature style. The result is a sound
that can pummel the audience into submission one moment, while captivating them
with its subtlety the next.
"The standard of John Campbelljohn's slide guitar
playing is raised to a new record high." - Rolling Stone, Germany
"It is difficult to find a good slide guitarist, who stands out from the
crowd - one who manages to do so is Nova Scotian John Campbelljohn." - Blues
Bytes, USA
"John's raw singing and his truly convincing guitar, particularly the
slide passages, are a feast for the ears, have real class." - Blues News
Magazine, Germany
