Jim Allchin - Decisions - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Decisions, from Jim Allchin and his records just keep getting better. Allchin's first two releases garnered strong review but I believe that this one is his best yet. Opening with Artificial Life, a boogie rocker, Allchin has his amp dialed in just perfect and it getting super tone. With strong support from Michael Rhodes on thumping bass, Reese Wynans on B3 and Tom Hambridge on drums this is a strong opener showcasing Allchin's chops and cool phrasing. Latin rocker, The Mexican End has a solid melody and horn punctuation by Bill Bergman on sax, Lee Thornburg on trumpet. Allchins vocals are solid and his guitar playing tight. Driving rocker, Bad Decisions, has the solid rhythm of Don Nix's Goin' Down with searing guitar riffs making this one of my favorites on the release. High intensity, Just Plain Sick is a super hot number in the style of Clarence Gatemouth Brown. Allchin really rips it up on this one and the piano and organ of Wynans is spot on. Excellent! Slower blues number, Friends, has particularly soulful guitar runs and smokin' soulful bends. Excellent! After Hours stands out really nicely with volume swells and lead solo guitar melody that seems to float. Kenny Greenberg joins on guitar with Steve Mackey on bass and James Wallace on keys. With contemporary blues vibrato akin to Joe Bonamassa, Allchin really gets it rolling on Don't Care with "showy" guitar riffs, a rock solid bass line by Rhodes and cool B3 by Wynans. Understated blues ballad, Stop Hurting Me, has great bones and a sweet piano solo by Wynans. Horn warmth by Bergman and Thornburg really set the stage for Allchin to lay it out there with some of his best riffs on the release. Wrapping the release is Destiny, a more progressive track with Allchin out there with his guitar and only minimal backing. His guitar with effects really floats nicely on a bed of piano and organ making it an excellent closer for a strong release. 

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Real Gone Music artist: Larry Coryell - At The Village Gate - New Release review

I just had the opportunity to review the Larry Coryell's At The Village Gate, a essential fusion release from a live concert performed in 1971. Opening with The Opening, an original composition Larry Coryell on guitars and vocal is joined by Mervin Bronson on bass and Harry Wilkinson on drums. Starting with a simple guitar line, The Opening is reinforced by the same line on bass and anchored by the drum part allowing Coryell wide open space to improvise. This is classic Coryell and a great tune. After Later has a lighter feel and fleeter tempo and an almost pop melody wanting to emerge fro this jagged tempo. Coryell really opens up on this track blistering the strings and giving you a mental workout. Very cool! Chick Corea's Entardecendo En Saudade is up next with a driving drum rhythm and Coryell experimenting with phase shifting and working chords against wammy bar and feedback as he literally torches the audience with riffs. Excellent! Jack Bruce's Can You Follow? is up next with it haunting melody and daunting rhythm. Coryell's work is always on top but I am really obsessed with Wilkinsons drumming on this track. Terrific. Wrapping the release is Beyond The Chilling Winds featuring Julie Coryell in duet with Larry on vocal. Akin to a Jimi Hendrix track, BTCW has  complex inter-workings with a simple melody working itself into a monster jam where Coryell really unleashes. This is a great opportunity to hear Coryell at his prime.

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Real Gone Records artist: Jesse Ed Davis - Red Dirt Boogie - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Red Dirt Boogie by Jesse Ed Davis newly released by Real Gone Music and it's a real nice slice of early 70's rock. Davis was on the who's who list of musicians with Clapton, Leon, George Harrison, Taj Mahal, the Dominoes, you name it. This release opens with Every Night Is Saturday Night from his self titled solo release. With it's communal party feel, it could easily be a part of the Mad Dogs with it's driving drum beat, New Orleans style trumpet and clarinet. Red Dirt Boogie has the swampy sound of Dr John and the vocal styling of Leon Russell. Further On Down The Road was co written by Taj Mahal and it definitely has his flavor (Think Ain't Gwine To Whistle Dixie). Davis sets up some of his best vocals on the release and has solid warm backing vocals Merry Clayton, Gloria Jones and Bobby Jones as wekk as sweet sax by Jerry Jumonvlle. Reno Street Incident has influences of both Mahal and Leon and is a strong track also from his first solo release. George Harrison's Sue Me Sue You Blues has great feel and a taste of Davis' slide work. Taj Mahal's take on Statesboro Blues featuring Davis on slide was influential on Duane Allman and his own take on the track. Another track with strong Leon features is You Belladonna You of course featuring Leon on piano. Excellent! Leon Russell's Alcatraz is great sounding so much like Leon's band...with a twist.  Great! Another terrific track is My Captain with spiritual overtones featuring Jesse on vocal, slide guitar and Leon on piano. Wrapping the release is unreleased Kiowa Teepee which certainly features a vibrant Clapton on guitar. This is a cool release that warrants a solid listen.

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STILL more press raves for re-release Guitar Slim Jr.'s debut album

Howlin' Wuelf Media

I'm including STILL more media breaks on Orleans Records'  re-release of The Story Of My Life, the Grammy-nominated debut album from singer-guitarist Guitar Slim Jr.  distributed by Select-O-Hits. This marks the album's first-ever release on vinyl and its first re-issue on CD since the late 1980's. I'm hoping you'll consider covering this release via album review or interview. Please let me know if you need the music. Slim Jr. aka Rodney Armstrong, the son of Southern Blues legend Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones, was already few decades into his music career when he recorded the album. The sessions took place in New Orleans, in the summer of 1987, at Big Easy Studio on Paris Avenue. ------------------------------------- Guitar Slim, Jr. (born Rodney Glenn Armstrong, August 24, 1952), in New Orleans, Louisiana is the son of Eddie Jones who of course was Guitar Slim. This album is a re-issue of the 1968 album of the same name that was nominated for a Grammy. Recorded in 1987 at The Big Easy Studio on Paris Avenue in New Orleans, two of the tracks have a direct connection to the UK with keys work on 'Bad Luck Blues' and 'Well I Done Got Over', delivered by Brit Jon Cleary who had been in New Orlins for only about two years following his emigration. The music is excellent. 'Real'' blues, many of the tracks straight 12 bar, some of them (Trouble Don't Last, Bad Luck Blues, Too Weak To Fight, Well I Done Got Over) come with a small horn section and one, 'Turn Back The Hands Of Time', with a vocal group. Throughout Slim's guitar work is fiery and inventive with a nice edgy tone. Not bad for 48 years ago! This one is strongly recommended, especially if you tire of what passes for blues today.   Ian Mackenzie/BluesInTheSouth.com June Rodney Glenn Armstrong a.k.a. Guitar Slim Jr. is a New Orleans blues guitarist and singer and the son of Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones. Guitar Slim is best known for his million selling hit single "The Things That I Used to Do". The elder Slim died in 1959 when he was 32 years old. His son was not yet eight years old. Guitar Slim was an inspiration to Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Earl King, Albert Collins, Lonnie Brooks and Buddy Guy. Guitar Slim Jr. talked and sang just like his daddy. He was given his first guitar by Huey "Piano" Smith and was nicknamed Guitar Slim Jr. by Earl King. He followed in his father's footsteps and along with a talented bunch of New Orleans sidemen recorded his own debut album in 1988. "The Story of My Life" was recorded at the Big Easy Studio on Paris Avenue and released on Orleans Records. The following year it was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Traditional Blues Album. Guitar Slim Jr. recorded only two more albums. In 1996 he released "Nothing Nice" featuring the Memphis Horns on Warehouse Creek Records. His last album was 2010's "Brought Up The Hardway" on the ClyDesign Studio imprint. He now lives in Washington D.C. but is still a fixture on the New Orleans scene having last played The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2011. On April 22, 2017 Orleans Records re-issued "The Story of My Life" on both Vinyl and cd. The band includes Guitar Slim Jr., vocals and guitar; Shannon Powell (from The Preservation Hall Jazz Band) or Kerry Brown (from Guitar Slim Sr's band), drums; Rene Coman (from Alex Chilton and The Iguanas) or Charles Moore (from Deacon John and The Ivories), bass; Jon Cleary, piano; and Milton Batiste Jr., trumpet. The album was produced by Carlo Ditta. Seven songs were written by his father Guitar Slim, Sr. including the title track and "Well, I Done Got Over It", "A Letter to My Girlfriend", "Bad Luck Blues" and "Sufferin' Mind". Both "Turn Back The Hands of Time" and "Can I Change My Mind" were hits for Tyrone Davis; while "Too Weak to Fight" is from Clarence Carter. This historic re-issue is highly recommended. Richard Ludmerer/MakingAScene.org 6/8 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Story Of My Life, by Guitar Slim Jr. and it's really cool. GS Jr. (Rodney Armstrong) is the natural son of Guitar Slim (Eddie Jones). Opening with a classic Guitar Slim track, Trouble Don't Last, Jr. is front and center on guitar and vocals with Shannon Powell on drums, Rene Coma on bass, Milton Batiste on trumpet and Ernest Watson on sax. Title track, The Story of My Life, has a slower tempo and Jr. shows vocal skill along with pointed guitar riffs. Very nice. On Bad Luck Blues, Jr. maintains a lot of Sr.'s sty;e but he has his own flair with stinging riffs. On classic R&B track, Can I Change My Mind, Jr. shows a much smoother vocal style and his guitar playing is jazzy and fluid with Kerry Brown on drums, Charles Moore on bass and Keith Fazarde on keys. Hot! Reap What You Sow is my favorite track on the release with strong Sr. attributes and powerful vocal and guitar work by Jr. A lot more relaxed in delivery, I Done Got Over It includes backing horn work and hand claps with nice piano work by Jon Cleary. Wrapping the release is Sufferin' Mind with an early R&B flavor. With AJ Loria piano balancing Jr.s fluid guitar runs, and warm vocals and the backing vocals of Sylvia and Oneida Joseph, this is a solid closer for a fine release.  Bman/bmansbluesreport.com 6/19 Back in April, Orleans Records re-issued the Grammy-nominated blues album "The Story Of My Life" from Guitar Slim Jr. It will be the first ever release of the album on vinyl and will be also issued on CD for the first time in almost 30 years. The album was the debut release from Guitar Slim Jr. (son of legendary Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones) and features a classic blues sound that he adopted by being around his father at a very young age. Songs like "Bad Luck Blues" and "Reap What You Sow" showcases Guitar Slim Jr.'s exceptional skills on the guitar as he electrifies the music with jolts of energy. While he still performs live to this day, he has all but given up on studio recordings (his last studio album was released in 2010). To find out more about Guitar Slim Jr. and the new re-issue of his classic album "The Story Of My Life," please visit guitarslimjr.com. Jim Pasinski/ http://jpsmusicblog.blogspot.com 6/29 --------------------------------------- In the studio for The Story of My Life, producer Carlo Ditta teamed Slim with drummers Shannon Powell (Preservation Hall) and Kerry Brown (Lawrence Cotton, Guitar Slim Sr.); bassists Rene Coman (The Iguanas, Alex Chilton) and Charles Moore (Deacon John and the Ivories); and pianist Jon Cleary (a future Grammy winner and Bonnie Raitt band member). Milton Batiste Jr. (Olympia Brass Band, Professor Longhair and many more) blew trumpet and arranged the horn charts. Seven of the songs recorded came from the repertoire of Slim Sr., rounded out by renditions of soul hits by Tyrone Davis ("Turn Back the Hands of Time," "Can I Change My Mind") and Clarence Carter ("Too Weak to Fight"). Despite the album's preponderance of Slim Sr. material, Jr. never wanted to ride his daddy's coattails. "I just don't want to lean on my daddy," he says. "I'm supposed to. Everybody else doing it. Hendrix and them did it. Stevie Ray (Vaughan) and them did it." As a child, rubber bands served as strings for Rodney's first semblance of a guitar. Huey "Piano" Smith, the songwriter-pianist who performed with Guitar Slim Sr. in the early 1950s, later gave Armstrong his first guitar amplifier. Earl King, the classic New Orleans rhythm-and-blues artists who modeled himself after Guitar Slim Sr., was the first to call him "Guitar Slim." Slim Jr. made another connection to his father when he performed at the Dew Drop Inn with Oscar "Honey Boy" Moore, the drummer who'd been the third man in Slim Sr.'s early '50s trio with Smith.  Rodney would be a fixture on the Black New Orleans club circuit for the next 20 odd years that led up to the recording of his debut album. After its release, things started happening fast. In 1989, The Story of My Life was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Traditional Blues Album category. Slim opened for and befriended Texas blues star Stevie Ray Vaughan. He socialized with his daddy's contemporary, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. He knew Prince and Johnny Winter; reportedly he did some recording at Paisely Park. Unfortunately, a wild lifestyle kept him from properly capitalizing on all this. He has continued to perform live, but only entered the studio twice after The Story of My Life, releasing Nothing Nice in 1996 and Brought Up The Hardway in 2010. Nowadays, he lives a quiet life in the D.C. He thanks God he survived through his wild years. "The devil was trying get me, but Jesus didn't let me go. He held onto me. Like he's doing now." Meanwhile, the rest of us can enjoy this document of Guitar Slim Jr. at a point when the good Lord's hold wasn't quite so firm. www.orleansrecords.com/

The Milligan Vaughan Project Announces Debut Album, "MVP," for August 4 Release on Mark One Records

The Milligan Vaughan Project Announces Debut Album, MVP, for August 4 Release on Mark One Records 

Austin-Based Duo of Singer Malford Milligan and Guitarist Tyrone Vaughan Launch Their New Group with CD Produced by David Grissom and Omar Vallejo

AUSTIN, TX – The dynamic Texas duo of celebrated singer Malford Milligan and guitar slinger Tyrone Vaughan have already begun their first extensive tour of the Lone Star State in-between Austin recording sessions for their first album, MVP, produced by David Grissom and Omar Vallejo, now set for release August 4 on Mark One Records.  MVP will be distributed on CD and digitally through CDBaby and The ConneXtion. 

Watch a special “making of” the MVP album here: 

The MVP album features nine studio tracks recorded in Austin at Arlyn Studios and 512 Studios, as well as two tracks taken from their live show debut at the One 2 One club in Austin during SXSW. The studio tracks include originals written by Milligan, Vaughan and producer David Grissom, as well as Buddy Guy’s “Leave My Girl Alone,” “Compared to What” (popularized by Les McCann) and Rev. James Cleveland’s “Two Wings,” a beautiful acoustic gospel tune with just Milligan and Vaughan. The two bonus live tracks include the Grissom-penned “What Passes for Love” and the Freddy King signature tune, “Palace of the King,” that closes the album.

The music on MVP is a powerful mix of blues, soul, rock and funk, with flourishes of jazz and gospel textured throughout. That sound emanates from the musical DNA of both Milligan and Vaughan and manifests itself throughout the new disc, whether it’s the driving kick of “Soul Satisfaction” and “Little Bit of Heaven;” the funky-jazz of “Compared to What;” the rockin’ “Dangerous Eyes”; the flat-out blues of “Devil’s Breath” and “Leave My Girl Alone” (each powered by Milligan’s soulful vocals and Vaughan’s blistering guitar attack); or the tender, soulful ballad, “Here I Am.”

    

Backing Milligan and Vaughan on the studio sessions are a cadre of all-star players, including Chris Maresh and Jeff Hayes on bass; Brannen Temple and Kenneth Furr on drums; Michael Ramos and Jay D. Stiles on keyboards; Jorge Castillo on guitar; and  Mike Cross on background vocals.    

The group has already been burning up stages in Texas on their first tour dates that will last through the rest of the summer. The Milligan Vaughan Project has recently been added as special guest on Bob Schneider’s July 14 show at Antone’s as part of that legendary Austin club’s July anniversary month of shows. They’ll also do a special pre-release in-store at Cactus Records in Houston the afternoon of July 15, preceding their show that night at Fitzgerald’s (as special guests for Tab Benoit). Additional shows scheduled thus far include July 21 at One 2 One in Austin; August 9 for SUN Radio at Guero’s Taco Bar in Austin, August 11 at The Guitar Sanctuary in McKinney, Texas, (outside of Dallas) and August 12 at The Texan Theater in Greenville, Texas.

After an inaugural performance for Austin’s SUN Radio, followed by their first public show at the One 2 One Club during the 2017 South by Southwest in March, Malford Milligan and Tyrone Vaughan are well on the way to establishing their own exciting musical identity.

The Milligan Vaughan Project (or MVP) is a musical partnership between Austin’s highly acclaimed vocalist Malford Milligan and guitar slinger Tyrone Vaughan (son of the legendary Jimmie Vaughan), both of whom have a rich musical history steeped in blues and rock ‘n’ roll.

Some of Tyrone Vaughan’s earliest memories go back to the early days of Antone’s, “Austin’s Home of the Blues.” Blues icon Muddy Waters once gave him one of his harmonicas on a notable night. He also found himself sleeping in Boz Skaggs’ guitar case and as a kid wearing out his toy guitars in no time. His first true guitar given to him on his 5^th birthday by his uncle Stevie Ray Vaughan was an old Harmony scored at the local pawn shop. Later on it was Stevie, Lou Ann Barton and WC Clark all pitching in and buying Tyrone a Fender Musicmaster. Stevie Ray was very proud of that small-neck guitar and happy that his nephew was following in his and his father Jimmie’s footsteps. Since those early years, he has performed with Billy Gibbons, Doyle Bramhall, Doyle Bramhall II, (Little) Jimmy King, SRV’s Double Trouble, Pinetop Perkins, John Popper and Eric Gales. In April of 2015, Vaughan joined Royal Southern Brotherhood, featuring Cyril Neville on vocals, for two albums on Ruf Records: one recorded at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals; and the other album recorded at Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana.

No stranger to the blues, Malford Milligan was born in Taylor, Texas, and in 1981 after a short stay in Lubbock as a student at Texas Tech, moved to Austin to begin studies at the University of Texas. Instead of academics, singing took precedent and Monday night blues jams became the beginning of a life in music. His local band, Stick People, launched his career as a talented singer. In 1994, he helped form the Texas super group, Storyville, with David Holt, David Grissom and the rhythm section from Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble: bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Storyville released two stellar albums on Atlantic Records, along with the independently released CD/DVD titled Live at Antone’s. As a session singer, Milligan has always been in great demand. He toured and worked on albums together with other outstanding musicians, including Hal Ketchum, Marcia Ball, Alejandro Escovedo, Sue Foley and Eric Johnson. He has also appeared on “The Voice” NBC-TV series in 2013 and has been named “Vocalist of the Year” at The Austin Chronicle Music Awards.

Both Malford and Tyrone have a deep love for the blues, along with a strong mutual respect for each other, and both share a part in Austin’s rich musical history. At the time when each were looking to see what the future held and what musical path they might take,  one phone call followed by a short meeting brought the two together,  and The Milligan Vaughan Project was launched. There is a feeling of family here. Though not technically related, the bond between them is strong. The stage is where they are both most comfortable and the synergy between these two musicians is already bringing audiences to their feet.

www.milliganvaughanproject.com

Milligan Vaughan Tour Dates

7/1                         Continental Club                                                              Austin, TX
7/14                       Antone’s w/Bob Schneider                                         Austin, TX
7/15                       Cactus Records In-Store (3:00 PM)                           Houston, TX
7/15                       Fitzgerald’s with Tab Benoit (evening)                    Houston, TX
7/21                       One 2 One                                                                          Austin, TX
8/9                         SUN Radio @ Guero’s Taco Bar                                  Austin, TX
8/11                       Guitar Sanctuary                                                              McKinney, TX

8/12                       The Texan Theater                                                          Greenville, TX
8/13                       KLBJ/Ernie's on the Lake                                               Austin, TX
10/1                       SRV Ride/Ernie's on the Lake                                      Austin, TX

Additional dates forthcoming ….

Guy Belanger - Traces & Scars - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Traces & Scars, from Guy Belanger, showcasing his talents as a composer, band leader and harmonica player. Opening with My Dearest Friend, a crisp instrumental, Belanger shows why he is so highly regarded as a serious harmonica player, joined by Rob McDonald on guitar. Picking up the pace on Better Days and with a bluesier sound, Belanger maintains tight technique over nice guitar and lap steel work by Andre Lachance by  and percussion by Michel Roy. Little Heart is a real nice ballad featuring particularly sensitive vocal and harmonica by Belanger making it my radio pick for the release. Rocker, See The Light,  featured some really tasty electric guitar soloing by Kaven Girouard with bass by Marc-Andre Drouin and drums by Michel Roy. Funky jazz tune, Common Ground, showcases Rob McDonald on guitar with Lachance and Belanger giving it a real springy feel. Luce Dufault takes the mic for solid ballad, Who's Left Standing, with smooth lap steel playing by Lachance and harmonica voicing by Belanger. With a western flavor, Nitassinan features nice interplay between Lachance on acoustic guitar, Belanger on harmonica and Paul Picard on percussion. Wrapping the release is Hot Time, a reggae form rhythmed track with snappy percussion and interesting guitar work by Lachance supporting the lead harmonica of Belanger. Very nice. 

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Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus coming to Blu-ray, DVD, and digital formats on August 4th "Brilliantly captures one of the great saxophonists in jazz - and probably its most revered living improviser - during one of his most intensely creative periods. Startling performances.  His music is always revealing; so is this loving tribute."  - Washington Post "Revelatory and engrossing. A superb musical profile."  - Boston Globe "Widely hailed upon its release as essential viewing, not just for fans of jazz but for anyone even remotely interested in the creative process. [A] remarkable film."  - Jazz Times "An electrifying record of an artist at work."  - Variety After completing his 1985 film THE RETURN OF RUBÉN BLADES for Britain's Channel 4 Television, Philadelphia-based filmmaker Robert Mugge began searching for another music-related project he could undertake in 1986. In seeming answer to that question, Mugge's good friend Francis Davis, a prominent jazz critic also based in Philadelphia, informed him that he had just done a long interview with jazz saxophone great Sonny Rollins, and mentioned how warm and welcoming both Rollins and his wife and manager Lucille Rollins had been. Davis went on to reveal that the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra had commissioned Rollins to write an orchestral piece, and that, together, he and the orchestra would soon be premiering it in Tokyo, Japan. Rollins had composed long form pieces before, including his Civil Rights-related Freedom Suite in 1958 and his musical score for the 1966 British film ALFIE, but this would be his first work incorporating a symphony orchestra, which is why he brought in his friend Heikki Sarmanto, a composer from Finland, to provide arrangements and conduct the premiere performances. For Mugge, this seemed an incredible opportunity to make the sort of film he had long wished someone had made when John Coltrane premiered "A Love Supreme" or Duke Ellington premiered "Black, Brown and Beige" - two ambitious works of the past which had pushed the boundaries of jazz composition and performance. So, with Davis's help, Mugge, too, reached out to Sonny and Lucille Rollins and found them surprisingly amenable to a collaboration. The concerto was scheduled for two premiere performances at Tokyo Koseinenkin Hall on Sunday, May 18, 1986, and Mugge was anxious to secure permission to film one of those two performances. He soon learned from Lucille Rollins that both the orchestra and the concert hall were owned by Yomiuri Shimbun, the world's largest newspaper, as were the Japanese television network that would broadcast the first of the two performances and the Japanese radio station that would broadcast the second. Fortunately, this vertical integration of both cultural and corporate participants meant that Mugge was able to win full cooperation from everyone involved. The plan they worked out was that, while the television crew covered the first performance, Mugge and his crew would prepare their own approaches for shooting the second one. And since the radio crew intended a live broadcast of the second performance, Mugge's sound man could take a live audio feed from their recording and mixing truck while Mugge and his cameramen were shooting. Everything was falling into place. Funding, however, took a bit longer. But it, too, came together well enough for Mugge and three of his longtime collaborators - cameramen Larry McConkey and Erich Roland and sound man Bill Barth - to fly to Japan in time for the big event. Britain's Channel 4 Television agreed to cover more than a third of the film's costs, and a small U.S. theatrical distributor contributed almost as much. That still left some project costs unfunded. But Mugge decided to move ahead with what he had and to worry about the rest once the Japanese footage was safely in the can. Because Mugge could only afford two cameramen for shooting an entire orchestra performance, he knew they also would need to capture assorted scenes for use in establishing a different visual theme for each movement. Such scenes would include audience members arriving at the concert hall, Japanese television and radio technicians recording the first performance, a wide array of Japanese citizens racing around the streets of Tokyo, religious parades and rituals, the dazzling Vegas-like signs of the Ginza district at night, and more. He also knew that, prior to the concert, he would want to shoot individual interviews with Rollins and Sarmanto, as well as their personal rehearsals for the coming concerts. In the end, everything went exactly as intended. Back in the states, as Mugge began editing his footage, he decided that future shooting should build upon the idea of islands. With songs like "St. Thomas" and "Don't Stop the Carnival," Rollins had long celebrated the fact that his family had come to America from the Caribbean. Also, in his Tokyo interview, Rollins proposed that perhaps the reason the Japanese people loved him so much was because Japan, too, is an island; and he went so far as to point out that New York City, where he had been born and always since maintained a residence, is also an island. Finally, factoring in Rollins's wellknown commitment to solitary practice on his instrument (including more than a year and a half of round-the-clock playing on New York's Williamsburg Bridge), coupled with his commitment to a demanding physical and spiritual regimen, it was difficult not to see the so-called "saxophone colossus" as a kind of island himself. Although the orchestral footage had turned out wonderfully, Mugge also wanted to film Rollins performing with a more traditional jazz ensemble. Lucille Rollins pointed out that Sonny was set to do a summer concert on a small ship sailing around Manhattan, and that sounded like the perfect way to establish the notion of New York being an island as well. Unfortunately, when Mugge checked with the promoters, he learned that the concert would take place at night, and there would be no place for his crew to plug in sufficient lighting. Mugge then returned to Lucille Rollins, asking where else Sonny would be performing that summer, and she mentioned Opus 40, a sculpted rock quarry in upstate New York. Mugge therefore contacted Tad Richards, the longtime manager of Opus 40 and a stepson of the late sculptor Harvey Fite, who proved to be far more welcoming. With this new location in mind, Mugge then traded the "island theme" he had been imagining for a "colossus theme" which would be beautifully illustrated by Fite's monument-like rock structures. For the August 24 concert, Mugge was able to afford four 16mm cameras, one of which would be attached to Larry McConkey's Steadicam, plus a 24-track recording truck. As for Rollins, he and his topnotch ensemble (Bob Cranshaw on bass, Clifton Anderson on saxophone, Mark Soskin on piano, and Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums) started off strong with a fierce new Rollins composition called "G-Man." The quality continued through a diverse set of additional songs, but came to an abrupt halt when, in the midst of some solo improvising, Rollins suddenly jumped from the sculpted rock stage to another level six feet below. As his feet hit the new rock surface, he fell onto his back, and simply lay there for a moment with his eyes closed. Then, just as suddenly, Rollins shifted his saxophone to his lips again and, without leaving his position on the ground, began to play the opening to the song "Autumn Nocturne." Eventually, his very relieved musicians on the level above him started playing along, and concerned audience members returned to their seats on blankets and lawn chairs. Rollins later stood up and played a couple more songs from that lower level before ending the show so his wife Lucille could drive him to a nearby hospital for testing. As is now well known, it turned out that he had broken his heel but had not wanted to disappoint the audience by halting the show prematurely. Several days after that, in a park in New York City, Mugge interviewed jazz critics Ira Gitler, Gary Giddins, and Francis Davis about Rollins's career. Critic Stanley Crouch had also agreed to participate but failed to show. Afterwards, Mugge interviewed Sonny and Lucille Rollins on the same park bench, discussing everything from Sonny's development as an artist to Lucille's roll as his wife, manager, and record producer. On this occasion, Sonny explained his Opus 40 jump from the stage as simply an attempt to approach the audience and play for them more directly. However, Lucille later told Mugge what Sonny had revealed to her, which is that a recent lacquering of his saxophone had caused it to make unexpected sounds that day, leading him to have almost a kind of nervous breakdown during his solo improvisations, which he finally decided to end by taking the ill-fated jump over the side of the stage. Of course, to fans of Sonny's career, his unfortunate breaking of his heel simply underlined his legendary commitment to his art. Lucille Rollins passed away in 2004, after suffering a stroke in 2003. That robbed Sonny of his greatest supporter, but not of his determination to continue developing his art. Unfortunately, a health issue forced him to retire from recording and public performance after a final concert in 2012, and he is now enjoying a quiet retirement at his home in Woodstock, New York. But Rollins's decades of extraordinary record and CD releases, as well as this 1986 film, give eternal testament to his greatness. In addition, Sonny Rollins has received countless honorary doctorates, been elected to the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame (1973), received a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement (2004), received America's National Medal of Arts (2010), been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2010), and received a Kennedy Center Honors Award (on his 81st birthday, September 7, 2011). Just recently, it was announced that the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, part of the the New York Public Library, has acquired Rollins's personal archive containing collections of his papers and recordings. As Rollins pointed out in a related statement, he was born on 137th Street, just two blocks from the Schomburg Center. Finally, an effort is under way to have New York's Williamsburg Bridge renamed for the world-famous jazz musician who once spent both day and night rehearsing on it. On July 7, Robert Mugge's 101-minute portrait titled SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS (after Rollins's classic 1956 album of that name) will be newly released on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital formats. Mugge himself supervised the film's 4K remastering and created a new bonus feature titled LEAPS AND BOUNDS: Robert Mugge on the Making of SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS for inclusion with the new Blu-ray and DVD. Additional bonus features are audio-only performances of the Rollins compositions "G-Man" and "Don't Stop the Carnival," as recorded for the film. Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Shop

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Walter Trout Announces Release Of We're All In This Together On August 25 - Tour Starts This Week

WALTER TROUT RETURNS WITH BRAND NEW STUDIO ALBUM

TITLED WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER FEATURING 14 FRIENDS

North American Release Date Set For August 25 With Europe To Follow On September 1

Album Trailer: 

Special Guests include John Mayall, Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Sonny

Landreth, Joe Louis Walker, Warren Haynes, Randy Bachman, Charlie Musselwhite, Edgar

Winter, Eric Gales, Mike Zito, Robben Ford, John Nemeth, And His Son Jon Trout

Los Angeles, CA --- Walter Trout is the beating heart of the modern blues rock scene, respected by the old guard, revered by the young guns, and adored by the fans who shake his hand after the show each night. After five decades in the game, Trout is a talismanic figure and part of the glue that bonds the blues community together, at a time when the wider world has never been so divided. He’s also the only artist with the vision, talent and star-studded address book to pull off a project on the scale of We’re All In This Together. “It was quite a piece of work to get this record together,” he admits. “But I guess I have a lot of friends, y’know…?”

Before you even hear a note, We’re All In This Together has your attention. Drafting fourteen A-list stars – including Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, John Mayall and Randy Bachman – and writing an original song for each, Trout has made the most tantalizing album of the year, and found solace after a run of solo albums that chronicled his near-fatal liver disease of 2014. “Now was the right time for this record,” he says. “Battle Scars [2015] was such an intense piece of work, written with tears coming down my face. I needed a break from that, to do something fun and light-hearted. This album was joyous for me.”

Scan the credits of We’re All In This Together and you’ll find nods to every twist and turn of Trout’s electrifying backstory. There’s keys man and long-time friend Skip Edwards, who came up on the same early-’70s New Jersey circuit where Trout cut his teeth as the precocious lead guitarist for Wilmont Mews. There’s organ wizard Deacon Jones, the West Coast bandleader who brought a twenty-something Trout into the orbit of blues titans like John Lee Hooker and Big Mama Thornton. “Deacon sorta discovered me when I moved to LA in the ’70s,” reflects Trout. “So I owe him.”

Trout also welcomes a fistful of compadres from recent all-star project Supersonic Blues Machine, in the form of Warren Haynes, Robben Ford and Eric Gales. Then there’s John Mayall: the ageless British blues-boom godfather who hired a troubled Trout for the Bluesbreakers in 1985 and now blows harp on “Blues For Jimmy T.”  “Am I proud to call myself a former Bluesbreaker?” Trout reflects. “Yeah, of course. What a credential. That is a very exclusive club, and I know that when I’m gone, that’s gonna be one of the big things that they’ll remember me for: that I was a Bluesbreaker for five years.”

Since he struck out alone in 1989, Trout’s solo career has been every bit as celebrated. Touring tirelessly and spitting out classic albums that include 1990’s flag-planting Life In The Jungle, 1998’s breakthrough Walter Trout and 2012’s politically barbed Blues For The Modern Daze, he’s won international acclaim and enjoyed ever-growing sales in a notoriously fickle industry. Years on the road have also brought him tight friendships, as evidenced by 2006’s cameo-fuelled Full Circle album and this year’s unofficial sequel, We’re All In This Together. “The new album was originally gonna be called Full Circle Volume 2,” notes Trout, “but I wanted to make the title a positive statement in this time of madness.” 

In another departure, whereas Full Circle saw each guest visit the studio to track their part, the advance of recording technology in the intervening decade meant Trout’s collaborators on We’re All In This Together were able to supply their contributions from afar. “In the studio, it was the core band of me, Sammy Avila [keys], Mike Leasure [drums] and Johnny Griparic [bass] on every cut, with Eric Corne producing,” he explains, “and then, for most of the tracks, people sent us their parts. But it’s very hard to tell we’re not in the studio together. If you listen to the Warren Haynes track, when we get into that guitar conversation on the end – it sounds like we’re looking each other right in the face, y’know?”

They say you can judge a man by the company he keeps. If that’s the case, then We’re All In This Together is further proof of Walter Trout’s position at the hub of the blues scene. This is the sound of an artist not just getting by with a little help from his friends, but positively thriving, on an album that is sure to light another rocket under his blooming late career. “I’m 66 years old,” considers Trout, “but I feel like I’m in the best years of my life right now. I feel better than I have in years physically. I have more energy. I have a whole different appreciation of being alive, of the world, of my family, of my career. I want life to be exciting and celebratory. I want to dig in. I want to grab life by the balls and not let go, y’know…?”

Track Listing:

“Gonna Hurt Like Hell” featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd

“Ain’t Gpin’ Back” featuring Sonny Landreth

“The Other Side of The Pillow” featuring Charlie Musselwhite

“She Listens To The Blackbird Song” featuring Mike Zito

“Mr. Davis” featuring Robben Ford

“The Sky Is Crying” featuring Warren Haynes

“Somebody Goin’ Down” featuring Eric Gales

“She Steals My Heart Away” featuring Edgar Winter

“Crash And Burn” featuring Joe Louis Walker

“Too Much To Carry” featuring John Nemeth

“Do You Still See Me At All” featuring Jon Trout

“Got Nothin’ Left” featuring Randy Bachman

“Blues For Jimmy T.” Featuring John Mayall

“We’re All In This Together” featuring Joe Bonamassa

Planned appearances include:

6/30     Wichita, KS                                                    The Cotillion

7/01     Kansas City, MO                                            Knucklehead’s

7/02     St. Louis, MO                                                 Old Rock House

7/05     Syracuse, NY                                                  Hotel Syracuse

7/06     Sellersville, PA                                               Sellersville Theatre

7/07     Old Saybrook, CT                                           The Kate

7/08     Fall River, MA                                               Narrows Center for the Arts

7/09     Pawling, NY                                                   Daryl’s House

7/10     Hoboken, NJ                                                   Maxwell’s

7/12     New York, NY                                                B.B. King’s

7/13     Shirley, MA                                                    Bull Run

7/14     Norwalk, CT                                                   Infinity Music Hall

7/15     Derry, NH                                                       Tupelo Music Hall

7/16     Rockland, ME                                                 North Atlantic Blues Festival

7/19     Grand Rapids, MI                                           Blues On The Mall

7/20     Toledo, OH                                                     Club Soda

7/21     Chicago, IL                                                     Legends

7/22     Chicago, IL                                                     Legends

7/23     Milwaukee, WI                                               Shank Hall

7/26     Omaha, NE                                                     Chrome Lounge

7/27     Minneapolis, MN                                            Famous Dave’s

7/28     Fargo, ND                                                       Fargo Blues Fesival

7/29     Arnolds Park, IA                                             Arnolds Park Amusement Park

7/30     Des Moines, IA                                               Lefty’s Live Music

8/05     Mammoth Lakes, CA                                     Bluespalooza

8/06     Deming, WA                                                  Mt Baker R&B Festival

8/16     Annapolis, MD                                               Ram’s Head

8/17     Washington D.C.                                            The Hamilton

8/18     Somers Point, NJ                                            Somers Point Concert Series

8/19     Morristown, NJ                                               Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival

8/20     Lancaster, PA                                                 Long’s Park Concert Series

8/22     Gravenhurst, ON                                             Peter’s Players

8/23     Gravenhurst, ON                                             Peter’s Players

8/25     Trois Rivieres, QC                                          Trois Rivieres En Blues

8/26     Marshfield, MA                                              North River Blues Festival

8/27     Simsbury, CT                                                  2 Left Feet Blues Festival

8/30     Auburn Hills, MI                                            Callahan’s

8/31     Cleveland, OH                                                Beachland Ballroom

9/02     Peoria, IL                                                        Peoria Blues & Heritage Festival

9/07     Las Vegas, NV                                                Big Blues Bender

9/08     Las Vegas, NV                                                Big Blues Bender

October through November – European Dates – Detail posted on www.waltertrout.com

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