All news BLUES in the US!
Your Blues Internet Magazine |
from IllinoisBlues.com |
November 29, 2007 |
© 2007 IllinoisBlues.com
News, reviews, live Blues show links AND MUCH MORE at Bottom! - Scroll Down!
|
Hey Blues fans, IllinoisBlues.com made it out to California recently to hear some great Blues. Cozy's, one of the Los Angeles area's most noted Blues clubs was cool hearing The Forty Fours on Thursday night. On Friday night we were fortunate to be invited to attend the big Blues birthday bash at Cozy's. It was a huge birthday celebration put on by Delta Groove Productions for the Mannish Boys leader Randy Chortkoff and bass player Tom Leavey. They celebrated another year older as they performed their band mates and friends. The Manish Boys performed and many of the artists on the Delta Groove record label came out to celebrate and sit in to jam. IllinoisBlues.com was there and we have pictures for you. To see all the fun, CLICK HERE. Delta Groove Productions Graphic artist Joshua Temkin also has a page of photos from the show. CLICK HERE to view them Stay tuned in the next couple week to see more about Blues musician, producer and record label executive Randy Chortkoff and his visionary work with Delta Groove Productions. |
|
New to the Blues Blast & IllinoisBlues.com?
CLICK HERE to go directly to the list of Live Blues Music. Or click a link for more Blues content on our website. Reviews Links Audio Interviews Photos Videos Blues Radio To advertise your blues shows or event for FREE Click HERE! To see The Blues Blast Archives Click HERE
Upcoming Blues
Be sure to check our Blues Society News section and our Blues Fans & Friends section below (Scroll Down) for upcoming live Blues performances by Andrew "Jr Boy" Jones, Bill Lupkin and the Chicago Coalition, Shawn Kellerman, Lil Dave Thompson and others in areas around the US. Also check the IllinoisBlues.com Live Blues show listings for a show near you! CLICK HERE
Support Live Blues near you by attending one of these events!
Blues Basics
NEW to the Blues? Sometimes it is hard for those new to the Blues to explore this journey called the Blues! IllinoisBlues.com's weekly spotlight introduces (or reminds experienced Blues fans) about a Blues artist or subject worth knowing about. This week we take a look at another of the most influential guitarists ever, T-Bone Walker.
What do the Jackson 5, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Pat Boone, Rita Coolidge, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Billie Holiday, B.B. King, Woody Herman, Count Basie and The Allman Brothers have in common? They all recorded at least one song by T-Bone Walker. His songs such as Stormy Monday Blues continue to inspire and influence today.
Born Aaron Thibeaux Walker on May 28, 1910 in Linden, TX, Walker's humble beginnings led to a legendary career in Blues. His stepfather played bass fiddle in a local Texas band. T-Bone learned every stringed instrument he could get his hands on as a youth. As a young man Walker met Blind Lemon Jefferson and led the sightless guitarist around as Jefferson played for tips around Dallas. Around 1933 he also briefly had a street act in Oklahoma City with legendary Jazz guitarist Charlie Christian. Walker easily moved from Blues to Jazz and back playing stinging, jazz-inflected lead guitar lines.
Walker moved to Los Angeles where he quickly made a name for himself singing and playing banjo, and then guitar. In 1935 T-Bone was the first to play the electric guitar widely. Suddenly guitar became a lead instrument in Jazz and Blues. His energetic show included some great tap dancing and by 1940 he was noted for his performances which included playing with his teeth and playing behind his back while doing the splits with his guitar.
Many artists owe their inspiration to this performer. B.B. King has been quoted as saying that hearing Walker's composition 'Stormy Monday' on record was the inspiration for him getting his first guitar The stage antics of many including legendary musicians such as Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix were directly adapted from T-Bones performance style. T Bone's classic electric guitar licks and techniques are still, sixty years later, mainstream elements of lead guitar vocabulary used by many of today's Blues and Rock & Roll legends.
In the mid-1940s he became a band leader, signed a recording contract with the Black and White label. There he turned out some of the best titles of his career, including "Stormy Monday." Many of his songs reached the Top Ten on the Hit Parade.
In the 1950s he recorded under the Imperial label and worked for Atlantic Records. Walker won a Grammy award in 1970 and was inducted into the Rock & Roll hall of Fame in 1987. Walker continued to play and record until stomach illness and a 1974 stroke slowed his career to a crawl. He died in 1975.
All Music Guide has a biography and a complete discography of T-Bone Walker. CLICK HERE to read to read more about him. They also include 15 second samples of many of his songs for you to listen to.
You can see some videos of this great Bluesman on our website. Click the links below to see the videos
- T-Bone Walker & B B King vintage clip from the late 60's
- The American Folk Blues Festival 1962 in Germany
- Clip with jazz vocalist Helen Hume joins Willie Dixon, Memphis Slim, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGee
We have many more videos of Blues masters on our website. CLICK HERE to view them.
Blues Link of the Week
|
This is a "Blues Jazz and Guitar journal" site by Arkansas Bluesman Mike Dollins. Many of the biggest Blues legends have hailed from the state of Arkansas. If you want to know about Arkansas Blues this site is a good place to start. There are tons of Blues and guitar links here with monthly updates. A great place for some late night Blues web surfin'. You can also check out Mike's personal website at http://www.mikedollins.biz/ for even more great links.
For more Blues links CLICK HERE to visit the IllinoisBlues.com Links Page
If you know of a COOL Blues link, please send it to
Streaming Blues Link of the Week
GotRadio is a privately funded, limited liability company, located in the greater Sacramento, California area. GotRadio launched in spring of 2003, and was founded by veteran streamcaster, Val Starr. GotRadio’s goal is to become a global leader in providing the highest quality entertainment and educational streaming content to it’s world-wide audience. They stream music in many musical styles including Blues that play in their own version of a web media player.
To go right to the Blues stream and listen, CLICK HERE
Other IMPORTANT News Help Save the music! CLICK HERE to Keep Blues Radio Alive!
Featured Blues Reviews
James “Skyy Dobro” Walker , noted Blues writer and Blues Blast contributor reviews a new DVD by Willie King - Down In The Woods
The
Son Seals Story
DVD: A Journey Through the Blues
VizzTone Label Group
By James “Skyy Dobro” Walker
Length 30:00 minutes, plus extra 1/2 hour of live concert footage; Highly
Recommended
Frank “Son” Seals 1942 – 2004
Chicago Bluesman extraordinaire, Son Seals, passed away at age 62 from
complications with diabetes.
“....the music was a release. His pent up frustrations as a man came out through the music. Also, he recognized he was a healer. He was helping other people get their frustrations out – to release themselves - for them to feel better as a result of his music. So I think he saw himself as an emotional tour guide, leading people from inner frustration to external release.” Bruce Iglauer, President Alligator Records, quoted from the DVD.
My wife and I moved to the Northern part of Illinois in 1976. In July 1978, we attended our first Chicago Blues club show at the Wise Fool’s Pub to see Son Seals. He autographed my March 23, 1978 issue of Rolling Stone magazine underneath his photo. That issue had helped break him nationwide with a nice introductory article about him and his second CD, Midnight Son. (To see James' autographed Rolling Stone, CLICK HERE )
Between sets we talked about the new Susan B. Anthony dollar coins, which had just been released, and how much they looked like quarters. And, Seals did his best to start a second Chicago fire with his guitar playing. For sure, he lit us up! Son Seals: too soon gone; too late better appreciated. As is too often the case, better appreciation comes only after an artist has passed. Well, better late than never. That is where this wonderful, newly released DVD of Son Seals’ life and music becomes so valuable.
A Journey Through The Blues: The Son Seals Story follows his humble beginnings Arkansas, his move to Chicago, and his rise to the largest blues stages in the world through documentary footage, interviews with the legend himself, and interviews with friends and fellow musicians like Bruce Iglauer, Koko Taylor, Steven Seagal, Dr. John, and Lonnie Brooks. 12 of his songs have performance snippets interspersed among the narrations. As a bonus, there are three full length live Chicago performances from House of Blues 1998, Rooster Blues 2001, and the Chicago Blues Festival 2001.
Son Seals’ skill, songwriting, and showmanship made him one of the greatest Chicago Blues artists, but his turbulent life made him on of the most colorful and interesting. Despite taking a bullet in the face (that was never extracted) and ultimately losing a leg to diabetes, Seals remained committed to playing what he knew was his own music regardless of anyone else.
When guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Frank "Son" Seals unleashed his debut album on Alligator Records in 1973, his feral guitar work, scorching vocals and innovative songwriting immediately marked him as one of the major blues voices of his generation. Son was an original, writing most of his own material and playing his guitar with a fierce, raw intensity matched only by his ferocious vocals. Born in Osceola, Arkansas in 1942, Seals grew up immersed in the blues. His childhood home was a few rooms in the back of his father Jim's juke joint, “The Dipsy Doodle” (famous for blues in the front and dice in the back). With musicians like Sonny Boy Williamson, Albert King, and Robert Nighthawk playing within earshot of his bed nearly every night, Son knew the blues before he began walking. At 18 he was playing guitar in his own band and playing drums behind whomever was playing in his father's club. In 1963 he hit the road with Earl Hooker and was soon drumming with Albert King. He moved to Chicago and released his first album in 1973, but it was Midnight Son in 1976 that was his big breakthrough. Son moved from the Chicago clubs to playing the biggest stages in the blues.
DVD Highlights:
* Koko Taylor commenting, “...He had his own style.... and when you hear him play, everybody knows that’s Son Seals in there playing.”
*Frank Pellegrino of Kingston Mines called Seals, a “good teddy bear with a chainsaw.”
* Bruce Iglauer’s description of how the instrumental “Hot Sauce” was created and named.
* The interviews with Son himself, and the live performance footages.
To Purchase this DVD Now CLICK HERE
For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE.
IllinoisBlues.com also features a review by a Bluesman Dale Clark. Dale reviews a new CD by Steve Gerard and the National Debonaires - New Sounds From Kansas City
Steve
Gerard and the National Debonaires
New Sounds From Kansas City
Soundgate Records
http://www.nationaldebonaires.com/
Review by Dale Clark
This is an outstanding new album by a new band of mature players with long musical resumés. Plainly, this is a project of Steve Gerard who begins with a strong sense of American musical history and means to make that history bend back at least one more time in the direction of the swing sound.
This album earns our attention through stand out performances, fresh writing, and near flawless discipline in conception.
As guitarist, Gerard brings his best game to New Sounds From Kansas City, not as the show stopping soloist but as the master stylist at the spine of the thing who knows the idioms of blues, swing, and jazz so profoundly he can produce the exact effect he is seeking in every song. Mike “Shinetop Jr.” Sedovic lifts songs with his honky tonk piano as on “My Baby’s Gone” and drives the album to its high point with his organ in the “Ain’t Gonna Happen Again” dirge. Patrick Recob skillfully walks the standup bass throughout the album, at times, as in “Heavy Weight Baby,” reminding us of our endless fascination with this remarkable instrument. Andy Graffiti makes the whole project go forward with the kind of pushing drumming that separates good blues bands from the also-rans. In addition, there are guest performances by Fabulous Thunderbirds drummer Jimi Bott, Mike Morgan and the Crawl harmonica player Lee McBee, three time Canadian blues “Horn Player of the Year” Mike Clark, and Anson Funderburgh piano side-kick Doug “Sarge” Rynack. This is a talented and highly experienced group of players, and Gerard and his co-producer Steve McBride deserve tremendous credit for getting great performances from them and for bleeding it together to make vital swing.
The surprise on the album is singer Dave “Elmo” Bailey. Mo Bailey turns out to have a deep throated voice you will never forget. Once through New Sounds From Kansas City, I picked Mo out on the radio after hearing just one line. Bailey is that rare, fine, European American, male blues singer; on this collection he achieves not just good singing in some “beautiful music” sensibility, but becomes a presence and a persona that links the whole thing together and gives it personality.
As an album of music, Gerard has provided wonderful contrasts of style and pace—alternating from swing, to string bending blues, to piano rock, to swamp boogie, to harmonica shuffle.
Gerard wrote six of the songs, Graffiti two; three are from... CLICK HERE to read more of this review on our website.
For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE.
Chicago Blues Update
Live Blues reviews by Chicago Blues editor Lordy
Blues Beat: Chicago, Saturday, November 16, 2007 (Photos by August Lord)
Nick Moss and Kilborn Alley at Buddy Guy's Legends
One of the Wonders of the Blues World is Buddy Guy’s Legends here on South Wabash. Blue Bella Records, also here in Chicago, hosted a CD release party at this landmark venue for Nick Moss & the Flip Tops on Saturday night. By my count this is young Nick’s sixth recording project and is titled Play Until Dawn. While Nick’s efforts have been progressively more contemporary, Play Until Dawn, is still pure, high octane Chicago Blues.
The party started with label-mates, The Kilborn Alley Blues Band doing a set. Fresh off their own recent CD release for Burn Down Chicago , Kilborn did an impressive job on the bluesification of the SRO crowd. Joe Asselin (harp), Chris Breen (bass), Ed O’Hara (drums), Josh Stimmel (guitar) and Andy Duncanson (vocals and guitar), still had a lot more in them before they turned the stage over to the Flip Tops. Whether by design or luck, Kilborn Alley seems to fit right in with the gritty, basic true Chicago blues sound that seems to define Blue Bella Records to this point.
Nick Moss & The Flip Tops is a group of talented, multi-instrumentalists who find ways to pay homage to their Chicago forefathers and yet express themselves through their various instruments. Nick can be found on guitar, bass, harp as well as excellent vocals. Gerry Hundt moves between bass, guitar, mandolin, harp and vocals. “Piano” Willie Oshawney is sometime found on the bass. Throughout all this change the heartbeat is drummer Eddie Kobeck.
I am not a CD reviewer, but as a fan, I have the latest product from both of these bands on regular rotation in my car. Noted blues writer and reviewer James “Skyy Dobro” Walker and his wife were in attendance, as were many other blues musicians who came to celebrate the release. Having four Italian brothers myself however, my favorite moment is when Joe Moss, Nick’s brother and mentor sat in for some sibling sounds.
CLICK HERE to visit Lordy's website at ChicagoBluesBeat.com
To see a Chicago Area list of upcoming events CLICK HERE
If you know of a Chicago Blues event or news, please send it to
Featured Advertisers
Dutch film-makers Saskia Rietmeijer and Bart Drolenga of Visible World Films came to America with the intention of producing a documentary about African American arts and culture in the deep South. When they met Willie King, they decided instead to devote their efforts to creating a DVD about Willie's life and times.
Over a period of several months, the couple recorded Willie King as he worked with his community in Pickens County and performed at festivals, juke joints and parties.
The DVD is a fascinating collage of Willie King's life and many activites, illuminated by searing live performances and interviews with his family and friends. It enables the viewer to experience what it is like to be a modern bluesman living in the Alabama Black Belt, "down in the woods."
To Purchase this DVD Now CLICK HERE
Blues Want Ads
Music Lessons
Delta Dale A... Giving music lessons in my home: (In the comfort of my sunny bright sunroom near downtown Green Bay,WI. Well stocked with over thirty instruments and amps, PA system, computer, video, etc...)
Slide guitar and tunings (open G, open D, etc)...Opening tunings and fingerstyle (Hawaiian slack key, DADGAD, DADDAD, DGDGBD, DADF#AD, etc)... Delta blues (Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, early Muddy waters)... Finger picking(Travis, use of thumb & finger picks)... UKULELE, yes I now give Uke lessons! (I have a huge uke collection!) Music theory, chord relationships, circle of fifths, transposing keys, etc...
I taught blues, slide and old time guitar at University of Wisconsin Green Bay last summer for 60 students grade 8-12 from all over the USA. I worked with a team of six music teachers hailing from Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota and Wisconsin. I will be there again next summer July 27 through August 1! See: https://www.uwgb.edu/camps/
I'm looking to get a good schedule of students, young and old... Give me a call! 920-562-0018 Thanks! Dale Anderson www.myspace.com/thedeltajets
For Sale
Gorgeous 1998 Alembic Essence 4 string bass (with gig bag and locking strap) with a Bocate top, Mahogany body, Ebony fretboard, Maple neck with Walnut stripes, and a Walnut tone plate between the top and body. No alterations of any kind. It has active electronics which uses a "Tone Filter" instead of the usual bass and treble controls. With this one control you can create an AMAZING amount of usable tones. The pickups are the MXYAlembic "activators". There is also a "pan" control and "volume" control. I believe this is the best type of electronics for Alembics basses. This professional bass is in top condition! $1500.00. evulich@mchsi.com 319.365.2686
Musicians Wanted
Harmonica/Vocalist/award winning Songwriter seeking guitar player in and around Springfield, IL area to arrange and record and gig when possible. Serious inquiries only. Drummer and bassist would also be wonderful. Heavily influenced by the Electric Blues of late 40s and 50s Chicago and 60's soul/R&B. Musical influences include but are not limited to Magic Sam, Muddy Waters, Albert King, early Kent sides of B.B. King, Little Walter, Junior Wells, Big Walter Horton, Slim Harpo, Carey Bell, Elmore James, Paul Butterfield, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, and many others. Please email bluesman2383@yahoo.com if any of this sounds like a serious pursuit for you. I would like to gig locally and travel a bit. Looking to record this winter and the early part of next year.
Veteran of Peoria, IL area music scene now available for work. Can play harmonica, guitar, mandolin, and Grandma's washboard. Love all styles of music, electric and acoustic. Willing to work with any size group ( Duo, trio, etc ). If you feel you're missing something, let me add it for you. Have references. Contact me at brianstear@sbcglobal.net
Place Your Blues Want Ad for Free
Place your WANT AD here for FREE. Buy or sell, musicians wanted, gigs wanted etc. Limit 500 words. All ads submitted will be used if space allows. If space is limited, a selection of ads submitted will be randomly selected to appear in the Blues Blast.
Featured Events
Springfield's newest and BEST Blues Bar
11 W. Old State Capitol
Plaza Springfield, IL
217-522-5732
Quad-Cities "only Blues"
venue!
3303 Brady St. Davenport, Iowa * MAP * (563) 324-4619
3207 N University Peoria IL 61604
Located in the Community Bingo Building
309-681-1241
Upcoming Blues Bands
Blues Society News
The West Virginia Blues Society - Charleston, WV
Volunteer for a Good Cause! The West Virginia Blues Society is an all-volunteer organization. A 501 (C) (3) Non Profit group. We need your help to keep the the Blues scene in West Virginia alive and well . We are 93 members strong at this point. Can we make it 100 before the end of the year ?? Ask a coworker, a friend or just somebody that loves the Blues to be a part of our Great Blues Society and Join TODAY !!! By lending a hand at WVBS functions, you can help make an impact.
Committees are currently forming. Please let us know if you would like to volunteer. Current committees that need a helping hand:
Newsletter: Submit articles and content. Tell the world about important local and national Blues News!
Event Boosters: When we host or support large events or fundraisers, help is needed. Help is always welcome, whether its being a roadie or manning an information desk while you enjoy the show!
Membership Committee: This committee will maintain and expand the membership base, facilitate member communications, plan and negotiate discounts and perks with businesses for members.
Fundraising Committee: Source personal and corporate donations, Identify potential sources of funding for programs, operations and special events. Source local, regional and national organization grants and in-kind contributions and Coordinate fundraising strategies. Initiate partnerships and events that promote the Society's goals by raising funds to continue our efforts.
We also have a Treasure position open as well. Visit our website to read our first edition of our Newsletter, The Regulator. We are also busy in fundraising for our Memphis or Bust Trip. We are looking for financial support for our TWO Acts that we are Proud to be their Sponsor. Billy The Kid and The Regulators and Izzy and Chris.
Our great Society is sure to turn some heads at the 2008 IBC in
Memphis with the talent that we are sending. They will surely put us on the
National Blues Map. But, we need YOU to make it happen as well. Check our
Society calendar on our web page often for Blues News to see
what is happening close to you. If, you have Blues News get it to us and we will
get the word out. 2008 is shaping up to be a exciting year
and we want you to be a part of it.:)
Let's ALL Keep the Blues Alive and Well...........:) Jack Rice, President www.wvbluessociety.org
Illinois Central Blues Club Springfield, IL - Blue Mondays
The Alamo 115 N 5th St, Springfield, IL (217) 523-1455 8:30pm $2 cover
December 3
Suzy & The Smokers
December 10 Andrew “ J R Boy” Jones
December 17 Sally Weisenburg & The Famous Sidemen
Mississippi Valley Blues Society - Davenport, IA presents
MVBS Holiday Party December 8th - Lil Dave Thompson at Blueport Junction
The Mississippi Valley Blues Society will hold an open-to-the-public Holiday Party on Saturday, December 8. Music by Lil Dave Thompson will begin at 8:30 p.m. at Blueport Junction 6605 West River Drive, Davenport IA 563 326-2151. Admission is $5.00, with MVBS members getting raffle tickets.
Lil Dave Thompson is one of the best of the next generation of the blues. David Lonzo Thompson is a self-described “third or fourth generation Delta bluesman” whose father played with many of the Delta legends, including Asie Payton and James “Son” Thomas. Lil Dave was born in 1969 in Hinds County, Mississippi, and came up in such legendary locales as Moorhead, Indianola and Leland, Mississippi. He formed his first band at the age of fourteen, later toured with the late, great Booba Barnes, and cut a couple of CDs on the Fat Possum label in the mid 1990s, which garnered him two Handy Award nominations. With guitar skills described as part Albert King, part Little Milton, this young man is sure to take everyone’s mind off the old red and green, and get it back where it belongs, in the blues. Blueport Junction is located on W. River Drive (US 61), just east of the intersection with I-280.
Send your Society's BIG news or Press Release to:
Blues Fans & Friends Submissions
Upcoming Friends of the Blues EARLY shows:
Tuesday, December 4 - Shawn Kellerman, 7:00 PM Brandon Casey’s, 235 N Kinzie Ave (Route 50), Bradley IL 60915. 815-802-0202. www.shawnkellerman.com
Live Blues Calendar
Performance dates were submitted by Musicians, Club Owners, Blues Societies and Blues festivals.
IllinoisBlues.com is not responsible for errors or omissions.
CLICK HERE - for the Latest Complete Blues Calendar on our website at: IllinoisBlues.com. |
or click a state to see Blues shows by State
Alabama
Alaska Arizona
Arkansas
California Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
D.C.
Florida Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Other
Submit your blues
performances for FREE
at:
http://www.illinoisblues.com/submitnews.htm
Advertise with IllinoisBlues.com
Click Here to become
llinoisBlues.com covers Blues all over the US - NOT just in Illinois!
You can post your festivals and performance dates on our website for FREE at:
http://www.illinoisblues.com/submitnews.htm
If you list your performance dates they will go
to thousands of Blues fans in the next Blues Blast emails. They will also be
listed on the Blues Shows page at
http://www.illinoisblues.com/bluesshows.htm
IllinoisBlues.com also offers paid/sponsored advertising for Festivals and
Club Owners, Recording Companies and Performers selling their own music or
performances. We can put your Blues advertisement on our homepage at:
http://www.illinoisblues.com either as a sponsored event or as a
featured event, product, recording or merchandise .
We have a very large and growing email list of Blues Fans, Musicians, Club
Owners, Blues Societies and Festival Promoters all over the Central US. We send
out weekly Blues Blasts of Blues events and news. With paid advertising we
can feature your event or product in these emails.
We are getting an enormous amount of visitors and hits. Our rates are very
reasonable.
Kick your MOJO into
High Gear
Contact us
Today!
Visit our website at:
P.O. Box 721
Pekin, Illinois 61555
© 2007
IllinoisBlues.com
IllinoisBlues.com
SPAM POLICY
If you
ever wish NOT to receive our Blues Blast emails you can promptly un-subscribe your
email address.
To be REMOVED from the Blues Blast Updates
Send an email with a blank subject line to the address below: