THE RUSS BALLARD BAND
OTIS GRAND AND THE BIG BLUES BAND
BERNIE TORMÉ BUTLINS PROUDLY PRESENTS
BUTLINSOF PROUDLY PRESENTS CRAZY WORLD
ARTHUR BROWN
BILLY BOY ARNOLD
THE GREAT BRITISH JEFF RICH SNAKE DAVIS BAND ROCK &JBLUES FESTIVAL AND THE TRIPLE BAND ANIMALS 22 - 25 JANUARY 2016, BUTLIN’S SKEGNESS DEBORAH
AND FRIENDS BONHAM FM SLACK ALICE EUGENE AYNSLEY LISTER
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OTIS GRAND KENT DUCHAINE AND THE BIG BLUES BAND BILLY BOY ARNOLD CHERRY LEE MEWIS ROSCO LEVEE JEFF RICH THE RUSS BALLARD BAND
HOUSE BERNIE TORMÉ
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AND TRIPLE BAND AND THE THE TRIPLE J JBAND BAND BILLY WALTON
AND THE DIRTY ACES
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Price shown is per person per break based on four adults sharing a Silver self-catering apartment and includes all discounts and £s off. Price is correct as of 26.08.15 but is subject to availability. £20 off is a per booking discount and applies to new bookings only for The Great British Rock and Blues Festival at Skegness on 22 January 2016 for three nights when booking by Friday 22 January 2016. £s off do not apply to two night breaks or rooms for two. Act line up is correct at time of print but is subject to change. All offers are subject to promotional availability, may be withdrawn at any time and cannot be combined with any other offer or internet code except the 5% Premier Club loyalty discount. For full terms and conditions please visit butlins.com/terms. The maximum call charge is 4p per minute from a BT landline. Calls from other networks may vary. Butlins Skyline Limited, 1 Park Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP2 4YL. Registered in England No. 04011665.
JAZZ JAZZ AFTERNOONS AFTERNOONS
BUTLINS PROUDLY PRESENTS
THE GREAT BRITISH ROCK & BLUES FESTIVAL 22 - 25 JANUARY 2016, BUTLIN’S SKEGNESS
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VISIT BIGWEEKENDS.COM OR CALL 0330 100 9742
Contents
Welcome
87 IssDecu/Jean #2016
Welcome
So the clocks have gone forward the hour that is still a question up for debate to leave it alone or not but don’t you just hate it when it gets dark at around 4pm or earlier? Lights on, curtains closed, heating up and looking forward to Spring time once we have survived Christmas and the New Year festivities. No doubt we have all been in training and dieting in preparation. Drinking arm co-ordination is important whether you are left or right handed and wrist strategy for the various sweet wrappers we encounter in the smaller growing tubs the manufacturers present us with as we contest that purple one with the kids diving in at the same time. Before we get to Christmas you have your latest brimming issue in your hands and what a range of reading we have for you! Do remember that we carry a lot of CD reviews on our web site that we sadly cannot fit into these pages. You can also find our interview database if you want to check who we have covered and when (710 interviews over 85 issues! not bad). For this issue we have the amazing Walter Trout back on creative form, Joe Louis Walker, British strutter Maggie Bell (first of a two parts), UK stalwart Ian Siegal, the growing reputation of Debbie Bond, the long serving Rusty Wright, the terrific harp blowing Jim Zeller and John Riley plus the gentleman behind the drums for so many blues stars Mr Willie ‘The Touch’ Hayes recently here with Lurrie Bell on tour is interviewed for your delight, what a man! Check out KitChat, what’s going on down under and our Blues harmonica series and of course the festival and gig sections busy period. Now where oh where can you get so much for the cover price?! Go make yourselves a cuppa or take a top off a bottle and settle down for a good Blues reading…
If you have a row with someone try walking a mile in their shoes! That way they can’t catch up with you! MERRY CHRISTMAS Don’t forget your feedback to: editor@bluesmatters.com
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Blues Matters! | #87
| Page 5
Welcome
contents
Printed by Pensord Distributed by Warners
KRIS BARRAS BAND
cOntributOrs wriTerS Liz Aiken, Roy Bainton, Kris Barras, Adrian Blacklee, Bob Bonsey, Eddy Bonte (Bel), Colin Campbell, Martin Cook, Norman Darwen, Claire Davies, Dave Drury, Carl Dziunka (Aus), Sybil Gage (USA), Diane Gillard, Stuart A. Hamilton, Brian Harman, Gareth Hayes, Trevor Hodgett, Billy Hutchinson, Peter Innes, Brian Kramer (Sw), Frank Leigh, Andy Mann, Mairi MacLennen, Ben McNair, Christine Moore, Toby Ornott, Merv Osborne, David Osler, Iain Patience, Thomas Rankin, Clive Rawlings, Darrell Sage (USA), Paromita Saha (USA), Pete Sargeant, Dave ‘the Bishop’ Scott, Graeme Scott, Ashwyn Smyth (Fr), Andy Snipper, Dave Stone, Suzanne Swanson (Can), Tom Walker, Dave Ward, Liam Ward, Rhys Williams, Steve Yourglivch. phoTographerS Christine Moore, Liz Aiken, Annie Goodman, others credited on page. © 2015 blues matters! Original material in this magazine is © the authors. Reproduction may only be made with prior consent of the Editor and provided that acknowledgement is given of the source and copy is sent to the editorial address. Care is taken to ensure that the contents of this magazine are accurate but the publishers do not accept any responsibility for errors that may occur or views expressed editorially. All rights reserved. No parts of this magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying recording or otherwise without prior permission of the editor. submissions: Readers are invited to submit articles, letters and photographs for publication. The publishers reserve the right to amend any submissions and cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage. please note: Once submitted material becomes the intellectual property of Blues Matters and can only later be withdrawn from publication at the expediency of Blues Matters. advertisements: Whilst responsible care is taken in accepting advertisements if in doubt readers should make their own enquiries. The publisher cannot accept any responsibility for any resulting unsatisfactory transactions, nor shall they be liable for any loss or damage to any person acting on information contained in this publication. We will however investigate complaints.
23 P&O BLUES CRUISE
98 WILLIE ‘THE TOUCH’ HAYES
58 Page 6 | Blues Matters! | #87
Contents
87 IssDeuc/Jean 2#016
Contents
Regulars
08 20 34 72 78 84
Happenin’
The full round up of news from the blues plus our regular favourite features Harp Attack and Kitchat.
BLUE BLOOD
Upcoming bands keeping the flame burning: Jackson D, Phil Busby, Johnny Bird, Kris Barras, The Milk Men and Robert Zott.
BLUES TOP TEN
Multi-award winning Ian Siegal talks us through his top blues tracks.
RED LICK TOP 20
As usual Red Lick keeping us up to speed on the best sellers.
RMR BLUES TOP 50
The Roots Music Report with the chart that really matters.
IBBA BLUES TOP 50
UK Independent Blues Broadcasters Association list of the most played music on the airwaves.
INTERVIEWS
26 30 36 40
Walter Trout
The legendary guitarist on fightin’ back and battle scars.
Ian Siegal
Catching up with Ian since he moved to the Netherlands.
Debbie Bond
Singer, song-writer and guitarist from the Alabama backwoods to international performer.
Jim Zeller
Welcome
A rare interview with the Montreal harp legend.
46 50 54 58 64 68
Rusty Wright Band
Band leader Rusty tells us about his journey with his Southern infused Michigan based blues rock outfit.
Shoutin’ Red
Keeping the flame of Mississippi Country Blues burning brightly in Sweden.
Johnny Riley
Described as a Southern US Jukebox Johnny is definitely one to watch.
Willie ‘the touch’ Hayes
One of Blues most respected drummers. His career is a who’s who of US bluesmen.
The Jar Family
From the north-east of England one of our most unique and compelling bands.
Joe Louis Walker
Blues Hall of Fame inductee Joe talks about his brand new album and hopes for the future.
FEATURES
16
WIZARDS OF OZ
73 98
ALBUMS
Part 5 of our regular round up of everything Blues from Australia.
REVIEWS The biggest and most comprehensive blues review section just gets better and better.
SHOWTIME
Round up of festivals and gigs including Chicago, Colne, Gloucester and Outwood plus shows by top names like Robert Cray, Rebecca Downes, Chantel McGregor, Dr. Feelgood and so many more.
Blues Matters! | #87
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Happenin’
neWs
87 IssDeuc/Jean 2#016 ve r Bals: steve you rg lIvch
haPPenIn’
a l l t h e B l u e s t h at ’ s f i t t o p r i n t, f r o M a r o u n d t h e W o r l d
Monster Truck, Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, and Beth Hart). It features guest appearances from Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top), Walter Trout, Warren Haynes, Robben Ford, Chris Duarte & Eric Gales.
ADAM NORSWORTHY BY ANNA GREEN
ADAM NORSWORTHY Mustangs lead singer Adam Norsworthy releases his seventh solo album, Rainbird, in the New Year, with guest appearances from UK Blues drumming legend Wayne Proctor, and Nimmo Brothers bass player Mat Beable. Proctor and Beable play on 9 of the 13 songs. “It’s a huge honour to have players of the calibre of Wayne and Mat play on the record. They have really added their exquisite taste to the songs, and the mix is just perfect.” Featuring 13 original songs by Norsworthy, the album follows on from last year’s crIticially-acclaimed Love & Wine, and will once again be released on Trapeze records. There are plans for the trio to do some live shows in support of Rainbird next year. SUPERSONIC BLUES MACHINE DEBUT ALBUM The collaborative extravaganza that is Supersonic Blues Machine, Lance Lopez on guitar, Kenny Aronoff, drums and bassist Fabrizio Grossi, will release their debut album ‘West of Flushing, South of Frisco’ on Provogue/Mascot Label Group (Black Stone Cherry, Page 8 | Blues Matters! | #87
ALLIGATOR RECORDS SIGN MORELAND & ARBUCkLE. Alligator Records is pleased to announce the signing of roots rock/blues band Moreland & Arbuckle. The self-described “roots and blues from the heartland” group (guitarist Aaron Moreland, harpist/vocalist Dustin Arbuckle and drummer Kendall Newby) will release their as yet untitled label debut -- produced by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, The Sword) -- in Spring, 2016. According to Moreland, “The new album is consciously more traditional than our last two, but still has the signature grit and power that we have crafted the past 13 years. We achieved that beautifully.” Since first joining forces in Wichita, Kansas in 2001, Moreland & Arbuckle have created an impressive body of work, releasing six critically acclaimed albums. With a broad musical vision and a deep sense of history, the band plays smartly written contemporary songs delivered with musical muscle and fifth-gear urgency. Relentlessly merging raw Delta and Mississippi Hill Country blues, folk, and traditional country with energetic rock and soul, Moreland & Arbuckle continually take their music in new, unexpected directions. No Depression says, “These guys have kegs full of talent. Their songs will keep you driving fast and long.” From the 2005 self-release of their first album, Caney Valley Blues to 2013’s 7 Cities (also produced by Bayles) on Telarc, Moreland & Arbuckle have grown from a fiery, crowd-pleasing duo to a genre-smashing three-piece band impossible to categorize but rooted deep in the blues. Together, Moreland’s rhythmic and propulsive guitar work and Arbuckle’s emotionallycharged harmonica and edgy vocals -- supported by Newby’s tough drumming -- create a sound that is forceful enough to grab a listener’s attention and nuanced enough to hold it. American Songwriter says the group’s music is “swampy, sweaty and muggy.... mixing a bluesy foundation with bits of country, folk and squawking American rock and roll.” WNYC’s Soundcheck says the band plays “gritty blues with a thoroughly contemporary bite.”
News
WALTER TROUT PROUDLY BECOMES A PATRON OF THE BRITISH LIVER TRUST. Walter received a liver transplant after nearly facing death in 2014. He now feels like a new man and has immense gratitude for his supporters, his donor and the medical community who gave him a second chance at life. Recognizing that liver disease is a ‘silent killer’ and many people are unaware of it until it is too late, he has become a Patron of the Trust because he wants to help raise awareness, much needed funding and encourage everyone to ensure that their loved ones know their wishes regarding becoming a donor. Walter is supporting the Trust in his upcoming November UK tour. His new album Battle Scars, released on Provogue/ Mascot Label Group chronicles his battle with liver failure. Walter found out that he had liver disease in 2013. His health deteriorated and he almost died. He spent a month in intensive care and then a further five months on a liver ward first waiting for a transplant and then recovering after surgery. His fans - many of them from England - used the internet to support Walter and help him raise $250,000 needed to help towards his medical bills for his liver transplant in 2014. Liver disease is currently the third commonest cause of premature death in the UK – more than 12 million
of us are at risk of liver disease yet we have very few resources compared with other conditions. With more funding into better research and care and by encouraging many more people to become a donor we can save more people’s lives. Without the funding that supports research and new developments in care and without people agreeing to donate their organs, Walter would not be alive today. He now feels he wants to give something back and raise awareness for the condition. “I am delighted that Walter Trout has agreed to support the British Liver Trust and become our Patron.” Said Andrew Langford, Chief Executive of t he British Liver Trust. “As Walter knows it is a silent killer and by the time that you have the symptoms it can often be too late. I would urge everyone to take the British Liver Trust’s free online Love Your Liver health screener on our website to see if you are at risk. Please also make sure that your loved ones know your wishes regarding organ donation and consider joining Walter in supporting us.” Talking about his involvement with the trust, Walter opens up; “Liver disease almost cost me my life. The disease progressively drained me of my life force until I was on the verge of death. A miraculous liver transplant allowed me to survive and thrive once again. I owe my life to the research and development in the
SMOKIN’ JOE KUBEK
ALLEN TOUSSAINT
Nov 30th 1956 - Oct 11th 2015 The blues world was shocked by the sudden death by heart attack of Joe Kubek just before he was due to play at The Pleasure Island Seafood and Blues Festival in North Carolina. Smokin’ Joe was born in Grove City, Pennsylvania but moved to Dallas at an early age, becoming influenced by the Texas Blues scene, particularly Freddie King who Joe jammed with as a young lad. Ironically Joe was due to support Freddie on tour but it didn’t happen because of the sudden death of King in 1976. Joe steadily built his reputation first by supporting many top players like Albert and BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan who he became close friends with, and by leading his own bands. In 1989 Joe met Bnois King at a Dallas jam session and the pair quickly became partners and collaborators. Their contrasting styles brought the best out of each other, Joe once saying, ‘ I pull the blues out of him, he pulls the jazz out of me. We are constantly pushing each other higher.’ The first album of many they recorded together was Stepping Out Texas Style on the Bullseye label in 1991. As a duo they went on the achieve National and International recognition releasing in total 18 albums together, most recently Fat Man’s Shine Parlor on Blind Pig earlier this year.
Image via bluesmobile.com
Happenin’
Jan 14th 1938 - Nov 12th 2015 Allen Toussaint has died aged 77. He is one of the most respected songwriters and performers America ever produced and will forever associated with the rich musical heritage of New Orleans. Some of the famous compositions he wrote that were hits for others include Ruler Of My Heart ( Irma Thomas), Mother In Law and Here Come The Girls ( both Ernie K Doe), Working In The Coal Mine ( Lee Dorsey), Fortune Teller ( Rolling Stones), Southern Nights ( Glen Campbell), and Yes We Can ( Pointer Sisters). As a producer hits included Right Place, Wrong Time for Dr.John and Lady Marmalade for the disco duo Labelle. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and being missing for three days, he relocated to New York and performed regularly in Greenwich Village. He recorded the Katrina themed album, The River In Reverse with Elvis Costello in 2006 and toured worldwide. The youngest child of three Allen taught himself piano, influenced by the likes of Albert Ammons and Professor Longhair. By 13 he had joined the R&B band The Flamingos that also included Snooks Eaglin, and recorded his first instrumental album in 1958. He was awarded with The National Medal of the Arts by President Obama, partly due to his sterling work to regenerate New Orleans after Katrina.
Image via allaboutjazz.com
Blues Matters! | #87
| Page 9
Happenin’
NEws
medical field around treatment of liver diseases. I am happy to work with the British Liver Trust to promote awareness about the silent killer among us. I am thrilled because new treatments are emerging at the moment, and to help raise awareness around this, and to empower people to seek treatment, is something I feel privileged to do.” EDINBURGH BLUES CLUB GOES FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH. Edinburgh Blues Club presents every shade of blues in most versatile programme yet. Edinburgh Blues Club has released its eagerly anticipated Nov 2015-May 2016 schedule, showcasing some of the biggest names in the global blues scene and underlining its reputation as one of Scotland’s most successful new live music ventures. Highlights include an intimate acoustic set from blues legend Paul Jones, the searing blues rock of Danny Bryant, the fluid Weissenborn lap slide guitar of Martin Harley and the deeply groovy funk blues of Ron Sayer Jr. & Charlotte Joyce. The growing national and international reputation of the Edinburgh Blues Club has enticed the likes of Texan multiple Blues Music Award winner Mike
Page 10 | Blues Matters! | #87
Zito, the deep primal Mississippi Delta grooves of Big Joe Louis, Radio 2 Blues Show legend Paul Jones, renowned roots and blues live act Martin Harley & Daniel Kimbro and recent British Blues Award winners Paul Lamb & Dani Wilde. As well as established high profile headline acts, Edinburgh Blues Club continues to showcase the best up and coming new acts including the Scottish debut from Blues Matters magazine’s ‘Best New UK Act 2014’ winners ‘Red Butler’. The Edinburgh Blues Club is a Social Enterprise established to harness popular support for regular blues events in Edinburgh. The club provide a monthly blues event, featuring touring blues acts from the UK and beyond. It truly is an Edinburgh success story at a time of concern for live music events in Scotland’s capital, adding a new dimension to the scene with a prodigious and growing membership, regular full houses and the ability to attract some of the biggest names in the business. All concerts will be held in the blues club’s regular venue ‘The Voodoo Rooms’ 19a West Register Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2AA. Doors open at 7.15pm. Visit www.edinburgh-blues.uk for full schedule.
R O O T S & new
Lead Belly's Gold
o
DIGISLEEV E DFGCD 8780
Huddie Ledbetter was many things - a legendary songster, a fugitive, a prisoner and a celebrity exploited and adored. Above all, he was a man who loudly claimed his right to be treated with respect. With great love for his music and deep respect for the man, singer/guitarist Eric Bibb & harmonica virtuoso JJ Milteau (together with drummer Larry Crockett) pay tribute to the one and only LEAD BELLY.
o
Don’t miss this exciting new collaboration from these two stars of contemporary blues! Including: Including: Midnight Special – On a Monday - Bourgeois Blues -
Goodnight, Irene - Rock Island Line – Where Did You Sleep Last Night Grey Goose – Stewball - House Of The Rising Sun – Pick A Bale Of Cotton && more more
POPA CHUBBY
B IG , B A D AND B E A U T IF U L L IV E
It has been ten long years since Popa Chubby released a live album. This double live CD was recorded in march 2015 and features Popa’s hits from “Booty and The Beast” all the way to his 25th Anniversary CD “I’m feeling lucky”. As a special treat Popa and band offer up an impromptu mini set of Rolling Stones classics. This is a career defining live release for the 55 year old NYC guitar slinger! 2CDs DIGISLEEV E DFGCD 8785
Balkun Brothers Seduced by the pissed-off blues-rock of two nasty little brats from Connecticut, Popa Chubby decided to produce their first album and to hit the road with them. Saint Slide pray for us, time has come for the Balkun Brothers! DIGISLEEVE+BOOKLET DFGCD 8784 UK Distribution by DISCOVERY RECORDS LTD - 01380 728000 available from all good record retailers or order direct from www.discovery-records.com
Stay tuned to Dixiefrog artists at
www.bluesweb.com
Harp Attack
Part 4
Alan Glen Verbals: Liam Ward Visuals: Chris Dreja
The list of bands you’ve played with is up there with the best: The Yardbirds, Nine Below Zero and Little Axe... Who is the best musician you’ve collaborated with?
Thanks for being here Alan. I imagine you’re familiar with the magazine? Yes. I subscribe to Blues Matters.
You’re a stalwart of the British blues scene and have just received a British Blues Award nomination for best harmonica player. How does it feel to get this sort of recognition?
All musicians thrive on praise, so any kind of recognition is welcome. I must admit I’m surprised to be nominated in the final six again this year. The trouble with awards is Page 12 | Blues Matters! | #87
that all the players have their own styles and validity. You can’t really compare. Also there are some very fine players who haven’t been nominated.
Is there something different or special about British blues?
British blues is different. It was the Rolling Stones first album that led me to check out the great American bluesmen. The British invasion sold the blues back to the States in a new exciting form. I love both styles.
I’ve been fortunate to be in some great bands: Radical Sheiks, Brothers Grimm, Nine Below Zero, The Yardbirds, Little Axe etc. and play with many fine musicians including Steve Vai, Slash, Jeff Beck, Steve Lukather, Skunk Baxter, Buddy Whittington, Gypie Mayo, Hubert Sumlin, Zoot Money, Jim Mullen etc. It’s impossible to pick out one. However, I would say that my collaboration with Skip McDonald in Little Axe has proved very fruitful and led to many recording sessions for Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sounds label with great Dub Reggae artists like Junior Delgado and Dub Syndicate. I’ve recorded 7 albums to date with Little Axe and will be back in the studio with Skip next month to record new material.
You’ve also appeared alongside Jeff Beck. I once heard that Jeff wasn’t bothered about gear and will play any old guitar. What was he like? Jeff Beck performed on a track called My Blind Life on The Yardbirds Birdland album in 2003. We recorded it at Jeff’s studio in his house, doing the guitar - harmonica interplay as a ‘live’ take. Very cool. Afterwards, Jeff made us lunch.
You’re an experienced songwriter too, including a song featured in BB
Part 4
King’s film, Life of Riley. Can you tell us about this?
I have quite a few published. My biggest PRS earner is an album of instrumental music, all featuring blues harmonica, I performed and co-wrote with Roger Cotton, keyboard player with Peter Green’s Splinter Group. This music has been used in hundreds of TV programmes in the UK, Europe and the US, and continues to be repeated endlessly on Cable. It’s also been used in films including B.B.King’s ‘Life Of Riley’. We recorded all the stuff at Roger’s studio in Horton Kirby in Kent www.roundelstudio. co.uk.
Growing up in England, what got you playing harmonica?
I started off playing guitar but a trip to see the Muddy Waters Band playing in London in the late 60’s changed everything. I loved this band and was impressed that harmonica player (Paul Oscher) had the smallest instrument but made the biggest sound. I decided there and then I wanted to be a blues harmonica player.
Was there a real blues buzz in London in the late ‘60s and ‘70s?
There was great excitement in the 60’s, meeting others who were discovering this wonderful blues music, ordering our Chess recordings from the States.
And these days you’re involved in organising gigs and festivals in the city. It must be satisfying to come to this point? I organize the South London Folk Blues Festival (October). The John O’Leary/Alan Glen Allstars do a tribute to Junior Wells (Bulls Head, January); Cyril Davies (Eel Pie Club, March); Muddy Waters (Hideaway Club, April), and
at various times a tribute to Chess Records. We also run the Back To The Flamingo Club at the Bulls Head, Barnes, on the last Monday of every month - an 8-piece house band with different guests each month.
You appeared with Dr Feelgood on the album On The Road Again. Wilko Johnson has obviously been in the spotlight recently. Are you in touch with him?
I played harmonica on the Feelgood album, On the Road Again, their first recording after Lee Brilleux died. It featured Pete Gage on vocals. I talked with Wilko at Gypie Mayo’s funeral last year. I’m so glad to hear that he has had an all clear now. Gypie was a good friend. I really enjoyed my time with him in The Yardbirds.
Let’s talk harmonica gear. Do you use a classic set-up for amplified playing?
For amplified playing, I use a 1950’s tweed Fender Champ for recordings. It sounds massive in the studio but is too small for ‘live’ work. On stage I have either a Fender 59 Bassman or a Blues Deville 4x10. I have a couple of customised Astatic mics that I got from Rod Piazza, but lately I have been using harp mics made by Dr Ika.
And your preferred models of harmonica?
I play mostly Hohner Special 20 harmonicas and sometimes Lee Oskars for special keys.
What are your views on the newer companies in the US and Asia who are developing new models? It’s good to see harmonica’s improving and developing, and if it keeps people interested in playing that can only be good.
Harp Attack
Blues – and harmonica especially - is often learnt in the intuitive ‘by-ear’ tradition. Was this the case for you?
When I first started learning to play harmonica in the 60’s there were no tutors or books to learn from. I went to see all the great US bluesmen when they came over to London: Muddy, Junior Wells, Sonny Terry, American Folk Blues Festivals etc. And I was right down the front, watching their every move, asking questions when I could. I also spent many hours studying the recordings of my favourite players; Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Hamie Nixon, Walter Horton and all the others.
The learning process has clearly changed, with YouTube etc. Is this a gain or a loss? YouTube has definitely made it easier to learn by giving access to the great performers in your own living room.
You’re also an accomplished guitarist. Who are your guitar heroes?
I’m playing a fair bit of guitar these days with the Allstars, The Barcodes and the Ali Maas Band. It’s great being able to enjoy both instruments. My biggest guitar influences are Kenny Burrell, Peter Green, B.B.King and Robert Lockwood Junior.
Tell us about your band The Barcodes.
My band, The Barcodes, features myself, Bob Haddrell and Dino Coccia, and is basically a Jimmy Smith style organ trio, but with a Chicago blues twist. We are signed to Blake Powell’s Note Records www.note-music.co.uk and have 5 albums out including
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Part 4
our most recent, Be Cool - The Best of The Barcodes. We play both blues and jazz venues and inhabit that precious space between blues and jazz that I love, along with Mose Allison, Georgie Fame and Zoot Money. Sometimes we perform as a Quartet with Zoot’s Sax/Flute man Nick Newall, and we’ve also backed top jazz artists including Alan Barnes, Pee Wee Ellis, Jim Mullen and Art Themen. www.thebarcodes. co.uk.
You’ve been playing in London for a long time, and continue to gig regularly with the Barcodes and others. Do you still enjoy the high of live playing? I still get a buzz from playing live and although I am no longer in touring bands I enjoy playing regularly in the London area with great
musicians including Steve Morrison, Gordon Smith, Papa George, Robin Bibi, Delta Ladies, Ali Maas Band, Tim Hain Band, Daniel Smith Band, Skip McDonald, Simon Prager and Dave Peabody.
Wherever you play, people always seem to connect to the harmonica intuitively. What makes the instrument so perfect for blues music? The harmonica is the perfect instrument for blues, it soars above the music like the human voice and makes an instant connection.
Your playing is clearly rooted in many of the traditional harmonica greats. Have you been tempted at all by the overblow-driven directions newer players are taking? I’m all for innovation and new directions, it all helps to push
Harp Attack
the music forwards.
Who out of the current crop of harmonica players excites you?
Out of the current crop of new harp players I particularly like Will Wilde.
Final question: how do you see the future of the harmonica?
There will always be a future for the harmonica in blues music, but it would be good to hear more of the instrument in other forms of music. I have played on over 50 albums and while more than half of those are blues, I have also recorded many Reggae, Rock, Pop and Bluegrass sessions. All kinds of music can benefit from the great sounds of the harmonica.
visit www.learntheharmonica.com for more information
Blues Matters! | #87
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Feature
austRalIan Blues
WIZaRDs oF oZ #5 verbals and visuals: carl dziunka
the blues scene in australia became well established towards the end of the 1960S when australian artists, influenced by the music coming out of america and the uk, put their own adaptation on the music and australian blues was born
M
ost people have heard the expression ‘Paint the town Red’. Well Echuca had a different take on that on the last weekend of July when they painted the town Blue. The Blue was from Blues music, because on the last weekend in July, Echuca holds the Winter Blues Festival. This festival is a little unique in a number of different ways. It is held in the middle of winter for a start, most festivals being held during the summer months. All the artists playing at the festival are Australian artists; and a huge plus for people wanting to go along and see and hear great music - it’s free. Another great addition to this festival is the ability for up and coming artists to get seen by a great number of people. This is an incredible opportunity for artists, many from a regional centre, to
perform in front of an audience who have travelled far and wide to attend the Festival. Being local musicians, the chance to showcase your talent in front of an audience from a great number of places is often very rare. Unless you manage to get on a tour as a support for a well-known artist, or are able to pay your own way to spread your music, many local musicians in these towns sadly get left by the wayside, their musical talent never really appreciated by a wider audience. More needs to be done to be able to get these bands recognised and out into the mainstream public. After all, supports need support too. Another great initiative of the festival is The Blues Boot Camp. This is a great opportunity for young musicians to have encouragement and to be able to nurture their skills by being
PHIL MANNING
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mentored by some of Australia’s leading Blues performers. This is a way of developing the next generation of Blues musicians, to keep the Blues alive in Australia. Therefore, the Blues Boot Camp is a very important feature of the festival. Participants are given a two-day intensive workshop where they learn many facets of Blues music culminating in a performance on the first night of the festival. This gives the younger generation a taste of what it’s like to be part of this industry. They then get the chance to bring their skills together and perform in front of an audience. That should certainly be motivation enough to want to take a musical career further. When a music festival pulls into a town, it usually means most of the places will be shut down while everybody is off watching the activities. Not so in Echuca - the town kicks off into a higher gear and welcomes the thousands of visitors who will make this place home for the weekend. Everywhere you look, everywhere you walk, and you will hear music echoing from every corner of the town. The artists play inside local pubs and restaurants, down alleyways and in the local library. Anywhere big enough to position a stage will have an artist playing there at some time over the weekend. That’s what makes this festival a great place to be at this time of the year. The Winter Blues Festival has been running for 16 years and it
Feature
austRalIan Blues
JIMI HOCKING
just gets better and better. This year more than 40 artists performed across 30 stages over 3 days. Now that is big. It kicks off on the Friday at 3.30 in the afternoon and takes you through until 1 o’clock in the morning. In that time you would have been able to attend 25 performances at 15 different venues. That is pretty special for the first day of a festival. And the first day had some of the big names of Australian Blues on stage to give the blues faithful exactly what they came to hear. The likes of Geoff Achison, Lachy Doley, Three Kings, Jimi Hocking, Genevieve Chadwick and of course, the magical performance from the young musicians who participated in the Blues boot camp. That’s a great way to kick off a festival. If you thought things couldn’t get much better after day 1 then you would be very pleasantly surprised when day 2 started. Day two had 72 performances to enjoy spread across around 30 different venues. Some of the performances were by the same artists in different venues meaning most people get to see pretty much everyone they want. With Echuca being on one of the main rivers in Australia, The Murray, it is also an opportunity to have something else a little unique. Having some of the artists give
a performance on the old paddle seamers as they meander down the river, while eating lunch and enjoying a drink. It doesn’t really get much better than that. Every aspect of playing music live to the people has been thought of and put into practice. More of Australia’s Blues artists were also added to the line-up including Phil Manning (Chain), Fiona Boyes, John McNamara, Kelly Auty and Wayne Jury. This was a full day of Blues that started at 8am and took you through until 12.45 the next day. If you didn’t find something in all of this that gave you some satisfaction, I would make sure your pulse was still going. The sounds of Australian Blues is so diverse and with all the different acts playing you get to hear a huge cross section of the different styles that make up the full complement of the genre. The festival is truly amazing and just endorses the amount of talent we have in this country when it comes to the Blues. The music may have originated in the US, and received huge prominence in the UK, but now Australian Blues is making a show to be noticed on the world stage. There are artists in this country who certainly rival any headline acts from overseas and are fast becoming a force to be reckoned with.
The last day of any festival is always wind-down day, especially after a huge day on the previous day. This usually means there are a limited number of acts playing, with an early end so everyone can start to make their way home. Not so for the Winter Blues Festival. The last day is still filled to the brim with musical goodness and starts off at 8am. There were still 52 performances to delight people across 27 venues. You certainly aren’t going to get short-changed out of your listening pleasure here. Admittedly, the day did end early, compared with the previous 2 days, finishing off at 11.30 so you could be relaxed by midnight. What an intense weekend of music you have when you attend the Winter Blues Festival. The atmosphere is very cordial with people attending in family units, which is somewhat rare at music events these days. Winter Blues Festival feels a little different from the other festivals around, though. The way things are set up is different. You can get pretty close to the performers; the feeling is very laid back; and it is as if everyone is looking out for each other. After all, the reason most people attend these events is to get to hear the great music from artists they admire and to see something different that may also impress them. You want to be able to do this peacefully and the organisers have certainly put the right formula in place because that is exactly what happens. Hopefully this will continue into the future so we can enjoy this festival for many more years to come.
GENEVIEVE CHA
DWICK
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Kitchat
PaRt 14
HAVe You GoT THe BoTTle? Verbals: dave Ward Visuals: dave Ward
H
ey folks, Dr Dave here again with this issue of KitChat taking a welcome revisit to “Slide Alley” with some help and (hopefully) inspiration to get you slippin’ and a slidin’ like a greasy swamper – you know you love it! For the inspiration bit I’ve included a listening list at the end of this piece so you can drool when you hear some of these guitarists do their “thang” with a finger stuck up a metal tube. (No – not a visit to A&E!) To kick-off, let’s think about what kit we need to tingle the spine with some low-down grease-bucket licks. Obviously a guitar helps but also a slide of some sort, together with an idea how to adjust your weapon of choice to suit playing this type of guitar without (usually) fingering the frets. But firstly a note about tunings: we have talked previously about the early blues slide players of the 1900’s era pretty much making up their own tunings as they went along. Yes, you can do this too but you will need an idea of the tunings generally used in slide as they are designed to make the budding slider’s life much less fretful. Open tunings being the Page 18 | Blues Matters! | #87
operative word. Sometimes called slack string tunings, these mean you can produce chord voicing with just one finger (and/or slide) barring across a single fret. Some players, especially in blues-rock mode, will stick with standard tuning for, say, a simple slide riff/solo without needing to switch guitars. However, much of that “lonesome” wail- type voicing happens because of tunings you employ, and standard tuning for slide is probably for more experienced guitarists. In fact, you can often tell who is playing a well-known slide tune simply from the key used. A good example comes from one of the original slide masters, Blind Willie Johnson, who invariably used Open D tuning, as often used by Ry Cooder to produce that spinetingling, mournful tone so beloved of movies featuring Deep South one-eyed banjo players. But back to tunings: open G – or Spanish – is (bottom to top string) D G D G B D, so you will find that when tuned to this the strings, when plucked open, produce a G major chord. Barring across each fret with one finger will produce a semi-tone increase to the chord (barring on fret two gives a full tone difference, here an A major.) However, the big difference when playing with a slide is you must place the slide on the strings directly above the fret (not in between, as when playing with fingers) and use a light, accurate touch with heavy strings, if possible. Many players, mostly electric, like to use open E as it is fairly close to standard tuning. But a word of caution, especially if using acoustic guitar for this one– there
is a significant increase in stress on both neck and body of the guitar due to higher tuning of third, fourth and fifth strings. So, when playing in this tuning (a la Duane Allman) remember to de- tune the guitar over night to ease the stress on your instrument. I like to play Open E (EBEG#BE) on electric as you can tune your guitar down to open D (DADF#AD), stick a capo on fret 2 and you have open E. I have included some pictures of my own gear which I use for blues slide work, including a National Delphi single-cone resonator, a selection of slides- I prefer the tone of the porcelain slide which is more subtle than metal ones. For electric guitar, I like to use the Coricidin medicine-bottle type favoured by Duane Allman; Derek Trucks
PaRt 14
also popularised this. It’s very light and capable of producing a lovely, delicate tone. You will see on the other pictures a range of slides that can also be found, from very heavy brass to cutaway glass and metal allowing the player to flip the slide backwards and use the slide finger for both chords and fingering. You may well ask: which finger should wear the slide? This is very much a personal choice, although common sense would suggest using the little finger as it is normally the least used, plus it releases more fingers for normal fretting. It’s what you feel most comfortable with. Firstly, you will see many top players using various digits to do the business – and not just the pinkie. I prefer the ring finger but think I am right in saying that the female Queen of slide – Bonnie Raitt – uses an index finger. Sonny Landreth plays both slide and fretted notes simultaneously with supersonic speed. (Don’t you just hate the way he can do that?)
Now, back to reality. How can you make your guitar playable in slide mode if you use a really low action with light strings on your favourite electric axe? You will be relieved to hear that you can have your nuts raised in a painless manner with a nifty little gizmo called a Nut Raiser! You can see one in the picture: a small aluminium, roof-shaped piece with string grooves that can be easily placed on top of the nut by slackening off the strings and resting the gizmo on the nut before retuning the strings. This will raise the action sufficiently to allow slide to be played comfortably without fretting or nasty buzzing noises. You can probably find them on E-Bay for a couple of quid.
Kitchat
Now we’re all set to rip the theme to ‘Paris, Texas’ and show that Cooder bloke how it should really sound! Er… No. Playing slide like a pro takes a LOT of practice. A great, appropriate quote is: “Playing slide is 10% technique + 90% emotion” Wish I’d said that. Below is a list of suggested listening that should get you going, or possibly send you on a journey down to the crossroads one midnight in search of a little help. Give my best to Mr Johnson when you get there! See you all next time. playlist suggestions: Early Beginnings: Blind Willy Johnson, ‘Soul of a Man’ (and many others.) Robert Johnson’s whole catalogue; Skip James, Charlie Patton, Bukka White, Muddy Waters, Tampa Red, Elmore James – Dust my Broom (classic riff.) Modern Players: Eric Clapton, Lowell George ( Little Feat ), Sonny Landreth, Derek Trucks, Ry Cooder, Mick Taylor, Joe Walsh, George Harrison, Doyle Bramall III, Roy Rogers, Rory Gallagher, George Thorogood and many, many more.
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Blue Blood
Jackson D
Jackson D Verbals: Jackson D Visuals: RICHNLOU – LOUDHAILER
“Strange and vintage” “A total surprise” and “Edgy, and brilliant!” are Just a few comments Jackson D has had presented to him in recent reviews.
S
trangely my variable influences such as Brett Anderson, Morrissey, Presley, J.L. Hooker, T.J White and many more are not reflected in my performance or sound. If anything it’s the artists I ignored that are assigned to me. Such as the legendary Scott Walker and the formidable David Bowie. Surprisingly it has been suggested my sound is closer to the Blues than anything else. I shall consider this... Starting as most musicians do, during the early 90s I was playing crowd pleasing tunes from the 1950/60s. From Blues to Rock n Roll it was a modest start for my musical ambitions. Although being the front man in various bands I quickly discovered I was never really at ease playing other artists’ scores. Always having the desire to write my own music in 2008 I decided to put my own band together. With Jackson D on vocals, J. Dixon on guitar, M. Cooper on drums and the usual array of elusive bass players to boot, voila ‘Pigsty’ later to become ‘TFR’ was formed. Gothic and Dark in nature it seemed to me to be a move in the right direction. Additionally as a performer I decided to go it alone and concentrate on a solo performance. Songs Drown By The Sea, Hit Girl and Extraordinary Face to name a few, are proving to be very well received. My first solo performance (Sept 2014) was a surprise to me. I was delighted with the response from my audience. Although I was received as quirky or even strange, my performance and vocals captured my audience immediately. While gathering an array of music intelligent followers, I once again feel this is all a step in the right direction for me as an artist. In October 2014 I decided to bring in a percussionist to back my sound. Up stepped Zachary Theodorou. A young chap who has been accompanying the Jackson D sound with his brush work since October 2014. With Page 20 | Blues Matters! | #87
my new songs and a jazz/blues feel from my percussionist, dare I say it’s all coming together nicely? The solo future is exciting for me. Recently playing Music Festivals, radio interviews and making guest appearances here, there and everywhere, the demand for a record release grows bigger. Perhaps it’s time to address this and move further forward in 2016.
For more information, go to: www.Jacksond.co.uk
Johnny Bird
Blue Blood
JOHNNY BIRD Verbals: Andy Mann Visuals: Oli Foxley
Johnny is a 21 year old blues singer and Chicago style harmonica player from the Brecon area of south wales, who started his career playing tenor saxophone.
A
ll budding unsigned musicians need a break and for Johnny, it was hopefully playing at the 2015 Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival in Colne, as part of the Jessica Foxley Unsigned initiative. An opportunity he originally saw advertised in his local magazine. This initiative offers a platform, for a few selected unsigned UK acts, to perform to a knowledgeable audience at Europe’s best Blues Festival, providing a springboard to enhance their careers. The initiative commemorates the memory of Jessica Foxley, a young talented local musician who sadly lost her life in 2010. Having to audition and then being selected, from hundreds of nominations, is certainly a good indication of his capabilities and promise. On the day, Johnny, who is self-taught, took full advantage and did a very enjoyable set, supported by his guitar playing father, Mike Bird. They had the crowd shouting for more! Johnny has a mature voice for his age and is a very capable saxophone and harp player. He has been playing with various bands on the Welsh blues scene since he was about 15, performing songs which are a reminder of the
old style Chicago and West Coast blues. His influences include blues harp players such as Rick Estrin, Little Walter, Kim Wilson, George Harmonica Smith, Big Walter and the Sonny Boys. He is now concentrating on writing and forging his own reputation, although he has also recently joined the five piece South Wales based blues band, 12 Bar Crawl. For a young guy, he is not afraid to take risks and some of his highlights to date were jamming in the Mississippi Delta at venues such as the Blue Front Café in Mississippi and playing saxophone in a band called Red Eyed Fly, supporting Buddy Whittington in Devises and John O’Leary in Cheltenham. These experiences have fired his drive to perform more gigs and to write his own Chicago blues style material. “Having now played one of Europe’s top Blues Festivals at Colne, it has really given me the push to play at other Festivals” said Johnny. “In particular, my ambition is to play on the Blues Matters stage at Great British Rock and Blues Festival at Butlin’s Skegness and to produce my own EP”. Let’s hope that this can be achieved in the near future, he certainly deserves the chance. Blues Matters! | #87
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Blue Blood
Phil Busby
Phil Busby
Verbals: Phil Busby Visuals: Paul Needham
P
hil Busby’s first album ‘Devil Music’ is a mix of delta blues, English folk, traditional African tunes, and noisy R&B. It’s a bit different, but if you fancy a trip from the sweaty clubs we all love, back through Greenwood and Clarksdale to the dusty villages of Mali and Rwanda, it’s worth a listen. “Wherever the music comes from,” Phil says. “It’s all rollickin’ good blues.” Since leaving school in 1979 Phil’s been a shop assistant; gardener; psychiatric nurse; actor; labourer; stage hand; youth leader; barman and, briefly, a university lecturer. He grew up in Stockport, but back in the mideighties started drifting from there to Bristol, Totnes, Plymouth, London, Brussels, Liege and Paris, eventually settling on the edge of Derbyshire, where he now lives with his wife Susie and two kids. Phil’s been involved with music since his teens, but his solo career only began some five
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years ago when he started playing open mics in and around Manchester. That was scary at first - performing without a band. Little by little though, he found himself facing larger crowds in venues like the Royal Exchange and the Ireby Folk Festival, then opening for Canadian blues master, Harry Manx. With a mix of wicked slide guitar, raucous cigar box, and one beautiful little African lute, Phil’s live shows chart the history of the blues from sub-Saharan roots through Mississippi and Chicago to British R&B. “It’s music I love,” he says. “And though I’ve been at it over thirty years, I’m just getting to grips with it now. Generally we think of the blues as an American thing, but originally it came out of Africa, and that stuff goes way back. Old time blues really is the Devil’s music, and the deeper in you go, the weirder it gets.”
For more information, go to: philbusby.wix.com/blues
KRIS BARRAS BAND
Blue Blood
KRIS BARRAS BAND Verbals: Dan Smith Visuals: ANDREW KNOWLES
Capturing the magic of real and raw emotion in his playing style, UK based Kris Barras has exploded on to the Blues scene this year.
H
is blend of foot stomping riffs, fiery solos and searing vocals have made him stand out as one of the breakthrough acts of 2015. With a debut, self-titled album released this summer, the Kris Barras Band are already enjoying airplay on stations in the UK, USA and all over Europe. Kris cites Gary Moore as one of his main, early influences and it shows. Whilst the songwriting style might be a little different, you can hear that the two share a similar power, passion and aggression in their playing. “My Dad was the guy that got me started on the guitar and he loved Gary Moore, so I guess it just came from there really” Kris says “I later moved on to more technical stuff, mainly writing instrumental Jazz/Rock Fusion tunes, crazy time signatures, lots of widdling away” He laughs “but I now feel like I’m returning to my roots, playing the stuff that made me fall in love with the guitar in the first place. The Blues is where my heart is” Having toured both the UK and USA with different acts and recently recording guitar tracks for a MOBO award winner, Kris has a wealth of experience as both an artist and session player. He has made a name within the educational world too, having released two instructional guitar DVDs, a book and previously working as a lecturer at a Music College. Whilst the debut album from this powerhouse trio is very impressive, it is their live show that has garnered most attention. Kris is joined on stage by a solid unit in the form of Ricky Mitchell on bass and Jon Perrin on drums. Both players have a tight, no frills attitude that really drives the band and gives Kris the platform on which to really shine. The band’s recent performance in Holland at the Bluesmoose Cafe, received rave reviews from Magazines in Germany, Holland and Belgium. One of which stated “Barras’ fingertips have a direct connection to the soul”. Another with a headline merely stating “Stunning Performance”.
With the recent surge of young Blues-Rock guitarists, it would be easy enough to lumber Kris into that pile. However, one thing that truly sets him apart is his strong vocal and knack for ramming a tune in to your head. With a gravelly tone reminiscent of that of a young Bon Jovi or Bryan Adams, Kris has no problem hitting those high notes that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. With some live dates still remaining in 2015, their 2016 diary is filling up fast. So expect to see them at a venue or festival near you, next year.
For more information, go to: www.krisbarrasband.com
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Blue Blood
The Milk Men
The Milk Men Verbals: Luke James Visuals: Lisa Hews
What do you get if you cross a Mustang with a Pirate? …A Milk Man!
T
he Milk Men is a new band on the blues circuit made up from the cream of British R ’n’ B talent and pedigree. Bringing together members of the legendary Pirates, and British Blues Awardnominated the Mustangs, The Milk Men have been tearing up venues all over the UK with their dynamic, white hot versions of classic blues tunes, alongside unforgettable footstomping originals. With former Pirate Mike Roberts on drums, Lloyd Green (son of Pirate legend Mick Green) on bass guitar, husky blues singer Jamie Smy on vocals, and the band is rounded off on guitar by Adam Norsworthy, singer and guitarist in the Mustangs. The Milk Men’s sound has been called ‘ZZ Feelgood” by some critics, who have lavished praise on the band’s dynamic live show and original songs such as Bury The Gun, Make Page 24 | Blues Matters! | #87
Mine A Double and She Don’t Like Rock ‘n’ Roll. But the band draws its influences from all corners of the blues world, from early Rod Stewart, through classic Fleetwood Mac, to the heavier blues leanings of ZZ Top and Zeppelin. The Milk Men does not signal the end of the Mustangs, however, far from it. “The Mustangs are recording our new album soon and will be playing as much as possible next year”, says Adam. “Jamie and I have been playing in bands and writing together since we were 13, so the Milk Men is just an extension of what we’ve been doing for years”. The band’s tight edgy blend of original songs and classic covers looks set to wow more crowds at UK Festivals in 2016. The band is also currently working on its debut album, due out next year.
For more information, go to: www.facebook.com/themilkmenband
Robert Zott
Blue Blood
Robert Zott Verbals: Robert Zott Visuals: Robert Zott
Let’s push things forward!
W
hat is the blues? To me, it makes no difference if someone knows that the opening line to the title track of my Baroque Blues, Vol. 1 echoes the cadence of Skip James’ Devil Got My Woman from Newport in ’66—or that the 12-bar structure has been shortened to match the lyrics in the Delta Blues style. What matters are the feelings, and my definition is written on my guitar: “This Machine Cultivates The Seeds Of Doubt & Hope.” For some, regarding my music as a fantasy inspired by the Delta Blues might be easier to accept. I just do what comes naturally. I aim to make music that balances tenuously on the edge of the blues. It’s the only place where its boundaries can be challenged. I also seek to create a form where there is no distinction between music and art, just as I experienced during my trips to the Mississippi Delta. I learned that the blues is not a chord progression and a scale; it’s a way of life, an attitude of doing what you can with what you’ve got. I do everything myself, from fabricating objects that generate or alter sounds to making music and videos. The blues is foremost a music of the soul
in transit, about where we’ve been and where we’re going. Muddy Waters moved from the Delta to Chicago, and the perspective of the blues changed from country to city life. I want to create a blues with a global perspective. What are the blues of global communications, of privacy invasion, of the agnostic in a world of religious wars, of the individual in a crowd of millions, of our planet’s uncertain future? If Muddy could make the moon come up two hours late, I seek a cosmology of the blues. When I made my version of Red Rooster (subtitled “for Edward Snowden”), I studied every version I could find, by Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, Big Mama Thornton, The Stones, The Dead—even Charley Patton’s proto Banty Rooster Blues. Interpretations varied from an innocent barnyard tune to one filled with metaphor and innuendo. I wanted my version to say something about this moment. Ultimately, there’s only one thing I can say that’s incontestable, that rises above debates over faithfulness to the genre or where I take inspiration: The music that I make is my way of expressing the blues.
For more information, go to: www.robertzott.com Blues Matters! | #87
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Interview
Walter Trout
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Walter Trout
Fighting Back V e r b a l s : PETE SARGEANT V i s u a l s : G r e g W a t e r m a n n
B
ack from a brush with The Grim Reaper, a post-transplant Walter Trout has recorded a new album called Battle Scars for Mascot/ Provogue and wants to get out on tour and thank his followers. Pete found him as strong and full of character as he ever was... First question has to be – how are you feeling, mate?
I feel great, man! Y’know, I’m reborn here, physically, emotionally, mentally, as a husband, as a father, a musician. I feel like my best years are ahead of me. Which is an amazing feeling, to feel I can just start over again.
We last spoke when I was crocked but you had just arrived at the Royal Albert Hall for the Leadbelly Tribute show and we spoke briefly on the phone so I could check how you were doing.
I had such a wonderful time, so fulfilling. The first time I had been on a stage in over two years. And I’m telling you what, man, the moment I counted to four and that incredible band came in, with Mick Rogers, it was like I was flying! I was having these realisations, wow, I can DO this! I can play, I can sing, I’m back there, again. I felt completely at ease, relaxed, I’m not intimidated by this truly
fabulous venue, this is what I do. I haven’t done it in two years, but man, I can still do it. I could have played another ninety minutes, for those lovely people.
As I was recovering, I knew I had to get back and front my band, even on crutches. And I felt I was back home, do you know what I mean?
(Firmly) I know EXACTLY what you mean. I feel at home on stage – and I hadn’t had that feeling for so long…when I was in the hospital on my smartphone I would pull up videos of myself, playing and I couldn’t relate to it at all, who is that guy? How does he do that? So to finally get back up there at this incredible venue.
Let’s talk about Omaha, Walter - now that’s a song about a man haunted by death isn’t it?
OK. To write that, just had to put myself back, in that hospital bed, laying there, what was that like? What was going on? And where it says
about looking out the window, at the rain, y’know, need something for the pain, don’t want to get strung out again. I’m trying to deal with that…I was in the Liver Ward, people dying around me. One night, three people went, around me. You could hear the families crying, grieving. That’s what that song is about.
That whole episode, as you recover and enjoy life, it’s going to seem like a story about someone else. But there it is, recorded. Well yeah, it already does, as I feel so good now. I look back – was that a bad dream I had? But I just look at my arms, all chopped up still…no. I didn’t dream all that!
I got a hole in my chest where they drilled in to save me when my lung collapsed and I was on the way out second time, they were complaining it was hard to bite in, but it’s all guitar muscle…it’s a reminder, no anaesthetic. Whoo!
I’m friends with Laurence (Jones) and Danny (Bryant) and the reason why they revere you is simple – you gave freely to them, when you didn’t have to. You now have the harvest continues over Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 27
Interview
Walter Trout
It’s about 1992? I got up in the morning and I said to my wife I had this dream that I made some song called Fast Moving Traffic, an hour later she walked back in with lyrics, she said it’s about addiction. With the world passing you by, so I wrote the chorus part musically and then my drummer, he wrote the melody for the verses. It was fun doing it, that way. I did all the background vocals myself. Maybe I should resurrect that?
Consider that a request! My Ship Came In – I found this quite moving
“You could hear the families crying, grieving. That’s what that song is about.” on what you sowed, the goodwill.
(Pauses) That’s a beautiful thing…I have to say, when I play a gig, I do feel that I give the people who are giving me their respect or time or whatever. They give it right back. It becomes a circle of energy. I try to give them everything I have, the crowd. I play off the energy of the crowd, I’m sure you know what I mean there? I have never had any time for those acts that walk out on stage with the line or attitude of the audience being guys who are lucky to be in the act’s presence! The crowd are supposed to marvel at their magnificence. I don’t want to mention any names but there are some people who have that approach, the show should be a communal celebration, more.
By the way – Almost Gone, Page 28 | Blues Matters! | #87
fantastic track, and that’s you playing the harmonica on there is it?
That’s me, yeah. I’m glad you dig that song, I really am.
I love that arpeggio intro, building up the tension, when the band comes in it’s like When The Levee Breaks.
(Laughs) That’s kinda funny, someone asked me about this and I was telling him that the day we recorded it, I had a rough mix of the thing to bring it home and check it out. I played it to one of my kids in the house. When it ended he said ‘All you need on that, Dad, is Robert Plant singing along!’ …I didn’t write it with that in mind, but I love that track. Our new bass player, his part on that literally makes that track, very simple, a normal bass player would approach it in a standard way. But the guy I got now is just ********** incredible. His playing on there is just awesome.
My favourite track of yours is Fast Moving Traffic… the atmosphere.
Thanks, I kinda like that song.
This whole album is a concept album, about what I went through. It’s about this, Pete – do you have the slang phrase in England ‘my ship came in’? Here, It means something really good just happened to me. A guy lands a good job, anyway, Provogue had plans to do this big push, my work anniversary, ‘Year of the Trout’, documentary, vinyl releases, festivals…the kind of promotion that as a musician you might wait for all your life. And we had to cancel the whole thing. I tried to make joke about it on that phrase… the ship just sailed away again! It stuck in my head as a song title.
‘Fortune smiles, then scowls’.
(Laughs) There you go! The Surrey version! We were really excited, then events took over, for 25 years as a solo act I have been waiting for this kind of help, promotion…now we’re kicking ass! We are playing a great unit every night, been in the US and Canada, the chemistry is there, we are listening to each other, we are having the time of our lives!
Check out waltertrout.com for more information
Walter Trout
Interview
Discography
Walter Trout: Battle Scars 2015 The Blues Came Callin’ 2014 Blues For The Modern Daze 2012 Common Ground 2010 Unspoiled By Progress: 20 Years of Hardcore Blues 2009 The Outsider 2008
Walter Trout and the Radicals: Hardcore 2007 Full Circle 2006 Deep Trout: The Early Years of Walter Trout 2005 Relentless 2003 Go The Distance 2001
Walter Trout and the Free Radicals: Live Trout 2000 Face The Music (Live on Tour) 2000 Livin’ Every Day 1999 Walter Trout 1998
Walter Trout Band: Positively Beale St. 1997 Jimi Hendrix Music Festival 1996 Breaking The Rules 1995 Tellin’ Stories 1994 No More Fish Jokes 1992 Transition 1992 Prisoner of a Dream 1990 Life in the Jungle 1990
132 full colour pages, packed with the best of the Blues... From great interviews, news, features and CD reviews, to live and festival reports, plus much more! Blues Matters! is a bi-monthly magazine that covers every aspect of the ever-growing Blues music scene. Print, online and app subscriptions are now available and you can also buy Blues Matters! from high street branches of WHSmith across the UK. Visit exacteditions.com/read/ blues-matters, or the iTunes app store and try a free sample, or subscribe online:bluesmatters.com/ subscriptions/
Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 29
Ian Siegal
The British blues legend V e r b a l s : C H RISTINE M O O RE a n d M a I r i M a c L e n n a n V i s u a l s : W i l l I r e l a n d a n d L i z A i k e n
Ian Siegal, British Blues legend and multi Blues Awards Winner, releases his first full-band live album, One Night In Amsterdam, which also topped BM’s writers poll as best live album across the globe in 2015.
I
an who now resides in Amsterdam has become established in Europe as one of the most vibrant, exciting and natural artists on the scene today. His gravely soul-infused voice, passion and humour continue to garner fans and fill major venues. Siegal will be performing with solo and full band appearances at festivals and venues across Europe with an incredible 24 show tour from October 2015 – April 2016. And a possible new album for 2016?
You have recently moved from the UK to Holland how is that working out for you both personally and musically?
Great! Although it’s made little difference musically in that I continue to play the same amount in Holland and the UK as before, it’s simply that I go home to a different city when I finish touring. Musically I’d say there are more like minded people here and more eclectic and higher standard of musicianship in Holland, like in the U.S where I find musicianship to be of a higher standard.
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Are you learning to speak Dutch? Nee.
How healthy is the Blues music scene in Europe, I am always told it is much healthier than the UK? It is. There are more festivals that are better sponsored and a broader fan-base.
What is the major difference between working in the UK and working in Europe?
See above! The UK scene (and this is a generalisation) is often run by extremely dedicated and enthusiastic amateurs (and thank goodness for them). More of a cottage
industry. Obviously there are pros but it’s a struggle due to lack of support and high costs. I see that changing but again it goes back to sponsorship. Roots music has a little more kudos in Europe perhaps.
I have seen you play over the last few years with a few different line ups and duos; can you tell us why you keep changing?
Well my last regular UK band was together over 10 years! The Mudbloods was a side project, Jimbo and I will continue to work together and Dusty, Danny and Rafael and I have been working together as a 4 piece for 2 years now so that doesn’t sound too inconsistent to me! However if attractive projects come along, opportunities, or sometimes simply circumstances dictating a change of line-up I’m happy to go with it. Sometimes a new person gives you a new perspective/influence etc.
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Ian Siegal
Interview
Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 31
2015 Maple Blues Awards nominees for Male Vocalist - Keyboardist - Drummer
Page 32 | Blues Matters! | #87
Ian sIegal
“AMBITION HAS NEVER BEEN A BIG THING FOR ME” I am guessing your travel arrangements are very different now that you live in Europe how different is the transport system in Europe as opposed to the UK?
Again not dramatically. With the band we either fly or if it’s near enough drive. Solo I travel by train or with a driver. Some parts of Europe the trains are better, some much worse. Same, same!
What do you have on the horizon regarding CD releases?
If I told you I’d have to kill you.
You are doing a solo tour in the UK at the end of the year. Yes I am.
You must have a few guitars; can you tell us what they are and what you like about them?
If I can remember them all 1959 Harmony H49 - 1953 Harmony H44 - Dan Dunham custom shop - Custom-made Thinline Tele - Custom made Lap Steel Tele - Custom made Lap Steel and Gold Foil Tele 1929 National - 1937 National - 2010 National - 1930 Oahu Square Neck (converted to round neck) - 1930s “Michigan” parlour - 1950s Silvertone Aristrocrat -12 String parlour acoustic - 1950s Harmony Hollywood - 1930s Kalamazoo KG-14 (for sale!) There may be more I’ve forgotten!
Have you customised any of your guitars?
Well the custom made models are made by my friend Joe Dobson at Joseph Kaye guitars. He also makes them for Wilko Johnson and Norman Watt-Roy amongst others. He’s also helped me swap around pickups and
Interview
electronics on many of them.
What is your favourite guitar and amp?
Varies daily! I have a custom built Magnatone which I love but I also love my vintage Silvertone 1484 in combination with my new Quilter Micropro 200. Mainly I like pretty much all vintage and boutique amps!
Do you have a preferred mic?
Depends. Live an SM58 has always done me just fine. To mic a guitar a good old SM57 the same. In the studio I like ribbon mics in general but it all depends on the situation and various factors.
I know from seeing your shows that you have a few musical heroes, but do you have a favourite? Again that can change according to mood but I guess ultimately I’ve gotta say the King of rock and roll himself: Little Richard.
What would be your dream band of players, you can choose living or dead musicians?
Yikes! Ok top of my headDrums Levon Helm AND Earl Palmer (yes 2 drummers-it’s my band!), Keith Richards on rhythm guitar, James Jameson on bass, Aretha Franklin on piano, Garth Hudson on hammond organ, Dusty Ciggaar on lead guitar (Prince when Dusty has another gig), Chaka Khan plus Mavis and Pops Staples on backing vocals and The Memphis Horns.
I know lyrics are very important to you, who is your favourite writer?
I always say lyricists are all A.D. (After Dylan) but I guess it’d be between Waits, Kristofferson and Townes van Zandt. Can’t choose, I love Nick Lowe, James Harman and Elvis Costello too.
What is your ambition for your career, or where do you see yourself in 10 years from now?
I don’t really think that way. I just sort of go with the flow. Ambition has never been a big thing for me (possibly my downfall!). If it’s simply more of the same that’s fine by me. I’d like to think I’ll continue to improve. Ian’s next European tour with Jimbo Mathus, will be April-May-June .The UK leg is May 17-June 3. A live album from their first tour together (Nov ’14) will be released early 2016.
check out iansiegal.com for more information
DIscogRaPhy One Night in Amsterdam 2015 Picnic Sessions 2015 Man & Guitar 2014 Candy Store kid 2012 The Skinny 2011 Broadside 2009 The Dust 2008 Swagger 2007 Meat & Potatoes 2005 Standing in the Morning 2002
Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 33
Blues Top 10
Ian sIegal
Ian sIegal VERBALS: IAN SIEGAL VISUALS: WILL IRELAND
BLaCK CROWeS 06 SOUTHERN HARMONY AND MUSICAL COMPANION
In no particular order (and likely to change daily):
BanD 01THe THE BAND
A seminal work that changed the face of modern music at the time-influenced so many other acts and championed the roots of American rock and roll. I love The Band more than is reasonable!
SaM COOKe 03 LIVE AT THE HARLEM SQUARE CLUB
The greatest singer ever letting loose and singing his heart out. There’s none of the usual smoothness here.
ROLLing STOneS 04 ExILE ON MAIN STREET
A cliché to say but this was another game-changer and The Stones at their absolute creative peak. I think Jagger and Richards are hugely underrated both as writers and producers.
BOB DyLan 05 LIVE IN ’75 (BOOTLEG) LiTTLe RiCHaRD 02kING OF ROCk AND ROLL My idol since I was a kid. He still excites me in the same way. But this is a later work-around 1970 when his career was pretty much over. It always shocks people when I play it to them-they have no idea what he was capable of. It flopped. It’s incredible.
Page 34 | Blues Matters! | #87
I love all Bob’s work pretty much but this was a period he found a new voice and I’ve never heard him sing better before or since. I love playing this to non-Dylan fans. They usually change their minds! Incredible huge and very tight band too.
Just a great rock and roll album in the grand tradition. You can hear The Faces, Stones-so many influences all wrapped up with every song so strong and great performances.
MaRTin 07Dean LIVE AT THE SANDS
It’s brilliant. Incredible performance made to sound sloppy by absolute masters of their craft. Hilarious too. I’ve stolen many a one-liner.
HOWLin’ WOLF 08 HOWLIN’ WOLF (THE ROCkING CHAIR ALBUM)
I have to choose one. It could have been almost any. The power and the darkness of Wolf – there’s a mystery to it that’s never lost its edge.
Ian sIegal
gUy CLaRKe, STeVe eaRL, 10 TOWneS Van ZanDT TOGETHER AT THE BLUEBIRD CAFÉ
WaTeRS 09MUDDy THE CHESS BOx
Do I really need to comment?!
Just a beautiful collection of songs from three of the greatest ever in a relaxed atmosphere. You can feel the fun and the affection between them. Townes was sadly not at his best by then but he still
Blues Top 10’
manages to put over a song like nobody else can and also some unbelievably funny monologues. In with a shout: Bill Withers: Live at Carnegie Hall James Brown: Live at the Apollo Marvin gaye: What’s Going On ...and many, many more!
Blues Matters! | #87
| Page 35
Interview
Debbie Bond
Page 36 | Blues Matters! | #87
Debbie Bond
B
ack home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, following a roller-coaster, roaring, successful tour of the UK and France, Debbie Bond remains elated by the whole experience and confirms she is already booking both repeat and new dates and festival gigs for her next tour in 2016. ‘Our summer tour of mostly England and Wales, was simply wonderful. We met loads of our old buddies and made loads of new friends along the way,’ she says. When Bond mentions her UK buddies, she means playing alongside the likes of some of the country’s finest blues musicians, guys who need no introduction to UK blues fans - drummers Sam Kelly, Micky Barker and Pete Hedley, plus soulful Sax-man Sam Carless. As usual she was also partnered by her musical and life-partner, Londoner
‘Radiator’ Rick Asherson on Keys, Harp and growling vocals. ‘Following the tour, tiring though it was at times, I now know I’m up for much more. I’m already looking forward to next year. I know I’m now roadworthy and ready to roll,’ she jokes. And though she evidently had a great time on tour in the UK and France, Bond is clearly happy to be back home. Alabama has been a positive musical inspiration to her and she gladly talks about the extraordinary encounters she has had with some literally legendary US bluesmen from the deep-southern state. She explains that when she first pitched up in Alabama over three decades ago, she had the great, genuine goodfortune to meet up with one of the State’s older blues masters, a guy who travelled the South
Interview
and picked guitar with blues music’s most notable and revered acoustic talent, Robert Johnson, and who was then still playing bars, clubs and juke joints in his home region – Johnny Shines. ‘I moved to Alabama in 1979, after I graduated from university in England - rather serendipitously I would say. I planned to visit for only the summer, staying with friends in the state. I was suffering from a broken heart, and at that time alienated from my scattered family, - at a loose end, looking for a new start. Somehow, I landed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.. This is also where, the late, great Johnny Shines had settled. One thing led to another and he took me under his wing. I stayed! I couldn’t consciously have planned a better blues
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Debbie Bond
Doing it her own way V e r b a l s : IAIN PATIENCE V i s u a l s : Ro b i n M c Do n a l d a n d P a u l D u b b e l m a n
Singer, guitar player and songwriter Debbie Bond has been paying her dues in the Alabama backwoods for over 30 years. Her singing has been compared to Bonnie Raitt and Maria Muldaur, both of whom she cites as being influences on her music.
Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 37
Interview
Debbie Bond
education. I landed in the heart of the blues. Alabama, a state completely overlooked and undiscovered with its thriving blues culture past and present. Those years of getting to sit at the feet, and share the stage, and learn from traditional Alabama blues players like Johnny Shines, Little Whitt and Big Bo, Eddie Kirkland, and Willie King have probably been the greatest influences on my guitar playing, singing and performing style. Playing backwoods juke-joints and festivals, opening for the likes of Bobby Rush, Denise LaSalle; or, for example, getting to see BB King and Little Milton play in a cattle auction barn to a tiny audience in the middle of a Mississippi cotton field. Getting to tour Europe with Little Whitt and Big Bo, as their opening act, a sort-of apprentice with Eddie Page 38 | Blues Matters! | #87
Kirkland, Playing in Bettie’s Juke Joint most Sunday nights and touring internationally with Willie King. Willie King had the biggest impact on me. Playing festivals here in the USA like the King Biscuit and major European festivals like Cognac with him. Willie was the master of the magic and mystery of performing - just being himself, letting go and doing his thing. I am forever grateful to these bluesmen, but especially Willie for his kindness and generosity. For simply teaching and encouraging me. He loved having a diverse band. And having a woman in the band. He used his music to bring people together - old and young, rich and poor, black and white. He knew music is a powerful thing to bring people together. Vocally, I always loved Bonnie Raitt. I think the mechanics of our
voices have a lot in common - white California girls lost in the blues! I also love the soul ladies like, Ann Peebles, Betty Wright and Aretha Franklin soul men like Marvin Gaye. In the end, you’ve just got to do your own thing and be you. As Big Bo would have said, “You can’t be nobody else!” It has been a hard road but such a blessing to have been so immersed in this Alabama music culture. I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything,’ she laughs. Another huge influence and source of inspiration has clearly been her musical collaboration and life partnership with British keyboard/harp player Rick Asherson. ‘I met Rick, in 2002 through Willie King out in Pickens County, Alabama. Willie introduced us and we were married the next year.
Debbie Bond
Willie was our best man and the ceremony took place on Freedom Creek, (the site of the annual Freedom Creek Blues Festival, which continues after his passing) on Willie’s land. We have been working together, touring and collaborating ever since. This partnership has been a huge blessing and definitely inspiring. It’s a huge factor on the growth and development of my music and career. We write together, produce our recordings, book and promote our tours. We both love the music and the life it has given us.’ Looking back at her time with Johnny Shines, Bond adds: ‘Johnny Shines was actually born up in Tennessee, but he’d lived in Alabama for some time when I first met up with him. He was incredibly helpful, warm and generous. He taught me so much about this music, letting me sit-in and play alongside him until eventually I joined him and his band ‘The Kokomo Blues Band’ on the road. In reality, he took me under his wing and opened my eyes and ears to the possibilities of this wonderful music. I owe him so much,’ she says. In addition to Shines, as she gratefully confirms, Bond also played with the late Eddie Kirkland, Sam Lay and many others, working with most of the remaining old blues guys in the area at some point or other in her career, including the late Willie King with whom she toured Europe and played Cognac Blues Passions, arguably the country’s premiere blues event, a couple of times as guitarist with his backing band ‘The Liberators.’ Life-partner and fellow blues musician ‘Radiator’ Rick Asherson, also played with the band and produced some of King’s finest albums.
Following King’s untimely death in 2009, Bond and Asherson have been busy, focusing on their own careers, working the US and European circuit annually while writing and producing music that has been likened to Bonnie Raitt, by a number of commentators. ‘I don’t have a voice like Bonnie,’ says Bond. ‘She is truly fabulous. But I think I have a more soulful sound, a proper soul-blues voice that works well for me. And it’s great that I have that soul input here, because much of that soul music at its very best comes from good old Alabama.’ She confirms that she is already working on her next album, provisionally titled ‘Enjoy The Ride’, with all of the tracks written and ready to record. Muscle Shoals is a nearby Alabama music studio of world renown and Bond is actively considering it for the forthcoming recording, which has a planned anticipated, release date of January 2016. Bond has been playing guitar for many years and has mastered many blues styles over the years: ‘My Dad was a preacher and my mom was choir director - they split when I was 11. My Dad was adopted and raised by his grandparents but his mother was a travelling singer. You could say music runs in my family. My mother bought me my first guitar and I started playing when I was 13. That was back in 1969 (with tons of good music out there back then!). She got me started. My mum was a single parent at that point, working, and a family friend - an American college student - stayed with us to “baby- sit” during summer. She played guitar, sang and blew harp...pretty amazingly and luckily for me. It introduced me to the
Interview
possibilities. Music definitely soothed my troubled soul,’ Bond explains. When asked what turned her into a blues musician, Bond is in no doubt: ‘I really loved all kinds of American music early on - folk, blues, rock, and soul. My mother went back to school and became an anthropologist and moved us with her to West Africa to do her field research. At age 14 I did my first performance there, in Sierra Leone, on the only TV station in Freetown - accompanying myself on guitar. It was later, when I was in my first band in college, (Sussex University) that I got more deeply into the blues, soul, and R&B. That was in Brighton, England, as an undergraduate. I sang background vocals in that band. I had it bad early on. One of those inexplicable things. Like Willie King, I think the blues is powerful healing music - the blues got me and wouldn’t turn me loose.’
Check out www.debbiebond.com for more information
Discography Studio:
That Thing Called Love 2013 Hearts Are Wild 2011 What Goes Around Comes Around 1998
Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 39
Jim Zeller
Montreal harMonica legend verbals: andY HugHes visuals: katHY WOlf
the montreal Jazz festival is now in its thirty-sixth year, and as always, it involves the cream of Jazz musicians from around the world. but the festival is a broad musical church, and the organisers make sure that there are other genres represented – and that especially applies to Jazz’s first cousin, the blues.
J
im Zeller is a Montreal Native, and has been a guest at the Festival since its earliest days, and his incendiary live shows are a big draw for the Festival’s blues fans. The day after his last show, Jim took time to sit down with Andy Hughes to have a chat about the Montreal blues scene, his own career, and how the blues runs through his life.
What got you started playing the harmonica?
I was around twelve or thirteen, and I went back to the house of one of my school friends to have a sandwich after school, and he had a few harmonicas in his room. I dropped one in my pocket because I figured if he has four or five he won’t miss one. I was always influenced by the blues, and roots of rock and roll. I did start out as a singer, so the harmonica was really just an extension of that to be honest. Page 40 | Blues Matters! | #87
I read a quote from you that you said you started off stealing a harmonica, and you have been stealing licks ever since.
Well, you can go with that, or you can come up with something of your own, I am sure you can come up with something equally witty! (Laughs).
Forgive me for being personal, are you wearing eye-makeup?
Yeah, it is kind of a trademark for me. It started out when I was around twenty; I had a girlfriend who was half-Indian
and half-Canadian. While we were going out, I had this terrible cold and really bad sinus problems, and she put this kohl on my eyes that had camphor in it, and it cleared up my cold and my sinuses really quickly, and I liked the look, so I kept on wearing it. Some men wear a moustache, and I wear this. It does start some interesting conversations! In fact, it would be more accurate to say that the interesting conversation has started, and it never ends. Some people say I look like Alice Cooper, and I just say, he stole my look! I think it’s important to have a bit of rebellion about you, to be nonconformist. Not wanting to conform is part of what makes a rock-and-roller.
CONTINUES OVER
VINTAGE 2015. IN FIGHTING FORM.
Their first studio album for 7 years, and the 12th studio album in a career spanning 52 years. A thundering and potent new recording from the legendary band. Recorded as true as possible to their ‘live’ sound - a cool, vintageedged sound. The band is extensively touring in the UK and Europe in 2015.
OTHER COLLECTABLE PRETTY THINGS RELEASES
LIVE AT THE BBC
Remastered 4 CD set. 60 track collection of archive and rare recordings. Detailed liner notes with band quotes.
LIVE AT ROCKPALAST
3 Disc set. Restored film + Remastered soundtrack. Rockpalast Christmas Special 1998 (DVD+CD) Plus 2 Bonus concerts Crossroads Festival 2004 & 2007 (DVD).
www.repertoirerecords.com
Page 42 | Blues Matters! | #87
Jim Zeller
“My passion was to innovate” I understand that one of the first songs you learned was The Stones’ Midnight Rambler, and I guess you would agree with me that Mick Jagger is an under-rated harmonica player. Yeah, I’d go along with that, Robert Plant is another good harmonica player. One guy that I do remember from the old days who was very much an under-rated harmonica player was Steve Marriott from Humble Pie. He was known as a great singer, which he was, but he was also a very, very talented harmonica player. I think there are a lot of great harmonica players out there who are singers first and foremost and they have added the harmonica into what they do. I am something of a legend because I treat the harmonica like an electric guitar; I use effects and so on when I play.
So you like The Stones, and you like The Doors and you like Jimi Hendrix, all artists who are very
firmly rooted in blues music.
That’s right, you are absolutely correct. When I first started playing shows in the 1970’s a band that influenced a lot of the white blues bands over here in North America was Fleetwood Mac. They were a great blues band, they had Danny Kirwan on guitar, wonderful slide player, and they used to play Elmore James’ Dust My Broom and standards like that. Bands like that were a big influence on me when I was starting out as a blues musician, but equally, I loved the phrase that Muddy Waters used – The Blues had a baby and they called it Rock and Roll. I had a few jams and a few sessions with Muddy Waters when we were on tour back in the ‘70’s. I remember one night we played a show, it was here in Montreal, and we got up for the encore, Muddy and I plus the band, and when we finished, Muddy said to me, I like the way you play the harmonica son, you play it like a violin, and I have never forgotten that.
Interview
It must have been a wonderful scene for the blues here in Montreal in the ‘70’s.
It was, I was part of a band and we used to play at a venue called the Café Campus, it was a lot like the Marquee in London. And they used to invite legendary blues musicians to come up and play a set. They usually couldn’t afford to bring the whole band up, so they would invite the front guy, the name, and our band would back him on the night. So I did gigs with people like John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, Johnny Copeland, people like that. This was my education as a blues musician. I learned about the blues from a guy called Carey Bell who was the harmonica player with Willie Dixon, great guy, I was like his little kid, I was maybe twentyone, round that age, and he taught me so much. He used to tell me, Y’know Jimmy, you don’t wanna blow everything all in one burst, you have to pace yourself, and you have to bring all the little girls’ hearts
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home y’know? Whenever our paths crossed playing festivals or whatever, those guys would remember me. There was etiquette then; you learned to leave a good memory with these guys, your talent, and your personality, you made them remember you in a good way. And as time went on, you developed a little more personality, you were not the new kid looking to explode onto the circuit, you got a little finesse about you, and Montreal was a great place to learn all that stuff you need to know.
Do you think the harmonica has the same cachet as the guitar in the blues? Someone asked me what I thought was my place in the history of the blues harmonica? And I said that I have always tried to stretch the instrument, I’ll play it like a keyboard because I play a chromatic as well, I can play Page 44 | Blues Matters! | #87
it like a rhythm guitar, or a saxophone. I am not limiting myself to be the little riffing solo player here and there. My passion was to innovate, and stretch the limitations of where you could fit this instrument into various musical styles. I always try to play in different styles, sometimes you can even forget that it is a harmonica you are listening to.
Do you practice, or do you have the chops you need now? It’s less a case of practising, as in improving technically on the instrument. What I do is try to find a way of making sure that I can hear a sound in my head, and then I can play it on the harmonica. I like to change the keys and scales away from the typical and expected sounds of the harmonica, and approach them in different ways. But you have to be careful, the notes won’t resolve in the
same way as they will in standard tunings and chord structures, so you have to watch what you are doing. One of the people who influenced me in that area was Charlie Musselwhite. I had an opportunity to meet him around three years ago, at a blues festival. This Festival, The Montreal Jazz Festival has been going for thirty-six years, and I have played at thirty-one of them. The first two, I have an excuse, I was in jail, missing the others was down to me!
Do harmonicas wear out and break?
Absolutely! The harmonicas I have that are keys A and D, I will play maybe sixty per cent of my material in those keys, because they are standard guitar composition keys as well. So a Cantabile harmonica will last me maybe around ten shows, and then the reeds are too bent to really work properly. After that, I either
JIm ZelleR
give them away if people want a souvenir after a show, or I just throw them away.
In our modern world of processed popular music, I would say that blues music is still out there on the edge, and that you as a blues musician are out on the edge with it. Would you agree?
I would yeah, that’s a good shout. I think you have to have an organic base for the music you play. You can add all the technical stuff you want on top of that, but if your starting place is not real, then it won’t work. I find that I collect ideas, and snippets here and there, and then I find that they can be moulded into actual songs, and around ten years of ideas will make enough material to craft an album. These songs could have been written in 1962, or 2025, because they are timeless because there is an authenticity about them. They are not spun or contrived, they are not written with a view to getting a contract with McDonalds to sell hamburgers. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t say no to that, but it’s not the be-all and end-all, it’s not my dream if you see what I mean. I think that some humour is important with music as well. I was on a TV chat show, and the host said to me, that I keep going, playing in night clubs and places like that, and I said that I like to play so that I can talk between songs! I like to pop the odd quick quip in when I am working!
Is there still a good standard of musical education for blues musicians here in Montreal?
Oh yes, very much so. There is a college not far from the main area of the Festival, and we run a blues harmonica school for the ten days that the Festival runs. We take a
load of children and young people and their parents pay for them to attend each of the ten days. We divide the players into groups, and teach them to play some riffs, and everyone gets a solo, and at the end, the audience get to grade each group with their applause. It’s a great thing to do, it develops camaraderie, and it teaches young people to work together and make music, so I am very proud to be involved with that.
“I HAVE AN EXCUSE, I WAS IN JAIL” What is your favourite song in your set to play?
Well, a lot of what I play is my own original material, but if I was choosing a cover song as a favourite, I think it would be my version of Papa Was A Rolling Stone by The Temptations. But I do like my own material, because I have long stretches of improvisation, which changes the atmosphere each night because we go to different places each time. I don’t like to coast, or go backwards. There can be sometimes when I am not feeling good, I may have a cold or something, and I may fall back on something that is safe and feels familiar to me, so that I regroup my energy and make sure I can get through the show. But for the most part, I like to push the atmosphere, that is what’s important, that is what convinces people to come back and see me again.
The feedback from an audience for any musician, for any band, is very important, because each feeds the other and builds the atmosphere that makes the
Interview
show work as an experience. I am always curious as to how musicians manage to get anything of an atmosphere going in a recording studio, because it is such a sterile atmosphere. The studio has a different alchemy all of its own, and you have to work with that. The trick is to measure your own musical attention span and work within that. You want there to be a feeling of spontaneity, you don’t want anything to feel contrived. The listener should know that ideas will follow each other, and be ready and excited by that. I like to work on my songs on stage before I record them. I will have learned how to take an individual idea and stretch it out, and experiment a little with it. By the time I come to work in the studio, I will have various ideas ready to work on, and see what comes out best on the recording. My new CD has its roots in the blues, of course, but it is not all blues tunes. There is some arena rock on there.
Are you coming to England to play some shows?
I really would love to come over. There are some negotiations ongoing at the moment for my CD to be released and marketed in the UK, so I do hope that it will be a success, and I can come over and play some music for my British fans. Keep an eye out for me!
DIscogRaPhy Circus 2015 Cut to the Chase 2004 zeller Live 1999 Fire to the Wire 1995 Cartes sur Table 1979
Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 45
Interview
Rusty Wright Band
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Rusty WRight Band
B
lues Matters chats it up with Michigan’s Rusty Wright, a long time Bluesman with a crystal clear voice who can play the electric guitar like his lengthy locks are on fire. We touch on bits and pieces of his traveling band, their latest release, Wonderman and Rusty’s road chosen from a hometown that became one of the most dangerous cities in America. Hi Rusty, thanks for taking time out of your schedule to talk with me. I need to apologize for my voice, we’ve been playing a lot on the road and constant singing makes it tough to get rid of this.
No, not a problem. I was told the band played a gig last night?
You’re originally from Flint, a decaying city that a couple years ago Forbes Magazine called the third most dangerous city in America. Is Bertram where you live now?
No. I live in a suburb of Flint, away from a city that’s pretty scary.
Yes, in Bertram where they have the Blues Brews and BBQ Fest. It’s a big festival and they have one of the Kansas City BBQ competitions. They have a huge beer tent and set up a stage with great sound and everybody just drinks and eats until they fall down. It’s sort of a hometown gig and we had quite the strong crowd, a couple thousand people.
Wonderman’s second track, Ain’t That The Blues carries the lyric “Risking your life taking out the trash on a weekday night” and helps tell a story of what went wrong, no blues punches pulled.
We just broke into the Billboard blues charts here in North America at number 14 with it. The reason we ended up leaving the city is because an elderly gentleman living down the block and bringing
Interview
in his groceries at two o’clock in middle of the afternoon was shot and had them stolen.
Shot for a bag of food in a city in a nation awash in guns. Yeah. It’s like, man this is too much. Gotta get out of here.
The album is right on from top to bottom both lyrically and musically and quite obviously from a socially conscious old school blues rocker with tasteful licks and clean vocals.
Thanks, I’m quite proud of it and the first album done one hundred percent in house in my own studio. I did the engineering, producing and the mastering. We’d been working toward that for several years now. We used to record a lot at The Swamp, the old Grand Funk studio which is called Alliance Studio now. It’s nice to be able to do everything in house, not only because of the financial aspect, but you can really take your time and craft the stuff the way you want it.
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Rusty Wright Band
The Wright Stuff V e r b a l s : DARRELL SAGE V i s u a l s : M a r i u s z S k i b a
EVER THE FOOL NEVER A KING – ONLY A TOOL TO HELP YOU SING Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 47
Interview
Rusty Wright Band
Is that where you hooked up with Dennis Bellinger of Grand Funk Railroad?
Yes exactly. I’m on the staff there as a studio musician. So when I was looking for a replacement in 2012 Dennis called up and said, hey, what about me? Dennis is one of those bassists who still knows how to do the Jack Bruce style of chordal and harmony bass. That’s really becoming a lost art and I really enjoy it because it creates so much more dynamic rhythm behind the guitar stuff.
We were lucky he called you. And your wife Laurie is in the band. That could sometimes be a problem? I hear her in the background. Yep, yep that’s Laurie. She’s making sure I’ve got my facts straight and correcting my grammar. Naw, we actually work pretty well together. Laurie does great on rhythm guitar and plays harmony leads on a lot of songs live and in the studio. And of course she has a great voice so we try to use a lot more of it. I Page 48 | Blues Matters! | #87
didn’t showcase as much of her voice on Wonderman, but the next ones and on previous ones there’s been a lot of songs for her. And her rendition of Summertime gets requested a lot everywhere we go. She rearranged it, changed the chordal structure and made it much more bluzy than the original.
“Hell, everybody had pot” You started playing at the age of 13 with your mother’s gospel group.
Oh yeah, that was my first official gig. She had a Southern Gospel quartet with a backup band and the ladies sang four part harmony up front. She released a lot of vinyl records and actually did quite well during the 70’s. She knew how musicians were and tried to persuade me to not play guitar. I was playing trombone in the school band and absolutely hated it. I was figuring out ways to bend
that thing, break that thing. Oh I’m sorry mom I can’t play band no more. But ever since a little kid I saw these guys on TV playing guitar and man, I wanted to do that. I saw this documentary on my grandparents TV, Jimi at Berkley. They had gone to bed so I snuck back out, turned the TV way down low, sat right in front of it and WOW, I gotta do that! So I worked my butt off mowing lawns and stuff and finally bought this guitar at a rummage sale. But this thing was the most horrendous piece of crap you could imagine. The action was so high and so stiff. I mean, it was impossible. At first my folks were like, you shouldn’t have wasted your money on that and then my mom was like, well wait a minute. That thing’s awful and he’ll give up and that’ll be the end of that. Well, I worked my butt off for several months till I could finally get three chords to come out of this piece of shit. And my mom finally relented and said, Oh my God, if he can get music to come out of that thing he ain’t gonna stop. So she and my dad went out and bought me a decent starter guitar that had a good action and a good sound. The next thing I knew she had me in her backup band, probably so she could keep an eye on me.
Um hum, a boy and his guitar can get in a lot of trouble at the age of 13.
Oh yeah. Back in the late 70’s? Hell, everybody had pot. You could walk into somebody’s house and instead of asking if you’d like a beer they’d say, you care for a toke? So my mother was trying to keep real close tabs on me. But it was my first real gig and I got paid. It wasn’t much. Like, ten dollars a show and got fed and
Rusty WRIght BanD
got to ride on the tour bus.
Beats mowing lawns for ten bucks. Been there, done that.
Yes, it was a really great experience because Southern Gospel has a lot of blues influence and ideas. And my father was a real serious audiophile with all the Chess records and early Rock & Roll, Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. So I’d pull all his records out and listen to Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry and I’d just start copping licks from those guys. I loved the passion and the expressiveness of the music and was hooked. I always told everybody when I was playing rock in my early 20’s, I’m really enjoying this and the money was OK at the time, but someday I’m gonna go play the Blues till I die. The Rusty Wright Band was basically an evolution of going back to where I started.
“I’M GONNA PLAY THE BLUES TILL I DIE” The album’s, Whiskey Drinkin’ Woman is so down and dirty retro. I love it!
That’s my lo-fi side coming out. I really enjoy that whole vibe, that White Stripes, Black Keys, lo-fi thing and had been listening to RL Burnside and those guys. It’s just fun. There’s something about that weird, ratty tonality. I was experimenting with fuzz boxes all over the place until I got the guitar sound I wanted.
Talk to me a little bit about your Epiphone endorsement.
I’d been a Gibson guy and have some of their 70’s models from when they were still being built here in Michigan
and I love those guitars. But more and more I’d run into a situation where I’d pick up an Epiphone and the thing would play phenomenally well. I’d found this Sheraton II by accident in a Guitar Center. I’m going thru the stock on a wall and I’m not really feeling it and out of the blue I saw this headstock back behind a bunch of amps and it was all dusty and stuff. The sales guy didn’t have it in their system and thought it might have been a long forgotten trade in. I contacted Epiphone and told them the story. They have been very supportive of me.
In researching your previous albums I was quite surprised reading about your early band, Bad Axe.
Yeah, we were punk kids in Michigan all those years ago. I did that record when I was 18 years old between ’82 and ’84. I was fresh out of high school and we had to cobble together the equipment. A lot of time we would buy a piece of gear or rent it, cut some tracks, take the tapes somewhere else and cut some more. But we wanted to put it out so bad that we wouldn’t let anything else stop us. Then a couple years back and out of the blue this Greek record company, Sonic Age called me, are you the Rusty Wright of Bad Axe from way back in the 80’s. Uh, yeah? We had only pressed a thousand copies all those years ago and had a made a deal with a heavy metal distributor who had overseas connections. Well, we sold them out and I went on to other things. Turns out the album had become a cult classic and the guy offered me seven hundred bucks if I could come up with a vinyl record of it. We managed to find an unopened copy, brought it back into the studio
Interview
and into the digital realm. I’m making a few pennies off it. Ain’t nothing to get rich off or buy that house on the hill, but it’s nice that it’s out there in the world.
You’re going to Europe again this fall.
Yes, we’re going to Poland to play the Jimi Fest. I’ve been keeping my eye on it for years. It will just be a one off this time around because they contacted us too late in the season to develop a tour around it. I’m hoping to get over there and do a much more extended tour next year. We have an agent working on that right now.
Rusty, I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you. Wonderman is wonderful. I’m glad I got turned on to it and to you. Thanks for supporting the troops with your Armed Forces Entertainment tours. I wish you and the band the best of luck. It’s been my pleasure and thank you.
check out www.rustywrightblues.com for more information rustY WrigHt band sadson music
Rusty Wright –
Guitar, Vocals, Keys
Laurie LaCross-Wright – Guitar, Vocals
Dennis Ballinger – Bass, Vocals
Robert John Manzitti – Keys Marc Friedman – Drums
DIscogRaPhy STUDIO:
Wonder Man 2015 This, That & The Other Thing 2013 Live Fire 2012 Playin With Fire 2009 Ain’t No Good Life 2006
Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 49
Shoutin’ Red
Swedish blues V e r b a l s : BILL Y H UTC H INS O N V i s u a l s : S u p p l i e d b y a r t i s t
FELICIA JANGARD NIELSEN is a young woman helping to keep the flame of Mississippi Country Blues burning brightly in Sweden.
M
ainland Europe has many talented Blues artists that often, because of language barriers, do not obtain exposure. Being a female traditional blues acoustic guitarist makes for even more obstacles. Thank heaven there are artists who are committed to what they do irrespective of commercial interests, or this world would be far less interesting and enjoyable. What got you started?
I got started the first time I heard music. It filled me up. Then, after years of intensive listening and discovering prewar blues, I was seventeen and wanted to learn the rhythmic abstract finger-picking style of blues - and I did. My father and I became best friends through music and shared the same taste too.
Tell me more about your stronger bond through music with your father, and whether or not he is a musician?
My father and I are very alike; we have the same humour and the same temperament. To a large extent we have the same taste in music. We used to sit on the weekends and listen to blues and he told me stories from when he saw Johnny Page 50 | Blues Matters! | #87
Shines live, and Lightnin’ Hopkins and Champion Jack Dupree. I loved to listen to his stories. When it comes to the pre-war blues, it’s so unusual that people hadn’t heard about it in the school I went to and among my friends, so my father was the only one I could share and discuss blues with. He never played though, he never had the patience that I do, but he always encouraged me. I picked the guitar up and one of the first songs I played was Mississippi Blues by William Brown - he promised to quit smoking if I learned it, and he did. Now he’s started again though.
There are not too many female acoustic blues guitarists let alone those that play traditional country blues. Why you?
I happen to play blues and I happen to be a woman. There are a lot of people playing blues that are women. I know why I play country blues - I can’t keep from doing it. We might be fewer because there is an old tradition that men and women should do different things. Maybe it’s still lingering on?
Have you been likened to Jo Ann Kelly before?
I have sometimes. We are both Europeans approaching country blues from the outside. It’s always a hard thing to do, and to make it right. I try to find my own voice in the middle of respecting and admiring the music so much. How can I sing gospel songs people in America sang 100 years ago to make it through their day or let out their feelings about things in their life? Well, I try to sing them with my own heart, and tell the story as I fantasize how it was. Maybe like an actor telling a story. I want to honour this music.
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Shoutin’ Red
Interview
Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 51
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Shoutin’ Red
It’s the most beautiful music. I hope people can feel joy in hearing it or feel something emotional hearing it.
What has the Swedish blues scene to offer? The country blues scene is a lonely one! But there is a cityblues scene that is alive and well. Although lots of rock is called blues!
You are really into the retro clothing and parody the old blues images. Tell us about that? I like the old time way of dressing, but there is not that much more to say about that really. I like dressing up!
Why are you called Shoutin’ Red, other than me guessing?
I am a loud, happy, shoutin’, rosy-cheeked girl. The name should speak about who I am!
You recently played in London. How did that come about, and is it your first time playing in Britain? Yes, I played the Green Note; the Hootenanny in Brixton; and the Twickfolk in Twickenham. It turned out great, and I really want to get into the folk and blues scene in the UK and the British Isles more. I think there’s a lot of inspiration from people and other musicians to get from here.
One of the first ones I listened to and whose style I really like is Ed Bell. He’s got that perfect blue abstract sound. I’m picking up his Hambone Blues right now. I also really like Henry Thomas, he sounds like a madman and is so intense in his singing. Robert Wilkins also has the same intense voice. Elvie Thomas only recorded one song solo, but from hearing that I would name her too. That’s her Motherless Child Blues I like to sing and pick. Lightnin’ Hopkins’ earliest recordings when he’s the most creative in his guitar playing in the early 1940s, is some of the most amazing things to hear... And I really like Washboard Sam his and Bessie Smith’s singing have influenced me most. He really knew his timing and his blues.
“I know why I play country blues - I can’t keep from doing it.” Which of them do you cover most, and who do find the hardest to master?
I use Facebook to promote my gigs and do updates and such. It’s a good way to keep in touch with people, and get gigs too. Otherwise, I’ve also got my website www. shoutinred.com.
I like all old blues, from field recordings and amateur recordings like Lucious Curtis to the pros like Memphis Minnie. It’s always hard really, to get into the song and find how to play it your own way to make it work. Technically Blind Blake is hard stuff. I do not want to copy straight off - I want to make it truthful to myself too.
Which of the country blues musicians to like most from the 20’s & 30’s?
Do you listen to any contemporary country blues guitar players, and have you ever been to any of the top
Like a lot of young musicians, you use many internet sites to promote and sell your music. Which one(s) do you particularly favour?
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guitar camps?
I listen and learn from the ones I meet that play this style or anything else I get inspired by. I have been to Centrum’s blues week in Port Townsend two years in a row, where country blues musicians teach. It gave me so much inspiration to meet and learn from these people and it made me want to do music full time and play live. I’m so grateful for meeting and sharing music with these people - Jerron Paxton, Lightnin’ Wells, John Miller, Mary Flower, Dom Flemons, Eleanor Ellis, and Boo Hanks inspire me so much.
What were your impressions of Clarksdale, Mississippi? What did you get up to, and who did you meet?
It’s still a place where music is alive and people believe music is important. I went to see the festivals there, I met great people and saw Robert Belfour play - it was like travelling through a dream inside his head. His style is really mystical. I played my songs and people really liked it! It was amazing to get to see what Mississippi really looked like and I got to feel the Mississippi summer heat too.
Do you play very often on stage with other players, and if so whom?
I met Bill Öhrström this winter, we really fit together musically, and he can accompany me well on his harmonica. We play a lot together now and it’s great! He can follow my style and understands the rhythms. I used to play with Lightnin’ Wells when I visited him in North Carolina, that was really good times. Our guitars and voices made a good duet. I might have some more duets happening here in Sweden
Shoutin’ Red
too - it’s great to stand strong and play solo and have it your way, but it’s nice to play duo too! I wouldn’t want a band though. It shouldn’t be too many elements, not more than a duo or trio.
Which do you like to do most, solo or accompanied?
I like both, I love to play duo to get other energies going but I get a lot out of just depending on myself and being able to play more freely. It’s a nice feeling to stand alone and strong too.
Tell us about the scholarship you received, and was this while you were in full time education? I got the Jenny Bohman
Scholarship in Sweden 2013 just when I started out, that was a great start for me. The blues people in Sweden liked my music! I’m really happy for that scholarship; Jenny Bohman was one of the tops in Swedish blues and meant a lot for the scene, until she passed away. I had odd jobs and tried to play live as much as possible during that time, now I can live out of it and that is great.
What do you like to explore in your own compositions? I have been writing more lately and will present more of my own songs soon, it’ll be both blues, Swedish and English folk inspired.
Interview
It seemed unusual to me that a festival gives out awards - tell us about your Amal Blues festival award?
It’s a Junior Blues Prize that is handed out to someone who recently started and hasn’t got their debut album out yet, and a younger generation is believed to keep the blues alive in Sweden. I was really happy for it and honoured too!
The profile photograph of you on your webpage reminded me of Billy the Kid’s photograph? Ha Ha, I’m not going to shoot anybody! Although you might think that from the murder ballads I sing.
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Interview
JohnNY Riley
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Johnny Riley
TEXAS,WHERE THE STARS PLAY THE BARS V e r b a l s : BILL Y H UTC H INS O N V i s u a l s : M i k e B r o s n a h a n a n d C a r o l M a r b l e
Johnny Riley is a Southern US jukebox, melding roots music as well as capable of playing single genre country, blues, gospel, or bluegrass.
W
ith his Father from Texas, and his Mother, Clarksdale born and bred, his roots are deep. Johnny is a guitarist and singer and neither talent is playing catch up. Johnny Riley’s music is well written, strident and he isn’t pussy footing. The deal is real from this Texan straight shooter.
With a father being a minister, liking gospel, and your Mother from Clarksdale digging the blues, did that cause any friction? No it never was a problem, my Mom and Dad enjoyed all types of music.
What type of gigs did you first get, and tell me about the scene, politics, and all?
Some of the first road gigs I ever played were with “The Traveling Preacher’s Kids”. I was 12, and played bass for them. I got paid a whopping 70 dollars for three days work, Ha ha. Most early gigs I got after that were with local bands, playing guitar and singing. I was 15 at the
time, and I would lie about my age so I could play, and I always looked older! My Mom and Dad thought I was going out with friends, but I was playing the bars! Back then, you could get a whole band for 200 bucks! Politics were a lot different. The white folks had their side of town, and the black folks had theirs! I grew up and my Dad preached in Black churches across the South, so I never really had problems with anything.
Take us through your various musical incarnations, and what you’ve done up until now?
As a child, I was raised listening to Mahalia Jackson,
Jerry Lee Lewis, Ethel Waters and Chuck Berry, as well as my hero, Muddy Waters, and Merle Haggard. I have been influenced by so many. I have been playing and performing since I was 12. I think that’s what has helped me to innovate my own unique style.
Tell me about Soul Patrol?
Soul Patrol was a teenage rock gospel group I played in as a kid. I played bass and sang.
When you were younger which musicians blew you away, and which musicians took time with you and gave you good advice?
One musician that blew me away was a man by the name of Robert Hunter (aka) Pop Hunter. He was one of the best guitarists I had ever heard. He taught me a lot of things about playing, as well as about life. Some of the best advice I ever had was,” If you can’t feel it,
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Interview
Johnny Riley
What’s Texas like now as certain parts used to be overcrowded with musicians with many only securing jam sessions?
They all moved to Austin! You can find them on every corner there. When I played South by Southwest in Austin, musicians were everywhere! Ha ha.
Did you get to see the Port Arthur blues scene when Long John Hunter, Ervin Charles, Lonnie Brooks, Philip Walker and Johnny Winter were playing?
don’t play it”. I always want to connect with my audience.
What does your jacket and hat signify with the embroidered sections?
It’s basically ME! I love showy clothes. I think it comes from my church background! I’m an outlaw at heart! My hat was a Christmas gift from my wife. She knows I’m an eccentric.
Your Facebook page refers to you as having police employment. I guess that was after your military service.
I worked as a policeman in Coffeeville, Mississippi, from 1996 to 1998, and I worked at Angelina County jail as a Jail Lieutenant from 2001 to 2010. I worked at Texas Department of Corrections 2001-2003. I was in the Army from 1988 until 1992. I was stationed in Ft. Richardson, Alaska. I was deployed to the Sini peninsula in Egypt. I worked for the multi-national force and observers as a peace keeping force. I was there when Dessert Shield was placed in action. My unit was Alpha Company 1st and 17th.
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Johnny Winter was playing when I was a kid. I grew up listening to him. I was surrounded by music everything from Blues to Swamp Rock.
“Crossroads of My Life” is your new product, and a solid release. Can you take us through the songs, the stories behind them, what you were going for etc.?
Yes, of course. Crossroads was written by me at the time my mother and father had both passed away within 17 days of each other, I felt my whole world coming down around me, and it influenced me greatly to write the words to this song. There’s actually a lot of truth to this tune. In one of my songs, the anger sets in it were written about my Brother and his girlfriend. I got the idea when I actually heard a man say, “When the anger sets in, the pain goes away.” It was originally a country tune, but we bluesed it up, Ha ha. “Lonely is the Night” is a song I wrote, and it stems from my background as a Soldier in the Army. I’m a veteran that was diagnosed with PTSD and I had a lot of problems. The music of the Blues, as well as Christ, basically saved me from myself. “Be My Woman” was written about a prisoner wanting to get back home.
What inspired me to write this was my Mother, growing up chopping cotton in the Mississippi Delta and just wanting to leave, so I thought about a prison and a person wanting to run or leave. The songs, “I Wonder”, “You’re Wrong”, and “No Letter Blues”, were written about my first wife (Ha ha)! Now brother, that was the Blues! “Cold, Cold Summer” was written by Kathy Ross and Jay Edwards, and I just loved the song! “John the Revelator” was dedicated to my Mom and Dad. I always add a gospel number. My Dad preached all over the South in African American churches. I was greatly influenced by Black Gospel.
How easy is it for you to write, and how does your particular process come about?
Actually, I have been writing since I was a kid. I always loved old Country music and Blues so my process is simple. I write about real life, real pain and pleasure. Believe it or not, I write a lot of songs in my head first! Music and all, then I set down with my guitar and put it on paper.
“I write about real life, real pain, real pleasure.” Playing Buddy Guy’s “Legends” must have been a recent highlight? Playing at Buddy Guys was a dream come true for me! I have had the pleasure of playing there twice!
Who makes up your current band and what are their musical backgrounds?
Evan Leake is a guitar wizard! He has played with the Atlantic Rhythm Section,
Johnny Riley
has opened for Black Sabbath and he is a musical veteran! Evan played with Willie Cobbs, Bobby Whitlock, Robert Nix, Jimi Jamison, Sandy Carroll, Jim Gaines and Tommy Davis has played all over the US and comes from a Rocking Blues Background. My drummer Walter Polk played with Larry Raspberry and the Highsteppers, Mark “Muleman” Massey, English recording artist Roy Harper on his coast to coast USA tour, also Jaguar (RCA group with nationally released album), toured Russia and China (with other groups) and veteran musician on Beale Street. Walter Polk, is one of the finest drummers around! Both Evan and Walter are Memphis TN boys! They are steeped in blues and are the real deal.
You are Texan, yet you are handled by Mississippi Delta Blues Incorporated? Yes. I am a Texan with Deep Mississippi Roots. My Mama grew up in the Delta and we lived there for a while when I was young, and the majority of my family is there. My Dad was from Texas, from Marcum, Texas. That’s why the Mississippi Delta Blues Inc. saw something in me, and my deep roots in the Mississippi delta.
Tell me what you have been doing with Mickey Rogers, and what you think about the guy?
Micky Rogers is a Living Legend. He has played with the Jackson 5, Jimi Hendrix , Bobby Rush, Tyrone Davis, and was mentored by Howling Wolf and Hubert Sumlin. I love Micky Rogers! I have travelled and performed with him, he teaches me something every time we work together, Micky Rogers is the epitome of cool.
Interview
What interests do you have outside of music, and what does Johnny Riley’s down-time entail?
When I was a kid I used to watch people plough. I’ve actually seen it done with a mule pulling the plough. If the man ploughing got his eyes looking all around the row would be crooked. So I keep my eyes on my target. My down time is spent playing with my four Grandchildren - Gavin, Macee, Jace, and Olivia. I love my family and I love spending time with them. I love to watch Andrew Zimmerman, and Anthony Bourdain and “Hell’s Kitchen”! I love it when Gordon Ramsey gets pusses (pissed for anyone in the UK) at someone and yells DONKEY!!! That’s what I do.
With the chats we’ve had, you appear to have a clear vision on how you want to take and portray your music. You by no means come across as a lazy musician.
Well I’ve had to work hard for anything I have ever needed or wanted. I grew up poor so hard work is no stranger to me. I have seen musicians fail at their dreams because of drugs and alcohol, and lack of motivation! So I set my mind, heart and soul to this music they call the Blues. I want to be a star and I know it takes attitude, dedication, preparation and hard work. I want my music to be taken seriously. That’s basically me in a nut shell.
Check out johnnyrileymusic for more information
Discography Studio:
Crossroads of My Life 2015 Have Mercy On Me 2013
JOHNNY RILEY
CROSSROADS OF MY LIFE Mississippi Delta Blues Music
Mr. Riley describes this album as “like a freight train out of hell” and you can definitely hear the angst and hardships he has been through reflected in the music. In many respects it is a good Blues album with a heavy Texas/Tennessee groove to it but it somehow doesn’t quite have the ‘thing’ that will set it apart from many other very good Blues albums. The playing is excellent with Evan Leake’s guitar playing and Mike Lowrimore’s Hammond real features while Riley’s growled vocals match the music perfectly. I would love to see these guys playing live at a Texas roadhouse but therein lies the problem – this isn’t a band and the album doesn’t quite spark with the sort of interplay of a bunch of musicians who live and play together and do all those things that makes a gang of a bunch of itinerant musicians. Mickey Rogers (a Mississippi Living Legend Musician) has been mentoring Riley and says that he “feels the music” and Riley undoubtedly does feel the Blues but not in a truly original way. As a package it is definitely very listenable, there is nothing here that is objectionable, and the songs are pretty good but it doesn’t fire me up and with so many fine albums around that has to be the criteria I go by. ANDY SNIPPER
Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 57
Interview
Willie ‘The Touch’ Hayes
I
was sitting in the back of the Speigeltent at Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival with one of the most fascinating people I have ever met, Willie Hayes.
Willie has shared the stage and studio with some of the greatest masters of the Blues, hitting the drums hard for Luther Allison, Buddy Guy, Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows, Koko Taylor, Junior Wells, Son Seals and Mighty Joe Young to name but a few.
What or who were you influenced by that started you on the road to your drumming career?
My cousins got me into marching bands at four years old, if it wasn’t for them I don’t know what I would be doing. I was around music all my life as my Dad played guitar too. But at that age seeing and hearing the marching bands in the back yard, listening to the big bass drums at that age was just so exciting and all that noise just made me want to do it.
My Mom wouldn’t buy me a drum kit, I didn’t get one until my uncle came out of service and bought me one when I was 19 years old. It was an old 1932 Jazz set with big bass drum and big snare drum, all the other kids had nice little drum sets.
Amazing to think you have been playing 60 plus years, you certainly are looking good on it. Thank You.
When did you first play a professional gig?
I was playing with Koko Taylor when I was 14, it wasn’t what I was supposed to get paid but I was happy with playing and getting paid. Because I wanted to play, I loved to play and they figured that would keep me happy by giving me a regular amount and I was OK with that.
You would have learned a lot from that period?
Oh yea, I learned a lot from older musicians, they tell you when to hold back and when to do this and that. Some people don’t know how to do it now and they are set in their ways, but I was glad I was that age and got into it learning all they had to teach me and to have their valuable experience. It helped me out in the long run.
You are left handed but when you play the drums are set up for right handed drumming. Do you think this gives you an advantage or disadvantage?
Yes I learned to play right handed and this gives me an advantage I believe, also never say you can’t do something until you try.
Have you ever had drum lessons?
No my cousins played drums and they had a band too playing regular music and
continues over
Willie ‘The Touch’ Hayes
A LIFETIME OF THE BLUES V e r b a l s : C H RISTINE M O O RE V i s u a l s : C H RISTINE M O O RE
When you are as versatile on the drums as Willie ‘The Touch’ Hayes you are never out of work. Page 58 | Blues Matters! | #87
Willie ‘The Touch’ Hayes
Interview
Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 59
The Lucky Losers
featuring Cathy Lemons & Phil Berkowitz
NEW CD “A Winning Hand”
Living Blues, Elmore Magazine, The Rocker, Blues Bytes, Classicalite, The Alternate Root and more all agree that this duet singing team have a winner!
theluckylosers.com
The Album‘Voodification’ Available from www.voodoo-sheiks.com Weapons Grade Rhythm & Blues Page 60 | Blues Matters! | #87
Willie ‘The Touch’ Hayes
Interview
learn different styles and I learnt them all.
Some people just play one style, how would you describe your style of drumming?
they showed me how to hold sticks and taught me the rudiments. When I got to school and was in a band the teachers got me to teach the other kids how to do it because I already knew it. I learned it all from my cousins.
Do you ever give lessons to drummers?
Yes, I had a son he was ten year old when he passed as he had leukaemia, I taught him how to play the drums. I would always take him with me and let him sit in before I played. He used to get mad as I played the drums so he started to play the guitar. At seven years old I had him with me at the House Of Blues and got him a hat and suit like mine, he was playing with Luther Allison and he was trading licks and people were looking at him and saying wow!
I bet you would have been thrilled to see him playing now? He would have been twenty two now and I would love to have had him on the road with me. I would also show some kids in the neighbourhood how to
drum they would come around and watch. I tell them if you want to do it you will do it, when I run you through this drill you will get tired of it and not want to do it. Drumming takes practice to get the feel through your wrists, so if it ain’t in you it ain’t in you and you are not going to do it. That’s what my Dad and Mom thought that I would get sick of it which is why they wouldn’t buy me drums. I was beating on pots etc. and he would chase me and say “I’ll beat your ass,” but I kept at it, funny thing is I kept doing it playing around. We had a group called Larry and the Soulmakers, then a group called The Mondeos, the bass player had brothers who were singers, they had their own singing group – plus the band. The bass player and the drummer went to Vietnam so they put me and him in the group. So my third year in high school we had a hit record out. At school in the summer it would come on the radio and people would say hey man that’s your song. From that I started recording with other people, it’s a learning curve so you would
If you only play one way you don’t get the work so you have to learn all styles, if you only play one way then it doesn’t happen. People would come to me and say can you come and play with us and you get a status where people seek you out and you get paid. Some cats get so wrapped up in one style they are afraid to move on. But that’s all in the learning, you are gonna make mistakes its natural until you get the swing of it, you sometimes miss that beat until you get hold of it and then you start creating your own technique. You can hear it on records you say ah that’s so and so etc. as they have their own technique. It takes you away from the rest of the bunch. I can play stuff with my left hand that other drummers can’t. It’s very easy for me to play right hand drums.
You were with Tamla Motown weren’t you?
Yea they had 5 or 6 drummers with different styles for different types of music. I would listen to all of those cats and basically it would come back down to the timing. Learning how they do this and that and I was never afraid to ask “how do you do this or that” never be afraid to ask other players how they do something, never stop learning.
Not only do you play the drums but you have a great voice, when did you start singing? Was it a conscious decision to learn to sing?
We had a singing group at first you know when we were kids,
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Interview
Willie ‘The Touch’ Hayes
as well as playing drums, on a Saturday we used to get around on the corners and stuff in Chicago and do doowap and stuff, harmonising and I would take the lead some time and then others cats would take the lead. In high school in the auditorium having a study class and the teacher would look at us and say, okay up on stage and get it over with. We would get up on stage and sing to get it out of our system.
Both: The suit is the man if you look good in it that’s what works for you wear it.
You’re also a real smart dresser?
I have three drum sets Ludwig, Yamaha and a Tama set, most of the times the places have a kit so I don’t take them with me. Very seldom I take them out. When I am in the UK I just use what is available, as long as you know how to tune them up its fine. It ain’t the drums it’s the drummer that’s playing them, as long as you tune them you make it sound good. I took a $100 drum set and recorded with it and it sounded like a $2,500 drum set, just by changing the heads and tuning them up.
That came from my Dad and Junior Wells.
Love your hat what is it called? It’s a Dobbs.
Do you dress smart to stand out from the crowd, or do you just like to look good?
I enjoy looking good, when I was young all the singers on stage were suited up and they would come on and their hair was all whipped up. They were smart those guys from Tamla Motown. I said I like that! They used to go through the different stages of suits, hair, makeup, voice and dance coaching. The Temptations they were so sharp, they just came out on stage and it was WOW they looked good to start off. They made a presence and I liked that. These days’ people come out with T-Shirts but a few of us still like to dress smart.
I agree with you some band’s sound great on CD, but when you see them they have no stage presence. For me you have to have a visual act if you are doing live music? I always say that people pay money to see a show and that is important.
Do you have your suits made or buy them off the peg? Page 62 | Blues Matters! | #87
Have you thought of writing a book as you have so many interesting stories, your life and all the artists you have played with, that would make fascinating reading? Have you any plans to do that? Maybe I will jot down notes and ask someone to pull it all together.
Do you take the kit you use in the US with you on tour?
Your handle “The Touch” where did that come from. Luther Allison gave me that name.
Do you have any hobbies outside playing drums and singing?
For 18 years I was into Kung Fu and I did that for a long time, to keep me fit. Then I had a car accident and I hadn’t worked out for maybe four or five years which took some getting back into. I do a lot of yoga too.
You only have one more show in the UK then you are flying back to the US what will you be doing there. I have one day off then I am playing in Navada, San Francisco then back home for
two days and out to Ecuador with Lurrie Bell.
Do you write any songs yourself?
I have some songs but haven’t been able to record them yet. I just write stuff and sit on it, all things happen for a reason, when the time is right I will get down to recording, when it feels right it will all fall in place.
Will you be back in the UK next year?
Hopefully that’s the plan, this time we have only done the Edinburgh Festival. Last time I was over here we played Stanley Blues Festival.
Who are you playing with at the moment?
Lurrie Bell of course, Rod Stone, Son Seals and Jim Belushi (John Belushi’s brother) he plays harmonica, sings and he is a comedian.
Do you plan what you want to do and where you want to be?
No I just always go with the flow, if you plan something when things go wrong you get all uptight. I go with the flow and deal with what comes to you. If you plan ahead something might come up that you never know.
Is there anyone you would like to play with that you haven’t played with yet?
A friend of mine David Bowie.
Have you ever played on stage with a few drummers together? I did that when I was young back in Chicago once or twice on stage, but we used to go into the park and play together and have a box for change. Lots of fun.
It has been an absolute pleasure talking with you, I look forward to you coming back to the UK in 2016. Well Thank You.
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Blues Matters! | #87
| Page 63
Interview
The Jar Family
Page 64 | Blues Matters! | #87
The Jar Family
T
aking their name from the donations jar they passed around at early gigs, the band are a tight knit group who had the foresight to realise that they were stronger collectively than they were individually.
Full of charismatic personalities and wide ranging musical styles they describe their genre as Industrial Folk, playing common music for common people. They have been performing their raucous and engaging shows at many Festivals and venues across the UK, and are gathering a strong fan base following the release of their 3rd album, “Family First.” Their live shows are full of energy and not to be missed!
Where or how did you all meet?
Richie, Max, Chris and I, as
solo artists, all played on the Open Mic circuit in Hartlepool and quite often were playing the same gigs, so we decided to travel around together and started jamming. We realised we work well together and, to cut a long story short, met our manager who introduced us to Keith and Kez - and The Jar Family was born.
Where are you all from?
Richie, Max, Chris and I were all born in Hartlepool. Chris now lives in Cambridge, Keith and Kezzer are from London. Keith was born in South
Interview
Shields and Kez in South Africa.
Is there a local music scene where you live that you are involved in?
Not really. There are Open Mic nights and gig nights on but we try to stay away. We’re always expected to play. Sometimes it’s nice to watch the acts have a drink etc. We do charity gigs when we’re not busy though.
Can you give me the line-up of the band?
Max Bianco, Richie Docherty, Chris Hooks, Keith “Yoda” Wilkinson, Kezz “Jubb Jubb” Edwards and myself, Dali.
Do you play in any other configuration of the band i.e. duo’s continues over
The Jar Family
Putting Family First
V e r b a l s : C H RISTINE M O O RE a n d J e f f J e f f r e y s V i s u a l s : FR O M ARTIST
Hartlepool -– based “The Jar Family” are six individual songwriters and musicians, who decided that, rather than strive for success in isolation, they would join forces to pool their talent. Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 65
Interview
The Jar Family
or trio’s?
We have done trios and other arrangements when required i.e. lack of space at a venue, logistics or just the nice acoustic sets. Myself, Max, Richie and Chris are so diverse we do solo, duo, trio -- any combination.
I know most of you sing in the band, all very accomplished singers I may add. But how many instruments do you all play, and are any of you learning any new instruments? We have 17 instruments on stage if you include 2 tambourines and 3 shakers. We have more but have been told to leave them at home. I play guitar and slide. It’s mainly guitars but I’m also learning the banjo. Maxy B is learning the mandolin and keyboard. We’ll try anything really. It’s funny, all stringed instruments are easy once Ya know the chords.
Have you customised any of your guitars? I customised an Ibanez copy I found in a skip. I took the neck off my son’s half - size
Page 66 | Blues Matters! | #87
Tanglewood Les Paul and put three strings on it - gives a great blues sound.
What is your favourite guitar and amp? The guitar I customised and my Fender Deluxe amp
Do you have a preferred mic? SM58
“We do solo, duo, trio – any combination” Have any of you ever had formal training on musical instruments or voice coaching?
Not that I know of -- none of us. With me it was bedroom singing. I sing all the time since I was young (mind there is word Chris had dancing lessons off Rick Astley).
Your sound you describe as Industrial Folk but there are many influences in there. Who past or present influences your sound? Blues and folk. Rock and ballads. There are so many bands we’re into.
Your latest CD Family First is all self-penned numbers, who is the most prolific writer among you or is it a band collaboration? Hmmm, not sure. We write alone, maybe, or sometimes write as a band when we’re all together. We have loads of material between us, like probably a couple of hundred songs and ideas and probably write as much as each other.
How does the Song Writing Process work for you? What comes first, the song or the music? A bit of both. Sometimes Ya hear a phrase or just mess about with a riff or a group of chords. I write all the time and when we rehearse they all come out.
Are there any songs that you are particularly proud of, that have a particular resonance for you?
“Nothing I Do”. It was a rough patch I was going through and “Debt”. That’s my sound blues through and through.
Do you have any musical heroes, I realise you will all have different heroes but is there one that you all favour?
The Jar Family
Mine is Blind Willy Johnson, Jim Morrison and Jack White. We all love Chris Stapleton and the Steeldrivers. At the moment, blue grass/folk is everything we are.
What would be your dream band of players, you can choose living or dead musicians?
Robert Johnson, Jack White, Son House and Chris Stapleton, with Keith Wilko on Bass and Kez on drums.
Lyrics seem to be important to you and some have political statements in them. Is it fair to say you are all socialists as it seems to come over in your writing?
Yeah man, politics mean nothing to us. Life is about life’s ups downs, laughs and tears. If we can be a voice for folk to tell them how it is, I ain’t scared to tell people about my life. It brings them closer to Ya and makes them realise we’re only human. We just try to put it across for people to understand and relate to and
have fun -- even the saddest of songs can make you happy if you know what I mean...
Have you ever played in Europe, or do you have any plans to play in Europe UK?
Only Jersey. We are bursting to play in Europe as we have fans there and get told all the time we must play here, there and everywhere. First chance we get we’re there.
What is your ambition regarding your careers, or where do you see yourselves in 10 years from now?
I don’t like looking in to the future but I hope it’s vibrant and happy and I get a bigger house and holidays, maybe a car, I dunno. Really, to tour the world and play Glastonbury. There’s loads of wishes and things. I just hope my kids are proud of me, that’s all really.
Do any of you have any hobbies outside of music?
I have an allotment and weirdly I love house work –
Interview
cleaning, hoovering, washing clothes. I do go to the gym and walk miles religiously and sing all day. Chris plays cricket sometimes, Max is an artist in his spare time, and he’s been doing the artwork lately, Richie has a young family like me and does a bit of great photography as a hobby, Kez has been sessioning and teaching autistic kids music when he’s not with The Jar Family, and Keith does his Jedi stuff, saving princesses and stuff.
Which gig would be your dream to play? The Whiskey A GO GO
Is there anyone dead or alive you would love to meet and why?
Jim Morrison - to tell him everything’s going to be OK and Robert Johnson - I’d have told him about the poisoned whiskey.
Check out www.thejarfamily.com for more information
THE JAR FAMILY As the famous saying goes, the more, the merrier - this is the case with The Jar Family, a
that came together when five talented singer-songwriters joined forces to achieve FAMILY FIRST collective greater success and even greater sounds. Following that, their sixth member joined, none Jar Records Ltd.
Artist Discography Family First 2015 Jarmalade 2013 The Jar Family Album 2011 Livingstone Sessions (EP) 2010
other than Keith Wilkinson (formerly of Squeeze and Jools Holland). Hailing from Hartlepool, this is a group of genuine, honest and hardworking musicians. They’ve coined the term Industrial Folk to describe their genre which screams northern roots and gritty vocals throughout, always enhanced with well written and well-structured lyrics. Family First is their third offering, a guitar heavy album often with several guitar parts playing at once. The drum resonance is fairly orchestral and at other times sensitive with the bass fitting in nicely and serving the harmony driven songs well. The opening track In The Clouds, sets the tone for the album. An uplifting song with a timeless chorus, this track carries the spirit of The Pogues and captures the bar room feel of everyday men singing and having a good time. The song is pleasantly topped off with a foot stomping back beat and a Dylan-like straight harp solo. Another stand-out track, I Have To Go, is an example of what The Jar Family seem to do best. Its excellent harmony riddled, question and answer chorus leaves the listener with an ear worm that’s hard to shake! The rough, honest vocals and razor sharp blues harp gives the song that charming Industrial Folk edge. Track seven, Tell Me Baby, has an almost 60s Buddy Holly groove with the modern British Swagger of Jake Bugg. The band also prove they are not shy to show their tender side, Nothing I Do, a rare waltz about love and Paint Me A Picture a sweet, heartfelt song sung like a northern Billy Bragg. Having recently shared the bill with legends Alabama 3, this band are ones to watch. If you like thought provoking, tasteful folk with a bit of blues thrown in, you will love The Jar Family. MAIRI MACLENNAN
Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 67
Joe Louis Walker
Saying His Piece V e r b a l s : PETE SARGEANT V i s u a l s : MARIL Y N STRINGER & MIC H AEL W e INTR O B
The amiable US blues performer is set to release his latest collection Everybody Wants A Piece, our man spoke to Joe about the record and related matters… I do like this new record, Joe. I have been listening to it since it arrived, so can we run through the cuts? Sure!
The opener which is the title track is really lively and you’re throwing some neat key changes on me there – how did this number come about? OK, I needed a song for the beginning of the album, something that was upbeat. Now we had considered some of the other songs, but I wanted a track that kinda showcased the guitar playing and grab everybody’s interest, y’know?
There’s a touch of my friend Ernie Isley going on in there. (Laughs) Yeah! Ernie channelling Jimi!
It’s you, man! But that Isleys drive is there, you think it’s going to be an instrumental then this great vocal comes in. Yeah, it’s sorta back-to-front, there!
You’ve actually done some of my favourite songs ever on this set amongst your own material…I was Page 68 | Blues Matters! | #87
jumping around the kitchen!
this one, I said I liked it but it should maybe be more of a rock’n’roll song.
Taj Mahal’s Do I Love Her, you really tore into this one.
He really understands drums and most other things, as per his work with Buddy.
(Laughs) Well thank you! Nobody tipped me off, Pete!
Now every time I see Taj I say ‘Man – I’m gonna do that song’ – him and the producer Reggie, like the spaciness of that song and I like the harmonica, with the organ, but we thought we’d do something on the guitar to mess it around and focus on the guitar a bit. He played harmonica in regular position and I play in 1st position, hence it gives a different feel to it.
The original has a synth element and a sort of hollow sound to it, then Taj starts doing this Wolf impression Exactly! That’s one of my favourite records that he did, I like everything about it, and it’s got Everybody Is Somebody too!
Buzz On You has this fine New Orleans vibe to it, with the piano. Yeah that’s my former producer Tom Hambridge song, when he played me
Plus he’s a great singer.
At this point, Mr Walker, the record goes very spooky on me – Black & Blue. Now that song aches, on the cover you have that red Gibson, but this sounds like a vibrato bar is being used?
Yes, that’s a Stratocaster there. I used several guitars, a 335, a Les Paul and others.
OK – Witchcraft, ‘Voodoo don’t work on me’, such a great vocal here, a tinge of Bobby Bland.
(Emphatically) I LOVE Bobby Bland, he was a lot more than blues, a real idol of mine. Hey, I was watching some stuff last night, him and BB, y’know – Together For The First Time. Some bits were off Soul Train, in fact, wonderful pairing and music.
continues over
Joe Louis Walker
Interview
Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 69
Interview
Joe Louis Walker
Atlantic Records, the album with Junior.
Ha! Now on that song, you’re not going to outplay Buddy. He’s playing every note on that gee-tar that he can! I tried to back off it a bit, do a different arrangement but true to the song, let it breathe somehow. Atlantic gave them one day to make that record! Even with Dr John, Clapton and all involved…J Geils band played great on it.
Honeydripper I liked.
One Sunny Day, a real toe-tapper isn’t it? The voice and guitar riff, it just jumps out at you.
You’ve heard that song before, haven’t you? Danny Kirwan and Peter Green, it’s one of those great Danny Kirwan vocals and songs, what he did when he was with Fleetwood Mac.
It’s very you, though – you have that grip on the song. Gospel song is very church of course, organ chording, you do come from a religious background.
My keyboard player Phil, he’s still a choir director in church, when he can be there, he started playing that at a soundcheck. Maybe we should have called this record SoundCheck as so much comes from things we might play when warming up, we were going to put a key change in there, but that might have been a little cute, y’know? It is a little in the Need Your Love So Bad/ BB King style really…a guitar feature.
Your sixth sense always edits you, playing. Yeah, it’s communicating without talking, at that level, it’s really good when you can just play and you don’t have Page 70 | Blues Matters! | #87
to tell somebody exactly what to do all the time. Kid Ramos, I can play like that with him, Ronnie Earl, it frees you up, y’know, to come up with stuff.
I was talking to Robert Cray last week and it’s mainly you and him can get that natural gospel feel so readily.
Robert’s great, truly a singer and musician, he doesn’t play to impress but to express. Has such a handle on what he does.
Wade In the Water. I have few favourite versions, maybe the first one was Ramsey Lewis?
Oh! I remember that, sure do. That’s one song you will hear everywhere, if you ever go to a Baptist church in the United States or Down South, the preacher start that off and everybody will join in. Wade is one of those tunes, everybody knows, so my version, this is how it’s ended up as you hear it now.
A bit like Will the Circle Be Unbroken, in Country.
That really is another of that type of tune, yeah.
The other favourite of mine is Man of Many Words – Buddy Guy on
Yeah! He was playing so restrained on that, it’s so good, now he’s more over-the-top! That’s his style though.
Buddy says to me he’s not an original. I said you have to realise what Hoodoo Man Blues did for players my age.
It’s one of the Top Ten Desert Island Discs- devastating! Not to say that Live At The Regal isn’t just as important – but Hoodoo is something else!
Young Girls Blues – great rolling tempo, you sound very comfortable. It’s traditional blues. Like stuff my mother played to me. It’s hard to screw up!
35 Years – with the buzzy slide and you suddenly sound twenty years older.
(Laughs) Finally acting my age, Pete! I play a lot of songs in different keys, I try not to stick to one or two keys. It can put a different kind of tension on your vocal, make you sound an alternative version of you, varies the register.
You must be happy with the range of this set?
I sure am, mainly because my band plays on it, new label, new situation, and new co-producer, let’s get out of the comfortable zone, give them something new.
Joe louIs WalKeR
Interview
JOe LOUiS WaLKeR
EVERYBODY WANTS A PIECE provogue/Mascot records
aRtIst DIscogRaPhy Everybody Wants A Piece 2015 Hornets Nest 2014 Hellfire 2012 On The Legendary R&B Cruise 2010 Between A Rock And The Blues 2009 Playin’ Dirty 2006 New Direction 2004 In The Morning 2002 Silvertone Blues 1999 Preacher At The President 1998 Great Guitars 1997
Here’s a record upon which the likable veteran blues man Walker manages to include versions of two of my favourite songs ever. In conversation with Joe, it’s clear he wanted to make a disc full of variety and character and you have to concede he delivers on this. Opener Everybody Wants A Piece is funky as whatever and Walker laughed and nodded when I cited Ernie Isley, it certainly has the St Louis axe master’s drive. He’s in good voice, too, as the 6/8 passage punches in over a bed of Hammond chording. Do I Love Her is a Taj Mahal gem which strikes an unusual mood – broody and emphatic. The reedy harmonica sounds cool. Joe does capture the fire this song demands. Buzz On You has a neat rolling tempo and is catchy with a NO vibe and rocking piano; whilst Witchcraft takes a sinister turn and uses space for impact. One Sunny Day is as controlled-funky as you could ever be and reflects an edgy situation, with Brit Blues riffing. Churchy organ takes us into Gospel Blues with as laidback a tempo as you’ll ever find, easy going talking guitar fills to the fore. The intensity builds but the groove is gripped. The gospel tune Wade In The Water is given an airing, with a harder tempo than you might expect. Then we get Buddy Guy’s Man Of Many Words which hasn’t been attempted by many although I recall discussing Ana Popovic’s take on the number with her backstage one time. Young Girls Blues is a true foot-tapper almost in Freddie King vein and closer 35 Years has Joe giving the slide an outing on a real down home number. A great aural scrapbook of a vital performer putting out. PETE SARGEANT
Little
Chevy New
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www.littlechevy.ch Blues Matters! | #87 | Page 71
Albums
Red lick Top 20
Top 20
Red Lick Records, PO Box 55, Cardiff CF11 1JT sales@redlick.com www.redlick.com
01 Various
Frog Jazz & Blues Annual Vol 4
(Frog Book & CD)
08 Clarence Ashley
15 James P Leary
(JSP 4CD)
(Dust To Digital 5CD & DVD & book)
Country Music Pioneer 19271938
Folksongs Of Another America
02 Snooks Eaglin 09 Lil’ Jimmy Reed 16 Various New Orleans Street Singer + That’s All Right
Blues In Paradise
Boogie Woogie Gals
(Souljam CD)
(Fast Western CD)
(JSP 2CD)
City 03 Garden Blues
10 Various
17 Miles Davis
(Fremeaux 3CD)
(Columbia 4CD)
11 J.B. Smith
18 Albert Cummings
(Dust-To-Digital CD)
(Blind Pig CD)
12 Various
19 Ola Belle Reed
Detroit’s Jumping Scene 1948-1960 (JSP 4CD)
04 05 Buddy Guy 06 Various
John Mayall Find A Way To Care
(Forty Below CD)
Born To Play Guitar
(RCA CD)
Unlock The Lock –The Kent Records Story Volume 1 1958-1962 (Ace 2CD)
07
Jon Cleary Go Go Juice
(FHQ CD)
American Folk Blues Festival 1962 – Live In Paris
No More Good Time In The World For Me
Reaching Out – Chess Records At Fame Studios
(Kent CD)
At Newport – Bootleg Series Vol 4
Someone Like You
And Southern Mountain Music On The Mason-Dixon Line (Dust-To-Digital 2CD & book)
13 20 Lonnie Johnson: 14 Eddie Taylor Jr Robert Cray
4 Nights Of 40 Years Live
(2CD & DVD)
The Collection 1925-1952 (Acrobat 2CD)
Stop Breaking Down
(Wolf CD)
ReVIeWs
Albums
ALBUMS
THE BIG BLUES REVIEWS GUIDE - ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTE! gRainne DUFFy GRAINNE DUFFY LIVE inakustik
This sensational live, 15-track, one-hour long album shows why the BM Writers voted Grainne Duffy best solo artist and also best vocalist in the magazine’s 2015 poll. There may be higher profile musicians on the current blues scene but none possess Grainne’s combination of vocal strength, guitar virtuosity and ability to engage an audience. Recorded in Germany, the power and raw energy of the band are evident from the opening bars of the slow burning Each And Every Time through to the climactic I’d Rather Go Blind. The blend of blues, rock and Celtic influences infuses the show and this is what makes Duffy such a unique talent. Tracks like What I Am Supposed To Do, Drivin’ Me Crazy, Waiting For You and Reason To Be are emotionally supercharged compared to the albeit excellent studio versions. Bring It All Together highlights Grainne’s country style and influences; Good Love Had To Die sees the Irish chanteuse at her soulful best, whilst Rockin’ Rollin’ Stone does exactly what the title says. With its expertly crafted original lyrics, beautiful arrangements, abundance of passion and desire, this is undoubtedly the best live CD of 2015. THE BISHOP
THe gRegg aLLMan BanD
I’M NO ANGEL/JUST BEFORE THE BULLETS FLY floating World
This is the fifth and second gold album by the Gregg Allman Band released in 1987 and to be fair, it sounds like it! Perhaps most notable for the title track, subsequently
covered by, amongst others, his former wife, Cher and a guest appearance by Miami Vice’s Don Johnson on Evidence Of Love. The blues drenched vocals are supported by fine solos from guitarist ‘Dangerous’ Dan Toler, whom, along with Brother Dave ‘Frankie’ Toler (drums), former James Brown keyboardist, Tim Heding, bassist Bruce Waibel and percussionist Chaz Trippy make up the band. This album is chockfull of earnest love songs, as evidenced on Evidence Of Love, Yours For The Asking and Things That Might Have Been, clues in the titles. Things liven up a great deal on one of the covers, an instrumental take on Spencer
Davis’s Don’t Want You No More, which segues neatly into the Allmans classic It’s Not My Cross To Bear. Although this sounds very dated, maybe over produced, it’s still quality, as is the accompanying Just Before The Bullets Fly. The title track to disc two here, 1988’s Just Before The Bullets Fly, is a cowrite with Warren Haynes, later to become a pivotal member of the ABB. The mood hasn’t changed from its predecessor, the lyrics describing a lover’s jealous husband and a narrator who feels too young to die. God must love Rock ‘n’ Roll, the lyrics of Ocean Awash The Gunwhale would have you believe, whereas Can’t Get Over You is a straight ahead rocker. Every Hungry Woman closes the second disc, which, incidentally, has the same band as the first, minus the horn section. All in all a pleasing double offering. CLIVE RAWLINGS
and fine singers, they’ve been playing together for 25 years. This, to me, is the kind of music you’d love to soak up in a packed club at midnight. All the songs are composed by Kubek and King, and there’s a meaty, growling presence here superbly complemented by Shiela Klinefelter on bass and Eric Smith on drums, with further rugged guitar on three tracks by Kim LaFleur. There’s gut-bucket boogie with the steaming Got My Heart Broken, a truly dramatic arrangement on the soaring Diamond Eyes I loved the cheeky, almost Western swing of their perky instrumental Lone Star Tap Dance, and there’s a superb slow blues Done Got Caught Blues which sets the scene with the opening line ‘I done got caught with my pants down’ (we’ve all been there, lads ..) This is an enjoyable album and as ambassadors for Blind Pig Records, this duo are doing a great job. ROY BAINTON
aLBeRT CUMMingS
SOMEONE LIKE YOU Blind pig
SMOKin’ JOe KUBeK & BnOiS King FAT MAN’S SHINE PARLOUR Blind pig
Here’s a couple of mature, tough-looking hombres with twelve slabs of masterful blues. Both accomplished guitarists
All-round bluesman Albert Cummings hails from Williamstown, Massachusetts, and if you’re looking for blue collar blues, look no further - when he’s not thrilling audiences, apparently he also runs a successful home construction business. A fine vocalist, guitarist and composer, in the past he’s graced the stage alongside B.B. King,
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Albums
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BaCK TO FROnT BanD TRANSITION independent
Right from the off, with Eric Bibb’s smooth voice replaced here by Phil Wright’s gravel-throated effort on Bibb’s Bayou Belle, the selfdescribed music collective featured here lay their musical cards on the table with clear hints at what might follow to make up this five-track EP. Adrian Hough on resonator guitar slips some tasty slide-work in and out helped by Wright’s gritty voice, keys and percussion. Liz Cole provides backing vocals on the single Bibb cover. In reality, Transition is an interestingly laid-back take on traditional roots music with delicious, drifting, unexpected covers of Drinking Gourd, Rock Me Baby and Take This Hammer all included in this eclectic mix. Bibb’s opening cover is followed a few tracks down the line by Keb Mo’s Keep It Simple - to complete a tip of the hat to modern blues-roots music. Phil Wright’s voice is reminiscent at times of Leon Redbone, and the entire package is a genuinely stripped-down, bared-to-the-bone blues-influenced mulch with much to commend it to lovers of traditional acoustic blues. I, for one, like this approach. A mighty fine effort, worth catching.
and his opener Willow sets the tone and you know you’re in for one hell of a party. Whitfield’s energy levels are unparalleled on the rockabilly of Rock ‘n’ Roll Baby, which certainly sounds like it’s from another era. The Claw has the same timeless feel to it. Adjunct Street, briefly brings it down to moody late night/early morning territory. This is a crafty dance record, ideal for shaking your booty, transport yourself back to the swinging sixties, very retro, shall we say. Not my scene, I’m afraid, but if you’re stuck in a time warp, this will be right up your strata! CLIVE RAWLINGS
LIz AIkEN
HUSKy TOneS
TIME FOR A CHANGE independent
IAIN PATIENCE
Johnny Winter, and Buddy Guy. In 2004 Blind Pig Records wisely signed him up, and if you’re a fan of hard-driving blues in the Stevie Ray Vaughan style, Albert’s your man. Someone Like You is a 12-track Blind Pig album spanning a variety of electric blues styles. It has a modern Chicago feel; just soak up the tasty, fat guitar on tracks such as Up Your Sleeve and the punchy, rolling Meatlocker. There’s some fine, slower and more introspective material here too, So Strong, with its thoughtful, sad lyrics and the over seven minute long Little Bird is a terrific slow blues - it even has the classic opening line - Woke up this morning! All told this is a well written (all songs by Cummings), well-recorded and mixed album, as stimulating a collection of modern blues as you could ask for. Highly recommended. ROY BAINTON
anDy DaLe peTTy
FRICK’S LAMENT voodoo rhythm records
BaRRenCe WHiTFieLD & THe SaVageS
UNDER THE SAVAGE SKY Bloodshot records
Out of Boston, Barrence once opened for The Damned in the 80’s London. Think you know the direction this review is going to take! This is best described as a Molotov Cocktail of R&B, not bad at all by way of a change. Relying on covers in their infancy, they eventually split, but this is their second offering from re-united original members Whitfield, guitarist Peter Greenberg, bassist Phil Lenker and new recruits drummer Andy Jody and Tom Quartulli on sax. Greenberg contributes a handful of songs
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with a mix of instrumentals and well written songs, recorded partly while Andy Dale Petty was on the road in Europe and the rest back in Alabama. The album is a journey reflecting his travels on train or by foot mostly touring on his own with the guitar and Banjo as his company. The influences of other travelling musicians that have preceded Andy are there like ghosts in the background with definite hints of Woody Guthrie. This is a modern album that manages to encapsulate tradition whilst keeping the words and music fresh, relevant and full of acoustic driven energy.
Opening with the title track the banjo introduces Andy Dale Petty on his second album, Frick’s Lament which has a dozen tracks that cut to the chase the longest track is a shade over three minutes. This is an album that is about the power of the strings, long lead breaks and sassy riffs it is about exploring the shapes and textures that the stringed instruments he favours Guitar and Banjo can produce, to create a mood and atmosphere of the music he wants us to sit back, listen to and enjoy. If American folk fuelled guitar and banjo driven melodies that are upbeat and listenable take your fancy this is a definite for your collection. available in Vinyl, CD and as digital download the choice is yours and the listening experience will be upbeat and enjoyable
I love it when something comes for review that is just different and fun and here is one of the recent treasures I’ve encountered from The Husky Tones who have been based in Bristol for the last four years. It has taken more than that period to arrive at the situation that is now called Husky Tones. Indeed guitar man (and co-founder with singer/ drummer Victoria Bourne), Chris Harper grew up in a blues loving household where Peter Green, Freddie King and SRV were the main diet, has studied electronic composition, performed in experimental indie rock bands, written and performed flamenco music and turned the circle to come back to the blues. Finding Victoria while looking for a singer to front a Radiohead inspired band they became entwined musically (and romantically) having arrived at the same point after her background had her singing in local Baptist Church choirs and experiencing Indian ragas at school while listening to Hooker and Guy.
ReVIeWs
This diversity now blends into the original yet strangely familiar stylings that are Husky Tones where Victoria’s attraction to percussion led her to the drum stool (with some development assisted by Groundhog Ken Pustelnik) as well as being vocalist (following the likes of Cedric Burnside and Cara Robinson). With the line-up completed with Matt Richards on bass and Liam Ward on harmonicas here is an original and entertaining outfit indeed. Ten original songs in an original style is more than can often be hoped for these days but here it is and damn good too. Nicely presented with eight page booklet and lyrics. I’m So Happy I’ve Got The Blues opens this intoxicating album and gets you in the mood for some fun listening to some terrific music, Blues that skips along and entertains you. The songs tell stories from romance to crime and consequences, being broke, optimism and more. There have been lots of great comments on the band live too. The playing is a joy throughout from all the members, tones change, and it is like a musical kaleidoscope in variety, a stunning and entertaining debut.
which sets the party mood and features great guitar and vocals from original member and composer Calle Engstrom. The effortlessly swinging You Ought To Be Ashamed features vocals and guitar from Eric Engstrom and the playing is excellent with a superb harmonica solo from Calle Engstrom. The Crawl rocks along splendidly and then guest Knock Out Greg adds his wonderful vocals and harmonica to the slow George Smith song Telephone Blues and also the funky My Backscratcher The audience have come from all over Sweden for this show and are richly rewarded with great music and a feel good atmosphere. Sven Zetterberg keeps the mood going with his vocals and harmonica on Jimmy Reed’s Found Love complete with trademark squeaky harp solo. Great stuff. The fine original song Switchblade sounds suitably menacing but a thundering I’m Tore Down restores the celebratory tone with the assembled band and guests producing five guitar solos without dissolving into an indulgent mess. The rocking
TOBY ORNOTT
Jimmy Rogers number She Loves Another Man features more great guitar and harp work before the album closes with the jumping Swear To Tell The Truth. By the sound of the audience reaction a good time was had by all and this really is a very fine live album which absolutely shows that the blues is alive and well in Sweden. DAVE DRURY
BUDDy gUy
BORN TO PLAY GUITAR sony Music
Buddy Guy is SO important to the Blues. Especially with BB passing. Yet when you speak with him, he is the most modest man and does not seem to realise even now, just how important he is to so many generations of blues players. Here he is on his new album cover, playing with his teeth and blowing up a storm. Again Buddy is helped and produced by Tom Hambridge, also a fine drummer and singer, as his solo albums attest. The last album was successful and had some stellar guest contributions. This time out, Guy is joined on Kiss Me Quick
Albums
by Fabulous Thunderbird star Kim Wilson and he is also on Too Late. The title track has Guy testifying over Delta riffs, edging into a stealthy blues tread. A rolling piano slips into the blend. It’s delicious stuff! Step up Billy Gibbons for Wear You Out a solid boogie and Buddy eulogising over his ’54 Strat and Gibbons growling his verses; Joss Stone joins Buddy on You Got What It Takes, taken at a jaunty pace and the wonderful contrast between the voices is a treat. It’s wah wah time on Turn Me Wild and a perfect key for Buddy, hence his best vocal on this set, here. A delicate guitar weave has Guy in a psychedelic backdrop and it sounds very different. I love it, ace production with twinkling organ adding to the dreamy vibe. Van Morrison these days can turn any number into a dirge and does just that on Flesh & Bone, dedicated to BB King. A shame. But it doesn’t spoil a punchy album with plenty of full-blooded guitar runs and fine singing, few channel pure soul with such joy as well as Buddy Guy. PETE SARGEANT
BOnnie MaC BanD PLEASURES AND PAINS red fox productions
MOnSTeRaS BLUeSBanD 40 YEARS LIVE pama records
Since 1974 this Swedish band have recorded 13 studio albums and had various different line ups whilst regularly touring Scandinavia and northern Europe. This celebration concert kicks off with Baten a rocking blues
The Bonnie Mac Band are the city of Leeds’ finest, simply a splendid meld of blues forms, expressed through (largely) selfwritten compositions. The line-up is Sheila McFarlane (vox), Craig Jackson (bass), Ian Scaife (blues harp), John Sharp (drums), Geoff Waddington (guitar), Pete Kenyon (keyboards), and they hit the boards running with Queen Jealously, a velocified get-up-and-go blues rocker. Fiery guitar weaving through a synchronised rhythm section, interplaying with cool blues harp. Vocally, I really dig Sheila’s notably (and unusual for the genre) emphatically English voice, and I can’t wait to hear more. Which arrives PDQ on track 2, The Flood - holy mackerel, here’s a warm welcome to dance-enhanced groove city, everything you want is here, and really it’s the bee’s knees. What about Time Again? Well, it’s a walking blues played by a fine, articulate band and with a way-off-the-norm, one-off vocal. This is a fine combo indeed. On the disciplined but rolling blues called Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean (the original was by Ruth Brown in 1953), they swing like an outside lavvy door in a hurricane, with Sheila’s individual voice delivering a classic been-treated-bad tale of abuse. Ain’t No Fool is jumpy, staccato, in-your-face, and the cyclical riff on Ball And Chain is, to all intents and purposes, the bastard child of The Everly Brothers and Status Quo. I like this, a lot, and I wish the band every success. PETE INNES
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Albums
ReVIeWs
CaTFiSH
SO MANY ROADS independent
Sussex based four piece band with their debut album consisting of 8 familiar songs from the blues canon. Opener Little By Little gets a sturdy workout with good guitar work from Matthew Long and solid keyboards from Paul Long who also share vocals on this track. I always think a slow blues is
a good test for any new band and the Otis Rush classic So Many Roads is a particular favourite of mine so I was pleased to hear this confident and sparkling version. A funky guitar riff introduces Albert Collins’ Black Cat Bone with the rhythm section of Dusty Bones on bass and Kevin Yates on drums driving the song along. Catfish Blues gets a swampy atmospheric intro and features eerily distorted guitar and half spoken echoing vocals which lift the song to a different level. Lieber and Stoller’s classic Coasters song Framed is a jaunty toe tapper with sardonic vocals and then everyone stretches out on Eddie Boyd’s lengthy
STOMpin’ DaVe & SaM KeLLy LIVE FROM THE STICKS Mr david allen records
Eight tracks recorded live at the turn of the year in Dorset, released as picked-up and without overdubs. The energy here is always positive with Stompin’ Dave’s keyboard skills well to the fore while Sam Kelly lends his magisterial presence on drums with support from Jules Bushell on bass guitar. Both Kelly and Bushell ensure a rock-solid backbone to the album giving Dave (Allen) plenty of room to enjoy himself on vocals, guitar, keys and, on a number of takes, harp; track three I Love You Baby, is a barn-stormer with Bushell’s bass work solid and Kelly ripping it up good-style while Dave moves effortlessly from keys to harp and back throughout. The album opens with a fine, down-low version of the old Memphis Slim standard Every Day I Have The Blues, one of BB’s personal trademark tracks, here covered with passion and punch, Kelly clearly enjoying laying down an appropriately stomping rhythm while Dave’s keys are barrel-house, honky-tonk at its best. Anything featuring the wonderful Sam Kelly on skins is bound inevitably to have a screaming, pounding backbeat that soars along with bags of guts. Live From The Sticks could well be a direct, albeit slightly sly, reference to Kelly’s input here or more prosaically the Wessex village hall where the album was recorded. Whatever, mostly twelve-bar driven the overall result cruises through a couple of Memphis Slim’s old favourites with the addition of Mother Earth giving Chatman the credits to both top and tail this offering. In the mix, Carl Perkins’ old early rocker Matchbox fair romps along with the remaining tracks in similar vein all written by Stompin’ Dave Allen himself. This is nothing short of classic juke-joint blues from the sticks. IAIN PATIENCE
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slow blues Five Long Years which features soulful vocals and impressive guitar and organ solos. Catfish remind me of the early British blues band scene before the rock excesses inevitably set in. Just to prove that they can rock out with the best Catfish produce a thundering wah-wah fuelled version of Going Down which is always a sure fire crowd pleaser. The album closes with another of my favourites with the measured and passionate plea for help Loan Me A Dime a song made famous by Boz Scaggs with the assistance of Duane Allman’s sublime guitar. It takes balls to even attempt to cover such a masterpiece but have no fear as Catfish sail through with ease. This is a very promising album which has rightly already gained much attention. If Catfish continue gigging with energy and passion and, crucially, develop some original material then the sky is the limit. I look forward to a second album soon. DAVE DRURY
the stylish piano playing from Gareth Kedward. There is nothing virtual about the stylish blues opening with a clever, modern and relevant to our times lyrically hitting the spot. Looking Back has backing vocals adding a different dimension with the beat picking up and then we have a different sound with its country twang to the blues thanks to the Pedal Steel on Give Love A Chance. This twist on the blues is also evident and suits the track telling the story of Wild Bill Hickock Deadman’s Hand. At times the tracks could be a bit more upbeat picking up a dance shuffle and it just fails on tracks such as Summertime Shuffle, sometimes letting go gives that extra wilder dimension. The stylized Blues riffs give the album context and the album does work well, and is listenable and worth returning to with gems that show Coolhand can sparkle. The closing track meant this debut album closed with a whimper rather than a shout for me Stand Out would have hit the bill. Coolhand are a name to watch out for with a stylish debut album from the recording studio. LIz AIkEN
ZaKiya HOOKeR IN THE MOOD
Boogie With the hook records
COOLHanD COOLHAND independent
There is no argument that this self-titled debut album delivering a cool bluesy dozen of self-penned numbers is not an album lightly painted blue it is true blue through and through. This is an album full of potential with its crisp, perhaps at times too studio driven, production by Luke himself combined with the obvious musical skills within the band with Luke Bradshaw’s stylish electric guitar, Darren Edwards vocal prowess and
Listen up folks, if you want to hear a touch of mellow class oozing the soul of blues and jazz then this is the album or you! This is a gorgeous, schmoozy album of eleven tracks caressed by a velvet voice that tackles a fine range of songs that will put you In The Mood! From the opening Receipt To Sing The Blues and its’ rippling intro of fine horn, tinkling piano and tonal guitar setting up the introduction of ‘the’ voice and then this 4.22 oozes and touches all the bases before it
ReVIeWs
fades away (sad). Another Kind Of Blues has a phone message intro preceding the guitar break and tells the story of being let down by the man again, wonderful guitar work by Bobby Young throughout and Paul Palizzalo plays a mean harp! If you want to drown in a voice then track three Drowning In Your Love will do it for you, this is simply so SO smooth and mellow, what a way to spend 5.36!! The musicians assembled on this disc deserve much credit and plaudit for their work and each and every one complement each other and work so well for Zakiya as they all move so smoothly through each song. Let’s Do Something gives you a bit of gentle funkiness, In The Mood sets off with some purposefulness and stirs the proceedings somewhat as “Night times callin’ me” and a few Blues ‘names’ are dropped in the lyric as we swing along in the groove. We get an invitation to “come on over baby” in Hang On For A While as the acoustic guitar and harmonica blow us along. Art Of Divorce is almost conversational in tackling the subject as it bounces along with a hint of funk and fine groove (yes there are a lot of great grooves on this disc). One Step Two covers relationship and puts the guy in his place so subtly, oh the guitar break, sweet! Protect Me From The Blues has depth of quality and feel and the album comes to a close with Sweet Baby J with voice and acoustic blending on a sad but loving note to close a superb album.
title of the album, 9. The album itself showcases the undoubted qualities of all the musicians; from Bernard Sellam on lead guitar and vocals, through Joel Ferron on base and Oliver Trebel on drums. It showcases the undoubted qualities of all the musicians; from Bernard Sellam on lead. Completing this line up Stephane Bertolino whose harmonica skills are a real joy to listen to. This band have been on the go for almost twenty years on the continent, but with frequent stints in the States adding to their repertoire and this shows their acceptance in the home of blues. This journey has not been an easy road to travel, and their reception in the U.S. clearly demonstrates their quality. It is providing the opening for no less than B.B. King which is the ultimate kite mark of quality, and in 2009 they did just that with stylish guitar playing and harmonica playing verging on exquisite. This album is quite beautiful to listen to irrespective of your mood, and adds je ne sais quoi to the French interpretation of the blues style. Track two Sunshine In My Bedroom is just over 5 minutes of pure harmonica joy from Bertolino and elegant guitar playing from Sellam, and is almost worth the cost of the album alone. That said the rest of the album is evocatively bluesy, especially track seven Chainsaw Girl, with Zeb Heiintz slide guitar work largely creating the atmosphere. An all-round cracking album and well worth a punt of anyone’s hard earned cash. C’est tres bien mes amis.
FRANk LEIGH
TOM WALkER
aWeK
TaMpa ReD
9
absilone/dWM Music
This album is the ninth one by this eclectic combination of French musicians, hence the quirky
THE UNSUNG KING OF THE BLUES ace records
A classic double CD comprising 50 tracks in reverse chronological
Albums
SWaMpCanDy LAND
independent
Ruben Dodds and Joey Mitchell are a high energy, stomping roots duo from America and very similar in style to the popular Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. If you like heavy, pounding bass throttling sounds interspersed with some neat finger picking guitar and country and western interludes then this album will whet your appetite. I suspect that like Peyton they will be even better live given their raw energy. Highlights include: the soulful Drink Whiskey With Me with its beautiful horn arrangement; the mesmeric kick drum backing to, and enchanting harmonies of, If I Die With My Eyes Open; and Baseball Bats which could have been a hit for The White Stripes or The Black Keys. Also impressive are the vocal range and different guitar styles from the gruff voice on Tore My Heart Like A Tiger, to the folksy Bastard That I Am and the infectious drinking song with its sumptuous slide, Positive Drinkin’. Some tracks like Love In My Veins are a bit repetitive but all in all this is a very interesting, innovative and well produced album and a good introduction for blues fans who like music which cuts straight to the bone. THE BISHOP
order starting from the early 1950s to highlight Red’s later, high quality and mainly un-reissued material. Despite the album’s title, most blues enthusiasts would acknowledge Tampa as the ultimate Guitar Wizard, not least on the splendid Evalena which opens the sessions and the climactic final track, Texas Stomp. The trademark kazoo diminishes in prominence as Sonny Boy Williamson ll and Big Walter Horton increasingly contribute on harmonica. Little Johnnie Jones enhances his reputation as a tasteful, influential Chicago blues pianist, notably on Big Stars Falling Blues and If I Don’t Find Another True Love, whilst Big Maceo’s legacy on this instrument is also confirmed. Above all Tampa Red’s artistry, leadership and infectious passion shine through, whether on fast or slow blues, boogie or hokum. You Better Be Ready To Go and Don’t Deal With The Devil are two of the standout tracks from the1940s. Red successfully navigated the
changes in both music and society between his first hit in 1928 until the twilight of his career in the mid-50s, with many of his songs entering the repertoires of B.B. King, Elmore James and Little Walter. The whole package with its extensive liner notes and crystal clear sound production is a must have addition to any serious blues collection. THE BISHOP
WHeLan
THE STORY OF IKE DUPREE independent
This is an album that tells a fictional story using the beat, tempo and emotional mood of the blues over the thirteen tracks about Ike Dupree, creating a second
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Blues Top 50
October 2015
BLUES Top 50 POS
ARTIST
TITLE
Label
State
Country
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Buddy Guy Shemekia Copeland Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Muddy Waters Chris O’Leary Samantha Fish Tommy Castro Colin Linden John Ginty Guy Davis Duke Robillard John Mayall Gary Clark Jr. MonkeyJunk Boz Scaggs Zac Harmon Eddie Cotton Sonny Landreth
Born to play guitar Outskirts of Love Lost Time Muddy Waters 100 Gonna Die Tryin’ Wild Heart Method to My Madness Rich In Love No Filter Kokomo Kidd
rca Alligator Yep Roc Muddy Waters 100 American Showplace Ruf Records Alligator Stony Plain American Showplace MC Records Stony Plain Forty Below Warner Bros. Stony Plain 429 Records Blind Pig DeChamp Provogue ELROB Stony Plain Eller Soul Reference Delmark Provogue Self-Release Blind Pig Henrietta Put Together Deep Fryed American Showplace Self-Release Jaxon Treated & Released Blind Pig Melrose Hill Delta Groove Electro-Fi Vanguard Blind Pig Self-Release Big Guitar Music Blind Pig Self-Release Delta Moon Self-Release Concord C-Train New West J&R Adventures Thirty Tigers
LA NY CA MS NY MO PA ON NJ NY RI CA TX ON OH CA MS LA NY NY DC VIC MS CA OR TN CA CA NC NY NY TN NY MA IN CT ON NY IL PA MS TN MB NJ ON NY IL TX NY LA
USA USA USA USA USA USA USA CAN USA USA USA USA USA CAN USA USA USA USA USA USA USA AUS USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA CAN USA CAN USA USA USA USA USA
The Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard
Find a Way to Care The Story of Sonny Boy Slim Moon Turn Red A Fool to Care Right Man Right Now One at a Time Bound By the Blues Zora Young & Little Mike and the Tornadoes Friday Night Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters Father’s Day Andy Poxon Must Be Crazy Fiona Boyes Box and Dice Jimmy Burns It Ain’t Right Joe Louis Walker Everybody Wants a Piece Karen Lovely Ten Miles of Bad Road Victor Wainwright & the WildRoots Boom Town Charlie Musselwhite I Ain’t Lyin’ The Reverend Shawn Amos The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You Nikki Hill Heavy Hearts Hard Fists Slam Allen Feel These Blues David Michael Miller Same Soil Little Boys Blue Bad Love Reverend Freakchild Hillbilly Zen-Punk Blues Albert Cummings Someone Like You The Beat Daddys Hoodoo That We Doo Anthony Geraci and the Boston Blues All-Stars Fifty Shades of Blue Blackburn Brothers In This World The Word Soul Food The Cash Box Kings Holding Court Deb Callahan Sweet Soul Omar & The Howlers The Kitchen Sink Andy T - Nick Nixon Band Numbers Man Romi Mayes Devil On Both Shoulders Bob Malone Mojo Deluxe Andre Bisson Left With The Blues Danielle Nicole Wolf Den Christian Collin Spirit Of The Blues Steve Earle Terraplane Joe Bonamassa Different Shades of Blue Jon Cleary GoGo Juice
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album that fits the bill. Who is Ike and what is his story? Well fourth track in we get to meet the man himself, a Katrina survivor, falsely sent to Angola Prison for 30 years to life, he escapes and now works as a short-order cook and trombonist on the side; this is a track where the music is angry and percussive with Fred Wesley’s trombone taking centre stage. The horn section is huge throughout the album, and comprises three saxophones, three trumpets and a harmonica, yet they never drown out the story being unfolded they are an integral part of the album but never overpower Whelan the band. This is Whelan’s second album and mixes the blues with musical shades from, soul, big band sound and R ‘n’ B as musical sounds are crossed the sound is full of texture and interest. The tracks are full of originality and you find your feet tapping and being drawn into the sound being created the guitar from Sid Whelan combined with the vocals add a strong backbone to the songs as on Ice Water, Too Cold Ohio Blues with its stylish harp and Steak For Two. The influences from the blues weave throughout the sound including Albert & B.B. King guitar licks and the feel of T Bone Walker this is a big sound rooted in the roots of American popular music. Whelan has strung a story –line using blues as a foundation, the result The Story of Ike Dupree is compelling. LIz AIkEN
SING/GET ON BOARD/AT SUGAR HILL soul jam records
This superbly re-mastered and beautifully packaged double CD release includes three of the legendary duo’s finest albums recorded between 1952 and 1962, their most inspirational years. In addition, nine bonus tracks include highlights of the duo’s 1940s recordings such as Careless Love, Custard Pie Blues and Lovin’ With A Feeling. Sonny never compromised his unique high-pitched whoopin’ harmonica style, raspy voice and occasional falsetto wail whilst Brownie’s chord-based guitar and cheerier vocals were both complementary and a contrast. Both men had learned to live with physical handicaps and both had enjoyed extensive exposure to country music, from blues and gospel to hillbilly. The Sing album contains folk songs and ballads, notably breath taking versions of Better Day and John Henry. Get On Board comprises both traditional songs and original compositions from The Midnight Special to Rising Sun. The inconspicuous room which became the Sugar Hill nightclub in San Francisco attracted many new blues fans who became devotees of the duo’s regular performances. Their warm, appreciative responses are audible in this superb live session of self-penned songs. Highlights include Born To Live The Blues, Keep On Walking and I Feel Alright Now, all classic, parttraditional, part-contemporary yet timeless recordings. THE BISHOP
Dan DOiROn
STAND BACK I DON’T KNOW HOW LOUD THIS THING GETS independent
SOnny TeRRy anD BROWnie MCgHee
Again not a name I’ve come across before but this Cape Breton, Nova
Scotia musician should, on this evidence, be much better known on this side of The Pond. In truth I would not exactly put Dan in the pure Blues category as for sure he veers off into Rock and Soul territory on some tunes. Is that a problem? Not for me as I‘ve always operated an open ears policy when it comes to music especially when it comes to my radio programmes. If we accept that Dan shifts around a little there is a whole lot of very fine music on here. The title is slightly misleading as there is much in the way of subtlety in his playing style to keep the interest levels high but yes it is also full on as well. Ten cuts, all self-penned, with the shortest weighing in at 4:10 so plenty of grooves for your bucks. The sound is big and bold coming at you in waves with You Give Me Shivers getting us under way complete with BV’s, horns punching in and out along with guitar flying off in all directions
Albums
giving it a kind of Memphis feel. The girls are used on several tracks especially well on Killing Each Other Trying To Get Into Heaven. The title track, the hardest on the album perhaps that was to be expected, pulling no punches rises all the way to a blistering solo showcasing what a fine player Dan is. With his tongue very firmly in his cheek Don’t You Know Who I Think I Am is packed with humorous lines. One of the most interesting cuts is Slippin’ Back Into The Dip due in no small way to the fine interplay between guitar and flute. Not an instrument widely used in the Blues it really works very well here especially on the outro section with the Hammond sitting nicely underneath, quite brilliant. A fine album with interesting layers of texture, colour and power. GRAEME SCOTT
BLUeS engine THE QUICK AND THE DRY independent
First point to highlight is that the production and recording quality on this album are sublime, the production team have created a very clear bass sound that allows the instruments and vocals to resonate, the band also do their bit playing each note precisely and cleanly. The four piece Blues Engine are a fairly new band based in the South East of England formed less than two years ago they are already displaying, on the evidence of this album, a great togetherness and have released a very mature debut album packed full with some great self-written material. The band will have wide appeal to Blues fans as they introduce elements of Jazz and more traditional Hooker style punch into their material which is played in a soulful way, their two great assets are guitarist Alex Cooray who plays both lead and rhythm guitar expertly and vocalist Katya Chernyakova who has a commanding but soulful style, the track Long Gone is the album highlight, it is an atmospheric slow builder that has an assortment of guitar styles, closing with a Desert Blues style riff that is really catchy. With their original material and fine playing the band have a good foundation to enable them to continue pushing onwards and upwards, I can only see good things ahead for them. ADRIAN BLACkLEE
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eDDie TayLOR JR. STOP BREAKING DOWN discovery record/Wolf
Eddie Taylor’s father, Eddie Senior, was an important figure in the founding of electric Chicago blues. Young Eddie’s mother, Vera, regularly used to cook dinner for many blues greats, among them Hubert Sumlin, Sam Lay and Johnny B. Moore. Eddie Junior, apparently, although born into the blues, at first considered a career as a rapper. Well, judging by this album, hip-hop’s loss is certainly a gain for the blues. It’s a classic American story. Young Eddie’s father died on Christmas Day in 1985, leaving behind his guitar which, at the time, young Eddie could not play. But in honour of his father, he’s learned and this album demonstrates that good
blues is in his genes. These dozen tracks are all blues standards. There’s a good opener with Slim Harpo’s big hit, I’m A King Bee. There are two Robert Johnson songs; the title song and 32-20 blues, a very good rendering of Brook Benton’s Kiddio, some Jimmy Reed and a fine The Sky In Crying. So there may be far too many rappers out there, but we can never have enough good Chicago Bluesmen - and Eddie Taylor is right up there with the best. ROY BAINTON
VaL TOMaTO
VINTE LONGO ANOS independent
Val Tomato is a Brazilian harmonica player and it seems that he has been around for many years. This is – aside from the vocals – pretty well
eRiC RanZOni
WOMEN TROUBLE BLUES
Blues in the mainstream but there are a few tracks where he achieves something quite different; Othos Negros has a distinct and very different feel, somewhere between Mexican and Brazilian torch song with some fine metal bodied guitar and heartfelt harp, and Caminhos Do Sol is a desperately lonely and rather beautiful sound, very Larry Adler. In between these two tracks is a stock version of Little Walter’s My Baby as if showing that they can do the straight stuff too but, for me, rather let down by vocals that just don’t carry the song. Party For Luan sits right in the Rock & Roll groove with some fine honking sax and solo after solo between harp and guitar. The closing track is entitled Homenagem a Charlie Musselwhite (Homage/ Tribute to Charlie Musselwhite) – a soulful and searching instrumental featuring harp and muted trumpet. Deeply dark and emotive and beautifully played and conceived. No question that Val Tomato is a very talented harp player and composer, maybe not to all Blues lovers tastes but well worth taking a closer look at. ANDY SNIPPER
independent
Eric Ranzoni? Who’s he, you may ask. He was born in London in 1969, then spent his life between Milan and Rome until returning to the UK in 2003. Since then, he’s been gathering plaudits by the bucketful, praised for his piano prowess by everyone from Paul Jones to Eric Clapton and Dr. John. This is a collection of blues standards and originals, and very pleasant it is too. Ranzoni has a clear, mid-range vocal delivery, and his distinct diction lets us hear every lyric clearly. Three of the 12 tracks, Real Gone Girl, Got Her Mobile Working (a nice modern touch there!) and Pretty Girls Boogie all demonstrate a creative musician in full command of the genre. His version of Elmore James’ Dust My Broom doesn’t suffer from any lack of guitar, because this man can really play blues piano with consummate skill. His reading of Ray Charles’ Come Back Baby is excellent - you can hear the great man’s heartfelt piano style all the way through. So does Mr. Ranzoni live up to all the praise? Damn right he does. ROY BAINTON
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film clips showing the band in full flight. The album is well presented in a neat black and white sleeve with a nice picture of the lady in question on the cover and I guess that it was this photo that did not prepare me for the power house vocals from this slightly built young lady. There are 13 tracks on the album, all but two of them written by the band, the remaining two tracks don’t get any writers credit anywhere that I could see. The opener hits you right between the eyes with a voice that is so reminiscent of someone else, but for the life of me I can’t think who! Suffice to say that it is a great voice with power a plenty and a really down home rough Blues edge to it, think Maggie Bell, meets Etta James, with a nod to Janis Joplin on the way. The title track Slow Burn is just what it says on the tin, and when it does catch fire, it certainly burns hot. Nice range of styles and pacing on here too, with a very able band showcasing all of Betty’s vocal skills. Judging by her tour itinerary (Sorry, did I not say that they are an American outfit? Ooops!) we aren’t likely to be seeing them over here for a while, but remember the name as I am sure we are going to be hearing a lot more from her. DAVE STONE
THe BeTTy FOX BanD SLOW BURN independent
As far as I can tell, this seems to be the Bands first record. My usual reliable source of info has let me down this time as I couldn’t find much detailed data. There are however lots of entries on YouTube and Facebook, including several
THe ZiLLa pROJeCT
THIS ONE’S FOR THE PRESIDENT independent
TZP are from Cyprus and have been together for six years honing and sharpening their musicals skills and their
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main man Emmanuel ‘Big Mo’ Vourakis, who spent eight years in America soaking-up all the blue influences he could and when he returned home he started work on TZP, who are; Emmanuel; vocals and guitars, Nicolas ‘Honeyman’ Mells; keyboards, Lou Paphitis; bass and Stefanos ‘Medicine Man’ Meletiou; drums. Together they impeccably play a sharp and inviting fresh combination of American and English sounding blues. Over eleven numbers, they foot tappingly play a mixture of heartfelt blues, blues stompers, striders and down-home back porch revellers. The rich, crisp, clear tones of their instruments are pleasantly incisive and so, so inviting. The album kicks-off with a welcoming and bristling electrified version of Son House’s Death Letter, a mixture of spoons and resonator are the intro and then a rasping vocal is wrapped around a spine chilling slide underpinned with aggressive thumping percussion. Hear Me Crying, is a confident urban street guitar strider that floats on a bubbling sea of keyboard and percussion. Sweet Louisa begins with a sweet foot tapping resonator which is underpinned by an equally sweet vocal and upright bass and brushwork. Mr. Tumblin’ is a marvellous straight ahead keyboard and guitar led rolling stomper. Can’t Let You Go is a splendid rocking Free inspired slow burner that twists, turns and scorches its way forward. Another slow burner, Zilla Song enmeshes seventies late night bubbling Jazz immersed keyboard with rich floating guitar flourishes. Shout Song is a great handclapping, stomping electrified back porcher. Janis Joplin’s Mercedes-Benz combines the gospel influences of the original with sparkling and rocking slide work. Grace
has marvellous echoes of a stunning strutting Free. Recommended! BRIAN HARMAN
KiM SiMMOnDS & SaVOy BROWn THE DEVIL TO PAY ruf records
Not dedicated to George Osborne, it turns out. Kim Simmonds & Savoy Brown back in the studio to deliver another set of Kim originals. The band’s last show in London at the Borderline was stunning, all over the place on styles and eras and all the better for it. Dynamic drummer Garnet Grimm and supple bassist Pat DeSalvo do everything one could ask to make these tunes rock and burn and Simmonds has lost none of his fire on the six string and harp. Recorded in his (now) home territory of Syracuse, the studio sound is very American. Kim’s notes mention various blues formats – rock, swing, jazz, traditional. It was recorded quickly, I suspect because the trio is a live unit, are pretty hot and more and more intuitive. Best moments for this fan – the sure-fire tread of Bad Weather Brewing, all steady bass and rolling snare with fluid guitar and adept phrasing and emphatic vocal, the well-paced harp runs on Oh Rosa. Plus the jagged tempo of the title track, again with assured and inventive guitar spinning through the tune. Tell Mama was a classic Savoy hit and I’ve Been Drinking hits a similar groove, with the best vocal of the record, too. But best of all is the closer Evil Eye, with its sinister riff and growly singing – classic Simmonds, and I imagine a show favourite to be. Overall this record stays a little too often in the trad blues format for me and some adventurous compositions might have stretched the band. However few outfits deliver this
Albums
BiLLy JenKinS DEATH, RITUAL & RESONATION votp
Billy Jenkins is not to be pinned down – former art-rocker, experimental jazz guitarist, and less than conventional bluesman. He is also a humanist and for the last seven years or so he has been conducting non-religious funeral rituals, the focus of the music on this set of “eight improvised studies” running on from 2014’s release The Semi Detached Suburban Home. Billy looks at the importance of pitch, and so this solo set is played on a low-strung acoustic guitar, recorded beautifully by Charlie Hart. This set is most accurately described as an EP release, the eight tracks running to around 19 minutes in total and incorporating some blues elements, particularly on Six Pallbearers Big And Strong (which may recall St. James Infirmary), the slide driven Rejoice That They Lived which approaches an alt. blues sound in its speed and ferocity and the almost conventional blues of the closing Walk On In Eternal Gratitude – no, not your standard blues titles, you may have noted. Elsewhere there are snatches of familiar phrases and passages of what I can only describe as guitar noodling. The whole however works as a meditative and thought-provoking release, a fascinating antidote to production line music. NORMAN DARWEN
edgy blues rock material with such authenticity. Still! PETE SARGEANT
LaZeR LLOyD LAZER LLOYD
lots of love records
To be honest, until I received the CD to review, I had never heard of Lazer Lloyd. What a mistake, since this CD was a revelation and drove me to find out more about him. He was born in New York but raised in Madison, Connecticut and his early influences were based on his access to his music loving father’s collection of blues, folk, rock, and jazz records. Eventually he developed his own style whilst playing lead guitar along the East Coast
with his band, Legacy, from the age of 15. He then started singing and writing songs at Skidmore College but his life changed when, in 1994, he accepted an invitation by the late singer/songwriter Ray Shlomo Carlebach (aka The Singing Rabbi) to go to Israel, after they played a show together in Manhattan. He has lived there ever since, playing in several bands. In 2012, he released his CD My Own Blues which was named best blues album by the Israeli Blues Society and represented them at the Memphis International Blues Competition which raised awareness of his music. He now tours North America almost monthly and in June 2015, released the self-titled electric album, Lazer Lloyd on the Chicago-based Lots Of Love Records label. The 12 song CD was recorded in Tel Aviv and all but one song was written by Lloyd. It captures the energy of his live work, the quality of his lyrics, voice and
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THe LUCKy LOSeRS A WINNING HAND West tone records
On first hearing I can assure you there are NO losers where this album is concerned! Here we have a lady not so long ago featured in Blues Matters 81 in her own name when the superb Black Crow album was launched. Now she has reverted to duo format and teamed up with the highly acclaimed Phil Berkowitz (harp and vocal). Cathy hailed from Dallas and has performed in the Bay area for over twenty five years. She has earned her dues with the likes of Anson Funderburgh, SRV, John Lee Hooker, Tommy Castro and more so she has a long well respected reputation. Phil has been blowing his way for over seventeen years and of the twelve tracks we have here wrote three of the originals, as did Cathy, and six are covers but not just any cover, these are so good! The mix of styles goes along way here from Chicago to Texas through Blues, Soul Jazz and New Orleans Funk. The voices are so well suited and the listening so easy you can thoroughly enjoy these twelve tracks spanning fifty eight minutes of your well spent time. I was sad to see the disc is a card slip case and miss sleeve notes. Guest musicians include Kid Andersen (also co-producer with Cathy and Phil), Steve Freund and Ben Rice. Great funky/foot tapping opener with Change In The Weather, such good vocals. I Take What I Want keeps the pace up and the piano tinkles so well in the background, great harp in What Have I Done (Jimmy Rogers) then the title song A Winning Hand with neat guitar tone, alternating vocals spanning the absorbing 6.56 so well, great song. This is such a good album I’ll let you hear the rest. The album closes peacefully with Don’t You Lose It and the repeated line “one more time” which is what you should do when it is over – play it one more time, and then another and another. FRANk LEIGH
excellent guitar playing. From the excellent first track Burning Thunder to my favourite, Rocking in the Holy Land, he clearly demonstrates why he is called Israel’s king of blues rock. Other stand out tracks include Out Of Time, Love Yourself and Set My Soul Free. His band comprises Moshe Davidson (bass), Kfir Tsairi (keyboards), Elimelech Grundman (drums) and Lloyd on vocals, lead guitar and harp. The album was co-produced with Yocheved Seidman Next time he does his frequent gigs in the USA, I suggest that he does a prolonged stop over in London and gives UK audiences the opportunity to see his superb brand of the blues. ANDY MANN
gig but the latter was too drunk to perform so Leon stepped in and the crowd couldn’t tell the difference hence the moniker Lil Jimmy Reed. The audience must have been completely blotto because they are completely different, a fact that I can verify personally as an attendee of the 1968 American Folk Festival tour. For a start, the real Jimmy was a unique talent, a highly accomplished guitarist and harp player with a distinctive voice. Ground breaking songs like Big Boss Man, Baby What You Want Me To Do and Honest I Do were at the heart of the British blues-rock explosion, such was Reed’s influence. This was in spite of his chronic alcoholism and epilepsy which contributed to his early death. By contrast, Lil Jimmy’s selfpenned Early In The Mornin’ is derivative, and Tell Me Baby little more than a dirge, saved only by the innovative piano playing of the legendary Bob Hall. Rock Me Baby, the tribute to B.B. King, is also mundane with its monotonous guitar solo and absence of emotion, exacerbated by the lightweight rhythm section. More successful are the upbeat Down In Virginia, the swinging Going To New York and Elmore James’ 12 Year Old Boy, but again mainly because of Hall’s contributions. Would Leon Atkins be touring extensively and releasing albums if he had kept his own name?
(guitar), with a horn section of Gerry Atkins (trumpet), Phil Knights and Chris Whiter (saxophones). Kicking off with a good-time country-tinged blues called Think Of You, it’s a nifty, well-structured song that puts me kinda in Amazing Rhythm Aces territory, naggingly catchy, this week’s ear-worm. Laura’s full-blown vocal - this lady has some voice indeed and my only current point of reference is today’s Queen of New Orleans, Meschiya Lake - they are different but both powerful and nuanced. Nasty Piece Of Work, well, it’s rootin’ tootin’ blues that sure choogles ahead, and again that vocal impresses. Melodic, Stax-esque torch song Dare I Believe? evokes, maybe, Otis Redding or Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham - high praise, huh? If It Ain’t Worth Falling Out Over don’t wake your feet up, you are either dead or you forgot the volume on your Hi-Fi. Tough message and expressive vocals on I Just Can’t Love You, a blues lament that opens with Ray Charles piano - lovely. The One and Only Jimmy Reed is kinda like a Sergeant Pepper homage to the ultimate slurred blues slacker we all love so much, an irresistible stonking blast from a band on fire. A great album from a band I’d love to see live. PETE INNES
THE BISHOP
LiL JiMMy ReeD
THe LaURa HOLLanD BanD
fast Western records
tooting records
If it is Jimmy Reed you are expecting to hear then a much better purchase would be Gigantes del Blues Volume 6. For anyone insistent on an inferior version of the real Mississippi deal then listen to this but don’t expect paradise. The story goes that Leon Atkins was at a Jimmy Reed
Produced at Smokehouse Studios, London by the band and by analogue legend Paul Madden, here we have Laura Holland (vocals), Jules Kleiger (bass), Stuart Brown (drums), Tris Llewellyn (keyboards), Nick Sharples
BLUES IN PARADISE
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DARE I BELIEVE
FeDeRaL CHaRM ACROSS THE DIVIDE Wire-sound
After their highly acclaimed eponymous debut album this Manchester quartet are back. Across The Divide shows you
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they’ve grown. The album has eleven self-penned tracks and reveals a freshness you may not expect but playing this at a reasonable volume is like standing in the open with the sun shining in a fresh breeze blowing in unpredictable directions, invigorating! There are classic styles in there but they are fresh. The opening Master Plan punches you with its’ chords and rocks away with hints toward a certain L.Z. as does the opening to the following Guess What which slashes away and there is some similarity to Thunder here. Nick Bowden has a good set of lungs and his guitar with that of Paul Bowe work well together as they ebb and flow over the dependable rhythm laid down by LD Morawski (bass) and Danni Rigg (drums). The guys have had some heavyweight touring support slots with the UFO, Michael Schenker and Rich Robinson and it is good now that they take to the road with Joanne Shaw Taylor and have the chance to lay out their goods for more of a Blues audience who will be mightily impressed. There is good variation of scope of song and structure combined with fine instrumentation throughout which means you will be entertained here. Loved the use of wah in the intro to No More which strides and bounces along then back to the wah as the rhythm slows then builds again. These Four Walls takes it gently and there is some gorgeous easy Hammond behind the acoustic guitar then just after half way through the track builds menacingly to a super guitar solo before the foot is taken off to slowly to close. God, Forsaken does not crowd you but is exciting as it holds back so much and has impassioned vocal, a stunning track. The closing Walk Away (Time And Time Again) has the feel of an epic song and grows slowly
and effectively before it gets into a stride that takes you with it. The guitar punches in then it goes a bit ethereal before hitting back and roaring before a haunting piano bring it to its’ close. Yes this is one to go for and enjoy and keep an eye on Federal Charm. FRANk LEIGH
music and utter respect while changing the sound to suit their capabilities – the result is pretty damn fine although there is little of the character of the musicians in the playing so honestly do they stick to the songs. Son House’s Death Letter is a standout with some delightful mandolin played behind the slide and Sleepy John Estes’ Milk Cow Blues has a brilliantly jaunty feel to it but there isn’t a bad number in the set and they leave the listener with a big smile and uplifted heart. ANDY SNIPPER
BeRT DeiVeRT & COppeRHaD RUn BLOOD IN MY EYES FOR YOU independent
There are so many bands around playing the roots Blues trade that it’s easy to miss one that actually does it right and makes you feel the Blues in their soul. Bert Deivert is a new name on me but he plays the Blues as though his soul was born in Mississippi instead of Boston and he has been playing for around 40+ years, now residing in Sweden. A quick look at the song titles is a familiar romp with songs by Big Joe Williams - Baby Please Don’t Go, Son House - Death Letter, a few by Sleepy John Estes and a great version of R. L. Burnside’s Poor Black Mattie as well as two originals by Deivert. The sound is fresh and cleaves close to the acoustic spectrum with Deivert playing a National RM-1 as well as mandolin, drummer Fredrik Lindholm playing his Premier Aquarian drumheads with subtlety and quiet urging. Janne Zander plays a 1938 National and a 1951 Gibson ES-125 delivering some sublime slide and Per-Arne Petterson is credited with Fender bass and foot stomp. Essentially, this is classic Blues played with a great feel for the
gRey COOpeR BLUeS eXpeRienCe
BIG ROAD independent
Albums
The dozen tracks from this power-trio open with a slippery, hypnotic and psychedelic aura on the title track Big Road before developing, easing itself into a nicely pitched, sassy bassy bit of blues that sets the scene for much of the remainder of this album. From Sheffield, where they have built a good, strong base with swaggering live sets and powerful stage-presence, GCBE play with background aural senses and sounds through much of this recording - wailing like sirens, howling winds - shades of Hawkwind at times - but always rooted in modern electric rock-blues. Guitar chops aplenty and good,
HOLLy gOLigHTLy SLOWTOWN NOW damaged goods
London born singer Holly is now based in Georgia, USA. Coming out of a garage punk environment, she began her solo career with the bluesy album The Good Things in 1995, and often works in a duo with multi-instrumentalist Lawyer Dave as Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs. Slowtown Now! is her first band album for a decade, featuring her accompanied by two guitars, double bass and drums. Anything else? Well, Holly Golightly Smith is her real name, Audrey Hepburn fans. She also duetted with Jack White on It’s True That We Love One Another on The White Stripes set Elephant (that’s our Holly duetting, not Audrey)… But back to this album. It is largely an R & B based set, opening with the subtle blues and early soul drenched Seven Wonders, and moving on with gritty, early 60s styled numbers like As You Go Down, with Holly’s relaxed but pointed vocal supported by a beat combo sound (nice guitar break too – as on many of these titles) and What You See, which reminds me of The Kinks playing an Arthur Alexander number for a cool female lead singer. Those early/mid 60s attempts by Brit bands to replicate the Muscle Shoals sound seem to be a great influence on this set, though Forevermore is a little reminiscent musically of The Shadows’ Apache in the introduction but rather tougher than that might suggest. Frozen In Time is more of a jazzy showcase, Stopped My Heart brought to mind the proto-psychedelia of The Yardbirds with its (freak-) beat, general guitar sound, and relatively wild guitar break, and the title track is a little evocative of a western ghost town. Holly’s approach is frequently understated, she definitely is a fan of the “less is more” approach and uses it to great effect on this recommended set. NORMAN DARWEN
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Blues Top 50
September 2015
IBBA Top 50 POS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 27 28 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
ARTIST JON CLEARY
THE DOVE & BOWEEVIL BAND CHANTEL MCGREGOR JOHN PRIMER & FRIENDS HALF DEAF CLATCH MARTIN HARLEY & DANIEL KIMBRO ANGELA LEWIS BROWN JOE BONAMASSA TREVOR SEWELL RED BUTLER KATIE BRADLEY BUDDY GUY ANDY BROAD SHEMEKIA COPELAND BABAJACK JOHN MAYALL BOB MALONE MITCH LADDIE BAND WILY BO WALKER SLINKY & PÕTIT LOUP JESSE DAVEY THE NIMMO BROTHERS THORBJORN RISAGER & THE BLACK TORNADO CHRIS JAMES & MARTIN FLETCHER CHRIS O’ LEARY HEATHER CROSSE BROTHERS GROOVE JOHN CEE STANNARD AND BLUE HORIZON BRUCE MISSISSIPPI JOHNSON LAURENCE JONES BAND ERJA LYYTINEN EBONY JOANN THE EARL TRIO FEAT. MICHAEL MESSER NEIL WARDEN GUY TORTORA BAND MIKE BOWDEN & LUKE SHAW OCTAVIA BLUES BAND MARTIN MCNEILL THE MENTULLS DEB CALLAHAN KIM SIMMONDS & SAVOY BROWN VARIOUS ARTISTS VARIOUS ARTISTS FEDERAL CHARM BIG GUS AND SWAMPADELIC MALAYA BLUE KAZ HAWKINS ZOE SCHWARZ BLUE COMMOTION IAN SIEGAL SUGAR BROWN
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TITLE GOGO JUICE This Life LOSE CONTROL MUDDY WATERS 100 THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A J RAIl LIVE AT SOUTHERN GROUND SET ME FREE LIVE AT RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL HOLLOW FREEDOM BOUND ANCHOR BABY SESSIONS BORN TO PLAY GUITAR EVERY PENNY OF THE DEAL OUTSKIRTS OF LOVE BABAJACK LIVE FIND A WAY TO CARE MOJO DELUXE LET YOU GO MOON OVER INDIGO MOVIN’ ON BIG BLUES BROTHER TO BROTHER SONGS FROM THE ROAD EXCURSIONS GONNA DIE TRYING GROOVIN’ AT THE CROSSE ROADS PLAY THE GAME STONE COLD SOBER THE DEAL BABY WHAT’S IT GONNA BE LIVE IN LONDON PLEASE SAVE YOUR LOVE FOR ME SINGLE ADVENTURES IN WEISSENBORN LAND BLUESMAN IN A BONEYARD DINNERS & THE DOG IT AIN’T WHAT YOU GET LATELY I’VE LET THINGS SLIDE REFLECTIONS SWEET SOUL THE DEVIL TO PAY 100 BLUES HITS 21ST CENTURY ROCKABILLY, VOL. 2 ACROSS THE DIVIDE BIG GUS AND SWAMPADELIC BOURBON STREET GET READY I’LL BE YOURS TONIGHT MAN & GUITAR POOR LAZARUS
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purposeful bass and percussion push the whole thing along with real drive and toe-tapping talent. All tracks come from Grey Cooper who leads on guitar and raucous vocals, save a slick take - here entitled 7th Son Revisited - on one of Willie Dixon’s true classics. Steve Crewe on drums and Allen Walton on bass guitar make up the band numbers with some truly West Coast sounding harmonies that work surprisingly well in a blues-based collection. Rock-Blues with a modern twist, a nod to tradition and an eye on the edge of the horizon from this offering, it’s evident that a live-set could be a positively rewarding experience. IAIN PATIENCE
with a host of bluesmen and another virtuoso Bob Corritore whose reputation in terms of harmonica playing is second to none, making this album a high carat diamond that needs no polishing. There is a host of old and new musical support for the two principal artists, too many to list but the whole contribution makes this album quintessential blues and everyone contributes to this gem. I feel duty bound to pick out a track that epitomises Henry’s capabilities and track eight, Trouble Blues has his singing and piano playing to the fore. That said, there are thirteen other sapphire blue jewels in this crown and if you never buy another blues album then this is the one that ought to feature in any collection. TOM WALkER
JaReD JaMeS niCHOLS
OLD GLORY AND THE WILD REVIVAL listenable records
HenRy gRay/ BOB CORRiTORe SeSSiOnS VOL1 BLUES WON’T LET ME TAKE MY REST delta groove Music
The very idea of a nonagenarian (ninety year old) being able to sing with such emotion and clarity is more than extraordinary, Henry Gray is legendary in terms of performing with style and class over seven decades. To put it into context, we are rightly in awe of the fifty year span of the Rolling Stones performing, but to add two further decades to their achievement beggars’ belief. Not only does our maestro Henry sing with aplomb but he rattles the ivories throughout. To say I am in complete awe of the man is an understatement, and not just because of his age. This collection, compiled
Relatively unknown in the UK, all that is about to change with an upcoming tour with Glenn Hughes. A notable claim to fame is that he was invited by Skynyrd to join them onstage for Sweet Home Alabama on a recent tour, no bad thing! I recently discovered that the title of the cd has a double meaning, Old Glory is the name Jared gave his Les Paul Custom, Wild Revival refers to what his intentions are in the shape of solid blues/rock. This debut from LA based Nichols certainly packs a punch. His band members, Erik Sandin on bass and drummer Dennis Holm, compliment the artistry of Nichols’s guitar work which takes its lead from the late 70’s early 80’s. Hard rocking tracks like Blackfoot, Crazy and personal favourite Haywire sit comfortably alongside the slower Let You Go and All Your
Albums
DaVe eDMUnDS On gUiTaR RAGS & CLASSICS rpM
Well this is definitely not a Blues album, consisting as it does of ten tracks of guitar instrumentals, arranged and played entirely by the virtuoso musician that is Dave Edmunds. Now it is no secret that I am a guitar buff and I was looking forward to hearing this album, and the first number up was Whiter Shade Of Pale, with the classic opening organ intro faithfully reproduced, and then the guitar cuts in, with distortion like a buzz saw! I didn’t like that. Same really on the next rack, but then, you get Wuthering Heights, and somehow the distorted guitar makes sense, almost being an electronic version of Kate’s voice, slightly out of this world, yes, I am beginning to like this album. Your song played on acoustic, beautiful version, then manic finger picking on Black Mountain Rag, followed by a slightly faster version of Classical Gas, one of my favourite guitar pieces and one that I am still struggling to get to grips with. Green Onions and Cannonball rag come racing along and the album closes with Dave’s version of Mozart’s Symphony no 40. All in all then, a class production But it still ain’t Blues. DAVE STONE
Pain, not forgetting to mention a more Delta blues take on Come In My Kitchen. Rumour has it that there may be some new stuff released before his October tour with the aforementioned Mr Hughes, watch this space! CLIVE RAWLINGS
peTe ROBSOn THE RED ALBUM Music unbuttoned
Debut album from Dorset based bluesman featuring eight self-penned songs in pre-war Delta blues style. Recorded at home with a straight forward, one take, one voice and one guitar approach the sound is clear, uncluttered and authentic. Robson has a naturally deep, edgy, voice
and accompanies himself on resonator slide guitar making for a dramatic sound. His guitar technique was spotted by talent scouts looking for extraordinary fretwork skills for Sky Arts programme “Guitar Star” where he reached the quarter finals. Opening track More Fun On A Monday immediately betrays the influences of early bluesmen like Son House, Robert Johnson and Bukka White. Pram In Your Hallway is a thoroughly modern tale of having to grow up too soon and is set to a catchy guitar figure. Robson’s fingers fairly fly on the timeless lament Working Man as he bemoans telling his wife that he lost his job. Robson’s vocals are passionate and his guitar technique occasionally uses heavy percussive rhythms which increases the tension on songs like the slow burning Leaving The City which builds to a frenzied climax with swooping slide runs. Phew! The catchy and uplifting I’d Rather Pray For Sun closes this excellent album which at a shade over 30 minutes
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ROCK CanDy FUnK paRTy GROOVE IS KING provogue
As with their first CD, this latest offering was passed for me to review, rather like a hot potato! The original members are all here again, Tal Bergman on drums and in the producer’s chair, Joe Bonamassa and Ron DeJesus (guitar), Mike Merritt (bass) and Renato Neto (keys) along with trumpeter Randy Brecker, James Campagnola and Ada Rovatti (sax) Fred Kron (keys) Daniel Sadownick (percussion) and MC Billy Gibbons, aka Mt Funkadamus. Like the first offering this is all instrumental, apart from Gibbons intros, and the influences are drawn from the likes of Daft Punk, Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars, Prince, Zeppelin, to name a few. This, in my opinion, is a natural sequel to the first CD, in that the players escape their normal music parameter, this time adding the horn section of the highest standard. You get the Rock feel from the title track, or Uber Station, whereas the Candy comes with If Six Was Eight is an improvisation between Bergman and Sadownick, giving way to the others to jam freely and Rock Candy, pure 70’s jazz, complete with great bass from Merritt and maybe some of the best guitar heard from Bonamassa, in the studio, for a while. The Funk of Low Tide and Don’t Funk With Me are pure Niles Rodgers-Prince era funk. The Party bit is easily defined, by the closing Fabulous Tales Of Two Bands, maybe just as you wonder where the band are going, they switch course into a Led Zeppelinesque rift. With all the genre hopping, you might be baffled as to the bands’ direction, but overall this is a fun album, well put together by Bergman, but not sure it’ll be everyone’s cup of tea. CLIVE RAWLINGS
certainly leaves the listener wanting more. I think we can look forward to much more to come from Pete Robson. DAVE DRURY
SiSTeR ROSeTTa THaRpe GOSPEL TRAIN PLUS SISTER ON TOUR soul jam
A big, fine woman with a mighty voice who played a storming, driving electric guitar: what more could you wish for? This brilliantly
re-mastered combination of two albums from 1957 and 1961 is also graced by six stirring bonus tracks. I first saw Sister Rosetta Tharpe on TV in the early 1960s, and as a fledgling guitar nut fascinated by Hank Marvin I was totally unprepared. What - you can make sounds like this!? The Shadows would never sound the same again. Rosetta was undoubtedly a woman steeped in religion, and you’ll come near to conversion when you hear songs such as Up Above My Head and Ain’t No Grave Hold My Body Down. The addition of the long-unavailable Sister On Tour material makes this collection even more essential, and if you’re into Gospel, you’ll hear the Gates of Heaven swing open with bonus tracks such as Oh, The Joy That Came To Me. The collection
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also includes 16 pages of nicely illustrated and informative notes by James Chumet, as well as the original LP sleeve notes from 1957 and 61 by Nat Hentoff. This CD makes our Songs of Praise about as relevant as an afternoon spent in Trumpton. Do you need the sizzling Sister? Damn right - it’s brilliant. ROY BAINTON
DaVe aLVin anD pHiL aLVin LOST TIME yep roc
Following on from 2014’s well-received Big Bill Broonzy tribute album Common Ground, Dave and Phil continue to explore their roots and influences with this fine blues set, backed by a band including Chris Miller on guitar, Brad Fordham bass and drummer Lisa Pankratz. The late Big Joe Turner was a mentor for the brothers, and it was something of a shock to hear him singing on Cherry Red Blues – but then I realised that it is actually an Alvin! Big Joe is also the inspiration behind Hide And Seek, Wee Baby Blues and Feeling Happy – and these are all totally convincing covers, even if Hide And Seek does have a tinge of rockabilly to it and Wee Baby Blues boasts a stunning electric slide guitar solo. Others to whom The Blasters’ frontmen pay homage include The Golden Gate Quartet, bluesing up their 1938 (but still relevant, sadly) World’s In A Bad Condition, Leroy Carr with the surreal Papa’s On The House Top rendered almost as a washboard band performance, and Blind Boy Fuller with Rattlesnakin’ Daddy; mind you, this could be via rockabilly Hawkshaw Hawkins, although the treatment is 50s Chicago blues. Leadbelly is the source for the updated skiffle of In New Orleans (Rising Sun Blues) – House of The Rising
Sun to you and me – in contrast to Please Please Please, the impassioned R & B number that introduced the career of later Soul Brother No. 1, James Brown, and here faithfully recreated. Sit Down Baby is from the repertoire of Otis Rush and pen of Willie Dixon, wonderful Chicago blues again, and this praiseworthy set closes out with a country-gospel rendition of Thomas Dorsey’s gospel composition If You See My Savior. Most definitely recommended then! NORMAN DARWEN
J.B. HUTTO & HiS HaWKS WiTH SUnnyLanD SLiM HAWK SQUAT delmark
It says in J.B. Hutto’s All Music Guide biography that ‘along with Hound Dog Taylor he was one of the last great slide guitar disciples of Elmore James to make it into the modern age.’ From the stirring opening track, Speak My Mind, you can feel Elmore cutting through. This is a blistering, paint-stripper of an album straight from Chicago’s beating 1966 heart. If you can stay seated during the rollicking What Can You Get Outside That You Can’t Get At Home, then there’s something wrong with your soul. This record represents the rough-house goings on at one of Chicago’s earthier South side blues establishments, Turner’s Lounge. Fights and the odd gunshot seem to have punctuated many a performance, and this adds something extra to the excellent performances
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captured here - 20 pages of truly atmospheric, nostalgic liner notes by Bob and Sue Koester. Their words complement the sounds admirably. You’ll melt your socks doing the Hawk Squat, and be reaching for the bottle with the choppy 20% Alcohol. Stirring stuff. On this album the blues is as raw and rough-edged as it gets, with Sunnyland Slim on the organ, an unlikely Maurice MacIntrye on tenor sax. Of all the various re-issues I’ve heard this year, this is far and away the best. If you like your blues real, loud and ripping like a chainsaw, J.B. Hutto delivers! ROY BAINTON
JeCOnTe
DOWN BY THE BAYOU
the album – then moving into some heavy funk on It Is What It Is with Dre Michot playing accordion to great effect. After 6 tracks that show the depth and originality of JeConte’s talents the last three tracks are decidedly ‘light’. Little Christina is a gentle ballad, almost in country rock territory while Cellophane slows the mood a little but still has the singer in high pitched and balladic mood while closer Promised Land is keening and searching at once. I didn’t, personally, see what the last three tracks are doing on this album but the rest constitute a stunning album and I for one will be putting Stuck In The Mud & It Is What It Is on repeat for a while. ANDY SNIPPER
red parlour
JeConte has been around a few years only, touring Europe for the last three years while based in Southern California. He is primarily a harp player and singer and together with Anders Osbourne he has released a couple of albums before this one. At first listen you get a bucolic view of the Bayou, avoiding the usual clichés of heavy funk and indecipherable lyrics and together with some sweet violin from Dre Michot on the title track you almost get a bluegrass feel to the number. Evermore follows and takes you into a heavier and deeper place with JeConte’s harp to the fore. It is definitely an album of different tones and colours and the changes are emphasized by Mother Africa with chants and a drone in the background leading the percussive claps and picked guitar (Matty Cohen). Stuck In The Mud has a wonderfully dense bass line from Carl Dufrene and percussion from Wall Ingram clearing space for superb harp and guitar solos – probably the best track on
writer of books and instructional DVDs, lecturer at the Academy of Music and Sound. He has toured the world in various guises. His early influences fell mainly to Gary Moore and despite treading the Jazz-Rock style has returned to his roots and you can tell he is enjoying it with a freedom that flows through these tracks. For the leader to flow there must be a good foundation and that is what he has here, a great three piece that pulls it off well. Good variation of styles and textures. Moving through In Too Deep to the soulful almost anthemy Watching Over Me with dreamy guitar breaks and chunky riffs. Rise throbs along with a good energy and flirty guitar over solid rhythm. Loved the moody and gentle It Is What It Is with its’ building chords and solo just had to reach for the volume and push it up a notch or three.
Albums
Into the shuffle of I Don’t Want The Blues though the lyrics tell you they are irresistible. The album ends a little too soon on Crank Up which does what it says on the tin folks! An excellent album and you can only look forward to more from this outfit. FRANk LEIGH
JOe BOnaMaSSa LIVE AT RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL CD Mascot/provogue
In January 2015, Joe Bonamassa took the iconic
KeRn pRaTT BROKEN CHAINS gigtime records
KRiS BaRRaS BanD BAND
independent
This is a strong eight track album of assured compositions which has been in my player for a while as I was enjoying it so much I forgot I had it to review, so here comes the serious bit. I confess I had not heard of Kris previously but as already mentioned this is an assured album and Kris is most ably assisted by Ricky Mitchell on bass and Jon Perrin on drums, Opening track Never Too Late rolls in with guitar carving a neat and catchy groove over thumping drum and bass and slightly rasping vocal urging you to remember that it is never too late, love the line “empty bottles and broken dreams”. Band leader Kris has over twenty years of musical experience not only as a player but also as a
Born and raised in Greenville Mississippi Kern Pratt has all the traditional trademarks of a Delta blues journeyman. He is well known on the American blues circuit regularly playing such festivals as the Mississippi Delta Blues Festival. Kern has opened shows for such greats as BB King and Johnny Winter who is a big influence in his music style apparent on this eclectic gumbo of great tunes. This boy is the real deal writing or helping to write five of the twelve tunes he has a great tone and vocal range and has the right to play blues the natural delta way and his guitar playing accentuating this. There are flavours of the bayou ending with the slide guitar riff of title track Broken Chains moving into the distance close your eyes and your there. In between is where the fun begins. His hometown Greenville Mississippi Blues introduces Eden Brent on lazy honky tonk piano and well balanced horn section introducing a very tight band with supporting backing vocals from Denise Owen who leads on Smokin Gun. Lights Are On But Nobodys Home is a definitive brash cover of Albert Collins a big sound and slick production from David Hyde. Funking it up-tempo there is a catchy collaboration with Kenny Neal on second guitar Don’t Leave Me Baby an undoubted highlight. There is a laid back version of It Hurts Me Too. A truthful and enjoyable listening experience one to be savoured. COLIN CAMPBELL
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Great Stage at Radio City Music Hall for the first time for a 2 night sold-out, that allowed him to fulfil his lifelong dream of performing in one of the world’s most legendary venues. The thirteen track CD edition of Live At Radio City Music Hall kicks off with I Can’t Be Satisfied with a full electric band which consists of bassist Carmine Rojas, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member keyboardist Reese Wynans, drummer Tal Bergman, trumpeter Lee Thornburg trombonist Nick Lane and saxophonist Paulie Cerra. Bonamassa’s voice with every live performance gets stronger. One Less Cross To Bear is available as a free track
to download and for me, it is a highlight of the set as the rhythm section keeps it tight and Joe’s electric guitar just sings. Next thing you know Reese Wynans plays a glorious keyboard solo with Hammond organ before it transitions to Tal who lays down the funky drum beats. One of the key reasons for these careerdefining shows for Joe was so that he could showcase tracks from his latest album Different Shades of Blue as a lot of those songs hadn’t been released as live tracks yet. The Vegas sounding Living On the Moon was the first one to be played as the horn section gave it their all. The lyrics of I Gave
OMaR COLeMan BORN AND RAISED delmark
I have no idea the quality of the CD’s that other reviewers have been sent this time around but here I am on my third and it is another belter. This is album number four, for the Chicago lad born in 1973, following on from the rather tasty West Side Wiggle (2011). In my humble opinion Born And Raised is a much better album. Of course that is subjective but for me I just think the writing is stronger. Perhaps there is also more of a cohesive feel overall with a band sound going on here. That may be a strange thing to say when this collection carries only Omar’s name on the box but I’ve gotta call it as I hear it. So where does that band sound come from? Marty Binder drums and Ari Seder bass hold the fort at the back whilst Neal O’Hara and Pete Galanis handle keys and guitar respectively. All vocals, deep and soulful, and harp duties fall to Omar both of which, as you would expect, he does really well. This guy is steeped in the Blues and it shows from Tryin’ To Do Right which opens up this fourteen track outing at fairly brisk tempo. There is a lot of space throughout for the skills of the band to shine through and it is a wise leader who has the confidence to give them the space and not to hog the spotlight. Man Like Me and Sit Down Baby continue the same groove. I Was A Fool slows things down and sounds a lot like a warm Boz Scaggs cut which is just fine by me. No covers included despite some familiar titles like Wishing Well and Lucky Man and all written by Omar or through collaborative efforts. My favourite tracks are I Don’t Want No Trouble, the autobiographical title track featuring some funky wah wah guitar, fine Hammond and really great harp interplay. Slow Down Baby is right up there plus the soulful ballad One Request. Buy it and enjoy the sweet sounds therein. GRAEME SCOTT
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Up Everything For You, ‘Cept The Blues are witty and it is one of Joe’s many songs that gives all the band members an opportunity to shine. The CD changes pace as the band personnel changes as these Radio City Music Hall shows were also the finale of Bonamassa’s special half acoustic/half electric tour. The acoustic band were called ‘The Huckleberries’ and featured on ‘An Acoustic Evening at The Vienna Opera House’ release. Dust Bowl works beautifully as a stripped-back piece. Trouble Town has a really cowboy feel as Lenny Castro does what he does best with the song’s light percussion. Still Water which features Gerry O’Connor’s tender fiddle sound. Never Give All Your Heart reprises the electric band as Lee Thornburg and Reese Wynans create an eerie intro. Hidden Charms is an upbeat number that is well placed in the set alongside Love Ain’t A Love Song which is a rich textured full band number which suits live performances. GLENN SARGEANT
Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Robert Lockwood Jr., has brought an innate virtuoso musical ability in these twenty seven numbers into which he coaxes sounds out of the harp that defy pigeonholing. The quality of both harmonica playing and singing throughout this album, and indeed the extraordinary value of the disc are beyond mere enthusiasm. There isn’t a bad or even mundane track contained within the disc such is the quality of music. I struggle to pick any particular track as a favourite since I felt like the cat with a plate of double cream in front of me and I lapped up every one of them. It may well be a cliché, but if you only bought one blues album in your life, then it would have to be this one recorded over a ten year period, in order to grasp the meaning of the genre. There is so much feeling and soul in both the lyrics Walter is singing and the sometimes mournful harp playing that I defy you not to be moved. This is by definition blues from start to finish! TOM WALkER
MaKing HiSTORy AMAZING ELECTRIC GUITAR HEROES stony plain records
LiTTLe WaLTeR JUST A FEELING soul jam records
The re-release of these digitally remastered classic blues numbers by a giant of harmonica playing is a superb piece of business by Soul Jam Records and an absolute must for fans of the Chicago version of the genre. This album is everything you could want in terms of harmonica playing! Marion Walter Jacobs, with some extra special help from stellar bluesmen including
The four electric guitarists Albert Lee, James Burton, Amos Garrett, and David Wilcox are recorded live, playing a tasteful, melodic selection of songs and instrumental arrangements on this once in a lifetime concert. The names of James Burton and Albert Lee are familiar, with the associations with a myriad of performers, ranging from Elvis Presley, Rick Nelson, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Crickets, Eric Clapton, The Everly Brothers, and any other number of performer, but the names of Amos Garrett and
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David Wilcox will be lesser known, but all four performers are equal to the task in hand. With songs such as the opening That’s Alright Mama, Susie Q, and Sleepwalk, a solo showcase for the slide guitar and jazz stylings of Amos Garrett, there are some fine performances here, putting melody at the centre of the arrangements. There is plenty of clean guitar picking and some virtuoso performances, but the four all play with the music in mind, rather than any consideration of ego. With a supporting band of Jon Greathouse on keyboards and vocals, Will Macgregor on Bass, and Jason Harrison Smith on Drums, this is the sound of seven musicians having a good time in each other’s company. Although much of the material is familiar, there are some fine new arrangements of vocal pop, from Only The Young and Polk Salad Annie, whilst the closing Country Boy, Albert Lee’s traditional show-stopping song is a showcase for what four telecasters can do in the right hands. Although there is nothing ground-breaking here, it is a good listen, with plenty of melodic playing and some pleasant toe tapping tunes, all well recorded, which is not bad, when considering the concert was not recorded with any commercial release in mind. BEN MACNAIR
MiKe VeRnOn & LOS gaRCia JUST A LITTLE BIT Cambaya records
When you have got a track record that encompasses all of the names that Mike has
produced over the years you have to ask yourself why is he putting out a record of his own after all this time? Is this just a vanity project or is he looking to get serious airplay here? It seems as though it might be a serious project as I see from the website that Mike has got tour dates booked with a UK version of the Spanish band that appear with him on the album. Whatever his reasons, he has put it out to the market and his neck on the block for criticism, good or bad, so let’s have a look at what we’ve got. 14 tracks of some of Mike’s favourites ranging from Blues to Rock n Roll, all of them cover versions. the Spanish band are on the button from the start, playing some great riffs and fills as well as giving a nice steady backing when required, so no problems there then. Kansas City opens the album and is a pleasant surprise as it is quite a good version, following fairly faithfully to the original. Mikes voice could do with a little more power as he comes over a bit like a reasonably good Karaoke singer. Some great piano work on All By Myself and the title track Just a Little Bit has some very tasty guitar from Kid Carlos Moreno. It continues in pretty much the same vein until we reach When Things Go Wrong With You, which has the worst idea anyone can have on an album with a Kazoo solo, and a pretty poor one at that, Mike you really should have known better! Someone To Love hints even more strongly at karaoke and then we are treated (no that’s definitely not the right word) to another blast of really awful Kazoo work again. Although Mike’s voice is basically OK, there is little variety in his tone and comes across as being too politely English. I can’t help wondering if this had come across his desk on a cassette tape from some anonymous wannabee, if it would ever have seen the
Albums
SnOOKS eagLin
NEW ORLEANS STREET SINGER AND THAT’S ALL RIGHT soul jam records
Snooks Eaglin, born January, 1936, was a self-taught New Orleans music legend, as a six- or 12-string guitarist and folk-blues singer. He sadly died aged 73 of a heart attack in February 2009. His vocal style was reminiscent of Ray Charles and in his early years, having lost his sight before his second birthday due to glaucoma, was referred to as Blind Snooks Eaglin. Snooks coming from a mischievous 1940s US radio character named Baby Snooks. He became a street musician in the French quarter of New Orleans at the age of 14 and in 1952, joined the Flamingoes, a local seven-piece band started by Allen Toussaint. He had a fantastic, unpredictable ability, coupled with an incredible guitar technique, to make a song his own, from a wide range of genres, which earned him the nickname “the human jukebox.” This reputation was supported by the fact that his fifty year musical career included over 2,500 songs in his eclectic repertoire. This CD, which also features a 16 page booklet, features two of his finest studio albums, New Orleans Street Singer (released in 1959) and the previously unavailable That’s All Right from 1961. Both albums, which were originally recorded by folklorist Harry Osler, have been remastered as a special collector’s edition and contain some of his best songs as a solo performer, including several blues standards. This was confirmed in 2003 when MOJO magazine said that New Orleans Street Singer was one of the top ten greatest guitar albums of all time. Regarded as one of the finest acoustic guitarist of all time, he played with an unusual finger style and in his later years, was sought out by modern greats such as Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt. This had to be in New Orleans, since he could be reclusive and would not travel. So close your eyes, relax, imagine you are in New Orleans in the late 50s/early 60s and enjoy these two excellent albums of acoustic folk blues music. ANDY MANN
light of day. Overall view then? It isn’t bad, I could certainly see it being played on a car journey, but it’s unlikely to trouble the charts, and Simon Cowell won’t be rushing to Mike’s door. Must try harder. DAVE STONE
ViCTOR WainWRigHT & THe WiLDROOTS
BOOM TOWN
Blind pig
It has to be said, right from the opening chords that this is one
hell of an album. Victor Wainwright is a larger than life character and on Boom Town, he struts his funky, earthy Blues tinged Rock ‘N’ Roll with a flair that tries to outdo Fats Domino and Jerry Lee at the same time. Winner of the 2013 and 2014 “Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year,” this guy simply oozes entertainment. Music has always played a major part of his life as both his father and grandfather were Blues musicians and Pinetop was a family friend. Now domiciled in
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A RHYTHM & BLUES CHRONOLOGY If you’re a true R&B fan, you will not experience a finer collection this year or any other. ROY BAINTON - BM
www.historyofrnb.net The History Of Soul 1927-1963 - lavish 8CD Box Set – DVD sized with 36 page booklet
www.historyofsoul.net
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Memphis, where he took a job as an air traffic controller, he eventually met guitarist and songwriter Stephen Dees. Dees wrote the majority of songs on Boom Town, and has played a major part in Wainwrights’ success over the years. As regular keyboardist for Southern Hospitality, he enjoys regular work but has achieved more accolades in a solo vein with Dees, as Wainwright let’s loose on all fronts, with more than a few nods to those masters of the south, Dr John and Leon Russell. The one feeling that pervades this album is one of having a good time. On Two Lane Blacktop Revisited, one of two songs reprised from his first solo album, the 100-mile-an-hour boogie-woogie playing is mind blowing, a great track for open
road driving. The brakes are on for Wildroot Farm, a Dr. John styled vocal and the sexy siren voice of tenor saxophonist Patricia Ann Dees providing the female interest angle. Pinetop shines through on Piana’s Savannah Boogie, further endorsing his boogie-woogie credentials. His voice is an added bonus for on The Devil’s Bite, he sings in a manner that reminds me of Tom Waits, using his voice as an instrument to enhance the feel of the storyline. A wary tale of female wiles. There are too many good tracks to have a favourite, but one worthy of a listen is If It Ain’t Got Soul, a funky Blues that steams a la Crescent City. MERV OSBORNE
paOLO DeMOnTiS
eigHT O’FiVe JiVe TOO MANY MEN independent
A dozen tracks that are replete with Jump/ Swing Blues and a hint of jazz this is a debut album that zings with style as they play music that is evergreen in its popularity. So get you’re dancing shoes on and enjoy listening to Too Many Men which has a female lead Lee Shropshire and she can never have too many musicians around her to augment a jazz infused blues soul sound with its mix of horns and percussion. The album has ten carefully selected re-arrangements and two original songs that make sure the band is showcased and your fingers click and your toes tap as the power and energy of the music flows through your musical DNA this is a good time sound that gets the party going with a swing. Opening with I’ve Got A Feelin’ a Sid Wyche number that is full of blues themes getting the album off to a strong start with the combination of Patrick’s Mosser’s saxophone and drumming from Duane Spencer that hits the beat on this and every track, this is Eight O’Five Jive. Closing with Markey Place the tempo changes full of percussive beat and a tale that is almost spoken by Lee, this is an end of the party number, we need to catch our breath with this energetic ride dancing to the music from Eight O’Five Jive. Other tracks that stand out on the album are Drunk, and Feed Them Monkeys’ all about addiction whether legal or not and drinking they have a depth of tone that lets you get to know the band as does Young Enough To Be My Son where we have some heated guitar licks from Andy Scheinman in a song that mentions pickled beet again with Lee speaking many of the lyrics and loses some of the inherent musicality of the sound they are trying to recreate. LIz AIkEN
LOOPIN’ THE BLUESHOLDING COURT independent demo records
The anachronism that is an Italian singing the blues, when their national lifestyle is somewhat laid back and at odds with the genre is not lost on me. Paolo Demontis though can play a harmonica with the style of an American, even if he takes it to another realm with this album. The album itself is difficult to categorise, since it has various influences and the instruments (?) are all played by the man himself. The idea that you can use a beatbox, loop-station and harmonica to produce blues is anathema, but then Paolo’s blues much less his looping them, is not your run of the mill. This album is a fusion of hip-hop, reggae, rap, techno and a miniscule of blues. It won’t be to everyone’s taste and I’d be surprised if it appeals to aficionados of blues music. Paolo Demontis is nothing if not imaginative in his interpretation of blues music. I did like track seven Reggae time Blues as it does let him express his harmonica playing ability but the electronic screeching of the loop-station towards the end is a mistake on his part. I try to be positive for the most part in reviewing, but Signor Demontis is not going to break the bank on sales of this album, it is too far out or in advance of his time so far as the blues is concerned. TOM WALkER
With this self-titled, third album from the Canadian rootsy band that is steeped in soul, they draw on American music throughout the album with blues, folk and Americana twisted and threaded through their fresh modern feet tapping groove. You can hear in the structure of the music echoes of Little Feat and The Meters, with emphasis of the sound on Jon Knight’s versatile vocals and the sound of the keys from the boards of Mark Wessenger and Matt Wedinger. The baritone guitar of Chris Latta adds another tonal dimension and continues the theme of doubling up on instruments and compliments the guitar playing of Jon. The opening track Just Don’t Call It The Blues gains your attention and this level of concentration is maintained through the ten original tracks that makes this album extremely listenable. This is not a one tempo album there is an unkempt raw feel to No Man’s Land with a rhythm section that delivers and guitars that give a platform for Jon’s vocals and keyboards that wail and moan. Poison Headache has a tempo that drives into the brain full of electric energy and the sound of the keys piercing through this is a foot tapping finger clicking number. As the tempo changes the style takes on a different shape, but there is a flawless consistency throughout this album that makes Soulstack a band you want to listen to as the music has an authenticity of modern music drawing on the traditions of music brewed and distilled in the U.S.A and given a Canadian tone that makes them stand out from the crowd. LIz AIkEN
STOne THe CROWS SOULSTaCK SOULSTACK toronto
LIVE CROWS – CD & DVD angel air
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1972, playing Friends, Percy Mayfield’s Danger Zone, Dylan’s Hollis Brown, Love 74 and the Maggie Bell vocal showcase Penicillin Blues. Just a few weeks later we had lost guitar hotshot Les Harvey (Alex’ brother) to an onstage electrocution. As Ms Bell explained to me, things were never and could never be the same again for the group. The DVD has Stone The Crows stepping out at a Beat Workshop TV concert session in Germany in 1973, with Jimmy McCullough on guitars and rocking up the crowd with such numbers as On The Highway, Don Nix’ Going Down (at that time popularised by Freddie King), the down and dirty Penicillin Blues and
Palace Of The King, another regal nod. The DVD also has interviews with Maggie and with drummer Colin Allen. A great blues/rock/soul outfit denied their rightful share of acclaim by events, for me there are echoes of Badfinger and their own tragic history. At least we can enjoy what both ensembles achieved. PETE SARGEANT
STOne THe CROWS
RADIO SESSIONS 196972 DOUBLE-CD SET angel air
Two different STC line-ups and each with their own air of authority,
THe pReTTy THingS
BOUQUETS FROM A CLOUDY SKY 50TH ANNIVERSARY BOX SET Madfish
A new milestone in the amazing, baffling career of the UK’s great overlooked punk missionaries, this lavishly packaged solid slab of sphinx-like monument carves out their place in the history of British music. Listen up to the mind-blowing stats and ear-blowing music: 11 studio albums, tracking the Jimmy Reed and Bo Diddley fired 1965 young, dumb and full of cum eponymous LP to the sombre grit of Balboa Island in 2007, with 40+ bonus tracks; 2 discs with 45 rare demos, alt-takes, out-takes and lives; a 4-track, 10-inch howling 60’s acetate replica; lush 100-page hardback documentary book from long-time champion Mike Stax; family tree poster, rooted in Dick Taylor’s pre-Stones Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys with Keith and Mick, and branching to today’s power-house line-up. Facsimile copyright legal battle folio, Phil May art print, ‘65 to ‘70 history on DVD and promo videos, including the magnificent monochrome Rosalyn shoot at the 100 Club in 1995 (watch for Peter Grant’s cameo appearance), and the live net-cast of SF Sorrow from Abbey Road. By my shaky maths, 248 tracks of iconic Brit R ‘n’ B beat, arty bed-sit introversion, impeccable fey English psychedelia, thixotropic, thumping rock, deliriously uplifting harmony vocals, uber power pop, lyrical ingenuity and, latterly, back to roots blues, and misty autobiographical looks back over the shoulder. The scale, scope, variety and under-rated talent here is overwhelming, a lifetime’s testament to the unsung heroes Dick Taylor, Phil May and the 45 other absurdly brilliant players that were, and are today, the UK’s most un-sung wreck rock heroes. At last, justice - this artefact, like The Pretty Things themselves, is precious, unique, to be cherished. PETE INNES
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creativity and of course, soul. Disc 1 has the formidable vocal pairing of Maggie Bell and the late great Jimmy Dewar, next to be vocalist in Robin Trower’s trio. Robin has often stressed to me the importance of Dewar’s soulful singing in breaking his act in the States, quite apart from the great friendship he and James had. Stone The Crows were fabulous live, as I can attest. Very powerful and bluesy, yet up with the nascent prog rockers for musical skill and adventure. Witness; Freedom Road which Colosseum would struggle to match and then five minutes in that gritty vocal from Maggie. The lovely chording on Friends is a credit to Les Harvey, as is the heavy fuzzed axe work on Love 74. Mad Dogs shows that this crew were up there with Delaney & Bonnie for impact. Over here the only other act with that dual vocal punch were Vinegar Joe, featuring my old friend Robert Palmer and Elkie Brooks, no less. The last three tracks on CD2 include both new bassist Steve Thompson and guitar man Jimmy McCullough… probably eating his last bacon sandwiches before joining Wings’ strict regime?
USA. There are overtones of the Windy City stock yard style of blues interspersed with genuine Mississippi Delta blues which combine to render this a potent, yet almost contemporary, cocktail of the genre. To produce the quality of blues music these guys do when there is none of them old enough to have gone through anything like the life trials of the original bluesmen speaks volumes for their musical ability and interpretation of the songs. The album opens with a cover version of I Ain’t Gonna Be No Monkey Man, made famous by Otis Smothers and who would if he were still alive, be delighted with this interpretation. Track three, Gotta Move Out To The Suburbs; is a modern number with a dilemma that is as old as Chicago itself, the shortage of affordable accommodation in the city. This is blues par excellence. There is a quality to all the tracks on this album, and it seems inappropriate five is sublime with Oscar Wilson’s vocals close enough to the real McCoy. This CD is classic blues and a must for any collection. Do yourself a favour and grab it quick. TOM WALkER
PETE SARGEANT
THe CaSH BOX KingS
THe LOnniganS SKiFFLe gROUp
HOLDING COURT
A TRIBUTE TO LEADBELLY
Blind pig records
lonnigan records
The quaintly named record label is bang on the money with this gem. The Cash Box Kings are that and more. This album is quintessential blues from both the north and the deep south of the
UK skiffle guardians The Lonnigans (Eddie Armer, John Armer, Steve Simpson and Derek Mason) undertake a pious roots Americana pilgrimage in homage to the fabled Huddie “Leadbelly”
ReVIeWs
Ledbetter, a personification of the black experience in early 20th Century USA. Notably, truly historical American and British folk and blues icons sit in on the sessions, lending an authenticity, a patina, a sense of context that you can smell. If you like your human rights blues-folk natural, unadorned, and from the heart, you just gotta get a hold of this. Opening track, Take This Hammer, is astounding - an immediate warm pleasure features no less than blues chanteuse Odetta Holmes. The arrangement keeps it surprisingly modern in style, the playing, the feel is sensitive and considered, and, crucially, the vocal is a killer. Black Betty will be remembered by some of our BM readers for its up-tempo rocked-up version by Ram Jam. Here, it reverts more to origins, and meanders to a classy, neo-primitive cool, funky, left-field slink that stays reminiscent of slave field hollers. This music is, here, in knowing, intelligent hands. Bourgeois Blues is narrated by Pete Seeger, one of folk’s great defenders, relating Leadbelly’s relationships with archivist Alan Lomax. A history lesson for us all, a truly American apartheid blues man, the shit those folks had to take – Huddie (who died in 1949) was the Gil Scott Heron of his day. Midnight Special defies time and fashion and style - the words say so much, it’s a spiritual social recollection of care and hope that’s comes from somewhere deep inside. The entire project is an uplifting, life-affirming delight and I haven’t even mentioned Josh White Junior or Ralph McTell, or I’ll See You In My Dreams or Goodnight, Irene. PETE INNES
DaVe FeRRa
AIN’T NO HAND ME DOWN independent
This is the follow-up to Dave’s
debut album Bad Luck Blues, which received some excellent reviews – this one will too, and not just from me, I guess. Dave is an acoustic bluesman par excellence, playing slide guitar or fingerpicking, and blowing rack-harp – well, very well. He has written seven of the dozen tracks on this CD, though keeping within the tradition with titles like Meet Me Down The Alley, What’s Wrong With You, and Tailor Made Woman. The borrowed tunes cover a wide range of blues styles, from Son House’s classic Preaching Blues and Blind Willie McTell’s Love Changing Blues (a beautiful slide guitar performance – why hasn’t this been covered more often?) to Little Walter’s Just Your Fool and on to more modern compositions like Taj Mahal’s The Loving In My Baby’s Eyes and Eric Bibb’s Where The Green Grass Grows. Take a listen to What’s Wrong With You to hear just how good Dave can sound on a ragtime inflected number, I Got Too Thin for a driving 20s Memphis styled performance or Tailor Made Woman for some lovely slide and a very traditional Mississippi sound. So far Dave’s fame seems confined to the south-east of England, but hopefully this accomplished set can help him to expand on that. He has played support act to the likes of Kirk Fletcher, The Blues Band, Babajack, Billy Walton and Nine Below Zero, and I am sure that such discerning audiences cannot fail to have taken notice of such a talented individual in their midst. NORMAN DARWEN
THe VOODOO SHeiKS VOODIFICATION independent
There are a lot of words you can use to describe the sound of The
Albums
VaRiOUS
BLUES, BLUES CHRISTMAS VOL.4 1925-1962 document records
A veritable feast here over a double CD set of forty tracks which the cover itself describes as “In the Blues, Jazz, Do-Wol, Rockabilliy, Old Timey, Calypso and Gospel spirit”. Within we find artists including Charles Brown, Roy Milton and his Solid Senders treat you to, The Drifters, Peetie Wheatstraw, Bob Willis, Freddie King on I Hear Jingle Bells, Champion Jack Dupree, The Cadillacs, Little T-Bone, Nathaniel Mayer, Nap Hepburn & March of Dimes doing Tell Santa Claus, Gribble, Lusk and York playing Christmas Eve, There are three versions of Santa Claus Blues that are so very different from Peetie Wheatstraw, Clarence Williams’ Blue Five and Champion Jack Dupree and they are terrific and worth the price alone. Informative sleeve notes from Jeff Harris. Around 100 minutes of old style Christmas songs that will put a smile on your face if you venture to purchase, make a change from the usual Xmas fare on CDs these days that is for sure so this writer does recommend but if you have previous volumes then you will already know how good they are! FRANk RUDOLPH’ LEIGH
Voodoo Sheiks: classic, throwback. Retro – and they are all true to a certain extent. This is classic British R&B with all the best attributes of bands such as Nine Below Zero or The Pretty Things. The music is powerful, great bass playing from Andy Pullin and spare but rock solid drumming by John Coombes underpinning Slowblow Dave’s vocals and harp and Adrian Thomas’ guitar playing, and the songs have the feel of the Mod period R&B with added London ‘suss’. They occasionally get silly – as they do with the innuendo laden Flying Fortress Of Love, although Paul Jobson’s piano playing is wonderful and a line such as “losing control with a Spitfire of ecstasy” deserves a British Blues award on its own – but they redeem themselves entirely on a ballad such as Exit Wound with beautiful playing and heartfelt vocals. Most of the songs are originals but the couple of covers – a version of Whipping Post that actually adds to the Allman Brothers original by slowing it down and a happy clappy and skiffled version of U2’s When Love
Comes To Town – are worthwhile which I wouldn’t say about many others attempts at these two numbers. Negative Equity Blues is a heavy 12 Bar but utterly British is subject and lyrics and then you have the shuffle of Monkey DNA which features some great harp from Slowblow. I get the feeling that these guys will be rather special live and most of the tracks should go down a storm. The album is a cracker and surprisingly enjoyable. ANDY SNIPPER
TRaViS HaDDiX
IT’S MY TIME NOW THE BEST OF Blues Critic records
Cleveland based Travis Haddix is a real Bluesman and this album is a wonderful showcase for his talent, included here
Blues Matters! | #87
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Albums
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VaRiOUS
MUDDY WATERS 100 A TRIBUTE FROM JOHN PRIMER AND SPECIAL FRIENDS raisin’ Music records
Now then, now then here is an album that impresses even before you get the disc out! Check out the cover/book/notes and images here, this will stand out on any collectors’ shelf! Then consider the cast led by master John Primer and including Derek Trucks, Bob Margolin, Billy Branch, Keb Mo’, James Cotton, Shemekia Copeland, Gary Clark Jr., Johnny Winter, Kenny ‘Beedy Eyes’ Smith, Matthew Skoller, and we must not omit the core of the band Billy Flynn (guitar), Tim Grant and Johnny Iguana (keyboards), Khari Parker (drums), Felton Crews (bass). There is also a great chunk of fifty four pages of sleeve notes by Muddy’s biographer Robert Gordon plus the credits and images which make this a superb volume with a good solid cover. The tracks are so well chosen and so well played that they bring a new life to them. The project has been so well put together. John Primer is seen as the natural leader here with his dues so well paid and his period with Muddy up to his death in 1983 being well documented being between spells with Willie Dixon and Magic Slim. The songs chosen have some treated traditionally whiles some receive a contemporary re-working, all show up so very well. Good News features James Cotton on harmonica and he played on the original version!!! A highly recommended album indeed FRANk LEIGH
are fourteen tracks pulled from twelve different albums released during the past two decades, as a best of compilation this would be more than enough but you also get an additional four recently recorded tracks with a full eight piece band. The material veers between straightforward rocking blues to more soulful tracks which Travis handles with ease, his vocals and lead guitar playing is exemplary and even though these tracks have been lifted from albums spanning twenty years there is no discerning change in his delivery. One of the most entertaining tracks is the live First Thing Tuesday Morning which is a meandering slow blues, another blues highlight is the recently recorded title track Its My Time Now which benefits from some fluent sharp lead guitar breaks. Travis is now well into his seventies but this has not dampened
his clear enthusiasm for entertaining and playing the blues, his moniker is Moonchild due to his beaming smile when performing on stage, I would suggest that anyone listening to this album can also take on this moniker as this album is guaranteed to make you beam. A truly worthy release by a lesser known US Bluesman.
rock-driven blues with a full sound and a confidence that seems to jump from the very disc itself. The band’s first release with Blue Note, following the success of their debut disc The Bomb Shelter Sessions,1 Hopeful Rd, kicks off with an ass-kicker, slips into a more mellow(ish) feel before again upping the pace and blazing through 12-tracks of real quality and testosteronefuelled rock-blues. It’s easy to see why this band have previously opened for the Stones, The Who and, more recently toured with, Ozzie rockers AC/DC. There are simpering shades of James Brown, soulful sounds and sensitivity then followed by Zeppelinesque explosive, ear-shattering bursts of raw electricity. Ty Taylor’s voice is driving, gutsy, tasteful, and compliments guitarist Nalle Colt’s fretwork perfectly, while Richard Danielson and Rick Barrio Dill, on drums and bass guitar respectively, both bring a solidity to the backbone of the LA-based band. 1 Hopeful Rd marks the band’s second release and surely merely hints at what might follow. This is a four-piece band with power, emotion, energy, ambition, confidence and strength in very quarter. An excellent album. Should do well, I reckon! IAIN PATIENCE
ADRIAN BLACkLEE
on the Radio 2 playlist so you may well have heard some of his songs played on the radio. In 1994 the single Hold on My Heart, which is on this CD, was recorded with British producer Dave Williams with backing from the Muscle Shoals brass, who featured on the majority of the greatest records ever recorded by Aretha Franklin & Wilson Pickett for Atlantic records, it was praised by the legendary R&B producer Jerry Wexler. You can see why this single was hailed by many as one of the best soul tracks recorded in the UK. Lack of financial resources meant the album planned at that time was not forthcoming. But that is has now been redressed and Dave and Reuben have come together again and recorded this album in Norfolk. Most of the songs on this album are on the whole written by Dave Williams and the album is produced by him too. Down to the music now and a great opening number We’ll Always Be Together with a horn section that blow up a storm. A.S.A.P. is in the same groove and both numbers take you back to the heady days of the late 60’s on the dance floors. Let Me Be The One is a slow soulful ballad where Reuben is accompanied only on piano, ensuring his voice is given full stage. If you enjoy soul music with a great singer, wonderful band who have a full fat horn section then this is a CD for you. One for the Soul lovers for sure! kITTY RAE
SHaROn JOneS & THe Dap-KingS ReUBen JaMeS RiCHaRDS VinTage TROUBLe
1 HOPEFUL RD. Blue note records
Easy to open here with this one: It’s a cracker. Explosive,
Page 94 | Blues Matters! | #87
ABOUT TIME
jig saw Music ltd.
Well it really is About Time that more people heard this fabulous soul singer. Now in his 50’s it’s amazing that this is his debut album. The CD is
IT’S A HOLIDAY SOUL PARTY daptone
Well hello Sharon and a happy Christmas to you too! Having had a Grammy nomination for their previous 2014 release
ReVIeWs
Give The People What They Want which came after Sharon’s 2013 battle with cancer and her triumphant return to the stage they follow up with their first ‘holiday’ record and deliver their brand of soulful and bluesy Christmas classics and original themed songs and I have to say they do succeed for me. Ain’t No Chimneys In The Projects is clever lyrically about chimneys appearing when you go to sleep and well woven Christmas themes inter mixed. White Christmas literally bounces along and sweeps the snow aside, while Just Another Christmas Song funks it up and introduces many familiar titles in the lyric. Silent Night is introduced with good old clean guitar sound and soulful vocal with sax that oozes along like a good thick icing on the cake. Big Bulbs is a cheeky sounding piece of great harmony work. Yep, a more than decent Christmas package here to add to your variety of festive music.
Compliments have to go to the band here, Marvin Hollie on keys, Shawn Kellerman guitar and vocals, Raul Valdes, drums and Timothy Waites on bass. They make such a tight, faultless sound, becoming such a superstar leader. The fourteen tracks on here, include a mix of originals and covers paying tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Wilson Pickett, Funky Broadway, Johnny Nash, I Can See Clearly Now, Ray LaMontagne, Trouble and the encore of Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode, complete with guest artist Joe Satriani. As soon as he knew he had the audience where he wanted them, he was off the stage on walkabout in the crowd, good touch! I could go on and on with praise for this release, but all I can say is easy, buy it, you will not be disappointed, believe me.
TOBY ORNOTT
floating World records
LUCKy peTeRSOn
JULY 28TH 2014, LIVE IN MARCIAC CD/DVD jazzbook records
Peterson has been around for some forty five years, since being spotted as a five year old, by Willie Dixon. This package only goes to show what an entertainer this man is, be it on guitar or organ and with his distinctive vocals. For those that don’t know, Marciac is a village in the south west of France that every July turns into a jazz/ blues lover’s heaven, usually attracting a name headliner.
CLIVE RAWLINGS
THe BLaSTeRS LIVE: GOING HOME
Normally I’m not too enamoured with live recordings, with the occasional interruptions from some of the audience members looking for their Nano-second of a recording career. That said, this album has not got too much interference during any of the numbers which fairly belt along and are greeted with the enthusiasm they deserve. The Alvin brothers Phil and Dave vocally are so like Jerry Lee Lewis in sound and delivery as to be disconcerting. As their name implies, the Blasters are indeed a blast from the past in style and sound. This is rock with roots and a smidgen of blues thrown in for good measure. The curiously named Floating World Records are to be commended for having the foresight to re-issue an album that is almost thirty five years old. So when you’ve had that
much experience under your belt, your music gets commendations from the highest level, so it is with the Blasters with Springsteen and Clapton in raptures over them. Age does have its benefits though and track two, Real Rock Drive is a particular favourite for me in that it is a Bill Haley and the Comets number. My first toe dip into the water of Rock and Roll, was going to the cinema to see them in Rock around the Clock in 1956. In truth there isn’t a bad track on this classic rock and roll album in it is worth a tickle in anyone’s purse. TOM WALkER
DVDs
BOB MaLOne MOJO DELUXE delta Moon
Bob Malone may be known to many as the keyboard player for John Fogerty, but as a solo performer, he averages up to 100 shows per year and has played many times here in the UK, including Glastonbury. The L.A. based singer songwriter, who is classically trained and who holds a degree in Jazz has given his life to his music and on Mojo Deluxe, his eighth solo release, that fact is very apparent. The span of musical styles covered
TaMi neiLSOn DYNAMITE nr records
On first listen to Dynamite, I was unprepared for the shift in direction that this album was to take. Opening track, Walk Back To Your Arms starts with strong, almost Blues Diva style vocals from Tami. The simple accompaniment of guitars and drum adds to the feel of the song, about a silver tongued devil, and this was a good omen for the rest of the CD. Indeed track two, Come Over And Take Me Out, has an early sixties fast paced feel, sounding reminiscent of the Stones or Pretty Things of that era. However, track three, Cry Over You shook me completely, for Tami Neilson is a world known star within the Country style, having toured the USA and Canada numerous times, even opening for Johnny Cash. All the more surprising then to discover that she now lives in Auckland, New Zealand where she is very popular, winning many accolades there. Her sound for the rest of the CD certainly harks back to the 50’s and 60’s, lap and pedal steel guitar, fiddle and mandolin feature throughout and the use of vocal harmonies is certainly prevalent. On top of this, all ten songs are Neilson originals, and whilst Country isn’t one of my favourite styles, she can surely pen a good song. You Lie, an emotional song about a woman’s ability to see through her man’s lies flies in the face of title track Dynamite. A snappy tune about the kind of woman who will roll over a man, and with some interesting backing guitar and simplistic percussion. Woo Hoo is the closest Neilson gets to an upfront danceable tune, but still with that sixties sound throughout. Honey Girl is certainly the sort of song that would have been played on BBC radio’s Family Favourites programme on Sunday lunchtime back in the fifties. It’s that innocuous, but I liked the fiddle that was prominent throughout. The album finishes with a classic Country sounding love ballad, Whiskey And Kisses, what more could we have expected. If you love Country, you’ll love this. MERV OSBORNE
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Reviews
here touches every corner of Malone’s musical experience, from low-down dirty Blues to stomping rock and roll, funky upright piano to New Orleans style gumbo. Oh, and the song Paris is one step from being a real tear jerker. There are even two tastefully offered covers amongst the twelve original songs. On Ray Charles’ Hard Times, Malone maintains the original arrangement but adds the occasional flurry on the ivories, which, along with his smoky vocals, gives the song its own distinct sound. On Muddy’s She Moves Me, he exchanges keys for the guitar, ensuring that Muddy’s heavy sound on the original is kept. However, it is his own compositions that are the real winners here. The album opens with a foot stomping tune that rolls along with a heavy bottom to the song. With powerful backing vocals and soaring guitar work, it’s a great danceable tune. Toxic Love follows, and as the title suggests, the song relates to unhealthy habits and relationships. Dobro guitar interacts nicely with his keyboards until a heavy guitar thrashes through the mould. Looking For The Blues is a straightforward Blues belter with some chunky portions of rolling keys and a horn section that blows aloud when needed. Rage & Cigarettes has Malone sounding a little like Dr. John whilst the lyrics are very cleverly paced around “...Whiskey and regrets, rage & cigarettes”. Once again, the clever lyrics of Can’t Get There From Here stand head and shoulders above others. The song is one of despair, of watching your life pass you by but with a glimmer of hope at the end. MOJO Deluxe is an excellent and enjoyable CD. MERV OSBORNE
LYNYRD SKYNYRD ONE MORE FOR THE FANS e-a-r music
Hands up any Southern Rock fan of a certain age doesn’t have a copy of Skynyrd’s One More For The Road? On November 12th 2014, in an effort to help keep the venue that was recorded in, The Fox Theatre in Atlanta, open, the remaining members of Skynyrd appeared with a star studded cast paying due reverence to one of the genre’s most influential bands. Containing nineteen rousing tracks highlighted by the inevitable Free Bird and a show stopping rendition of Sweet Home Alabama, performed by the band and all the cast, standouts for me are Cheap Trick’s - Gimme Back My Bullets, Peter Frampton’s - Call Me The Breeze, Blackberry Smoke’s take on Working For The MCA and a soulful performance by Gregg Allman on Tuesday’s Gone. If you add Gov’t Mule’s - Simple Man and Warren Haynes’s - That Smell, you’re in heaven. The sole female guest vocalist has a fair stab at What’s Your Name and with the wonders of technology, Johnny Van Zant, courtesy of archiva video, duets with his late brother, Ronnie, on Travellin’ Man. With the aforementioned finale, it’s a cracking end to a CD which was a joy to listen to. Hats off to all involved in this project, a must-have! CLIVE RAWLINGS
STEFAN GROSSMAN’S GUITAR WORKSHOP FINGERPICKING BLUES GUITAR in the key of A & G This month we have 2 new tuition DVDs from the ever prolific Stefan Grossman Workshop, and this time it is actually taught by Stefan himself. I was going to review each one separately but when you consider that are only 2 semitones between each one, it seemed more sensible to look at them as a linked pair. Now if
DVDs
LONNIE SHIELDS
THE BLUES SOUL OF LONNIE SHIELDS LIVE AT THE 100 CLUB, LONDON JSP Records/Blues Archive Production
This original late 90s video and sound recording is the latest in a series of DVDs by the Blues Archive company. This one was recorded at the 100 Club in London on 7 April 1998 and not only includes eight songs but also a commentary by Lonnie on his life. Other blues artists in the series include Larry Garner and Otis Grand. The band for this show was put together by Otis Grand and the performance has now been issued for our enjoyment. The band consisted of Lonnie Shields (guitar, vocals), Mads Anderson (drums), Steve Diamond (keyboard), Dave Stevens (bass) and Simeon Jones (saxophone and harmonica). Lonnie was born in April 1956 into a very religious family in West Helena, Arkansas, in the Mississippi Delta and is an American blues song writer, vocalist and guitarist. He originally played gospel, soul and funk but was encouraged to play the blues when he joined his friend, Sam Carr, in the Unforgettable Blues Band. He also discovered B.B. King, who has remained one of his main influences. He released his first album, Portrait, in 1992, which was credited as one of the best blues albums of the year. Ever since, he has been a sought-after guest at blues festivals around the world, building an impressive list of song writing credits. He now lives in Media, Pennsylvania but in his playing style, he is never far away from his roots. This style has been described as soulful, rhythmic blues, which blends the blues Deep South traditions with a soulful sensitivity. It is no wonder that the recording is called the Blues Soul of Lonnie Shields. All the tracks on the DVD were written by Lonnie Shields and range from I Got The Blues through to Going Back To The Juke Joint To Freedom. Every one reflecting a quality bluesman enjoying his performance. ANDY MANN
you have ever seen any of this series of DVDs you will already know that the camerawork is superb, and pretty much everything is made available to view on screen, often using a split screen to show both hands at the same time, and these are no exception, I had started to note that some of the chord fingering wasn’t clear, when the very next part switched to a split screen and answered my objection at once. You might think why do I need to buy more than one DVD? Surely all I’ve got to do is just slide up or down the neck? Well you could certainly do that but if you are serious about learning finger picked Blues,
than I would recommend that you bite the bullet and ask for both for Christmas! In the course of the lessons, Stefan works through 6 songs, mostly from the Thirties, from Blind Boy Fuller, Marshall Owens, Jim Jackson and many others, there is also a separate audio section at the end with all of the original recordings included as well as cover versions by Rev Gary Davis, Memphis Minnie. Needless to say there is a very comprehensive PDF attachment that you ideally need to print off, as it will give you tab and notation for all of the songs. Yet another top notch offering from Stefan Grossman. DAVE STONE
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Live
Reviews
Going Dutch The Norman Beaker Band, Kyla Brox, Marcus Bonfanti, 24 Pesos, Tom Attah & Katie Bradley.
P&O BLUES CRUISE THE NORTH SEA/AMSTERDAM 6TH-8TH NOVEMBER 2015
When the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise of the Caribbean is your default setting and Taj Mahal, Mavis Staples and Kenny Wayne Shepherd are your headliners it’s hard to imagine that a November crossing of the North Sea with a UK grown blues ensemble could ever compete – but it did! And such was the impact it seems certain to be the first of many. First to take to the small stage in the well-appointed 400 seat Show Lounge was Tom Attah. After a blistering rendition of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ How Long has it been Since You Been Home? Tom called Katie Bradley to join him onstage. Supplementing Tom’s guitar with fine blues harp she drew the audience into the show on call-and-response standards like Jimmy Reed’s You Got Me Runnin and Anne Cole’s Got My Mojo Working. This had been advertised by the organisers as a ‘Fast Moving Blues Revue’ and true-to-their word blues-jazz quartet 24 Pesos were next with their explosive take on the genre. With Julian Burdock on guitars, vocals and harmonica, Silas Maitland on bass and backing vocals, Moz Gamble on keyboards and backing vocals and drummer Bryan McLellan this tight outfit excelled plundering their back-catalogue with Waiting at the Station and the title track from their latest album Do the Right Thing catching the ear – although Julian trumped that with a solo rendition of Muddy Waters’ Can’t Be Satisfied played on a glimmering National steel guitar. Page 98 | Blues Matters! | #87
Next was multi-award winning
Marcus Bonfanti. Marcus is as
charismatic as he is talented. His self-deprecating anecdotes of life off-stage belie a man brimming with confidence on it as he sings of 21st century urban relationships in his songs like Layla and Honey and the acidic Now I’m Gone (is Your Life Better?). Next up with his band was the ‘eminence grise’ of UK blues, Norman Beaker. Norman has played with many UK blues greats and is affable and unflappable. Their new album is Live In Belgrade clearly emphasises their pan-European status. They opened with a Beaker original Only I Got What The Other Guys Want. With John Price on bass, Steve Gibson on drums and Nick Steed on keys this is a travel-hardened band whose musical understanding is almost telepathic. Lonnie Mack’s Tough On Me Tough On You followed before Norman demonstrated virtuoso guitar skills - on Love Her Like the Sky in tribute to Peter Green. He then called blues chanteuse Kyla Brox to guest with the band. Etta James’ At Last and Irma Thomas’ You Can Have My Husband, But Please Don’t Mess With My Man were powerful and impeccable. And so the first leg of this adventure drew to a close – but there was much more to come. After a late night and a lost hour bluesters came ashore eager to sample the attractions of Amsterdam. Around ninety cruisers chose wisely and hopped aboard the city’s fine tram service and headed for the Waterhole Music Bar, located in a cobbled back
street in the Museum District. If there’s anything closer to an intimate Beale St bar on this side of the Atlantic I’ve yet to find it, it was a perfect venue for this concert arranged exclusively for the cruisers. Little Stevie and the Big Beat
proved a real coup - whilst virtually unknown in the UK they are highly thought of in the Netherlands (nominated for ‘Best Band’, ‘Best Vocalist’ and ‘Best Drummer’ in this year’s Dutch Blues Awards). Little Stevie van der Nat leads the band with fine vocals and clean, ringing lead guitar. A rhythm section of ‘Bird’ Stevens on bass and the youthful Jody van Ooijen on drums provide a perfect, foundation for the band’s 50s/60s rhythm and blues. What sets this quintet apart though, is the wonderful brass section of Martijn van Toor on tenor and Evert Hoedt on baritone saxes. The UK contingent was quick to show its appreciation and their warm applause clearly inspired the band to even greater heights. Wilbert Harrison’s Kansas City got the breakneck treatment whilst the languorous mood of Magic Sam’s Easy Baby was replicated in a fine vocal performance. Chuck Willis’ influence is sadly overlooked today by many but this band made amends with their take on his classic, oft-recorded, Feel So Bad. Their own compositions, too, add to the oeuvre. Their 2013 single Brand New Man rocks along fueled by incessant horn-riffing and a soaring vocal from Stevie – whose phrasing and command of idiomatic English would shame many UK vocalists. Plans are
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MARCUS BONFANTI AND KYLA BROX BY JOHN ASHTON
LITTLE STEVIE BY JOHN ASHTON
advanced to bring this outstanding outfit across the water; see them and you’ll understand what the stalwart cruisers drinking at the Waterhole were making such a fuss about! M/C Michael had promised that whilst the same artists would appear on the second night we “... shouldn’t expect the same show as Friday as blues artists just love to jam...”- a promise kept! A brace of acoustic numbers from marcus bonfanti opened before he was joined on stage by 24 pesos for a funky take on Lee Dorsey’s Get Out of My Life Woman. They followed with Freddie King’s Pass It Up with Marcus and Julian sharing the vocals. The collaborative die was cast –the magic had begun. Julian decided it was time for a little audience participation – whether “We’re all going to need a little help When The Ship Goes Down” was the best choice as the boat began
to buck is a good question – but it was performed lustily by the 400-strong crowd. kyla brox stepped up calming the mood, as only she can, with her much-requested reading of Anthony Newley’s Feeling Good – and everyone was, secure in the knowledge that what was developing was a unique, exclusive event. Soon norman beaker too resumed, this time with tom attah in tow. Tom sang Rice Miller’s Help Me and alternated solos with Norman as excitement grew on and off stage. Up jumped katie bradley and back bounced Julian, both with harps-in-hand for Big Boss Man. Almost three hours of top-class blues laced with unique collaborations had passed when the ‘magic hour’ began. Kyla and Katie swapped verses on a stunning I’d Rather Go Blind. As the number built to a soulful crescendo a standing ovation
JULIAN BURDOCK BY JOHN ASHTON
became inevitable and was duly delivered. Up jumped Marcus and Julian with Kyla for Willie Dixon’s Wang Dang Doodle. The audience was in full-voice, enhancing this genuine show stopper. But the show didn’t stop. Katie and Tom rejoined the throng to lead a thumping take on BB’s Little By Little before the evocative High Heel Sneakers shuffle rang out. Tom sang the verses which were punctuated by blistering guitar dueling between himself, Norman and Marcus. With the temperature still rising and midnight approaching the stage was packed (Moz and Nick even sharing the same keyboard) for the finale – a memorable and rousing slice of classic blues, I Just Want to Make Love To You. It’s often said “You had to be there” – we were lucky that we were. And if you weren’t, pencil in November 16! poferries.com/blues JACK SUTCLIFFE
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shoWtIme!
tHe bm! rOund-up Of live blues
TORONZO CANNON BY STEVE MORPHEW
cHIcAGo Blues FesTIVAl grant park
12,13 & 14 JUNE 2015
2015 sees us in the Centennial year of Blues giants Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. They were writing and performing collaboration that set the standard for the very best in City Blues: Chicago Blues. Their songs were packed full of raw masculinity and they were delivered with swagger-especially by the great, great Muddy Waters. The feeling contained in the fabric of the material came from tough experience and harsh reality...all the way from the Mississippi Delta up to Chicago: the windy city. This was the case with migrants moving up to the heavily industrialised cities of mid-west America: Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati but Chicago was the main destination for most
migrants moving straight up the railroad from Mississippi looking for work and a better life. It was my first time since 1987 that I was in Chicago. On that trip I remember meeting and listening to Jimmy Rogers and Pinetop Perkins at Blues North Halstead. There are fewer Blues clubs left in Chicago now but I got to Buddy Guy’s legends to see John Primer the night before the festival started up. There was a feel of the tourist trail about it but the moment John Primer opened up his set I knew that the Blues is still very much alive! With Rick Kreher on second guitar I knew we were in for real Chicago Blues: Mannish Boy, Forty Days & Forty Nights, Sell My Monkey, You Don’t Have To Go and the absolutely wonderful Two Headed Woman. I knew I was
back in the right place. The next day I was in Grant Park for my first Chicago Blues Festival. Katherine Davies was inspiring and so were the kids performing with harmonicas, washboards and singing on the Pepsi Front Porch Stage: Blues In The Schools. Other highlights for me were Mary Lane, Charlie Love and the magnificent Nellie “Tiger” Travis. John Primer was in action again on the Jackson Mississippi Rhythm & Blues Stage where I joined Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith’s Jam Session: a dream come true! The next day it was time for the big guns on the main stage: the Petrillo Music Shell but in the afternoon on the Windy City Blues Society “Street Stage” I was determined to catch The 3 Bobs: Bob Margolin, Bob Corritore and Bob Stroger. Here it was again: real Chicago Blues on a small stage. The crowd were enraptured! In the evening at the Petrillo first up was Toronzo Canon who has recently been signed by Alligator. Toronzo is the real deal. Blistering guitar and inventive songs: jealousy, double-crossing, knives and hand grenades...Chicago style. Taj Mahal was sick so the fabulous Shemekia Copeland stepped in to prove the women can deliver powerful, challenging Blues just as well as the men. Then the rain came down (with lightning right above us). I wasn’t going anywhere. When Buddy Guy eventually took the stage he was in fine form. What I remember most is the joy he expressed in sharing the Blues of Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and B.B.King - who was the man who brought Blues from Blues Matters! | #87
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the Mississippi to the mainstream. There was a shared feeling of enormous pride in Chicago Blues – some of the best Blues anywhere in the world. I stopped off for a beer in the South Loop Club before walking on to Reggie’s Music Joint where I saw Mud Morganfield and Bob Margolin after their polished set. Rick Kreher invited me to join him and the house band for the last set. I sang Hold That Train Conductor by B.B. King and Found True Love by Jimmy Reed. As you can guess, I was feeling right at home in the heart of the Windy City. On the Sunday there were major Centennial tribute sessions to Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters after Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues and Eddie “The Chief” Clearwater at the Petrillo. These were delivered by some of the very best in Blues today including Billy Branch, Sugar Blue and several Dixon family members. Then for the Muddy Waters tribute, there
were Mud Morganfield, Big Bill Morganfield together with John Primer, Rick Kreher, Bob Stroger, Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, E.G. McDaniel, Barrelhouse Chuck, Jerry Portnoy and Paul Oscher. On the Pepsi Front Porch Stage I was knocked out by the superb Heritage Blues Orchestra Quartet: a varied mix of styles, instrumental combinations and beautiful singing Chicago still has so much to celebrate and be mightily proud of!
LAURA HOLLAND BY CHRISTINE MOORE
ROSCO LEVEE BY CHRISTINE MOORE
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DAVE THOMAS
colne GReAT BRITIsH Blues Rock FesTIVAl 2015 britisH stage
28, 29, 30 & 31 AUGUST
This was my first visit to Colne and boy was I looking forward to it! This year, The Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival was celebrating the 26th year of bringing some of the best music to the region. It has been voted the best Blues Festival in the European Blues Awards
2014, for the second year running and I was determined to find out why! This year’s festival had several firsts besides its usual quality line-up, with a particularly strong female presence, during the four days over the August Bank Holiday (Friday, 28 August to Monday, 31 August). Also, for the first time, an international record label hosted a night – the Alligator Records Sunday Night, presented by their President, Bruce Iglauer and featuring Tommy Castro, Selwyn Birchwood and Jarekus Singleton – a fantastic coup for the Festival. There was also a new Roadhouse venue, when the Little Theatre was transformed into The Little Acoustic Stage for the Saturday and Sunday nights. For the uninitiated like me, the Festival has an International Stage, a British Stage and the Acoustic Stage, as well as the five official Roadhouses plus new, young talent performing as part of the Jessica
JAREKUS SINGLETON BY CHRISTINE MOORE
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Foxley Unsigned initiative and an outdoor stage in the town centre. But for most attendees, the abiding memory is the “hill of enjoyment” which revellers enthusiastically walk up and down to try and see as many acts as possible and to participate in many of the delicious food stalls. So what about the music? The International Stage, held in the Main Hall, with both a dance floor and balcony, featured well known stars such as Pat McManus, Coco Montoya, Billy Boy Arnold supported by The Animals, Mike Vernon and the Mighty Combo, last minute replacement Connie Lush, Nine Below Zero and Duke Robillard featuring Todd Sharpville, with the Blues Band closing the event. But the highlight for me was Selwyn Birchwood. A fantastic guitarist/singer songwriter who rightly won the International Blues Challenge. His career is assured and as his CD states, “Don’t Call No Ambulance,” he is here to stay.
The British stage, held in the Sports Hall, must be the best value anywhere. Only £5 to see nearly 25 bands. Unbelievable!! This year I managed to see Lucy Zirins & Southern Company, local unsigned band Good Foxy, the Revolutionaires, Laurence Jones and Roadhouse. Fantastic but sadly I did not have chance to see so many more like Slack Alice; Kyla Brox, Aynsley Lister and the Laura Holland band to name just a few. What a problem – I was just spoilt for choice and that is the essence of Colne - so many great bands and just not enough time to see them all!! This is particularly true if, as I did, you also try and see a few bands in the Roadhouses and Accoustic stage, which is held in the ground floor annex in the Main Hall. I enjoyed seeing Johnny Bird, Andy Twyman and Lancashire lass, Joni Fuller as well as in the Crown Hotel, Midnite Blue and Bassford Bandits. My overall
ROADHOUSE BY CHRISITNE MOORE
KYLA BROX BY CHRISTINE MOORE
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impression is that this is a fantastic Festival which well deserves its top notch reputation. Congratulations to Alison Goode and her team for putting on a seamless, well organised Festival. I can not wait to attend next year!!!! ANDREW MANN
This years line up on the British Stage at Colne was one of the most impressive for several years. Among dozens of other bands, it included an excellent Saturday afternoon session from the very popular Revolutionaires, a packed Saturday evening session from the wonderful Kyla Brox Band, a further excellent set on Sunday from Rosco Levee, and yet another superb performance from Aynsley Lister late on Sunday night. However I concentrated on the Bank Holiday Monday, if only because the entire day was programmed by Blues Matters magazine (which some of you may have heard of). Monday got off to an exciting start with a session from Gerry Jablonski and his band. Unfortunately audience numbers were low at this time, but this did not stop Gerry putting on a first class performance. This is not a band that concentrates on sensitive singer songwriting material, more a tour de force showcasing Gerry’s blistering guitar technique and Peter Narojczyk’s exciting harp solos, with Gerry’s high tenor voice cutting through the wall of sound created. I enjoyed their set immensely. Next up were The Little Devils. They provided a considerable contrast to the preceding band with a more soulful sound, supplemented throughout by flute and sax, which resulted in a performance somewhere between blues-rock, Jethro Tull, and classic soul. Next up was a young blues-rock trio called Adenland. They were one of several Jessica Foxley unsigned artists to appear over Blues Matters! | #87
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the weekend and they had clearly made an effort, the lead singer and guitarist dressed in black and gold military style jacket to compliment his 1960s style psychedelic guitar solos. While they did play some of their own material, including the self penned Acid Monkey, they soon moved on to standards such as Hey Joe which was faithful, almost to the note, to the Hendrix original. Next up was Roadhouse. This is a very professional, well presented, and entertaining band and there is always something happening on stage including lots of tongue in cheek gyrations from the glamorous young ladies who front the band (and additional posturing from the somewhat older male members of the band who play the guitars). While these antics may not be popular with everyone, both ladies can certainly sing, and the band is full of top musicians. I understand it was their seventh consecutive year in Colne and they clearly know how to put on a good show. I particularly enjoyed Blues Highway, a sultry blues number with the appropriately sultry young ladies taking alternative lead vocals. The next set provided yet another contrast, with George Shovlin & The Radars taking to the stage. This is a wonderful band with the eponymous Mr Shovlin on acoustic guitar and vocals, accompanied by his friend and namesake George Lamb on electric guitar. Mr Shovlin’s voice has a wonderful tone, charged with emotion and power, despite his senior years and Mr Lamb’s subtle guitar playing proved that, even in a huge venue like the sports centre, class can shine through. Finally came a headline appearance from the Laura Holland Band, a smart STAX style septet including trumpet, sax and keyboards. Unfortunately, by the time of their late night appearance the audience numbers had dwindled again. Despite this they
put on a great show, really coming into their own when the brass section started to belt out those dramatic ‘punctuation marks’ so familiar to fans of the classic STAX label. Great stuff. BERNIE STONE
For a more detailed article on the performances, please see Diane Sister Feelgood’s review on the Blues Matters website.
GERRY JABLONSKI BAND THE NEW INN COURTYARD, GLOUCESTER BLUES FESTIVAL 2015 I first saw this guy some years back at Maryport. He played the rugby club venue late afternoon on his own. He had with him a box of gizmos and selection of guitars that he played with pedalled at and performed to nigh manic proportions amazing the audience, bar staff and casual imbibers who were, at the end, as exhausted as himself. He was astounding. Later that evening and into the wee hours of the next day he played an acoustic “jam” with fellow musicians from a ZZ Top styled Buzzard aboard the Old Flying Buzzard moored in Queen’s Dock, Maryport. It left me with the need in me to see this man again, 2015 and here he is at Gloucester – on my doorstep, near as dam it. Their set started Oh so quietly when the very young and very talented drummer Lewis Frazer took the mic and began singing a cappella. Then Gerry started to accompany him followed by harpist Peter Narojczyk who jumped on stage along with Grigor Leslie (bassist). Two beats later the stage exploded into an awesome dirty rocking blues number. The hushed audience were impressed with Lewis’s song but now were shaken and stirred by the full and mighty force of all four musicians. Throttled by their grasping rhythm and sudden blast of loud shrilling
and thrilling harmonica we were all sitting up and paying attention listening to the Gerry Jablonski Band!! The next hour or so was given over to a medley of rocking blues anthems, mellow sultry slow burner songs interspersed with tremendous ball busting guitar solos (lead and bass) tympanic membrane shattering solos from lusty lungs himself harp man extraordinaire Peter all kept in line by steady classic good time keeping skin man /songster Lewis Frazer! The buzz from the mesmerised yet animated audience was just what the lads wanted and got as it levered them on to more wonderful chunks of unadulterated R&B! The sharp dark suited shiny black booted Jablonski was at his greasy oily best- ladling out bad medicine blues with enough molasses to sweeten any sceptic who may think the blues is all sad and dull! Far from it! His fingers whizzed over the frets then held long lonesome blues benders of notes and had screams and whistles especially on his forays into the throng filled ancient coaching house’s cobbled yard’s surfaces! Peter followed, then Gerry ‘duck walked’ and kicked about a la Chuck Berry on and off stage raising eyebrows and excitement simultaneously. Lewis and Grigor, however, kept their decorum and beat on stage. The organizers were pleased and set about a possible gig the next day to be slotted into the festival schedule. I have a feeling they will be back next year (if not sooner)! DIANE GILLARD SISTER FEELGOOD
BOOZE & BLOOZE OUTWOOD FESTIVAL Outwood, Surrey 30 AUG 2015
In the Deep South area of Surrey, out from Redhill and environs the first blues festival is taking place. It’s named BOOZE & BLOOZE – a 1 day Music Festival Blues Matters! | #87
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PHIL BROWN BY JOHN BULL
Celebrating The Blues. As a first shot at such a show, organiser Ray concedes that the learning curve has left some imperfections on readying the site in time and some important aspects of admin, however he feels better-placed on all the practicalities now for a subsequent shot. The field is next to a welcoming (though not cheap) pub and there is adequate parking. It’s exciting for me because my American ‘brother’ Phil Brown is flying in from Nashville to headline and we get to play an acoustic duo set as part of the day’s musical fare. Not all the listed acts appear; those that do turn in splendid performances. Miraculously, the heavy rain that has marred the week thus far holds off till late in the evening. With food and drink readily available, Blues Matters! Helping sponsor a guitar giveaway plus a good sound crew, everyone attending seems to enjoy the day. The variety of music was one of the best features. Ray’s own Hallelujah Junction group play a set and make a good job of backing US visitor Phil Brown for his quirky closing of the day. Page 106 | Blues Matters! | #87
Nobody can get more tone and character out of an electric guitar than Brown, his phrasing has elements of Beck and Jimi but equally Coltrane and Miles and Sumlin and…oh everybody. His work with Little Feat, Cher, Kool and hundreds of other acts in the studio and live give him great range and perspective and boy can he write songs….a true original and full of stories. 3 Times 7 are a fine guitar and vocal duo, rocking the blues but with tinges of vaudeville and ragtime; The Voodoo Sheiks turn in their customary energetic blues rock, mainly own material but with an edgy take on Whipping Post. Fiery harp and spring heeled guitar with a punchy rhythm section. Sonic Blue are a hard-edged four piece with two-guitar arrangements and some harp playing. Singer Steve has a Hiatt-toned voice and sure grip on rock blues phrasing. The guitars sound markedly different which 3d-s their sound. Mike Panos Band have real presence, dynamic arrangements, gruff vocals, very electric soloing and stylish bass and drum work. Excellent festival fare. Red Butler,
appearing late in the order lost no time in firing up the audience and although they have fun and play with great energy, visit some tender moments, notably on a Sandi Thom tune. Blues Is My Business finds crowd favour and Alex’s Kim Simmonds-style guitar packs a punch. Jane is off running around the stage area as soon as she gets the chance. Brown plays Lah Lah Land one of his best compositions and gets the Hallelujah boys playing out as he goes from funk to rock ‘n’ roll to eerie blues and back. His dry voice has depth but seems to float Bowie-style over his music. The guitar runs take in harmonics, double-stops, octave runs et al but in an organic and never Look At Me mode. Earlier Phil and I played an acoustic duo set. I can’t critique it but I will say that although we knew the guitars would weave, we hadn’t realised how the voices would combine. Strangely, it was only me that did a Leonard Cohen song at the event. Phil made my blue Fender acoustic sing. PETE SARGEANT
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WooDsTock RHYTHM & Blues FesTIVAl belfast 12-19 AUGUST 2015
Thursday: “It’s so nice to be back in Belfast,” declared Chris Farlowe, who, astonishingly, was headlining the Woodstock Festival for the third year in succession. Well, they all say that, but Farlowe then announced, “I had lunch with Sir Van Morrison today,” which is somewhat more unusual. (Sir Van, apparently, footed the bill, if you really want to know.) Hobnobbing with knights of the realm aside, Farlowe, backed expertly by the Norman Beaker Band, was in imperious form. Little Milton’s Ain’t No Big Deal On You and Norbert Egger’s I’ll Sing The Blues For You were sung with massive authority while Mentor Williams’ Loving Arms was performed heart-wrenchingly. Stormy Monday Blues featured an atmospheric saxophone solo by Tony Kelly while on the Temptations’ Standing On Shaky Ground the band attacked the killer riff with relish. Throughout Farlowe and Beaker good-humouredly exchanged hoary old, music hall-style jokes about unfaithful wives and unhappy marriages which mightily amused most in the capacity audience. But what most delighted the audience of course were the sixties classics. Mike D’Abo’s Handbags And Gladrags, for example, seemed wise and relevant in these materialistic times, the Small Faces’ All Or Nothing provoked an ecstatic singalong and Jagger/ Richards’ Out Of Time sounded as fresh and wonderful as it did in 1966, when it was a British Number One. Indeed, during Farlowe’s performance of the song there wasn’t a face in the hall not wreathed in a blissed-out smile. In their own set the Norman Beaker Band excelled with Beaker, playing a Strat, soloing searingly on When The Fat Lady Sings. Take-no-prisoners power trio
3Play impressed on standards such as Ramblin’ On My Mind, Further On Up The Road, Red House and Dust My Broom. Guitarist Peter Spratt soloed fluently and at times spectacularly, his playing on Van Morrison’s I’ve Been Working alluding pleasingly to psychedelia. Bassist Albert Mills, who also sang effectively, and drummer Eddie McKee provided powerful support. Friday: Certified Blues comprise four highly accomplished,
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massively experienced local musicians whose classy repertoire included songs by Steely Dan, JJ Cale, Fleetwood Mac, Willie Cobbs and the Box Tops. Billy McCoy, a contemporary of Van Morrison’s in Belfast’s fabled mid-60s Maritime Hotel, played subtly throughout, contributing an artful solo to Steely Dan’s Josie. An interpretation of Cream’s Badge featured splendid twin lead guitar playing from McCoy and Davy Hughes. During the set McCoy and keyboard
GRAINNE DUFFY AND RONNIE GREER BY TRISH KEOGH-HODGETT
REV DOC BY TRISH KEOGH-HODGETT
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player Gordy Thompson were both awarded well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Festival. Dick Heckstall-Smith once described Belfast bandleader Rab McCullough as “an astounding singer and guitar player” and McCullough, fronting a five-piece, lived up to that praise, singing Born Under A Bad Sign with a powerful sense of desperation and unleashing an emotion-drenched solo. South African Cuan Boake contributed an anguished-sounding harmonica solo to the song and also soloed scintillatingly on You Don’t Love Me and on a reflective I Shall Be Released. On Voodoo Chile McCullough channelled his inner Hendrix, playing behind his head and with his teeth. Saturday: Much of the Voodoo Hounds’ set was closer to hard rock than blues but How Blue Can You Get showed the subtlety of which they were capable. Louisiana Red’s Alabama Train was played with conviction with the band locking into a powerful groove and there was an exuberant Nutbush City Limits and a riproaring Baby Please Don’t Go. Virtuosic Belfast harmonica player Billy Boy Miskimmin, a flamboyant showman, made his name with Nine Below Zero and the Yardbirds. His current band Mercy Lounge played with irrepressible verve on a repertoire which included several high quality, hook-laden original songs, many of them, it seems, inspired by Miskimmin’s embittering experiences with women. “I wrote this for my first ex-wife,” he said of one song and I Ain’t Gonna Take It No More was dedicated to “all the men in the audience.” But sexual politics aside the band’s performances of such songs as well as the anthemic Déjà Vu All Over Again and the Yardbirds-like One More Time were electrifying. On covers such as Mannish Boy, Shake Your Hips and Miss You the band, which with guest Steve Page 108 | Blues Matters! | #87
Payne joining Jay Simms and Lou Campbell featured three outstanding lead guitarists, hit the perfect groove. Jumping Jack Flash was wild, thrilling and hugely crowd-pleasing. Sunday: Singer-guitarist Billy Culbert’s versions of Crazy Love, How Long and others were elegantly played and arranged. Errol Walsh, another singerguitarist, performed a repertoire of predominantly downbeat Americana songs with quiet charisma. His version of Across The Borderline was masterful. Mostly backed by two acoustic guitarists, Kenny McDowell, who in the late sixties replaced Van Morrison in Them, sang the likes of Chris Stapleton’s chilling, intriguing If It Hadn’t Been For Love with utter persuasiveness. Joined by Walsh he performed Good Rockin’ Charles’s I’m Goin’ Home Where Women Got Meat On Their Bones with a compelling sense of drama. Fronting a quartet guitarist Ronnie Greer played throughout with white hot intensity and great distinctiveness, his style unusually blending Chicago blues with elements of bebop jazz. His solo on Blues With A Feeling, in particular, seemed wrenched from his soul. Huge-voiced guest vocalist Ken Haddock totally nailed Keb’ Mo’s Dangerous Mood and sang Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey exquisitely. With another guest, Scottish harmonica player Rev Doc, the Greer band loped through Jimmy Reed’s Bright Lights Big City engagingly, while Grainne Duffy augmented the band for wonderful versions of Will Jennings’ Never Make Your Move Too Soon and Koko Taylor’s Voodoo Woman. Grainne Duffy’s own band played hard-rocking, melodic originals like I Know We’re Gonna Be Just Fine with great panache, Ronnie Greer and Rev. Doc guesting on a sizzling Love Me Like A Man. On an extraordinary interpretation of Etta James’s I’d
Rather Go Blind Duffy sounded utterly desolate and abject, the deeply moved audience responding with a standing ovation. Monday: Singer-acoustic guitarist Wilfie Gilbert, accompanied by acoustic guitarist Anthony Toner, impressed with his own, dark Rivers Of Blood, Warren Zevon’s bleak Carmelita and an uplifting version of Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey. Another acoustic guitarist Willie Byrne’s playing was often dazzling on stylishly arranged interpretations of the Who’s Squeeze Box, Van Morrison’s Warm Love, Django Reinhardt’s Nuages, Eric Clapton’s Layla and several Beatles songs. TREVOR HODGETT
BUDDY GUY BY HEATHER
BRYSE-HARVE Y
PoRTlAnD WATeRFRonT Blues FesTIVAl
pOrtland, OregOn, usa 2, 3, 4, 5 JULY 2015
Yet again, another great festival in one of the USA’s finest music towns. Under positively broiling heat with temperatures frequently nearing 40C, this year’s event was a positive feast of top-quality blues, making it difficult to focus on any single act or performance. Perhaps it’s easiest to start, perversely, at the end: the now legendary Buddy Guy closed 2015 with an absolutely storming set featuring many old blues standards and much of his latest, lauded release, Born To Play Guitar. This is a guy clearly loving every
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minute, grabbing the moment with amazing, raw energy and accomplished confidence. Guy’s experience counts for much these days, and he is one of the few remaining true blues big hitters, following the passing of his old buddy, BB, a few short months ago. He had the huge crowd eating out of his leathery, talented hands throughout the set. Earlier, Devon Allman had also produced a rocking, scorching set while his old man, Gregg, also featured with his current band, squaring a circle with neat class and explosive form and quality. ‘Melinda’ remains as popular as ever with the masses, it seems. Mary Flower, a personal Piedmontpicking favourite of mine and a Portland local, was on her usual high-class form and delivered an eloquent example of acoustic blues
concerts
AFTER MIDNIGHT
30TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT LYME REGIS 11 SEPTEMBER
Walking around this fine Dorset town on the first evening of our holiday, I came across a poster advertising CLASSIC CLAPTON at the local theatre and more to the point, it was that Friday night. We duly booked tickets the next day and waited for Friday to come round. The concert was part of the 30th Anniversary tour of the band After Midnight, who are careful not to advertise themselves as a tribute band, Friday acme and we were queuing up at the appointed hour, but had to wait to get in as the band were still carrying out their sound check, having been stuck in a 12 mile traffic jam for several hours. (So did I, but only
at its very best. Jarekus Singleton also turned in a wonderfully fluid, unfaltering performance, as did Lisa Mann, and the teenage Mississippian Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram. But Buddy Guy was not the sole old-timer still pumping out the blues goods: from Mississippi, Jimmy ‘Duck’ Holmes and Terry ‘Harmonica’ Bean both also played out to a warm, oft overheated, audience with individual sets that showcased their undiminished enthusiasm and ability. Delbert Goldfarb from New York, though seemingly a bit pissed by spreading sound from a nearby stage, eventually settled in to pull-off a solid, old-style blues set that clearly pleased many fans. Local lad, James Clem, found the time to travel from his
nearby home in the town and deliver a startlingly sound and solid Delta-inspired set. Kicking off with Catfish Blues from Muddy he moved on through That Ain’t No Way To Get Along - always a crowd pleaser - and closed with an excellent take on Jesse Fuller’s Ragtime Blues. Other winners included Australian singer-songwriter Peter D Harper who manages to incorporate Didgeridoo and Harp and still produce a solid rootsy set. Scott Pemberton proved to be a talented, soulful guitarist while local outfit Too Loose Cajun Zydeco Band - now established festival regulars - again showed what can be done by taking the music off at a bluesy tangent, with high energy, toe-tapping, boisterous, bellowing music that never fails to hit the spot.
got caught in it for an hour!) Doors opened and the small theatre was sold out, but I still got to sit in the second row, and lights down and we were off. Mike Hall (Clapton) looks the part, having a likeness to Eric but without the glasses. Opening up with Crossroads, the four piece band are top notch from the outset and played a blinder. It was very soon obvious that it wasn’t Eric up there, as Mike actually interacted with the audience, regaling us with the tales of being stuck in traffic, a theme that he came back to through the evening. It wasn’t just a straight Clapton copy gig, as the band played music from the Yardbirds era (For your love) as well as Hideaway from the Bluesbreaker days, even going as far as playing Eric’s contribution to the Beatles While My Guitar Gently Weeps. I won’t bore you with the set list, but it included a fine acoustic set from
Mike and Bass man Danny. If you are not based in the North East, you may not get the chance to see them again as they are pulling out of the UK circuit to continue in their own neck of the woods up North. I am glad that I saw that poster as this was one of the best gigs that I have been to for quite a while.
IAIN PATIENCE
DAVE STONE
COOLHAND
THE GLOBE, CARDIFF 4th July 2015
On a hot July night Coolhand were launching their album to a back audience of friends and fans in the heart of Cardiff. The first of two acts playing before the main event as people arrived were Alex Stacey, a young emerging singer/ songwriter with a varied set that allowed him to showcase his EP and the skill as a songwriter with a varied set. Following him was Tim Blues Matters! | #87
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COOLHAND BY LIZ AIKEN
Cronin behind guitar and keyboards with Coolhand’s backing vocals; with clever use of a loop the layers of sound added a depth of interest. The reality was there was only one act people wanted to hear and that was Coolhand and their wish was soon granted as Luke and the boys took to the stage it was their evening showcasing the self-titled debut album and showing they can deliver their music on stage as well as the studio. Yes the set list was the twelve tracks of the album and some new sound as well including a real contender for the follow up album Holy Man. Tonight Coolhand were a band of eight joining Daz Edwards on vocals and guitarist Luke Bradshaw accompanied with keys, bass, drums and two backing singers delivering blues with depth and feeling. Daz took centre stage bringing an energy and great vocals as he picked up the blues vibe of the intro from guitar and keys with a song about the virtual
world, spinning together traditional R ‘n’ B with contemporary lyrics. He knows how to woo a crowd, and the audience’s attention was now transfixed to the musicians and the set unfolded so that we heard a live version of Summertime Shuffle perfectly in tune with the heat of the summer everyone was experiencing tonight at The Globe. The band closed with Deadman’s Hand with its country blues feel with a full-on twang of the guitar filling out the story unfolding through the lyrics. This wasn’t the end of the evening there were two more tracks from the album to be given the live treatment, yes they were back for an encore ending the evening with Pretender Love; there was definitely no pretending about the skills of Luke on guitar, Gareth on keys and Daz sparkling centre stage delivering lyrics and music that is contemporary blues. LIZ AIKEN
THe DellA GRAnTs
peppers cafe, glOucester blues festival 2015 I’m so pleased to see that this festival is still going strong and that another venue has been added to the agenda. Peppers is compact and bijou and found down a side ally just off the main shopping area on Westgate Street near the wonderful city cathedral. The family run business makes homemade foods to suit most tastes and stocks a variety of local ales (bottled) and organic soft drinks for us drivers. They do have an open air courtyard and this is where the band sets up for the Gloucester Festival’s first session on this Saturday. The weather bodes well and we are all glad of the green mushroom of canopies that shade us from the overhead sun and also blocks out the dull office high rise buildings – a planners blight of sixties vintage. Hooray for the Blues Matters! | #87
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CHANTEL MCGREGOR BY KIERAN WHITE
cHAnTel McGReGoR 100 club, lOndOn 16 SEPTEMBER 2015
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long before striking back to the evil, thunderous riff. Anyone new to her act and wondering whether the very feminine blonde performer will cut it is duly punished for their doubts. From this point we are treated to the very electric driving
Chantel sound mixed with a solo acoustic interlude and some slowburn electric pastoral moments, showing what I would call her Trowerish side and is always utterly captivating. Unafraid to let a note hang in the air or to drop the volume, McGregor is at her best letting the music float by, no need to hit us with torrents of notes all the time. This is marred only by the droning conversations of the horrible Loud Fat Bearded Blokes who come to blues and rock shows to talk to their mates about their lawnmowers and holidays rather than show any respect for the performers. Why don’t these oafs at least keep away from the stage if they have to be rude? The guy who runs the 606 club down in Chelsea insists before each show that those wishing to chat should go through to the back bar, quite right too. Every venue should. McGregor has a fine line in the Billy Gibbons pinched-note solos when needed but her moody arpeggio chording shows musical knowledge and tastes far beyond the shuffle and stomp modes some acts rely upon. The band’s cymbal washes and ominous bass lines give a cool dynamic, though some jazzier inflections would sometimes be welcome…I’m thinking Up From The Skies maybe. Because this voice is strong but tender and steers away from imitating female black singers, too, most of the time. Southern Belle is a meaty effort with a twist in descend. Lose Control has a Groundhogs timbre, all bounce and power. Robin’s Daydream is given a long and subtle workout, with dirt-edged sustain and a lovely vocal, exploring every part of the song’s atmosphere. The acoustic Anaesthetise and Home takes us the audience somewhere else, elegaic delivery and fine playing and almost in Vega/Nyro territory. Keith and Colin are back for the rest of the set, Take Power and its snaky riffing icing the aural cake. PETE SARGEANT
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little shops and businesses that are to be found untainted and much patronised by those who favour the individuality of Peppers and café Rene. That said the Della Grants set up and watered our musical taste buds with a fine harp driven Louisiana country style instrumental for openers! They delve into their recent CD for many of this days’ repertoire and produce a fine song and a lovely guitar solo by south paw Max Manning. Following on the third number produces a great thumping bass interlude courtesy of Andy Boulton. Ray Charles’ I Gotta Woman and then Do What You Do that is to be released on the new EP shortly! Tom Best (second guitar and harp) takes vocals on Keb Mo’s Am I Wrong. Their covers are all done well but their own material shines just as brightly as the old masters. The Rollin’ Stones songs are Baby used to stay out… and my favourite RS tune Miss You from the Some Girls… album. Fats Domino‘s Blue Monday was driven easy and tastefully along with Tom Walker beating the skins keeping all in order. A beautiful slide interlude (Back Biters Blues) here and there with a strong harp now and then also made for a very pleasurable two sets Hoochie Coochie Man, Keepin’ Me Away from You, Awkward Feeling and Too Fast finished off the gig and the packed courtyard patrons and staff serving on table clapped and cheered loudly. A unique quirky venue with courteous staff and a brilliant band along with sunshiny day made the journey up there all worthwhile – oh! - and nearby car parking- fantastic! DIANE GILLARD SISTER FEELGOOD
DR. FeelGooD
atkinsOn, sOutHpOrt 24 SEPTEMBER 2015
It started out as a quite night in Southport but it was soon about to change, with the arrival on the large stage at the Atkinson
Live
DELLA GRANTS BY DIANE GILLARD
of Dr. Feelgood. This legendary blues band from Canvey Island, Essex has been continually touring in varying formats since 1973, playing over 200 shows a year. The current four man band is Robert Kane (vocals/harmonica), Steve Walwyn (lead guitar), Kevin Morris (drums) and Phil Mitchell (bass guitar). For anyone who has never seen them live, you
are missing an experience. Their performance was full of drive, energy and pure entertainment, from the opening bars of Hoochie Choochie Man to the final rock and roll encore of Great Balls Of Fire and Bonie Moronie. The audience responded accordingly, with dancing in the aisles and a standing ovation at the end! All their classic songs were Blues Matters! | #87
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C Oplayed, including great versions
of All Through The City; Roxette; Milk and Alcohol; Down By The Jetty Blues; Cell Block No.9 and Down To The Doctors. You have to come away happy having heard all these great songs and the audience from this well attended event was clearly buzzing as they left the Atkinson. Everyone had a good time and that, for me, is one of the joys of seeing a top quality live blues bands. As Robert said “it was one of their best gigs in months” and they certainly made Southport rock! Something which does not happen that often, but is something which the Atkinson is aiming to change, with their commitment to booking quality blues bands and their annual Blues Festival. Long may it continue? ANDY MANN
GeRRY JABlonskI BAnD
tHe neW inn cOurtYard, glOucester blues festival 2015 I first saw this guy some years back at Maryport. He played the rugby club venue late afternoon on his own. He had with him a box of gizmos and selection of guitars that he played with pedalled at and performed to nigh manic proportions amazing the audience, bar staff and casual imbibers who were, at the end, as exhausted as himself. He was astounding. Later that evening and into the wee hours of the next day he played an acoustic “jam” with fellow musicians from a ZZ Top styled Buzzard aboard the Old Flying Buzzard moored in Queen’s Dock, Maryport. It left me with the need in me to see this man again, 2015 and here he is at Gloucester – on my doorstep,
GERRY JABLONSKI BY DIANE GILLARD
from the soul of america Tommy Castro & The Painkillers Method To My Madness
“Spits enough hellfire to forge an incendiary phase two in the guitarist’s career” –Living Blues
Shemekia Copeland Outskirts Of Love
“Spectacular, stirring, sanctified and sassy...at the crossroads where funk meets blues rock” –MOJO
The Kentucky Elvin Bishop Headhunters with Can’t Even Do Johnnie Johnson Wrong Right Meet Me In Bluesland “Irresistible...rollicking “The greatest sideman in rock ‘n’ roll” (Rolling Stone) joins forces with “The great American rock ‘n’ roll band” (Billboard)
New From Alligator Records, Chicago, USA Page 114 | Blues Matters! | #87
slide-driven blues/R&B with a healthy dollop of fun” –The Blues Magazine
AVAILABLE AT
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near as dam it. Their set started oh! so quietly when the very young and very talented drummer Lewis Frazer took the mic and began singing a cappella. Then Gerry started to accompany him followed by harpist Peter Narojczyk who jumped on stage along with Grigor Leslie (bassist). Two beats later the stage exploded into an awesome dirty rocking blues number. The hushed audience were impressed with Lewis’s song but now were shaken and stirred by the full and mighty force of all four musicians. Throttled by their grasping rhythm and sudden blast of loud shrilling and thrilling harmonica we were all sitting up and paying attention listening to the Gerry Jablonski Band!! The next hour or so was given over to a medley of rocking blues anthems, mellow sultry slow burner songs interspersed with tremendous ball busting guitar solos (lead and bass) tympanic membrane shattering solos from lusty lungs himself harp man extraordinaire Peter all kept in line by steady classic good time keeping skin man /songster Lewis Frazer! The buzz from the mesmerised yet animated audience was just what the lads wanted and got as it levered them on to more wonderful chunks of unadulterated R&B! The sharp dark suited shiny black booted Jablonski was at his greasy oily best- ladling out bad medicine blues with enough molasses to sweeten any sceptic who may think the blues is all sad and dull! Far from it! His fingers whizzed over the frets then held long lonesome blues benders of notes and had screams and whistles especially on his forays into the throng filled ancient coaching house’s cobbled yard’s surfaces! Peter followed, then Gerry ‘duck walked’ and kicked about a la Chuck Berry on and off stage raising eyebrows and excitement simultaneously. Lewis and Grigor, however, kept their decorum and beat on stage. The organizers were pleased and set
about a possible gig the next day to be slotted into the festival schedule. I have a feeling they will be back next year (if not sooner)! DIANE GILLARD SISTER FEELGOOD
ReBeccA DoWnes
sage tWO, gatesHead 17 OCTOBER 2015
So, you’re first time at one of the North East’s prestigious venues; you’re opening for a fast rising guitar hero and you’ve got 30 minutes to make your mark. That’s enough to phase anyone, but not Rebecca Downes; she took to the stage and owned it for every minute she was on. The secret is, Rebecca doesn’t swing a big guitar; instead she has an almighty voice that belies her small stature and on Saturday night, she gave it full vent. The set opened with the band building for Rebecca to step out, feisty and a little brassy, to make her stamp with the gutsy Never Gonna Learn and quickly segues into a hot Fever N The Night. Basement Of My Heart may be down a gear for the vocals, but its driving beat gets the feet going. By this time, she had the 200 or so audience well and truly with her, then the voice winds back up for It Ain’t Easy. Next, the one cover of the set, the classic Piece Of My Heart, and if you wanted a song to measure Rebecca’s power by, this was it, and she would have broken any meter. Keeping the pace up, along comes a storming new song, Night Train and a powerful closer, 1000 Years. Rarely has 30 mins passed so quickly. Don’t get me wrong though, Rebecca isn’t just another screamer or Janis Joplin sounda-like; the bluesy roar is tempered with an instinctive soulful passion fused with tinges of jazz. In short, Rhythm & Blues as it used to be, as it should be. And that’s reflected in her 5 piece backing band lead by co-writer Steve Birkett; as tight musically as they are sharply
REBECCA DO WNES BY LISA BILLIN GHAM
dressed. The backline bass & drums are driving, augmented by rhythm guitar, while lead guitar and keyboards complement each other but never challenge (as if they could…) Rebecca’s vocals. There are the comparisons to the likes of Janis Joplin & Etta James and rightly so, but this band, for my ear is heading for the same regard as the likes of Night or Stone The Crows: Stevie Lange & Maggie Bell watch out, there’s a new player in town, she’s the real deal and she’s hungry. MIKE CRAGGS
sloWBuRneR
ludlOW breWerY, sHrOpsHire 14 AUGUST 2015
New venue for me and band. I travelled up by train as the club house and brewery are right next to the station with a late train form Manchester to Cardiff leaving Ludlow just before midnight. The new Brewery House is not far from the town centre, has ample parking and a great stock of real ales and ciders. The smooth paved floor is ideal for dancing and there several areas of seating. Club organizer Moz met me and welcomed me to the club and explained its non-profit making principle and that monies raised go to Cancer Research UK. This night was a sell-out. Local players Trev Rowley, Jack, Brett et al opened up proceedings with a pleasant Blues Matters! | #87
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C Oselection of classic acoustic
material. Sound was excellent and audience receptive. Then Slowburner took the stage. They were straight into Slim Harpo’s King Bee Baby - not the slow undercurrent smouldering rhythm as Slim did but this was up tempo loud and struck a chord at once as to what they are all about! Dancing got under away! Introduced as reminiscent of bands like Free, Bad Company, Humble Pie with Rory Gallagher influences Slowburner did not disappoint those who came to hear just that! I imbibed a few of the fine ales on offer and DANCED. It was a terrific night as
Bridgewater’s voice soared, sizzled, growled and grinding did justice to a selection of songs. Mike Bannister Lead guitar bedazzled the male macho guitar musos present whilst bassist Simon Neale sorted out the hard heavy rock, blues and funky jazz interludes to perfection. Dave Small on drums/ vocals laid the greatest of foot stompin’ and stirring percussion all evening gaining a whole new raft of admirers! I love everything they do in the set but I think “Three Button Hand Me Down” (Stewart/ McLagan Faces) was that nights’ “numero uno” for me. I dashed out at the end of the encore
boarded my “Mid Night Train going down the line” (to quote my other favourite of the evening’s set.) GOOD NIGHT! DIANE GILLARD SISTER FEELGOOD
RoBeRT cRAY
barbican, lOndOn 12 OCTOBER 2015
Notwithstanding his latest chat with me in our last issue, on stage Cray really lets the music do the talking. He politely thanks the audience as they drink in this varied set of songs from across his history and of course Richard Cousins, returned RCB bassist never misses
ROBERT CRAY BY KIERAN WHITE
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a chance to josh around and wind up the drummer. He also switches instruments faster than anyone else in the business, from his interesting rack of basses on his left. The keys sound is mostly Hammond with the occasional foray into blues piano. With a drummer who served time with the mighty O’Jays, nothing much is going to falter in the rhythm section. Robert digs deep on his Strat at regular intervals and seems to be getting a much better touch with his effects, too. That the ladies just love his Sam Cooke/ Jackie Wilson-inflected vocal work is evidenced by the large proportion of females in the audience. Our photographer has just the opening number to snare his images and gets to work. Perhaps a few song explanations or stories of collaborators might warm up the show but Robert does what Robert does and with an embarrassment of quality numbers, there really is something for everyone in the listing tonight. Your Good Thing Is About To End with its unusual chord change and Leslie’d arpeggio is a fine opener; whilst Guess I’ll Never Know gives us choppy funk and elastic axe runs. Wolf’s Sittin’ On Top Of The World is rolling blues with style and emphasis and the classic Bad Influence still channels pain like few other songs. The great Poor Johnny finds Cray mastering the short delay. The Things You Do To Me features ace drumming and slow amp tremolo setting guitar. Encores include the Booker T nod of Hip Tight and loud audience acknowledgment before a spooky Don’t You Even Care. You don’t learn much about the man himself at a Cray show but the music is sharp and honed and soulful...and it’s why we try to talk to these stars for you PETE SARGEANT
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JAcQuI DAnkWoRTH AnD cHARlIe WooDs licHfield guildHall 26 SEPTEMBER 2015
The married duo of Jacqui Dankworth and Charlie Wood played a varied set of standards and special arrangements for an attentive audience when they appeared at Lichfield Guildhall. With songs by such luminaries as Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Ray Charles and Simon and Garfunkel this was an evening of music that showed these songs off in unusual and new ways. With only Wood’s dextrous, jazz and blues influenced piano playing for accompaniment the well matched vocals of the two singers worked in both duo and solo arrangements. As the daughter of jazz stars Sir John Dankworth and Dame Cleo Laine, Jacqui Dankworth’s musical pedigree is well known, and her work across many different genres has won her many fans, whilst Charlie Wood is an acclaimed Jazz and Blues musician. The genres ranged widely from jazz and blues numbers to show stopping folk, and pop, whilst the singing, both solo and duo was of a uniformly high standard throughout, matching the grandeur of the Guildhall. The first half featured songs from the newest release, Just You, Just Me, with the angular jazz of the title track, and the opening Two To Tango being particular showcases for the duo’s strengths, whilst When Something Is Wrong With My Baby featured unison singing of the highest order. The second half of the evening featured a wider range of material, ranging from the scat singing of Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody, to Ray Charles’s Side By Side. However, the musical highlight of the whole
JAQUI & CHARLIE BY DAVID JONES
JAQUI BY DAVID JONES
evening was Jacqui Dankworth’s solo version of Ewan McColl’s timeless classic, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. The delicate nature of the ballad, full of melancholia was the perfect showcase for the quality of Jacqui Dankworth’s vocals, and kept the audience spell-bound. Lighter moments of the concert also abounded, with a fine reading of Carole King/James Taylor’s You’ve Got A Friend, or a closing It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing. An encore of Paul Simon’s The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) stripped the wistfulness from the song, and added a more upbeat flavour. This was a fine concert, delivered by two consummate professionals, both at the top of their game. BEN MACNAIR
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GREAT BRITISH
BLUES
IN TWO AMAZING KOMPILATIONS
FEATURING:
RED VINYL EFFECT PRESSING!
ZOE SCHWARZ & BLUE COMMOTION, DAVE THOMAS BAND ROADHOUSE, TOM GEE, SHARON COLGAN BAND, THE WHITE KNUCKLE BLUES BAND, RED BUTLER, THE IDLE HANDS, INNES SIBUN, ALEX McKOWN BAND, DOVE & BOWEEVIL, ROY METTE BAND, JACKSON SLOAN, PLANET GRAFITTI, LITTLE DEVILS, ABSOLUTION KAT & CO, JO BYWATER, SPLIT WHISKERS, JED THOMAS BAND, SAIICHI SUGIYAMA, THE MIGHTY BOSS CATS, DR. A’S RHYTHM & GROOVES, ROBIN ROBERTSON BLUES BAND, SPACE EAGLE, PAUL LAMB & CHAD STRENTZ, JACK J HUTCHINSON BAND FRAN MCGILLIVRAY BAND, ANDY TWYMAN, SHORTSTUFF, GWYN ASHTON THE BARE BONES BOOGIE BAND
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The Voice of the Blues! Independent, Informative, Inspired... 132 full colour pages, packed with the best of the Blues... from great interviews, news, features and CD reviews, to live and festival reports, plus much more! Blues Matters! is a bi-monthly magazine that covers every aspect of the growing Blues scene. New faces, old favourites and impassioned, heartfelt writing that lets you know who really matters in the world of the Blues. Print, online and app subscriptions are now available. Visit www.exacteditions.com/read/blues-matters, or visit the itunes app store and try a free sample! www.bluesmatters.com +44 (0) 1656 745628
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