Blues Matters 93

WELCOME

Welcome to your copy of Blues Matters! No.93…

It is time to get ready for the first main Blues Fest of the year in sunny Skegness at the Butlins resort. So we hope to see many of you there to enjoy all the stages and of course the Blues Matters stage in Jaks. This issue brings you World and UK radio Blues charts and one of the best mail order charts anywhere plus a bunch of great interviews of terrific diversity including Madeleine Peyroux, Taj Mahal, Aynsley Lister, Kent DuChaine, Cadillac Kings and more as well as a super set of features where we begin a new set Awash With The Blues based on and around the artists and life of Baton Rouge as you would expect AND of course the best set of Blues CD reviews you can find so dig in and stay warm with Blues Matters! Because our name does say it all!

Some of you will have noticed that the BM Writers’ Poll has not been published this year, the reason is simply health and time but it will re-appear next year.

Much has been going on behind the scenes in management to improve BM availability and profile and this is settling in and working and includes new additional distribution in Australia, new and extended outlets in UK and growing in Canada and Europe. USA is still being addressed. We have now reduced the App price £23.49 as of now which is down from £24.99. The Digital version will also now be available to all print subscribers at no extra cost, something a number or other major publications already do for their members and we have taken on board.

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Liz Aiken, Roy Bainton, Eric Baker (USA), Kris Barras, Adrian Blacklee, Bob Bonsey, Eddy Bonte (Bel), Colin Campbell, Martin Cook, Norman Darwen, Dave Drury, Carl Dziunka (Aus), Ben Elliott (USA), Barry Fisch (USA), Sybil Gage (USA), Diane Gillard, Stuart A. Hamilton, Gareth Hayes, Trevor Hodgett, Billy Hutchinson, Peter Innes, Brian Kramer (SW), Frank Leigh, Mairi Maclennan, Mikey Maclennan, Ben McNair, John Mitchell, Christine Moore, Toby Ornott, Merv Osborne, David Osler, Iain Patience (Fr), Thomas Rankin, Clive Rawlings, Darrell Sage (USA), Paromita Saha (USA), Pete Sargeant, Dave ‘the Bishop’ Scott (back in the UK!), Graeme Scott, Andy Snipper, M.D. Spenser, Dave Stone, Suzanne Swanson (Can), Tom Walker, Dave Ward, Liam Ward, Rhys Williams, Steve Yourglivch.

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Christine Moore, Annie Goodman, others credited on page

COVER PHOTOS

Taj Mahal by Jay Blakesberg. Madeline Peyroux by Natasha Thomas. Lisa Mann by Miri Stibevka.

© 2016 Blues Matters!

Original material in this magazine is © the authors. Reproduction may only be made with prior Editor consent and provided that acknowledgement is given of source and copy sent to the editorial address. Care is taken to ensure 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.

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BUTLINS PROUDLY PRESENTS

THE GRE AT BRI T ISH ROCK & BLUES FESTIVAL

THE BLUES MATTERS! STAGE AT JAKS

FRIDAY NIGHT: FRAN McGILLIVRAY BAND

HUSKY TONES

THE REVOLUTIONAIRES

SATURDAY AFTERNOON:

THE EVER POPULAR ROADHOUSE JAM SESSIONS

have become synonymous with this super weekend and always in great demand and very well supported, including short sets by Roadhouse themselves to start and close (always popular – and w ith many festivals under their belts, always crowd pleasers). The JAMs get packed out every year!

SATURDAY NIGHT:

CATFISH

'THE' DOM PIPKIN BAND

LaVENDORE ROGUE

SUNDAY AFTERNOON ACOUSTIC:

MICHAEL WOODS

JO ANN KELLY CELEBRATION

KENT DUCHAINE

SUNDAY NIGHT: ROADHOUSE WILL JOHNS

KRIS BARRAS BAND

YOUR BLUES MC FOR THE WEEKEND CLIVE RAWLINGS

0330 100 9742

CONTENTS

ON

FOR 20

AFTER

REGULARS

NEWSHOUND’

Sniffing out snippets to keep you informed

BLUE BLOOD

Bringing you news of artists on the blues scene. Charlie Hicks; Dawson Smith & The Dissenters; Doug Abrahams; Joni Fuller; The Feelgood Band; Xander and the Peace Pirates.

RED LICK TOP 20

RMR BLUES TOP 50

IBBA BLUES TOP 50

FEATURES

IN THIS ISSUE

Australia Pt10; Awash with the Blues Pt1; Radiating the 88s Pt4; Giles Robson; Guitar Tech Pt6; and Chicago Blues Pt2.

INTERVIEWS

DINO MCGARTLAND (N.IRE)

Known for his fanzine publication on Rory Gallagher. You can see that Rory influences his guitar style.

CADILLAC KINGS (UK)

Kings of boogie woogie, who have been on the blues and jumpjive scenes for some years, with their exciting stage act.

GUY BELANGER (CAN)

Harmonica master from Montreal shares his journey on the blues scene and the influence of British blues artists.

KAZ HAWKINS (N.IRE)

A Belfast woman singer-songwriter who has lived a remarkable life. Now uses the blues to express and expunge her demons.

SURVIVING HER HORRENDOUS UPBRINGING, SHE FOUND BLUES SALVATION THANKS TO A PAWNSHOP BASS.

THE SCENE

YEARS

HER DEBUT ALBUM GAINED WORLD ACCLAIM, SHE SETS OUT HER STALL WITH HER LATEST ALBUM.

SPANNING THE GAP BETWEEN BLUES ON THE ONE HAND AND INDIE POP ON THE OTHER.

LISA MANN (USA)

MADELEINE PEYROUX (FRA-USA)

HUSKY TONES (UK)

TAJ MAHAL (USA)

WITH SIXTY-AND-COUNTING YEARS ON THE ROAD AND IN THE STUDIO, TAJ REMAINS A LIVE LINK WITH THE GREAT BLUES GIANTS OF HISTORY.

72 76

AYNSLEY LISTER (UK)

Looking at the world - Aynsley writes about real life. Not a news watcher, but an avid people watcher.

KENT DUCHAINE (USA)

One of the last bluesmen with a link to Robert Johnson through the time he spent travelling with Johnny Shines. He now travels with Leadbessie.

REVIEWS

ALBUMS

More than 80 reviews in this issue. Giving you the lowdown on lots of great new releases.

SHOWTIME

81 115 46

FESTIVALS – The Great British Blues Festival; Monaghan Festival; and Upton Blues Festival.

NEWSHOUND

ALL THE BLUES THAT’S FIT TO PRINT, FROM AROUND THE WORLD Verbals:

Clive Rawlings

LITTLE ACOUSTIC STAGE

As part of the Big Blues Festival at the Atkinson Theatre in Southport Blues Matters programmed the Little Acoustic Stage. Performing on Saturday 8th October were Joni Fuller, Charley Fuller, Benjamin Bassford and Michael Woods. They all played twice over the day with the audiences being asked to vote for their preferred artist. The winner was Benjamin Bassford and he will be opening the Festival in 2017 on the main stage on Friday 6th October. CONGRATULATIONS to Benjamin and please watch out for the others on the circuit.

MICK RALPHS

Blues Matters team would like to wish the accomplished

guitarist and songwriter Mick Ralphs a speedy recovery from his stroke. Following the Bad Company UK tour which fi nished on Saturday 29th November at the London 02 Arena, the family and representatives had to announce that Mick had suffered a stroke. At the time of going to press Mick was receiving excellent medical care and recovering in hospital, although all his public engagements are on hold, pending his improvement. We look forward to positive news on his progress.

BRUCE IGLAUER

Alligator Records founder and president Bruce Iglauer received the Blues Blast Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award at the online publication's annual awards presentation. The ceremony took place on September 23, 2016 in Champaign, Illinois, at the Fluid Events Center. In addition to Iglauer's recognition, Alligator artists Toronzo Cannon, Shemekia Copeland, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, Tommy Castro and Curtis Salgado are all nominated for 2016 Blues Blast awards. According to blues scholar Don Wilcock, who will present the award to

the label chief, "Bruce Iglauer has expanded the definition of blues. A half a century into this game, Iglauer continues his uncanny ability of presenting vital new artists." The history of Alligator Records, founded by Iglauer in 1971 for the express purpose of releasing an album by Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, reads like a history of contemporary blues and roots music, with releases from musical giant’s like Albert Collins, Koko Taylor, Luther Allison and Mavis Staples, and stars on the rise like Shemekia Copeland, Selwyn Birchwood, Jarekus Singleton and Toronzo Cannon. Today, Alligator Records is the largest independent blues label in the world, and has been repeatedly honored for its achievements. Three Alligator recordings have won Grammy Awards, and 41 titles have been nominated. The label and its artists have received well over 100 Blues Music Awards and more than 70 Living Blues Awards. But even with all of the accolades, Alligator Records never rests on its laurels. According to Iglauer, "Alligator should be the label that's exposing the next generation of blues artists and bringing their music to the next generation

Benjamin Bassford by Mal Whichelow

OBITUARIES

PHIL CHESS

Just one day after Chuck Berry’s 90th birthday, the man that gave Berry his start for an incredible run of genrebirthing hits, Phil Chess, has died at 95. Chess and his brother Leonard changed the name of Aristocrat Records to Chess Records in 1950 after Leonard had been a partner there for two years. Phil Chess retired from Chess Records in 1972 after signing a veritable who’s who of artists to his label, including: Etta James, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Ike Turner, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Willie Dixon, and of course Berry, among many others. Chess Records artists are largely credited as progenitors of rock ‘n’ roll, and Chess displayed incredible foresight while personally recruiting many of the biggest acts on his label’s roster. He was inducted to the Blues Hall Of Fame as a non-performer in 1995 along with his brother. In February 2013, Chess attended the ceremony to receive the Recording Academy’s Trustees Awards for non-performers, again with his brother. But Chess would routinely downplay the integral role he played in music by responding, “I didn’t know what I was doing,” when asked about his success. The story of Chess Records origins and improbable influence was adapted for the big screen twice: first in the 2008 film Cadillac Records and then in 2010’s Who Do You Love. Chess’ family had a private service in Tucson, Arizona.

STANLEY “BUCKWHEAT” DURAL, JR.

American musical legend Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Jr. Leader of the Buckwheat Zydeco band —died on September 24, 2016 of lung cancer at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette, Louisiana. The Grammy and Emmy winning artist was the preeminent ambassador of Louisiana zydeco music. Buckwheat played with everyone from Eric Clapton and U2 to Robert Plant and The

Boston Pops. The band performed at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics and performed for President Clinton twice, celebrating both of his inaugurations. Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Jr. was born in Lafayette, LA on November 14, 1947. He acquired his nickname because, with his braided hair, he looked like Buckwheat from The Little Rascals. His father was an accomplished, non-professional traditional Creole accordion player, but young Buckwheat preferred listening to and playing R&B. He became profi cient at the organ, and by the late 1950s was backing Joe Tex, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and many others. In 1971, he formed Buckwheat and The Hitchhikers, a 15-piece funk and soul band. They were a local sensation and found success with the single, It’s Hard To Get, recorded for a local Louisiana-based label. Never a traditional zydeco fan when growing up, Buckwheat nonetheless accepted an invitation in 1976 to join Clifton Chenier’s Red Hot Louisiana Band as organist. He quickly discovered the joy and power of zydeco music, and marveled at the effect the music had on the audience. Buckwheat’s relationship with the legendary Chenier led him to take up the accordion in 1978. After woodshedding for a year, he felt ready to start his own band under the name Buckwheat Zydeco, and began his recording career with the small Blues Unlimited label. By the mid-1980s there were more offers to perform than he could possibly accept. Recordings for

Black Top and Rounder followed before Buckwheat befriended New York-based journalist Ted Fox, who championed Buckwheat to Chris Blackwell at Island Records in 1986. Buckwheat Zydeco signed a fi ve-record deal and Fox became and remained his manager and frequent producer. The success of these records kept Buckwheat Zydeco on the road and in constant demand. In 1988, Eric Clapton invited the band to open his North American tour as well as his 12-night stand at London’s Royal Albert Hall. As even more doors opened, Buckwheat found himself sharing stages and/or recording with Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Willie Nelson, Mavis Staples, David Hidalgo, Dwight Yoakam, Paul Simon, Ry Cooder and many others, including indie music stalwarts Yo La Tengo on the soundtrack to the Bob Dylan bio-pic, I'm Not There. Buckwheat Zydeco played every major music festival in the world, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Newport Folk Festival, Summerfest, San Diego Street Scene, Bumbershoot, Montreux Jazz Festival and countless others. During the 1990s and 2000s Buckwheat recorded for his own Tomorrow Recordings label and maintained an extensive touring schedule. Along with his remarkably talented band, he brought his music to fans all over the world. In 2009 he released the Grammy Award winning Lay Your Burden Down on Alligator Records. Since then, Buckwheat Zydeco continued to tour and share their music with fans around the world.

Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Jr. by Dragan Tasic

of blues fans. I want the future of the blues and the future of Alligator Records to be one and the same. I want to keep bringing blues and roots music to new fans and getting them as excited about the music as I am." From the early days of recording only Chicago talent, to attracting national and international musicians, to the label's commitment to nurturing the next generation of blues artists, Alligator continues to break new ground, confirming that the passion, energy and soulhealing power of Alligator’s music is strong, genuine, and capable of rocking the house with no end in sight.

BAD TOUCH

The 5-piece rock band from Norfolk, who recently supported the Kentucky Headhunters on their critically acclaimed sell-out UK tour, will release their second studio album Truth Be Told on Bad Touch Records, with distribution via Cadiz, on Friday 2nd December 2016. To dovetail with the album release, the band will embark on a UK co-headline tour on November 19th with the Australian rock band Massive. Says, Bad Touch’s lead singer Stevie Westwood, “We’re excited about getting back on the road and coheadlining with Massive. It’s going to be a great tour full of high energy.” The new album, which was recorded at Mwnci Studios in Wales, features the singles “99%” and “Made To Break”, both *remixed for radio by the legendary Rolling Stones engineer and co-producer, *Chris Kimsey. Both singles will be

accompanied by official music videos. “99% is a great song to ride around in cars and drink beer and smoke pot and listen to rock and roll on the radio,” says Chris Kimsey. “Not that I drink beer or smoke pot , but I remember the simplicity of music and life so it’s good to hear it is alive and kicking with Bad Touch. I heard something that evoked a good time melodic love song. It just needed some re arranging and mixing to get to the heart of the song.” The new album sees Bad Touch celebrating classic rock with Southern boogie influences, supported with heavy guitar riffs and an iron-clad, tight rhythm section, in the great tradition of Black Crowes, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Led Zeppelin.

JOE BONAMASSA

Due to popular demand from fans throughout the UK, and with only a limited amount of tickets left for Joe Bonamassa's two London Royal Albert Hall shows in April 2017, the celebrated blues-rock guitarist and singer-songwriter, has added three more concerts to his April 2017 UK Tour. The three dates include Edinburgh Usher Hall (April 18), Blackpool Opera House (April 22) and Sheffield Arena (April 24). The forthcoming UK tour follows hot on the heels of Joe’s critically acclaimed Salute To The British Blues Explosion tour that saw the American guitarist paying homage to the music of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. The April 2017 UK tour will feature Joe alongside a handpicked group of world-class musicians playing material

from his latest album Blues of Desperation plus classic Bonamassa fan favourites.

HRH BLUES

New Jersey’s Billy Walton Band join King King, Ten Years After, Stan Webb, Simon Mc Bride & Dan Patlansky to complete the cycle 3 line up of HRH Blues. HRH Blues are proud to fly in yet another incredible talent for its 3rd round of Blues rock infused fun in Sheffield. The Billy Walton Band compliment an already stellar Blues Rock line up and with under 90 tickets remaining, it looks like it will sell out even earlier than last year. HRH CEO Jonni Davis praised the band by saying Walton’s talents are no secret among everyone in the Jersey shore music scene and with the founding of the Billy Walton Band, there’s little doubt his reputation will grow far beyond the Garden State. The Billy Walton Band’s sound is a combination of hard blues reminiscent of Hendrix, Clapton and Vaughn mixed with a healthy dose of Warren Hayes and Derek Trucks. Walton has always been an explosive performer with jaw dropping talent but with the addition of bassist William Paris, Richie Taz on sax and drummer Johnny D’Angelo, the Billy Walton band churns out a singular brand of funky blues that has deep roots in both the jam band musical tradition as well as the Jersey shore Walton has cut his teeth on. We can’t wait to see him perform next year in Sheffield.” HRH Blues are running a competition for a chance to win the last 25 pairs of tickets– please visit here for details www.

hrhblues.com/competition.html

HRH Blues 3 takes place on 15th & 16th April 2017 @ the 02 Academy, Sheffield and the last few tickets can be booked online @ www.hrhblues.com or by ringing Lisa on 0207 0971521. The Final Line Up Stands as: King King, Ten Years After, Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack, Simon McBride, Dan Patlansky, Billy Walton Band, Aaron Keylock, Pig Iron, Erja Lyytinen, Graveltones, Dani Wilde, Pontus Snibb, Big Boy Bloater, Chantel McGregor, Laurence Jones, Alix Anthony, London Blusion, Will Wilde, Crow Black Chicken, Sean Webster & The Deadlines, Troy Redfern Band, StoneWire, and Black Hands.

GUITAR TECHNIQUE PART 6

JOHN LEE HOOKER

Known to many blues fans as the ‘King of the Boogie’, John Lee Hooker was a genuine blues superstar. His primitive style was simple but very effective. Hypnotic one chord grooves, mixed with passionate openstring guitar licks, gave him a signature sound that will go on to influence and inspire generations to come.

Born near Clarksdale, Mississippi, on August 22, 1917 to a sharecropping family, John Lee Hooker‘s earliest musical influence came from his stepfather, William Moore — a blues musician who taught his young stepson to play the guitar, and whom John Lee later credited for his unique style on the instrument.

By the early 1940’s, ‘The Hook’ had decided to move north to Detroit. By day he worked as a janitor, by night he entertained friends and neighbours with his unique sounds of the Delta. It didn’t take long for John Lee to start making a name for himself and he attracted the attention of a local record store owner, who in turn introduced him to a record label producer, Bernard Besman.

Working with Besman and Sensation Records, John Lee started to turn his attention to the electric guitar and decided to hone his craft. His first big break came in 1948, when Bernard began leasing tracks to Modern records. It

was there that The Hook had his first big hit with ‘Boogie Chillen’, selling over a million copies to become a number 1 Jukebox hit. A string of successful hits followed including “I’m in the Mood,” “Crawling Kingsnake” and “Hobo Blues.” Over the next 15 years, John Lee Hooker maintained a prolific recording schedule, signing to Vee-Jay Records and releasing over 100 songs.

In 1962, John Lee had his biggest hit with “Boom, Boom”, a song that would go on to become an all-time blues classic. This was highlighted in 2016, when it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The song was the biggest selling hit for Vee-Jay Records and even managed to break into the toughto-crack Pop airwaves.

When the young bohemian artists of the 1960s “discovered” Hooker, among other notable blues originators, he found his career taking on a new direction. With the folk movement in high gear, Hooker returned to his solo, acoustic roots, and was in strong demand to perform at colleges and folk festivals around the country. Across the Atlantic, emerging British bands were idolizing Hooker’s work. Artists like the Rolling Stones, the Animals and the Yardbirds introduced Hooker’s sound to new and eager audiences,

Verbals and Visuals: Kris Barass

whose admiration and influence helped earn Hooker superstar status.

By 1971, John Lee Hooker had his first charting album. After relocating to California, he began to collaborate with various Rock acts. One act was Canned Heat and the resulting double album, “Hooker ‘n’ Heat”, was a massive hit. Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, John Lee toured the U.S. and Europe steadily.

His appearance in the legendary Blues Brothers movie resulted in a heightened profile once again. Then, at the age of 72, John Lee Hooker released the biggest album of his career, ‘The Healer’ The Grammy Award-winning 1989 LP paired contemporary artists (Bonnie Raitt, Carlos Santana, Los Lobos and George Thorogood, among others) with Hooker on some of his most famous tracks. ‘The Healer’ was released to critical acclaim and sold over one million copies.

1991 saw John Lee inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, while in 1997, he was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2000, shortly before his death, The Hook was recognized with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and just one week before his passing, ever true to form, the bluesman spent his final Saturday night playing a

now-legendary show to a packed house at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, CA.

John Lee Hooker was a master of combining rhythm and lead guitar parts. He would often play a bass line or chord rhythm followed by a lick, in a call and response type fashion. A fan of open tunings, particularly Open G (DGDGBD), he would often

use open string licks playing more than one string at a time to fill out the sound.

In this issue’s exercise, I have decided to do a 12 bar piece, very similar to his classic ‘Boom Boom’. I have included some typical licks that he used on other tracks too. There are lots of quick slides, open strings and double stops (playing two notes together at the same

time). Rather than writing it in an open tuning, I have opted to do it in standard tuning, in the key of E.

Have a play around with the ideas I have written down. You can have hours of endless fun improvising with this kind of thing. Keep to the bass line/ chord structure and try improvising with your own lick ideas using the open position E minor pentatonic scale.

AUSTRALIAN BLUES PART 10

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.

In Australia, as we start moving towards the middle of the year, we come out of Autumn into Winter and the Festival season goes on hiatus for a couple of months. This doesn’t usually start up again until the sun again starts to show on a more regular basis around October and November. It is then we get into full swing for another smorgasbord of blues music including new music and new bands.

The one exception to this rule is if you travel north to the state of Queensland

where you can extend the time spent in the sun. Around mid-May when all the southern states are starting to batten down the hatches and making plans to hibernate, Broadbeach in Queensland is firing up to put on one of the biggest free blues festivals in Australia. The festival, Blues on Broadbeach, this year celebrated its 15th year and had the biggest crowd attendance since its inception on the Festival circuit. This year, 168,000 people attended the fourday festival representing

an increase of 24 per cent on the previous year.

The festival showcases the best of Australian blues with some international artists headlining on the final night of the festival. This year, Eric Burdon from the 1960’s group The Animals, headlined bringing the festival to a close. This was after four incredible days of the big named Australian blues artists who are starting to push this country’s contribution onto the world map.

Like all festivals, the first day started off slowly and was

Dom Turner

a bit of a teaser, with hints of what was to come. Even so, some of Australia’s best known blues artists played sets that would have been welcome on any day of any music festival. Hard hitting names like Lloyd Spiegel, Geoff Achison, Genevieve Chadwick and Dom Turner from the Backsliders, gave the crowds exactly what they came for - red hot, rip-roaring blues music.

The second day opened the floodgates and a huge selection of artists burst forth. Some artists came for a second offering; and the festival was now in full swing. Around 14 venues were starting to host different shows and it's a tough decision to think which direction to head off in. Possibly the best venues would be ones out in the open. Listening to perfect music in perfect weather makes everything so much

better. This was a full day that started mid-morning and ended in the midnight hour. A whole range of bands were on show including Chase the Sun, Dreamboogie, Greg Dodd and the Hoodoo Men, West Texas Crude, Lachy Dooley Group and a special performance from Diesel. A number of these groups are the mainstay of the Australian blues scene, the ones that are moving the standard in the upward direction to become viable competition on the global stage.

The weekend days are always the ones where the most happens. That makes sense because it will be the days when the most people can attend, so you really want to impress the growing crowd. Every stage had a full schedule of artists that were going to play their sets and it didn’t matter which stage you ended up at, you were guaranteed to catch

something special. The crowd numbers had certainly increased each place where the music was playing, a huge gathering assembled.

This was also a day that was going to be extra special. There was going to be a launch of an album that has a lot of meaning in a number of different ways. The album in question is called Back In Blue - a tribute album recorded by leading Australian blues artists. It's a complete rerecording of Back In Black, the seventh studio recording of Australian rock band AC/DC. Back In Black was released in 1980 and was the fi rst album the band recorded without their lead singer, Bon Scott, who died in February that year. The group and fans alike were totally devastated at the news of Scott’s death and the band nearly broke up. Enter Brian Johnson and a new lease of life was given to the band and a new chapter in AC/DC’s career. The rest, as they say, is history. The story behind the Back In Blue album can run along a similar track to what happened to AC/DC. Back In Blue wasn’t chosen because it was re-recorded by Australian blues musicians, it goes deeper than that. It is also connected to Mental Illness and predominantly, depression. When AC/DC’s singer died, the band could have gone in one of two directions; split up or carry on going improving. The same can be said when you suffer from depression. The choices can be very hard, but with help and support, you can carry on and improve your quality of life.

8 Ball Aitken

The album itself was conceived and produced by Darren Griffis, a QLD-based musician whose own life has been touched by depression. Darren’s love of Aussie blues musicians, and of AC/DC, lead him to the idea of putting the two together to provide some positive outcomes for not only those affected by depression, but also for those at risk of falling victim to it in the future. Griffis spoke of the project and said:

“We hope to make a change – a lasting change – in the way that depression is regarded and treated by society, and make dealing with depression less intimidating. We believe creating this album is a great way to do this.”

All profits made from the release of the Back In Blue album will be donated to Beyond Blue. Beyond Blue is one of the most recognisable avenues of help for depression sufferers and their families. The album features tracks by Aussie heavyweights Lloyd Spiegel, Geoff Achison, Gale Page, Lachy Doley, Shaun Kirk, Marshall Okell, Chase

The Sun, 8 Ball Aitken and more. The full album was played live on the Saturday night of the festival by all of the musicians involved. That is another aspect of Australian blues musicians, when there is a cause that can affect many people from all walks of life, they will rally round and put together a well-structured project to draw awareness to that cause. While everyone has an enjoyment of music; the news will certainly travel fast throughout the network.

The last day of a festival is wind-down time. People have

had an exciting time and been on the go for a number of days already, now it’s time to come back down to earth ready for reality to kick in again. This was a day when you could get your last little fill of whatever group you had enjoyed most and get ready for the headliner that would complete the festival. Whenever a festival comes to a close, it always leaves you feeling flat but

you just have to look on the bright side and have your eye on the next festival. They always say, money makes the world go round but I think music does one hell of a job as well. When you can hear the great Australian talent that this country produces in the blues genre, the world will be going round for a long time to come.

Lloyd Spiegel

CHICAGO BLUES PART 2

JANUARY – BUDDY GUY AT HIS CLUB IN CHICAGO

Verbals and Visuals: Paul Natkin

Chicago is one of the coldest major cities in the northern half of the United States, with January its coldest month. It's hard to describe the feeling of walking out of the house and having your nose hairs immediately freeze! A byproduct of this is that very few touring bands will schedule a show in Chicago in January, making the city a musical wasteland.

Into this vacuum stepped Buddy Guy. Buddy owns a club just south of the downtown area - many say the finest blues club in America. The walls are lined with pictures of the blues great who have come before us, the three bars pour drinks all day and night (including

Buddy Guy branded beer) and the best blues talent in Chicago and beyond play live blues seven days a week. The club opens in the early evening every day, serving some great Cajun food, and serving up music starting around 6PM, with an solo acoustic set performed by a Chicago musician. It could be anyone from an unknown guitar player all the way up to Jimmie Johnson, the legendary, local Chicago guitar player and singer. At around 9PM a local act comes up to do an hour long set, followed by a nationally known headliner. The drinks and food are reasonably priced, and the music is great. And as an extra bonus, if Buddy is in town,

he can be found every night sitting at the bar, ready for a conversation with anyone who walks up to him.

But, all of that changes in January. Twenty or so years ago, Buddy saw a vacuum in the January entertainment schedule, and decided to fill it. He started a practice that continues to this day. In November, advance tickets go on sale for his January residency. He plays at his home club Thursday through Sunday for the entire month, 16 days in all. People travel from around the country (and the world) to witness the seven-time Grammy winner and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame perform in a 400 seat club. The sheer power of his guitar

Sinéad O'Connor and Buddy Guy

playing takes on added significance when he is standing 15 feet from you!

I have had the privilege of being Buddy’s personal photographer for almost 30 years, and have been to about 90 percent of his January shows (I get pretty tired near the end of the month – he doesn’t). During these January shows, the doors open at noon (people line up early in the morning in the cold). When the doors open, people vie for the seats up-front, and prepare for a day of food, drink, music and camaraderie. Acoustic music starts mid afternoon and continues on through the early evening. Star time is usually between 9 and 10:30PM. The opening act each night is culled from the long list of headliners that perform throughout the year.

Buddy arrives at the club an hour before his start time, and sits in his office upstairs, entertaining guests and relaxing before his show. The conversation can go from politics to “we are getting old and can’t eat fried foods anymore” to the state of the blues. About 10 minutes before show time, Buddy decides on the first song of the night, and relays that info to his band. That is the only planned part of the show. The announcer introduces him, and it is off to the races. After that first song, Buddy starts a second song, and the band (some of the best players on the planet) immediately pick up on it and join in. During the set, Buddy stops to talk to the audience, commenting on the weather, etc. and thanking them for being brave and coming down. He

plays most of his biggest hits, and some blues classics. At some point, he will leave the stage and roam the audience with a wireless guitar and microphone, stopping along the way to sing to every beautiful woman in his path (and sometimes sitting on their lap while he does that).

Many celebrities stop by to see the show, and they are persuaded to join him on stage, whether they know the songs (Earl Slick from

David Bowie’s band) or not (Sinead O’Connor). At some time during each show, he will bring one of his kids up to perform with him.

After he leaves the stage, he heads to the merchandise counter in the front of the club to sign autographs for about 30 minutes, before he heads out into the night for a well deserved rest – until the whole thing starts over the next day.

RADIATING THE 88 s

PART 4: ‘TIPITINA TRA-LA-LA’ NEW ORLEANS AND RHUMBA!

Verbals: Dom Pipkin Visuals: Lily Keber

So, the concluding part of my roundup of the development of the language of blues piano takes us straight back down South, to Louisiana and New Orleans. If you want to hear how this all works live, get a ticket to one of my new solo shows! I’ll take you through it all chronologically. Tweet me, or check out my site www.dompipkin.co.uk and www.facebook.com/ groups/radiatingthe88s/

In the old days – blues was in jazz, and jazz was in blues. Jelly Roll Morton (18901941) demonstrated this with a piano style that was equally at home alongside Harlem stride, barrelhouse, ragtime or vaudeville. Jelly shows us other important

New Orleans traits in his music too – the link to Cuba and the old world with the rhumba style “Spanish tinge”, as well as some really heartfelt, slower blues. When the boogie-woogie craze first hit, its Texan flavour was differentiated from the “slow” blues of New Orleans by simply being called “fast blues”. That slow thing can be typified by what we might call a “two feel” – can you picture that Grand Marshall leading the parade with his feet moving in careful deliberate steady steps? That’s the one.

New Orleans blues piano players that follow Jelly Roll, like Champion Jack Dupree, (1909-1992) engaged with other styles too, but Dupree was a traveller

and hung out with Leroy Carr in Chicago. However, alongside his boogies he always represented his roots, most notably with the classic Junkers Blues. Dupree learned this from the mysterious Willie Hall, better known as Drive ‘Em Down. The Junko (Junco Partner) Blues is a timeless classic, and contains that 8 or 16 bar structure popular in the Crescent City (New Orleans). You hear this structure in the varied repertoire of contemporary piano “professors” of the time such as Tuts Washington (1907-1984).

The emergence of RnB from jump blues and rocking jazz can be heard in the radical new sounds of the multi-talented Paul Gayten (1920-1991), who started to fuse Cuban clave rhythm with more traditional swing. His superb work, and some of his repertoire goes on to influence this guy…

As well as being mentored by Tuts Washington, Henry Roeland Byrd (1918-1980), was immersing himself in Perez Prado records and really making a thing of this ‘habanera’ rhythm (that we encounter with Jelly Roll Morton) This, plus the fact that his first instrument had keys missing led to an entirely unique conception of rhythm and blues that has permeated everything from Louisiana right down to the birth of funk. A club owner (allegedly) named Byrd

“Professor Longhair”. “Fess”, as he was also known, had unique musical instincts that drove him to displace beats by a quaver or semiquaver to create a blanket of rolling, skipping ‘rhumboogie’ that defines the New Orleans RnB sound as much as anything. Gayten laid some foundation, but Fess joyously ran with the idea. Check out the listening box.

Now, let’s get this all in quick before you start asking where Dr John fits in all of this. Perhaps it’s a jubilant thing that goes with the ever-popular parades in New Orleans, but a shuff le sounds different in Louisiana. Check out Leon T Gross (1912-1973) (better known to the world as Archibald), with his original take on the classic Stakka Lee to hear it, and notice how it permeates all the way down through Fats Domino to James Booker. It bounces and rolls at the same time. I feel this is largely the influence of the parade bass drum and tuba around town. What I

into a roll is ubiquitous yet gets such different treatment – on the one hand close to it’s original ‘montuno’ style when Longhair uses it, and then used more as a rolling boogie type lick in the hands of Domino or Archibald.

So who else should we look to? Try Huey ‘Piano’ Smith (b.1934) who gave the world so many great party tunes and had a wonderful bouncing piano style. His style was influenced by Professor Longhair and the classic boogie-woogie greats. Huey Smith and Fats Domino are both classic RnB artists. They also happened to be recording at the same time as the birth of rock and roll in the mid-50s. This leaves their music categorisable in both camps, if catergorising is your thing. Smith did of course lay down many of the piano parts for fledging rock and roller Little Richard, along with another New Orleans piano legend, Edward Frank (1932-1997).

of Jelly Roll and the jazz age. Today we find New Orleans blues piano firmly safe in the hands of players like Jon Cleary, Davell Crawford and the powerhouse Henry Butler. You can tell the style immediately – bouncy, rolling, a little wobbly and laid back, and usually a bit more jubilant than the darker tones of Chicago. As ever, there are far more players than I have time to mention here, but for now, check out the listening box, and laissez les bon temps roulez!

CRESCENT CITY LUCKY THIRTEEN (TEN?)

PIANO GREATS

1 Jelly Roll Morton

Spanish Swat (the Library of Congress recordings of 1938)

2 Isodore ‘Tuts’ Washington

Tee Nah Nah (New Orleans Piano Professor) –1983

3 Paul Gayten

Hey Little Girl – 1947

4 Professor Longhair

Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Hey Little Girl – 1949.

5 Leon T. Gross (‘Archibald’) Soon As I Go Home – 1952

6 Huey ‘Piano’ Smith

Everybody’s Whalin’ – 1956

7 Dr John Tipitina, (Gumbo 1972), Big Mac, (Dr.John plays Mac Rebennack 1981)

8 James Booker

Junco Partner, (Junco Partner 1976), Come in My House (New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live! 1977).

9 Allen Toussaint

The Bright Mississippi (The Bright Mississippi 2009).

fi

nd interesting about the Crescent City sound is that the 5th to 6th to 5th (of the scale) lick that then descends

The ‘modern’ era players –Allen Toussaint (1938-2015), Dr John (b.1940) and James Booker (1939-1983) bring the style into the funky 60s and 70s. I’m probably the most moved by the maverick Booker, but I’m dealing with him in a separate article on the Bayou Maharajah film in this issue. Toussaint and the Dr. both had enormous success popularizing the sounds of the city with funk and soul releases throughout their careers, but both are great piano historians and magpies – and both love Fess deeply. Mac loves a good boogie too, and in his later years Toussaint showed us a fondness for the filigree work

10 Jon Cleary

C’mon Second Line (Alligator Lips and Dirty Rice 1994)

AWASH WITH THE BLUES PART 1

Verbals: Paromita Saha

The great floods of the Deep South have inspired many blues songs from Memphis Minnie’s “When The Levee Breaks,” to Charlie Patton’s “High Water Everywhere.” According to ethnomusicologist Dr. David Evans, the great Mississippi flood in1927 was the subject of twenty-five or thirty blues songs from artists such as Patton, who may have been directly affected by the disaster. Nearly seventy years later, Baton Rouge’s blues musicians were among the thousands who found themselves in the middle of a similar yet unexpected natural disaster in August 2016.

It was only weeks after the Louisiana capital experienced the upheaval of riots following the police shooting of Alton Sterling. On August 11th, a slow moving tropical depression produced over twenty inches of rain within a three-day period in Southern Louisiana. This was three times the amount of rain that fell during Hurricane Katrina. The relentless downpour caused the local rivers to peak at record levels, which led to the flooding of around 60,000 homes. Thirteen lives were also lost. Tens of thousands of people found themselves living in temporary shelters and emergency centers. So far, it is estimated that the disaster, which became known as the “historic flood,” cost the state $8.7 billion worth of damage.

The Gulf area that incorporates the state of Louisiana has been long plagued by flooding from the mighty Mississippi and hurricanes in recent years. This summer, the historic flooding of the city of Baton Rouge displaced hundreds and thousands of residents as well as producing wide scale devastation. The state capital occupies an important place in the history of blues music despite being overshadowed by nearby New Orleans. We asked Paromita Saha to delve into Baton Rouge’s historical blues scene as well as find out how the city’s blues artists are faring in the aftermath of the historic flood of 2016.

One of the city established blues musicians, record producer and promoter Henry Turner Jr, counts himself lucky given that his home in mid-city Baton Rouge remained intact. He says, “on this side of the town, we didn’t get any major flooding. We had some leaks in the house and the studio. We are thinking everything is okay, and then we start getting calls from around town, saying, ‘hey man, we

have water in the house.” Meanwhile, other blues musicians including Grammy nominee Henry Gray and the Neal family were less fortunate as they experienced significant damage or completely lost their homes.

I meet Henry Turner Jr at his mid-city Baton Rouge home a few weeks after the flood. He is currently providing shelter to a couple of artists as well as their families, whom he

Photo: John Cashio

lost their homes. This is in addition to the four people in his creative team who were already living at his compound prior to the events of the summer. He strums his guitar in his front living room, while giving me a quick chronology of the Baton Rouge blues scene over

the years. The state capital of Louisiana is known as the home of legendary blues man Slim Harpo and it is also where Buddy Guy sowed the roots of his blues career. The young Henry Turner Jr was well acquainted with Slim Harpo who lived in his neighborhood and was married to his first cousin’s sister-in-law. While Turner Jr was growing up during the sixties he was exposed to suppers where local greats such as Arthur Lee “Guitar” Kelly, Silas Hogan, and Earnest Thomas - also known as Tabby - would regularly play at various homes in the black neighborhoods of Baton Rouge. The city was also alive with venues on the Chitlin Circuit that would attract

big names such as Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters. Since then, Turner Jr points out that the blues scene in Baton Rouge has come and gone over the decades. In fact, he started out his career as a musician playing a hybrid of reggae, soul, blues and funk. “I was raised with the blues, but I never had the chance to use it. By the time I was an adult, the blues in Baton Rouge was dead. It’s been quite a journey infusing it into the music.” Currently, Turner Jr states that himself, the children of Tabby Thomas, the Neal family, Henry Gray, Smokehouse Porter & Miss Mamie, as well as Larry Garner, are the current

generation of blues artists that have been spearheading the city’s blues scene in recent times. The city also boasts the Baton Rouge Blues festival, which attracts 30,000 visitors due to a stellar line-up of international, national and local blues acts. Legendary venues such as Phil Brady’s, Teddy’s Juke Joint and Tabby’s Blues Box, which shut for good in 2004 following the passing of Tabby Thomas, have been pivotal in keeping the local blues scene alive. Within the last couple of years, Henry Turner Jr has opened his own venue called Henry Turner Jr’s Listening Room in Baton Rouge. While the city’s blues venues were

Photo: John Cashio

physically unaffected by the floods and riots, Turner Jr states that the imposition of curfews adversely affected business, “because of the curfews, people can’t go out. I am calling the police department asking, my Listening Room is going to be open Thursday night, is that going to be a problem?”

Currently, the front room of Turner Jr’s house is the temporary living quarters of sisters Dehlice – an opera singer – and Wynona Shelton. They have been taking turns to sleep between the couch and the chair. The pair lost their entire home and belongings including five keyboards. According to Wynona, their house was on a flood plain, but this time the water didn't recede, “it kept getting higher, then it came onto the lawn, and the next thing you know, we are covered in water.” Fortunately, Turner Jr managed to reach the sisters at a shelter in

a local school and bring them back to his house.

Meanwhile, Dusty Cashio, who is a Baton Rouge blues singer on Henry’s record label, Hit City Digital Records, resides temporarily in the green room at the back of Henry’s compound with her husband, Brian, their adult son, John, as well as the few remnants of their belongings after losing everything in the flood. Cashio, whose raspy voice has been likened to Janis Joplin and Etta James, tells me about her long-running career as a performer and musician, which kicked off as the result of a meeting with Clint Eastwood during the filming of “The Beguiled,” in Baton Rouge in the early seventies. Cashio moved to Los Angeles to study performing arts following a recommendation from Eastwood’s writer, while she worked for record producer Quincy Jones. Over the years, she performed in bands alongside

Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson. She eventually moved back to Baton Rouge where she recorded and performed with Henry Turner Jr. Cashio and her family was happily living in a house in the woods in Denham Springs, an area that was not considered a flood zone. She expresses her disbelief when she saw what was happening, “the water started pouring through my window, it swept through my house, through the front and the back into my storeroom. My pots and my wishing-well ended up in my neighbours backyard.”

It is plain to see that Cashio is still in a state of shock, as she recaps being stuck in the waters until an army truck eventually came to take them to the shelter, “I was in the water for several hours. My little dog and my four cats were sitting on a couch, floating in a den. Something got me in the water. I found it was eels and catfish fins.” She called Turner Jr, whose

Henry with Dusty, John and Brian Cashio as well as Dehlice Shelton by Paromita Saha

describing him as “someone who rescues everyone.” I ask Turner Jr what sort of impact the historic flood will have on the Baton Rouge’s blues scene and on its sound. He replies, “the Baton Rouge blues scene

when it was not a popular form of music, people still did it underground.” In the meantime, the sixty-six year old singer, in the true blues tradition, is working on a record called the “Great Baton

various artists on his record label. Quoting Clarence Gatemouth Brown, he states, “The blues is a feeling. So you are going to get a lot of feeling that come from the flood.”

Henry Turner Jr. by Ted Baldwin

GILES ROBSON & HIS BAND

Verbals: Andy Smith Visual: Steve Lewington

Earlier this year I reviewed for Blues Matters “For Those Who Need The Blues” the debut studio album from Giles Robson and it’s safe to say 2016 has been a magnificent year for the British harp ace. He’s widely regarded as one of the finest, living blues-harmonica players and his work with the band

The Dirty Aces has seen him tour extensively around the globe. This year saw him launch his solo career playing critically acclaimed dirty and raw 12-bar urban blues with a new band - think Muddy Waters, The Red

Devils, Little Walter and The Fabulous Thunderbirds.

An explosive headlining performance at the Skegness Rock and Blues Festival in front of 1,800 in late January 2016 was followed two weeks later with the recording of "For Those Who Need The Blues" which was then officially launched at Holland's famous Bluezy Blues Festival in Ridderkerk.

The fantastic critical and audience reaction to the band live, and subsequently to the album itself, led to a record deal with Dutch major label V2 Records and saw them become label

mates with household names such as Mumford and Sons, Skunk Anansie, Simply Red with bookings at some of Europe's most prestigious blues festivals. In July 2016 they were picked by the BBC to headline the Saturday Night slot on their introducing stage at the massive mainstream Latitude Festival in Suffolk. The BBC's Mikey Nissenbaum raved about the band's "Sensational performance" as being "One of the best reactions I've seen all weekend" and that "The crowd were going crazy" and "It was infectious - it was like you possessed some of the crowd

into dancing along with your blues, it was amazing".

All of this buzz has led to them being booked to back three blues harp legends as they make their way to the UK and Europe for three gigs in early 2017. Giles and band will be presenting Magic Dick, James Harman and Billy Branch at the Bleus Kitch Camden, Skegness and North Sea Jazz Club Amsterdam on the 19th, 20th and 21st January.

It must be said that they are truly one of the most exciting live blues band on the scene at the moment, and in my opinion a jewel in the crown of the British Blues Scene. A unique and worldclass talent, Robson leaves any audience spellbound

and in need of more and is proving to be an essential, ever-popular booking. This reflects in his ever increasing gig list featuring shows in Russia, Holland, UK, Belgium and Germany for late 2016 and beyond.

This is what the press has to say:

"A phenomenal talent.... Robson is leading the way in both popularizing the harmonica for the young generation and satisfying established blues fans who just love to hear a harp maestro at the top of his game". Blues Revue Magazine (USA).

"Giles Robson's blues harp can only be described as exquisite. This man could well be the best harmonica player on the blues scene

Nov 12th Blau Blues Festival, Belgium

Nov 13th Dax Cafe, Turnholt, Belgium

Nov 18th Teignmouth Blues Festival, UK

Nov 19th Saturday Blues Night, The Bishop Lacey, Chudleigh

Nov 20th Keepin The Blues Alive, Vlierden, Holland

Nov 26th Amstelveen Blues Festival, Holland

Dec 8th Fine City Blues Club Norwich, UK

Dec 9th Wilhelmina, Eindhoven, Holland

Dec 10th Gitgo Blues Festival, Deventer, Holland

Dec 11th De Bosuil Weert, Holland (Supporting Bökkers)

Dec 13th Paradiso Amsterdam, Holland (Supporting Joanne Shaw Taylor)

Dec 14th Blues Moose radio show/live gig, Groesbeek, Holland

Dec 15th Burgerweeshuis, Deventer, (Supporting Joanne Shaw Taylor)

Dec 16th Iduana, Drachten, Holland (Supporting Joanne Shaw Taylor)

Harp Explosion! Presenting Magic Dick, James Harman, Billy Branch

Jan 19th Blues Kitchen,Camden

Jan 20th Butlin’s, Skegness

Harp Explosion! Presenting Magic Dick, James Harman

Jan 21st North Sea Jazz Club, Amsterdam

Feb 25th Plough Arts Centre, Torrington, UK

Mar 11th Devizes Blues Club

April 5th Malt Shovel Tavern, Northampton

April 7th Edinburgh Blues Club, w/Gerry Jablonski Band, UK

April 8th Saltburn Blues Club

April 10th Haven Club @ the Bullingdon,Oxford, UK

April 11th The Iron Road, Evesham, UK

May 8th German Tour TBA June 1st Holland Tour TBA

July 28th Harmonica Summer Camp, London, UK

Nov 04th Borough Blues Club, Wales, UK

today" The Daily Express.

“The harmonica playing of Giles Robson is unique and carries the man in the ranks of the best harmonica players on the planet". Music In Belgium. Belgium.

"They are many living harmonica players of note, from Stevie Wonder to Giles Robson and back again"

Paul Jones, BBC Radio 2.

“An ascending star of his instrument... his creativity knows no bounds... nothing short of awesome”

Legendary Clapton/Bowie producer Mike Vernon.

"Glorious" - Blues In Britain

"Top shelf...alongside Muddy Waters and Lester Butler's Red Devils" - Blues Matters

www.gilesrobson.com

Blues In Britain (UK) New Album

“For Those Who Need The Blues” on V2 Records, October 28th 2016 Amazon/iTunes/Spotify

Since the beginning of the year and mainly through social media, his fan base has grown to over 15,000 people worldwide. Charley recorded and released his EP (released August 5th), which reached Number 1 in the US and Australia and Number 2 in the UK (iTunes Blues Charts). Over the last month and while working full time he has written and recorded 9 songs to be released on the 28th of October.

Hicks was raised on Peter Green, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton and Gary Moore. He has played electric guitar for over 10 years but hearing Charlie Patton changed everything. Whilst Charley loves to turn up the amplifier and blast some electric licks - for now he wants to prove he can do it acoustically 2016 started as a tough year with stress from a previous job and a medical scare. However, music and the fans that love and support his music helped him take the leap and quit his job to fi nd a more relaxing job nearer home. Also, the positive energy and messages received from all over the planet has helped fl ip his health around. Charley receives messages throughout the day from people inspired by what he's started doing and combined with his health it's motivated him to keep doing what he loves and hopefully turn the music/touring into his full time job.

Along the way, Charley has supported and been supported by many people

CHARLEY HICKS

Charley Hicks is a Singer/Guitarist currently living in London. After years on the music scene up north, he went his own way and back to what he truly loves – Delta Blues

Verbals: Charley Hicks Visuals: Charley Hicks

online making equipment, Mule Resophonic Guitars (Michigan), Silica Sound Slides (San Francisco), Beau Theige Guitars (North Dakota) and Stohn Guitars (Atlanta). Recently, a fan from Pennsylvania, USA sent him a Custom Martin Acoustic purely as he loves what Hicks does and wanted to spread good karma (the fi nal song on the new album is dedicated to that man and guitar). There's a new community happening with blues musicians all over the world and Charley is glad to be a part of it.

It's been a roller coaster of

a year already and is set to only get better. What's next for Charley...? Trying to get some shows booked here in the UK and then USA and Australia including the rest of Europe and Scandinavia, making more music and hopefully collaborating with many other artists online who now through various new technology can now all play/write together. Either way, he'll keep making music and working at his job if he has to, as long as he loves what he does and is meeting great people all over the world, he'll keep working at the dream.

Backing The Blues was the tag line that was everywhere in Leicester during their 2016 Premier League winning season. This message was not new to Leicester band Dawson Smith & The Dissenters. Originally from South Wales, Dawson has been ever-present on the UK gigging circuit. Dawson and Martin Burch (Dissenters guitarist) were both in a band called The Healers in the nineties and they co-wrote the songs on their classic album Cross Hand Shadow. After The Healers, Dawson released three solo albums, with Took The Night in 2012 being a real breakthrough that attracted great reviews and sales. Martin joined The Dissenters four years ago, which was fifteen years after The Healers last stand. Graham Summers has long been Dawson’s go-to drummer and Andrew Malloy is the new recruit on bass guitar. Musically there is a lot going on but with the blues at the heart of everything, which is evident on the new album The Mileage. Martin is well versed in the classic players, Clapton, Page, Kossoff and especially Rory Gallagher and for slide it’s Duane Allman, Sonny Landreth and again Rory Gallagher. As the blues have moved on so has Dawson and Martin’s writing and The Dissenters playing. The band has always been big fans of southern rock from Creedence to ZZ Top to The Georgia Satellites and up to and including current favourites Blackberry Smoke. There is a lot of southern boogie influences in The

Dissenters as well as some southern soul and lots of full on rock and roll. The Dissenters have a well-earned reputation as a house rocking live band that always deliver on stage. Last summer Dawson got to go on his dream road trip to America following the blues trail. In Memphis after an informal jam session on a Monday night, Dawson was invited to be the special guest of the famous Blues Masters at two

venues on the legendary Beale Street. The following Thursday night Dawson got to sing the blues at The Rum Boogie Café and on Friday at The Blue Note, two of the most famous venues on Beale Street (and has the pics and vids to prove it). As Sinatra said, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. New album, The Mileage out February 2017.

www.dawsonsmith.com

DAWSON SMITH & THE DISSENTERS

Verbals: Richard Head Visuals: Andy Melbourne

DOUG ABRAHAM

“Sure I could play anything I wanted to before FD screwed it all up” muses Doug Abraham, singer, songwriter and former guitarist extraordinaire for funk rockers Free Parking. “It took me five years just to play an E chord again” The FD he refers to is the crippling hand condition Focal Dystonia, a complaint that causes the fingers to curl up into the palm or extend outwards involuntarily. Fellow sufferers include classical guitarist Liona Boyd, Brazilian maestro Badi Assad and most notably the late Keith Emerson. Doug continues “you don't cure yourself of FD, you have to fi nd a way around it by adopting a completely different mindset and it took me a long time to come to terms with that” but come to terms with it he certainly has, as ably

demonstrated on his new release, the aptly titled Better Late Than… Initially involved in the project was legendary Cream/Jack Bruce writer and producer Pete Brown. Doug takes up the story, “I’d been working on the solo stuff even before the band broke up so I had a whole bunch of tunes to let him hear. We picked a few and began the recording process, unfortunately that’s when the FD kicked in and everything was put on hold” Put on hold for seven years that is, as he first battled against, and ultimately came to terms with Focal Dystonia. Encouraged by (assistant producer) Sam Salisbury to get back in the studio, Doug was able to enlist the help of some of the top players on the circuit including, Wayne Proctor and Paul Walsham on drums, Dave Hadley and Paul O’Shaughnessy on Bass and

Paddy Milner on keys. “It’s great to have such good players involved, top players always contribute stuff that takes the songs to another level” Better Late Than… is bluesy, it's rocky, hell it's even jazzy in places but it always has something to say and it's this, more than anything else, that separates this album from so many of its counterparts. Doug elaborates, “writing lyrics, or should I say writing good lyrics is the bit I find the hardest. If I write bad lyrics I can never remember ‘em, just like a good tune really, if you can't remember it then it wasn't worth remembering. I must admit it's also a bit cathartic, if something really gets on my tits, there’s usually a song in it.” (Laughs) www.dougabraham.co.uk

Verbals: Ted Cartwright Visuals: Nigel Cheetham

JONI FULLER

Joni first stepped into the spotlight when she was 12 years old; a debut solo performance at a grand piano in the Casino Barriere at the Montreux Jazz Festival in front of three thousand people. A sink or swim moment, Joni’s natural instinct for immersing herself in her music carried her through.

Verbals and Visuals: Supplied by artist

Growing up on the West Coast of Lancashire, Joni was inspired by the music she heard around her. She recalls listening to Steve Wickham’s violin in Fisherman’s Blues on repeat until the tape broke before persuading reluctant parents to buy her a violin for her fifth birthday.

A natural affinity with the violin soon became evident and within three years she became the youngest member of the Junior Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester following an unconventional audition that included an improvised jam of My Old Man to a stunned director of music!

Joni’s classical training on piano and violin continued until she was 19, whilst all the time, writing her own songs and picking up any instrument she could lay her hands on.

Featured as an 'inspirational teenager' by The Independent and 'one to watch' by PRS for Music, Joni remains the only UK alumna of the Geneva-based Little Dreams Foundation and an unprecedented double winner of the ‘Make it Break it’ song writing contest, awarded by Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts.

May 2015 saw Joni become

the only solo artist to reach the Indie Week Europe final showcase in Manchester, leading to an invitation to travel to Toronto in October to represent the UK at Indie Week Canada.

Joni's 4-track EP, 'Letters from the West Coast' was also released in 2015; recorded at The Cottage Studio, on the banks of Loch Fyne and at home on the West Coast of Lancashire. Written, performed and produced by Joni, her blend of lovingly crafted Americana, uplifting folk and heart-on-sleeve piano ballads capture the energy and sublime musicianship of an exciting young artist

honing her craft and making music the traditional way.

A natural live performer, Joni has also developed a distinctive solo performance style, where seamless instrument swapping (guitar, violin, keyboard, bass and percussion) and ground breaking looping techniques combine to build a wall of sound live on stage.

2016 sees Joni in growing demand as a strings arranger, session musician and collaborative songwriter, as well as an artist and live performer in her own right.

www.jonifuller.com

THE FEELGOOD BAND

Between 1974 and 1977 four young men from Canvey Island armed with their interpretations of some classic rhythm and blues songs, along with a few soon to become classics of their own, erupted across London and the World.

Verbals: John Simpson Visuals: Supplied by band

For 3 short years Dr Feelgood burned brightly and inspired a generation with a fast, moody, manic, skittering style; Wilko chopping down anything in his path, Lee Brilleaux a more focussed maniac, with John Martin and John Sparks in the engine room. Then it imploded and there was nothing….and there has been nothing quite like it since. Until now…

The Feelgood Band. From across the UK four not so young men who fell in love with it the first time around, have come together with a desire to recreate that sound and the energy of the Canvey foursome. One could almost be Lee, one can play like Wilko, and the bass and drums

can accurately recreate the engine room to perfection.

So what? Is there anybody 40 years on that is interested in hearing it? For the last 18 months they have been playing pubs and clubs from Derby to Windsor to Canvey and people are starting to notice.

Wilko’s brother Malcolm, has offered encouragement and support “the likeness to Lee is uncanny and the rest of the band the same” “Top job guys, takes me back”. He knows how unique the sound was, and how hard The Feelgood Band have worked to piece it back together.

Shirley Brilleaux (Mrs Lee Brilleaux) is a follower on Facebook. The original fans are still out there, but haven’t had anything to excite them,

but the word is spreading and there is a genuine and warm interest building. The people of Canvey/Southend are ecstatic, they can hear and enjoy proper Dr Feelgood for the first time in 40 years. “Awesome” “You guys are so close the real thing back in the day” “more Feelgood than Feelgood” “you captured the sound and energy perfectly.”

The songs are as great as they were, the rhythms are as infectious and as choppy as ever, whilst the energy the four musicians put out needs to be seen to be believed.

There really is only one way to enjoy 1975 Dr Feelgood, catch The Feelgood Band somewhere near you, but hurry they may only last as long as that original formidable lineup.

XANDER AND THE PEACE PIRATES

Verbals: Management Visuals: Keith Hitchmough

Xander and the Peace Pirates are a testament to musical integrity and personal strength. Combining soul, blues and rock, their pervasive blend of inspired song writing and memorable performances has already seen them enrapture audiences from around the world.

Brothers Keith and Stu Xander were discovered on YouTube by Gibson Brands CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, and during their subsequent performances for the company at numerous international events, the band caught the attention of not just an ever-growing collective of fans but also industry legends such as Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Rolling Stones) and

Rick Allen (Def Leppard). Defying all expectations, lead guitarist and singer Keith Xander was born without a right arm below the elbow and plays his guitar with a prosthetic limb and hook with a pick attached at the end. Although many who have seen Keith play believe him to be an extraordinary guitarist despite his (falsely) perceived ‘disability’, he is a virtuoso musician in his own right and his playing is on par with the best the industry has to offer.

2014 saw the band establish themselves as a live-performance juggernaut after concluding their 5-year tenure as the resident band at Liverpool’s iconic Cavern Club pub; supporting guitar royalty Joe Bonamassa and Joe Satriani

at ‘Classic Rocknacht’ in Loreley, Germany; and finally culminating in being personally invited to support ex-Whitesnake and Blues-guitar hero Bernie Marsden on his UK tour.

In 2015 the band have gone on to share the stage with the likes of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and Robin Ford and have since signed with V2 Records for whom they recorded their debut album titled ‘11:11’ which will be released in November 2016.

With haunting riffs, ingenious melodies, and a uniquely infectious charisma, Xander and the Peace Pirates continue to share their musical passion to standing ovations, while spreading a universal message of peace, love and harmony.

Husky Tones

TRIP HOP GETS THE BLUES

Massive Attack meets 12-bar, via Indie Pop – and the amazing thing is, it actually works.

Verbals: David Osler Visuals: Supplied by artist

There’s blues on the one hand and indie pop on the other, and normally ne’er the twain shall meet. But spanning the gap is the Husky Tones, a sharply-dressed Bristol-based outfit with an uncanny knack of bringing together Chicago and SRV grooves and more recent British musical stylings, including the jangly guitar variety usually associated with the floppy fringe brigade.

Not only that, but they are fronted by a singing woman drummer, too. You want unusual? You got it. Blues Matters caught up with the band, whose debut album is called Time For A Change, at the sound check before a gig at London’s 100 Club

The Husky Tones backstory starts when vocalist and sticks merchant Victoria Bourne and guitarist Chris Harper - partners both in music and in life - got to know each other in London about a decade ago while playing in a group called Vanity Press, influenced by the likes of Radiohead, Jeff Buckley and artists on the 4AD label. So the obvious fi rst question is how they got from where they were then to where they are now. “Blues is something the two of us have been into since we were teenagers,” Bourne revealed. In her case, that stems from growing up in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, with its large black and Asian population. Exposure to black music was inevitable.

“I went to a Baptist church that was completely black. I was the only white girl in my year at school, from the first year I was there until I left. The first albums that I bought were John Lee Hooker’s The Healer, and a Buddy Guy album I was introduced to,” she said.

Harper, meanwhile, had been listening to his old man’s vinyl collection. He explained: “My dad was a massive fan of all the sixties blues boom stuff. He was always playing Peter Green, Freddie King, people like that. And Stevie Ray was massive in the eighties, so that was always in the house. My parents would play me Led Zeppelin to make me go to sleep when I was a kid. It seemed to work. Maybe it was to stop them hearing me, I’m not sure! That stuff was my fi rst love.”

First love it may have been, but it wasn’t the limit of his musical horizons, especially once he took up guitar himself. He also became interested in genres such as indie, folk, and eventually signed up for a classical music degree at Goldsmiths College in south London. So it was that Vanity Press ended up using techniques that were, shall we say, not available in pre-war Deep South juke joints. Horrified guitar-straight-into-the-amp purists look away now. “I used a midi foot controller to trigger sample with my feet while I was playing guitar. It was experimental,” Harper confessed.

Vanity Press got a fair few gigs, most notably Islington’s Union Chapel. But once that band had run its course, Victoria

and Chris were left asking themselves what musical direction they wanted to go in next. There was a theatre project, and even some experiments with flamenco, using the words of murdered Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. But in the end, the lure of good old 12-bar proved decisive, and they started belting out blues covers.

Bourne purchased a cheap drum kit and took lessons from former Groundhog Ken Pustelnik, also a Bristolian, and found herself enjoying that primal rhythm thing. After the duo were joined by Liam Ward on harp, and Matt Richards on bass, the Husky Tones were born.

Judging from the original material, many personhours have been put in listening to the classics. But there’s plenty more in the mix - much of it well outside of the normal blues remit. Harper explained: “Think of bands that were themselves influenced by blues. So, Zeppelin and stuff like that. A lot of punkier stuff as well, with that kind of rawness. There’s Patti Smith, definitely, those kind of people. For them, it’s all about the song writing, as well as the energy that goes with it.

“Certainly for us, song writing matters hugely. We wanted it to feel like we fitted into a genre, but we didn’t want it to just be a collection of things other people have done.”

Also in evidence is the whole Bristol trip hop thing, associated with the

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likes of Portishead and Massive Attack, and still popular locally. Brummie born she may be, but Bourne has seemingly gone native, in musical terms. “They’re great! We love them! Tricky ... that album Maxinquaye is amazing,” she enthused. “That is one of the first things he ever did. Obviously he got huge recognition for it, especially

“People don’t realise that when they are listening to adverts on the telly, they are actually listening to music that’s greatly influenced by the blues. That’s what we benefit from when we go out and about. We’ve been to some really backwater pubs and there’s a bunch of young people coming out dancing and really enjoying themselves.”

Rosetta Tharpe and Big Mama Thornton, and Carol herself. But I’ve tried not to imitate, because then you end up sounding like them. I’m not channelling my own Beth Hart.”

A similar attitude also comes across in the band’s songs, which do not explore the miseries of picking cotton on Dockery

from other musicians, and it’s a phenomenal piece of work. It’s an extraordinarily different sound he created.”

Meanwhile, Bristol retains its own blues scene. It’s just probably not as big as in some other places. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because the really involved scenes in Bristol, like the jazz scene, are extremely cliquey and unapproachable to a large extent” Harper noted.

Be that as it may, Bourne pointed out that the album launch party drew a crowd ranging from 18 year olds, who wouldn’t necessarily realise that what they were listening to came under the heading of ‘blues’, right through to 60 to 70 year olds. There is, she pointed out, more blues-infused music in circulation than many realise. Even Diet Coke used the mighty Etta James, covering the equally mighty Muddy Waters, to sell its fi zzy drinks.

Victoria’s vocal style is pretty distinctive, too. Even though she has studied under seventies veteran boogie queen Carol Grimes - the archetypal ballsy blueswomanBourne purposely sticks to an English accent. She also avoids that ‘Janis Joplin gargling Listerine’ technique that appears to be default mode for many of her peers. Part of that comes from playing drums at the same time. “It’s the four-way coordination. I forget words more than I ever used to when I was just the lead singer. It’s a whole different communication thing, because I have to come across from behind the drum kit, whereas when you are fronting a band, you can just stand there and do it.

“I have to memorise the drum pattern physically, as well as the song, and then still be able to get it across to the audience.

“I just wanted to fi nd my own voice through it. I do listen to people like Sister

Plantation, and concentrate on lived experience instead. “It has to be related to us and our lives, otherwise we wouldn’t stick with it. It has to be relevant to us. That’s how it’s going to be honest and people will respond to it,” said Chris.

Victoria added: “I’m white, I’m from Birmingham. Our songs are about what’s happened to us and where we are at.”

Indeed, one of the best things about this lot is the way they manage to stick with a blues sensibility at all times, without doing things that have been done thousands of times before. Blues with an indie twist? Don’t knock it till you hear it.

IT HAS TO BE RELEVANT TO US. THAT’S HOW IT’S GOING TO BE HONEST AND PEOPLE WILL RESPOND TO IT

Lisa Mann HARD TIMES, BAD DECISIONS

Lisa Mann tells how she survived her horrendous upbringing and found blues salvation thanks to a pawnshop bass.

Verbals: David Osler Visuals: Miri Stibevka

In over four decades of listening to blues, few sets of lyrics have fl oored me on fi rst hearing to the same degree as Hard Times, Bad Decisions; the title track from Lisa Mann’s last CD. The song kicks off by relating how it feels to be a vulnerable small girl, being sexually abused by her father and just gets more and more miserable from there on in. By the end, the protagonist is going hungry and is addicted to unspecifi ed substances. The pain hits you straight out of your hi-fi , thanks to a delivery so convincing that the listener just can’t help but feel it too. It’s heavy stuff indeed, almost making, Born Under A Bad Sign, sound like Happy Talk from South Pacifi c. I caught up with the 46-year-old Portland, Oregon-based, bassist, singer, and songwriter at Putney’s Half Moon prior to the London show on her recent UK tour.

Hi, Lisa. Is that cheery little tune autobiographical, then?

It mostly is, sorry to say. But, for the most part, that song is about the balance between the things you can do something about, and the things you can’t. It’s about making better choices in your life, despite your background. You’ve had hard times and you need to reach out to somebody because there is somebody who has been through it too. BB and Albert, they did stuff like that too. It’s cathartic. Someone who reviewed my CD said it was like a feminist diatribe, but I never intended

it that way. I set out to do whatever it is I want to do, and if there are barriers in my way, I’ll deal with them.

With a backstory like Mann’s, it’s little wonder that her work sometimes has that kind of an edge. But despite the unmistakeable ‘take no shit’ vibe she gives off, at the end of the day she insists she’s just one of the boys in the band, so to speak. I just want to do what the guys do, I’ve always been a guys’ gal. When you’re a female musician, your friends

are guys, and I’ve always just thought, I’m gonna do what I’m gonna do. Times have changed. There was a time when I’d go to a music store and the guy behind the counter would say, “are you waiting for someone?” And I’m like, “I’m waiting for you to sell me some strings.” But times have changed.

Mann was born in West Virginia, and although one set of grandparents had been subsistence farmers, she didn’t have to contend with the sort of dirt poor ‘coal miner’s daughter’ Appalachian

upbringing Loretta Lynn fans will associate with. Mann’s family are Jewish, and middle class and her childhood was harrowing in other ways. Eventually, her mother fled, taking Lisa and her sister to the other side of the USA and relocating to Portland. And like other teens in that time and place, she started getting into music but it wasn’t the usual guitar heroes who got to her. I just loved the sound of the bass. When I was a little kid, I thought Kiss was cool, I thought Gene Simmons was cool. He could fly, breathe fi re and stuff. And he played the bass. I loved music in movies like Star Wars, that had that big, heavy brass, low sound. It gives you chicken skin, it just makes the hairs on your arms stand up. There’s just something attractive about it to me.

Lisa began by playing bass lines from Deep Purple’s Machine Head album on her mother’s guitar. Inevitably, it wasn’t long before she acquired a bass guitar herself, after spotting a copy of Beatlesstyle violin bass in a pawn shop. But getting the cash together to buy it involved a degree of sacrifice. I walked home from school every day for a full year. And I would eat a can of beans or a piece of toast for lunch, and I saved my lunch money for a year so I could buy that bass. My grandad kicked in a little bit of money, but for the most part, I saved my money because I just had to do this. I don’t know, I can’t explain it.

In the early 1980s, Mann’s early classic rock influences would have featured on the playlist of many British teens ten years before that. Musicians rocking her world included Jack Bruce from Cream, Roger Glover of Deep Purple, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. After that, she got into heavy metal, including Iron Maiden and Ronnie James Dio. I was actually in a punk rock band called Dead Conspiracy when I was 16 years old. We played four gigs, the band broke up, and that was it. Soon after, I started doing Top 40, because you could actually get paid to do it. I played every style. I didn’t care! Gimme a pay cheque so I didn’t have to deliver pizzas, I’ll take it.

Mann turned professional musician at the age of 20 and has since turned her hand to numerous genres. She’s even lived and worked in Seattle during the grunge explosion, although by this stage she was gigging seven nights a week. The result was the scene went on without her even noticing. Returning to the blues stronghold of Portland, she started concentrating on blues in 1998, and blues originals instead of covers since 2006. Ask her why she made the switch, she comes straight to the point. Because I wanted to get a gig, man. If you’re a musician in Portland and you wanna work, you better play blues. And then I started listening to this stuff. I just started going

Yes! Yes! This is great! This is what I want to do! I heard Little Milton’s voice for the first time and went, “oh my God!” And Bobby Blue Bland. These guys could just croon so sweetly and then just … powwow, open up their voices and roar like a lion. And Koko Taylor, Etta James. Who wouldn’t love Etta James? And I love Bonnie Raitt, she was an early blues influence of mine. Then there were the local outfits. Portland’s blues scene is rightly legendary, featuring the likes of harmonica players Curtis Salgado, Mitch Kashmar and Paul deLay, guitarists Lloyd Jones and Sonny Hess, and vocalists Karen Lovely and Linda Hornbuckle. “It’s a blues town,” Mann reiterates. “It has the second-largest blues society in America. It’s a great place to play the blues and find a drummer who can actually shuff le.”

As a product of such an illustrious milieu, Mann has matured into a talent that rocked the Half Moon later that night, with a set that ranged in inspiration from Chicago to R&B and to blues-rock at the most sophisticated end of the range.

I’m not one of those people who went to garage sales looking for old dusty blues records when I grew up, she confesses. But you know what? Neither are 90% of blues musicians or blues fans these days. Most people are from a different background because it is such a niche style. My albums are under the big umbrella of blues. I will venture outside of the center. But I will be shuff ling, too.

To make things even more impressive, Mann was playing not with her regular musicians, but a British pick-up band, including Dudley Ross on guitar, Steve Watts on keyboards and John Sam on drums. Musical rapport was instant, she relates. “We rehearsed once and played a gig that night. It was like, done! They just killed it, right off the bat.”

During her quarter-century as a pro muso, Mann has worked as both a singer and as a bass player. But her clear preference is to undertake both roles at the same time. There are plenty of advantages to doing things that way, she insists. It makes it so much easier to rehearse a band and to put a band together on the fly. I can more or less steer the car where I want with the bass. Many drummers are used to driving that car and are not used to a bass player coming in and telling them what to do. John had to get used to the bass player/band leader telling him, let’s move in this direction, let’s pull the tempo back a little, or push it forward a little. But he’s doing it. We’re reading each other’s mind now, and it’s great.

These days, Mann has moved on beyond her pawnshop instrument, and wields a six-string bass as her axe of choice. That is still a little out of the ordinary on planet blues, but there’s a reason for the move. I ran out of frets. I was

really into neoclassical metal. I’m outing myself here! I was into Yngwie Malmsteen! I learned Paganini’s 24th Caprice on the bass and I said, I need more strings, man. I picked up a six-string bass when I was 20 years old. For songs in D or C, I can hit these really low notes. If there’s no keyboard player on the gig, I can play some double stops and throw things in while the guitar player’s playing a solo, so it just became really useful in every musical situation. And in the blues too, I learned how to play blues chords.

Mann’s recent tour was her fi rst visit to this country and actually came about by chance. Last year, she relates, she was playing a gig in Las Vegas and had promised her stepdad she would put $20 on a craps table, on a single roll hi-lo, 2 or 12. The bet won, and en route to the cashier, Mann ran into Roger Allen of www.bluesandsoulshow. com, who asked her to do a station ID on the spot, and offered to put her in touch with a promoter. Thus she arrived on our shores. That was a stroke of luck for British blues fans because Lisa Mann is not an artist with big bucks behind her. In business terms she is basically a onewoman operation, hiring in expertise as necessary, her five albums are all self-released, for instance. “I just love being in the studio, and I have good credit, and you can pay musicians with

PayPal now. So I make it happen,” she says.

But has she had a sniff of label interest?

“No, and if I did get any, I’d have to really think about it, because I’ve heard all the horror stories.”

All this being the case, isn’t there a natural temptation for a musician of her talent to produce more commercial music, and maybe even chase a hit single? If I felt a song coming on, and it just came out like that, who am I to say no to it? I don’t decide if I’m going to write a song like this or like that. I just drive down the road and hear songs in my head, then they come out, or they don’t. I get my little recorder out and I hum the tune or sing the bass line and later I work it out. But it has to show up in my head first. My albums have changed a lot over time. Maybe it’s a little schizophrenic in a way, but people seem to be enjoying it. And the blues radio people are playing it, and for that, I am extremely grateful. For news and updates visit http://www.lisamannmusic.com

Taj Mahal THE LIVING LEGEND LIVES ON

The 2016 Living Blues Awards nominee kicks back on his tour bus for a conversation with Andy Hughes about world music, an alternative career path not taken, and, of course, the blues.

Verbals: Andy Hughes Visuals: Jay Blakesberg

As the Living Blues 2016 Award announces Taj Mahal as a 2016 nominee, it is further recognition of the huge contribution made to blues music by Henry Saint Clair Fredericks. His ground-breaking approach to blues music, including fronting an electric band with an acoustic guitar, has ensured that he remains at the cutting edge of live and recorded blues. With sixty and counting years on the road and in the studio, Taj remains a live link with the great blues giants of history, while forging ahead with his own unique contribution to the genre.

Do you enjoy travelling?

I enjoy playing musictravelling is not always that great. But I always took an independent stance in terms of making music and I have always made my money the old-fashioned way. I work to earn it. I started out in the early days making compromises and then I thought I wouldn’t do that anymore as it’s not going to make me happy. So what I have done is what I have wanted to do and I still do what I want to do, and what makes me happy. I did things the way I wanted to do them. I don’t know about them being right! I didn’t end up with a big house and loads of land, but that’s OK. I’m happy about my music, and the people are happy about my music. I guess if you spend your life doing what makes you happy, then that’s a good way to live.

Do

you think there is too much focus on labelling musical styles?

Definitely. I grew up with my southern American culture, as well as African culture, Calypso, Jamaican, Chicago Blues, loads of different things. There are differences, of course there are, Watusis are not Pygmies, Pygmies are not Mandinkas, but the fact is, they are all there in the continent of Africa and they all have something to say

and they are all connected to each other. Then when you get over here, to America, and there are people trying to take control of things, and make things go this way or that way, a lot of things get lost in the translation. People ask me, do you play Chicago Blues? And I think … yeah, I play some Chicago Blues. But the thing is, the musicians who were making music didn't think of themselves as the labels that were put on them by people who were selling their music. It was the same with jazz, when that became the name for a style of music, a lot of musicians who were making the music didn’t like it, but once the label is out there - there is nothing you can do. But so much for that! I’m not gonna spend my life worrying about what someone else does. I play my music and if people want to put it in a box, that’s for them to do, I don’t really worry too much about it.

You started with an electric blues band, but you played an acoustic guitar, is that because you felt that the blues was properly rooted in an acoustic guitar? I did play acoustic with an electric band back in the 1950’s and I did feel that the acoustic guitar was a proper connection to the origins of African music. I’m not sure

that the acoustic is actually the final be-all and end-all of playing blues music. If you have everything there, the feel and the emotion, that’s what matters. If you are hearing Elmore James playing It Hurts Me Too, I don’t care if he is playing an old harp guitar, or whatever, that’s the sound, the emotion, that’s what it is. He is playing the music, and he’s playing the spaces between the music. Of course, now they have figured out how to amplify acoustic guitars without losing any of the quality and feel of the sound. They manage to get the tone of the guitar coming through, which is what I love. Myself, I hardly ever play the electric guitar at home, or when I am by myself out on the road in hotels or wherever, I mostly play acoustic instruments. But like I said, I stopped worrying about what other people think or what they are doing a long time ago. I got twenty-four hours in a day to take care of my business, living my life; I don’t have the time to be going around living someone else’s!

Do you think there is an element of control in the ‘labelling’ approach?

There is an argument for that. On the other hand, if I walk into a room and there are musicians playing, and I can enjoy what’s going on, I am not going to say to myself that I can’t put that music into this or that box, so I can’t hear it, and I can’t enjoy it. If someone has enjoyed the music and afterwards they walk outside and see someone who was on stage playing and they say ‘Was that the real

thing?’ What sorta question is that! If you don’t know by what you’ve just heard … Louis Armstrong used to say, if you don’t know what it’s called, don’t mess with it! It comes back to what I said earlier, I really don’t pay any attention to that side of what I do, I make music, I write and play music, and that’s the end of my part in what goes on.

You are credited as one of the originators of World Music as a specific genre. Were you ever aware of that when you were absorbing music from so many different sources?

I was always aware of being connected to the world through my parents. I think the difference with me and most other African-American musicians of my generation is, there was a lot of stuff that I knew, but the general population did not have clue that there are a lot of southern black people who don’t really know very much

at all about the world and are very much like the rest of the Americans, they are isolationist, and they live inside an isolationist culture. In my case, my grandparents came from The British West Indies, from Saint Kitts and Nevis and they emigrated to the United States, like loads of other peoples’ grandparents did. But one of the things that came in with them, and it took me a while to understand this, was the British Empire attitude, that there is a world out there that is connected. I don’t play cricket, but I knew that the West Indies played India, and South Africa played Australia, and the same with football - soccer, not American football, but everyone round the world played, and that connected people. My parents connected me with my African heritage, my Caribbean heritage, my Southern heritage, and they taught me respect for other ethnic groups. So as far as music was concerned, I was

essentially following my own blood. If I heard some different music, I would go off and explore it, find out, listen to some more of it. When I heard flamenco guitar, I was moved in my soul. It didn’t make me want to go off and become a flamenco guitarist, but even if I don’t play a style, if I like it, I am going to go out and find records by different artists in the style I have found and maybe find a concert I can go and see as well. So I had all this culture around me, and I just never understood why everyone else wasn’t doing the same, hearing the same things I was hearing. That meant that when I was twelve, thirteen fourteen, and my dad was asking me what I wanted to do, I told him that I wanted to get a band going, and a band that had all these influences that I had heard, and could get those influences into what we did. So that meant a problem for the marketing guys at the record labels,

because they couldn’t put the style in a box like they always wanted to, but that was their problem, I’m certainly not up for arguing about the problems they gave themselves back then!

Do you have an individual acoustic guitar whose sound appeals to you more than the rest, or do you like them all equally? No, not equally, but I think I like different models for different sounds. If I am playing Delta Blues which have a more percussive and attacking style, then the Nashvilles play that sound well. I like to dig in with the Tricones, but the thing is, you can get a gentle mellow tone out of those guitars as well. For me, if the guitar is balanced, and is set up the way I like it, then I can play pretty much everything I play for a set on that one guitar. I usually start out playing the Recording King and I will play five or six songs on that, and then I feel like it is a time for a change, and that is for my benefit. Even if I am going to play the following song and it’s in the same key as the one I have just fi nished, I will still change the guitar to get a different feel going. That’s what keeps it interesting, not just for me, but for the audience as well. I also like to keep my hands open with the feel of different guitars through a concert. It’s like painting a house, you’re not going to paint the whole thing with just one pot of paint, roof, walls, windows, floors, you are going to change it up a little, vary things to keep them feeling fresh.

Do you have a particular song in your live set that you look forward to, and feel excited about when it comes around? Well, songs are like children, you’re not supposed to have favourites. The best parents are even-handed with their children, and I try to be the same with my songs. Some nights one song or another will go particularly well, and that’s always nice, but that’s not something you plan for, and that’s part of the fun of playing concerts, you never know when those sweet spots are going to come, you just wait for them, and enjoy them when they get there.

Do you have an extensive record collection?

I do, but I never thought of it as collecting records. My dad had a great record collection, but all he was doing was buying the records that he and my mother liked to listen to, and they brought them home, and friends would come around to the house and they’d play the records and everyone would dance. So I do have a large collection, but I never really thought of it in those terms until many years after I started buying records. I did like my dad did, I bought records I liked and played them – still do.

When you were growing up, before you became a musician, you were thinking about being a farmer – do you ever look back and think about the life you could have had if your life had taken that different path? Well, music did win out over thoughts of getting a farm.

The thing was, in those days, if you were going into farming, you were pretty much going into debt, that was how it was back then. The way my life has turned out, I have been able to put my children through college, and they have been able to follow the lives they wanted for themselves. That’s the big job, raising your kids, raising the next generation. We probably would have had a lot more to eat when my family was growing up, if we were raising our own food, but I would not have been able to make the money that I did as a musician, and I would not have been able to support my family in the way that I did. I do support small farmers; I think they do a wonderful job.

DISCOGRAPHY

SOLO

MAESTRO – 2008

MKUTANO MEETS THE CULTURE MUSICAL CLUB OF ZANZIBAR – 2005

HANAPEPE DREAM – 2001

LIVE LIVE CATCH – 2004

SHOUTIN’ IN KEY – 2000

AN EVENING OF ACOUSTIC MUSIC – 1996

COMPILATIONS

HIDDEN TREASURES OF TAJ MAHAL – 2012

THE ESSENTIAL TAJ

MAHAL – 2005

BLUES WITH A FEELING: THE VERY BEST OF TAJ MAHAL – 2003

Dino McGartland BLUES FROM HIS HOMETOWN

Rory Gallagher devotee and authority Dino McGartland, talks about having his life changed by Rory and about his own belated debut album, which features Laurence Jones and others.

Verbals: Trevor Hodgett Visuals: Seamus McCaffrey

Northern Irishman

Dino McGartland is well-known in the world of blues-rock for his editorship of Stagestruck, a much-admired Rory Gallagher fanzine which he published for several years from 1996. Now 59, McGartland has, amazingly, reinvented himself, releasing his own album, Hometown Blues, on which his Gallagher-influenced guitar impresses and which features star guests like Laurence Jones.

“What really satisfies me most is, it was done here in Omagh,” declares McGartland. “I just did it on my own using local musicians and a local studio, Outland. The experience was very, very enjoyable and it’s turned out very well, which shows that if you put your mind to it, you can do an album yourself without involving record companies and big studios.”

McGartland and his band recorded the album live, for the most part. “I’d grown up reading about old blues men and that’s the way they did it,” he explains. “They didn’t have high-tech equipment, they just went in and laid down a lot of tracks and I wanted to see if I could do that. Also, because I’d not really been in a studio before and didn’t know how things would work out, it was nice for me having the musicians there, sitting in a circle, and we were able to look at each other and give each other a nod to see which way things were going.”

The album contains a wide range of material. “I didn’t want a 100% blues album,”

says McGartland. “There are blues standards, but I like Dylan as well, so there’s I Shall Be Released and Ryan Adams’ Excuse Me If I Break My Own Heart Tonight, which I’ve done completely different to the original.”

One of the guests on the album is Ronnie Greer, long Northern Ireland’s most interesting blues guitarist, who plays on Jimmy Reed’s Bright Lights Big City and Roy Hawkins’ The Thrill Is Gone. “Ronnie’s one of my favourite players,” says McGartland. “I love his tone

embodies everything that Rory Gallagher was with Taste – he has a great affi nity with that stuff.”

The best-known guest, however, is probably Laurence Jones, who plays on I Shall Be Released and also Joe Thomas and Howard Briggs’ Got You On My Mind. “My daughter lives in Liverpool and got to know him, and happened to mention her dad was recording a CD and he says, ‘I’d be interested in playing on that,’” recalls McGartland. “So he flew in, and off the

and enthusiasm and the way he plays, that crossover between blues and jazz, like Robben Ford. I would go and see him play quicker than I would go to see Eric Clapton!”

“[In the studio] he may have done about ten different solos and he kept saying, ‘Is that good enough?’ And I said, ‘Ronnie, even the bad ones are good!’”

Two Dublin guitarists, Eamonn McCormack and Dave McHugh, also guest on the album. “Eamonn lives in Germany where he’s a pretty big name,” explains McGartland. “We recorded the backing track live [for Freddie King’s Tore Down] and sent it to him and he did his part in Germany and then zipped a couple of versions of his solo back to us and said, ‘Whichever one you fancy, just put it in.’

“And Dave is a fantastic young guitarist. He just

plane went to the studio and recorded the two tracks there and then. It was quite a scoop getting him but the funny thing was, he’d never heard of I Shall Be Released! I went, ‘You’re bound to have heard the song!’ But he’s only 22, a different generation, so no. But we played the track back to him three or four times and he laid down that guitar solo.”

McGartland sings on most tracks on the album. “I hate the sound of my voice!” he says. “That’s why I got Linda McLoughlin from The Kick The Bucket Blues Band to sing The Thrill Is Gone. She reminds me of Wanda Jackson, there’s a little quirkiness in her voice. And we got a young guy Caolan McCarthy to sing I Shall Be Released. But since the CD has come out, a lot of people have commented [favourably] on my voice.

SOME PEOPLE REHEARSE UNTIL EVERYTHING’S PERFECT BUT I’D RATHER JUMP IN AT THE DEEP END

So, horses for courses.”

Given his inexperience, one might imagine that McGartland would have found himself nervous to be in the studio with top rank players like Laurence Jones. “I was more nervous for them,” he says. “I was thinking, ‘I hope they’re happy with the way things are going down.’ I wasn’t actually nervous playing with them, the reason being some people like to rehearse and rehearse until everything’s perfect but I’d rather just jump in at the deep end. I like living on the edge.”

Perhaps the most obscure track on the album is Walter Parks’ Jesus Tone. “Whenever I’m on the internet searching for music and guitar players I’m always looking for ones that aren’t familiar or popular,” says McGartland. “So one night I came across Jesus Tone and the guys in the band all thought it was great.

“Recording the song I

wanted to get that grittiness in my voice which I didn’t have so I used one of those bullet microphones. And I said to [engineer] Stevie Rafferty, ‘Can you make it sound a bit distorted and gritty with a little reverb?’ And it came out very well.”

McGartland’s great musical hero remains Rory Gallagher. “I just loved the way he played, the passion he had, his guitar sound and the way he used the Vox AC30,” he declares. “There’s only one Rory Gallagher. He’ll never be replicated.”

McGartland indeed regards Gallagher as crucial to his musical education. “In his sleeve notes or interviews he would always namecheck people like Earl Hooker or John Hammond or Big Bill Broonzy so I’d buy their records on the back of that,” he recalls. “That’s where I got a lot of inspiration.”

McGartland still remembers the first time he

saw Gallagher in concert. “It was 2nd January 1975 at the Carlton cinema in Dublin,” he laughs. “And the ticket was £1.75! I’ll never forget it. We were just spotty kids and we were buzzing for weeks afterwards.

“Whenever you went to a Rory Gallagher gig you got the encore first! It was full steam right from the word ‘Go’. We used to come out saturated. You were every bit as wrecked as Rory was on stage. That was the attraction – and the fact you had two sides to him: the very humble, mannerly guy off stage and then once he plugged in he was just a complete tiger.”

When Gallagher played in McGartland’s home town Omagh in 1984 the two men actually met. “I slipped off work early and went to the venue and the guys were doing a soundcheck,” he reminisces. “I sat there and listened for maybe thirty minutes and then Rory

came off stage and I went over and spoke to him. We talked about Muddy Waters and his influence on Rory and had a great chat.

“And then after the gig I was lucky enough to go back to the hotel and have another chat with him and have a beer. Everyone says you should never meet your heroes but Rory really was a lovely, lovely man. Whenever you talked, he listened to you. He was very humble and quiet.”

Following Gallagher’s sad death in 1995, aged 47, McGartland started the Stagestruck fanzine. “Whenever Rory passed away I felt we needed to have a way for the fans to communicate,” he explains. “But there was none of this modern technology then, it was all physically cutting and pasting, sticking bits of paper onto sheets of paper and taking the whole thing down to the printers, so it was a lot of work.

“But then the internet exploded and people wanted information very fast so the fanzine folded.”

It remains a mystery why Gallagher never quite achieved the superstardom that at one stage had seemed inevitable. “I don’t think he actually wanted to be a superstar,” reflects McGartland. “I think he was happy just as long as he was playing music. I don’t think he wanted to be the way Joe Bonamassa or Eric Clapton are. I don’t think that was his game at all. He didn’t want to be making videos and on MTV and touring stadiums and things like that. He was quite happy to play smaller venues where he could see

the whites of his fans’ eyes.”

Gallagher had always seemed grounded and his deterioration in his final years, when he seemed to be derailed by various neuroses and a drink problem, was shocking. “He was very, very insecure and became very insular and didn’t want to go out,” says McGartland. “He probably felt he was a has-been and he lost confidence. The nerves were getting to him.”

McGartland found Gallagher’s decline upsetting. “Q magazine did an interview with him in July 1990 and his physical condition was shocking to see,” he recalls. “It was to do with the medication he was taking. But it was a shame the way he went in the end, because he was only a very young man.”

For much of McGartland’s own musical career, with local Omagh bands like South Pacific, The Diamonds and Stagefright, he has been unable to play the blues he loves. “It was the usual pub band music,” he sighs. “Whatever was in the charts. It can be demoralising doing that stuff because I wanted to play the blues but you played what people wanted you to play. And, OK, you got paid at the end of the night which was the reason you were there.

“But I’m very happy now to have this CD out and happy for people to be aware that it’s there. And I feel very privileged and chuffed that Blues Matters! have picked up on it. I really appreciate that.”

For more info visit: www.dinomcgartland.com

DINO MCGARTLAND HOMETOWN BLUES INDEPENDENT

Omagh musician Dino

McGartland's love of real folk/ blues goes back many years and this, his debut CD, contains twelve tracks written or performed by a collection of his influences. Being Irish, the name Rory Gallagher is certainly an influence on Dino's guitar playing, but he has also called on accomplished Irish blues performers such as Ronnie Greer, Dave McHugh and David McLean from The Mighty Mojos, Eamonn McCormack and our own Laurence Jones to help him out on what to me is a worthwhile project. If you add on the likes of Linda McGoughlin and Emma Miller on vocals, Shane Tierney on drums and studio men Jerome McGlynn on guitar, brother Piero McGartalnd, bass, Aidan Dunphy, drums, Caolan McCarthy piano/vocals and Colm Campbell harmonica. What about the songs? Oddly, the only nod in Rory's direction is Muddy Waters' I Wonder Who, but with the likes of Got You On My Mind, I Shall Be Released (both featuring Laurence Jones) Here Come The Blues Again, Stop Breaking Down, Key to The Highway, Rock With Me, The Thrill Is Gone and Tore Down to name but a few, you have a veritable blues/rock feast. Yes, most of them have been done to death, but for my money, the musicianship displayed here is of the highest order and I thoroughly recommend it.

CLIVE RAWLINGS

Cadillac Kings

KINGS OF BOOGIE WOOGIE

Verbals: Clive Rawlings Visuals: Fran Cea

The Cadillac Kings formed in 2000, around London, from a group of experienced musicians, whose CVs included the James Hunter Band, Otis Grand’s Band, Paul Lamb’s Kingsnakes and Big Joe Louis’ Band. Six months later they released their debut CD ‘Lou Ann’. It was picked up right away by radio stations across the world and earned the band a ’finalist’ status in the 2001 UK best new blues band awards.

From the very outset, The Cadillac Kings became firm favourites on the blues and jump-jive scenes. With stunning musicianship and an exciting stage act, this band knows how to entertain audiences across the board, from arts centres to dance-halls, from intimate clubs to major festivals, the length and breadth of the UK, Europe and Scandinavia. The founder member of the band is vocalist and songwriter Mike Thomas, who writes nearly all the band’s material, combining the sounds and styles of ‘40s and ‘50s R‘n’B with an unerring 21st century wit. Mike took time out to speak with us.

Thanks for taking time out, perhaps we could start by introducing the band?

Mal Barclay is our lead guitarist, Tim Penn is on piano and accordion, Paul Cuff on double bass, Roy Webber on drums - and myself, Mike Thomas, on lead vocals, harmonica, slide and percussion. All the band members sing and take occasional lead vocals too. Roy’s been with me almost since the beginning back in 2001, before that he’d played with Big Joe Louis and Paul Lamb. Mal and Paul joined about 8 years ago. Mal combines working with the CKs alongside deps for bands such as Steve Weston’s Bluesonics, the Jeremiah Marques band, as well as The Blues Guitar Summit. Tim’s the newest member, joining 4 years ago. I’ve known Tim since 1980 when we both played in The Poorboys, a Camden band that was one of the first dabblers in Cajun and zydeco music. Tim has an amazing CV, he was an original member of Kevin Coyne’s band alongside Andy (The Police) Summers, later on he played with legendary folk-rock band Eclection, then was pianist with blues guitar great Gordon Smith and his band. The full works on Tim

can be found in one of the Rock Family Trees books!

You've been together for a good few years, what's your recipe for longevity?

Yes 2017 will be the band’s 16th anniversary. However there are only 2 of us left from back then! (Myself and drummer Roy). As for a recipe for longevity - simple - keep gigging, keep recording, keep the audiences coming back, and avoid accidents.

Have you always performed this style of rock?

I have to take you to task over the question. We actually play rhythm & blues, which encompasses blues, swing, jump-jive, boogie, rock & roll and a little Cajun/ zydeco. Basically American roots and dance music styles from the 40s & 50s. Our latest CD The Secret Of My Success has just been released on 33 Records and showcases nearly all of the above. It has had 5 star reviews just about everywhere.

What are your influences? How long have you got? All the guys in the band share a love of music from labels such as Chess, Specialty, Sun and Excello and musicians such as Jerry McCain, Jimmy Reed, Lazy Lester, Rockin’ Sidney, T-Bone

Walker, Professor Longhair, Champion Jack Dupree, James Booker, The Coasters and current greats like The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jimmie Vaughan, Junior Watson, and the late Hollywood Fats and Nick Curran, to name but a few!

As a songwriter my personal heroes are Louis Jordan, Leiber & Stoller, James Harman, Rick Estrin, and anyone else who injects a little humour into their work.

What can an audience expect at a Cadillac Kings gig?

‘A rhythm & blues revue’ is how I’ve seen it described in the press and I won’t argue with that. Our sets are pretty varied, 4 of the band take lead vocals, and 8 or 9 different instruments are played. Perhaps where we differ from other acts playing retro blues & swing is that I write 90% of the material. I don’t think there’s enough humour in music these days, so most of my songs contain lines or gags to shamelessly elicit laughter.

Do you look for audience participation?

Absolutely. We play music to dance to, as postwar blues & swing was always intended.

So if the dance floor doesn’t fi ll quickly then we are not doing our job properly. As Howlin’ Wolf memorably put it “ain’t worth sh*t if you can’t dance to it.”

Do you write your own material, if so where does the inspiration come from? Well apart from the obvious lyric foibles of relationships and marriages, my songs

tend to cover topics such as obesity, senior moments, dodgy politicians, and stalking, of course.

I see you've played a fair bit abroad, in particular in Scandinavia. Yes we’ve played clubs and festivals in over a dozen countries from the Canaries to the Arctic Circle. Our fi rst trip to Scandinavia was to Norway back in 2002 as part of the Romerike Blues & Roots Festival which had the sort of line-up we’ll probably never see again: The Fabulous Thunderbirds, BR549, Eric Burdon, Alvin Lee, Mink Deville, Slade, Paul Lamb, Omar & The Howlers, Popa Chubby, Steppenwolf, Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, Little Ed & His Blues Imperials, Angela Brown, Jason & The Scorchers etc. etc. Since then we’ve played short tours out there over 30 times, including all the festivals and quite a few of the Baltic Blues Cruises alongside acts like Rod Piazza, Delbert McLinton, Lazy Lester, John Mayall and Little Feat.

You played the Royal Albert Hall and a festival in Lithuania, how was that? We played the RAH in 2014 for the annual London Bluesfest among a huge line-up that included Van Morrison, Georgie Fame, Mud Morganfield, Elvis Costello, Gregory Porter and Sheryl Crow. The Bluesfest organisers have now transferred the event to the O2 Dome, which is a shame as the RAH is such a wonderful venue. In 2010 we played Lithuania’s ‘Bluzio

THE CADILLAC KINGS

THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS

33 RECORDS

Defying yourself from tapping your feet to the beat on any of these fourteen tracks is probably the hardest thing to do when listening to this addictive professionally cut release it is just infectious. The Cadillac Kings are firm favourites on tour headlining status musical festivals they are fi ve of the best United Kingdom wide exponents of jump jive 1950’s style music. With long time singer songwriter and consummate harmonica and slide guitarist front man Mike

Naktys’ Blues Festival, which is held on the shore of Lake Lukstas. To our astonishment by the time we went onstage in the evening there was an audience of well over 10,000 - most of them young blues fans who gave us a fantastic reception.

Your stage performance looks very energetic, how do you keep fit? Not sure about the other guys, I like to work out with the occasional tambourine, and try to avoid gyms at all cost.

Thomas at the helm this is the fi fth release since their formation in 2001although they have been around for fi fteen years in various guises. On to the music this is another heady mix of West Coast swing to good old house rocking rhythm and blues with a lot of comic lyrics for good measure. The emphasis remains on having a fun time and this shines through every track. The upbeat tempo on the opener For Richer For Poorer sets the swing tone and tongue in cheek advice on marital advice. The band plays with ease throughout. Mal Barclay on lead guitar Tim Penn on piano and accordion a particular highlight on the Zydeco driven Cadillac Shake Roy Webber on drums and the dulcet tones of double bass by Paul Cuff sees a band at the top of their game. Liner notes by Mike Thomas explain the story behind the songs. All anyone else has to do is buy it listen and go and catch this band live spoil yourself in pure musical indulgence.

COLIN CAMPBELL

Can you remember the fi rst three albums you bought and did they leave an impression?

First – Back Country Blues by Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee. Bought around 1961. Secondly – Bob Dylan’s fi rst album bought in1962. Lastly – Folksong 1965, a various artist’s compilation from the Elektra label which included Born in Chicago by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

As you may gather the common thread is that I loved the sound of any harmonicas!

What are your thoughts on the current jive & retro scene in the UK?

When we started down the usual route of blues clubs and pubs we quickly noticed that our style of rhythm & blues greatly appealed to swing, jive & lindy hop dancers. It wasn’t long before we were getting regular bookings in dance-halls, ballrooms and at retro festivals. This combination of blues clubs and dance venues remains our bread and butter to this day. In some respects the jive & retro scene looks healthier than the blues scene. A much younger audience is drawn to the dance venues and they soon develop a taste for postwar

rhythm & blues played by the bands and DJ’s. There are of course many strict ‘rock & roll only’ or ‘rockabilly only’ clubs but their core followers tend to match those of many blues venues i.e. an aging audience. Venues like the Rivoli Ballroom in south London regularly draw audiences of 500+ who love to dance to bands like us.

How can we get information on Cadillac Kings? We’ve had a band website for a long time www. cadillackings.co.uk / mail@ cadillackings.co.uk But we tend to have more of an up-to-date presence on Facebook these days - just search for Cadillac Kings UK.

Now my signature question....what are your favourite biscuits?

My wife’s home-made ginger biscuits. This is not influenced by the fact that she’s standing behind me as I speak!

DISCOGRAPHY

THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS – 2016

GONNA TELL YOUR MOMMA – 2012

TROUBLE IN STORE – 2008

HIGHWAY 17 (THE TIMES' BLUES

CD OF THE YEAR 2004) – 2004

LOU ANN – 2001

Guy Belanger

THE MONTREAL MASTER OF BLUES HARMONICA

Guy Belanger has done much to popularise the harmonica across the vibrant blues scene of Montreal, and through the North American continent. He combines a busy live schedule with recording his own albums, and frequent contributions to film and television musical scores, commercials and album sessions.

Verbals: Andy Hughes Visuals: Pierre Ménard

The summer of 2016 saw Guy invited to play two sets – acoustic and electric – as part of the massive Montreal Jazz Festival which always includes a generous portion of blues artists in its eclectic musical mix. Blues Matters’ Andy Hughes joined Guy for a chat about their joint love of harmonicas and blues music.

AH: How did you start playing harmonica?

When I was in my teens, around sixteen, the college I attended often had parties, and people would jam along with different instruments. I used to take along a plastic flute and toot along with everyone. I never realised, but at least one of my friends was seriously irritated by my flute tooting, so on one of these evenings, he gave me a harmonica, and broke the flute! He knew I loved blues music, and he figured I would get to love the harmonica – he was right. When I was at college, I drove an old Austin Mini which had no radio in it, so I drove around and played the harmonica to pass the time, and I learned to play. The plan was for me to be a graphic artist, which was my subject at college, but I spent my evenings and weekends playing with various bands, and that side of things took over, so this was the path I followed.

So was it not always your intention to be a professional musician?

No, not until the harmonica came along, it literally changed my life. I started playing at sixteen, and fortytwo years later, I am still here.

There is a very strong blues scene in Montreal, and in Quebec.

Yes, there are lots of blues festivals, you can make a living here as a blues musician with the clubs and gigs and festivals. I also do a lot of session work for a variety of people. I play on soundtracks for film and television here, and I play on television commercials. My playing is not restricted to just blues, I play all kinds of material – I have just completed some material for the new Celine Dion album.

Do you focus on harmonica players when you listen to music?

I love British blues music, people like The Bluesbreakers, Savoy Brown, Manfred Mann. I met with Paul Jones when the band came over in 1986, we talked a lot about his radio show, and about blues across the world. I love the work of Richard Salwitz who is Magic Dick from the J. Geils Band, and Mark Feltham from Nine Below Zero, great lines.

Let’s talk about your work outside strictly blues music. Well of course, blues is my main love, and something I always come back to, but I do get called to do session work for pop and film people as well. I discovered I could play melody well, and that is quite in demand for soundtracks and commercials. The harmonica is a very expressive instrument, and a lot of visual directors who want music for their films like to use it because it can convey so many moods, and it has lots of subtleties in

the way it can be used. So that means I get to work on a lot of different genres, simple TV commercials, and also movie soundtracks. I do some writing tor soundtrack work which I enjoy, and I also get called in for pop and rock sessions.

Do you have a favourite genre of blues music?

I love Little Walter, he wrote the book, and I love contemporary blues as well. I attended a really big blues festival here in Quebec; it had Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Big Mama Thornton. I got into conversation with one of Muddy Waters’ musicians the night before he played, and he told me that if I caught his eye after the show, he would take me to meet Muddy Waters. So I got to meet Muddy Waters, it was like having an audience with the pope! I didn’t feel I could call him Muddy, I was too much in awe of him, so I said Hello Mr. Waters and we had a chat, and as we parted he said, “Keep blowin’ son”! I’ve never forgotten that night.

Who would you love to play harmonica with?

Oh boy … Robert Johnson! If I could play Love in Vain with Robert Johnson, that would put a big smile on my face! Another musician I would love to have played with is Long John Baldry. He was my hero, and he changed my outlook on music. I was twenty years old, and I wanted his job! He had a fabulous voice, and he used to tell amazing stories during his shows, that is where I got my own storytelling from.

I found a lot of great blues songs through listening to and following him.

Blues musicians are always very keen on the history of their craft, and lots of them have big record collections - do you?

I used to have a big collection; I had all the Chess albums, and all the classic blues albums. I got a bit tired of things in the 1980’s; Stevie Ray Vaughan arrived, and a lot of clones followed him trying to do what he was doing, like that was possible!

Apart from the blues masters, do you have any other heroes?

Yes, I love the work of Brendan Power. He is a chromatic harmonica player, and I’m not, but his work has so many shades and colours, and he has been a big influence on my playing.

How does the stage craft of the harmonica player work?

It’s very simple, you start with one, you end with

about sixteen! I always travel with a big suitcase full of harmonicas. It’s a sad instrument in a way, if you play it too much, it breaks. It’s the only time in life where you give something the kiss of life – your breath – and that kills it!

So you can’t get attached to individual harmonicas then?

Oh no, not at all. There are blues guitarists out there with 1958 Gibson Les Pauls that have been played for decades, and have decades more to go. A harmonica will last maybe five concerts before it needs to be replaced. All harmonicas are single keys, so I have a selection of them and I wear them on a belt with individual pouches for them - I look like a gunslinger when I go on stage, which I love! Some harmonica players have specialist microphones and vintage amplifiers, but I am not too bothered about things like that. I do use a couple of pedals to get some effects on

my electric shows; I have an octave pedal and a delay pedal to put some colours into the sound and get a nice fat tone when I need it. I do prefer an authentic tone though - if you electrify a harmonica too much, it stops sounding like a harmonica and it starts sounding like an electric razor!

DISCOGRAPHY

SOLO ALBUMS

DUSTY TRAILS – 2012

BLUES TURN – 2014

CROSSROADS – 2010

GUY BELANGER – 2008

SOUNDTRACKS

SEQUELLES – 2016

LES MAUVAISES HERBES – 2016

ROUTE 132 – 2010

THE TIMEKEEPER – 2009

LES BOYS – 2007

ET DIEU CREA …

LAFLAQUE – 2004

GAZ BAR BLUES – 2003

POST MORTEM – 1999

Kaz Hawkins THE SURVIVOR

Hailing from Belfast, Kaz is a woman with a huge voice and heart. She has come through many traumatic, life-changing events. Eventually discovering Etta James and realised that music and song writing was her road to recovery. Her music comes straight from the depths of her soul and her performances can bring herself and the audience to tears.

Verbals: Christine Moore Visuals: Flo Cat

When did y ou start to sing and what, or who, were you inspired by?

My gran was a singer in church, a soprano, so from a young age I heard her sing. She was asked by the musical director at an Opportunity Knocks audition when I was 12 to find me something of Etta James, which she did. I never looked back, although I didn’t really understand the empowerment of Miss Peaches at that age, it was only years later that I truly found her...And I cried...

Have you ever had any voice coaching or music coaching?

No vocal coaching at all until I ripped my larynx in 2012 after overuse. I didn’t get much, a few lessons to ease me back in but it was more the speech therapy from the NHS that I benefited from. I guess both combined to get me through it but I did think I had lost my voice forever which broke my heart. I lost my falsetto range but found a new lower bass to my voice. I also now have this weird range of whistle note that I never could do, which is cool when Nick (my guitarist) and I want to mimic each other and have fun on stage.

Do you do any vocal exercise before you sing?

Just warm ups, especially on tour but more warming up throughout the day as touring is tiring. Keeping hydrated is the biggest thing for a vocalist and plenty of sleep.

I am guessing your travel arrangements are very difficult with

living in Ireland. Is it easier and cheaper to go to Europe or the UK? Travelling from Northern Ireland is definitely my biggest expense to get anywhere. The Irish Sea is the most expensive stretch of water, I heard someone say once and I agree. To put it in context; I have to pay £500 to £600 for a return trip on a boat for us all and if we are in the south of England it's a further few hundred pounds for diesel to get from Cairnryan. So before we have even played one gig the expense is nearly £1000. In the past three years touring, the truth is that I still perform at a loss. I do make sure the band are paid though, as I believe a happy band is a happy Kaz. We haven’t hit Europe yet but it’s looking like 2017 could be the year for that.

Your latest CD is, Feeling Good. What else do you have on the horizon regarding CD releases? “Feelin’ Good” was our statement of intent. A taste of our blues/rock side and also a bit of experimentation to see how far we could push ourselves. We have already recorded 6 songs for the next album but right now I am deciding if we will even put another album out for 2017. I am toying with the idea of a stripped back EP with guest musicians with songs that I want to be more piano based. I learned some piano for this year’s touring, but it’s basic so I would love to come out of my comfort zone with KHB and perhaps do some collaborations. Especially as I have lots of songs that

aren't bluesy, that could maybe be an option soon.

Do you have a preferred mic? Oh lordy YES, Neumann

KK205 is amazing, I use a sound crew when I’m at home (A.R.D Sound & Lighting)they sort our tech riders out for touring and if only every gig would let me have that. Sm58’s will always stand the test of time but I nicknamed Andrew’s mic “The Kazmeister” as I could hold it at my knees, such power is amazing for a vocalist, the best clarity I have ever experienced in a microphone.

What would be your dream band of players, you can choose living or dead musicians?

Oh this changes all the time as I find or rediscover old music. A three way vocal front of Me, James Brown & Solomon Burke (heaven) Jack Bruce on bass, Prince on guitar, Ginger Baker on drums, Jeff Lynne on keys, Big Mama Thornton on harmonica, Bonnie Raitt on rhythm, W.C Handy on trumpet, Charlie Parker on Sax…...I’m exhausted now trying to fill out the stage, ha-ha, but what a cool jam that would be.

I know lyrics are very important to you, who is your favourite writer?

I grew up listening to The Eagles, I think that was embedded in me early, also how to harmonise too. I remember listening to them and visualizing what they were telling me. Asking questions - How is a cool breeze blowing in his hair in the desert? Hotel

California confused me when I was younger, I didn’t know exactly what they were singing about but I knew it was even confusing for the writer. A kind of doubleedged sword in words. I spent hours replaying the tracks and writing the lyrics down like lines in school. Even though I didn’t understand the message, I understood the confusion - if that makes sense. I think Jackson Browne was very special. I also love to listen to slave songs and a lot of which we don’t know the origin but the simplicity of how they wrote was spectacular.

How does the Song Writing process work for you? What comes fi rst, the song or the music? The lyrics you write, how do they come to you?

My writing changes as most song writers I think. Mostly I’m celebratory and encouraging at the positive things in life but I do have a dark side, that side of my writing is mostly secret.

One of the first songs I ever wrote, Surviving, was about the child abuse I suffered. It got to painful to perform it as I have to go back to that place. It is one of the songs we recorded recently at The Convent and it was very weird to be sitting at the piano in what was once a holy place, singing about the pain of what I suffered and also to those who are still suffering. Most times I just get the urge to write and can sit and work out a few simple chords and form a song, so I feel very lucky to have that ability. I don’t keep a journal anymore but I did most of my life and I have 1000s of writings that actually formed poems or rhymed, which I still pull out. Most is no use as there was a lot of trauma I don’t really like to delve through so it does vary.

How is your most recent album going, how is it being received? It has been amazing, especially when I choose

not to go with the download option. I have now decided that we will put Feelin’ Good up for download in January. I tried to be true to the music, but in these hard times, something little is better than nothing at all in the music industry and as I fund everything myself I really can’t afford to be missing out on income just because I’m annoyed at the state of the music industry I may just be a musical prostitute for a little while longer.

Can you tell me a bit more about your band and your other musical associates?

Nick McConkey (guitar) has been with me just over four years. He has grown with me and sacrificed so much for my music. He has great loyalty and faith that we will grow and grow. He’s actually so protective of me though I think of him as a little brother but we have been through so much together. His playing is amazing and I’m so proud that he’s actually being noticed now. He plays within my voice and he doesn’t over play. He believes in the message and I love how he knows my voice more than anyone else. I hope one day I can give him his dream to play music full time. Peto (drums) & Janny (bass) are brothers originally from Slovakia and living in Northern Ireland over 12 years. Peto joined first midtour in 2015 so we had a dep until he could free himself up. Janny saw what we were creating and wanted to join and it was perfect timing as we were losing our old bass player as his dad was ill with cancer. They have

been playing from they were kids, it’s unreal how they are locked in together. Peter once said “my right foot is his left, we just know Kaz” I thought it was a perfect choice of words for them. They come from a prog rock background and are so much more than what they play for me. They have brought an extra dynamic to the band that I love, it’s power, it elevates me. The three of them give me so much security on stage that I know if I’m tired or struggling they will give me that kick up the backside or that cotton wool cover to keep me right and that is very special.

Do you prepare everything before taking the songs to the band or is it a collaborative process when you all meet up?

I write the songs then I take them to the band, most times I will send it raw, Nick & Yanny will work out the fancy chords that I can’t play, then we hit rehearsals. Nick works his solos out himself at home, before or after, depending if I just hit them with a new song at rehearsals. We record everything and then work out what’s best after. For me this suits, I’m a vocalist first, they are musicians first, so it’s back to front for me to work out the music and structure first. We have a great balance and great versatility as they might like something I’ve written, that I don’t like myself which makes me giggle on stage sometimes when they want to do a certain song I wrote but don’t really feel it on stage. I love that we are different in our approach but yet together on implementing

it. I guess that is just trust and we have an abundance of that for each other.

Are there any songs that you are particularly proud of, that have a particular resonance for you? They are my creations, some are better than others, some have a special message, some are fun but I am proud of them all so much, proud that I had the courage to write my life into song. I’m most proud of Because You Love Me as I wrote that for Avril my daughter who went off to Wolverhampton Uni. I wanted her to take a message with her always that even though I can’t leave, I will be here for her when she needs me. The response from audiences shocked me, grown men crying at signings, women telling me stories of their own children at Uni and how they needed the song to help them. It still overwhelms me, most times I cry with them and why not, this is what music is. It’s a healer, a lamp post to lean ona pillow to lay your weary head on when you want to take a moment from life. That makes me very proud that so many have taken to a simple letter that I wrote for my daughter.

What is your ambition for your career, or where do you see yourself in 10 years from now?

I’m not that ambitious really, of course I want to be successful but I’m not fi xated on becoming the next poster girl. I’m a realist, I only surfaced with my own songs about 6 years ago and only touring for the past 3 and I have done so much. I’m also a 43yr old grandmother

of 3 and want to leave a legacy for them. In all reality mainstream music is hard graft, I think you need to be young to cope with today’s expectations. I’m very happy with who I am as an artist, I live each day as it comes, I don’t expect anything from anyone but I do get excited if good things happen, after all I’m living my dream. A dream I never had the chance to go after so every good thing that happens in my career will be a blessing. Ten years from now I will probably take to the road with my partner if we’re both still here and just follow the wind, although I doubt it would be on the back of a Harley. I’d love to be in a position to travel to different places and learn about their musical culture. My bucket list is growing the more I learn of amazing musical exports. Another dream I guess but if I know myself at all, I will do it. Music is what keeps my demons at bay so it will always take me where it wants me to go, I’ve just got to hold on for the ride.

Thanks Kaz. It’s been a real pleasure talking to you. Thank you for all your support at BM, it means the world to me. You were in fact the first publication to feature me and that’s something I appreciate.

Kaz x

Madeleine Peyroux TAKING IT TO THE CHURCH

Twenty years ago Madeleine Peyroux literally exploded onto the music scene with her debut album, Dreamland attracting enormous world-wide acclaim and critical appraisal.

Verbals: Iain Patience Visuals: Natasha Thomas

Catapulted from virtual obscurity to the fashionable music limelight, Peyroux was initially bewildered by the change in her fortunes but also found herself burdened to an extent by the critical enthusiasms of many commentators who considered her to be the new Billie Holiday.

‘For a long time I felt I was in a bad situation, being viewed as a copyist, devalued in some way. I thought if people want to hear Billie Holiday go out and listen to her, not me. I was unsure of my own worth. I didn’t record for many years but I’m over that now, I’ve experience and I know what I want to do,’ she says.

And with seven albums behind her, she sets out her stall with a new, ten-track release that mirrors her interests and showcases her voice admirably as an elemental force with its own life.

Secular Hymns started out as Peyroux’s tribute to those songs, many standards, tracks that lie deep in the musical psyche and are widely known by most. ‘Music has been our spiritual life,’ she points out, so I think of these as hymns, secular hymns –songs that are individual, personal, introverted.’

Tracks include Stephen Foster’s Hard Times, the traditional African-American spiritual, Trampin’, and covers from the modern music mix featuring Townes Van Zandt, Tom Waits, Allen Toussaint, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and bluesman Willie Dixon. An assured, yet assuredly eclectic, range of material that propels her voice centre-stage while also highlighting the dynamics and quality of her backing band, guitarist Jon Herrington and bassist Barak

Mori, a set-up she confirms works well for her. ’It’s a very good fit for me,’ she says. “It’s been eye-opening working with these guys for the past three years. And the space between the music - silence - is like a fourth player.’

Peyroux is quick to acknowledge her good fortune, her sheer luck in making the grade in a music world bursting at the seams with aspirants and new talent. Looking back on her start-up as a Parisian street-singer and player she admits with disarming modesty and honesty how grateful she is for the success and good fortune her career has provided.

In reality, her career as a professional kickedoff as a street-singer in France when she was still

its depths. She was initially likened to Holliday but there’s also traces of Ella Fitzgerald and Bessie Smith there in the delivery, the phrasing and the general tasty mix and capacity. This is a stillyouthful lady with a strangely appealing quality who is now self-assured, confident, relaxed and aware of her own worth and importance.

France, with its long tradition and history of jazz-bias and balladry, was almost a natural fit for the young Peyroux twenty-plus years ago and enabled her to gain a toe-hold in the ever-changing, swift-moving international musical world. Initially from Georgia in the USA, a deep-South state with a strong blues and roots music heritage, she moved first to New York, picking up on ukulele while listening to her father’s record collection and honing her skills and interests in roots, blues and jazz, followed by California before moving, following a

a wet-behind-the-ears kid in her teens, in Paris’s renowned Latin Quarter. From there she progressed to working with bands, but also always anchored to her love of traditional, roots and bluesy music with her acoustic guitar and seductive voice both stealing and steering the show.

In many ways, Peyroux is a jazz-singer and her delectable, sultry voice holds more than a trace of old jazz standard-bearers in

family divorce, to Paris with her mother back around the mid-80s, and says that while never fully encouraged to turn to music as a career, she was never discouraged by her estranged parents:

“I wouldn’t say they supported it but more that they accepted it much more than many other parents would have. They never tried to stop or obstruct me in that,” she confirms with a laugh.

‘For a long time I had no real sense of identity. When

FOR A LONG TIME I HAD NO REAL SENSE OF IDENTITY

people asked me where I came from, even as a kid, I’d be sort of unsure though I could always reply with a Brooklyn patois. I was in France but American, I was a bit of a rebel in some ways, I guess.’

Now with her seventh album in the can, released in September 2016, Peyroux expresses her genuine delight with the latest project, an album recorded in a small Norman church in rural Oxfordshire but which has a clear, crisp sound and is no doubt destined for considerable international acclaim.

‘We wanted to do an album that reflected where we’re at now, after a few years together and wanted a live feel to the whole thing. We had a mixture of songs we’d sort of piled up day by day, the repertoire of about three years work. There was a slow-build feel about it. It just felt right,’ she says.

‘I’d been invited to play at this church as part of a

concert-dinner affair by the French chef Raymond Blanc. At the sound check I was singing Randy Newman’s song, Guilty, and it was amazing the way my voice sounded in the cavernous room. It has a wooden ceiling that gave my voice a reverb and my live engineer, Doug Dawson, told me I should try making a record there,’ she explains.

A few months down the line, she did just that, arriving with her engineer and Jon Herington and Barak Mori in-tow to take over the church for a nearlive, straight-forward nooverdub recording session, resulting in her latest album, Secular Hymns.

‘We’d all become really close and were stretching to come up with some new sounds. Jon had become really versatile on guitar and Barak was good with the bow. Plus, they both like to sing, so were up for that too. Jon said he’d always wanted to do it

and had done it previously at a Xmas show we did in Detroit. It was just a blast playing with Jon and Barak and had so much to do with the interplay among us. It all worked well. It was exciting and always fulfilling. It’s a recording that reflects the organic way we had been working as a trio on the arrangements of the songs,’ says Peyroux with evident satisfaction and pleasure.

DISCOGRAPHY

SECULAR HYMNS – 2016

KEEP ME IN YOUR HEART FOR A WHILE ( BEST OF MADLEINE PEYROUX ) – 2014

THE BLUE ROOM – 2013

STANDING ON THE ROOFTOP – 2011

BARE BONES – 2009

HALF THE PERFECT WORLD – 2006

CARELESS LOVE – 2004

DREAMLAND – 1996

MADELEINE PEYROUX SECULAR HYMNS

IMPULSE RECORDS

Any new release from US-French genre crossing perfectionist Madeleine Peyroux is inevitably going to catch a load of sales, attention and coverage. This is a blueslady once noted for her Billie Holiday-like vocal strength and

her willingness to transcend musical boundaries, moving effortlessly between styles, eras and influences with barely a thought. Secular Hymns, released in September is her seventh offering and, once again, she has pulled off the enviable trick of producing a top-notch album that tears at the heartstrings while always throwing up unexpected covers that make you sit up and take note. With ten tracks, all of them covers, Peyroux reaches deep into the musical psyche for numbers that most of us probably, if not certainly, already know. Tom Waits gets an outing, riding alongside that late Texan rebel and master of modern Americana, Townes Van

Zandt. Willie Dixon slips easily into the set with a wonderful take on the classic, If The Sea Was Whiskey, while Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s anthem, Shout Sister Shout also ripples through. Add an unexpected dash of Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky (From Now On) by Allen Toussaint and a stand-out version of Stephen Foster’s American depression hymn, Hard Times Come Again No More, and you have an album that is well worth catching from a soulful, sultry blueslady who keeps her feet firmly in blues and roots music while being always open to explore other musical byways.

IAIN PATIENCE

Aynsley Lister LOOKING AT THE WORLD

Our man has a brand new album out titled Eyes Wide Open, so Pete caught up with Aynsley to discuss all matters related and other things, too…

Verbals: Pete Sargeant Visuals: Alexandre Coesnon

You seem to be more and more inspired to write by the world around you – I feel the same way…are you a news junkie? It’s a chronic state to get into. I'm less an avid news follower than an avid people watcher! I'm fascinated by what I see around me, Pete. There's so much around us in everyday life to write about and I always find it easier to write from real life than completely fabricating an idea. The obvious exception on this album is Il Grande Mafioso on which I wrote a kind of story based around similar themed films I've seen over the past couple of years.

Did you go for a ‘live’ sound on the new album as opposed to layering?

I had an interesting chat with Eric Johnson on this topic not long ago. (Considers) I definitely wanted this album to be more raw and edgy than the previous one, so yes, I didn't layer up the tracks as much. I just added what I thought was needed rather than going too far and getting all 'studio' with it!! I think the music benefits from ‘this less is more’ kind of approach. Layering up too much can soften it out a bit in my opinion and make it sound too produced which whilst for some songs it might sound good, the majority would lose something.

Please tell us more about the song Il Grande Mafioso. I love gangster films and quite a few I've seen over the past few years left me with an idea for a song going

round my head. The theme for this one is a guy caught up in a card game in a dingy late-night smokey bar. He's playing against gangsters and gets in too deep... But he can't tell anyone! His only option is to pay or his number is up!! Loved writing this!

II Grande Mafioso does rock - what’s the best rock’n’roll swagger recording NOT by the Rolling Stones? ACDC - If You Want Blood You've Got It. This whole live album is brilliant from start to finish. It's got swagger, energy and attitude in aces and the whole band are playing their asses off during what, in my opinion, is their best ever period.

You must, apart from electric, have a favourite acoustic gem, Aynsley?

Neon by John Mayer - live version from 'Where a The Light Is'. This is not only a great song but an impeccable performance showing John’s skill not just as a great songwriter and singer but as a scarily good acoustic guitarist. The guitar grooves like hell and has a cheeky kind of self-assuredness to it - he's taking what is a pretty clever guitar part and is jamming around with it - just because he so obviously can! On top of that his singing is flawless too.

Have you met Tommy Castro? I see you’re doing one of his tunes. Been a fan ever since discovering him on a family holiday to San Francisco when I was about 15. The song I've done on this album was the first of his I ever

heard and always fancied doing it. I met Tommy for the first time last year and it turns out he knew who I was and was already aware of a couple of my albums, haha.

Where are you planning to tour next?

U.K., Germany, Holland, Czech Rep., Austria, Switzerland up to Christmas then more new territories next year across Europe. Also plans in place to hit the US at some point next year I think. Tour starts on September 22 in London.

Maybe not just this record, but which of your own recordings show you at your most a,aggressive b,relaxed c,questioning?

Aggression - Everything I Have To Give (Eyes Wide Open). I think we got this in two takes. I really went for it on this and so my fingers were pretty ripped up afterwards. I just wanted that no-holds-barred kinda thing and so cranked the amp up to 10, plugged straight in with a cable and hit record. Relaxed - Dishevelled (Eyes Wide Open). I was pretty chilled out recording this. It's a laid back song and as a result there's lots of space in it sonically. It's easy to fill that space so it definitely helps to be in the right frame of mind when singing and playing on something like this. I remember doing the vocal on this pretty late at night to get that sort of grainy texture.

Questioning - I guess What's It All About (Equilibrium). An introspective song written on one of those days that we all get from time to time. I actually had the chorus

to this song 10 years previously but never used it until 2009 when I wrote it into a full song for this album

but wasn't expecting to enjoy it all quite as much as her! I

was amazed at the variety of bands though, and there were three I'd never heard of before that totally got my attention! They were SIXX:A.M, Temperance Movement and Rival Sons. If I had to pick one of the three I'd say Rival Sons - they totally blew me away!

I'd say Rival Sons - they

low expectations but we’ve all done it!

Which artist did you go to see perform with low expectations but ended up impressed –we’ve all done it! I went to Download

Festival at Donington this summer, mainly because my wife Steph festivals so

Steph loves that kind of heavier stuff. I just love festivals so

I used to do that with a

far back I'm almost doubled

Tell me three things you have learned NEVER to do onstage…I used to harangue Jon Amor to always have a spare guitar behind him and I was there the time when he didn’t! Haha, ok... Not to jump down into the crowd without checking how high it is! I used to do that with a wireless guitar and a few times it was way higher than I'd imagined!! Trying to look cool when you've just landed pretty badly and almost broke your ankles ain't easy! I’m quite flexible and can lean so far back I'm almost doubled over. I used to lean right back while playing and smile at my drummer Bunny (Boneto) but it freaked him out so much I realised it wasn't a good idea mid song..... Don't want him dropping his sticks, haha! Oh, and not be aware of rogue cables across the stage and

SOMETIMES IT JUST TAKES SOMEONE TO PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE FOR YOU, TO REALISE YOU'RE STRESSING OVER NOTHING!

trip up in front of the crowd as once demonstrated by a drummer at a festival I did.

Your current favoured electric and acoustic guitars for live shows and why?

My Les Paul and Strat which were both built by Damian Probett and then my old 60's arch top thing that I use for slide. They've been my three main guitars for a while now and I can't see that changing any time soon - they give me what I need and are all great examples of each type of guitar.

Name a recording (an album maybe) that really ‘grew’ on you and has ended up as essential listening? What is it about this recording that you value? Currently really getting into Ryan Adams. My dad lent me a few albums a few years back but it didn't really grab me. Recently I keep hearing his songs and now I 'get it' more. He's got some great lyrics and some really great songs and I find myself being more drawn into what it is he does. Maybe it just wasn't that 'instant' thing and it needed time to grow on me haha.

Every time I get a ‘Best Of…’ of anybody, there’s a song or two missing that I wish had been included….can you think of an instance of this? What are the missing items that you would like to have seen included?

Hmm.... Tricky one - it's all subjective really. Tell you what, when I see these kind of 100 greatest whatever things in magazines it's just a few people's take on it. There was

one with the 100 greatest singers of all time in it earlier this year and there were loads they missed out! But hey, we're all different and we've all got a different idea of what 'great' is haven't we?

If it was that blues one in another publication. They missed out Captain Beefheart! Who could torch 95 of the 100 they listed! As could John French of The Magic Band That’s what I mean, Pete!

Handful of Doubt –what’s the background here please?

It's centred around self-doubt and thinking something is

bigger than it actually is and getting yourself all wound up about it. Sometimes it just takes someone to put things in perspective for you, to realise you're stressing over nothing! Are you coming to any of the shows?

Almost certainly, so catch up again then?

DISCOGRAPHY

EYES WIDE OPEN – 2016

HOME – 2015

TOWER SESSIONS – 2010

EQUILIBRIUM – 2009

UPSIDE DOWN – 2007

AYNSLEY LISTER

EYES WIDE OPEN

STRAIGHT TALKIN’ RECORDS

Production here by Aynsley and a neat engineering job by Andrew Banfield which doesn’t smooth any of the sonic bite away from the instruments or vocals, this set finds our man with a fresh set of songs working the drums-basskeys-guitar line-up. Lister tends to wait till he has a varied collection of numbers, before putting a new record out and that’s the case here. We talk about inclusions in an accompanying chat but the highlights embrace a left-field crime fiction item in Il Grande Mafioso and Tommy Castro’s uplifting Right As Rain. The variety of guitars utilised only helps things along, Steve Amadeo keeps the basslines nimble, the sometime rather New

Orleans style drumming is by Boneto Dryden and the keyboard work mainly Andrew Price. The attack of opener All Of Your Love has a grainy vocal and light arpeggio guitar before the heavier axe lines starts up - KWS fans, try this one. The sad sounding Won’t Be Taken Down is the kind of number Gary Moore would have mugged to death but Lister takes a cruise through it, over the block Hammond chords. Time sounds very American, all clipped triads and reflective lyrics and maybe the best singing here, first class effort. Kalina has its own story to tell. Handful Of Doubt has a dusty Texas vibe, hammer-on’s and pounding drums. Lister can do this stuff well but sounds more himself elsewhere. A tinge of Jimi is heard on the lovely Other Part Of Me. Blues-flecked songs by an inspired artist with a splendid group plus a fruity horn section here and there so depth and colour abound.

PETE SARGEANT

Kent DuChaine DELTA BLUES MASTER

Kent DuChaine is one of the last to have direct connections to Robert Johnson, via travelling companion Johnny Shines, and leads the authentic touring and performing lifestyle of the original Delta Blues legends.

Verbals: Steve Yourglivch Visuals: Courtesy Carrick Music

In the 1970's Kent rode the rails, living variously in an old Cadillac, tents or motorhomes, performing almost every night. When there is a gap in his full-on touring schedule these days, Kent can be found at home in South Georgia with his wife Sarah pursuing his other great love, fishing. They live on the shore of a large lake in a house Kent built with his own hands, reading DIY manuals as he went. Since the early 1990's he has been a regular visitor to the UK and Europe – well over 100 overseas tours now and counting. With another UK visit in the pipeline, I wanted to catch up with Kent – not an easy task – and get him to answer a few questions for Blues Matters.

Hi Kent, hope you are keeping well. Thanks for talking to Blues Matters, we really appreciate it. You have always been a regular visitor to the UK and you have a new tour scheduled for later this year. Tell us a bit about how your connection with the UK Blues scene began and what keeps you returning. I was introduced to the UK Blues scene by Robert Tilling. He suggested I go play The Gloucester Blues Festival and Burnley Blues Festival. So I went and played there in, I think, '93? After that I decided to run the roads more in Britain and Europe to see how the gigs would come together. I met John and Margaret Morgan up in Scotland and they agreed to take on my bookings. I worked hard to build up lots of places to play, so I'll just keep running those roads.

Indeed your most recent CD, ‘Too Many Snakes In The Road’, a double live album was recorded in the UK. Your shows are more than a musical display, you give your audience a blues education too. Is that something you attach great importance to? It's important to me for my audiences to know where

this music comes from, so getting them to look back and hopefully listen to the old blues guys is of the utmost importance.

You discovered blues at an early age, and I know you were influenced by the early Ann Arbor Blues Festivals. Who were the acts you saw there that particularly left their mark on you and why? A whole host of them. Especially Bukka White, Son House, Johnny Shines, Fred McDowell and of course Wolf and Muddy.

played the bars and concert halls, in part, because we popularised their music. We got to play or hang out with all the cool cats.

You also spent some formative years in Texas - Austin I believe - what did you learn from that experience? Texas Blues has its own unique twist doesn’t it?

I learned that there were other young cats that dug the blues and could play. Antones was bringing in all the stars and of course Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Kim Wilson were keeping the blues alive down there too. I played all winter long at all the spots, but to be honest, the money was hard to come by. Nice weather though for winter! You’ve been playing mostly solo for many years now. What made you

An early band you were in, ‘Aces, Straights and Shuff les’ included a young Kim Wilson and attracted the attention of Willie Dixon no less, who helped you get a recording contract. Tell us a little about that period. Our band was gigging through the five state area and opened the doors for places that the Chicago Blues artists could play. Willie heard us play and helped us get a recording deal. All the greats came through and

go down that route and how do you maintain the endless touring regime you set yourself?

I started solo when I was about thirty. There was too much interest in the party and not enough focus on the music, so I broke away and decided to run the roads on my own. Life on the road is great and the more gigs the better. I have been running hard my whole life and it just seems like it's natural for me.

WE GOT TO PLAY ALL THE GREAT BLUES FESTIVALS IN NORTH AMERICA, AND BEING WITH JOHNNY CONNECTED ME TO SOME COOL OLD BLUES CATS

BLUES TOP TEN

We asked Kent for his Top Ten all-time favourite blues tracks and, not surprisingly, they included a large percentage of the old Delta legends and the early pioneers of Chicago Urban blues. Kent couldn't strip the list down to just ten – he turned it up to eleven! Robert Johnson stands like a giant over the list.

1 ROBERT JOHNSON CROSSROADS

Has to be at the top simply because of the legend connected with him. Also because several cats were using the same lick in their songs from the same period.

2 ROBERT JOHNSON PREACHIN’ BLUES

This single chord song is great as it shows Robert’s influence from Son House.

3 ROBERT JOHNSON HELLHOUND

I love the desperation of dayto-day survival displayed here.

4 ROBERT JOHNSON WALKIN’ BLUES

Shows so many influences and tells us the movement needed to keep these blues alive!

5 MUDDY WATERS MOJO

I just love the groove and the message of the voodoo charms. Watch out girls!

6 MUDDY WATERS

HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN

Typical Bluesman bragging and wanting companionship.

7 MUDDY WATERS MANNISH BOY

Pretty much for the same reasons as Hoochie Coocie Man. A classic.

9 ELMORE JAMES DUST MY BROOM

That classic slide guitar lick, wow. Shows Robert Johnson’s influence on Chicago Blues. An incredible voice and groove.

8 HOWLIN’ WOLF LITTLE RED ROOSTER

Classic Wolf. Shows his influence from Charlie Patton, a great groove. Plus the Stones launched Wolf into the limelight, thanks so much.

10

SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON HELP ME

Great minor groove telling it like it is, the women rule.

11

BUKKA WHITE ABERDEEN MISSISSIPPI BLUES

One of the coolest slide blues players ever, the master of the slide groove. Such power singing to his woman.

Your 1934 National Steel Leadbessie is a wonderful instrument. How did you two meet and become inseparable?

Leadbessie came to me in 1977 through a friend that built guitars. She's a 1934 National Steel and is kitted out with heavy gauge strings to cope with my powerful style of playing. I had once played Bukka White's National and instantly fell in love with them.

Tell us a bit about the time you spent touring and recording with the great, late Johnny Shines. He must have been some character.

Johnny was a fine man and a wonderful travelling companion. We did about two hundred shows together and travelled all over North America. There again, I had been gigging all over the South for some years, so I

had lots of places for us to play. The money wasn't great but we worked a lot and sold T-shirts and cassettes that I made up, so Johnny was putting some cash away. He got stronger from all the playing and we got to fish in some awesome places. Sony recorded the Smithsonian Festival and released us and others on a Grammynominated album. I took Johnny to Texas to record for Blind Pig with Snooky Pryor on harmonica - they gave it a WC Handy Award after Johnny died. We got to play all the great blues festivals in North America, and being with Johnny connected me to some cool old blues cats.

Finally, what’s in the pipeline for Kent DuChaine in the short to medium term for your fans to look forward to?

Well I'm still touring heavy. I am hoping to fi nd time to put

down some more Robert Johnson tracks and I'd love to record an album of his tunes.

Keep up to date with Kent at www.kentduchaine.com

DISCOGRAPHY

TOO MANY SNAKES IN THE ROAD (DOUBLE) – 2013

BROKE, LONELY, HUNGRY & HOMELESS BUT STILL

SMILING – 2012

ROUGH CUT – 2004

LIVE AT NORDERSTEDT, BLUES

SONGS AND STORIES – 2000

LIVE AT ‘LES LOUFIATS’ – 1997

SHE'S IRRESISTIBLE – 1996

TAKE A LITTLE RIDE

WITH ME – 1994

LOOKIN' BACK – 1993

JUST ME & MY GUITAR – 1991

Red Lick Records, PO Box 55, Cardiff CF11 1JT sales@redlick.com www.redlick.com

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DEVON ALLMAN RIDE OR DIE TIMES OF DIVISION

RUF RECORDS

As the son of Gregg Allman, and the Nephew of the lamented Duane Allman, Devon Allman has some big shoes to fill, but on Ride Or Die, he proves that he is more than able to deliver. Over the twelve tracks on this album, his bluesy, soulful voice, and virtuoso and sensitive guitar playing, paint pictures that suit the mood, and concept of the album. The themes of addiction, and redemption are touch stones throughout the album, whilst the struggle that we all have to find a place in the world are addressed in many of the songs, such as Galaxies, Find Yourself and Say Your Prayers, whilst the wah-wah drenched Watch What You Say, and the acoustic ballad of Vancouver, with its double tracked lead vocals, and narrative story telling show the two sides of the performers personality. Jazz saxophone from Ron

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Holloway adds a good new dimension, and the string arrangements of Bobby Yang help to deepen the soundscapes of the whole of the release. A surprising cover of the Cure’s A Night Like This, with its synths, and vocodered vocals and guitar, and tight playing, end the album. If you like your guitars played well, supportive and able musicians, your vocals delivered with integrity, and song-writing that looks at the world from a new angle, then this powerful, and quality release has a lot to commend it.

BEN MACNAIR

ANDREW RIVERSTONE

SUNNY MONDAY

ATLANTIC HIGHWAY RECORDS

THE MUSTANGS THE BEST OF THE MUSTANGS

TRAPEZE

Top British blues-rockers, The Mustangs, have now been well established on the festival and club circuit for over a decade and this bumper bundle 18 track compilation CD has been drawn from their extensive 16 year back catalogue. Double Headed Romeo is a new recording of a

New album, Sunny Monday is a mix of classic covers and Andrew Riverstone originals. The album has a laid back appeal with guitar and vocals pulling out the lyrics, with added percussive spice on numbers such as Lies Won’t Make You Turn. Via the use of vintage amps and modern loops he has with basic recording equipment delivered an album that is folky with the shading of blues. The Drum loops are earthy using items around the house including dried pulse shakers, gas canisters and Tibetan bowl in addition to the percussive cahon, darabuka and bongos. The numbers

rocking song that originally appeared on their debut album Let It Roll and still features regularly in their live shows. That opening track features all The

have a simplicity, but what is lacking for me is another layer to make the music fizz with its latent energy, to provide an emotional connection to the lyrics. There is no doubt the classics are given an acoustic Riverstone re-vamp whether Willie Dixon’s Don’t Judge A Book By The Cover or Dylan’s All Along The Watchtower. This is definitely back to the original rather than the Hendrix re-working. British Winter Blues, has a blues tempo with guitar that is raw but the vocals do not match the dirty guitar. Gentle and not really capturing the frustrations and anger at the cold when we want to fly south for some warmth. An acoustic album that entertains but does not set you alight, the lyrics in fact tell too much sometimes less is more so that your imagination fills in the gaps. That said it has acoustic appeal.

LIZ AIKEN

Mustangs trademarks with a pumping bassline from Ben McKeown, tasty guitar fills and vocals from Adam Norsworthy, sturdy drums from Jon Bartley and Derek

BLIND LEMON PLEDGE PLEDGE DRIVE OFEH RECORDS

Blind Lemon Pledge is the performing name of James Byfield, a San Francisco-based musician. This is his fifth album and he wrote all the material, sings and plays everything apart from harp (Jenny Reed) and sax (Rick Lecompte). The album has a range of styles which includes Americana as well as blues, second track Moon Madness being a good example as Jenny’s harp adds a blues element to a mid-paced piano tune with BLP intoning the lyrics in a gruff voice that some will find an acquired taste. The songs are good though, Nag Nag Nag demonstrating a sense of

Kingaby’s wailing harp. Empty Bottle is a catchy countryish song which rattles along amiably but Can’t Find A Lover is a furious rocker featuring thunderous drums, heavy guitar riffs and raw, edgy vocals. Over Too Soon is a gentle folky number about a perfect summer’s day featuring softly chiming acoustic guitar and restrained harp and guitar fills which add to the 60’s

humour in the lyrics and the larger production with sax is welcome, as is the upbeat performance with plenty of slide and resonator guitar on O Katrina which harks back to the New Orleans disaster. 5 Weeks Of Heaven is an overtly comic song: “I had five weeks of heaven and a lifetime of misery”, BLP apparently having been attracted by a tattoo of a pony visible when the girl was wearing a short skirt! You Can’t Get There From Here is an excellent late-night ballad which would fit well into many mainstream artists’ repertoires. Country blues features on You Know You Really Got The Blues and opener Run John Run has a Bo Diddley feel, so there is plenty of variety. For this reviewer the vocals remained an issue throughout; however, others may get past that aspect and enjoy the songs here.

JOHN MITCHELL

feel of this pretty song. The blues-soul of What Are You Trying To Say Is followed by a ferocious Cream style power rocker Nothing Stays The Same featuring crunching drums from Bartley and Norsworthy firing out vicious guitar licks. The driving Put Your Money On Me is a crowd pleaser and Honey Rock is an ensemble number that was recorded live in the studio as a reaction against

the digital music era. The delicate love song Precious Time is followed by a blues wailing harp intro to the blues-rocker The Line. The adventurous Find Your Love and Highwire are both from the Shaman & The Monkey CD which the band jokingly refer to as their “prog album”. The hard rocking and heavy riffing When God Met The Devil is a standout track and the catchy I’ll Meet You Anytime was recorded live at the Swanage Blues Festival (actually I think I may have been there). The album closes with the contemplative and emotional ballad In Need Of You which is possibly the only love song that references Jimmy Reed. Somebody should tell my wife! This is all killer no filler and a good place to start for any new Mustangs fans.

DAVE DRURY

SHAKIN’ STEVENS ECHOES OF OUR TIMES

HEC

When I saw this CD in the post I thought to myself, ‘Why send a rocker to a blues magazine?’ But wait, there is a soft spot for Shaky due to seeing him as the young Elvis in the original stage show in London when on honeymoon so I thought I’d give it a spin before I passed it to the wife. Oh

boy was I surprised!! Here are ten tracks that are just so damn good to listen to and enjoy and oh yes there is blues here. Great playing by the band throughout in this enterprising album that traverses blues and Americana styles with swing and style. Down In The Hole thumps into the speakers with rasping harmonica following before Shaky enters the fold and the song strides along vibrantly and makes a more than impressive introduction. The title song comes second and guitar and banjo skip along with the intro and the vocal is upbeat as it looks back at the past, enter a plaintive harmonica mid-section before the upbeat vocal steps back up. Magical and cheerful and maybe a bit anthemic. Behind Those Secrets And Lies is simply gorgeous and gentle. Other titles include The Fire In Her Blood that skips along in its’ storytelling, Down In Muddy Waters that is strident, Suffer Little Children is a corker of a blues number, slow, smouldering with stinging guitar and gospel harmonies. Love The World reminded me a little of some Tony Joe White style, bare and compulsive, the closing track Last Man Alive blows along carrying horns, piano and is pacey and provides a neat closing track. Shaky is in good voice and is alive and well and chosen damn good material and wrote or cowrote most of the songs here. This was a surprising album that grabbed and

held the attention and is a sheer delight to hear and therefore is highly recommended indeed.

TOBY ORNOTT

THE MARCUS KING BAND THE MARCUS KING BAND FANTASY

RECORDS

There are arguably far too many just-turned-twenty guitar guys out there, but Marcus King stands out from the pack of shredders with an inventive second album that melds a variety of influences into something all his own. Already endorsed by no lesser luminaries than Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, he will no doubt be thrilled to bits to learn that he gets a provisional thumbs up from Dave Osler as well. Curiously for a kid from Greenville, South Carolina, King’s vocals are somehow unmistakably reminiscent of Britain’s very own Rod the Mod in his blues and soul incarnation. Gorgeously soulful cuts such as Jealous Man and Rita Is Gone both sound like they should have been sizeable hits for Stewart, long before King was even born. Meanwhile, the modal guitar lines on Devil’s Land and Self-Hatred bring back the days when Jeff Beck was trying psychedelia

out for size. Guitar In My Hands is a double portion of countrified Allmanesque southern rock. Standout track Virginia sees the boy get his hard rock swagger on, with bags of dirty slide courtesy of the aforementioned Mr Trucks. It’s not all there yet, possibly because the music is so diverse that things somehow don’t quite gel as completely as would be necessary for an unrestrained recommendation. But don’t read that last comment as unduly dismissive. This boy has plenty has time on his side, and at least the potential to mature into a quite exceptional talent.

DAVID OSLER

stamped their own sense of purpose on the numbers from Walk My Path, with it stripped back Celtic tinged acoustic feel as we have a blues travelling song through to Howl For The Love, rock that tips it hat

to The Doors. This album sees the band, John Boos on guitar, lead vocalist Greig Taylor, and rhythm section drummer Allan Huntly and bassist David Atkinson joined by special guests adding tonal depth

GT’S BOOS BAND GT’S BOOS BAND INDEPENDENT

The follow-up album to GT’s Boos Band’s acclaimed album Steak House has been released. A self-titled album with ten original numbers and a John Lennon cover, Cold Turkey. The Band is a quartet of Scottish bluesmen who spice up the beat with granite rock. With the album three years in the making it has been shaped by the desire to add to the blues dimensions that cut through the mundane. Selfproduced the band have

DOM AND THE IKOS LIVE AND LOOSE AT THE HIPPODROME HAMBONE

Dom is of course singer and pianist Dom Pipkin, perhaps best known to the world at large for his work with Paloma Faith, but better known to blues fans as accompanist to Errol Linton and a friend of Jon Cleary and sharing the latter’s interest in the piano sounds of New Orleans. On this set he is backed by a couple of horns plus a rhythm section and oh, what a glorious noise they make. Loose is certainly the word for the opener, a cover of Professor Longhair’s cover of Hank Williams’ Jambalaya that boasts a particularly fine sax solo by Tony Rico Richardson; the next number up is Lee Dorsey’s slinky, funky Get Out My Life Woman and trombonist Matthew Benson has his turn to shine, adding some very individual and different

tones. Gotta Blow has Dom tearing it up on the organ, adding a very 60s feel to this frantic number. Other numbers include excellent covers of Earl King’s Those Lonely Lonely Nights, Longhair’s Mardi Gras In New Orleans and Sugarboy Crawford’s Iko Iko, keeping faith with the spirit of the originals. Those I’ve not mentioned yet are a slightly anarchic Nothing But The Blues, the ska meets the Crescent City sound of The Skinny Man Skank, and the slyly naughty That Bottom Line. Scattered throughout are the announcements from the stage, contained in short tracks labelled “Chat” which is quite a nice resolution to the problem of over familiar comments spoiling the flow of the album after repeated listening (personally, I prefer them left in, but I know some who definitely don’t). Throughout the band members add backing vocals, comments, encouragement, shouts and praise, all adding to the attractively loose feel of this highly recommended set.

VICTOR IAN LEYLAND

and variety. Jim Harcus superb Scottish harmonica player from Wang Dang Delta on a couple of tracks, including Amsterdam with its mournful harp integral to the opening before the beat picks up it is the playing from Jim than gives this track some tonal depth. The luscious strings from Sarah Kemp and keys from Steve Hamilton and additional

percussive undertones from Graham Young makes the Chain Of Love fit in the midway point of the album ensuring attention is maintained. GT’s Boos Band have been busy and this album is another step in the walk they are taking in the blues and should get them noticed. Closing with an instrumental JoJo, beautifully constructed and played but closing

with a whimper rather than a statement. Overall the album is just a little reserved, well produced, but I want the boys to feel the blues and let rip with their emotions on a few of the tracks to give the band a strong instantly recognizable sound. Well worth a listen and will always delight when a track is heard.

LIZ AIKEN

JAMES "BUDDY" ROGERS BY MY SIDE

JBR RECORDS

This CD features no less than 11 of the 12 tracks written by Rogers, and which when considered alongside his superb guitar playing and vocal contribution make this a no nonsense blues addition to anyone's collection. Canadian born Rogers has served his apprenticeship on the road and over the intervening two decades it has honed his talent. Though in truth he started even earlier than that with a band formed when he was only 11 years of age. Now then, he is the very epitome of a seasoned veteran blues man both vocally and with his

guitar work. On this CD, Rogers is backed by long time band mates Mike Wedge on bass and James Badger on drums, this long term affinity gives this CD a quality base from which it all flows. Joining the team on piano, B3 and wurly is Texas native Lewis Stephens who is known for his work with Freddie King, Delbert McClinton and Mike Zito. I particularly liked track six, Hell To Pay and equally bluesy track three, Can't Get You Off My Mind, but in truth there isn't a bad track on this disc. It opens with a ripper of guitar licks on Come Back To Me and showcases his vocal ability and lyrical writing skills. It does seem almost churlish to choose any tracks as favourites or otherwise when the total package is of such undoubted quality. This is one for the collection for sure and I'm delighted to have it to review.

TOM WALKER

ALLEN TOUSSAINT LIVE 1989 CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL FLOATING WORLD

In November 2015 the great New Orleans musical tradition suffered an immense blow with the death, from a heart attack in Madrid, Spain of Allen Toussaint. He was 77. Master of the keyboard, noted record producer, famous for his song writing (often using the alias ‘Naomi Neville’) he gave us some R&B milestones, such as Southern Nights (a hit for Glen Campbell) and the Yardbirds’ A Certain Girl, among many others. Here, with a terrific band behind him, he’s at the height of his prodigious powers aged just 51. As a live recording, this has been well recorded with that kind of close-to-thestage ambience which puts you in the front row audience. All the steamy

richness of New Orleans is here to experience, from the aptly titled opener, Fun Time, to the gentle Neville Brothers’ All These Things, which rolls straight into the rugged Who’s Minding the Store. This is piano-driven Louisiana R&B at its finest, and whenever you need reminding of how memorable Allen Toussaint was, turn up the volume, and dance around to his audience-participation delivery of Rockin’ Pneumonia and The Boogie Woogie Flu which segues into unadulterated New Orleans music with Laisser Le Bon Temps Rouler. And check out the lovely way he individually introduces his lady backing singers. It all makes for a memorable souvenir of a great performance by a great man.

ROY BAINTON

KURT CRANDALL TAKE IT OFF YESTERYEAR

A rare thing these days, a Bluesman with a sense of humour who actually has the chops to be worth listening to. Nearest thing I’ve heard in many years is Britain’s own Mark Harrison although Crandall is in the swing blues idiom rather than Harrison’s pure blues. He touches on subjects close to his experiences – falling in

love with a heptathlete on 8th Event or the attraction to the ladies of a stinky man on Dirty Pete. It is all good fun and he has an excellent voice as well as a pretty fine harmonica style. He has surrounded himself with some excellent sidemen including pianist Bill Heid (ex-Koko Taylor and Roy Buchanan). 9 of the tracks here are written by Crandall, including a couple of excellent instrumentals but my favourite track is the one he didn’t write – a hot and sweet version of Thelonious Monk’s Bolivar Blues – although TV Mama runs it close for his sharp harp playing. The album is essentially a very personal party mix but that being said, he has an appeal that is clearly universal. It is over seven years since his last album and word is that he is looking to go mainstream with this album – it is definitely good enough but he really needs to get to Europe and try the scene here, especially the festivals.

ANDY SNIPPER

MIKE SPONZA ERGO SUM EPOPS

Ok, how’s your Latin? OK then, have you brushed up on your Catullus recently? No? How about Ian Siegal then? Or Dana

Gillespie? Is the blues a universal language? Well, Italian guitarist/singer/ bandleader and European blues visionary Mike Sponza charts unexplored territory here, with those two aforementioned Brits helping out. Mike basically makes the point that the classical Latin poets addressed the same kind of concerns as Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, and Bob Dylan, and he sets out to prove it with this CD. The concept itself might sound pretentious and involved but it certainly works incredibly well. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, on this set Mike employs a tight rhythm section and some fine funky horn players to create a strong modern blues sound to back these timeless lyrics (albeit a little altered to fit the material, I somehow doubt Catullus wrote about feeling like a runaway train as on The Thin Line) – how about “Life is so short, so pour that good old wine, While we’re standing there and talking, we’re running out of time”, or Poor Boy, a romping, rollicking blues shuffle with Ian singing along, excellent slide guitar and punchy horns. It sounds like it should bear the writer credit “Trad.”, but no, it’s our man Catullus again. In case you’re wondering, Dana’s showcase is that aforementioned track The Thin Line where she wraps her distinctive voice around a slow, sensuous, relaxed number with dobro and sublime horns. Ironically enough, this is one of

JOANNA CONNOR SIX STRING STORIES

MC RECORDS

Open the fridge door, bring me some ice, anything, but after this guitar playing you need to cool down. I think my shirt’s been singed. I thought I knew my slide guitar players; not mentioning any names, lest they feel inferior by comparison, but Joanna Connor attacks you with such a tsunami of blistering riffs, notes and skilled slides it takes your breath away. Naturally, being a Chicago woman you’d expect authenticity in the blues, and she has

the best modern blues albums I have heard in a while. Yep, you need this. Catullus homo est, ita vero!

NORMAN DARWEN

DOUG MACLEOD LIVE IN EUROPE

UNDER THE RADAR MUSIC GROUP Live in Europe is a decade old performance that has been digitally cleaned up. It allows

it in spades. And what a vocalist. Her singing on We Stayed Together is utterly thrilling, punctuated throughout with that insistent, stinging guitar. Yet what makes this my personal blues CD of the autumn is the versatility of its moods. This is created by Joanna’s superb sixpiece band, notably with the almost supernatural percussion of Marion Lance Lewis on the mysterious instrumental Swamp Swim and the sinister jungle skins on Heaven, and you get an emotional breathing space with the laid-back mood of Golden. If you need any reassurance that the blues is alive, well and firing on all six, listen to Joanna Connor and you’ll be truly happy; just keep some ice close by.

ROY BAINTON

the guitarist, singer and raconteur Doug Macleod to delve deeply into his blues roots, and show his time worn vocals, and percussive slide and acoustic guitar to good effect. Although the crowd noises are kept to a minimum, and the only momentum to the set is provided by Macleod’s rhythmic feet, there is a lot of talent on display here, from the storytelling and fi ne slide on the long form 14 minute The New Panama Ltd, to the bluesy, down home beat of Cold Rain. Having worked with any number

BLUES TOP 50

of musicians, from Eddie Vinson, Big Joe Turner, Lowell Fulson, and Big Mama Thornton, Macleod is clearly an in-demand musician and at home on stage, whilst his songs have been covered by such performers as Eva Cassidy and Joe Louis Walker, this is a fi ne set of original songs from an acclaimed talent, and a good souvenir of a night, that was luckily caught on tape.

BEN MACNAIR

good measure we have Elvin Bishop enhancing There is Something On My Mind. There’s a terrifi c choice of vocalists too, notably Wee Willie Walker, Frank Bey and Terri Odabe. This is the soulful R&B of the West Coast played by a fi ne touring musician who’s appeared at the greatest festivals from New Orleans to San Diego, Italy to the Canary Islands. Little wonder Nancy’s been inducted into the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame. Mellow, meaty, rockin’ or rollin’, this is sax appeal at its very best.

ROY BAINTON

JOE STROUZER 9TH WARD TAPE

INDEPENDENT

NANCY WRIGHT PLAYDATE!

DIRECT HIT RECORDS

You’ve probably heard Nancy Wright on various records yet never realised who that terrifi c sax player was. Well, Downbeat magazine has compared her to King Curtis and other horn masters, and she fully deserves the comparison. This is a superb modern blues collection of 13 tracks shot through with funk. Here she’s joined by some big names who know quality musicianship when they hear it. On the stirring Blues For The Westside she’s joined by Joe Louis Walker on guitar and another great axeman, Tommy Castro on Willie Dixon’s I Got What it Takes, and just for

TATIANA PARÁ MY MOODS

LASER DISC

South America is slowly beginning to reveal its blues treasures and guitarist Tatiana Pará is certainly among them. She has been Guitar Player’s Brazilian columnist for getting on for a decade and is unsurprisingly recognised as one of that vast country’s top blues guitarists. I say “unsurprisingly” as I have listened to this all instrumental album a good few times now and she leaves no doubt whatsoever that she knows just what she wants and has the chops to pull

While this album has been recorded in New Orleans, within the district of 9th Ward, I was absolutely gob smacked to find that Joe Strouzer is a Geordie born and bred, his musicianship playing his take on authentic American acoustic blues is faultless, even more surprising is that his two supporting musicians on Lap Steel and Double bass did not rehearse the material prior to the recording and had only previously busked together on the streets of New Orleans. The album includes ten tracks that are covers of traditional blues songs recorded in fairly basic recording

it off. The opening track, Blues Party, is just that, a fine, pretty straightforward shuffle, before Tatiana heads for the stratosphere with My Dear Friend – who just happens to be Scott Henderson, the American guitar fiend! Sunset is quiet, thoughtful and evocative, whilst Blue Wave adds a gentle funk feel behind the leader’s jazz/ blues playing. ‘Les’ Power returns more or less to the blues pure

conditions using a reel to reel recorder from 1972 set up in the back of a van but the results are amazing with a very sharp clean sound obtained from the live takes, particularly impressive are Joe’s vocal work on Baby How Can It Be and his harmonica on St James Infirmary. Previously In the UK Joe was selected by Vice Magazine as London’s best harmonica busker, this lifestyle has clearly left an impression on him as he tackles these old American blues songs with real compassion and gusto, the fact that all the material are covers is irrelevant the enjoyment is hearing them performed by a young British artist creating another déjà vu moment when British musicians brought the blues to America in the 1960’s. A real contender for a blues award this year.

ADRIAN BLACKLEE

and simple, though there is nothing simple about Tatiana’s accomplished playing on this excellent up tempo shuffle. Night Lights is quiet and reflective again, a little jazzy, whilst First Time In L.A. mixes blues licks with some long swooping playing. The closer has a heavier approach, with some heavier blues-rock riffing, though there are quieter interludes. The band support well throughout,

KING OF THE TRAMPS CUMPLIR CON EL DIABLO

OLD SCHOOL RECORDS

The title translates as Meet The Devil something that King Of The Tramps a four piece band from Iowa sound as they probably have or will in the future, blues being the Devil’s music and all that .This is their fourth release but their first self-produced. They are Todd Partridge on guitar and vocals Adam Audlehelm on percussion and keyboards Ryan Aum on drums and Ryan McAlister on bass a real tower of power. The heavy grinding organ infused opener See You On The Other Side opens things up with a country take and snarling vocals melodic and mean with tight horn section. Ain’t No God

but this is indeed Tatiana’s show. Now there are, regrettably, still some in the blues scene –mentioning no names – who feel that the current crop of “girl guitarists” (their words, not mine) owe their success more to their looks than their musical abilities. Ms Pará can certainly shut them up!

NORMAN DARWEN

is a fight between good and evil great interplay between the band and their instruments. Nashville Line is a sneering look at the hypocrisy of the music business there these boys mean business and ooze bluesy roots style. Last Man Standing has a rawness and symmetry about living in Iowa and associated environmental factors awesome slide guitar. This is genre defying music and rolls on like a freight train and certainly is anarchic in theme and quality. Airplane Bottles depicts drunken behaviour on planes has a steady roll and snarly vocals and harmonica best track. James Brown has a funky tone and Depression is ironically uplifting. Old Crow mellows the frenetic pace as does the final song ’89 Cutlass. This is simply a must buy release. Play it loud and immerse yourself in the alternative side of the tracks you will not be disappointed.

COLIN CAMPBELL

LITTLE MIKE HOW LONG?

ELROB RECORDS

Through the musical path that led him to play with

the cream of the blues and blues/rock worldwide and to become one of the most loved and respected multi-instrumentalist blues in the whole blues scene, since the mid-eighties Little Mike has been one of the greatest torchbearers of the genre, along with his own band, The Tornadoes. How Long?, Little Mike's new solo album, is a true homage to blues, although it also offers, at times, interesting insights about Little Mike's universal love for music through different sonic elements embroidered in his style and in his songs. When it comes to play harmonica or piano, everybody knows that Little Mike is a real phenomenon but often many forget how much of an excellent singer the American artist is too. His great skills as a vocalist can be fully admired in tracks like When My Baby Left, Eddie Taylor's Bad Boy and the song that closes the album, Sittin 'Here Baby, the definite proof that we face a true artist in many respects. The class of the New York born and raised bluesman emerges repeatedly on both the instrumental Cotton Mouth and Sam's Blues, where his superb harmonica playing dictates the music tempos to the talented musicians that have accompanied him in the studio for this album. Smokin' is perhaps the song that symbolizes the most Little Mike's charisma, with the artist tailoring a wonderful blues up-tempo, built with his

favourite instruments, harmonica and piano in a rousing and highly entertaining tune. One of the most beautiful surprises of the album is the song Not What Mama Planned, a track that incorporates shades of blues, jazz, funk and even tinges of Southern Rock. Whatcha' Gonna Do also offers a different angle of Little Mike's vast music background, by carrying throughout the song a beautiful, solid R&B. Two songs which are true testimony of the musical impact that artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray, with which Little Mike has performed throughout his career, have also given to the rich and eclectic sound of this very talented artist. How Long? is a record that entertains, captivates, surprises and moves at the same time. Recommended. CLIVE RAWLINGS

DAVID BROMBERG BAND THE BLUES, THE WHOLE BLUES AND NOTHING BUT THE BLUES

REDHOUSE RECORDS

Any new release from US roots master guitarist David Bromberg is bound to whip up a fair music feeding frenzy. For around fifty years, I personally have been an unashamed,

outright huge fan of this guy and his spectacularly significant, genre-crossing musical magic. When I first heard him back around 1970, I became an avowed fan, chasing up releases as and when and where I could find them. With this latest release, Bromberg – often viewed as the Godfather of Americana - has again shown just how wonderfully versatile and untamed he really is. This is Delaware-based Bromberg returning to his blues-roots with complete ease and startling control. Kicking off with Walking Blues, he goes on through the old traditional number 900 Miles, a simply superb take on Delia and a wonderful version of Bulldog Blues mixed together with his own material always brimming with his trademark Jewish humour and laconic, lyrical delivery. It hardly need be said it features some exceptional fretwork with the iconic Bromberg switching effortlessly between, electric, acoustic and slide styles at the drop of the proverbial hat. When I ask about the release, he says he considers it the best thing he’s done to date, heaping praise on producer Larry Campbell (ex-Dylan/Levon Helm) for his understanding of what Bromberg was aiming to produce and Justin Guip who engineered the project with minimal fuss or difficulty in the studio.

‘What do I hope to get from this album,’ he muses briefly before chuckling, ‘Worldwide domination!’

With The Blues, The Whole Blues and Nothing But The Blues, Mister David Bromberg just might surprise himself with more than a small measure of global sales success. This is a very, very good, satisfying release that simply cements his position as a true US roots music icon.

IAIN PATIENCE

OK, whatever floats your boat. Other songs, such as Hobo Soup and Junkman, offer stark portraits of the cityscape. Not every cut works as well as the others. Black Stallion – which, yes, is a song about a horse – apparently stayed in the vaults a long time. And there it should have remained. But the real thing here isn’t the words. It’s Lex Grey’s

hard-edged, oestrogenfuelled vocals, which follow the in the footsteps of blues belters like Candye Kane, or Shirley Bassey doing Hey Big Spender, or even – dare we say it? – the great Etta James doing almost anything. Unabashed sexuality infuses every note. You get the feeling Grey could sing from the phone book and make you get up

LEX GREY AND THE URBAN PIONEERS HEAL MY SOUL INDEPENDENT

If you like your blues sung by bold, strong, brassy women, add this CD to your collection at once. Lex Grey’s vocals are high-octane and top-notch. And the band, the Urban Pioneers, support her well, with rockin’ guitar, swingin’ clarinet and tasty sax, as the song demands. Grey and the band are based in New York, and the 10 songs here are mostly reflections on city life and the urban landscape. The opening cut, Factory, seems to be the fantasy of someone living in a cramped apartment and longing for more space. Grey sings that she wants to live in a former factory, where all the rooms are big, no one can call her kitchen small, there’s a train set on the floor – “and urinals hanging on the walls.” Well,

LAURENCE JONES TAKE ME HIGH

RUF RECORDS

You’re a rising young blues star, with a pile of awards behind and some great reviews. Your record label demands that difficult third album and you have to take it up yet another notch. Who you gonna call? Well, in Jones’s case none other than the UK’s finest blues producer and label legend, Mike Vernon (Blue Horizon founder and early Fleetwood Mac champion). Take Me High was cut in Cambridge with Jones and his long-serving band mates Roger Innes on bass and Bob Fridzema on organ. New boy Phil Wilson shores up the live in the studio sound and the whole glorious affair shakes the cage like a panther on steroids. You even get Paul Jones

guesting on harp. Yep, this is power blues at its very best and for those of you who have not seen Jones live it’s a pretty good taste of what to expect when he hits the stage. Highlights include a blistering version of Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground (with guest vocalist Reuben Richards), Addicted To Love (with a wig-out guitar solo that will send you reaching for the repeat button over and over), Down & Blue (another guitar frenzy, this time with nuclearstrength drumming and harmonies to boot) and Something’s Changed (a funk-blues spectacular that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Glenn Hughes album). The title track shows off Vernon’s production skills perfectly and has more hooks than an overstocked fishing shop. Jones sounds like he’s been playing for decades… which for someone born in 1992 is no mean feat.

MARTIN COOK

and dance in a way you wouldn’t want your granny to see. It appears that so far the band’s audience is primarily regional. It should be global. She’s that good.

M.D. SPENSER

MARKEY BLUE THE BLUES ARE KNOCKIN’

A tasty helping of Southern soul and

LEE DELRAY BRAND NEW MAN

JAC RECORDS

Cooking up different ingredients in a gumbo of blues infused tunes and making them work is some feat but this is what you get with South Florida guitarist extraordinaire Lee Delray. He is pushing the boundaries in parts but also catering for the purists in the passing. This is music he loves and it shows throughout. The roots to influential blues greats are there but he has added other genres to it. Who else could get away with incorporating rapping and hip hop music on the wonderful First String Man incorporating talents of Young Chizz and Deejay Nogood.

blues from Nashville based husband and wife duo of Ric Latina on guitars and Jeanette Markey on vocals and percussion with their second CD featuring backing by musicians who have all been members of the Markey Blue touring band. Driving opener I’ll Wait For You kicks in with some terrific slide dobro from Ric Latina and then Markey takes centre stage with her husky, energetic vocals and tambourine

The opener Meet My Maker is funk bass and a slide driven take on a journey of discovery. The only cover he does is his own fresh interpretation of I’ll Play The Blues For You with a narrative in the middle he has sultry vocals and easy going take to this. The guitar playing on Blues Come Calling keeps notched up to a thundering climax so passionate and so clear. Love Line and Mine All Mine have a distinct Southern rock influences that bounce along with upbeat groove. Cooking In My Kitchen is a bow to B.B. King broken hearted passion. Hollar is a slide guitar infused high intensity track. The tone always changes Yesterday’s Tears slows the pace and there is an acapella take to last track Don’t You Mind People Grinning In Your Face. A stunning release full of passion and vigour and originality.

COLIN CAMPBELL

shaking. Great start! The band are cooking on That Ain’t Good Enough as Latina’s guitar duels with Chris Tuttle’s B3 organ and Markey wags her finger and tells her man what she thinks of him. Cold Outside is a cool soul-ballad with wailing horns and Cash Is Always King is a late night lament featuring a sparkling guitar solo from Latina and jazzy keys from Tuttle. Title track The Blues Are Knockin’ is a modern blues-ballad a la Gary Moore featuring Markey’s soulful vocals and classy guitar from Latina riding over softly wailing organ. MMMM that’s nice. The funky Be My Train is a superb tribute to Little Milton and B B King is honoured with the horn-driven loping shuffle Lay Down Lucille. The excellent material is all original and the quality of the musicianship is superb throughout. Nobody’s Fool is a classy slice of Muscle Shoals style soul featuring great horn riffs and Markey’s intense vocals. Markey croons softly on the tasty pop ballad Me Missing You and closing track Worries is a fine slow blues with heartfelt vocals, impassioned guitar fills and softly wailing organ. No blues-rock or old chestnuts here but plenty of Delta, Texas, Memphis, Kansas and Southern soul influences on offer coupled to their excellent writing skills, creativity and performance. Thoroughly recommended.

DAVE DRURY

GREGG ALLMAN NO STRANGER TO THE DARK: THE BEST OF GREGG ALLMAN

FLOATING WORLD LTD.

Gregg Allman will forever be associated with the Allman Brothers, perhaps the most important southern blues-rock band ever. But he issued some fine solo albums, too, and the best of that work is collected on this indispensable CD. Perhaps it’s surprising to learn that Allman is included in Rolling Stone’s list of the best 100 vocalists of all time – he’s number 70 – but his anguished wail comes from the heart, without artifice or pretence. One is reminded of the time that a fan told Sam Cooke he had a beautiful voice. ‘Well, that’s very kind of you,’ Cooke replied. ‘But voices ought not to be measured by how pretty they are. Instead they matter only if they convince you that they are telling the truth.’ By that standard, Gregg Allman’s is one of the best ever. The title of this collection, No Stranger To The Dark, comes from the song I’m No Angel. It wasn’t written by Allman, but when he sings it you’d swear it was. Allman battled alcohol and drug abuse; when the Allman Brothers were inducted

into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, Gregg, on national TV, was too wasted to get through his acceptance speech. He got sober after that. But he produced great music both before and after he found sobriety. Many of the songs in this collection were written by him. Island is an ode to his young daughter. And in writing the song Demons, he did what many writers do. He thought he was writing about a friend. But as he looks back, he says in the liner notes, he realizes he was writing about himself. ‘Oh oh he's got his demons,’ the song says. ‘They stay right by his side and his everyday is hell.’ In the 1990s, Allman got a horn section and revelled in covering classic soul. This collection includes The Dark End Of The Street, recorded earlier by James Carr; Slip Away, done by Clarence Carter; and I’ve Got News For You, done earlier by Ray Charles. This CD belongs in any serious collection.

M.D. SPENSER

KING KING LIVE MANHATON RECORDS

The best way to judge any live album is by the crowd reaction and whether that is captured on the recording. Bearing in mind this was recorded in

Glasgow, a homecoming for Alan Nimmo and his multi-award winning band, there was no problem on that front. From the opening Lose Control, the band are on the money, with the rhythm section of drummer Wayne Proctor, who also did the mixing, bassist Lindsay Coulson and Bob Fridzema on keys, creating a solid foundation befitting the current best British blues/rock band. Such is the confidence the kilted wonder has in his colleagues, he is free to strut the stage and lap up the atmosphere they create. This is perfectly illustrated on the encouragement to the crowd to join in on Rush Hour. For all the rocky material that comes with King King, there is a gentler side, as illustrated on the extended ballad, Long History Of Love complete with wonderful interplay between Alan's searing guitar and Bob's keyboard wizardry. The up-tempo rocker More Than I Can Take closes disc one. Disc two opens with the song Alan wrote for his brother, Stevie, You Stopped The Rain, followed hot on the heels by Frankie Miller's Jealousy. They turn the rock up again for Crazy, the organ coming to the fore here, before the funk of All Your Life. What followed is the stunning crowd pleaser Stranger To Love, a jam ballad that you have to be there to appreciate fully, reason being that at one stage Alan's guitar is switched off, the recording can't quite pick that up. If

MOJO PREACHERS CONFESSIONS INDEPENDENT

Norfolk is hardly the archetypal home of the blues, but the first album by this funky five piece band has all the ingredients of a bowl of Jambalaya from Louisiana. Both lyrically and musically this is a wee firecracker of an album. The vocals of Sophie Lindsay are frankly nothing short of superb with an almost visceral rawness. She is every inch the blues singer, and interprets their crafted lyrics with a vocal quality that can't be taught. No clichés in these songs, the lyrics are almost storytelling and they are all the work of the Preachers with

Alan reads this I hope he doesn't take offence, but did a young Rod Stewart turn up for the encore, Let Love In? Amazing vocal quality and an amazing end to a brilliant set. There is a bonus DVD from another night/venue with a slightly varied setlist, so all in all a bargain.

CLIVE RAWLINGS

DENNIS OPEN YOUR EYES

SAPIEN RECORDS

one exception, track twelve Don't Bring Me Down. I particularly liked the almost psychedelic as well as haunting darkness of track six; Dark & Wild, lyrically this track is blues driven, but this is a crossover track with hints of funk and soul with the use of Carleton Van Selman's keyboard/moog input and Nick Hall's guitar work. In fairness, both Nigel Rees on bass and Luke Davey on drums all contribute to the overall quality of this CD. If this is a sample of what the Preachers can produce on their first album, then the portents are excellent for this product of the flat lands of Norfolk and the locals there are lucky to have the band playing so regularly in their area. There isn't a bad or indeed ordinary track within the twelve on the disc, rather there is much to commend every one of them.

TOM WALKER

Open Your Eyes is a lovely and inventive folk-pop album by an eight-piece British band called Dennis -- 11 songs marked by gentle horns, rich instrumentation and delightful vocal harmonies. All the songs are originals, credited to the full band – and fine songs they are. Whoever is crafting them understands that many of the best songs

are moods and moments rather than narratives; they ask questions rather answer them, and they wonder rather than declaim. The song Give Me Soul, for example, has lyrics comprised of a mere 50 words, yet it evokes longing and need. And the lyrics to Leaving You Alone – sung over a danceable rhythm accented here and there by hand claps – are punctuated largely by question marks: ‘Lately I’ve been asking questions/ Maybe I should be leaving you alone?’ Many of the songs are beautifully orchestrated. One of them, though – Talk For Hours – is acapella but for hand claps and drums. The song-writing, from the opening track to the final note, exhibits experience and control: A couple of the songs are less than two minutes long – and they are the more powerful for it. Most of these songs sound entirely new yet immediately familiar. They are about desire, about doubt, about hope. Hometown, the final number in the set, speaks of being well-grounded. ‘I really love my hometown,’ the lyrics go, ‘I really love the way we keep hanging around/I really love the way it makes me stay.’ The song refers no doubt to someplace in County Durham, a good 270 miles north of London, where the band is from. This is, of course, a blues magazine so it is incumbent on me to point out that there are no blues here. But for music-lovers whose tastes

encompass diversity, this album is a gem. I hope the band members are all getting along because we need to hear more from Dennis. What a find.

M.D. SPENSER

notch but there is still some edge and rawness left. The longest track (7.10 mins) and centrepiece of the album is the emotional rock-ballad Wild Is The Wind which almost fades gently away on the breeze until Taylor fights back with a clattering drumbeat and incendiary guitar solo. Phew! Wanna Be My Lover is a ferocious rocker with

JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR WILD

AXE HOUSE MUSIC

For her fifth studio album Joanne Shaw Taylor spent the spring in Nashville writing and recording with Producer Kevin Shirley and members of Joe Bonamassa’s band who she met whilst performing with him. Opener Dyin’ To Know is set to a solid Slim Harpo style boogie riff and there is an urgency to the vocals and guitar playing as she fires out some of her trademark killer licks. Ready To Roll is an anthem in waiting with a chunky riff and a heavy backbeat from drummer Greg Morrow and rabble rousing vocals as Taylor asks “are you listening, do you hear me, are you ready” as she reels off another pulsating guitar solo. Get You Back is a pounding rocker with Taylor spitting out the angst ridden lyrics to a man who has hurt her and firing off some machine gun guitar licks in his direction. As you would expect from a Nashville recording the production and the playing are top

RAPHAEL CALLAGHAN SAID AND DONE

INDEPENDENT

With a musical career spanning fifty years Mersey bluesman

Raphael Callaghan has now decided to celebrate in style with his first solo album. Well known in British blues folklore he has been associated with lots of duos and bands such as starting out playing harmonica with Jim James and cutting an album produced by Alexis Korner. More recently he has been mostly known for working with his partner Christine Purnell collaborating as Blue C who released the much acclaimed Swimming Against The Tide. This is a solo blues anthology pure acoustic but still hints of wonderful rasping harmonica playing. His influences are varied

aggressive vocals and guitar licks ably backed up by Steve Nathan’s wailing organ riffs. I’m In Chains is driven by heavy distorted guitar riffs, thumping drums and a gospel styled call and response routine with the backing singers. I Wish I Could Wish You

Back is a wistful, intense, confessional ballad with Taylor laying bare her

and unashamedly eclectic paying tribute to the greats like his arrangement of Skip’s Kokomo Blues full of shrilling hollering pitch perfect vocals and expert guitar picking a theme throughout this release. Keep Calm And Carry

On opens things to a steady rhythm. He has a melodic tone to his tenor focussed vocals which fuses well when backing this with his harmonica on the haunting Living Blues. There is gospel infusion on the strutting Don’t Let The Devil Drive. Stand out track is Jessie May a tribute to the Mississippi hill country blues guitarist great interpretation of the genre. He has a light guitar picking technique which complements his uncompromising vernacular vocals on the echoing Think I Hear The Train. A joy to listen to he has a unique style and approach to the music honest and true meaningful blues at its best.

COLIN CAMPBELL

emotions as she reflects on a broken relationship. Am I seeing a pattern here? My Heart’s Got A Mind Of It’s Own is a joyful big band number and the album closes with a big production job on the old Gershwin warhorse Summertime which is covered with plenty of energy and emotion but, thankfully, none of Janis Joplin’s raggedness.

I’m sure this album will feature in the award ceremonies and as the sainted Joe Bonamassa described her “she is a superstar in waiting”.

DAVE DRURY

TEXAS MARTHA AND THE HOUSE OF TWANG LONG WAY FROM HOME INDEPENDENT

As the old Blues Brothers gag goes, Texas Martha

RAY FULLER AND THE BLUESROCKERS LONG BLACK TRAIN AZURETONE RECORDS

This is a high energy album with a refreshingly raw tempo to it. It is Blues with a Rock undercurrent. To put some context into the calibre of Ray Fuller for those of us not too familiar with him, no less than Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker were both fulsome in their praise of this iconic bluesman. This album opens with a high tempo number Burn Me Up and it keeps up the pace throughout the fourteen tracks, representing really good value. Fuller is ably supported in this cracking album with Myke Rock on Bass, Darrell Jumper on Drums and Doc Malone on Harmonica.

These are all seasoned musicians whose ability with their instruments is beyond question. Track three Voodoo Mama intimates she (Mama) worked her spell on Fuller, but equally spell binding is this Bluesy Rocking production. The title track six Long Black Train fairly skelps along as you'd expect of an express train, but deals with relationships instead of the archetypal Trans America transport. Malone's soulful harmonica playing takes centre stage on track eight Lets Get Dirty with Fullers superb guitar playing allied with suggestive vocals to complement the harmonica. Track ten New Tattoo resonated personally since I too have recently added the name of someone special as a tattoo on my back. The bottom line is this album is quite superb and not only is it value for money, but it is a must for fans of the rocking blues.

TOM WALKER

and her pals play both kinds of music, country and western. But fortunately it’s C&W of a rootsy variety to which most readers of this magazine will readily relate. Indeed, this CD boasts obvious crossover appeal, and will appeal to many who wouldn’t normally be seen in cowboy boots. Texas Martja and The House Of Twang is led by one Marty Fields Galloway, who splits her year between Austin, Texas, and Bordeaux. The House of Twang are all French, yet somehow contrive to sound as American as apple pie. In particular, Lionel ‘Yoyo’ Duhaupas plays pedal steel better than anybody born this side of the Atlantic has any right to do. That four of the ten offerings - including opener Born to Boogie, Take You Down, Strike and closer Gotta Move - feature distortion guitar should give you some idea of the breadth of the territory traversed here. But there’s also several offerings of the type that would readily pass muster as a soundtrack for a bunch of good ole boys puttin’ back the moonshine, such as the title track and Lover’s Lane. Standout is probably Where The Red Grass Grows, a catchy slowie country-rocker offset augmented by mid-tempo sections and some nifty guitar work. If you like Lucinda Williams, or maybe even Aimee Mann, check this gal out. Continental

European dates are set for the first quarter of 2017, but no UK shows notified at time of writing.

DAVID OSLER

CALIFORNIA FEETWARMERS SEVEN SEAS INDEPENDENT

The California Feetwarmers make the kind of music that you have to have a hard heart not to like. Dixieland style and with truly authentic rhythms and some simply gorgeous playing they sound authentic – so much so that they have played for Tom Jones and Keb Mo –playing classic tunes but also mix in a few of their own. The musicianship is remarkable with Brandon Armstrong’s sousaphone holding down bass duties alongside Dominique ‘Chief’ Rodriguez bass drum and no shortage of wind from Charles De Castro on trumpet, Joshua Kaufman on clarinet and Justin Rubenstein on trombone. Add to that Patrick Morrison’s banjo and Juan Carlos Reynoso on guitar and you have all the makings for a real Dixie gumbo. This is real Sunday morning music, the sort of thing you want to accompany some strong coffee and buttery croissants and all played with real charm and no

little humour. Scott Joplin’s Weeping Willow gets a delightful treatment with the clarinet carrying the melody instead of the usual piano while Stephen Lanin’s Shake It, Break It tootles like a Chicago speakeasy theme. Of the Feetwarmers own numbers Pride Blues is rather wonderful, a strut with heavy bottom end and that wonderful clarinet while Third Street Float has a marching rhythm and banjo lead that just has to be re-cued. All told it is a rather fine album. Excellent playing and fine production from the band and recorded live in the studio to give it a realistic feel.

ANDY SNIPPER

ERIC GALES A NIGHT ON THE SUNSET STRIP CLEOPATRA

This CD/DVD package was recorded live at the famous Viper Rooms in Los Angeles in July 2015 and will appeal to Eric Gales fans as it covers lots of favourite tracks across his fairly long career. It's hard to think now that it was as long ago as 1991 that Eric came to prominence winning Guitar World's Best New Talent Award. After a short intro the music kicks off with Make It Three, hot and funky to start with some

terrific bass playing by Cesar Oviedo before Eric lets rip and burns the frets. Change In Me is bluesier with Eric displaying a wonderful tone throughout that makes you appreciate the high production on this disc. Old favourite Block The Sun has a more psychedelic Hendrix feel with the band sounding classy and soulful. As we reach the mid-point Cesar on bass and drummer Nicholas Hayes get a solo spot, great as their playing is, maybe five minutes plus is a little indulgent but I'm sure others will love it. From here on in the energy levels keep rising, Swamp is excellent with its jumping high tempo. The superb 1019 is crammed with groove and memorable jazzy keys provided by guest Dylan Wiggins. The newer Good For Sumthin' is a great set ender, high energy rock funk of the highest order. The CD ends with the encore track, a sublime cover of the Stones, Miss You. Super stuff. Eric has always had a reputation as a world class guitarist but I have to say too I was very impressed with his vocal performance on this, and the atmosphere of recording in a small but jumping venue certainly comes across. I haven't always 'got' Eric's music but I highly recommend this.

STEVE YOURGLIVCH

JASON ROSENBLATT WISEMAN’S RAG INDEPENDENT

First things first: this CD is not blues, it’s jazz. That

SI CRANSTOUN OLD SCHOOL

RUF RECORDS

Cranstoun is a Londonbased Brit with a clear love for and ability in interpreting 1950s/60s US rock ‘n’ roll and r&b. The sixteen tracks here are self-penned efforts that hint at his soulinfused background with flashes of Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and Big Joe Turner evident in the mix. No bad thing, in truth. Cranstoun’s voice fits the material perfectly and his enthusiasm shines throughout. This is rockabilly with purpose and a delicious retro feel that simply sweeps you along in its wake. The band hits ten in number at times, with dual sax, guitar and piano sweeping the board with punch and breezy fun at

said, it’s a fine album that will add joy and depth to any collection that embraces variety. Rosenblatt, a Canadian, plays harmonica and keyboards, the primary instruments heard here. Other players contribute guitar, drums and bass –including jazz bass solos, one of which, if I may say

the core. A release from German label Ruff, this marks a departure from its usual hard-hitting, blues-rock catalogue and is an album that’s driven by hi-energy, retro lyricism and playing from start-to-finish. It’s the kind of music that boppers will love while also hitting the spot for many who enjoy the breadth of US music from the golden years when Elvis still ruled the roost and Memphis was king, when Detroit was on the brink of Motown success and soul music was emerging as a world force to follow. Blues figures in there, as it must when Memphis and soul clash, but this is not an album that is easily slotted into that musical box. Enjoy it for what it is – good ole rock and rockabilly with its feet firmly planted in the past and its assured cohesion and classy delivery looking ahead to the future.

IAIN PATIENCE

so, sounds much like the next. But the album is driven largely by harp and piano. It’s a happy album. The harmonica dances lightly above the keyboards, which sometimes anchors the proceedings with an enjoyable ragtime beat. Even songs about breakup and loss bounce right along. No slow weepers here. Nor is this the kind of esoteric, free-form jazz that

eschews melody, rhythm and sense. It’s good fun. Seven of the 13 tracks here are instrumentals. The other six feature Rosenblatt’s pleasant, androgynous vocals. True, two of the songs do feature the word ‘blues’ in their titles – Modern Life Blues and C Harp Blues. But calling a song the blues doesn’t make it so. In fairness, it must be said that the next-to-last track, You’ll Take The Highway, could be considered blues, but that’s the only one. Bottom line: People who listen to nothing other than pure blues should give this CD a pass. Audiophiles with diverse tastes will find this to be a pleasing addition to their collections.

M.D. SPENSER

this album and 9 of them are part of Kenny’s family!

Opening number Ain’t Gonna Let The Blues

KENNY NEAL BLOODLINE CLEOPATRA RECORDS

Kenny hails from Louisiana and started playing in his father’s band at the tender age of 13, four years after that he became bass player to Buddy Guy! Kenny’s list of credits encompasses B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt and Buddy Guy of course, Muddy Waters, Aaron Neville and the great John Lee hooker so he really has nothing to prove. There are a total of twenty two different musicians appearing on

Die is pretty much a roll call of blues greats, and the theme continues into Bloodline the title track which has some real soulful harp playing and the lyrics leave no doubt that the blues is in good hands here. There is an unusual version of Funny How Time Slips Away and Kenny manages to sound a lot like Ray Charles on this one. Keep On Moving utilises some of the 22 musicians as it is very much a big band sound with sax and organ adding to the cocktail, then my real favourite I go by feel, a beautiful guitar blues. The album closes with Thank You B.B. King which unlike a lot tributes is a very upbeat tune and Kenny even manages to get an echo of B.B.’s voice here and there as well as nailing in Lucille’s tone. With albums like this out there, the blues ain’t going anywhere yet a while!

DAVE STONE

SUGARMAN SAM & THE VOODOO MEN RECORD STORE EDUCATION INDEPENDENT

I was impressed to see this band earlier in the year on the Introducing Stage at

Skegness Butlin’s Rock And Blues Festival they were so good they are playing main stage next year. No mean feat as they were up against some class musicians and that is what lead vocalist and powerhouse guitarist Sam Lay has in abundance. He lights up a stage with his mighty guitar licks each one crafted seamlessly. His band are David Miller on drums Paul McCormick on

piano and Gareth Goodwin on bass and have the same enthusiasm and drive to earn much more praise. A four piece dynamo coming at you with force particularly in the opening number Blues My Shining Light an interpretation of why he plays the blues genre music. Some Kind Of Voodoo trips along melodically the interplay between keyboards and guitar particularly

TERRY ROBB COOL ON THE BLOOM NIASOUNDS

Born in British Columbia, Robb was raised in the United States and resides in Portland, Oregon. He has paid his dues and is now showing artistic payback after long years of associations that include Ramblin’ Rex, Henry Vestine, John Fahey, Eddy Clearwater, Maria Muldaur, Ike Willis, Curtis Salgado and Glen Moore.The full bifta is, of course, there on his website, so here we go with our Blues Matters critique of Cool On The Bloom. No better way to start than with Soc Hop, a nifty-fingered jazzcountry tune that show he’s master of what he does, this simply rocks along, in a funky style.

On the title track Cool On The Bloom, he picks the hell out of his pleasurebringing guitar ragga, it’s in-your-face undeniable that the fella knows the hell out of what he does, and my oh my, he sure knows. Christmas in Istanbul (what an image!), well this is a joyous, spacious and deliberately paced vaguely country ramble, where Terry is all over these sweet angelwatched chords with a delicate masterful touch. You Showed Me gets us into a late-nite skanky blues scene where this man’s articulate playing is perfect, and I really do mean…perfect, this music is addictive. I reckon that guitar players everywhere will just love this, but it must be said that on So Glad and the rolling blues Ham Hound Crave, Terry has a beguiling smoky, warm vocal too. This relaxes the hell out of me, I dig this, big style, and you will too.

PETE INNES

VARIOUS ARTISTS MISSISSIPPI JUKE JOINT BLUES - 9TH SEPTEMBER 1941

RHYTHM AND BLUES RECORDS

75 years ago, Library of Congress researcher

LW Jones visited 5 taverns in Clarksdale Mississippi, arguably the the birthplace of the blues. At The Chicken Shack, The Dipsie Doodle, Lucky's, The Messenger Cafe, The New Africa, he listed the music on the juke boxes he found there, essentially a census what was happening in 5 hotspots. A time capsule of what were then 'colored cafes'. For me, if not for you, even the names of the joints alone set me a tingle. He set down a historical marker of a happening, creative hubbub that would soon explode and export to the industrial North. My my, what a perceptive man was Lewis Jones. Here they are, threequarters of a century later - a helluva mix that lists all the "a" sides and the flip sides. Understandably, given the very nature and purpose of the electric phonograph, over the piece there's a fair representation of mainstream show-biz big hitters (Woody Herman, Satchmo, Lady Day, Crosby, Ellington, Basie; pop-blues of the day, I guess?) but heavens

above, they must'a had some riotious nights digging local hero Lil Green, Sister Rosetta, Blind Boy Fuller, and a shit load of blue-boys that were strangers to me before, and are my buddies now. Recreated here over four CDs, this collection gives us an insight into punters pouring nickels into the machine so's they could kick the dust off their shoes and let their hair down. All human condition, life, the blues itself, is in these tunes - love, indecision, elation, deception, regret. The more basic, primitive material gets my attention, so for me, it's the undisguised all hope is gone lament of Roosevelt Sykes' She's In My Blood (and under my skin), the raunch of Washboard Sam's Yes, I Got Your Woman (which, I'm certain would have thrilled a young Peter Green to bits) that I dig ahead of some of the more orchestrated, polished jazzy tracks. Memphis Slim's Beer Drinking Woman (45 dollars when I entered, when I left I had one dime) and Big Bill Broonzy's Rocking Chair Blues are simply splendid in all their suggestive, human frail glory. 112 historic exhibits of a world gone by, with another 24 on a fifth disc available, free, from the label. Superb.

PETE INNES

impressive. Falling To Pieces is a slow bluesy number emotional vocals just the right tempo. Virginia is the stand out track it has bluesy rock guitar riffs snarling vocals mixing with funky keyboard showing a musical maturity. The band covers Jeff Beck’s Blues Deluxe to perfection they also cover The Cream song Sunshine Of Your Love a very confident adaptation. Slide guitar in focus on the swampy Runaway Rage. The Healer is another slow one whilst Stone Cold Wall is quite a barrelhouse take very biting a real crowd pleaser. Highly charged debut a real find, this is a band with a bright future turn up the volume and enjoy.

COLIN CAMPBELL

ED STONES & THE BD3 DOWN ON THE FARM INDEPENDENT

Well every now and then you get sent an album for review which leaves you smiling and yet at the same time slightly bewildered as to where to start. For example, and depending on your sensibilities look away now, how to describe Fuck You And Your Tweets, Sex In Disguise or Fuck All Day is shall we say difficult. Ok those particular titles I’ve grabbed just to make a point but really this is one for those of us with

reasonably open minds and ears. I’m not even sure where on earth to place the band and their music. Somewhere in the area of rootsy, punk, pub rock and folk blues might point you in the direction. From a broadcasting point of view quite a lot would get me fired right away were I to use them but damn it all this is good stuff. Edgy and energetic, lyrically astute set to insanely catchy melodies (sorry guys in the band if you object to the word melodies as being too mainstream but that’s exactly what they are) that consistently deliver that all important smile. As far as I can find out most of the writing comes from the titular Ed Stones (real name, who knows or cares?) and he is supported by three other guys and all sixteen tracks, along with the sombre hidden cut dedicated to a lost brother after the normal album closes, have a fine rough and ready sound to them. So an interesting album which is so very far away from the bland corporate pap which permeates a lot of the airwaves that I fear this will only be heard by live show attendees. That’s a pity as a rough edge drives innovation.

GRAEME SCOTT

MICK KOLASSA

TAYLOR MADE BLUES

SWING SUIT RECORDS

Vocalist and acoustic guitarist Mick Kolassa has pulled together an excellent

array of quality musicians to help out on this album recorded in Memphis, including Colin John and Victor Wainwright, who help create an outstanding mix of blues styles ranging from acoustic style country blues to more hard edged styles. Mick’s vocals are superb he switches effortlessly between various styles, particularly impressive is his slow drawl story telling; there are a couple of tracks to highlight, his own album title song Taylor Made Blues, which is a story about the laid back life in Taylor, a local town and the Graham Nash Prison Song which is probably the standout track, it is full of emotion and has a very sparse arrangement which brings Mick to the fore. While the majority of tracks are self-written there is a cover of the classic Whitfield & Strong song Can’t Get Next To You which does not quite reach the heights of the Savoy Brown heavy blues version from the early 1970’s, which will always be the standard that others have to beat, on this occasion the best Mick can hope for is a runners up medal for his version although guest guitarist Castro Coleman does shine. Besides being a Blues fan Mick is a board member of the Blues Foundation and 100% of gross profit on this release goes to two worthy Blues Foundation charities, the love of the blues is apparent throughout this album, the twelve tracks offer plenty of

variety and result in a very competent and enjoyable release by a Blues veteran who tells heart-warming tales through his lyrics.

ADRIAN BLACKLEE

LEW JETTON & 61 SOUTH RAIN

COFFEE STREET RECORDS

‘Rain’ is the third album by Lew Jetton & 61 South but their first for ten years – which is somewhat surprising for the Kentucky-based band are regionally popular and very accomplished and Jetton, who wrote eight of the ten tracks, is talented as a singer and as a guitarist and is an interesting songwriter. Who’s Texting You, for example, is a cleverly written modern take on the traditional blues theme of sexual jealousy with Jetton playing characteristically incisive guitar, Mississippi Rain is doom-laden, even chilling and Move On Yvonne, on which the singer gives his girlfriend the push, unusually features a response from the girlfriend, sung powerfully by Miranda Louise. This aspect of the song is disappointingly underdeveloped however. The material is varied as well with the rousing Glory Train being gospel, Done Done It being southern

rock and Sandy Lee being a slow shuffle. On the latter, on which J. Solon Smith contributes a scintillating barrelhouse piano solo, the singer unashamedly sponges off his apparently more financially solvent girlfriend, with the song ending shockingly with a murderous threat. John Hiatt’s Feels Like Rain is sung commandingly by Jetton, the lyrics suiting his weathered and expressive voice. But it is on the album’s other cover, of Allen Toussaint’s

It’s Raining, on which he is accompanied only by Smith’s piano, that Jetton is perhaps at his most vocally persuasive. Three of the songs mention rain in their titles. Notwithstanding the symbolic significance thereof, it’s also true, apparently, that Jetton was once a television weather forecaster so perhaps somewhere in his heart he still hankers for the world of isobars, anticyclones, fronts and depressions!

TREVOR HODGETT

VARIOUS ARTISTS RHYTHM ‘N’ BLUESIN’

BY THE BAYOU

ACE RECORDS LTD

Over 28 tracks, this release showcases the Rhythm and Blues bands and singers from the Louisiana area during the 1950’s, and 1960’s. Most of the tracks are in the sub three minute category, with no elongated solos, but plenty of sharp musicianship, mostly of the brass heavy, piano playing variety. Most of the songs are of a medium paced tempo, with very little to tell them apart. This can be a danger on an album by the same artist, but here the track-listing and running order puts too many similar

tracks together, and the singers are largely not distinctive enough to be memorable. Many of the artist are unknown, but releases like this give their music a second chance to be heard. So, we can be exposed to such players as Classie Ballou, who shows some guitar prowess during the instrumental Crowley Stroll, or during Dirty Deal. Tabby Thomas’s cover of CC Rider adds a swinging piano line to this blues staple, whilst the saxophone heavy Little Girl You Look So Good by John Reed adds a jazz sensibility to the sound. So although this collection contains nothing that is truly ground-breaking it gives blues and mid era Jazz fans the chance to discover some of the lost gems from names that may have otherwise have been forgotten.

BEN MACNAIR

MILLER ANDERSON COLLECTORS PREMIUM –BLUESHEART/ CHAMELEON

MIG MUSIC

Miller Anderson was the guitarist, singer and main songwriter in the Keef Hartley Band, a band that famously played Woodstock but did not make the film or album –who knows what might have happened if they had had the same exposure

VICTORIA CLEWIN & THE TRUE TONES DANCE ME TO HEAVEN

INDEPENDENT

Looking like a lass on the run from The Famous Five, Ms Klewin fronts a seven-piece band straight outta Bristol playing music flavoured with jazz, blues and soul. This release has been crowdfunded by fans and indeed it all sounds the sort of material that really comes across in live performance. It’s all own compositions and there are eleven cuts. A lively opener called Can’t

as, say, Santana? These two solo albums are here re-issued with some additional tracks, the whole package providing two hours of music over two CDs. 2003’s Bluesheart features Norman Beaker’s band of the period, Norman sitting in on three tracks and Jon Lord (Deep Purple) playing Hammond on two. Miller plays some fine guitar on classic bluesrock cuts like High Tide And High Water, blows some harp on Fallin’ Back Into The Blue and plays some lovely slow blues on Runnin’ Blues. Much of the album is original but there are also extended versions of blues classics Help Me,

Help Myself has a cool vocal and chunky brass arrangement. She does sing in the vein of Joss Stone and very well too. A stealthy jazz setting on Not All That Glitters might please Caro Emerald fans whilst Taking Me Down is more reflective and will be played again at Sargeant HQ, what a nice song and pacing. The title track is almost a contemporary Peggy Lee effort and the group has total empathy on the vibe of the number, again very good to listen to. For The Good Of Myself is dark funk and low register horns. Why Should I has an insistent tread and faint tinge of Gil Scott Heron in the horns. Has Claire Teal of Radio 2 heard this act?

PETE SARGEANT

Smokestack Lightnin’ and House Of The Rising Sun, as well as a solid version of the much-covered Sending Me Angels, written by Jerry Lynn Williams and Frankie Miller, undoubtedly an influence on fellow Scot Miller. The two live bonus tracks are both originals that appear on the studio album: a live version of Houston (Scotland), here covered by the Jon Lord Blues Project in Germany in 2011, including sparkling piano and organ work, and a solo acoustic version of Little Man Dancing. Chameleon appeared in 2008 and is entirely original apart from a reprise of Me And My Woman, a song from the Keef Hartley Band repertoire which adds some jazzy touches, courtesy of Frank Tischer’s swirling organ work. With Paul Burgess retaining the drum stool and Kris Gray on bass the band concentrates on the songs with no extended versions in sight. However, there are some excellent songs from the rolling blues of Fog On The Highway to the upbeat Bad Mouth Mama. Pick of the bunch is the anthemic By The Light which Miller sings really well, adding some Knopfler-esque touches on guitar. Two unreleased demos include Late At Night, a horn-driven tune that takes us full circle back to the KHB era. A nicely presented package that offers a great opportunity to catch up with Miller’s post-millennium work.

JOHN MITCHELL

JENNY WREN AND HER BORROWED WINGS A SOUP INDEPENDENT

Between Jenny Trilsbach’s pretty and strident vocal and some delightfully subtle playing from Ben Gallon and Ben Fisher this definitely does justice to the 13 songs here. I guess you would put them into the classic rhythm and blues genre with touches of country and even a little bluegrass hidden away in there. Fisher’s resophonic guitar is almost understated but you would definitely miss its influence and with no electric instruments on show (as well as no percussion) there is a disarming simplicity to the sound. Trilsbach plays a mean double bass but again, it doesn’t dominate as it can in some other bands. I tried – and failed – to think of whose pigeon hole I would pitch them into; they aren’t a retro bluegrass band and they aren’t a throwback acoustic blues crew. Oddly enough the nearest thing I could think of – and they are nothing like them – was a cross between Dan Hicks and Katzenjammer. There is a swing feeling to some of their music and they clearly have influences from all over but the

bottom line is that this is a band very much of their own making. Their debut album Dead Man’s Hat was very well received and there has been a fairly intense pressure for this album to be close to that high mark; in the end it stands up strongly to the previous album and proves that the |band have been developing and growing. Lovely stuff.

ANDY SNIPPER

RAY CHARLES LIVE AT NEWPORT 1960

FREMEAUX ASSOCIATES

What more is there to say by any writer about the late, great Ray Charles? They didn’t call him ‘The Genius’ for nothing. When these thrilling live tracks were recorded, Brother Ray was 30, at his energetic and creative peak. I was 17 and probably hadn’t heard of him yet. As blues and R&B fans we gravitate towards the great man’s more accessible vocal material, What’d I Say, Hallelujah I Love Her So, or the rowdy Mess Around and dreamy Georgia On My Mind.

What this re-mastered and impeccably presented 2-disk set (now in stereo) reminds us is that he was not only the vocal inspiration for people such as Stevie Winwood, Joe Cocker, Long John Baldry

and Eric Burdon - he was a consummate jazzman and bandleader. We also overlook his skill as an alto sax player, and you’ll hear that cut through on Disk 1, which features three terrific live big band instrumentals The Story, Lil’ Darlin and the swinging Blues Waltz, and then Ray amazes when he sings Let the Good Times Roll, with that big, meaty band arrangement behind him. Then he gives us the utterly moving Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Cryin’ with some beautiful trumpet from Philp Guleau. There’s a real oddity on track 12 where Hugh Hefner, at the height of his fame as the boss of Playboy magazine, introduces Ray singing Georgia On My Mind. Listening to this classic aural monument, one has to wonder how much of a privilege it must have been to be part of that audience. The live tracks are imbued with colourful urgency and excitement, the band rolls and swings with relaxed ease, and disk 2 is another layer in the jewel box, glittering with gems such as the spine-tingling One Mint Julep, Moanin’, and of course, What’d I Say. There are plenty of compilations available on CD of Ray’s notable achievements, but any true fan ought to possess this collection - it may be over half a century old, but time means nothing to great music, and it doesn’t get any greater than this.

ROY BAINTON

THE MCKEE BROTHERS ENJOY IT WHILE YOU CAN INDEPENDENT

Sometimes when you’re reviewing a record, you can’t resist quoting from the PR blurb which comes with the CD - so I couldn’t improve on this: ‘This music is a high-energy blend of soul, blues, funk, gospel, rock and Latin styles to get your body moving while supplying a generous dose of ear candy’. So the plaudits for this go to the McKee Brothers’ publicist Frank Roszak. Is Frank correct? Damn right he is. This is indeed a high quality melange of music by musicians from Los Angles and Michigan. The McKee Brothers are versatile players; for example, Lee plays keyboards, bass, guitar, whilst brother Ralph also plays bass, guitar and even lap steel. There’s even Melissa McKee on backing and lead vocals on several tracks. This is very busy music with tight arrangements featuring no less than 24 musicians including notable guests such as Larry McCray who takes lead vocal on the epic A Little Bit Of Soul. There are some truly outstanding performances such as on A Long Way Back Home, (with superb

Hammond organ from Jim Alfredson) and with brass players on board such as Duncan McMillan and Lee Thornburg (now touring with Joe Bonamassa) there’s a great urban blues vibe throughout. All the modern blues you need delivered with ebullient confidence. Ear candy? Yes indeed.

ROY BAINTON

ALLY VENABLE NO GLASS SHOES

CONNOR RAY MUSIC

Over the course of the eight tracks on this album, the seventeen year old singer and guitarist Ally Venable sets out her stall, with a set that embraces funk, blues, and rock and a couple of well-chosen covers. Although at her young age, her voice does not possess the usual amount of gravitas that only comes with the years of live experience and recording that many other performers have, it is a convincing instrument, an able match for the material, and the strong playing of a tough Texan blues quartet. Sharing lead guitar duties, Ally Venable and Bobby Wallace have a Keith/ Ronnie style of interplay, with strong support from bassist Zach Terry and drummer Elijah Owings, whilst the guest’s players, keyboardist Randy Wall,

and Harmonica Player Steve Krause add colour, and virtuosity to the mix. The six originals, such as the bluesy opening Trainwreck, or No Glass Shoes, and the slowburning Down-Hearted Blues have a spirit, and sense of adventure to them, keeping away from being straight-forward twelve bar shuffles, whilst the bass introductions, and harmony guitar riffs are good additions to the vocals, and well-crafted lyrics. The two covers, Chris Smither’s Love Me Like A Man, and Junior Wells Messin’ with the Kid are well played and performed, but the fact that they are not the strongest part of this album is testament to the quality of the rest of the material. Honing her craft in Texas, Ally Venable will be surrounded by talented musicians, who are already taking notice, which is no real surprise, given the promise that she, and the rest of her talented band show on this fine release.

BEN MACNAIR

BLUES CARGO ON TIME

MELON MUSIC

The blues scene is everywhere and even in the sunny island of Greece. Blues Cargo blues band have been

spreading their musical word for thirty years and still have founder members on vocals and bass guitar Dimitris Ioannou ably assisted by multi guitarist virtuoso Stelios Zafeiriou to thank for this ably assisted by Tolis Goulas on drums George Lagogiannis on keyboards and sweet Saxophone vibes throughout played by Babbis Tsilivigos. This their third release is a twelve track up tempo romp through mainly Chicago blues orientated tunes showcasing a band brimming with talent. Opener Hideaway starts the easy listening experience a good groove to this instrumental with all members getting solo showcases. The Wheel struts along a pace good fretwork and lead singer vocals powerful yet smooth. Time has a smoky night club feel and Stop Messing’ Around rocks on with a message about the Greek country politics this also the backbone to the magnificent Corruption with a saxophone lick adding bitter irony to the biting lyrics. Anyway blues is a feeling and these songs are great interpretations of this. Another self-penned song Don’t Knock On My Door is sung with passion also noted on Cheating Blues so relaxing emotional and very impressive. The release ends with the quirky take to the Chris Cain cover Wake Up And Smell The Coffee. Truthful and from the heart these songs exemplify the hallmarks of a true blues

musicians band a real treat with a driving power highly recommended.

COLIN CAMPBELL

a straight blues or bluesrock release. It’s confident and rowdy, music that will keep the neighbours awake at night and keep the party going full tilt well into the small hours and beyond. An album worth a crack, for sure IAIN PATIENCE

E.Z. RIDERS WISHING WELL INDIE

An Italian rock-blues band, E.Z. Riders is a four-piece outfit featuring the typical power-trio set-up with an additional singer-cum-harp player at the fore. The music is strong, bristly stuff with bang and quality pouring out at every turn. All ten tracks were written by the band members with guitarist/singer Alessandro Alessandrini having a hand in them all. Wishing Well is the band’s fourth release and follows the success of their third offering Try Hard Or Die Hard, a powerful, blasting blend of classic and modern rock, always underpinned by a bluesy feel and vibe. Now with the addition of front man, singer Ivano Andreozzi on vocals and harp, the band has even more strength and searing sound, taking it forward with enormous vitality and some subtle flourishes at times, just when needed. Andreozzi has a rough-hewn voice that rips and roars for the most part, pushing the whole project forward. Wishing Well is a strong rock album with hints and shades of blues rather than

VAL STARR & THE BLUES ROCKET WOMAN ON A MISSION

SANDWICH FACTORY RECORDS

Here we have Val’s third original release, and it has already had good airplay in the States. Val has been playing and singing the blues for a while now and had had the band on record since 2012, during which time they have toured extensively across the States and on the way have managed to play with; Tommy Castro, Coco Montoya, Rick Estrin, Chris Cain, Albert Cummings and many more. Finalists in the Sacramento International Blues Festival in 2012. So what do we have here? 13 tracks all written by Val. Val shares the billing with her 4 piece band (with several guest players) Val hasn’t got what you would call a blues voice as such, and at times I felt that she needed more guts in the songs, but this is a studio album and we all

know that putting across a gutsy live sound often only comes on stage in front of an appreciative audience where you can let it all come out. Looking at some of the photos that came with the Press pack, I get the impression that this is a woman who is out to make her mark on the blues and is enjoying every minute of it.

DAVE STONE

BILL JOHNSON COLD OUTSIDE INDEPENDENT

Canadian based singer and guitarist Bill Johnson has produced a delightful blues album with his 4th release 'Cold Outside'. It's a terrific blend of blues, soul and roots mostly taking its inspiration from Chicago but in a way that treats the music with respect and the song writing is personal and heartfelt. Baggage Blues hits the Chicago jump blues feel from the off and is a great opener, it's a real treat to hear the brilliant David Vest adding wonderful piano accompaniment on this. There really isn't a poor track or filler on here and the production by Joby Baker (Cowboy Junkies producer amongst others) raises the bar. Other highlights for me are the title track, Cold Outside,

where Bills vocals and slower delivery reminded a bit of classic Johnny Cash and Townes Van Zandt. I loved My Natural Ability which included some more outstanding piano playing, this time by Darcy Phillips, and some beautifully measured guitar picking by Bill. The quiet reflective Driftin' And Driftin' also hit the spot in a melancholic way. I wasn't that familiar with Bills work or history before listening to this and it appears that he has been close to major breakthroughs a couple of times over the last twenty years only for fate and family illness to knock him back. He was nominated for a Juno award in 2012, perhaps these knock backs have added an authenticity to Bills blues, in any case this album should see him widening his fan base and receiving critical acclaim.

STEVE YOURGLIVCH

NINE BELOW ZERO 13 SHADES OF BLUE

ZED RECORDS

Most people remember Nine Below Zero as the house band for the debut episode of alt-comedy classic The Young Ones back in ’82, accompanied by Rick Mayall’s psychotic frugging and the inevitable punch-up. Despite the exposure the band split

not long after, staying dormant for many years. Thankfully they came back, with Mark Feltham (surely the greatest UK harp player ever?), guitarist/vocalist Dennis Greaves and drummer Mickey Burkey leading the band ever onwards. 13 Shades is a tribute album, collecting Nine Below Zero’s favourites (with a helping hand from Spotify): r ‘n’ b, funk, soul and blues numbers and played by the new Nine Below Zero ‘big band’ line-up of horns, violin, keys and backing singers. The whole affair is light years away from the band that made Rick and co. leap around maniacally – the spiky blues of yore has been replaced with a sound that embraces everything from funk, to zydeco, to Chicago blues to reggae. Songs originally recorded by the great Allan Toussaint, War (in their earlier obscure incarnation as ‘Senor Soul’), Boozoo Chavis and Aretha Franklin and get the Nine Below Zero treatment, albeit with a lot of respect and some amazing playing (kudos for Charlie Austen for steeping into Franklin’s shoes and making it something really special, no easy task). 13 Shades Of Blue is an intriguing glimpse into the soul of Nine Below Zero and makes a neat little jukebox to boot. The forthcoming tour will hopefully take some of these numbers to the stage and make for one hell of a night out.

MARTIN COOK

TRACY K WHAT’S THE RUSH

TRACY K

I first came across this blues lady on the rather excellent double CD Blues Harp Women so I was really pleased when this popped onto my doorstep. Out of Winnipeg, Manitoba she sure has a wheen of talent as we would say in this part of Scotland and delivers plenty of energy over the course the eight cuts on this her fourth album. I kind of like the fact that the approach taken in recording has been, to my ears at least, as close to being done live to “tape” as possible. So not content with being a gutsy throaty blues singer, she blows a mean harp and writes a damn fine bunch of tunes as well. Seven originals plus a fine cover of the slightly obscure Randy Newman song I’m Guilty. I loved the crackly old LP sound effect used at the beginning of this song. Belted out with feeling to mainly an acoustic guitar, underpinned by a simple Hammond organ, when she bridges on harp it really draws you deep into the song. Everybody Want’s gets things underway and sets the tone of what follows, lots of passion at tempos that put a lie to the album’s title. My favourite track is the backdoor live

feel, foot-stomping cracker that is the less than subtle request for sex I Got The Honey. I guess the blues has always been about sex, love, desire, loss etc. and there is loads of that on offer here. Tracy has got herself together emotionally in What Tomorrow Brings and talks us into the lives of various couples like Mick & Molly she knows through the lyrics of Heartstrung. This a very welcome addition to my library, thanks Tracy.

GRAEME SCOTT

LIL' ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS THE BIG SOUND OF LIL' ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS ALLIGATOR

Nephew of slide guitar maestro JB Hutto, Lil' Ed and his band have been entertaining us for thirty years now, blowing audiences away with his own take on slide. His band, consisting of half-brother James Young on bass, Michael Garrett, rhythm guitar and drummer Kelly Littleton have been together since 1989. Here, they are joined by Sumito Ariyoshi on keyboards. After 27 years they are still going strong with this new disc. There are fourteen songs and twelve of them have Lil’ Ed or Lil’ Ed and his

wife Pam Williams as the author, the other two are written by his uncle J.B. Lil’ Ed’s songs stand up there shoulder to shoulder with his, and he can sure mimic his uncle’s haunting guitar sound when he wants to. This is Lil’ Ed carrying on the tradition, and he is up to the task. The songs are strong and that distinctive traditional Chicago sound is right there, the family’s customary sound with a seamless changing of the guard. No you are not going to mistake one for the other, although he learned his lessons well he isn’t his uncle, however the familial sound is there and it is alive. Lil’ Ed is his own person and has put together a strong band and his songs are equally strong and even more quirky than most blues men will allow. Not only is this band keeping the music alive, but it is grown up, and has come into its own as a vibrant entity. This is the legacy he was dealt and as he is taking it to new heights and directions, at the same time being faithful to the sound and the energy that he inherited.

Traditional Chicago blues is alive and well and in very good hands.

CLIVE RAWLINGS

THE PINX FREEDOM INDEPENDENT

Those of a delicate disposition should probably move swiftly along to the next album

review in this august publication. Those who are up for some thunderous southern rock ‘n’ roll and boogie should read on to learn more about this CD of high-energy, fistpumping anthems inspired by the likes of MC5, Thin Lizzy, Stones, Zeppelin and fellow Atlantans the Georgia Satellites. Opener Rock All Night is a classic American rabble rouser that kicks in with heavy riffs and powerful vocals from frontman Adam McIntyre backed by bottom-heavy bass and thunderous drums. Southern Gentleman is more of the same storming approach but set at an even faster tempo and already the monster speed-machine draped in the Stars & Stripes as displayed on the CD cover seems mightily appropriate. I imagine the bands Marshall stacks have to work pretty hard to contain this raucous outfit. The stacks and the listener’s ears are given a bit of a break on the rock-ballad Blue Dream which features some vocal harmonies and a psychedelic guitar solo. The psychedelic theme continues on Sun House which has echoes of my 60’s faves The Yardbirds. Other Side is a driving rocker featuring McIntyre’s furious wah-wah guitar and whiskey-soaked vocals with the band providing their customary powerful and effective backing. The songs are mostly self-penned, concise and simple and, generally, they hit the spot. I Got The Cure

is another ballad but really that’s not what this bunch are all about and I prefer the rockers. My favourite track and the sole cover here is Fred “Sonic” Smith’s heavy trance-inducing jam Baby Won’t Ya which is the longest track on the CD (5.31) and closes the album. I enjoyed this one and if you want something to blow the cobwebs away then check this one out.

DAVE DRURY

THE TED VAUGHN BLUES BAND THE TED VAUGHN BLUES BAND

HARBINGER NORTHWEST RECORDS

This album should carry a health warning as it is certainly loud and takes no prisoners but this is a really enjoyable dose of traditional Chicago style electric blues that is played with enthusiasm and no little skill, if this doesn’t get you on your feet nothing will. The five piece band are based on the Pacific coast in the USA and are a mature professional band who have been together for a while although this is their only recent album release, some critics would highlight that with just three original songs on the album the band are limiting their opportunities but I would counter this by saying that the “Hooker & King” songs here have

a freshness about them with strong harmonica and guitar breaks making them a very worthwhile listen, one of the originals has a familiar name but is an original song called Nothin, But Trouble, which has an excellent gruff vocal by Ted Vaughn and some fiery lead guitar by Clay “Bone” King, in fact the other two self-written tracks sit very comfortably alongside the rest of the material. This is an excellent rocking blues album that thunders along from start to finish and is pure entertainment.

ADRIAN BLACKLEE

AUSTIN YOUNG BAND NOT SO SIMPLE VIZZTONE

Out of Colorado Springs, Colorado and inspired to play the guitar by his late father Tim Young (to whom this CD, Austin’s second, is dedicated), among many others, young Austin makes music that tends to be on the more muscular side of blues-rock, with generally powerful, sometimes riff driven numbers though conversely, the lyrics on occasion fall into the gospel influenced inspirational category. Take Me Away is a statement of intent as it sets out Austin’s blues-rock stall, and the equally powerful Barren Road Blues follows

it up, leading into the funkflavoured Something More, with echoes of BB King in the guitar work before the up tempo ending, and the title track slows things down, a heartfelt bluesballad performance. Heal My Heart is a swinging blues shuffle pure and simple, again with echoes of BB King in the guitar work and swinging horns arranged by Darwin Kramer, and Letting Go is a punchy blues with an Americana inflected chorus. Mountains On Fire is a fine slow blues, though it might have benefitted from a minute or so being pruned off the running time – a criticism I can make of a couple of other tracks too, though it should not mar any listener’s enjoyment of this set too much. Whirlwind is a classic blues-rock instrumental with echoes of Led Zeppelin in the guitar work, and driven along here as elsewhere by the exemplary rhythm section of bassist and drummer Alex Goldberg and Forrest Raup respectively. The solo Angel Flying Home ensures a quiet and reflective close to another otherwise high energy album.

NORMAN DARWEN

Singer songwriter Dani is

from Israel his preferred medium is performing as a one man band where he plays electric guitar also harmonica and drums. Here he branches out with bringing in a band to play with him and the result is a twelve song compilation of varying genres and sounds. It is very creative and although not totally blues orientated it does have a base there. It was produced by Sefi Zisling at Stairway Studios Tel Aviv and features The Ramirez Brothers Uzi on guitar and Kitkit on drums. Dani has obviously been influenced by Bob Dylan especially on tunes like Should’ve which is a poignant slow burner .The release has elements of blues funk and rock many layered. He wrote all songs including the Hebrew Mishehu Aher which is basically sung in English on Somebody Else this is a very organic number with heavy percussion and lots of guitar distortion very grungy. What’s Wrong With Me is very early blues lap guitar and catchy chorus. Some Also Say is more up-tempo but still improvising sassy harmonica tones infused with backing percussion. Long Days At The Lab is a highlight he seems to have an obsession with whales as this eerie piece incorporates such sounds and the artwork is of constructing a whale. Tell Me No Lie closes the release an acoustic leveller more slow roots sounding ballad. Overall a very organic melodic

hypnotic sound from a very talented musician.

COLIN CAMPBELL

DEX ROMWEBER CARRBORO BLOODSHOT

Romweber has been around for a goodly number of years and while his isn’t the first name to drop off the lips of most blues fans he has been a significant influence on the roots blues circuit –especially bands such as the Black Keys and White Strips. Jack White describes him as “one of the best kept secrets of the rock & roll underground”. This album is remarkable if only because he plays in so many different genres and manages to put all over with incredible intensity and personality. At times he has the voice of a young Elvis, brimming over with dark sensuality, but then he can dabble in rockabilly, gothic rock & roll or even New Orleans swing. Every track seems to turn another corner and show another facet of an incredible musician. To be honest, my expectations were low; the blurb talks him up as the father of roots and one of the most significant musicians who ever lived – well he doesn’t quite hit those heights but he makes a better noise than almost anyone

around at the moment. Take Trouble Of The World: a huge and doom-laden sound with a heartfelt –but not emotional – vocal that rings out from the speakers to create a huge soundscape. Or Nightide just washing over you with a sax and guitar driven instrumental. Or opener I Had A Dream with his crooning vocal sweetly rounding on a gentle harmonium creating a sort of white gospel sound, punctuated by a resonant guitar. It isn’t all perfect but the imperfections just make the songs better and more real. Surprisingly, this is one of my favourite albums this year.

ANDY SNIPPER

ADAM ECKERSLEY BAND THE SECOND ALBUM

LOST HIGHWAY AUSTRALIA

Adam Eckersley used to be in an Australian band called Bluezone, he now has his own band and mighty fine they are too. Based on Central coast, this five piece border just a little on the country blues genre, but there is enough guitar work to make them interesting. Along with Eckersley on guitar/vocals are bassist Scott Greenaway, drummer Benny Elliot, Dan Biederman on keys and new recruit Duncan Toombs on guitar and

banjo. Recorded in Byron Bay, you get the feel it was performed as live, fair bit of jamming going on. Although the press release states all the tracks are self-penned, these old ears detected a cover of Neil Young's Come A Time, where Adam's missus Brooke joins him on vocals. She also appears on Wheels with former Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning. From the piping organ of its opening bars, opener Live On promises something big and it doesn't disappoint. The album frequently celebrates the warmth of family life. The classic rock throw down Talking About Love is a timely reminder of maintaining an emotional connection of our domestic responsibilities. There's a country crossover on For You, soul flavours on Lost Time and a honkytonk stomper Mocha. Wheels is a radio-friendly love song, while Hey Little Daughter is dedicated to Adam and Brookes daughter, Tiggy. Closer Took That Woman is a seven minute epic with a funk feel, giving the band licence to show what they can do.

CLIVE RAWLINGS

album of Americana with a strong dash of blues, bluegrass, hints of jazz and an ease of listening. Cary Morin is a superb finger picking guitarist with a voice that is extremely soulful and it is ideal for the music he's producing here for you. This CD is the epitome of the expression what you see is what you get! What you see here is a Native American with a soulful voice and who can play the guitar like a virtuoso, so delicate is his finger picking of the strings, so getting that, is as good as it gets if Americana is your bagatelle. I noted some comment about it being Native Americana, but to me Morin is a universal American as indeed his ancestors in the Crow Indians were true Americans. Track six Valley Of The Chiefs is a comment on that background and is quite superb. Now here are lyrics which mean something and are written with a sensitivity and feeling for the subject matter. The lyricist, Morin himself, excels with track eight Me & My Broken Heart the very essence of a broken heart in words with delicate guitar playing like tears for what is lost. Of this gem of an album, I truly enjoyed one track more than the others and that is saying something since it has converted me to the genre of American (whether native or not),

best of their ability. It is a 2014 release, but you can get it downloaded for under $10 and it is a worthwhile spend.

TOM WALKER

BACKTRACK BLUES BAND WAY BACK HOME

HARPO RECORDS

CD BABY Quintessentially this is an

Track thirteen Wrong Side Of The Kaw features all of Morin's abilities vocally and musically to the

This Chicago style blues band who have been together for over thirty five years playing out of their Florida base. This album is their fifth album and what a cracking release it is, mixing self written tracks with some covers originally released by some of Chicago’s finest, it cannot be a coincidence that two of the band member’s names are Little Johnny Walter and Sonny Charles! The band are formed of five significant musicians who have played the blues for many years, these include Kid Royal on guitar and the aforementioned Sonny Charles who switches between lead vocals and harmonica. Included on the album across all tracks is pianist Victor Wainwright, a blues star in his own right, who for me is the final piece of the jigsaw which makes this a perfect blues band line up. The self-written material is very good, the pick for me is the infectious Heavy Built Women whose chorus

CARY MORIN TINY TOWN

I sang along to which caused a ‘looks could kill’ stare from my wife when she heard me, very clever lyrics and some excellent lead harmonica playing from Sonny, a surprising cover is Phil Lynott’s Baby Please Don’t Go which gets the rocking blues treatment, all in all a great mix of Chicago blues by a very polished band who have hit the right note with this release.

ADRIAN BLACKLEE

ANNIKA CHAMBERS RAGGED AND DIRTY

UNDER THE RADAR

There appears to be no shortage of ladies with big voices and personalities to match but what we don’t seem to have seen much of over the last few years is a lady with a big, rich and soulful voice.

Annika Chambers fits right into that classic mould – sexy and sassy with a wonderfully rich voice and no shortage of power but still capable of a gospel like joy. Other than her debut album, Making My Mark, I haven’t heard much about her before but this album shows just how far she has progressed as a singer and I’d love to hear her live. One thing that leaps out of this album is her incredible confidence; she leads, not just as vocalist but also completely up front and

the focus of all the music and seems to be revelling in it. Her singing ranges from Ragged And Dirty showing the sassy and proud side of her vocals to City In The Sky, slower and encouraging the listener to hear her gospel and on to the funky, soulful and downright sexy Six Nights And A Day. Put The Sugar To Bed she describes as her baby making song” – a straight out soul love song but the best is still to come in Reality where that gorgeous voice takes you places you weren’t expecting. She really has remarkable range and everything about this album proclaims he best of soul and Blues; if only some of the modern bump and grind so-called soul singers could hear what a real soul vocal is we might be in a better place.

ANDY SNIPPER

ERWIN HELFER LAST CALL

THE SIRENS RECORDS

Thirteen piano tracks covering the full gamut of standard blues from a genuine Chicago bluespiano master, Last Call includes a closing, fifteen minute personal interview, ore of a scrappy chat really, with Helfer to round the release off. Spanning a major chunk of Helfer’s career from the 1950s through the turbulent

70s to today, this album features the development of his keyboard skills and ability over half a century as a Chicago sideman and pianist of first-call to many on the circuit over the years. Tracks include a couple of versions of Make Me A Pallet On The Floor together with takes on Trouble In Mind, St James Infirmary, Rocky Mountain Blues, St Louis Blues and a host of other instantly recognizable blues classics. Throughout, Helfer’s piano holds centre stage, rolling and barrelling with immense style, class and quality. Vocalists Katherine Davis and the late Estelle ‘Mama’ Yancey also add their weighty voices to the mix and Helfer is also joined by his long-time buddy John Brumbach on tenor sax. Helfer, now well into his eighties, learned piano from the old masters and absorbed much of their styles and approaches to the eighty-eight keyed monster. An evident piano wizard, Helfer is self-evidently one of a dying breed, a guy to catch before it’s too late.

IAIN PATIENCE

not a fan of live recordings if only on the basis of the punters hollering and hooting. This album is a total exception, the audience undoubtedly in raptures with the quality of music on offer from this duo, keep their participation to the bare minimum and only then when the track is finished.

HOLLY HYATT AND JON BURDEN

SHUFFLIN' THE BLUES

FLOOD PLANE RECORDS

In the spirit of honesty, I'm

Jon Burdens

guitar playing, both acoustic and slide, are exquisite and had me in raptures too. Holly Hyatt is a natural singer. She has an innate sense of melody and rhythm, especially for the blues. Her forte though may well be jazz, since she appeared on stage with Jazz greats, The Brubeck Brothers (sons of the legendary, Dave Brubeck) but that said, she excels in the blues such is her all round vocal ability. The opening track Blow Wind Blow showcases Burdens skill on guitar to whet your appetite for the rest of the album and the vocal rendition of the lyrics by both he and Holly set a high bar for the rest of the CD Track four Lowdown Blues have Hyatt demonstrating a vocal hint of similarity to Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklyn. I could wax lyrical about every track on this diamond of an album, such is the quality from everyone concerned in its production. If you only buy one album in October, make it this one! You will never regret that purchase, and this copy is going straight into my car.

TOM WALKER

BARRELHOUSE CHUCK REMEMBERING THE MASTERS SIRENS RECORDS

Another Chicago bluespiano master with a name that pretty much says it all. This is a guy who has been rockin’ ‘n’ rolling, pounding the keys with his own distinct take on the music of the blues capital, Windy City, veteran scene for the past forty years. Influenced and taught by the likes of the legendary, late Pinetop Perkins, Sunnyland Slim, Detroit Junior and Little Brother Montgomery, Chuck has nevertheless managed to craft his own sound - no mean feat - and place himself firmly at the very forefront of barrelhouse playing in a cruel and hard music environment, where competition is severe, strong and ever-present. Tracks covered include a wonderful, soulful delivery on Vicksburg Blues, How Long Blues, Keep On Dinking and Chicago Blues, with each of the fourteen tracks showcasing Chuck’s talents to the full. As a student of the music four decades or so ago, Chuck immersed himself in the playing of the old veteran stylists in the region, soaking up their individual opinions, nuances and touches in a

way that enabled his own growing reputation and skill to develop and flourish.

Remembering The Masters is his own, deeply personal tribute to the help and support he received from the many piano greats who graced a stage, played a bar or a club in the Windy City over the course of the past half century.

IAIN PATIENCE

CROW BLACK CHICKEN PARIAH BROTHERS INDEPENDENT

This is the fourth release by the Pariah Bothers, a trio of Christy O’Hanlon, guitar, Stephen McGrath Bass and Gev Barrett on drums. The band are based in Ireland and call themselves a blues outfit, but listening to Pariah Brothers and the first reaction I got was that they were an American Southern rock band, albeit one on steroids.

Pariah… is a heavy, heavy slice of the blues that brings to mind the finest moments of Soundgarden, Skynyrd, Groundhogs and the Allmans. Opener Jonestown kicks off with some fuzzed-out acoustic before kicking into deep blues riff territory, from then on you’re for a serious blend of mean slide, kick-ass drumming and some astounding vocal theatrics. The whole album

pummels the senses, nothing vaguely resembling a ballad is on this release… amen to that. The sound is very much ‘live’ in the studio, The Prophet floats along on some serious slide, Ripples In The Sand is ominous, scary stuff. Pat McManus (a dedication to the ex-Mamas Boys player and fellow Irishman?) is the closest thing on Pariah… to resemble ‘commercial’, serious hook-laden stuff, whilst the closing title number is a joyous excursion into big sky rock and roll, that takes off into the stratosphere with some astounding Hendrix-style astral fretwork. Just add some big speakers and several beers for a winning combination. Here’s hoping they play live in the UK soon.

MARTIN COOK

DAN BUBIEN GRINDING THESE GEARS INDEPENDENT

As far as I can tell, this is Dan’s second release, a follow up to Empty Roads which was very well received, and here he is again with a ten track album. The line-up appears to be Ben on lead guitar and vocals and occasional bass, with Andy Taravella on drums and vocals and Joe Munroe on keys, vocals and bass. They are joined at various times by

5 other musicians, adding brass to the sound, and a great sound it is too!

Opening track Palest Rider has some fierce slide work, followed up with the title track which at times sounds like you keep a knockin. Foot stomping music, then we get a song called Vagabond which if you close your eyes sounds very much like something from Danny Bryant, it has that same raw edge to it. The brass come in on Second Hand Man with trumpet and sax, and a great sound too. Memphis Murder Blues could be John Lee Hooker, it has that rawness to it and the final track The Struggle Is Real is a great old fashioned work song, you can feel the hammers coming down!. A very varied mix of sounds, and I liked every one of them, a terrific album.

DAVE STONE

ED DEANE WIRELESS SET INDEPENDENT

Audiophiles who appreciate variety and musicianship should make space on their shelves for this eclectic and deeply satisfying CD. Deane, a Dublin-born guitarist, has been kicking around as a session player and sometime frontman since the 1960s, so he must

be pushing 70. Still, his musical intelligence ranges over a variety of styles: every cut on this album feels fresh and innovative. And Deane’s voice somehow sounds like that of a teenager. Some of the cuts have a carefree, radio-friendly feel. Deane’s age notwithstanding, I Need A Holiday, written by Dan Penn and Chuck Prophet, should be a hit today – people should blast it out as they cruise in their convertibles with the tops down. Just feel-good stuff. The blues are here, too, in the form of covers of Muddy Waters’ I Can’t Be Satisfied and Taj Mahal’s Queen Bee. Half of the 12 songs on the album are instrumentals, and Deane’s impeccable musicianship shines – from tasty slide to fluidly picked leads to wonderful chord changes. (He is, by the way, one of those weirdos who plays the guitar left-handed and upside-down – weirdos whose number also included the great guitarist Albert King.) It’s For You, with its flamenco feel, was influenced, Dean says, both by Robert Johnson and Francisco Tarrega, a Spanish classical guitarist and composer who died more than a century ago. And Nick Lowe, with whom Deane toured in the 1990s, probably influenced the opening cut, Vampire. Harlem Nocturne, sounds bluesy but eerie. And Deane describes the mellow closing track, an instrumental in which his relaxed yet emotive guitar ranges over a rich

backdrop of instruments, as “the nearest I’ve managed to get to playing with a string orchestra.” Always impeccable, always fresh, always innovative, this is a CD you’ll return to over the years. This one will stand the test of time.

M.D. SPENSER

SMOKY GREENWELL SOUTH LOUISIANA BLUES

GREENWELL RECORDS Greenwell served time as a session harp player back in the 1970’s, working with such notables Piano Red and Mose Vincent before becoming a member of funk legends War and writing his own harmonica training course (current sales 22,000 and rising). South Louisiana Blues is album number eight and features twelve cuts of self-penned harp-lead blues classic, alongside covers by Bob Dylan and Willie Dixon amongst others. The album gathers some of Louisiana’s finest players and drags the sound of the swamps through your speakers. Though Greenwell is no blues belter the material on South… kick out nicely thanks to his astounding harmonica playing. Opener Animal Angels sounds like a high octane version of ‘On the Road Again’ by Canned Heat and boats

some neat slide by regular Greenwell band member Jack Kolb, whilst I Had a Dream Last Night swings along a treat. Instrumental Pick It Up could be an Area Code 615 outtake, whilst Two Headed Woman is just plain weird and a lot of fun to boot. Album closer Walking With Mr Lee is another instrumental, with sax and Hammond vying for attention over the sound of beer glasses and laughter. A cool mix of blues and funk delivered with passion and humour. Speaking of the latter, check out the video for Animal Angels online and marvel at Smoky’s sartorial elegance – a gorilla suit with angel wings… Splendid.

MARTIN COOK

of riff-based blues-rock, followed by the title track, a more traditional blues with echoes of 60s Chicago and sporting some excellent lead guitar work from special guest Matt Schofield. I Believe In Love is a slow number running to two second short of nine minutes and that has hints of the late 60s British blues boom sound. The straightforward Louisiana swamp blues influenced Honey, Ain’t That Love is nice and catchy with JL’s warm vocal right to the fore. This in contrast to the closing track Phrygian dance, an energetic and very impressive instrumental in Middle Eastern mode, perhaps something of a nod to the mid-60s musical experimenters (I could easily imagine The Yardbirds trying this one in late 1966) and which also briefly allows the focus to shift to bass player Ken Burgner and bassist Ian Jones. A lively end to a very fine release.

NORMAN DARWEN

JL FULKS ON DOWN THE ROAD INDEPENDENT

Jeffrey Lynn Fulks Jr. was born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1990, beginning his own solo career after plenty of woodshedding and a stint as lead guitarist for Memphis harmonica ace Brandon Santini. This is a five track, all originals CD EP release, and makes for an excellent introduction to this young man’s considerable blues talent. The River is the opening track, an excellent piece

ERIC SOMMER BROOKLYN BOLERO

CLYDE IS THINKING MUSIC

Whoever Clyde was or indeed is, he or she was definitely thinking when they produced this 24 carat gem. This CD features a relatively short portfolio of Eric Sommers work

with only eight tracks, but they are corkers nonetheless! He has metamorphed from a folk singer to a sort of cross of power rock, pop with a blues overlay which is especially evident in track two; Cereal Song, the vocals, slide guitar and harmonica are all well in evidence even if the lyrics themselves are nonsensical. The very idea that you can sing about breakfast cereals in a blues context are bordering on the ludicrous, but the fact remains that the singing allied to the instrumental playing are in the top ranks. There is a percussive tone to the guitar playing of both Sommer and his session man Zach Smith. The fi nal member of this trio is Jim Oakley on percussion. It is hard to imagine there is only three of them on this CD with the production of such a quality. Eric Sommers is essentially a solo musician whose work output borders on back breaking with in excess of 200 shows a year in America. Taking the travelling distances involved it is surprising he's not burnt out already. Track fi ve; Cover My Soul is a particularly sensitively worded and gently played six minutes of musical beauty. There may only be eight tracks but everyone was a pleasure to listen to! This is worth of a wee investment.

TOM WALKER

GRAHAM BLEASDALE I BELIEVE BLEASDALE

For this issue of the magazine I’ve certainly had a real mix of artists and styles to listen to and here we are at the final one and it is no exception. We are now firmly in the smooth jazz end of the spectrum or should that be at the gospel end of the blues where it meets jazz? Of it all gets so confusing! What is easy to say is that this new release six track EP is a fine easy listen. Graham is completely new to me, a Brit who grew up in Vancouver British Columbia, is a primarily a jazz pianist/vocalist. I guess it comes with the territory that lyrically there is certainly a religious element to each of the six songs. However dare I say it that, for me as one who does not have a particular faith, it is not too preachy? Despite what I’ve just written I’ve always dug the sound of a gospel choir. There is something so uplifting when you hear those vocal lines coming at you in support of a song. That is the case on this album from the opening cut Today a soft gentle love ballad with call and response against Graham’s soulful delivery. I Believe is a bit idealistic in its simple hopes and

dreams and of course this crazy world is not really like that. Impossible To Dance Forever By Yourself grooves along well whilst we all look for a life partner. So a contemporary, thoughtful album delivered immaculately on a bed of soul and jazz.

GRAEME SCOTT

LUKE WINSLOW-KING I’M GLAD TROUBLE DOESN’T LAST ALWAYS

BLOODSHOT

A superior album from Mr Wimslow-King. Gentle and heartfelt, opening with the delightful slide of the gospel tinged On My Way and then progressing through a whole series of singer/songwriter changes covering country, straight out rocking blues and all sorts in between. He claims descendance from the Winslow family, prominent on the Mayflower, and has the feel of a real ‘peoples musician’ playing music that is from the heart but he also has a great deal of talent and his slide playing is exceptional while his vocals are soft but clear and passionate. There are some obvious influences – Ry Cooder and Bonnie Raitt come to mind as well as Neil Young but his voice is original and stands alone from the

influences. The songs are tales that hit you where it counts as he touches on love and loss as well as the ravages of a hard life. I particularly enjoyed the country tinged numbers such as Heartsick Blues but the title track is a superb piece of blues/rock and then there is the dark and funky Esther Please with New Orleans meets Nashville stamped all over it. The backing musicians are all highly talented but the promo pack has no mention of the players and the production is all about creating a live sound, very small soundstage and feeling like a band rather than a series of overdubs. All told, a super album and an artist whose undeniable talents seem to be hitting a peak.

ANDY SNIPPER

KAT RIGGINS BLUES REVIVAL

BLUZPIK MEDIA GROUP

For Miami born Kat Riggins blues is “about the raw emotion” in every note when she is performing and that sentiment shines through as soon as the music starts. Now I See (Ooh Wee) is a blues-soul shouter with Riggins’ feisty vocals to the fore ably backed by her fi ne band with Darrell Raines expressive lead guitar

and honking tenor sax from guest Stephen Lombardelli. The pace drops for the grooving jazz-funk of Good Girl Blues and Wail Away is a sultry slow blues featuring Riggins crooning huskily and egging on Raines as he produces some tasty guitar licks. Queen Bee is a straight-ahead blues shuffl e with Riggins laying down her orders forcefully “cross me once you won’t do it again”. Centrepiece of the album is an extended workout of Sam Cooke’s classic Change Is Gonna Come featuring superb guitar and organ from Raines and soulful gospel-tinged vocals from Riggins. The material is mostly selfpenned with one further cover being the funky stomping Blues Is My Business which is driven along by Raines’ chickenscratch guitar work and Riggins’ assertive vocals. The atmospheric Devil Is A Liar has a swampy feel with Riggins wailing eerily and Raines enjoying full use of his guitar effects pedal. The album closes with the pounding and uplifting proclamation that Blues Is The New Black. Amen to that. This sounds like the real deal – a killer backing band that handles blues, funk, R&B and gospel with ease fronted by Raines superb guitar and keyboards plus, the icing on the cake, Kat Riggins powerful and expressive vocals. The Blues Revival starts here.

DAVE DRURY

THE DEVIL MAKES THREE REDEMPTION & RUIN

NEW WEST

Oddly this album arrived with no promo sheet so making a snap judgement I decided this was going to be a fine blues album based on the title alone. Wrong! Guilty as charge m’lud of judging a book by its cover except, in this case, there was no cover just a simple white wallet. What you get instead is a wonderful gumbo comprising bluegrass, old time, country, folk, jazz, ragtime, rockabilly and some grand blues based music. It is foot tappingly good entertainment from this Santa Cruz band of jolly souls comprising Lucia Turino upright bass, Cooper McBean banjo and Peter Bernhard guitar. All three share vocal duties on what is their fifth studio release however unlike the homespun originals found of previous releases all tracks here are covers from some of the giants of our business like Hank Williams, Tampa Red, Tom Waits, Muddy Waters, Kris Kristofferson and Townes Van Zandt. I’m sure that were this to be a vinyl copy I had then I would find that the twelve cuts would be split evenly between redemption and ruin one subject per side.

There are just so many terrific songs on here it would seem churlish to select a few however you just can’t ignore the slightly creepy The Angel Of Death and Waiting Around To Die. How about the fine Down In The Valley taken here at a brisk rate belying the subject matter. Champagne And Reefer plus the quality of Robert Johnson’s Drunken Hearted Man both sound damn fresh on this record. Whoever the tech wizard was on these sessions did a brilliant job so do the band supported by some top notch guests. Fabulous stuff indeed and do yourself a favour and buy it.

GRAEME SCOTT

and a whole host of other well-honed pros rolling the music along in style. All of the numbers on True Love sound fresh from the bar and there’s not a trace of filler in sight.

Opener Going Down

Slow kicks thing off with a slow shuffl e, before Hidy Ho hits the grove, with Rio’s playing to the fore. Backing singers the Fishettes (clever, eh?) croon away merrily behind the man on Times is Hard, whilst Chickn Box Blues (sic) slows things down a notch, with some more astounding harp playing. Closer Packing Up sounds like a long-lost John Mayall number, with guitarist Robert Rand fuzzing away beautifully over the whole splendid kerboodle. Listening to True Love serves a great reminder to why we all love the blues so much and why artists like Trill are so vital to the scene. Sample it online… then spend that money!

NICK TRILL AND THE THRILLSEEKERS TRUE LOVE

HEEBEE RECORDS

Florida-based swinging bluesman Trill has been playing since ‘76, leading the Thrillseekers since ’96 and mixing sporadic recording with a constant touring schedule. True Love is his pure Chicago style blues, with Trill’s astounding harp playing well to the fore. The album features such blues notables as Bob Hall, Fred Kaplan and Rob Rio (all hitting the keys on various numbers)

MARTIN COOK

MATTHEW SKOLLER BLUES IMMIGRANT

TONGUE & GROOVE RECORDS

Matthew is one of Chicago’s top harmonica players and this is his fifth solo release. The cast of musicians playing on the CD read like a Who’s who of US blues. Nine of the

eleven tracks were written and produced by Matthew and the album touches on Matthew’s personal history as well as other issues in the world today.

.Opening track Big Box Store Blues is a rewriting of Sonny Boy Williamson’s Welfare Store Blues. The Devil Ain’t Got No Music was written for Lurrie Bell and seems to go against the old blues notion that the Devil got all the best music! Only in the blues addresses the vagaries of the blues music industry, and will I am sure draw a few nods and smiles from the listener. Matthew’s fierce harp playing together with the sheer class of the musicians playing with him make this an album to be reckoned with, and it is certainly one that won’t get relegated to the pile of discs that once reviewed never get played again, this is a keeper!

DAVE STONE DVD s

(1939-1943) who lived fast and died young, leaving behind a wealth of recorded material – much of it bootleg – that reveals an artist of astonishing emotion, imagination, and technical complexity. Lily Keber made a film about him – released in 2013 and now available on DVD, capturing reminiscences from friends and colleagues, and serving to uncover his work and importance as a musician. I must confess to already being a convert. I’ve transcribed and learned a good deal of Booker’s music, and been lucky enough to present some of my playing at this films premiere in Texas and around it’s UK screenings. I play Booker’s tunes at all of my shows. Booker has many moods. When ‘jaunty’ he sounds to me like a mash up of ragtime and boogie woogie. He could do this with his own compositions, or with material he chose to cover. Often playing solo (as piano players frequently do) his choices could seem surprising – Something Stupid, La Malaguena, Baby Face, but any time he touched a song it acquired the “Booker shuffle” often produced with work of just his left hand before the right hand was pressed into service with shotgun accuracy and pure blues spirit. It can be an acquired taste. Then he stretches out with slow gospel that would make Aretha weep

(a woman and friend he idolized); or he puts a driving beat behind Ray Charles’ It Should Have Been Me or Leadbelly’s Goodnight Irene that knocks your socks off. Keber tells his life story, encompassing laying down piano parts for the likes of Fats Domino, or playing Hammond organ in the Dr John band with funny, informative, and deeply moving testimonies from Allen Toussiant, Joe Boyd and Harry Connick Jr. Cut throughout with Booker’s playing, live footage and collages of New Orleans street life, the film attains a poetry befitting the man’s bright and tragic life. I’m on about my tenth viewing, and can’t recommend this highly enough.

DOM PIPKIN

DAVID “HONEYBOY” EDWARDS

DVD & CD

95 years old and still recording! What a claim to fame, you may also know that Dave was one of the last of the Bluesmen left alive who could say that they had played with Robert Johnson and this is borne out from the

chat at the end of the DVD where Dave talks about Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Big Walter and many others. This was recorded and filmed at the G Spot in Los Angeles and Dave is backed by Jeff Dale & the South Woodlawners who are content to take their lead from Dave and not attempt to outshine him in any way. The set is both disc and film in one package with nice inner sleeve notes that cannot possibly do justice to the career of a man whose musical life spans more than 75 years, Unfortunately this was the last ever performance and Dave “Honeyboy” Edwards passed away the following year. This is obviously not just a historic recording but also an enjoyable one, as despite his age, Dave is thoroughly enjoying himself and that is quite clear from the DVD. Dave doesn’t rush at anything and squeezes and cajoles his guitar. There are 10 music tracks, with the final track being Dave chatting on camera, with a fascinating insight into his life. I cannot believe that there can be any more of the old Bluesman out there, so this has to be a disc for posterity. With the added benefit of having both CD and DVD together in the same package this has got to be one to look out for although you’ll probably have to go online to find it.

DAVE STONE

BAYOU MAHARAJAH THE TRAGIC LIFE OF JAMES BOOKER

DVD

James Booker was a New Orleans pianist

I’M GONNA TELL YOU SOMETHIN’ THAT I KNOW

No o Ne shOuld face c A ncer aloNe

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HARVEST TIME BLUES MONAGHAN, IRELAND

2 ND – 4TH SEPTEMBER 2016

At Ireland’s major blues festival, Sugar Ray and the Bluetones played with ferocious power on the likes of Blind Date, Someday Somewhere and Little Walter’s Mean Old World, which featured heart-shredding harmonica from Sugar Ray, who also sang convincingly throughout. The band’s ensemble playing was exceptionally tight while pianist Anthony Geraci and guitarist Monster Mike Welch both played several spectacular solos. Welch’s instrumental tribute to B.B. King was played with exquisite touch and phrasing while his solo on the hurt-filled Seeing Is Believing was incendiary. “We love you all,” declared Sugar Ray at the end of the gig. The audience having been totally blown away, the feeling was clearly mutual.

Marketed as one of the last of the Mississippi Delta bluesmen, Leo ‘Bud’ Welch played what may have been the sparkliest, pinkest electric guitar ever seen in the hands of an 84 year old. His set began with the mesmerising Praise His Name but thereafter his repertoire, for all his venerability, seemed pretty similar to the repertoire that the corniest blues rockers play every night in your local boozer. Still, his raw, primal interpretations of Sweet Home Chicago, Dust My Broom and Got My Mojo Workin’ allowed the audience to imagine they were in a rural

SHOWTIME

The BM! Round-up of Live Blues

Mississippi juke joint - something of a fantasy come true, of course, for any European blues fan. Backed classily by the Lucky Devils, Rick Vito played wonderfully subtle slide guitar, his phrasing, tone and note selection all exemplary. A member of Fleetwood Mac from 1987 –1991, Vito included in his set the otherworldly-sounding Looking For Somebody and Shake Your Moneymaker, on which he rocked like the clappers, from that band’s Peter Green era. An entertainingly varied set also featured originals like Mr. Lucky, on which his slide solo was thrilling, and the prison song Carry It On Home To Rosie. Grainne Duffy, a Monaghan native,

joined the band for several songs, including a storming version of Bob Dylan’s Maggie’s Farm.

Shoutin’ Red, a young Swedish woman, impressed with her strong and at times plangent vocals and melodic acoustic guitar fingerpicking. Blind Darby’s I Never Cried and a medley of songs by St. Louis bluesman Charlie Jordan - Big Four Blues, Stack O’Dollars Blues and Hunkie Tunkie Blues - were expertly played.

Acoustic guitarist Cary Morin, whose fingerpicking was fiendishly complex, charmed with his genial and gracious presence and with original songs such as Valley Of The Chiefs, which was about his Native American heritage, and

Jordan Patterson by Trish Keogh-Hodgett

the starkly realistic Cradle To The Grave. “Life’s a short walk,” he sang on the latter, “from the cradle to the grave.” Indeed several of his songs had interesting spiritual or philosophical sub-texts.

Mobile, Alabama-based Lisa Mills, accompanying herself on semi-acoustic guitar, sang in an emotion-drenched voice on originals like Way Down South, which vividly evoked the horror of Hurricane Katrina, and covers like the Dusty Springfield-associated Son Of A Preacher Man, which was sung with real erotic longing.

Best known for his membership of the Grainne Duffy band, guitarist Paul Sherry, fronting his own trio, showed his skill and versatility on stylish versions of Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing, Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here and his own material.

Gavin Povey and the Fabulous Oke-She-Moke-She-Pops, a piano-led, New Orleans-influenced trio, played a lovely version of Jesus On The Mainline and

good-humoured versions of the likes of Moon Mullican’s fifties classic Seven Nights To Rock.

The Tommy Bentz Band, a Wisconsin-based trio, played originals like 24 Hour Speed and covers like the Band’s Ophelia with Bentz’s guitar playing sometimes showing a jazz influence. The Allman Brothers Band’s Blue Sky featured a suitably ecstatic guitar solo.

New York City-based Piedmont Bluz comprised Valerie Turner on vocals, National guitar and five string banjo and her husband Ben Turner on washboard and harmonica. The duo played with restraint and calm conviction on the likes of Willie Brown’s Future Blues and Blind Boy Fuller’s Step It Up And Go. Lucille Bogan’s Shave ‘Em Dry was performed in a cleaned-up version with Valerie frankly admitting that she would feel uncomfortable singing the filthy original lyrics. The detailed and informative

song introductions suggested the couple’s respect for their material and their educational intent.

Texan veteran Bobby Mack, backed by a road-hardened three piece, played trenchant and exciting guitar on Look On Yonder Wall, a song perhaps most famously recorded by Elmore James but here in a version more similar to Freddie King’s, and Pourin’ Rain. Mack’s singing was powerful if not especially distinctive; several songs were enhanced by great booting tenor sax solos.

Mitch Woods, on acoustic piano, displayed his mastery of New Orleans-style playing on his tribute to Professor Longhair, Mojo Mambo, and a Fats Domino medley comprising I’m Gonna Be A Wheel Someday, Hello Josephine and I’m Walking, on which he showed, as he did throughout, something of the charm and likeability of Domino himself. A warm,

Grainne Duffy by Trish Keogh-Hodgett

Shoutin' Red by Trish Keogh-Hodgett

characterful singer, Woods performed Louis Jordan’s Choo Choo Ch’Boogie with great verve while his own humorous Broke had something of the exuberance of a Jordan number.

Belfast trio the Hard Chargers impressed with their avoidance of blues rock clichés, on the likes of Fine And Filthy, but on this occasion singer-guitarist Chris Todd’s lyrics were indecipherable.

Welsh band Glas played heavy versions of Diving Duck Blues and Shake Your Moneymaker and messed with the brain cells of the old hippies present by surprisingly playing Bananas, a jolly celebration of marijuana smoking by their legendary Welsh predecessors Man.

Austin, Texas sextet Mingo Fishtrap played high energy soul and funk. A rug-cutting homage to James Brown irresistibly included I Feel Good, Soul Power and It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World.

“We’re going to set this place ablaze,” promised Canadian Jordan Patterson at the start of his band’s performance. The set perhaps didn’t quite live up to those words but Patterson certainly played exceptional harmonica and sang soulfully on the likes of She’s Cool and Can We Fall In Love Again. Between songs his banter with the audience seemed a bit half-hearted but his throwing of promo T-shirts and CDs into the crowd delighted those quick enough to grab them.

Ronnie Greer’s Blues Revue were sensational. The swinging core band included former Van Morrison saxophonist Richie Buckley who soloed with soul and virtuosity on Charles Mingus’s Nostalgia In Times Square and elsewhere, while Greer himself played guitar with great visceral power throughout. The band’s various guests all thrilled the audience. Grainne Duffy sang

a sizzling Love Me Like A Man and compellingly communicated abject desolation and self-loathing on I’d Rather Go Blind. Leo ‘Bud’ Welch, a challenge for any band to accompany, played with a raw power that was riveting on Sweet Home Chicago and Got My Mojo Workin’, during which he arose creakily from his chair with the excitement of it all. “That was the real deal,” proclaimed another guest, Mitch Woods, as agog as the audience at what he had witnessed from Welch. Woods himself played scintillating boogie-woogie piano on the likes of Solid Gold Cadillac and the joyous Crawfishin’, to which Greer contributed an exhilarating solo.

has a serious contender once restoration is complete! The Reduction from four full days, concerts so that it finished earlier on Monday was accepted by us stalwarts, though the fringe continued to the bitter end.

FRIDAY

COLNE RHYTHMN & BLUES FESTIVAL

AUGUST 2016

So it went ahead despite rumours after last year’s festival that funding had been “pulled” by the council. No longer available was the Leisure Centre Stage – instead we had the recently reopened and partly refurbished Hippodrome tucked down a side street towards the top of town. It was MAGNIFICENT! Many of us had never heard of or seen it and wondered why it hadn't been utilised before. Sound was superior to the Leisure Centre, spacious and not a trace of chlorine anywhere! The Municipal Main Stage

Opening Night on this the 27th Colne R&B festival. Nine below Zero hit the stage and blasted into a high energy set of their wellhoned style of R&B filled with many of their illustrious songs, guitar solos, howling blues harmonica riffs with panache and attitude aplenty! What a start! I did wonder at D G's casual attire – no smart suit or shiny boots etc. Then he explained they were straight off stage to drive sharpish to Gatwick and fl y to Switzerland for the next gig in this tour! Busy people delivering the best of British R&B everywhere they go! Dave Edmunds Band. Following NBZ Dave sounded slow and vocally lethargic at first but as soon as he got into more up tempo numbers such as Lazy Lester's, Sugar Coated Love he and the lads took off and took us along with them on a fully charged run through many of their hit songs that had audience sing-along and dance to throughout! Following that I dashed up to the Hippodrome to see new favourites of mine (yet again!) The Della Grants. They were dwarfed by the huge stage (I've only seen them play small pub/club and makeshift staged venues before) so they too adjusted to the new place to be seen in town! They held their own and rocked the crowd and won over a few new fans. I sped back to the Muni to catch the last few numbers (and encore) of Bernie Marsden Band. BM is an absolute master of blues guitar and total joy to hear and dance to. Modest, musically brilliant with

TREVOR HODGETT

Devon Allman by Christine Moore

Earl Thomas by Christine Moore

audience in complete awe he possesses power and prowess of guitar technique that others would die for! Marsden and Kirkpatrick's (2nd guitar) solo interludes were the stuff of legends! After that it was back to the sanctuary of The Crown Hotel. With feet aching and pulse still racing from an enjoyably busy first night at Colne I pushed through crowds thronging the town streets having emptied out from the many fringe venues on route.

SATURDAY

I missed most of the acoustic performances (sorry!) early on that day. There is so much happening everywhere in Colne over the Bank Holiday w/e that you cannot do justice to all the great bands, artists performing on so many stages all round town! As I walked up from The Crown (fringe venue) a band had started there and it was the same nearly all the way up through town to the Main stage at the Municipal Hall and beyond. Bars were crammed with playing bands or the streets full of punters having emptied out in between change overs of musicians. Fast food stalls and buskers attracted even more people. You can be easily distracted! You are still meeting old friends and introduced to others. The camaraderie is palpable! Roy Mette (British Stage) I couldn't miss Roy as it's so rare that I get to see him. This afternoon in the glorious Hippodrome theatre he performs a new programme of self-penned material without his usual band members! His playing is meticulous as ever and vocals clear and stunning but there was a distinct lack of 'gel' between him and fellow musicians. The pick-up 'band' were not familiar with his new material and so this was a slight disappointment for all concerned. However, the next afternoon in the little

Theatre down the road he gave a stirring and master class solo performance winning back his audience with gusto! Nikki Hill This amazing young lass missed last year’s event as she missed the plane over to the UK! She was determined not to disappoint us this year and she and her band gave a brilliant opening to the evening’s session. Her figure hugging jeans and emerald off the shoulder blouse was topped off with a jaunty turban. She was the real deal and certainly impressed everyone but then MC Chris Powers said she and the band would and he was right! Her unstoppable repartee of thumping good solid rocking numbers at eardrum blasting decibels levels opened up Saturday’s programme well 'n' truly! Earl Thomas He's back in the UK and still wowing crowds of people with his dramatic classic songs and his own material with great panache and style. Theatrical he maybe but he responds to the audience and gives them a performance etched with soul, with pathos, blues and vaudeville in easy to chew chunks! He's good, He's the bee’s knees. He is as MC Chris Power's proclaims The Business!!! Early Mac Band The Crown (fringe venue) I rushed down town to the Crown to catch the last half of their set as I like what they do and it so happens to be my lodging for the festival w/e so alas I missed the end of James Hunter and band on the main stage. Sorry! Day two over and I sat listening to a fine selection of Peter Green songs whilst supping a late night beverage before retiring.

SUNDAY

The Jive Aces. (Main Stage) Togged out in dark air force blue shirts and flamboyant banana yellow baggies the JA's have been here before and most people know

what's coming! Loud, colourful, showmanship, slapstick, bristling performances by front man, and then the darling chanteuse (clad in charming 1940's tight fitting, floral print, love heart neck dress) and the band as a whole and individual band solo moments. We – the audience- may have been flagging a little (or a lot) by now but the JAs – never! As their title suggest – this is a DANCE band- make no mistake. Dance they did on stage and down in the midst of those audience members who could still move! Wilko Johnson. This man last played here a couple of years back! His farewell Tour as such. Gladly it was not to be and this night he bounded back on stage with his usual maniacal grimace with matching menacing guitar salvo's and raced through a back catalogue of early Feelgood material as well as his own heartwarming romantic and symphonic, gut-busting, gutter-wrenching cacophony of 'let’s bring this house down' Rock 'n' Roll! It's often difficult to find out who's watching who as the audience are divided between the dynamism of Wilko, yet others cannot take their eyes off the equally charismatic Norman Watt-Roy bass. Hats off to the drummer, I say he's got his work cut out with those two! Willie and the Bandits. I saw these lads just a week or so ago at Upton Blues Fest. Where they took the marquee crowd by storm

Jordan Paterson by Christine Moore

with their slightly obscure take on the blues. Great musicians and entertainers. They are riding a 'high' on the R&B circuit-and deservedly so. I took myself off to the British Stage to catch the last of the Tribute to Cliff Stoker who had been closely associated with this festival for many years. Alas it had just finished by the time I arrived and so I sadly report that I asked friends who had been there to commemorate the man and his music. ‘It was sad but lovely’ ‘Everyone paid him tribute for his music, wonderful vocals and friendly mentor to others’ ‘Really touching’, were just some of the remarks made by one or two tearful fans coming out of the venue. Connie

Lush

Blues Band. Connie had paid her respects to Cliff but now came on in her own right with the boys to perform her own songs. Soon the hall was buzzing again and dancers front of stage all enjoying the band and the remarkable raunchy, pithy, soulful and powerful lyrics and vocals from one of the greatest liveliest and loveliest ladies on the British Blues scene. Connie’s band, Terry Harris bass, Roy Martin drums and Steve Wright guitar did admirable justice to her fine voice and their solo moments were to treasure!

MONDAY

Last day and BOY was it a send-off to the festival weekend. Jordan Patterson Band. This

was a scorcher to set the main stage alight if ever there was one! A hard harp driven outfit with a multitude of outstanding musicians playing soulful and shake ‘yur ass’ blues along with excellent solo moments from each as well as a surprise guest, Angelo Palladino, who joined them to play his tin sandwich too! A rousing start to the day that had the dancers up and bopping away. Sari

Schorr

The momentum was not halted and this recent newcomer to the British audience stunned the crowd the second she opened her mouth and blasted out her first number. Alongside was Innes Sibun who is well known to us for his loud mega decibel rated steaming hot rocking blues! What

Wille from Wille and the Bandits by Christine Moore

a fiendish combination. Mike Vernon knew what he was doing when he created this cocktail! I asked the Leeds lads the next morning what they thought of this set ‘My God what a voice’ came the reply. ‘I was exhausted just listening to them and wished I had their energy’ was another ‘especially as they had to play on as the final band of the festival was held up on the motorway and she just cracked on and blew me away’ said same lad. I stole away towards the end of their set as I had to catch just a snippet of Jamie and the Worried Men at the Duke of Lancaster. It's an unofficial fringe venue but these lads play here every year and other locations and I try to support them

and others who don't make it to the main stages. Jamie and the lads are true performers and ply their brand of R&B with panache and over the w/e give at least two gigs each day somewhere around the town. True troubadours and ambassadors of solid Brit Rhythm and Blues. The Devon Allman Band. Late arriving and on stage with no time to lose or draw breath they had made it! When they got going there was no stopping them. Easy songs and guitar moments to start with then came Devons' call ‘NOW Do you want some Spooky Ass Blues?’ and sure enough we responded in the affirmative. What we got was an uplifting ‘other stratosphere’ of unadulterated rocking BLUES

magic. His version of “No Woman No Cry” did not seem out of place and Junior Wells' Checking Up On My Baby was superb- everything as it should be for the end of another Great British R&B festival at COLNE. Long may it continue! Could we have Devon and the band again next year PLEASE!

DIANE GILLARD (SISTER FEELGOOD)

CONCERTS

CHARLIE PARR

LIVE THEATRE, NEWCASTLE

12TH AUGUST 2016

The Jumpin' Hot Club should be congratulated for staging tonight’s gig. Parr is a rare bird on the briefest of visits to the U.K. and Ireland, and only performing a handful of shows. The Spartan third floor of the Live Theatre was set out with a few tables and chairs, with more chairs arranged in rows around the walls under the naked lighting rig. Maybe sixty plus are here for tonight’s sell-out show.

Looking ever the backwoods bluesman, Parr presents a stooped figure with salt 'n' pepper whiskers, dressed in t-shirt and jeans. With a 12-string National he gave us nineteen countryblues with intelligent lyrics and infectious repeating riffs. Using a ‘dead-thumb’ drone bass and plucking forefinger, he delighted the audience with songs from a shamefully out of print back catalogue, as well as material from latest release, last year’s Stumpjumper. Introduced as the ‘Cadillac of murder ballads’ he put his opening stamp on traditional Delia, a gentle lilting tune unsettled by a monotonic bass throb, which reinforced the tragic lyrics. His own compositions travel between raucously fast paced slide affairs like Falcon with its plucked-strum and repeated chorus, to careworn traveller tales of resignation and lament. Cheap Wine, an audience

Sari Schorr by Christine Moore

favourite, taking the persona of a liquor-store owner - a damaged enabler of his equally damaged customers. Muddy Waters' Louisiana Blues bounced along with a picked out rolling rhythm like a horse-drawn buggy on a dusty road. While over a repeated guitar motif, self-penned 1890 was a journal of Native American pain ending at Wounded Knee. Over The Red Cedar was full of tumbling notes using alternate bass and ringing treble strings, this despite three fingers on his right hand lacking movement due to a loss of dexterity. Jesus Is A Hobo, a threnody to Everyman, with gentle brooding guitar and fine lyrics was a personal standout. Closing with a second impromptu encore, the fine a cappella Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down was hollered with passion. Front porch tales of back-lot rumours. Parr captures the minutiae of life in the shadows, stained by whiskey and religion, failing hope in fading light. Note the name, check out the available CD’s, and catch him next time – you won’t be disappointed.

MEL WALLACE

ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS CITY HALL, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE

7 TH SEPTEMBER 2016

Things kicked off with local outfit Tex, Leon & Friends who may be better known locally as The Moat Brothers, veteran musicians who play 50's, 60's and some 70's classic songs. They brought with them a small group of loyal followers, and, after a slightly weak start, got into their stride, albeit the drummer energetically swamped the rest. Marmalade took the stage after about a quarter-hour intermission - a band that has had many line-up changes over the years. They played their hits, rousing the crowd, which was

being warmed up nicely for a long evening of music. They also did classic covers, giving the evening a nostalgic feel. Sandy Newman, the singer/guitarist frontman, was obviously enjoying himself, and turning back the clock as he rocked around the stage like a man half his age.

I was surprised there was no Eric Burdon merchandise on offer to mark the occasion, though there was an expensive 'Meet & Greet' along with a signed-photo raffle. This was a concert Eric Burdon wanted to happen, a fact evident by this, his exclusive performance in Europe. The crowd got an added bonus of Chris Cross, the amusing quirky magician/ illusionist, who had to contend with a wandering ticket-price protester. City Hall, as I gazed back and up, upon a near capacity audience, was a sea of 60-plussers.

Enter the rock/americana White Gorilla - our wait was over! The Home Boy genuinely proclaimed "Once a Geordie, always a Geordie". 75 years of age, and voice intact – wow! Irony for me was that this show was, in a way, a celebration, in that, as the result of a court case, Eric can now perform with the Animals moniker within these shores - yet his music has far more leanings to his WAR period than the raw original Animals R&B sound. Eric's Animals are young guns who are basically the band Johnzo West & The Wayward Souls, plus horn players from The Noble Horns, Ruben Salinas (sax) & Evan Mackey (trombone). Eric has surrounded himself with great musicians capable of delivering his taste for blues, R&B, jazz, soul, gospel and a smattering of Caribbean music. Johnzo West (guitar) and bassist Justin Andres are true performers as well as fine musicians, who dance and strike stage poses with joy. Several times Eric asked the

audience to applaud keyboardist Davey Allen, but let me tell you the name of the drummer as there were no weak links - Dustin Koester. What I remember of the set list included: Spill The Wine, C.C. Rider, When I Was Young, Monterey, In The Pines, Ride Bo Diddley, Mama Told Me Not To Come, House of the Rising Sun, Sinner's Prayer (dedicated to his mother and mothers everywhere), Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood and We Got To Get Out Of This Place. Eric introduced House of the Rising Sun simply as “This is the way it was originally performed”, with bassist switching to acoustic guitar with little drum harking back to Leadbelly's version, before it cranked up with the rest of the band joining in. At one point Eric planted his toes over the edge of the stage to musically roar at his fans. The inevitable encore included Sinner's Prayer and We Got To Get Out Of This Place, which had the whole audience by then up out of their seats, and obviously sensing this was the swansong of the night. A few T-shirts were flung out into the audience by the band as they re-entered the musical arena. We took our individual memories out into the surprisingly mild evening air with Eric's music stuck in our heads.

BILLY HUTCHINSON

JON CLEARY AND THE ABSOLUE MONSTER GENTLEMEN

RONNIE SCOTT’S, LONDON

16TH JULY 2016

Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen pumped it up at Ronnie Scott’s, London, despite the venue’s insistence that my exuberant companion (and any like him) didn’t dance. Excuse me? Don’t dance to these rolling RnB, gospel and second-line groves straight out

Eric Burdon by Billy Hutchinson

of the Bywater, New Orleans? The Gentlemen have always been funky, with some modern soul influences thrown in. Live, however, the tunes really shine.

With Jon beginning the show acapella with a cover of Sam and Dave’s Soothe Me, the band joined with a shuffle so mellow and infectious it prompted keyboard sidekick Nigel Hall to say ‘Hey Jon, can we just sit back on this one tune for 45 minutes? ‘Smiles and joy all round. I would have agreed, except it would have meant missing all the outrageous grooves to come. We were treated to an up tempo gospel tinged version of So Damn Good , the extended Cleary arrangement of Professor Longhair’s Tipitina with ample opportunity for drummer

A.J. Hall to show off his rhythmic vibrancy and inventive dynamic chops. As well as A.J., Cleary has been touring his latest ‘Gentlemen’ lineup with long term collaborator Cornell Williams on deeply funky bass and the sweetest of vocals (immaculate

vocal harmony sections have always been a big part of this band’s sound). This time around, Big D’s guitar has been substituted for the astonishing Nigel Hall on Hammond, Hohner Clavinet and Fender Rhodes. Mr Hall brings so much to the ensemble – great taste and gospelly, bluesy chops on the keys, yet another voice of pure silk, and perhaps above all, an unrelenting positive and funky energy.

We were reminded of the sad loss of Allen Toussaint with a beautiful cover of What Do You Want The Girl To Do? and we were further seduced by extended versions of Cleary’s Port Street and Frenchmen Street Blues, with all of the restraint then intensity that a player of Cleary’s maturity and experience is able to bring – his rolling solo cadenzas being particularly choice. Of course no Cleary gig leaves us disappointed on the vocal front – Jon’s voice just gets better and better, and his band contribute strongly on this front too.

Most of the material was Cleary’s – some back catalogue, but most of it a showcase of his recent Grammy-winning Go Go Juice album. I personally loved the two keyboard lineup – Hall is master of shape and taste. Cleary is at the top of his game, the band absolutely breathe as one. We cover the blues in all it’s flavours here, and this recipe was packed full of soul and funk – and if you like these ingredients, you must catch them next time!

DOM PIPKIN

LUKE DOHERTY BAND

MID WALES R&B CLUB, RHAYADER, POWYS

JUNE 2016

We could have seen the band (and have done so) at many a local venue, but I arranged a weekend break with friend Jean to celebrate her birthday and that's why we travelled up to Mid-Wales. Rhayader is near to Gigrin Farm and we spent the day there, doing the farm trail (and getting lost!), but just made it back to the bird

Luke Doherty Band by Diane Gillard

hides to watch the fantastic aerial display, given by 100 or even more(!) magnificent Red Kites and other birds at feeding time. Then it was feeding time for us - after booking in at our hotel in the town centre. Coming out from Ty Morgan's Bistro I suggested a walk up East Street, as unbeknown to Jean, that was where Luke and the boys were playing that night! A nice surprise for her and a great night that had us up dancing, meeting and making new friends – having a ball really. Luke, with customary black hat, guitar and band in tow, hit the stage and they set off in fine fashion with a rocking foundation of good blues numbers such as: Put It Right, Hear My Trail and Hope Some Rain Will Come. The dancers were a little shy in arriving at front of stage, but once there, held forth in rocking good style. Long Grey Mare was followed by 100 Bricks and Big Legged Woman and the needed break arrived after their brilliant Caught In The Lights and The House is Rocking. The second half continued in very much the same up tempo mode, with whoops of delight from club members after several fine solo moments from band individuals - and especially Luke himself. Voodoo Chile was coupled to Purple Haze and then ditto with Rock 'n' Roll and Little Wing ending with SRV's Scuttle Bustin'. The Club venue is not static (Rhayader Museum and Art Gallery) but moves to other locations in and around the county of Powys. This is a small but well organised club, bringing live blues/ rock/acoustic local, British bands and touring acts from abroad to the heart of Wales. Brilliant!

DIANE GILLARD-SISTER FEELGOOD

LUTHER DICKINSON SAGE 2, GATESHEAD

26TH SEPTEMBER 2016

An intimate evening in the small

second performance room here, tonight saw Luther Dickinson play his only date outside London. It coincides with new release Blues & Ballads, a re-assessment of songs from his career, done quick and simple ‘as-live’ in the studio.

Opening with pastoral folk and gospel, flanked by ‘Bill Monroe’ bluegrass, were Northumbria University post-grad music students Matthew Ord and Niles Krieger, part of local roots band Assembly Lane. Ord’s acoustic guitar picked sweet threads, which Krieger embroidered with his fiddle runs. Their vocal harmonies were equally complementary.

A short-haired and studious looking Dickinson then gave a confident set from “the deep Mississippi... via British engineering” through various boxes and pedal effects. These allowed him to create amped-up hum and controlled feedback, to effect a one-man roadhouse rawness of hill country blues. In between the junkyard grinds, Dickinson, seated and wearing glasses, played gentle acoustic instrumentals full of experiment and expression.

Let It Roll, with a thumb smudged bass-line was accompanied by effective sloppy slide. Mean Ol’ Wind Died Down continued the slide, this time gently coaxed with choppy bar chords and extemporisation on the neck.

A coffee-can ‘two by one’ used for Highwater, had heavy bass riffing and his heel keeping time. A song of hurricane Katrina, which made landfall as R. L. Burnside passed, led into a medley of the man and his “13 ½ bar blues”. Punk-garage slide, slow struts, drone heavy with rolling repeated patterns and slushed-up reverb.

Ord and Krieger returned to lend rhythm guitar and slow-glide fiddle to the spider spread of Dickinson’s hand on Up Over Yonder. This

amiable jam with Krieger’s fiddle breaks shadowing Dickinson’s picking, segued effortlessly into Storms, before returning to the original. They rejoined later as he returned to the ‘coffee-can’ to create “ancient caveman melodies” on Drinking Muddy Water and Lonesome Road Blues.

There were gentle asides about fife and drum king Othar Turner, before the country hop co-write Hurry Up Sundown. Fred McDowell’s 61 Highway meanwhile, was all stentorian bass throb and toppled scaffold poles. Mississippi John Hurt was name-checked with Candyman, and we got a lesson on the moveable thumb style “putting bass-players out of business.”

Encore was the fittingly titled Bid You Goodnight. Its echoed surf-slide closed an evening full of shapes and shades in which Dickinson shared his musical discoveries, full of enthusiasm and warmth, with a very privileged crowd.

MEL WALLACE

TOM WOODMAN/ THE MOURNING SUNS LICHFIELD GUILDHALL

An adventurous Lichfield audience braved a cold October night to support two local, and very talented musical ensembles when The Mourning Suns and The Tom Woodman band appeared at Lichfield Guildhall.

The Mourning Suns are a well-known Birmingham based band, that are known for their experimental and Psychedelic rock infl uenced sound, but tonight were playing a rare two person acoustic set. The vocals of Rosie Wilkins and the vocals and guitar of Anthony Williams explored the deep recesses of lived human experience, whilst the vocal interplay, and musicianship was

a great match for the acoustic grandeur of the guildhall.

Local bluesman Tom Woodman lifted the volume levels for his set, which ranged from interesting sonic soundscapes, to some finely delivered classic blues songs by the likes of Robert Johnson and Ray Charles. The first half of his set featured Tom by himself, playing such songs as Kind Hearted Blues and Walking Blues by Robert Johnson, Hard Times by Ray Charles, and a show stealing version of Fannin Street by Tom Woodman. His

precise, and measured guitar style was matched by the passion of his singing, giving life to the many characters that exist within the songs.

The second half of his set featured other musicians, with bassist Nigel Holden adding a dynamic bottom end, and electric kit drum player Chris Stableford adding all types of drum and percussion noises to the sound. With songs ranging from the high octane blues of 219, with Tom’s virtuoso slide guitar playing leading from the front, to Keb Mo’s Am I

Wrong?, this was musicianship of the highest standard.

Harmonica player Nick Dalmedo joined the trio for a rousing version of Cold Water, with some fi ne playing from both Nick and Tom, whilst Tom showed his guitar dexterity on Lap Steel Guitar during Homeless Child. His own song One Way Ticket, using all types of experimental guitar sounds, and some solid rock playing from Nigel and Chris was an exciting and suitable fi nale.

BEN MACNAIR

Tom Woodman Band by Ben McNair

GREAT BRITISH BLUES

IN TWO AMAZING KOMPILATIONS

RED VINYL EFFECT PRESSING!

FEATURING:

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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BAP KENNEDY

17th June 1962 - 1st November 2016

It is with great sadness that we have to report Martin (Bap) Kennedy lost his battle with pancreatic and bowel cancer at the age of 54. The former Energy Orchard frontman had been receiving palliative care in a Marie Curie Hospice in Belfast.

The singer was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and instead of performing at a festival in Co Mayo on 7th May, was admitted to the Ulster Hospital suffering from stomach pains. Throughout his illness he continued to update fans, despite an unsuccessful operation to remove his cancer.

Musically, Bap had collaborated with Steve Earle, Mark Knopfler, Shane MacGowan and Van Morrison, indeed, his brother Brian, was a longstanding touring singer with the latter.

He had just finished recording his new album, Reckless Heart when he was diagnosed, it is set for release next month.

I had the pleasure of reviewing his most recent album, Sailor's Revenge, which was produced by and featured Mark Knopfler. He leaves a widow, Brenda.

It is expected that a major memorial concert for Bap will be held in Belfast in the coming months.

CLIVE RAWLINGS

PLEASE RETURN TO JESUS

by Bap Kennedy

I’ve lived many lives

I’ve heard of many Gods

But I just don’t know

If there’s anyone at all

To be on the safe side

When I’ve had my final day

I have left instructions

To help me on my way

Chorus

Just above my heart

There’s a small tattoo

Please return to Jesus

Thank you

I know I’m a sinner

And I’ve been unkind

But if I had the power I would heal the blind

Chorus

If miracles came easy

Healing’s all I’d do

And if I had to choose a God

I’d probably choose you

Chorus