:: Saturday, February 05, 2005 ::

Mard Gras in Roppongi special at Sweet Basil Update

The Mardi Gras party on 6th Feb.2005 at Sweet Basil (STB139) in Roppongi is now SOLD OUT !!

All 550 tickets got sold out. There shall be 50 tickets at the door from 2.00pm at the venue, sold on a first come basis. So if you don't have a ticket get there on time.

I have to be at a gig somewhere else today, so don't have a lot of time to blog, thus I fall back on recycling photons:



Lagniappe: Download full-size commerative 2005 Mardi Gras Poster
Feb. 6
Mardis Gras in Roppongi
@ Sweet Basil from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. (doors open 2:30)
Featuring the music of: Markus & The Conductors; Steve Gardner & The Bottleneck Blues Band, The Dixie Dukes; Dapper Dan Blues Band;
Guest Vocalists Matty G, Marie Araki, Macho MIck;
and Special Guest:
Washboard Chaz (from N'Awlinz)
Tickets ¥8,000
Call Bourbon Street Bar for details at 03-3478-8473


Washboard Chaz Profile
Though comfortable in all forms of our diverse American musical heritage, Washboard Chaz Leary has achieved dominance and international recognition in acoustic country blues.

He has played professionally with an impressive array of world-class musicians, both on the stage and in the recording studio. His reputation as a consumate musician and performer - along with a delightful stage presence has brought him countless excellent reviews and wide popularity.

In addition to his central roles with the acclaimed Bleecker St., Ophelia Swing Band, and Washboard, Drum and Dye, Chaz has joined such entertainers as John Hammond, Duke Robillard, Corey Harris and Bonnie Raitt on stage.

His talents extend from washboard, congas and other hand percussion, drum kit, lead and background vocals, to songwriting and arranging.

Chaz has also developed a strong program of percussion workshops both for adults and for children, as well as having performed for Blues in the Schools programs in Colorado, Kansas and Missouri.

To enhance your performance in the studio and/or live, Washboard Chaz is a guaranteed crowd-pleasing professional.

"Offbeat's Best Emerging Blues Band 2004"

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Steve Gardner Profile

Steve Gardner, a Mississippi bluesman, photographer and philosopher, is one of the brightest lights on the Tokyo blues scene.

Read the Tokyo-Blues interview with Steve Gardner here.

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On the Web:
Washboard Chaz
Bourbon Street Bar
Sweet Basil

:: Les Coles Saturday, February 05, 2005 [+] ::

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Blues musician to play blues legend in 'I Just Stopped By ...'

Escondido,CA,(Feb. 4)—Henry Afro-Bradley didn't grow up on the Mississippi Delta, like the reclusive bluesman he plays in "I Just Stopped By to See the Man," but he can relate to his character in just about every other way.

A blues guitarist and actor since his early 20s, Afro-Bradley said that understanding how to play the blues isn't as simple as reading notes on a musical score. It's about "understanding the spirit of the music that stems from the African-American experience."

In Stephen Jeffrey's play, Afro-Bradley plays Jesse, a legendary (and long-thought-dead) bluesman living in grief and seclusion at a Mississippi Delta crossroads with his brilliant daughter Della, a Black Panther fugitive who now works as a waitress. Into their lives comes Karl, an English rock musician and devoted fan who has tracked Jesse down to coax him into playing at Karl's upcoming retirement concert. Jesse is intrigued by the offer but the resulting publicity could forever change his life and that of his daughter.

Afro-Bradley said the play is based on the traditional Congolese cosmology myth about a trickster who meets unsuspecting travelers at a crossroad and tempts them with the one thing they desire most. The crossroads tale has been used in dozens of books, plays, movies, songs and musicals over the years, and "I Just Stopped By to See the Man," Afro-Bradley said, was based on people the playwright Jeffreys actually knows. The play examines how white musicians have moved into genres created by and once the exclusive realm of black musicians.

Afro-Bradley saw this happen firsthand growing up in multicultural Harlem, where he describes himself as "just three generations out of slavery." His early influences were jazz and gospel music and his early idols were Fats Waller, Bessie Smith and Bill Broonzy. After high school, Afro-Bradley served a two-year Army stint in Germany where he met some German jazz musicians struggling to play a Count Basie arrangement of "Sweet Georgia Brown."

"They played what they saw on the sheet music, but they didn't get it. The spirit of jazz cannot be put down on paper, but when I played it for them, they understood," he said.

After his Army discharge, Afro-Bradley studied musical theater and worked at the famed Greenwich Village music club the Bitter End. He ran nightclub shows, performed jazz and blues music throughout the Northeast and recorded on the Folkways label. Several years ago, he teamed up with harmonica player/stage director Jasper Magruder in a blues duo that lectures on the black experience through music and poetry. They have performed at museums and festivals throughout the New York area and get together whenever they're not busy with theater engagements.

"I Just Stopped By to See the Man" marks Afro-Bradley's Old Globe debut. He has performed in the past at the Joseph Papp Theatre, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Horse Trade Theater Group and Metropolitan Playhouse, among others and has done films and television.

Afro-Bradley said he likes having one foot in theater and one foot in the music scene. In fact, his nightclub background is helping him prepare for the Globe's theater-in-the-round stage.

"When you play music in a club, it's all about making contact with your audience," he said. "I'm not used to performing plays with the audience all around me, but I'll just try to use my musical background to remember that there are people on every side who I need to connect with."

Source: PAM KRAGEN, North County Times

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What: "I Just Stopped By to See the Man"
When: Opens Feb. 4 and runs through March 13; show times, 7 p.m. Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Where: Cassius Carter Centre Stage, Old Globe complex, Balboa Park, San Diego
Tickets: $19-$55
Info: (619) 234-5623

:: Les Coles Friday, February 04, 2005 [+] ::

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B.B. King & Lucille--News & History

Little Rock, AR, (Feb. 4)—Steve Bryles, D-Blytheville, filed a bill Thursday that would recognize the small Cross County town of Twist, which was instrumental in the naming of famed blues musician B.B. King's guitar Lucille.

According to Senate Bill 289, King was playing at a club in Twist in 1949 when two men began fighting over a woman named Lucille. During the fight a barrel of kerosene was knocked over and the club caught fire. Everyone ran from the club, but King returned to get his guitar. Two people, however, were killed in the fire.

King named that guitar, and every guitar he has owned since, Lucille to "remind him never to do that again," the bill says.

The bill asks the Arkansas History Commission to erect a permanent marker in Twist to commemorate King and the event that led him to name his guitar Lucille.

Source: Arkansas News

The B.B. King / Lucille Gibson Guitar

Blues legend B.B. King had been playing Gibsons for over 40 years when he and Gibson officially joined forces in 1982.

B.B.'s personal touches on his signature model include the fine-tuner tailpiece, the semi-hollow body with no soundholes and, of course, the name that has adorned his guitars throughout his career Lucille.

Body: Laminated maple, Maple center block
Fingerboard/Inlay: Ebony/Pearl block
Scale/Nut Width: 243/4"/111/16"
Binding: Multi-ply top and headstock , single-ply fingerboard and back
Bridge/Tailpiece: Tune-o-matic/TP-6
Hardware: Gold
Pickups: 490R Alnico magnet humbucker, 490T Alnico magnet humbucker
Controls: Two volume, two tone, three-way switch, six-position Varitone, stereo/mono jacks
Strings: B.B. King Signature .010-.054
Finish: Ebony , Cherry

Dennis Chandler—Lucille's Godfather

Dennis Chandler backstage with B.B. King the night King signed the "Lucille" he got for Chandler

The Gibson B.B.King / Lucille production line model principally came into existence through bthe efforts of one man, Dennis Chandler.

A long-time friend of B.B. King, vowed back in 1965 to B.B that he would be the one "to get Gibson to make King his own signature guitar".

Chandler started his campaign writing letters to Gibson. In the late '70s, the plan got kicked up a notch when Chandler went to work for Gibson, on Kings refferal, in Sales & Marketing. The campaign shifted into top gear when Chandler became top salesman and got to pitch the idea to Gibson President Bob McRann, who told Dennis "Great idea, go do it!" Adding, "Also get B.B.King signed as an endorsee

Chandler coordinated the initial endorsement / R&D meetings with the following coming to Cleveland: Gibson Pres. Bob McRann, V.P. Bruce Bolan, Research & Development director Rendell Wall, district manager Lane Zastrow, B.B.King's manager Sid Seidenberg. The first meeting was held backstage after one of B.B.'s concerts at the Front Row Theater and the second, the next day in B.B.'s hotel suite with all in attendance.

The guitar's due date was 1980. That's when B.B. dubbed Dennis "Lucille's Godfather".

Still sometimes addressed as "Lucille's Godfather" by the King of the Blues, Dennis is most deeply touched when B.B. introduces him as "A fabulously talented musician whom I call my adopted son 'cause I like to think I raised him" (and for over the past 40 years he has.)

Inspiring, too, are choruses of praise from B.B.'s son, Rev. Robert Edwards encouraging Dennis to "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord" Why? Perhaps because he, like others, witnessed that Dennis, in remission from leukemia, appears restored beyond the proficiency he had prior to his illness. Therefore, since his healing, Dennis' indeed grateful to perform wherever and whenever invited to do so. Hence his diverse and busy itinerary.

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On the Web:
Gibson Guitars
Dennis Chandler

:: Les Coles Friday, February 04, 2005 [+] ::

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Mardis Gras in Roppongi

Lagniappe: Download full-size commerative 2005 Mardi Gras Poster

Feb. 6<
Mardis Gras in Roppongi
@ Sweet Basil from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. (doors open 2:30)
Featuring the music of: Markus & The Conductors; Steve Gardner & The Bottleneck Blues Band, The Dixie Dukes; Dapper Dan Blues Band;
Guest Vocalists Matty G, Marie Araki, Macho MIck;
and Special Guest:
Washboard Chaz (from N'Awlinz)
Tickets ¥8,000
Call Bourbon Street Bar for details at 03-3478-8473

:: Les Coles Friday, February 04, 2005 [+] ::

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Shanghai Jazz

(No, not the club in Madison, N.J., nor for that matter, any place actually in Shanghai)

Singapore (Feb. 4)—Thinkof old Shanghai in its heyday, and vintage poster girls come to mind - ladies in figure-hugging cheongsams with short crimped hair in an art deco setting. You get a more complete picture when you add some mental effects of your own - like swirly cigarette smoke and languid jazz music in the background.

Real life girls with pin-up looks aside, it's tough to find such posters in Shanghai today; you're better off locating clubs which are swinging again with rhythmic ballads like 'De Bu Dao De Ai Qing' (The Love You Can't Get), and 'Qing Ren De Yan Lei' (Lovers' Tears) -- ballads once denounced as 'pornographic', 'vulgar' and 'decadent', by the communist government.

Shanghai, now regaining its reputation as Asia's hippest city, is also finding its groove again as the jazz capital of the East.

'It's a good thing that the music is being revived, because it's so representative of Shanghai's history and culture,' says 'Coco' Zhao Ke, 27, who's been singing jazz for the last 10 years or so because it touched a 'spiritual' chord in him.

Together with a score of other young Chinese jazz musicians in the capital, Coco represents the crooners and shakers of an exciting jazz revival amidst the redevelopment of 'new' Shanghai, and one of the 'faces' of new Shanghai jazz to the world.

As John Huie, an Australian musician, cum arranger, cum producer formerly based in Hong Kong, found out when he went to Shanghai three years ago: 'Everything about Shanghai was booming, including the jazz scene. I was hooked immediately.' He moved to Shanghai, and soon rounded up the jazz musicians - 'not one of them is over 30 years old,' he points out - for the making of an album called Shanghai Jazz: Musical Seductions from China's Age of Decadence featuring classics.

The musicians all have their own bands and gigs, regulars at places such as The Cotton Club, JZ Club, Full House and the Ritz Bar. Once in a while, they perform together as Shanghai Jazz ---as they will do so at the Esplanade for the upcoming Huayi Festival.

But what makes Shanghai jazz, well, jazz as we know it, a popular American music genre which grew out of blues music and the African American experience? Explains Huie: 'It's basically straight-ahead jazz with Chinese lyrics. Most of the classics are love songs, but they are soulful and emotional.'

Coco notes that what he and his peers do is to reinterpret the old classics. 'We don't do them in exactly the same style but re-arrange them, and play them in our own style, while keeping true to the sentiments of the songs.' But the singer, dubbed China's male Billie Holliday by the French press, modestly notes that Chinese jazz needs some time to 'play catch up' - having been practically obliterated from the 50s to the late 70s.

While Huie believes that the effect of Shanghai Jazz the album is to start a 'jazz cult', it's more the case that the CD at least brought together Shanghai's leading jazz musicians and presented them to the world at large.

It might even bring them Hollywood fame soon - since the band members have recently been featured in a Merchant Ivory movie, The White Countess, which is a tale about an American diplomat in Shanghai in the 1930s.



Live jazz at the Peace Hotel in Shanghai


It's heady days again, it looks like, for jazz music in Shanghai. And this batch of young 20-something musicians are its poster boys and girls.Check out the Chinese jazz phenomenon when the Huayi festival comes around, with All that Shanghai Jazz and singer Elaine Liu from Hong Kong. Liu, incidentally, is a photographer by day, besides being Hong Kong's premier jazz vocalist, well-known for her performances as vocalist for Hong Kong's renowned Japanese big band, the Saturday Night Jazz Orchestra.


All that Shanghai Jazz, Feb 19-20, 8pm, at the Esplanade Theatre, Singapore. My Funny Valentine by Elaine Liu, Feb 14-15, 9.30pm, at the Recital Studio. Liu also has a photography exhibition now at CityLink, from Feb 2 to March 27.

Source: Business Times Singapore

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Jazz singer Coco Zhao, 24, jazz singer, has been dubbed China's "male Billie Holiday" by the French. His world is Shanghai, former city of sin, these days a more conservative home for gays. But he has yet to tell his mother, a traditional Chinese opera teacher in the distant province of Hunan.

Coco was born in 1977 in Hunan Province. His parents were both local opera teachers and Coco was brought up to respect the opera traditions of the area. At the age of 10, Coco went to study folk songs at the Middle School of Wu Hai Music Conservatory. While he was there, he had his first homosexual experience with a man much older than him. In 1993, Coco came to Shanghai to study music composition at the Shanghai Music Conservatory. To make ends meet, Coco took a job as a singer in local nightclubs. He got chances to meet with several openly foreign homosexuals and he absorbed from them a lot of ideas of how to singing and to live. Coco's life has been full of ups and downs, including a friendships with Kika, and underground novelist, a love affair with Jelmer, a Dutch dancer, and a failed suicide attempt. In the years since, he has gone from strength to strength. He is now a successful jazz singer with a lot of fans. He sings in many bars and nightclubs across town. He is about to record an album. And he's not afraid of his sexuality anymore.

And one more thing. He has to tell his mother.

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On the Web:
Esplanade Theatre
The Story of Shanghai Jazz

:: Les Coles Thursday, February 03, 2005 [+] ::

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Free double pass for Goulburn Bluesfest

Goulburn,New South Wales,Australia (Feb. 4)—It's all systems go for the ninth Australian Blues Music Festival in Goulburn next weekend - and courtesy of Southern Star Inn and the Goulburn Post, you and a friend can experience it all for free.

The line-up for the event, which starts next Friday, includes big names such as Australians Ross Wilson and the Urban Legends, Phil Emmanuel, The Backsliders, The Bondi Cigars and Phil Manning.

Organisers, the Southern Star Inn, who are working in partnership with Goulburn Mulwaree Council, say interest and ticket sales have been strong.

More than 20 local and international acts feature on this year's bill and they'll perform at a variety of venues throughout the city including the Southern Star Inn, Tattersalls Hotel and the Goulburn Soldiers and Workers clubs.

Festival Ambassador Lloyd Spiegel said: "The Goulburn community have always supported this event, and it is great to see them supporting it again for 2005".

The Goulburn Post, an official sponsor, will publish a festival program and preview several of the acts in the lead up to Friday.

For a chance to win a double three-day pass to the Australian Blues Music Festival (valued at $220) fill out and send the coupon which appears on page 13 of today's Goulburn Post.

Increase your chances of winning by also completing the coupons in Monday and Wednesday's paper.

Source: Goulburn Post

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On the Web:
Goulburn Blues Festival Site

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Related Blues Blog post
AUSTRALIAN BLUES MUSIC FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES HUGE LINE-UP FOR 2005 (1/13/2005)

Includes full event line-up

:: Les Coles Thursday, February 03, 2005 [+] ::

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International Blues Challenge / Keeping the Blues Alive

The ABS Bluescast (http://www.absbluescast.com/) is now airing tracks from 2005 IBC competing musicians. A different act plays twice each hour and heard worldwide. Each time, an announcement is made about the event referring listeners to www.blues.org. The ABS Bluescast has also improved the sound quality of it's signal. We've been on for over 2 years and heard worldwide by over 70,000 monthly listeners in 70+ countries. It is the ONLY station featuring bands from any Blues Foundation affiliated organization.

A record number of bands and solo/duo acts will be participating in the 21st International Blues Challenge. 84 bands and 42 solo/duo acts will perform Thursday, February 3 and Friday, February 4 in what is surely the largest gathering of blues bands in the history of the world. The list of IBC participants can be found below.

$10 wristbands will be for sale Thursday and Friday at the Beale Street venues and will get you into all participating IBC clubs. Tickets can be purchased at the door for other events including the Friday night jam with Deborah Coleman at the Cadre Bldg ($10), Solo/Duo Finals at the Center for Southern Folklore ($10) and the Band Finals at the New Daisy Theater ($15).

A 76-page program will be available on Thursday at registration and in dispensers on Beale.

Record bands means record crowds so if you have not booked a room yet, please do so as soon as you can. There are other events in downtown Memphis that weekend so rooms are going fast.

For full information visit the Blues Foundation's IBC page or call 901.527.2583.

Preliminary IBC Weekend Schedule

This schedule is subject to change. Check back frequently as we add more events and details.

All events are at the Holiday Inn Select unless otherwise noted.

Thursday, February 3
9:00am-4:00pm BITS Presentations in Memphis Area Schools
9:00am-4:00pm Attendee Registration
9:00am-2:00pm Act Registration
3:00pm Act Orientation Meeting Cadre Building
4:00-6:00pm Meet n' Greet
5:00/6:30pm Semi-Finals Beale Street Clubs

Friday, February 4, 2005
9:00–10:00am Attendee Registration
10:00-12:00pm BITS Presentations in Memphis area schools
10:00-12:00 Panel "Blues on the Radio and...."
12:30-2:00pm Luncheon with Keynote Speaker Ben Manilla
2:30pm-4:00pm BITS Seminar
2:30-4:00pm Society Roundtable
5:00/6:30pm Semi-Finals Beale Street Clubs
10:30pm Finalists' Announcement Jam featuring Deborah Coleman Cadre Building

Saturday, February 5
11:00am-1:00pm KBA Awards Ceremony Gibson Lounge
2:00-5:00pm Silent Auction; Solo/Duo Finals Center for Southern Folklore
8:00pm Band Finals; BSPCD Winner; New Daisy Theater

Additional Information
The Keynote Speaker will be Ben Manilla, of Ben Manilla Productions, Producer of, among other radio programs, the House of Blues Radio Hour and co-author with Dan Aykroyd of Elwood's Blues.

Blue in the Schools presentations will be led by Buffy Holton, Music City Blues Society and Sue Sherman, Blues Society of Western New York.

Blues on the Radio and.... will feature Bill Wax, Host of Bluesville on XM Satellite Radio; Mark Alestra of the Atlanta Blues Society's ABS Bluescast; Bob Porter, "Portraits in Blue", WBGO Radio, Newark, NJ; and Ben Manilla.

The 21st annual International Blues Challenge semi-finals and finals bring to Memphis the culmination of months of regional competitions staged by Blues Foundation affiliates around the world. Over 120 acts will compete for cash and prizes and the title of "Best Unsigned Blues Band" and "Best Unsigned Acoustic Act." The judges also present the Albert King Award to the most promising guitarist. In addition to the long-standing live performance component of IBC, The Blues Foundation is for the first time presenting an award for the Best Self-Produced CD. Each affiliated blues society is able to support and encourage a deserving blues musician by submitting a release for judging by a panel of blues authorities.

The Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) awards honor the men and women who preserve, celebrate and support blues music. The KBAs, presented in 17 categories, are the opportunity for the blues community to congregate and recognize its peers and the accomplishments of supporting organizations.
(And if anyone would like to nominate The Blues Blog next year....)

Other events during the weekend include seminars and presentations dedicated to providing resource, networking and educational opportunities for blues societies and musicians

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21st Annual International Blues Challenge (127)

Memphis, Tennessee
Feb 3 - 5

In order to keep the Blues alive, new talent must be cultivated. The Blues Foundation started the International Blues Challenge (IBC) with this theory in mind, and it now enters its 21st year as the nation’ biggest and most respected showcase for "undiscovered" Blues talent. Larry Garner, Tommy Castro, Susan Tedeschi, Michael Burks, Michelle Wilson and Sean Costello have all come through the IBC over the years and everyone is familiar with the most recent winners, Richard Johnston, Delta Moon and Zac Harmon and the Mid South Blues Revue. The 21st IBC will be held Thursday-Saturday, February 3-5, 2005.

Over 90 acts compete for $25,000 in cash and prizes and the title of "Best Unsigned Blues Band" and "Best Unsigned Acoustic Act." The judges also present the Albert King Award to the most promising guitarist. In addition to the long-standing live performance component of IBC, The Blues Foundation is for the first time presenting an award for the Best Self-Produced CD.



Arkansas Blues Society - The Fabulous HighTops

Arkansas Blues Society - Mo Brothers
Arkansas River Blues Society - Steve Hester and DejaVoodoo
Atlanta Blues Society - Breeze Kings
Atlanta Blues Society - John Paskoff
Augusta Blues Society - Donnie McCormick
Baltimore Blues Society - Mikey Junior and the Stone Cold Blues

Billtown Blues Association - The Blind Chitlin Kahunas
Black Swamp Blues Society - Simon Carter
Black Swamp Blues Society - Patrick Lewandowski
The Blue Shoe Project - Diunna GreenLeaf and The Blue Mercy Band
Blues Blow Torch Society - Bruiser and the Virtues
Blues Blowtorch Society - Lightning Joe

Blues for Peace - CG & The Hammer Blues Band
Blues House of Georgia - Blues Mobile Band
Blues Society of Taiwan - Joey Gilmore
Blues Society of the Lower Cape Fear - Slippery Jake Horton
Blues Society of the Lower Cape Fear - The Dynamic Therm-O-Tones
Blues Society of the Ozarks - Cathead Biscuit

Blues Society of the Ozarks - The Pawn Shop
Blues Society of Tulsa - Rickey Preston Band
Blues, Jazz and Folk Music Society - Johnny Reed & The Houserockers
Blues.ru community - Arsen Shomakhov & Ragtime
Blues Society of Western New York - John Martz

Boston Blues Society - Mr. Nick's Blues Mafia
Boston Blues Society - Forty-Four
Capital Area Blues Society - Whoodoo Band
Cascade Blues Asso. - Lauren Sheehan
Cascade Blues Association - Rose City Kings
Center For Southern Folklore - The Memphis Snake Doctors

Central Iowa Blues Society - Hal Reed & The Mob
Charlotte Blues Society - Robin Rogers & Tony Rogers
Charlotte Blues Society - Big Rick & The Bombers
Cincy Blues Society - Midnight Steppers
Cincy Blues Society - Cheryl Renee and T-Bone Blues

Columbus Blues Alliance - Barry Chern
Columbus Blues Alliance - Teeny Tucker Band
Connecticut Blues Society - The Hoodoo Band
Connecticut Blues Society - Dan Stevens
Creekside Blues Society - The Patrick McLaughlin Band
Creekside Blues Society - Jimmy McGee

Crossroads Blues Society of Indiana - W.T. Feaster Band
Crossroads Blues Society of Mississippi - Bill Abel
Crossroads Blues Society of Mississippi - Pure Blues Express
DC Blues Society - Blues On Board
Detroit Blues Society - Lady Sunshine and the X Band
Detroit Blues Society - Travelin' Blues

Diamond State Blues Society - The Roger Girke Band
Downstate New York Blues Society - Howie Haber and Lou Carollo of Breakaway
Downstate New York Blues Society - Lex Grey and the Urban Pioneers
Fort Smith Riverfront Blues Society - The Randy Burden Band
Frederick Blues Society - Bo Weevil
Frederick Blues Society - Westcott Brothers Band

Friends of Rentiesville Blues Incorporated - Miss Niki Humble Pride
Greater Twin Cities Blues Music Society - Scott Miller
Greater Twin Cities Blues Music Society - Rockin' Daddy & The Rough Cuts
Houston Blues Society - Jeremiah Johnson
Houston Blues Society - Steve Krase and The In Crowd
Howlin' Wolf Blues Society - Big Joe Shelton

Illinois Central Blues Club - 6V6
Illinois Central Blues Club - Barbara Hamilton-Maxey
Irish Blues Challenge - The Brian Meakin Band
Irish Blues Challenge - Dermot Byrne
Jackson Area Blues Society - The Martindales
James River Blues Society - Proffitt & Sandidge

Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Foundation - The Killer Blues Band
Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Foundation - JPat
Kalamazoo Valley Blues Association - Jordan Lunardini & The Bad Beat
Kansas City Blues Society - Ron Teamer and Smokin' Guns
Kansas City Blues Society - Rich Berry

Kentuckiana Blues Society - The Stella Vees
Lake of the Ozarks Blues Society - The Baub Eis Band
Lake of the Ozarks Blues Society - Chile and Dave
Lehigh Valley Blues Network - Mary Hawkins Band
Long Island Blues Society - Hooch & The Bluesicians
Long Island Blues Society - Joe Vicino & The SmokeDaddys

Louisiana Blues Preservation Society - Jaryd Lane
Magic City Blues Society - Electric VooDoo
Magic City Blues Society - Little G Weevil
Maine Blues Society - Kevin Kimball and the Mojo Romeos
Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society - Jimi Hocking
Mid North Michigan Blues Society - Mark Arshak Band

Mid-Mississippi Muddy Waters Blues Society - Blue Voodoo
Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Indianola - The Ladies Choice Band
Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Indianola - Pat Thomas
Mo Blues Association Inc - Blue 88 Band
Monteray Bay Blues Society -Big Mo
Music City Blues Society - The Sinners

Music City Blues Society - Elam McKnight & Keith Carter
New York blues and Jazz Society - MISbHAVIN! with Danny Kean & Pat Hunter
North Central Ohio Blues Association - T.J. Lewis Blues Revue
Northeast blues Society - Folding Sky
Northwest Arkansas Blues Society - GrooveKings

Oklahoma Blues Society - AJ Johnson and Why Not
Ozark Blues Society - The Tablerockers
Ozark Blues Society - JC/BC
Phoenix Blues Society - Sistah Blue
Piedmont Blues Preservation Society - The Matt Hill Blues Band
Pinetop Perkins Blues Society - John-Alex Mason

River City Blues Society(VA) - Pure and Sinful
River City Blues Society(IL) - Fishbone Willie Porter & Friends
River City Blues Society(IL) - Nick Boettcher
Robert Johnson Society from Poland - Ronnie Ray and the Coolers
Robert Johnson Society of Poland - Magda Piskorczyk Duo
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - Mary Bridget Davies Group

Sacramento Blues Society - Gayiel Von & Witness This
San Antonio Blues Society - Jimi Lee Band
Santa Clarita Valley Blues Society - Bill Watson
Santa Clarita Valley Blues Society - Jeff Jensen Band
Sierra Blues Society - Ron Hacker and the Hacksaws
Smoky Mountain Blues Society - Blues Revolution

Sonny Boy Blues Society - Diddley Squat
South Florida Blues Society - The Hep Cat Boo Daddies
Southern California Blues Society - Gary Allegretto
Southern California Blues Society - P Bass Jonz and Subsonic Blues
Southern Kentucky Blues Society - The Kyle Daniel Band
Spa City Blues Society - Dayton Waters

Spa City Blues Society - Charlotte Taylor and Gypsy Rain
Sydney Blues Society - Finn
Tri-State Blues Review - 3 Shades of Grey
Vicksburg Blues Society - Virgil 'Big Juv' Brawley
Vicksburg Blues Society - Patrick Smith Band
Washington Blues Society - Randy Oxford Band

Western New York Blues Society - Flyin Blind Blues Band
Wichita Blues Society - Moreland
Yazoo Arts and Cultural Alliance - The Kory Montgomery Band
Yesterday & Today's Rhythm & Blues Society - Debbie Ritter & 4-40 Blues

On the Web:
Blues Foundation

Related Blues Blog Story:
2005 International Blues Challenge/Keeping the Blues Alive Award (7/12/2004)

:: Les Coles Thursday, February 03, 2005 [+] ::

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Sonny Landreth e-card

Seeing as how I just reviewed Sonny's latest CD, Grant Street, I thought I'd dust the cobwebs of this e-card I did for the 2003 Japan Blues Carnival.

It took minutes to make, so I thought I'd have another attempt at recycling its ass.




Sonny Landreth -- The King of Slideco

Send Card

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 02, 2005 [+] ::

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CORKY SIEGEL'S CHAMBER BLUES

Came across this nugget in Jamie Gadette's Music Picks colum in the Salt Lake City Weekly:

SALT LAKE CITY (Feb. 2)—There really aren't enough bands attempting to meld traditional chamber music with kick-ass blues.

Good thing Corky Siegel is picking up the slack. The famed blues harmonica player, pianist, composer and former member of the Siegel-Schwall Band, (which toured extensively throughout the '60s and '70s) is currently touring with seven other ace musicians expressing an off-beat blend of Willie Dixon and the New York Philharmonic.

According to Siegel, the chance meeting of two genres is fate in stereo. If you forget the notion that "blues is from Mars and classical is from a distant galaxy...all that is left is two very beautiful and innocent forms of music that get along very well."

Corky Siegel Chamber Blues is playing Peery's Egyptian Theater, 2415 Washington Blvd., Ogden, Utah, 7:30 p.m. Info: 801-395-3227.

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If'n you don't live in Ogden—and it surprised me to learn how many people don't—here's a list of other towns the blues chamberists will be chambering:

Gig (or should that be Concert?) Dates
January 26, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Virgin Islands - Concert
Tillet Gardens - St. Thomas - 340-775-1929

January 27, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Virgin Islands - Concert
School of the Arts - St. John - 340-779-4322

January 28, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Virgin Islands - Concert
Lavity Stout University - Tortola - 284-494-4994

February 2, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - WFMT-FM 98.7 - Chicago Radio Broadcast
Approx 4 PM Central Standard Time

February 3, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Ogden UT - Workshop
10 AM & 1 PM - Peery's Egyptian Theater - 2415 Washington Blvd: 801-395-3227

February 4, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Ogden UT - Matinee & Concert
Matinee at 10 AM - Concert at 7:30 PM
Peery's Egyptian Theater - 2415 Washington Blvd: 801-395-3227

February 6, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - WGN-AM 720 - Chicago IL - Live Radio Broadcast
10 AM Central Standard Time - clear channel

February 11, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Punta Gorda FL - Concert
7:30 PM - Charlotte Performing Arts Center - Box Office: 941-505-7469

February 12, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Lake Worth FL - Concert
Palm Beach Community College - Duncan Theater
Info: website - 561-868-3314

February 15, 05 - Corky and Randy Sabien - Key Largo FL - concert
South Florida Center for the Arts - 305-853-7070

Thursday through Sunday - February 17 through 20th
Chamber Blues is celebrating the release of it's new CD on Alligator Records
Jazz Showcase - 59 West Grand
Jazz Showcase - Tickets and Info: 312-670-BIRD

February 17, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Chicago IL - Concert
This is opening night of a four-night Chamber Blues event at the Showcase in Chicago, one of the oldest jazz clubs in the country. Tickets are available now. Call 312-670-BIRD

February 18th - Corky Siegel - Chicago IL - In store discussion/performance
Borders State Street Store at 12:30 PM
"How Blues Met Classical" - from funky south-side blues clubs to the symphony stage.

February 18, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Chicago IL - Concert
Jazz Showcase - Tickets and Info: 312-670-BIRD

February 19th - Corky Siegel - Chicago IL - In store discussion/performance
Borders Oak Brook store at 2 PM
"How Blues Met Classical" - from funky south-side blues clubs to the symphony stage.

February 19, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Chicago IL - Concert
Jazz Showcase - Tickets and Info: 312-670-BIRD

February 20, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Chicago IL - Concert
Jazz Showcase - Tickets and Info: 312-670-BIRD

March 5, 05 - SIEGEL-SCHWALL - Sandwich IL - Concert
Sandwich Opera House - 815-786-2555

March 8, 05 - Corky Solo - Macomb IL - Concert/Residency
10 AM - Children's Concert
Afternoon - Master Class - for students and professionals
Jumping Off the Clef - Using the power of dynamics in your performance
For information call: 309-298-2436

March 9, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES with HOWARD LEVY - Macomb IL - Concert
Western Illinois University - 309-298-2436

March 11, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES with RANDY SABIEN - Middleton WI - Concert
Middleton PAC - 608-829-9853

March 19, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - New Harmony IN - Concert
The Granary - This is a unique and beautiful concert hall rennovated out a grainery that was built not long after Columbus came to America.
The Rapp Owen Granary Art Center - 812-682-3128

March 29, 05 - Corky Siegel - Minneapolis MN - discussion/performance
Borders Block E Hennepin Store at 12:30 PM
"How Blues Met Classical" - From funky south-side clubs to the symphony stage

March 29, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Minneapolis MN - Concert
The Dakota Website - 612-332-1010 - 1010 Nicollet Ave.

March 30, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES with MARCY LEVY - Minneapolis MN - Concert
The Dakota Website - 612-332-1010 - 1010 Nicollet Ave.

March 31, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES with MARCY LEVY - Minneapolis MN - Concert
The Dakota Website - 612-332-1010 - 1010 Nicollet Ave.

April 2, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES & SIEGEL-SCHWALL & MARCY LEVY - Glen Ellyn - Concert
With very special guest Marcy Levy
College of Du Page - 630-858-2800

April 8, 05 - Corky Guest Soloist -Bellingham WA - Dress Rehearsal
The Whatcom Symphony - 360-734-6080
Corky performs William Russo's STREET MUSIC

April 9, 05 - Corky Guest Soloist - Bellingham WA - Concert
The Whatcom Symphony - 360-734-6080
Corky performs William Russo's STREET MUSIC

April 16, 2005 - SIEGEL-SCHWALL - Stevens Point WI - Concert
Clark Place

April 30, 05 - MARCY LEVY with CHAMBER BLUES - Chicago IL - Concert
Old Town School - Get tickets early for this one!
Info: 773-728-6000

May 5, 05 - Corky and Randy Sabien - Monroe WI - Residency
Randy and Corky present workshops and masterclasses
Monroe Arts Center - 608-325-5700

May 6, 05 - Corky and Randy Sabien - Monroe WI - Concert
Monroe Arts Center - 608-325-5700

May 12, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Chicago IL - Lunch Time Concert
Columbia College - 312-663-1600

June 17, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Ann Arbor MI - Concert
The Ark

July 16, 05 - Chicago Blues Reunion - Irvine CA - Concert
Barry Goldberg, Nick Gravenites, Harvey Mandel, Tracy Nelson, Rick Reed, Zach Wagner and Corky

August 27, 05 - SIEGEL-SCHWALL - Woodstock IL - Concert
Woodstock Opera House

October 1, 05 - SIEGEL-SCHWALL - Traverse City MI - Concert
Northwestern Michigan College - Dennos Museum - 231-995-1055

October 14, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Worthington MN - Workshop TBA
Memorial Auditorium

October 15, 05 - CHAMBER BLUES - Worthington MN - Concert
Memorial Auditorium

November 18, 05 - Corky Siegel & Randy Sabien - Menomonie WI - Concert
Mable Tainter Theater - 715-235-9726

November 19, 05 - SIEGEL-SCHWALL - TBA

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On the Web:
CORKY SIEGEL’S CHAMBER BLUES

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 02, 2005 [+] ::

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Sonny Landreth's "Grant Street" reviewed

Sonny Landreth tears into "Native Stepson," the opening track on Grant Street--his long and eagerly awaited first live album--with the energy and virtuosity that lesser guitarists reserve for ending an album, apparently having adopted Cecil B. DeMille and Sam Goldwyn's "start with an earthquake and build to a climax" approach.

Recorded live at Grant Street Dancehall, Lafayette, La., on April 23-24, Grant Street is a searing collection of live versions of the Landreth catalog featuring tracks that go all the way back to "Blues Attack" off his first, out-of-print, 1981 solo release of the same name, and all the way up to "Gone Pecan" off his last release, the 2003 Best Contemporary Blues Grammy-nominated The Road We're On.

As a live album, Grant Street is absent the hand-rubbed, multilayered sheen of studio albums, the tracks being sent out into the world with just a coat of primer. This lack of lacquer lets the raw power shine through of one of the finest three-piece bands in existence--Dave Ranson on bass and Kenneth Blevins on drums--and Landreth himself, who is not just the finest slide-guitarist alive, but perhaps the finest who ever lived.

Landreth swore to me in an interview that being born in Canton, Miss., the birthplace or thereabouts of Elmore James, didn't have anything to do with his slide-guitar skills, pointing out that he is an adopted Louisianan, or "native stepson," having moved to Lafayette as a kid. But I think a little bit of reincarnation may have happened.

On Grant Street, Landreth once again offers listeners a Faulknerian--with a twist of Elmore Leonard--vision of the South with a collection of tales and aural textures that combine the rattlesnake rhythms of zydeco, the swagger of swamp pop and a floating Cajun waltz.

Tracks
1. Native Stepson
2. Broken Hearted Road
3. Gone Pecan
4. Port of Calling
5. Blues Attack
6. Z. Rider
7. U.S.S. Zydecoldsmobile
8. Wind In Denver
9. All About You
10. Pedal To Metal
11. Congo Square

Credits
Sonny Landreth -- guitars, vocals
Dave Ranson -- bass
Kenneth Blevins - drums
Produced by Sonny Landreth, Tony Daigle, and R.S. Field.

On the Web:
Sugarhill Records
Sonny Landreth



Read the Tokyo-Blues review of Sonny Landreth at Japan Blues Carnival 2003

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 02, 2005 [+] ::

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John Fogerty, Keith Urban film TV special

(Feb. 1)—Creedence Clearwater Revival legend John Fogerty and Australian country music star Keith Urban have completed the filming of their joint television special.

The show, recorded for CMT Crossroads, will air in the USA on February 19.

The two stars made a great impression on each other. "It's a lot of fun playing with John," Urban told CMT. "When you're standing next to the guy who wrote 'Bad Moon Rising' and he's singing 'Bad Moon Rising,' you're like, 'Oh wow! This is pretty damn good right here!"

"Keith is going to be here a long time because he's just loaded with talent. He sings great, writes great songs and seems to have that radar to work with good people," said Fogerty. "I just think he's got it all together, and it's like a skyrocket just starting."

The show was taped in front of an invitation only audience in Los Angeles.

Fogerty and Urban performed their signature hits together including "Bad Moon Rising," "Centerfield" and "You'll Think of Me."

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On the Web:
Keith Urban
John Fogerty

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 02, 2005 [+] ::

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Today's Blues Birthdays

2/3/2005 Birthdays:
Johnny 'Guitar' Watson 1935,
Jody Williams 1935,
John Handy 1933.

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 02, 2005 [+] ::

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Japanese TV Stalking the blues in Chicago

An article in The Chicago Journal last week detailed the efforts of a Japanese television crew that sought to document the last vestiges of the Maxwell Street blues scene.

The authenticity of the current scene could most charitably be described as "in question"(if for no other reason but its presence on Canal Street rather than Maxwell Street.)

Anyway, here's the article:

THE DIARIST

Blues in a blizzard

By HAYDN BUSH, Staff Writer

On any other day, the brown paper bag of beer I was offered while on the clock would have been unusual, but under the circumstances, I hardly even mustered a shrug. A Japanese television crew had come to town in the midst of a snowstorm to shoot the historic Maxwell Street market—really, now, the unhistoric Canal Street Market—culminating with a live blues performance on the 16th Street bridge. I was intrigued, mainly by the sketchiness of the whole enterprise.

Steve Balkin, a Roosevelt University professor specializing in the history of the old Maxwell Street market, chaperoned the group. We met around 10 a.m. at the White Palace Grill. Yuri Osugi, a broadcaster for the Tokyo-based East West Media, was there with his crew, in the midst of a four-month tour of the United States to film 50 vignettes of different locales. Last week, they were at Yellowstone National Park; by next week, they will be in Key West, Fla., and Puerto Rico. While in Chicago, they were determined to capture a slice of the world-renowned blues scene.

"Chicago is the major city for the blues," Osugi said. I thought briefly of venturing that house music is more reflective of contemporary Chicago, but thought better of it. It was too cold to be cynical.

The night before hadn't gone so well, Osugi said; the crew had trekked out to the 7313 Club in Englewood, and while the band was good, they were the only people in the house because of the blizzard. Osugi somewhat bitterly offered that she had told her executive producer that filming in Chicago in January was a bit of a folly, but was rebuffed and told to stay on schedule.

We headed toward the market, where Balkin eagerly pointed out a handmade sign at a produce stand. The sign, he told the crew, captured the ramshackle, do-it-yourself nature of the old Maxwell Street market, where vending fees ran as little as $45 a year in 1994. Now, daily rent on Canal Street is $30, and the homeless men who could scrape a few spare dollars out of the edges of the old market are long gone.

"This is a highly bureaucratic market," Balkin told the film crew, voicing his approval of the more laissez-faire operation torn down to make way for University Village.

Around this point, a large man emerged from behind the sign. "Yeah, it's a handmade sign, I made it," the produce seller grunted, before telling the camera crew to stop filming unless they forked over $50. Laissez-faire capitalism at work, indeed.

As we strolled through the market, which was somewhat bustling in spite of the cold, Balkin relayed the pass-the-hat traditions of the early Maxwell Street blues bands, and the market’s proximity to the old Illinois Central station so central to the Great Migration. The musicians would rent cheap rooms in and around Maxwell Street and often end up playing for their old neighbors from the South, Balkin said.

"This was a little bit of the Deep South embedded in Chicago," Balkin said. As the electric guitar was popularized in the 1940s and '50s, he added, "Maxwell Street blues was formed."

As we made our way through the market, Balkin chatted up seemingly half the people we passed, from a veteran shoestring vendor to Charlie Joe Henderson, who has rented the tables on the street for decades and runs a record store on Madison Street in West Garfield Park. By this point, the crew was ready to film the last specter of the old scene before packing it up for Key West. Piano C Red, a singer and keyboard player and one of the last remaining Maxwell Street musicians, had agreed to play on the 16th Street bridge with a freshly assembled band.

When we got down to 16th Street just before 11, though, Piano C was nowhere to be found. Killer Ray Allen, the guitarist Piano C had hired for the day, was the only musician in sight. The film crew was visibly disappointed.

"I’m ready to play," Allen said impatiently. About a half-hour later, the Alabama-born bluesman showed up, though without the rest of the band. The film crew, needing that one last shot to document the dying Chicago blues scene before heading to Puerto Rico, agreed to meet back in two hours, giving Red and Killer Ray enough time to set up shop.

"The talent to play blues and the talent to do logistics aren't always compatible," Balkin said.

When I got back to the market around 1:30 p.m., Killer Ray was there but no one else was. He asked me if I'd seen Piano C, who it turned out was waiting in a car on the other side of the bridge.

Finally, the two met up, and it became apparent that no one knew where the film crew was, until I passed along their cell phone number and we waited for them to rematerialize.

Meanwhile, Killer Ray and Piano C Red briefly argued about money. Killer Ray was insisting, not without reason, that he get paid before he started to set up the equipment. He was also more than a little annoyed with the slapdash nature of the whole enterprise, pointing out that he rustled his fellow bandmates out of bed, only to wait hours in the cold.

A few minutes later, I found myself in the passenger seat of Piano C Red's car, where we both retreated to warm up. "You like beer?" Piano C Red asked. I passed, while Red helped himself to a plastic cupful of an unknown brew, obscured by a brown paper bag. A few minutes later, Balkin and the film crew got back to the bridge, and Killer Ray, money in hand, began to set up.

However, with the market's 3 p.m. closing time in sight, the vendors who were to have served as a backdrop began packing up. Osugi informed the band that they would have to relocate further north; the key to the whole shot was having the market in the background. Balkin passed the time by trying on belts at one of the last vendors braving the cold. "It's Versace," he told me happily.

Finally, the crew arranged a site that would capture the city skyline in the background, and after a few tense minutes getting the generator up and running, the band started to play. It was 2:45 when Piano C Red began belting out "Sweet Old Chicago."

Despite the utter ridiculousness of an outdoor concert on a frigid January afternoon, the band played well together, and a handful of the people who were still milling around the market stuck around to listen. One of them even danced, and for a moment, the old Maxwell Street came back into view. At its heart, the market was fundamentally a public space, a place where you could find a deal on socks, get intimidated by a surly fruit seller or maybe just hear a fine piece of music, no matter how contrived.

Osugi and her cameramen, pleased to have finally wrapped up their Chicago assignment, watched their elaborately arranged blues performance in content silence. Only one of them, it turned out, liked to dance.

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 02, 2005 [+] ::

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Verve Music Group Relaunches Forecast

Susan Tedeschi signs to reactivated label

(Feb. 1)—The Universal Music Group subsidiary expands into the burgeoning and AC market with the relaunch of the famed Forecast label, the original home to many of the music world's most acclaimed singer-songwriters.

All non-jazz artists on Verve will be moved over to Forecast, while blues rocker Susan Tedeschi, Rhett Miller of the Old 97's, Teddy Thompson, Sacramento-based singer-songwriter Jackie Greene, New York's Brazilian Girls and Chiara Civello are among the first new acts to sign to the newly reactivated label.

Forecast (originally Folkways) burst onto the scene in 1967 by introducing some of the era's most important artists, including Laura Nyro, Tim Hardin, Richie Havens, The Blues Project and the Velvet Underground, among others.

In addition to Verve Forecast, the Verve Music Group is comprised of the premier jazz label Verve, whose roster includes legends such as Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter as well as rising stars Roy Hargrove and Regina Carter; vocalists Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, Shirley Horn and Lizz Wright; GRP Records, which houses a stellar roster of contemporary instrumental artists, and Impulse!, the catalog label and home to John Coltrane.

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On the Web:
Verve Music Group

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 02, 2005 [+] ::

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Major Japan Tours

Buddy Guy, Corey Harris, John Hammond, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Washboard Chas, North Mississippi Allstars, Tower of Power, Daryl Hall & John Oates, and Jethro Tull all to play Japan in 2005.

Check out the Tokyo-Blues Gig Guide for details.

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 02, 2005 [+] ::

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Legends Of Jazz Starring Ella Fitzgerald By Steven Forster

New Orleans, La., PRWEB via PR Web Direct, (Jan. 31)—New Orleans Award-winning Photographer Steven Forster has announced that he will unveil the premiere exhibition of his legends series of jazz and musical giants including Ella Fitzgerald at the Robert Bruno Gallery in New Orleans for the month of April 2005.

The First Lady of Song Ella Fitzgerald will be among many giants including The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, The Genius Ray Charles, King of the Blues B.B. King, Miss Nancy Wilson, The Legendary "Q" Quincy Jones, Shirley Horn, New Orleans Legendary Pete Fountain, Dr. John, Mavis Staples, Wynton Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Dionne Warwick, Chaka Khan, Marian McPartland, Buddy Guy and many more. April is jazz month in New Orleans, and the one-man exhibition is timed to welcome visitors to the 36th New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival from April 22-May 1, 2005. In late January, the Robert Bruno Gallery announced its extension through June 1.

The new exhibition was inspired by Forster's life-long infatuation with the voice of Ella Fitzgerald. "She inspired me artistically and musically and has always been a part of my life," Forster says.

Forster photographed Fitzgerald on stage in 1979 at the 10th New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and a few years later delivered a framed photograph to his idol during her stay at New Orleans' Fairmont Hotel where she was performing at the Blue Room. He was greeted at her hotel suite door by a sleepy Fitzgerald, clad in a robe. Forster believed the negatives of his Fitzgerald shoot had been destroyed in a fire 25 years ago. In October, Forster was stunned to discover a set of some of the negatives in an envelope, although his favorite photograph, the one he'd presented to Fitzgerald, was not among them. His joy at discovering his tribute to his favorite jazz legend propelled him to action. Forster matched images of other musical greats he had photographed over the years, and his latest one-man show was born.

Forster's photography work is included in the Historic New Orleans Collection, The New Orleans Museum of Art, The Contemporary Arts Center, the Mario Villa Gallery and the John Stinson Gallery. His work has been included in exhibitions of master photographers Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, Clarence John Laughlin, and Weegee (Usher Arthur "Weegee" Felig). His clients have included Random House Books for the cover jacket photograph of Pulitzer Prize winning author Rick Bragg (#1 New York Times Best Seller, I Am A Soldier, Too; The Jessica Lynch Story). Forster is presently working on the cover jacket photograph of Ernest Gaines for his upcoming book From Mozart to Ledbelly.

Forster swept the Fashion Photography category for both published and non-published work at the annual Alpha Awards presented by the Fashion Group International (founded in 1930) of New Orleans in 2004. Forster shut out all other published and non-published fashion photographers from the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and the Florida panhandle for work which included large scale digital photographs of jazz artists in New Orleans. Forster is now an eight-time Alpha Award winning photographer whose work is featured in his own award-winning newspaper page, the "Big Easy Page" in the Sunday editions of the Times-Picayune, Louisiana's largest newspaper.

For more information contact Elizabeth Bruno at e-mail protected from spam bots at the ROBERT BRUNO GALLERY in the Warehouse Arts District of New Orleans, 900 S. Peters St., New Orleans, La. 70130
(504) 679-0001. www.robertbrunogallery.com

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On the Web:
Robert Bruno Gallery
Steven Forster

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 02, 2005 [+] ::

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Fireman's burning love for the blues

Gloucester, Ma., (Feb. 1)—Gloucester firefighter Mike Chipperini still remembers his first harmonica.

Chipperini was just 15 and living in Riverdale Park when his older friend, Peter Auditore, pulled out a harmonica one night and began to play.

"He wailed a few notes and I was like, 'Wow, what is that?'" said Chipperini, now 46. "I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever heard."

In the past two years, Chipperini's lifelong passion for playing the harmonica has led to a double life for the man who spends most of his time on the city's ladder truck. A band he and four other musicians formed six months ago has already booked 10 gigs. When Chipperini is not playing with them, he can be found standing in with other musicians at open mike nights and blues jams at local bars like the Rhumb Line or the Blackburn Tavern.

"A lot of people think blues is bummed out 'my dog just died' music but blues is a celebration of life," Chipperini said. "Everybody can identify with blues because blues is life."

Chipperini's band is called Hoodoo Revelator. Jay Scheffler of Somerville plays guitar and sings lead vocals, Jim Chilson of Framingham plays guitar, Jeff Fabrizio of Quincy plays the bass and Dave Darling of Newton plays the drums.

All of them have day jobs. Scheffler is a home construction estimator, Chilson is a civil engineer, Fabrizio is a financial consultant and Darling is a truck driver. The thing they have in common is they all love the blues, Chipperini said.

"We're a driving blues band--rock heavily influenced by blues at the beginning of the rock era," he said. "I would love to do just this for a living but it's not realistic. There's a lot of blues bands out there."

"I've always loved all types of music, but blues is my favorite," he said.

Evidence of his love of blues music and the harmonica abounds in the Nashua Street home he shares with his wife, Jill, and their two children. His collection of CDs and records is steeped with classic blues artists like Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (the first blues album Chipperini ever fell in love with). He keeps a collection of roughly 40 harmonicas, including a drawer full of broken ones in an upstairs desk.

He even has a special harmonica microphone he had painted red and gold to resemble fire engine colors. Chipperini, who went to work for the Fire Department in 1999 after more than two decades in the U.S. Army, can be heard playing his harmonica at the fire station between calls.

The obsession has been a lifetime in the making.

A week after Auditore introduced him to the harmonica, Chipperini began trying to imitate the sounds his friend could produce. Chipperini first learned to play a single note, then a chord, then how to switch back and forth between chords and single notes to make the kinds of harmonica riffs he listened to on the radio.

Coming to be in a blues band in the past six months was much the same process. Two years ago Chipperini began by listening in on blues sessions once in a while at the Rhumb Line. Eventually he worked up the courage and practice to ask one of the regulars to do a duet. Then he was invited to play with the band Shaky Deal when they were in town. And when that band broke up, he decided to form a band of his own.

The band played its first gig in November. Since then they have lined up shows at bars all over Gloucester. They play at Jazzy Joe's next Saturday.

"Every time we play a place they ask us to come back," he said.

Source: Gloucester Daily Times

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On the Web:
Hoodoo Revelator

:: Les Coles Tuesday, February 01, 2005 [+] ::

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Gospel Horizons on Live365.com Seeks Independent Gospel Artists

PRWEB (Feb. 1)—Independent Gospel Radio, www.indiegospelmusic.com, is sponsoring a new Internet Radio Station on Live365.com. The name of the station is New Gospel Horizons. New Gospel Horizons features a mix of Mainstream and Independent Gospel. The basic program combines Traditional & Contemporary Gospel, Holy Hip Hop, Praise & Worship, Christian Rock, Contemporary Christian and Urban Praise. In addition the following shows are broadcast daily; Holy Hip Hop Hour (12:00AM & 9:00PM EST), Contemporary Christians (2:00AM & 6:00PM EST), Traditional Gospel (4:30PM EST) and Editors Picks (4:00AM & 7:30PM EST). Weekly sermons will be added shortly.

IGR's goal is to increase the visibility of its indie artists, by playing them along side the top mainstream Gospel artists. According to IGR's assistant program director Tony Alexander, "some of the indie artists are as talented as the mainstream artists. In many cases, the indie artist lacks exposure." IGR hopes that New Gospel Horizons listeners will be lead back to the IGR homepage. There the listener can find detailed information on the indie artist of interest. Recently, several artists have been "discovered" via Internet radio exposure. IGR is hoping to create the same type of opportunity for the independent Gospel artist.

New Gospel Horizons will be broadcasting 24 hours per day 7 days a week. A broadband connection is required. The station can be reached from a link on the IGR home page or directly at www.live365.com/stations/godsdj.

Independent Gospel Radio continues to accept submissions for new artists. Submissions may be made via mail or online. Full details are available on the IGR website (http://www.indiegospelmusic.com/contact.htm)

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On the Web:
IGR Web site

:: Les Coles Tuesday, February 01, 2005 [+] ::

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MELADRAMAS: On Stage At Last!

TOKYO (Feb. 1)—Tokyoites will have the opportunity to experience what Pamela MacCarthy calls "her other voice" this month as the New York-born jazz vocalist, artist/painter presents MELADRAMAS: On Stage At Last!, a collection of 50 computer art, or "mood journals," at CoCoLo Cafe in Shinjuku throughout the month of February.

Pamela has been thrilling audiences in Japan with her vocal talents since her arrival here in December 1990 with her tenor-saxophone playing husband—jazz composer, arranger & professor of music Akio Ueda—and her then-4-year-old son, Michio.

In her time here, Pamela has played with the best jazzers in Japan, including: The Toshio Osumi Trio, the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio, , the late George Kawaguchi and his NEW BIG FOUR +1 combo, & The Mike Price Jazz Quintet. She appeared with the big band legend, Nobuo Hara and His Sharps & Flats Orchestra, at Orchard Hall, NHK Hall, to fete his 50th year in show business and provided the vocals on four tracks on the much sought-after album, That's Big Band.

She also recorded her own CD, How About You? with The Akio Ueda Jazz Quintet, the cover of which is a self-portrait. (Visit http://www2.gol.com/users/pamelot/ for track samples.)

But throughout Pamela's career as a vocalist, she has pursued a second path of expression that goes all the way back to her college days when she studied art, inspired, she told me in an interview, by Robert Crumb. And in her time in Japan, Pamela has held exhibitions of her work at Jazz Spot/Gallery "J", Shinjuku, KEIO ATMAN Dept. Store, and smaller exhibitions in restaurants, cafes, & bookstores in Tokyo

Until five years ago, Pamela worked in such traditional media as gouache on canvas, but in February 1999, Pamela started exploring the possibilities of computer art when she got her first computer.

Thus were born Meladramas—or more precisely "reborn"—as Pamela told me in the interview that the very first Meladrama was actually created on an upper westside NYC apartment wall, in makeup.

"I started in a new medium for me, computer art. I just let my mind and my mouse, wander. A spontaneous type of work resulted using a combination of fantasy, memory, dreams and drama, a departure from my works on canvas, which are created usually as a study in nature.

I created what I call "mood journals," Pamela said in describing Meladramas.

Ah yes. The name. Meladramas. Note the first "a". "It's not to be confused with melodramas," Pamela told me. "My title is a play on words using a shortening of my first name: Pa Mela + dramas."

Pamela maintains a weblog of the same name (http://meladramas.blogspot.com), which she started in March 2003.

"This online journal has become popular with visitors from all over the world. It has also become a showcase for my new computer art pieces, as well as my "regular" Web site: http://www2.gol.com/users/pamelot," Pamela told The Blues Blog.

Pamela's "other voice" has the same depth, range, timbre and quality as her "primary voice," and provides her another instrument with which to communicate and express her emotions in an extremely candid and soul-revealing manner, providing as it were a portrait&mdash:or rather, portraits—of the artist as a woman, wife, mother, lover, painter, jazz vocalist...in short, all the faces that a woman wears.

The Blue Hour ©2004 Pamela MacCarthy

Details
Event: MELADRAMAS: On Stage At Last!
Artist: Pamela MacCarthy
Venue: CoColo Cafe
             Shinjuku-ku
             Shinjuku 2-14-6
             Daiichi Hayakawaya Bldg.1F
             Tel: 03-5366-9899
             http://www.akiplan.com/cocolo-cafe/

Date: Feb 1-28, 2005

The collection can be seen online at:
http://www2.gol.com/users/pamelot/slideshow.html

:: Les Coles Monday, January 31, 2005 [+] ::

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BLUES LEGENDS HAVE MOJO

NYC (Jan. 30)—THE magic brides make when they mix something old, new, borrowed and blue was also the combination for mojo to transform Avery Fisher Hall into a blues juke joint for a night.

Friday's three-hour "Legends of the Blues" concert was a veritable who's who from the big book of the blues.

Freeze-dried Honeyboy Edwards, who turns 90 this summer, opened the gig with old-time, Delta acoustic riffs, and Buddy Guy buttoned up the evening with his 20-something pop pal John Mayer (news) in an electric display of Chicago blues.

In between, the fans rode the blues express with the music's elite such as guitarist, Little Milton, pianist Pinetop Perkins,singer Mojo Buford, drummer Big Eyes Smith, as well as great players with less expressive monikers like James Cotton on the chromatic harmonica and guitarist Jody Williams.

From a music history perspective, Edwards and Robert Lockwood Jr. were the most important artists of the evening, since they are the last living links to the infamous blues guitar god, Robert Johnson.

The night came to a rolling boil late when Little Milton, Guy, Mayer and Allman Brother's Band guitar ace Warren Hayes cut heads in a six-string shakedown.

Mayer, a white kid from Fairfield, Conn., most famous for his pop hit "Your Body is a Wonderland," surprised the house by holding his own. There is no question that Guy, who gets inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March, was the night's star, even though he isn't the best singer. But Eric Clapton wasn't lying when he called Guy the greatest living blues guitarist.

The blues is the mother of American music, and they say you've got to suffer to sing them, but for those lucky enough to hear these legends there was no burden.

Source: By DAN AQUILANTE, PageSix News

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Related Blues Blog story:
Blues Express--Legends of the Blues (Jan. 28)

:: Les Coles Monday, January 31, 2005 [+] ::

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Little Buster Records--Distribution in Japan

Blues Label Little Buster Records advises me that that CDs by Edward "Little Buster" Forehand himself and major label artist 'Ayanna Hobson' are available now for purchase in Japan at the following Record Stores: APPLE JAM RECORDS and DISK-UNION.

Little Buster Records is a company dedicated to the creation,production,and distribution of American R&B, blues, soul and jazz music. A small label, but big on talent and commitment. Its main artists are Ayanna Hobson and President Edward "Little Buster" Forehand.

Forehand has a connection with Japan, having played the 'Tokyo Gas / Blues Festival', and an Osaka Blues Festival.


Little Buster & The Soulbrothers
Edward "Little Buster" Forehand was born in Hereford, N.C. At the age of 3, he developed glaucoma and by the time he began his musical career—as a vocalist—he had completely lost his eyesight. Undaunted, Buster went on to learn how to play six instruments, including the guitar which he consistently played, while attending the North Carolina School for the Blind.

As a teenager, Buster relocated to Long Island, New York. In 1959, Buster began his professional musical career as a back-up guitar player in Alan Freed's Rock And Roll Shows, the premier showcase for many future world class entertainers, that was at Brooklyn's Paramount Theater. In addition Buster was performing on a regular basis in the bars and clubs on Long Island.

In 1964 Buster won a talent contest at the world famous Apollo Theater, and caught the attention of Jerry Blaine, who ran the Jubilee and Josie Record Company. Buster signed with Jubilee/Josie records, and recorded his Composition "Looking For A Home," which became a radio hit in the local markets on the East Coast.But unfortunately, due to the financial demise of Jubilee/Josie Records, this album was never released, and was put in storage in the company vault.

Doc Pomus wrote "Young Boy Blues" for Buster in 1967, and Al Kooper covered "Looking For A Home" on the Kooper Session album (with Mike Bloomfield.)

In the 1970s, Buster put his recording career on hold and concentrated on live performances throughout New York. Buster paid his dues as an opening act. these shows, featuring his unbelievable vocals and guitar playing, resulted in his legendary entertainer status in New York that still remains today.

In 1996, Buster revived his recording career, with the release of Right On Time on Rounder/Bullseye Records. This CD compiled mostly of Buster's original compositions received worldwide acclaim, and resulted in a W.C.Handy Award nomination, and received runner-up status for the Living Blues magazine critics award. Buster's recording career moved forward in 2000, with the release of another CD, Work Your Show on Fedora Records. This CD also received rave reviews by the music critics throughout the world. these accolades created the opportunity for buster to perform on 'CBS This Morning', 'Late Night With Connan O'Brien','The David Letterman Show', 'The Chris Rock Show', And 'Dan Ackroyd's House Of Blues Hour.' Buster has also been featured in periodicals such as Juke Blues magazine and 20th Century Guitar. This increased exposure created the opportunity for buster to perform in concerts and music festivals in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan.

A couple of years back, Little Buster put together his own record company, the main talent of which—Ayanna Hobson—recently recorded Looking for A Home, Too, a bow to Looking For A Home.





Live! Vlolume One

1. Buster's Swing Blues
2. What Can I Do
3. That's What I Want To Do
4. I've Been Watching You
5. Allnight Worker / Looking For A Home
6. Tougher Than Tough
7. Just Let Me Burn

Recorded live from Little Buster's concert tours in Japan.
Rated 1 of top 10 Blues CDs sold in Japan in 2004.

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Ayanna & The Soulmates
Ayanna Hobson was born in McNary, Arizona, raised in Southern California and has relocated to Phoenix Arizona, where she sings R&B-Blues-Soul-Jazz Music in the local clubs with her group, "The Soulmates."

Ayanna was raised on a musical diet that consisted of many of the greats such as, B.B. King, Billie Holiday, Etta James, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and Sarah Vaughn. Her powerful vocal style, with an operatic 41/2 octave range, has often been compared to that of Cleo Laine and Sarah Vaughn, her jazzy vocal stylings to that of Abbey Lincoln and Betty Carter.

Looking for A Home, Too is a Tribute to New York blues and soul legend, Buster "Little Buster" Forehand.






Looking For A Home, Too
1. What Can I Do
2. I've Been Watching You
3. My Darling
4. Thinking About You
5. Broken Hearted Girl
6. Tougher Than Tough
7. That's What I Want To Do
8. Ever Since
9. Looking For A Home

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On The Web:
Little Buster Records
The Tokyo-Blues Guide to Record Shops in Japan

:: Les Coles Monday, January 31, 2005 [+] ::

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Washboard Chaz Japan Tour 2005

Washboard Chaz has been booked through the first week of February by Bar Bourbon Street where he will be performing with various local artists before appearing at the Mard Gras in Roppongi special at Sweet Basil (STB139).

Washboard Chaz Profile
Though comfortable in all forms of our diverse American musical heritage, Washboard Chaz Leary has achieved dominance and international recognition in acoustic country blues.

He has played professionally with an impressive array of world-class musicians, both on the stage and in the recording studio. His reputation as a consumate musician and performer - along with a delightful stage presence has brought him countless excellent reviews and wide popularity.

In addition to his central roles with the acclaimed Bleecker St., Ophelia Swing Band, and Washboard, Drum and Dye, Chaz has joined such entertainers as John Hammond, Duke Robillard, Corey Harris and Bonnie Raitt on stage.

His talents extend from washboard, congas and other hand percussion, drum kit, lead and background vocals, to songwriting and arranging.

Chaz has also developed a strong program of percussion workshops both for adults and for children, as well as having performed for Blues in the Schools programs in Colorado, Kansas and Missouri.

To enhance your performance in the studio and/or live, Washboard Chaz is a guaranteed crowd-pleasing professional.

"Offbeat's Best Emerging Blues Band 2004"

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Schedule:
Feb. 1 Washboard Chaz w/ Steve Gardner
Feb. 2 Washboard Chaz w/ Soga san
Feb. 3 Washboard Chaz w/ Markus
Feb. 4 Washboard Chaz w/ Dixieland Duo
Feb. 6 Washboard Chaz @ MARDI GRAS PARTY at Sweet Basil (I'll have a full listing up on this later)

Where:
Bourbon Street
7-8-16 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032
Bar:
Tel: (03) 5786-2887
6PM - 2AM
Restaurant:
Tel: (03) 3478-8473
6PM - 11PM (Last Seating 10:00PM)

STB139
6-7-11 Roppongi Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-0032
Tel. 03-5474-1395

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On the Web:
Washboard Chaz
Bourbon Street Bar
Sweet Basil

:: Les Coles Sunday, January 30, 2005 [+] ::

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New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Unveils Greatest Line-Up in Festival History

NEW STAGE ADDED FOR BRASS BANDS, SECONDLINES, MARDI GRAS INDIANS!

NEW ORLEANS, BUSINESS WIRE, (Jan. 31)—It's only January, but things are already heating up down south as the Crescent City gears up for the 36th Annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, April 22 through May 1, 2005. The ultimate celebration of Louisiana culture and heritage, this year's Festival offers the most sensational line-up of music stars in its history.

Among the bands set to perform include: The Original Meters Reunion, Dave Matthews Band, James Taylor, Nelly, B.B. King, Juanes, the Neville Brothers, Trey Anastasio, Isaac Hayes, Widespread Panic, Jack Johnson, Anthony Hamilton, Elvis Costello, The Roots, Steve Winwood, Better Than Ezra, Steel Pulse, Wilco, Dave Bartholomew, Toots & the Maytals, Randy Newman, Irma Thomas and hundreds more. For a complete line-up and much more, visit www.nojazzfest.com

The Jazz & Heritage Festival is held at the New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Course, and features 12 performance stages all going simultaneously, more than 100 varieties of Louisiana and international foods, as well as several crafts fairs.

Said Quint Davis, producer/director of Jazz Fest, "Think of New Orleans as the center of the music universe. Gospel, Jazz, Blues, Funk, Rock, Cajun, Zydeco, Latin, R&B, Jam, Mardi Gras, Hip Hop, African, and a whole lotta music you can't put into any category will be presented in the powerful way that only Jazz Fest can serve up."

Tickets for the Heritage Fair go on sale Monday, January 31 and can be purchased at the Festival's Web site, www.nojazzfest.com, at Ticketmaster outlets and by phone at 800-488-5252. Daily tickets for the Heritage Fair are $20 through February 22. On February 23 advance daily tickets will be $25. Tickets at the gate will be $35. Daily tickets for children under age 12 are $5 in advance and at the gate.

Jazz Fest is also introducing The Big Chief VIP Package, designed for the total VIP experience. The Big Chief VIP Package will consist of a variety of options including Festival admission with re-entry privileges, access to special viewing areas, limited edition poster, access to an air-conditioned hospitality lounge, special access to bathrooms and beverage concessions and parking if desired.

Jazz Fest will also present El Dia Latino (Latin Day), Sunday, April 24, featuring a stage packed with non-stop all-Latin entertainment. In addition, a new Festival stage will be devoted to a major facet of traditional and contemporary New Orleans' life: brass band music, second line dance clubs, Mardi Gras Indians, and other unique features of the city's unique culture.

Official sponsors of the 2005 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival are Acura, Miller Lite, Popeyes, Fair Grounds Race Course, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, BellSouth, Yamaha Drums, and Zatarain's. Additional sponsors will be announced soon.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is a co-production of Festival Productions, Inc. - New Orleans and AEG Live.

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On the Web:
36th Annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

:: Les Coles Sunday, January 30, 2005 [+] ::

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