:: Saturday, February 19, 2005 ::

DAN HICKS JAPAN TOUR 2005

Dan Hicks kicks off his Japan Tour today at Bessie Hall up in the wild snows of Sapporro in Hokkaido.

Tour Itinary:
Feb. 20 BESSIE HALL, Sapporro, Hokkaido. Tel. SMASH EAST 011-261-5569.0pen/Start 17:30/18:00. Tickets, ¥6,000 (adv), ¥7,000 (door)
Feb. 22 Shibuya CLUB QUATTRO, Tokyo. Tel. 03-3477-8750 Open/Start 18:00/19:00. Tickets, ¥6,000 (adv), ¥7,000 (door)
Feb. 23 Hiroshima CLUB QUATTRO, Tokyo. Tel. 082-542-2280 Open/Start 18:00/19:00. Tickets, ¥6,000 (adv), ¥7,000 (door)
Feb. 24 Nagoya CLUB QUATTRO, Tokyo. Tel. 052-264-8211 Open/Start 18:00/19:00. Tickets, ¥6,000 (adv), ¥7,000 (door)
Feb. 25 Banana Hall, Osaka, Tel. 06-6361-6821. Open/Start 18:00/19:00
Tickets, ¥6,000 (adv), ¥7,000 (door)
Feb. 27 Shibuya CLUB QUATTRO, Tokyo. Open/Start 18:00/19:00
Tickets, ¥6,000 (adv), ¥7,000 (door)





Click on the image above for a full-size, hi-res printable flyer

:: Les Coles Saturday, February 19, 2005 [+] ::

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Search Begins for the new Janis Joplin

(Feb. 17)—Dead rock stars make for good relaity TV show plots. First we heard INXS would search for a replacement for Michael Hutchence via the reality route. Now we hear there is a search of the new Janis Joplin.

Search for a Pearl will be a televised search culminating in a concert tour featuring the winner and also an all-star tribute to Janis Joplin.

The show has been approved by the Joplin family. "We are excited about bringing Janis and her music to her fans and introduce her style and spirit to future fans as well," remarked Michael Joplin, Janis' brother.

The people behind the show are television executives Gerrit V. Folsom, Jamie Keith Watson, and Timothy J. Murphy. "We want to remember her spirit with a tribute that is as passionate about her music as she was," remarked Jamie Watson in a statement. "This week Janis will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards and we will continue to honor her memory with The Joplin Project."

The show is expected to be broadcast late this year.

Related Blues Blog article:
2 Janis Joplin biopics on way (4/4/2004)

:: Les Coles Saturday, February 19, 2005 [+] ::

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Willie Nelson Cancels Australian Tour

(Feb. 17)—Willie Nelson has cancelled his forthcoming Australian tour including an appearance at the Tsunami Appeal Concert in Melbourne after coming down with acute laryngitis.

Nelson's doctor C. Gaelyn Garrett MD said in a statement "Mr. Willie Nelson was seen at the Vanderbilt Voice Center on February 14, 2005. He has been diagnosed with acute laryngitis associated with an upper respiratory infection. I have advised him that he limit his voice use to avoidance of singing over the next three weeks to allow for appropriate healing".

Nelson was scheduled to perform in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle and Perth.

Ticket holders for his headline shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Newcastle should apply for a full refund to their point of purchase.

Nelson was also to be one of the many acts on the Moonlight Music and Wine
Festival in Perth on Saturday, 19 February, as well as the Melbourne
International Music Festival on Sunday, 27 February. The festivals will go
ahead as planned with announcements regarding performance times/line-up changes to follow. Daddy Cool will headline the Melbourne sunami benefit.

The Yarrawonga/Mulwala Tourism's Under The Stars Concert at Lonsdale Mulwala on Saturday, 26 February, 2005, will go ahead as planned and is currently seeking an alternate headline act.

:: Les Coles Saturday, February 19, 2005 [+] ::

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Stevie Wonder to be a Dad Again

(Feb. 19)—Soul veteran Stevie Wonder is preparing to become a father again—his wife Kai Milla is expecting their second child.

The baby is due to arrive on May 2—the same day as the release of Wonder's latest album A Time To Love.

The couple also has a three-year-old son called Kailand, while Wonder has three other children from previous relationships.

:: Les Coles Saturday, February 19, 2005 [+] ::

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Woody, Bob and me

Who taught Bob Dylan to sing like Woody Guthrie? Rambling Jack Elliott. Read John May's interview with him

The Daily Telegraph, U.K. (Feb. 19)—Rambling Jack Elliott cuts an unmistakeable figure. In the London hotel lobby, he's sporting cowboy boots and hat, check jacket and shirt, bandana and little wire-frame glasses. At 73, he may be feeling less spry than in younger years ("Winter has me feeling like a dead body. Bring on the undertaker," he says) but his eyes twinkle and the songs and stories flow as of old. On Monday, Elliott received a lifetime achievement award at Radio 2's Folk Awards and tomorrow he begins a short UK tour. The world is finally catching up with this most legendary and elusive of cowboy poets.

Bob Dylan: Rambling Jack's student
Last year's best-selling Bob Dylan autobiography, the artful and elliptical Chronicles, recounted how, while a teenager in Minneapolis, Dylan first discovered Woody Guthrie ("It was like the land parted"). Shortly afterwards, he met Rambling Jack, who had got there first. He already had Guthrie's style down to a tee, was leaner and meaner, and was beginning to take his music beyond pure mimicry. "I was cast into a sudden hell," wrote Dylan.

The tale of Guthrie the father and his spiritual sons is worthy of a Steinbeck novel. It's the story of two Jewish boys, Elliott Adnopoz and Bob Zimmerman, both from stable, middle-class backgrounds, who changed their names to Jack Elliott and Bob Dylan and left home in pursuit of the roots and spirit of American music—and who met for the first time at Guthrie's bedside.

As a child, Elliott was fascinated by cowboys. In his teens, he ran away from home and joined a rodeo for three months, where he met a rodeo clown named Brahma Rodgers who gave him his first exposure to cowboy and hillbilly music.

Suitably inspired, and having heard his first Woody Guthrie record, Elliott tracked down his hero to 3520 Mermaid Avenue, Coney Island, only to discover that Guthrie was in the hospital, having almost died of acute appendicitis. Bedridden and medicated, Guthrie was not in the best state to receive anyone, says Elliott's biographer Hank Reineke, "much less a strange 19-year-old kid with an unfamiliar face topped off with a cowboy hat and carrying a guitar case".

Elliott ended up moving into the Guthrie family house and began a five-year apprenticeship and friendship: "We'd get up every day about five in the morning. His son Arlo would wake me by throwing toys at me. We'd feed the kids breakfast and Woody would make a fairly tall glass of whisky and soda and I got to drinking some, too. We would play music, tell stories and drink until it was about 12 o'clock, when he would start to get these dizzy spells and he'd lie down and take a nap."

In 1955, Elliott took off to Europe with his new wife June, spending six years there as a "guitar bum" before returning to New York, in January 1961. He immediately went to see Guthrie at Greystone Hospital in New Jersey, where he was to lie incapacitated with Huntington's chorea, the hereditary disease that had killed his mother, until his death in October 1967.

In a spooky echo of his own first meeting with Guthrie, Elliott found that Guthrie already had a visitor: "a kid wearing a funny hat. I thought he was strange, but really interesting—good-looking in an odd sort of way, with a peach-fuzz beard." It was the 19-year-old Bob Dylan. He had arrived, Jack said later, "right on schedule".

Didn't he find that eerie?

"It's fantastic. It's like a movie. That's the way they want it in the movies. Supposedly doesn't happen that way in real life."

Does he remember that moment?

"Bob was there visiting Woody with this great aura of a young man who was full of respect and admiration for this very sad, tragic, pathetic man. Woody was really beginning to show the effects of his disease, to the point where he could barely play the guitar any more. He could still walk and talk, but his speech was very garbled. He was in this horrible place that was like a mental hospital.

"After an hour, we took a bus over to East Orange, New Jersey, and on the way over Bob said [cue Elliott's killer Dylan voice]: `Been listening to some of yer records. I got all six of yer records, Jack. I like yer singing and I like yer style.' He was very shy and muttered and mumbled, which he still does. He perfected the art of mumbling.

"I thought his guitar style was really interesting. It was awfully rough but very good and I could tell by his angle of attack, his attitude and the way he sang that he was going to be great. Other people could see he was imitating me but I couldn't see it at first. I was imitating Woody, and I was helping Bob to learn how to do it."

Jack and Bob hung out for a year or two, even living on the same floor of the same hotel along with rodeo cowboy Peter La Farge for a time. "We were best of friends and I could go on and on about the good times we had at the Gaslight and Gerde's Folk City [Grenwich Village clubs], where the crowds were always rude, noisy and inattentive."

Inevitably, their paths and careers diverged. Jack lost contact when Dylan moved to Woodstock, but in 1975, Dylan invited Jack on the anarchic first leg of The Rolling Thunder Review tour, only to effectively drop him from the second tour of bigger stadiums the following year.

But Jack's affection for Dylan remains undimmed and the spirit of Guthrie lives on in them both. "I thought he paid me a very nice compliment in the book and a lot of other people too," says Elliott. "He sent me a birthday telegram when I was 70, which I got at a party at my manager Roy Roger's house. It said: 'Happy Birthday Jack. This Land Is Your Land. Bob.' It's plagiarism—but who cares."


Rambling Jack Elliott plays Whelans, Dublin tomorrow night (Sun. Feb. 20); then the Borderline, London on Monday night (Feb. 21); .

The Lost Topic Tapes, two albums recorded in Britain in 1957 but lost for 50 years, are out on Hightone Records

:: Les Coles Friday, February 18, 2005 [+] ::

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Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard expand itinerary through April

(Feb. 19)— Folk-rock great Bob Dylan and country icon Merle Haggard continue to expand their spring tour schedule, with a batch of Northeastern dates the latest to appear on the itinerary.

New additions to the schedule this week include multi-night stands in Boston and New York City, as well as single nights in Mashantucket, CT, and Atlantic City, NJ. Amos Lee is also on the bill on most dates.
Tickets for the new shows—as well as several previously announced stops--are set to hit the box office over the course of the next two weekends. Tickets for some other shows are already on sale; details are in the itinerary below.

Last October, Dylan—who celebrates his 64th birthday on May 24—issued Chronicles: Volume 1, the first in a planned series of his personal histories. The memoir is among the finalists vying for the 2004 prize in the National Book Critics Circle Awards' Biography/Autobiography category. Winners will be announced in March.

Haggard—who will celebrate his 68th birthday during the tour's April 6 stop in Chicago—released his latest album, Unforgettable, in December.

Lee, who is 27 years old, is schedule to drop his self-titled debut March 1, and will follow the release with a March 3 performance on "The Late Show with David Letterman."

Tour itinerary
March 2005
7-9 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
11 - Portland, OR - University of Portland
14-16 - Oakland, CA - Paramount Theatre
18 - Reno, NV - Reno Hilton (without Merle Haggard, Amos Lee)
19 - Las Vegas, NV - Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts (without Merle Haggard)
21-23, 25, 26 - Los Angeles, CA - Pantages Theatre
28, 29 - Denver, CO - The Fillmore (on sale 2/19)

April 2005
1-3, 5, 6 - Chicago, IL - Auditorium Theatre (on sale 2/19)
8, 9 - Milwaukee, WI - The Eagles Ballroom (on sale 2/19)
15-17 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre (on sale 2/19)
22 - Mashantucket, CT - Foxwoods Resort Casino (on sale 2/19)
24 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata Resort & Casino (on sale 2/26)
25, 26, 28-30 - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre (on sale 2/26)

:: Les Coles Friday, February 18, 2005 [+] ::

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Wichita blues benefit

Wichita KS (Feb. 17)—Hi Dorthy, you might like to click your heels and get over to Wichita, Kansas, Sunday night to help out a local bluesman facing huge hospital bills.

A bunch of blues musicians will gather Sunday at the Roadhouse in a benefit concert for local guitarist Ray Drew, who has performed just once since suffering a stroke on Christmas Eve. The veteran bluesman will undergo electric therapy to help regain use of his hand.

Mississippi Delta blues guitarist Little Milton will be the special guest during the daylong concert, which will also feature local bands RAIN, the Sharon Rush band, Berry Harris and the 9th Street Band, and Henry Walker and the Regents. Several Kansas City-area bands will also perform.

Drew used to perform with Little Milton, who was named the W.C. Handy 1988 Blues Entertainer of the Year and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame that same year.

The music will start at the Roadhouse, 3813 N. Broadway, at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The cover is $10.

Source: The Wichita Eagle

Road House Blues
3813 N. Broadway
Wichita KS 67219
Tel: 316 832-0075

:: Les Coles Friday, February 18, 2005 [+] ::

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15th Annual Huston-Tillotson Blues and Jazz Festival Concert

Some of Austin's best blues and jazz musicians are donating their time and talents this weekend.

They're taking the stage in the name of students at Huston-Tillotson College. The 15th annual Blues and Jazz Festival Concert features some local legends this Sunday. All of the proceeds from the festival benefit students at the college.

The festival runs 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Doris Miller Auditorium, located at 2300 Rosewood in East Austin.

Featured acts include: Thomas Hughes, Pamela Hart, LaMonica Lewis, James Polk, Hot Wax, the Thomas Husak Jazz Ensemble and others! Food and beverages will be available at the concessions. A donation of $25 at the door is requested. Proceeds benefit Huston-Tillotson College.

For further information, please call Marvin Douglas, Event Chairman at 477-2998 or contact Alta Y. Moten at 825-6622.

News 8 Austin's Todd Boatwright spoke with Alta Moten, of the H-T Alumni Association and musician Dr. James Polk. (Watch the complete interview with Alta Moten and Dr. James Polk.)

Q: Describe the concert.

Moten: It's going to be a fabulous event. We will also have Pamela Hart and Thomas Hughes and the ACC Jazz Ensemble. Every year...[we have] only two fundraisers so this is our first one of the year and we really are looking forward to having people dig a little deeper.

Q: You have a deep history rooted in jazz and blues. What made you volunteer your band's talents for this event?

Polk: I was one of the founding members to get this thing started, It was a dream of my cousin. And he had an idea and he's not a musician but he has a deep appreciation and a deep love for jazz and blues music. Its import to me to see that this event goes on...in order to see the fallout effect it has on the institution.

Source: Todd Boatwright News 8, Austin

:: Les Coles Friday, February 18, 2005 [+] ::

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Schultze Gets the Blues

"Schultze Gets the Blues" is a German comedy about a lonely German accordion player who discovers the joy of zydeco after losing his job in a salt mine. He spends his time sitting in his bungalow playing the accordion. His one potential girlfriend is in a nursing home.

And people wonder why German humor never swept the globe.

Eventually, though, the film—and Schultze's own life—picks up a bit. One night he hears a snatch of zydeco music on the radio. The thumping beat is a long way from the polka, and soon obsesses him.

He picks out the tune by ear. He starts subjecting his less-than- supportive friends to it. Finally he manages to get to America and, fortuitously, hears the same song performed at a local concert.

And that's the whole movie, stretched out over two hours.

Ein Film von Michael Schorr, it has been a favorite on the festival circuit.

:: Les Coles Friday, February 18, 2005 [+] ::

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George and Leo

Guitars From George & Leo: How Leo Fender and I Built G&L Guitars
by George Fullerton, Leo Fender

PRWEB (Feb. 17)—George was a kid from Arkansas with a passion for music and electronics. Leo was an entrepreneur captivated by the music scene even though he couldn't strum a chord.

These two ordinary guys teamed up in 1948 to revolutionize the music industry with their "newfangled" guitar—the Fender Telecaster, the first practical modern electric guitar. For half a century the legendary Fender line of electric guitars led the way, serving as the model for the rest. You'll find the inspiring firsthand account of this true American Dream tale of passion, grit, and persistence in George Fullerton's newly released book, Guitars From George & Leo: How Leo Fender And I Built G&L Guitars.

In his own words, George tells how his business partnership and friendship with Leo Fender led to the making of their first guitar and subsequent evolutions, including the famed Stratocaster. A 16-page full-color section features several of the guitar and bass designs that forever changed the landscape of musical expression. Countless musicians, from Tennessee Ernie Ford and Speedy West to George Harrison and Bruce Springsteen, owe their success in large part to the efforts of these two unpretentious inventors.

---

Title: Guitars From George & Leo: How Leo Fender and I Built G&L Guitars
Authors: George Fullerton, Leo Fender
ISBN Code: 0634069225
Publisher: Hal Leonard
Publication Date: 15 Oct 2004
Artist: Leo Fender
Pages: 160
Length x Width: 11 x 8.5 inches

:: Les Coles Friday, February 18, 2005 [+] ::

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Billtown Blues Association hosts concert

Williamsport, PA (Feb. 16)—The Billtown Blues Association will host a blues concert event at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Genetti Hotel.

Nearing its 16th anniversary, the Billtown Blues Association is known for bringing quality blues entertainment to the Williamsport area as well as its support of local and regional talents. The event will showcase four of those regional bands; the Riverside Blues Band, Krypton City Blues Revue, The Blind Chitlin Kahunas and BC and the Blues Crew.

BC and the Blues Crew
BC and the Blues Crew is a high impact, urban-style blues group based out of the Lehigh Valley. They represented the association in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge in 1998, where they advanced to the finals. Beverly Conklin, lead vocals, is the "BC" of the Blues Crew; she has become a blues ambassador with her sultry and passionate voice. Mike Brandt, guitar, is the founding member of the group, which he started with best friend George Riola after attending Berklee College of Music, Boston, in the early 1990s.
Wayne Smith, keyboards, guitar, drums and vocals, is the band's director, producer and arranger who has a passion for 1960s soul and country. Mitch Shelly, electric and upright bass; sound and lights, is well-known for his high energy, jazz and rock contribution to the group. Craig "CJ" Coyle, drums and vocals, brings his soul, R&B, zydeco and blues experience to the group. Dave Smith, sax, guitar and flute, and also Wayne's brother, brings his jazz, rockabilly and rock experience to the mix. Superb musicianship coupled with Conklin's persuasive vocals make for a truly unforgettable performance.
More information about the band is available online at www.bcandthebluescrew.com

Blind Chitlin Kahunas
The Blind Chitlin Kahunas, the association's most recent audition winners, will be just recently returned from Memphis, where they represented the association in the International Blues Challenge. The three-piece unit offers a melding of blues, jazz, funk and soul. Chris Bovard, guitar and vocals, Kim "Kimbo" Reichley, bass guitar and vocals, and Rod Bower, drums, deliver real "screamin' from the heart" blues, swing and funk.
More information about the band is available online at www.blindchitlinkahunas.com

Krypton City Blues Revue
Krypton City Blues Revue, while a Harrisburg based unit, has been an integral part of the blues scene around Williamsport from the beginning.
With "Big" Mitch Ivanoff on guitar, and fellow steelworker (retired) Kenzie Johnson, "Mr. KJ" on guitar, ex-Nashville cat Lee Carrol on keyboards, "Big" Ralph Molesworth on bass and Kenny Mettam on drums they are sure to deliver some powerful blues.
More information about the band is available online at www.kcbr.com

Riverside Blues Band
The Riverside Blues Band, while relatively new on the scene, offer a straight-ahead blues-rock style that is reminiscent of the early British Invasion. Time has seen the band mature into a stable and powerful unit capable of great things. With their youth, Jonah Gregory, guitar and vocals, Allan Meck, guitar, James Dempsey, bass, and Jeff Weaver, drums, the Riverside Blues Band brings a freshness often lacking in the blues. More information about the band is available online at www.riversidebluesband.net

Ticket prices are $8 for association members and $10 for nonmembers.

More information about the show is available by calling 584-4480.

Source: Williamsport Sun Gazette

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On the Web:
Billtown Blues Association

:: Les Coles Friday, February 18, 2005 [+] ::

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Mississippi capital celebrates B. B. King Day

Jackson, Miss. (Feb. 16)—Blues great B. B. King wiped away tears and spoke a few words of thanks at the Mississippi capital as B. B. King Day was declared. Lawmakers and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour honored the 79-year-old Delta nativ, during a ceremony Tuesday.

"I never learned to talk very well without Lucille," said King, 79, after pulling a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiping away tears.

"But today, I'm try ing to say only God knows how I feel. I am so happy. Thank you." The last time he cried, King said, was at Ray Charles' funeral.

"That was tears of sorrow," he said. "Today, it was tears of joy."

:: Les Coles Thursday, February 17, 2005 [+] ::

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Jazz: The Auction

TOKYO (Feb. 17)—Hot on the heels of the mammouth Jimi Hendrix auction comes news of one for jazz buffs.

Jazz: The Auction is an incredible collection of jazz-related hardware, paperwork and other memorabilia, all going under the hammer at Guernsey's auction house in New York on Saturday (Feb. 20.)

The glimmering haul includes Dizzy Gillespie's characteristic bent-bell trumpet, Benny Goodman's slim clarinet and—by far the grandest gem—Charlie Parker's Super 20 alto saxophone.

"The condition and authenticity of the pieces is what we were most impressed with," said Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey's, which will sell off the 450 or so items Sunday in New York.

The goods will be previewed Friday and Saturday (Feb. 18 &19) at Jazz at Lincoln Center's fabulous new home—th, Frederick P. Rose Hall on Broadway at 60th Street in New York City.

"In rock 'n' roll terms, if a guitarist had an instrument in 1960, chances are by 1961 it was either given away, sold or smashed," Ettinger added. "That's different from being invited into John Coltrane's boyhood home and looking over everything from his piano to the music he wrote, still preserved."

According to Ettinger, the idea for the auction was hatched a decade ago, but the bulk of the items have been collected only in the past year. Many were offered by relatives of the jazz legends. Some will donate money from the sale to a range of foundations that help aspiring musicians; others simply need the cash.

Guernsey's is working directly with the families of these wonderful artists, the vast majority of items in the auction will be sold without minimum reserve while substantial portions of the proceeds will be going to several worthy jazz-related foundations.

"At some point, these families thought that it was more important that grandchildren were provided with a financial legacy" in lieu of an instrument, Ettinger said.

Because of the unprecedented nature of the material, Guernsey's isn't projecting the total take or touting preauction estimates in the jazz catalog.

Among the items going under the gavel:

• Coltrane's tenor sax, as well as several handwritten versions of his classic song, "A Love Supreme".

• A profanity-laced letter from Louis Armstrong to the new head of his booking corporation, ruminating about his life.

• The Kuehl Collection of 43 Billie Holiday artifacts, including handwritten letters, Western Union wires and a signed glossy photo of Billie.

Also included are items from:
• Lionel Hampton
• Peggy Lee
• Thelonious Monk
• Gerry Mulligan
• Charlie Parker
• Clark Terry

The auction will also feature jazz art by:
• Miles Davis
• Franz Kline
• Bruni Sablan



Folio with black and white portrait photograph of Billie Holiday. The verso of the photo is stamped "Photo by M. Smith 243-251 West 125th Street MO 2-3168 New York, NY." The photo is matted inside the folio: "To My Manager and Dearest Frend[sic] Joe Glaser Billie Holiday." Slight discoloration to edges of folio due to age. Folio 14 x 11 1/2, Photo 8 x 10



"The jazz world is buzzing about this," said Jason Koransky, editor of Down Beat magazine. "Things have been building for the music, from Ken Burns' Jazz to the opening of the new hall for Jazz at Lincoln Center. So in many ways, this auction is happening at the peak of this current nostalgia."

That said, jazz remains the musical stepchild to rock 'n' roll. Consider that Koransky guesses a $100,000-range price for Gillespie's famed trumpet. When Clapton sold off his prized Fender Stratocaster "Blackie" last year (See the June 26, 2004 Blues Blog post "Clapton Guitar auction nets $7.5 million" ), the winner's wallet was lighter by $959,500, and a white Fender Stratocaster owned by Hendrix fetched £100,000 yesterday (Feb. 16) at a Cooper Owen auction at the Hard Rock Cafe in London.

Guernsey's has produced a comprehensive auction 200-page catalogue with hundreds of images of the objects being sold along with historic Jazz photos. In its effort to produce the finest book possible, the auction house has enlisted the aide of several jazz historians including Phil Schaap and Barry Kernfeld.

Printed catalogues, which themselves will be memorable keepsakes, are available from Guernsey's for $36 in the U.S., $50 international, click here to order.

To view the on-line catalogue at eBay Live Auctions, click here. (Not all lots are available on-line.)

Update (Feb. 17): The final addendum is now ready. Click here to see the latest additions and updates to the catalogue.

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On the Web:
Guernseys auction house
Download the "Jazz: The Auction" pdf (Feb 17 edition)

:: Les Coles Thursday, February 17, 2005 [+] ::

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Pamela MacCarthy at Club Kei

My favorite jazz vocalist, Pamela MacCarthy, will be performing tonight at Club Kei in Akasaka, Tokyo.
Pamela will be performing with:
Stan Gilbert on bass, and
Hiromu Aoki on drums

Performances from 8 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.

Address:
ATOM KOKUSAI Bldg.
2F, 6-3-16 Akasaka
Minato-ku
Tokyo
Tel: 03-3586-5151

Click here for a printable map.

More details are available on Pamela MacCarthy's Web site, which in addition to her gig schedule contains samples tracks from her album, How About You?

Pamela also has an exhibition of her computer art, titled "Meladramas: On
Stage at Last!", running through the emd of this month at Cafe CoCoLo in Shinkuku, Tokyo.

Click here for details. Also see Blues Blog post published Feb. 1, titled "MELADRAMAS: On Stage At Last!".

Pamela also maintains a blog, meladramas, at blogger.com

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On the Web:
Pamela MacCarthy
Meladramas
Club KEI

:: Les Coles Thursday, February 17, 2005 [+] ::

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West Baton Rouge Museum

Blues, jazz museum pays tribute to local musicians
Louisiana (Feb. 17)—The faint sounds of rhythm and blues can be heard throughout the West Baton Rouge Museum as viewers are brought back 50 years to an era bubbling with civil rights, on the cusp of economic explosion and most importantly, the hey-day of blues and jazz.

Early photographs, original records, a cherry red suit worn by singer-harmonica player Raful Neal and a bottle of genuine K-Doe hot sauce are some of the artifacts displayed in this scrapbook of West Baton Rouge's blues and jazz scene.

The exhibit is a tribute to three of West Baton Rouge's natives who made their mark in the south Louisiana town as well as on the international music scene. Ernie K-Doe "the self-proclaimed emperor of the universe," James "Slim Harpo" Moore and Raful Neal are the three kings of West Baton Rouge who did more than just strum a guitar or play a harmonica.

Neal Roth Williams, curator of the West Baton Rouge Museum, said this exhibit began to surface when the staff learned of the international following of the singer-harmonica player Moore better known as "Slim Harpo."

"Harpo [Moore] is buried in Port Allen and since his death, millions of people from around the world would visit his tombstone and leave harmonicas there as gifts," Williams said. "Once we learned about this and began to research we realized that three of blues' influential artists were born or have roots in West Baton Rouge Parish."



TIM McDONALD/ The Daily Reveille
RECORDED RELICS: Records by James "Slim Harpo" Moore are displayed beneath a glass case at the West Baton Rouge Museum. The records are part of the museum's collection of artifacts from local jazz and blues musicians.

Williams said that compiling and retrieving the artifacts from the artists' family, friends and fellow band members was the most strenuous part of the process.

"Tracking down these items was extremely difficult because no items were kept by their families or friends because they did not think they would ever become famous," Williams said. "It took about six months to receive everything, but once we got it together we realized that this exhibit is truly one of a kind."

Displayed throughout the museum are unique documents, posters, records and memorabilia from both the early and later parts of the artists’ careers.

Moore, born in Lobdell, La. in 1924 and raised in Port Allen, taught himself how to play the harmonica and began traveling the Louisiana music scene as “Slim Harpo.” Moore struggled his way to the top of the music scene and at the peak of his fame, Moore suffered a heart attack in 1970 at the age 46 and died in Baton Rouge, La.

Moore's legacy was perpetuated by his influence on the British blues-rockers of the mid-60s, with prestigious bands such as The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison covering his music.

The ever charismatic and eccentric K-Doe claims his home as New Orleans saying "he was the most famous delivery to come out of Charity Hospital [in New Orleans]." However, K-Doe's roots are linked to Erwinville, La. by his preacher father, Rev. Ernest Kador Sr.


Burn! K-Doe Burn! GARLIC Hot Sauce

More popularly known for his No. 1 hit "Mother-in-Law" in 1961, K-Doe's energy and allure permeates throughout the exhibit filled with records, posters and photos.

Along with his cherry red suit are two of Neal’s harmonica's on display, an intimate symbol of his musical legacy.



TIM McDONALD/ The Daily Reveille
BLUES RETROSPECT: The West Baton Rouge Museum features items such as the cherry red suit worn by singer-harmonica player Raful Neal [back, left] in addition to posters such as the life-sized image of Slim Harpo [back, center].

Neal was born in 1936 on a tenant farm in Chamberlain. The self-taught singer-harmonica player worked the jazz and blues scene in Louisiana until his death in September.

Williams said the museum hopes this exhibit will attract a younger audience and bring more of an awareness of the museum’s existence to the youth scene.

"We are hoping to have a yearly concert to dedicate to the blues history in our parish," Williams said.

The exhibit runs until May 1.

Source: Sarah Gernhauser, The Daily Reveille

---

VENUE
West Baton Rouge Museum
845 N. Jefferson Avenue
Port Allen, LA 70767
504-336-2422
FAX 504-336-2448
Email: wbrmuseum@yahoo.com

HOURS
Tuesday - Saturday: 10 am - 4:30 pm
Sunday: 2 pm - 5:00 pm
Monday by appointment.

Related Blues Blog post:
The Blues Heritage of West Baton Rouge Parish(1/25/2005)

:: Les Coles Thursday, February 17, 2005 [+] ::

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John Hammond--Preachin' the blues

With John Hammond coming to Japan to play the 20th Japan Blues Carnival in June, I make no apologies for running another story on the man.

(Feb. 16)—What is the least obvious environment for creating deliciously tortured and often devilish blues music?
For John Hammond, the answer is easy -- church.

The pioneering singer-guitarist has been responsible for some serious soul-stirring blues testimony during the past 40 years. Just get a load of the jubilation that erupts out of Son House's "Preachin' Blues," a longtime staple of Hammond's concert performances. The tune underscores the acoustic intensity that has long defined his lean, devout blues sound, and it rejoices in salvation even though Hammond sings as if the devil were just a few steps behind him.

But it took a small, gothic-style church in the heart of the Midwest for Hammond to summon the swampy grooves and often dark blues grinds in his new album, In Your Arms Again.

"We went out to this old church in Salina, Kansas, that's been used as a kind of recording studio and concert hall," Hammond said by phone recently from his home in Jersey City, N.J. "Every October, they have a blues festival there and bring in some of the greats from the old days -- people like Pinetop Perkins and Robert Lockwood. I was invited there, as well. The sound in this room was just amazing.

"Then the owner approached us and said, 'Any time you want to make a record here, we'll make it worth your while.' We took him up on it."

So Hammond; his wife and co-producer, Marla; bassist Marty Ballou; drummer Stephen Hodges; and engineer Oz Fritz set up shop in the church -- renamed Blue Heaven Studio -- to record the kind of music you probably won't hear at choir practice.

Typifying the album's often stormy mood are chestnuts by a trio of blues giants: Willie Dixon's "Evil (Is Going On)," Howlin' Wolf's "Moanin' for My Baby" and John Lee Hooker's "Serve Me Right to Suffer." From Hammond's guitar attack to his emotive vocal command, the album bridges the decades. It blends the immediacy of the solo country blues recordings Hammond cut in the early '60s for the Vanguard label with the thick but flexible band groove that drove his sublime 2001 album of Tom Waits tunes, Wicked Grin."

"Band reality can be tough," Hammond said. "As a solo artist, I'm very spoiled. I don't have to worry about anybody else. But I've been very lucky to find guys like Marty and Steve who are such great artists as well as such wonderful road travelers. I think we've boiled a band sound down to a dynamic and essential trio thing that I'm very happy with."

Hammond's latest tour finds him crossing paths with another blues interpreter: journeyman stylist Taj Mahal and a trimmed trio version of his popular Phantom Blues Band.

Mahal and Hammond might seem stylistic opposites, but their careers and lives share similarities. Both are native New Yorkers. Both are 62. Both have recording catalogs that go back to the ‘60s. But Mahal migrated to the West Coast in 1964 and has since designed a broad-based blues sound. Sometimes it incorporates elements of African and Caribbean roots music. At others, it leans to American R&B.

Among his recent endeavors: a series of acoustic collaborations with Etta Baker, Neal Pattman and others for the Music Maker Relief Foundation. The non-profit organization recognizes and financially assists forgotten blues pioneers. An extraordinary compilation of those recordings, "Music Makers with Taj Mahal," was released in October.

"He's phenomenal," Hammond said of Mahal. "He's one of the real-deal guys out there. He's also totally, body and soul, into the music. The guy has got so much energy and so much talent but has also been so generous with his time when it comes to supporting the blues in general.

"Taj is a statesman, a true ambassador of the blues."

Source: Walter Tunis, Knight Ridder Newspapers

---

Japan Tour Dates:
The dates on John Hammond's booking agent's site read:
5/31/2005 Nanba Hatch Osaka
6/1/2005 Japan Blues Carnival TBA
6/2/2005 Japan Blues Carnival TBA
6/3/2005 Japan Blues Carnival Tokyo
6/4/2005 Hibiya Outdoor Theater Tokyo
6/5/2005 Hibiya Outdoor Theater Tokyo

I'm a little bit unsure about these dates, I had heard the Kanto (East Japan) end of the tour was that this year the Japan Blues Carnival is being pushed from its usual May spot to June (presumably in an attempt to dodge the rain that has dogged past festivals.)

The dates I have (unofficially) are:
June 4 North Mississippi Allstars, Buddy Guy at Hibiya Outdoor Theater
June 5 John Hammond, Buddy Guy at Hibiya Outdoor Theater

with the possibility of alll three artists appearing together at Club Chitta in Kawaskai on June 3. Which has been the traditional way of doing things.

The June 1 & 2 gigs I have no hard info on. In the past, JBC acts have performed at Club Quattro Shibuya in the days leading up to the weekend bash in Hibiya Park.

As usually, the promoter seem to think telling members of the English-language media amything about anything constitutes a breach of contract or a breach of national security.

As soon as I know, You'll know. If you know now, tell me.

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 16, 2005 [+] ::

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BB King to headline inaugural Blues at the Beach Festival

Legendary blues musician BB King will make an appearance in the resort this June 5 as part of the inaugural Blues at the Beach.
Delaware (Feb. 15)—BB King, a name synonymous with the blues for more than half a century, will headline the inaugural Blues at the Beach festival in a show Sunday, June 5, at Rehoboth Beach Convention Center.

Delaware Celebration of Jazz, a nonprofit organization that produces the Rehoboth Beach Autumn Jazz, is producing the event. King, 76, is famous for songs including "Payin' The Cost To Be the Boss" and "Why I Sing The Blues."

Tickets for King's concert will go on sale Thursday, March 1, at 800-29MUSIC, and will be $135 and $110. The higher ticket price applies to the first 12 rows of the convention center, the site of performances by the likes of the Rippingtons, Patti Austin and Chaka Khan during the jazz festival.

For blues fans the show will be a unique chance to see the luminary perform in one of the last shows of his career.

"It's B.B. King's last full year of touring,” said Sydney Arzt, festival entertainment and media coordinator. "He normally does about 250 concerts a year. In 2006, he's booked only 12 concerts."

Arzt said the show is a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, of which King, a diabetic, is a major supporter and spokesman, and the Beebe Medical Center Wound Care Services, the hospital's diabetes unit.

The announcement of another performer for the Saturday, June 4, show is pending confirmation. No other events are planned, although organizers are encouraging restaurants and hotels to participate with special events during the festival.

The festival has already received support from The Peninsula, a luxury resort community in Long Neck with a Jack Nicklaus golf course.

Hailed as the unprecedented king of the blues by critics and fans, King started recording in the 1940s and has more than 50 albums. He was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and received a Lifetime Grammy Award in 1987. His daughter, singer Shirley King, has performed several times at Sydney's Blues & Jazz Restaurant in Rehoboth Beach.

Putting together a festival of this magnitude is an ambitious endeavor, requiring intense planning. The Delaware Celebration of Jazz is a board made up of four members working year-round to plan the jazz fest, an event held in October that annually attracts thousands to Delaware’s Cape Region. Organizers have similar aspirations for the blues festival.

"We are thrilled to be able to present an event of this caliber," said Delaware Celebration of Jazz President Dennis Santangini. "We ask for the community's support in helping diabetes research and invite everyone to this show for a chance of a lifetime to see BB King perform."


The other two member of Delaware Celebration of Jazz are Kas Naylor and Leon Galitzin.

Source: By Jen Ellingsworth, Cape Gazette

---

On the Web:
rehobothjazz.com

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 16, 2005 [+] ::

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Vietnam Blues

Vince Gabriel's Music and Memories from Vietnam War presented at Waldo Theatre


Blind Albert, with drummer Bill Batty in the background, on board the M/V Monhegan at the North Atlantic Blues Festival in 2002.

WALDOBORO, Maine (Feb. 15)—The rock and blues musician Vince Gabriel, known as Blind Albert, will present live music and stories based on his experiences in the Vietnam War at 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 26 at the Waldo Theatre.

The program will feature music from Blind Albert's album 11 Bravo Viet Nam, and his diary will be narrated. Gabriel will share memories of getting drafted, heading into the jungle, the 1968 Tet Offensive, losing a best friend and finally returning home.

His stories and music recently received a national airing on the National Public Radio documentary show, "Soundprint." Christina Antolini conducted the interviews and produced the 30-minute piece called "Vietnam Blues." It is available at www.soundprint.org.

In the radio show, Gabriel talks about losing a friend who one day took his place "walking point." He sings "why am I here and his name's on the wall" and then says of his friend, "he never leaves my mind. I never forget it."

Tickets for the show on Saturday, February 26 cost $10, and Gabriel plans to donate proceeds to the Disabled American Veterans Department of Maine. To listen to Blind Albert's music or purchase CDs, visit www.blindalbert.com.

The program focuses on the harsh realities of war and may not be appropriate for young children. Parental guidance is suggested.

The Waldo Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It is located at 916 Main Street in Waldoboro. Call 832-6060 or visit www.waldotheatre.org for more information.

The Waldo Theatre is now lining up business sponsors for this and other productions. Call the theatre for details about how businesses, groups and individuals can get valuable recognition and support these programs.

Source: Rockland Village Soup

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 16, 2005 [+] ::

----------------------------- # # # -----------------------------

JIMI HENDRIX Guitar Sells For £100,000

(Jan. 16)—A guitar played by rock legend JIMI HENDRIX sold today for more than £100,000 at auction. The star lot was part of a collection of memorabilia associated with the musician that included photos, programmes and musical equipment. The huge number of items made up the world's biggest Hendrix collection ever to appear at auction.

The 1965 white Fender Stratocaster was bought for £100,000--excluding buyers premium and Value Added Tab--and was used by the musician extensively in concert and the studio.

A copy of the Jimi Hendrix Experience's first single Hey Joe, signed by all the band members including Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, sold for the hammer price of £2,000. A poem written by Hendrix two weeks after his band's appearance at the Monterey pop festival, where he famously set fire to his guitar, sold for a hammer price of £10,000.

The sale, hosted by auctioneers Cooper Owen at the Hard Rock Cafe in London, featured items collected by one man---devoted fan Bob Terry. He saw Hendrix perform live in 1967 and became obsessed, collecting the memorabilia over the next 35 years. Terry ingratiated himself into Hendrix's circle in order to obtain as many items as possible.

For details of the auction, including links to downloadable and online illustratedauction catalog, see "Biggest auction of Hendrix memorabilia" posted earlier today.

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 16, 2005 [+] ::

----------------------------- # # # -----------------------------

Biggest auction of Hendrix memorabilia

(Jan. 16)—Guitars, psychedelic shirts and a high school year book belonging to rock legend JIMI HENDRIX will go under the hammer today, February 16th, when Cooper Owen host the second auction of the largest collection of Jimi Hendrix memorabilia in existence at the Hard Rock Cafe, 10.30 am GMT (2.30am PST for live bidding on www.ebayliveauctions.com).

Unseen photographs of the musician and extensive writings by the man himself will also be up for sale.

The huge number of items make up the world's biggest Hendrix memorabilia collection ever to appear at auction.

They were all collected by one man -- a devoted fan called Bob Terry -- who saw Hendrix perform live in 1967 and became obsessed, collecting items over the next 35 years.

Terry ingratiated himself into Hendrix's circle in order to obtain as much memorabilia as possible.

Three guitars are up for sale as well as a microphone and microphone box from the musician's last tour -- complete with doodles and amp settings inside the lid.

An Elk skin fringe jacket, hotel room keys and even one of Hendrix's phone bills will be up for grabs.

Fans of the rock star -- who died almost 35 years ago -- can also bid for promotional material including posters, tour programmes and concert tickets.

On 16th February Cooper Owen host the second auction of the largest collection of Jimi Hendrix memorabilia in existence at the Hard Rock Cafe, 10.30 am GMT (2.30am PST for live bidding on www.ebayliveauctions.com) on Wednesday 16th February.

---

On the Web:
Download Hendrix Catalogue as PDF
(You will need Adobe Acrobat installed to view PDF's) . If you do not have Adobe Acrobat you can download it here.
Part One Lots 1 to 64 Download
Part Two Lots 65 to 231 Download
Part Three Lots 232 to End Download
Full Catalogue Download

View online

---

Example lot
Sale 2118 Lot 319: 1965 white Fender Stratocaster serial number L89024, owned and used by Jimi Hendrix
Expected price: £10,0000 to £150,000

The items were on display until recently at the Marquee Club, London. The extent of this unrivalled collection of memorabilia is staggering – unseen footage, unheard recordings, clothing, rare and unpublished photographs, signed and handwritten items – including lyrics, poetry and drawings, paperwork, ephemera and the most extensive collection of Hendrix-related vinyl known to exist as well as rare period and contemporary posters documenting Jimi’s unending influence on music and pop culture.

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 16, 2005 [+] ::

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2Pac vs Martin Luther King-Students Compare Eras

(Feb. 16)—The motivational impact of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Tupac Shakur were brought to life again, as Southern University students compared the controversial civil rights and hip-hop era.

Members of the Southern University history club, along with the Student Government Association held a forum on Feb. 10 in Moore Hall auditorium to discuss the direction in which the modern generation is heading.

"The past affects us in everyday life," said Andrea Payton, president of the history club.

"If it wasn't for generations before us, opportunities would not be as great."

The forum focused on taking a look at the importance of both civil rights and hip-hop while examining the differences between the two.

"The hip-hop generation is one that tends to minimize or forget the previous generation," said Arthur Tolson, professor of history.

"That generation involved self respect and made a tremendous contribution to where we are now."

Students and faculty alike felt that as a result of not having a common goal, the modern generation has lost their fight and ultimately, lost their identity.

"The hip-hop generation doesn't take advantage of everything we have," Payton said. "We take it all for granted, and that's why we lack so much now."

Students voiced their opinions on how they felt the wrong things tend to keep the younger generation motivated and how a lot of young people choose not to think for themselves anymore.

"You'll rarely hear Common or Mos Def on the radio, because they talk about things you don't hear in mainstream songs," said Antoine Mitchell, a student at Southern.

"The mass majority of our generation listens to the radio, which is our teacher. We listen to what's hot, when we really should pick up a book."

A large part of the forum was based on the contrast of two influential people from both eras, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and rapper Tupac Shakur.

Eva Baham, assistant professor of history, said that even though both men came from different angles, they were motivated by the same things.

Both men saw the social problems of the country they lived in and found different ways to speak out about it. While Shakur could reach people through poetry and verse, King could get through in letters and speeches.

"Most people only know the last few lines of the 'I Have a Dream' speech," Baham said. "What a lot of people don't know is, the rest of the speech is a critique of economic injustice."

Baham also spoke in reference to Skakur.

"When he was little and would get in trouble, his mom would make him read the New York Times from cover to cover as punishment."

Baham noted that she believes many of us listen to Tupac's music, but most of us are missing his message and the fact that he got through to us is because he understood human nature.

To Baham, both men were artists in their own respect and they both felt life "one beat at a time."

The main idea of the forum concerned the hip-hop generation's needed to unite for the problem of racism to be closer to extinction and the gap between the two eras to be closed.

"Until we come together, there will always be a conflict between the time of civil rights and now," said Creighton Montgomery, a former marine and a student at Southern.

The forum was the first of three black history month informational forums. Notable women in public service will be honored Wednesday Feb. 15, at 11 a.m. in the Smith-Brown Memorial Union. Omar Tyree will speak Wednesday Feb. 16, in the Smith-Brown Memorial Union at 11 a.m.

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 16, 2005 [+] ::

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Mellencamp Going on 'Words & Music' Tour

BLOOMINGTON, Ind., (Feb. 15)—John Mellencamp will bring his "Words & Music" to cities across the United States this spring on his first headlining tour in three years.

Sixteen stops have been announced for the first leg of the tour, which opens in Savannah, Ga., on March 23 and ends April 17 in Louisville, Ky. The tour is dubbed the "Words & Music Tour" after Mellencamp's recently released double CD greatest hits collection.

"Jack and Diane," "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." and "Small Town" are among the songs Mellencamp will perform.

"Going out and playing is a great way for me to keep these songs alive; it's what I've done for my whole professional life," the 53-year-old rocker said in a statement Monday. "We're keeping ticket prices down so as not to exclude anybody who might want to attend one of these shows."

The top ticket price will be $45 for all tour dates in March and April.

Folk rocker Donovan, known for hits such as "Sunshine Superman" and "Hurdy Gurdy Man," will be a special guest.

Source: AP

---

On the Web:
http://www.johnmellencamp.com

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 16, 2005 [+] ::

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Taking a critical look at Ray Charles' 'Genius'

TOKYO (Feb. 16)—As the music industry finishes patting itself on the back over the Grammys, telling each other and us what a caring business it is, at least one music critic has done his job: been critical about music.

Moreover, Jim Farber of the New York Daily News, dared to attack the heaping of eigth Grammy awards upon Ray Carles' Genius Loves Company, uttering blasphemies such as "Not only is Genius not the Album of the Year, it could be the least necessary album of Charles' career" and "Genius captures a man who's clearly far from his towering power".

Harsh words, none the less so for being true. But are they unfair words?

Speaking with a colleague on the paper, I found that he, like me, agreed with Faber, saying that far from honoring Ray Charles, multiple awardism was a disservice to a man who had nothing left to prove, having said it so eloquently, so many times better, before.

Ray Charles didn't need to be so feted simply because he had died. His music lives on, expressing the man's true "Genius".

Here's the Daily News article:

Record amount of Grammy sins

NY (Feb. 14)—Sentimental gestures have a sacred place in our lives. And deservedly so.
Someone dies, you send flowers. Or make a condolence call.

You do not, however, award them a Grammy — or eight.

But Grammy voters Sunday night bestowed a treasure trove of trophies on Genius Loves Company, the final album from Ray Charles, who died last year.

Not only is Genius not the Album of the Year, it could be the least necessary album of Charles' career.

Cut in the last year of his life, Genius captures a man who's clearly far from his towering power. Little of his brilliant phrasing or rich tone comes through. Worse, pairing one of music's greatest stars with a round of overexposed boomer-bait names from Elton John to Van Morrison plunges straight into the heart of marketing cliché.

This is the most depressing, and reflexive, Album of the Year award since Natalie Cole won for Unforgettable, her morbid series of duets with her late father, 15 long years ago.

The Grammy salute to Ray was just the cherry on top of a full evening's worth of moldy cake.

John Mayer's "Daughter" as Song of the Year? That had to come from some sort of split vote. Nobody thought that thing would win, including the singer himself. Backstage, Mayer joked that he thought he should screw off the top half of the award for himself and give the base to Alicia Keys for "If I Ain't Got You."

Mayer's piece reeks of insincerity. An icky ode to good child-rearing, the song seems like some speech you'd hear on "Leave It to Beaver" from Eddie Haskell, the guy who was always sucking up to his parents by telling them what they wanted to hear.

Not to be outdone in this year's sins, there's the "Best New Artist" award.

Of the five choices, voters went for the worst: Maroon 5. Not since A Taste of Honey beat Elvis Costello in 1977 has there been a doozy of a boo-boo like this. Contenders Kanye West, Gretchen Wilson and Los Lonely Boys all have it over Maroon in innovation, personality and just plain tunes.

Grammy voters also fell into the trap of giving long-running artists awards for inferior works just because they felt self-conscious about ignoring their greatest ones.

Both Rod Stewart and Brian Wilson bagged their first prizes this year — for some of their lousiest recordings. Rod was honored for the third of his Standards CDs, (as Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album). Brian Wilson got the Best Rock Instrumental Performance trinket for "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow." The latter is a novelty throwaway, the former manages to make Cole Porter songs seem unsophisticated.

Did voters get everything wrong?

Not quite. Green Day's American Idiot landed Best Rock Album, which it certainly is. And Alicia Keys took four R&B awards for material that returns the genre to a golden age.

But otherwise, Grammy voters brought us back to the dark years — that terrifying era when dross like "We Are the World" took top honors, and Jethro Tull were seen as the world's greatest makers of heavy metal.

Source: New York Daily News

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Engineer claims he was denied proper credit,shut out of awards

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 15)—Just after the late Ray Charles’ last studio album swept the Grammy Awards with eight honors, a studio engineer filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles claiming he was denied proper credit and shut out of those awards.

In a lawsuit filed Monday, Mark Fleming sued record label Concord Music Group and Ray Charles Enterprises, which administers the late singer’s business interests, alleging breach of oral contract and negligent misrepresentation.

The Grammys Sunday honored Charles with five posthumous awards, including the coveted album and record of the year prizes.

The album also won production awards for arrangement, engineering and surround sound, bringing its overall tally to eight out of 10 nominations.

Genius Loves Company has become the biggest album of Charles’ career, selling 2.1 million copies since its release in September, despite a near-total lack of radio airplay.

In the suit, Fleming claimed that during the album's production, Concord and Ray Charles Enterprises asked him to perform engineering services and promised him full credit in the form of "recorded by" for any songs he worked on.

As a result of the promise, Fleming said he agreed to provide his services at a reduced rate, the lawsuit said.

The suit says that after his work he was falsely told by Concord Records that the released version of the album did not contain any of his work, so he agreed to receive an "additional engineer" credit.

In the suit, Fleming said the album did in fact contain his work on songs like "Here We Go Again" and "Sweet Potato Pie" for which he was given only the "additional engineer" credit.

A spokeswoman for Concord said the label made every effort to ensure all those who contributed to the creation of Genius Loves Company were given the proper and appropriate credit.

"To that end, the plaintiff's credits were verified to be accurate prior to the release of the CD more than six months ago," she said.

A spokesman for Ray Charles Enterprises said the timing of the suit was unfortunate, coming just after the accolades that the album won at the Grammy Awards.

Source: Reuters

:: Les Coles Wednesday, February 16, 2005 [+] ::

----------------------------- # # # -----------------------------

MC Spice hooked on Clapton

(Feb. 15)—Boston rap artist, MC Spice has been heavily promoting the June 14, 2005 release of his CD, "Lover Brown," but the public has grown to love the re-working of Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" on the song, "Remember Me" featuring Mr. Clapton on the hook

Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" touched the hearts of millions who've lost loved ones, and producer/songwriter/actor/rapper, MC Spice gets by with a little help from Clapton in the hip-hop/rap adaptation of the colossal hit which Clapton wrote as an ode to his son.

"I've always been a fan of Clapton since Steely Dan. That voice is just smooth as butter. I remember checkin' out "Hey 19" and I knew he musta been cool to acknowledge Aretha Franklin in a song," says Spice via telephone at his home in Boston, Massachusetts. The rapper is responsible for the platinum success of actor Mark Wahlberg who performed as 'Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch,' netting Interscope Records millions of dollars.

Spice digs deep into his soul and expresses the loss of loved ones, including his grandmother and his deejay, Wessy Wess who was murdered gangland style in Boston. The pain of the artist is felt throughout the music and is easily identifiable with all who've gone through times of mourning. Each verse is topped off with Clapton's signature sound.

Currently, Spice is doing extensive work in urban communities promoting Bipolar awareness and helping children afflicted with the disorder to better cope with the illness. Diagnosed with Bipolar ten years ago, Spice explains his bout with the disorder in the song, "My Mind Is A Battlefield," and acts as a liaison between the Child & Adolescent Bipolar Foundation and young urban mothers and their children.


"Tears In Heaven"
Eric Clapton

Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven
Will it be the same
If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven

Would you hold my hand
If I saw you in heaven
Would you help me stand
If I saw you in heaven
I'll find my way, through night and day
Cause I know I just can't stay
Here in heaven

Time can bring you down
Time can bend your knee
Time can break your heart
Have you begging please
Begging please

(instrumental)

Beyond the door
There's peace I'm sure.
And I know there'll be no more...
Tears in heaven

Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven
Will it be the same
If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven

Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven 

:: Les Coles Tuesday, February 15, 2005 [+] ::

----------------------------- # # # -----------------------------

Leon Redbone marches to his own beat

Providence, R.I (Feb. 13)—Leon Redbone is a strange dude.

He dresses like Mark Twain, he sings music from the turn of the 20th century, and he steadfastly refuses to reveal anything about his personal life, including his age, hometown and marital status.

"I live in my own world," Redbone admitted. "I have absolutely no connection with the rest of the planet."

At times, it seems like he's from another planet -- or at least another century. Yet Redbone, who plays Tuesday at Chan's in Woonsocket, has connected with fans through his enduring music for the past 30 years.

Those who aren't familiar with his music catalog will at least remember him from Budweiser and Chevrolet commercials (He's the one who sang, "Getting to know you."). It was there -- and after several appearances on Saturday Night Live -- that Americans became familiar with his throwback fashion.

A typical Redbone outfit consists of a white fedora, white suit, skinny black tie and sunglasses. Sometimes he replaces the fedora with a Panama hat, or the sunglasses with a monocle. The Groucho Marx-like mustache remains constant.

If you're still not sure of his appearance, check out the guy from the Panama Jack rum labels, and you'll pretty much get the idea.

"It's not really a costume," Redbone said during a telephone interview. "I'm just an old-fashioned kind of a person. I like to wear a jacket and a hat, and the rest of it. I don't walk around in T-shirts or my underwear. That's not part of my personality."

His carefully matched attire aptly accompanies his music -- primarily inspired by jazz, blues and folk songs from the early 1900s and Depression era. Redbone has a few originals, but most of his music consists of traditional numbers penned by long-gone artists such as Jelly Roll Morton, Hank Williams Sr., Hoagy Carmichael and Irving Berlin.

A Redbone arrangement might include a quiet guitar, a tuba and a cornet, evoking images of a small-town parade in 1910. But Redbone's baritone voice somehow makes it hip.

Sometimes he yodels, other times he lets loose with a guttural growl. In between, he'll croon as smoothly as Bing Crosby with the sleepy, drawn-out phrasing of Dr. John.

He was first introduced to a nationwide audience with appearances on Saturday Night Live in 1976. Those shows coincided with his debut album, On the Track, which officially went gold in 1994.

At a time when songs like "Boogie Fever," "Jive Talkin' " and "Play That Funky Music" were drowning the airwaves, Redbone's initial album included his trademark version of Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin," a cover of "Lazy Bones," and a surprisingly catchy version of the traditional song "Polly Wolly Doodle."

Later albums include Red to Blue, Branch to Branch and Christmas Island.









His live performances usually feature a handful of jokes. However, during his interview, Redbone was noticeably pessimistic -- particularly when talking about today's music.

"Things have accelerated to the point where musical trends are essentially set and discarded within three to five years," he said. "There's no craftsmanship involved in writing a nice tune that somehow catches the listener in some way."

The music he listens to includes classical, blues, early country and Hawaiian music -- all from another era. It's not that he's resisting today's music, Redbone said; he's just not convinced it's good.

He feels that way about most things.

"I am basically a cross between a curmudgeon and a cynic," he said.

Solitary player
Redbone has performed with Ringo Starr, Dr. John and Merle Haggard. When asked who else he'd like to collaborate with, the pessimism returns, and Redbone -- known for going off on tangents -- begins to ramble.

"Sometimes I don't even like to perform with myself," he said. "Reality strikes me, and I think about all the things that are going on with music and the world, and this, that and the other, and I am awakened to a nightmare.

"So I just somehow need to get into a state of mind which allows me to sing these tunes that I like in a hospitable environment and hope for the best, because there are too many distractions."

No matter what happens in the world around him, Redbone's music seems noticeably undistracted. Though he began recording albums at the height of the disco era and continues to perform in the hip-hop onslaught, no one has ever tried to move Redbone's music beyond 1940.

Good thing. Because he's not ready to leave the past.

"I have absolutely no interest in listening to anybody's idea of what I should be doing," said Redbone, "so it's not likely to happen now or ever."

Redbone will soon release a live album, but even that's tied to the past -- it's of a 1992 concert he gave in Paris.

Ultra-private life
Redbone's ability to keep his personal life secret (his Web site doesn't even include a biography) creates a mystique, which leads to rumors about his past. One has him born in Cyprus in 1949 as Dickran Gobalian. Another has him born on Wall Street around the time of the stock market crash. Others have him married to his producer and living in Pennsylvania.

He doesn't address any of them.

"If I feed into it," he said, "it's going to seem as though I'm trying to encourage that kind of nonsense."

Of course, Redbone could clear the rumors with a memoir. But don't count on that, either.

"It'd be very short," he said. "Hello and goodbye."

Leon Redbone performs at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Chan's Restaurant, 267 Main St., Woonsocket. Tickets are $27. Call (401) 765-1900.

Source: BY PATRICK S. PEMBERTON, Knight Ridder Newspapers

Tour dates:
Date City / Directions State Venue
02/12/05 Chester VT Green Mtn Festival, Mount Union HS
02/13/05 Pawling NY The Towne Crier
02/14/05 Northhampton MA The Iron Horse
02/15/05 Woonsocket RI Chan's
02/17/05 Sellersville PA The Sellersville Theater
02/18/05 Bloomfield NJ 12 Miles West Theater
02/19/05 Phoenixville PA The Colonial Theatre
03/18/05 Calumet MI Calumet Theatre
03/19/05 Marquette MI Kaufman Auditorium, Michigan Univ.
03/21/05 Ann Arbor MI The Ark
03/23/05 Buffalo NY The Tralf
03/24/05 Pittsburgh PA Club Cafe
08/11/05 Bowdon GA Copeland Hall

---

On the Web:
The Official Leon Redbone Website

:: Les Coles Tuesday, February 15, 2005 [+] ::

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Iowan cymbalizes rock fame

John Robinson, heard on Ray Charles and Eric Clapton records, tapped for hall of fame.

Des Moines, IOWA (Feb. 14)—A Creston, Iowa, native who claims to be the most recorded drummer in history and three Des Moines 1950s and '60s rock bands are among the latest inductees into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame next fall in Arnolds Park.

John "JR" Robinson, born in Creston in 1954, started playing piano at 5, drums at 6, then went pro at 10.

In 1978 he hit pay dirt after Rufus and Chaka Khan heard him play and asked if he'd join them on a world tour, Robinson's Web site reports. Later that year, Robinson was introduced to Quincy Jones and quickly was in the studio recording "Off the Wall" for Michael Jackson.

Since then, he's played drums on these huge hits and more: "We Are The World;" "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie; "I'm So Excited" and "Slow Hand" by the Pointer Sisters; "I'm Just A Gigolo" and "California Girls" by David Lee Roth, and "Higher Love" and "Back In The Highlife" by Steve Winwood.

He also drummed on Express Yourself by Madonna; Change The World by Eric Clapton; and with the late Ray Charles on Genius Loves Company.

With these credits, what took so long for Robinson to be recognized in Iowa rock 'n' roll circles?

"We simply didn't know about him," said Steve Brown, a director of the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association who lives in Cedar Rapids. The association is now working to recognize other rock talent from southwest Iowa.

After learning of the prolific drummer's fame, Robinson was quickly placed on the ballot last year, and will be inducted Labor Day weekend in Arnolds Park.

"I cut my teeth in music in Iowa," Robinson said. "Iowa has some of the finest musicians I have heard and played with."

While he's always been a "band" guy or a rhythm section member, Robinson just released his first solo CD, "Funkshui," available through, johnjrrobinson.com, cdbaby.com, amazon.com, target.com and Itunes.

Rhythm's Children (1967) and The Spartans (1964) from old Des Moines Dowling and Roosevelt high schools respectively, also are among new inductees. So are Larry Dowd and the Rock a Tones, popular around Des Moines during the 1950s featuring Dowd and Iowa Jazz Hall of Fame member Don Archer on bass guitar.

The Spartans' "blue-eyed soul" featured uncommon multiple horns with Jim Oates and Rocky Pritchard on trumpet and Max Lyons on trombone.

"To be recognized by the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame is the ultimate award for many of us that live our lives through music without ever becoming 'famous,' " said Dave Merrill, former drummer and lead vocalist for Rhythm's Children. The Beaverdale insurance agent currently drums with the popular Des Moines band Freestyle.

What music did crowds scream for in the late 1960s?

" 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,' " Merrill said. "Iron Butterfly was really popular, as well as anything by the Doors or Deep Purple."

Each year, bands, individuals, ballrooms, DJs, record labels/studios, music stores and radio stations are inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame. They're selected by "nomination rather than searching," Brown said.

The mission of the association is to "retain and honor the legacy of rock 'n' roll and preserve the history of music in the state of Iowa." Permanent archives display memorabilia related to the lives and accomplishments of the Hall of Fame inductees and others who have participated in the industry through the years.

Others inducted for 2005:
• The Last Chapter (Sioux City)
• The Jags (Le Mars)
• The Mustangs (Sioux City)
• The Senders (Pocahontas)
• Truth & Janey (Cedar Rapids)
• Louis Carr (Cedar Rapids)
• Soulution (Mason City)
• Bo Ramsey (Iowa City)
• The Star Ballroom (Dakota City, Neb.)
• Dance-Mor Ballroom (Swisher)
• KSTT Radio (Davenport)
• KOMA Radio (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
• The Red Dogs (Kansas)
• Alice de Buhr (Mason City)

Source: Bob Modersohn, Des Moines Register

---

On the Web:
Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association

:: Les Coles Tuesday, February 15, 2005 [+] ::

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Godfather to play OXEGENFEST

JAMES BROWN has confirmed he will play at this year's OXEGEN FESTIVAL.

The soul legend will join The Streets, Kasabian, Foo Fighters, Prodigy and Ian Brown who are all playing the festival at Punchestown Racecourse, Ireland on July 9 and 10.

Tickets go on sale on Friday (February 18), priced 64.50 Euro (one day),120.00 Euro (two day) and 145.00 euro (two day including camping).

It also has been confirmed that the Godfather will play this year's T in the Park on the Saturday.

Tickets for the festival have almost sold out already, so if you wanna go you better hurry!

:: Les Coles Tuesday, February 15, 2005 [+] ::

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Pinetop Perkins honored at Grammys

(Feb. 13)—At 91, pianist Pinetop Perkins hits two milestones at tonight's Grammy Awards: He receives a Lifetime Achievement Award and is nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album -- an honor for which he may be the Grammys' oldest nominee ever.

While The Recording Academy that presents the awards doesn't track nominees' ages, Perkins' record company thinks he's at the top -- not only of the boogie-woogie piano style he helped create but also on the list of the oldest living nominees in history.

If he isn't, he's pretty darn close to it," says Mark Carpentieri, producer of Perkins' nominated album, Ladies Man, and president of the company that released it, M.C. Records.

Though ragtime pianist Eubie Blake lived to be 100, he was 86 when he won a Grammy in 1969 for The 86 Years of Eubie Blake.

In its citation for Perkins' Lifetime Achievement Award, the Academy puts the blues pianist in a class by himself: "Perkins is widely recognized as the world's best blues piano player."

Perkins, a Mississippi-born pianist who played for Muddy Waters in the 1970s before starting his solo career in the 1980s at age 75, is humble about such accolades.

"It don't look like I'm the best one (to me), though I try to do the best I can," says Perkins, who continues to tour and is attending tonight's ceremonies.

Along with being "a living repository of blues traditions," Perkins is also "one of the last great blues artists of his era," the Academy's citation said.

Considered one of the last of the Mississippi Delta bluesmen, the pianist was born Joe Willie Perkins, about 70 miles north of Jackson, Miss.

He originally played guitar before an injury -- from a knife-wielding woman in a juke joint -- cut some tendons in one arm and forced him to change instruments in the 1940s.

"That was when I was in Helena, Ark., playing with Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller)," Perkins says.

One of his early influences was blues pianist Clarence "Pinetop" Smith, who was known for playing a song called "Pinetop's Boogie."

After Smith's death, Perkins began playing the song himself and adopted his mentor's name out of admiration.

He spent years as a sideman with such performers as Robert Nighthawk and John Lee Hooker, before joining Muddy Waters' band in 1969.

Though Waters was the star, Perkins and Waters were contemporaries born the same year (1913), and thus their bond went beyond "singer" and "sideman."

"I loved Muddy like a brother," Perkins says. "He was a good fella; carried me overseas and everywhere."

In the 1970s, Perkins played on four of Waters' albums produced by guitarist Johnny Winter, including Hard Again -- which won Waters a Grammy in 1977.

Competition for Perkins' Grammy-nominated album tonight is stiff: Others in the same category include Eric Clapton for the acclaimed Me and Mr. Johnson and Etta James for the popular Blues to the Bone. (Ms James took the award—Ed)

Regardless of whether Perkins wins, however, his legacy will live on in the piano style he created. Early in his career, Perkins honed his own sound by using his left hand to bang out bass notes while his right hand emulated horn lines -- a style that came to be known as "boogiewoogie piano."

The Recording Academy credits Perkins for it in its citation of him.

"Perkins' brand of boogie-woogie helped shape swing music and, eventually, rock 'n' roll," it said.

But the pianist himself remains humble.

"I don't read that stuff, man," he says. "I just go and do it to it."

Source: Bill Dean, The Ledger

:: Les Coles Tuesday, February 15, 2005 [+] ::

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Mississippi legislators honoring B.B. King

JACKSON, Miss. (Feb. 14)— State lawmakers on Tuesday are honoring B.B. King, a Mississippi native whose distinctive guitar riffs have spread the Delta blues worldwide.

A resolution passed by the House and Senate says that "no matter where he appears in the world, B.B. King is a proud ambassador of his home state, and Mississippi is even prouder of this native son."

King, 79, is set to appear before a joint session of the House and Senate. Lawmakers have declared Tuesday as B.B. King Day.

Riley B. King was born Sept. 16, 1925, on a cotton plantation in Berclair, outside Itta Bena. The resolution says he earned the nickname "B.B." — for Beale Street Blues Boy or just Blues Boy — during his early career in Memphis.

With his guitar named Lucille, King has earned 13 Grammy awards and has been inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

:: Les Coles Tuesday, February 15, 2005 [+] ::

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Heart to Hart

(Feb. 15)—Alvin Youngblood Hart is a big-time blues guitarist. He has the W.C. Handy Award to prove it.

But Hart doesn't want to be labeled. In fact, he has disdain for it. He likes exploring all musical forms, from folk to ska to rock 'n' roll.

In 2003, he toured the world as a member of Job Cain, a group he assembled with guitarist Audley Freed, a former member of the Black Crowes and Cry of Love.

When he was growing up, Hart's favorite guitarists were Jimmy Page and Richard Thompson, because he enjoyed their ability to blend electric and acoustic music.

"I really enjoyed what they were doing musically," said Hart from a cell phone in Memphis, Tenn. "I like playing and listening to all kinds of music. I'm just trying to play music and avoid being pigeonholed. It makes playing music not fun."

Hart grew up splitting his time between the San Francisco Bay Area and Mississippi listening to groups such as Jefferson Airplane and Sly & The Family Stone. In the late 1970s, he started playing guitar seriously, inspired by friends who wanted to be folksingers.

"At that time my family was moving around so I was into a lot of different music," he said. "I played the electric stuff and the acoustic stuff. When we got to Mississippi I had a lot of family members who were into the blues so I started playing the blues. I thought it was really powerful music."

Powerful music with a powerful tradition.

"My relatives would talk about some of these musicians like Charlie Patton and Son House, and I really started getting into the music."

After spending more than three years in the U.S. Coast Guard, Hart moved back to California but eventually returned to the Memphis area to be close to his parents.

He started performing regularly in the area, and in 1996 he recorded Big Mama's Door.

He followed that recording with Territory, which garnered Downbeat magazine critics' poll award for Best Blues Album.

His 2002 release, Down In the Alley, received a Grammy nomination for best traditional blues album.

Tour schedule
(dates subject to change:)
Feb. 17--Cleveland, The Winchester Tavern
Feb. 18--Chicago, Old Town School Of Folk
Feb. 19--Minneapolis, Cedar Cultural Center
Feb. 20--Winnipeg, Manitoba, West End Cultural Centre

Source: By NATE GUIDRY, NBC News

---

On the Web:
Alvin Youngblood Hart official site

:: Les Coles Tuesday, February 15, 2005 [+] ::

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47th Grammy Awards—Blues & Folk Winners

The 47th Grammy Awards were held at Angeles's Staples Center on Feb. 13. Performers included Mavis Staples and current nominee the Blind Boys Of Alabama. In addition, Bonnie Raitt and Billy Preston performed in honor of Ray Charles, and Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, members of the definitive Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and legendary musicians Dickie Betts (The Allman Brothers Band) and Elvin Bishop appeared in a special tribute to Southern rock.


Below are the winners in some of the 105 categories that should be of interest to Blues Bloggers. Winners are shown in bold (yes, I copied and pasted the nominees post).

Field 13 — Blues

Category 64

Best Traditional Blues Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)

     ♦ Me And Mr Johnson
      Eric Clapton
      [Reprise]

     ♦ Baby, Don't You Tear My Clothes
      James Cotton
      [Telarc]

     ♦ Blues With A Vengeance
      John Lee Hooker, Jr.
      [Kent Records]

     ♦ Blues To The Bone
      Etta James
      [RCA Victor]

     ♦ Ladies Man
      Pinetop Perkins
      [M.C. Records]

Category 65

Best Contemporary Blues Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)

     ♦ N'awlinz Dis Dat Or D'udda
      Dr. John
      [Blue Note]

     ♦ Keep It Simple
      Keb' Mo'
      [Epic/Okeh]

     ♦ What's Wrong With This Picture?
      Van Morrison
      [Blue Note Records]

     ♦ Sanctuary
      Charlie Musselwhite
      [Real World]

     ♦ I'm A Bluesman
      Johnny Winter
      [Virgin]

Field 14 — Folk

Category 66

Best Traditional Folk Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)

     ♦ Gitane Cajun
      BeauSoleil
      [Vanguard Records]

     ♦ The Morning Glory Ramblers
      Norman & Nancy Blake
      [Dualtone]

     ♦ My Last Go Round
      Rosalie Sorrels & Friends
      [Red House Records]

     ♦ ...And The Tin Pan Bended, And The Story Ended...
      Dave Van Ronk
      [Smithsonian Folkways Recordings]

     ♦ Beautiful Dreamer - The Songs Of Stephen Foster
      Various Artists
      Steve Fishell, David Macias & Tamara Saviano, producers
      [American Roots Publishing]

Category 67

Best Contemporary Folk Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)

     ♦ Educated Guess
      Ani DiFranco
      [Righteous Babe Records]

     ♦ The Revolution Starts...Now
      Steve Earle
      [Artemis Records/E-Squared]

     ♦ Land Of Milk And Honey
      Eliza Gilkyson
      [Red House Records]

     ♦ Impossible Dream
      Patty Griffin
      [ATO Records]

     ♦ The Unbroken Circle - The Musical Heritage Of The Carter Family
      Various Artists
      John Carter Cash, producer
      [Dualtone Music Group]

Field 11 — Gospel

Category 51

Best Gospel Performance
(For solo, duo, group as collaborative performances. Singles or tracks with vocal containing Gospel lyrics. All genres of Gospel music are eligible.)

     ♦ The Stone
      Shirley Caesar & Ann Nesby
      Track from: The Fighting Temptations - Soundtrack
      [Music World Music/Columbia]

     ♦ Heaven Help Us All
      Ray Charles & Gladys Knight
      Track from: Genius Loves Company
      [Concord Records/Hear Music]

     ♦ Lay My Burden Down
      Dr. John & Mavis Staples
      Track from: N'awlinz Dis Dat Or D'udda
      [EMI/Blue Note]

     ♦ Celebrate (He Lives)
      Fred Hammond
      Track from: Somethin' 'Bout Love
      [Verity/Zomba Label Group]

     ♦ There Will Be A Light
      Ben Harper & The Blind Boys Of Alabama
      Track from: There Will Be A Light
      [Virgin]

Category 52

Best Rock Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

     ♦ Take Me Away
      Sarah Kelly
      [Gotee Records]

     ♦ Collide
      Skillet
      [Ardent Records/Lava]

     ♦ Lose This Life
      Tait
      [ForeFront Records]

     ♦ Wire
      Third Day
      [Essential Records]

     ♦ Welcome To Diverse City
      TobyMac
      [ForeFront Records]

     ♦ Holy Hip Hop "Taking The Gospel To The Streets"
      Various Artists
      David (Damonsta) Lynch, producer
      [Holy Hip Hop Music]

Category 53

Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

     ♦ The Creed
      Avalon
      [Sparrow Records]

     ♦ All Things New
      Steven Curtis Chapman
      [Sparrow Records]

     ♦ Who We Are Instead
      Jars Of Clay
      [Essential Records]

     ♦ Everyday People
      Nicole C. Mullen
      [Word Records]

     ♦ Rising Son
      RainSong
      [Soar/Red Sea]

Category 54

Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

     ♦ Driven
      The Crabb Family
      [Daywind Music Group]

     ♦ 20th Century Gospel: From Hymns To Blackwood Brothers Tribute To Christian Country
      The Jordanaires, Art Greenhaw & The Light Crust Doughboys & Nokie Edwards
      [Greenhaw Records]

     ♦ Universal United House Of Prayer
      Buddy Miller
      [New West Records]

     ♦ Worship & Faith
      Randy Travis
      [Word Records]

     ♦ Amazing Grace 3 - A Country Salute To Gospel
      Various Artists
      Scott Hendricks, producer
      [Sparrow Records]

Category 55

Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

     ♦ The Live Experience
      The Rance Allen Group
      [Tyscot Records]

     ♦ There Will Be A Light
      Ben Harper & The Blind Boys Of Alabama
      [Virgin]

     ♦ The Water I Give
      Dottie Peoples
      [Atlanta International Records (Air Gospel)]

     ♦ The Praise & Worship Songs
      Richard Smallwood
      [Verity/Zomba Label Group]

     ♦ Still Here
      The Williams Brothers
      [Blackberry Records]

Category 56

Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

     ♦ Somethin' 'Bout Love
      Fred Hammond
      [Verity/Zomba Label Group]

     ♦ Live From Another Level
      Israel And New Breed
      [Integrity Gospel]

     ♦ He-Motions
      Bishop T. D. Jakes
      [EMI Gospel/Dexterity Sounds]

     ♦ Nothing Without You
      Smokie Norful
      [EMI Gospel]

     ♦ Out The Box
      Tonéx & The Peculiar People
      [Verity/Zomba Label Group]

Category 57

Best Gospel Choir Or Chorus Album
(For choirs or choruses only, with or without lead vocalist(s).)

     ♦ Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus
      Minister Timothy Britten & Professor James Roberson, choir directors; Shabach Praise Co.
      [JDI Records, Inc]

     ♦ Live In New York
      Rev. Timothy Wright, choir director; New York Fellowship Mass Choir II
      [Atlanta International Records (AIRGospel)]

     ♦ Live...This is Your House
      Carol Cymbala, choir director; The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
      [INO Records]

     ♦ Spirit & Truth
      Kevin Bond, choir director; Newbirth Total Praise Choir
      [EMI Gospel]

     ♦ Unplugged... The Way Church Used To Be
      Ricky Dillard, choir director; New Generation Chorale
      [Crystal Rose]

Field 25 — Album Notes

Category 87

Best Album Notes

     ♦ The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964 - Concert at Philharmonic Hall
      Sean Wilentz, album notes writer (Bob Dylan)
      [Columbia/Legacy]

     ♦ Carry It On
      Barry Alfonso, album notes writer (Peter, Paul And Mary)
      [Warner Bros./Rhino Records]

     ♦ The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Woody Herman And His Orchestra & Woodchoppers (1945-1947)
      Loren Schoenberg, album notes writer (Woody Herman & His Orchestra)
      [Mosaic Records]

     ♦ Let The Buyer Beware
      Paul Krassner, album notes writer (Lenny Bruce)
      [Shout! Factory]

     ♦ No Thanks! The '70's Punk Rebellion
      Chris Morris, album notes writer (Various Artists)
      [Rhino Records]

Field 26 — Historical

Category 88

Best Historical Album

     ♦ The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Woody Herman And His Orchestra & Woodchoppers (1945-1947)
      Scott Wenzel, compilation producer; Malcolm Addey, Michael Brooks, Matt Cavaluzzo & Ken Robertson, mastering engineers (Woody Herman & His Orchestra)
      [Mosaic Records]

     ♦ Goodbye, Babylon
      Steven Lance Ledbetter, compilation producer; David Glasser & Matt Sandoski, mastering engineers (Various Artists)
      [Dust-To-Digital]

     ♦ Let The Buyer Beware
      Hal Willner, compilation producer; Eric Liljestrand, mastering engineer (Lenny Bruce)
      [Shout! Factory]

     ♦ Night Train To Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues, 1945-1970
      Daniel Cooper & Michael Gray, compilation producers; Joseph M. Palmaccio & Alan Stoker, mastering engineers (Various Artists)
      [CMF/Lost Highway Records]

     ♦ Unearthed
      Rick Rubin, compilation producer; Vlado Meller, mastering engineer (Johnny Cash)
      [American Recordings/Lost Highway Records]
      

Field 27 — Production, Non-Classical

Category 89

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
(An Engineer's Award. (Artists names appear in parenthesis.))

     ♦ Brian Wilson Presents Smile
      Mark Linett, engineer (Brian Wilson)
      [Nonesuch Records]

     ♦ Feels Like Home
      Jay Newland, engineer (Norah Jones)
      [Blue Note Records]

     ♦ Genius Loves Company
      Robert Fernandez, John Harris, Terry Howard, Pete Karam, Joel Moss, Seth Presant, Al Schmitt & Ed Thacker, engineers (Ray Charles & Various Artists)
      [Concord Records/Hear Music]

     ♦ The Girl In The Other Room
      Al Schmitt, engineer (Diana Krall)
      [Verve]

     ♦ Give
      Tchad Blake, engineer (The Bad Plus)
      [Columbia Records]

:: Les Coles Tuesday, February 15, 2005 [+] ::

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Ray Charles' Genius sweeps Grammys with 8 awards

.



LOS ANGELES (Feb. 15)—Ray Charles, whose legacy erased boundaries between genres and generations, received a fitting musical eulogy as his final album, Genius Loves Company, won a leading eight Grammys at the 47th annual Grammy Awards on Saturday.

Charles' album of duets, recorded in the final months of his life, was the clear sentimental favourite. It won Album of the Year and Best Pop album; an the song, "Here We Go Again," with Norah Jones, won Record of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.

Genius Loves Company also won for:
Album of the Year
Pop Vocal Album
Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist
Best Gospel Performance
Best Enginereed Album
Best Surround Sound Album



Genius Loves Company


1. Here We Go Again—Features Norah Jones
2. Sweet Potato Pie—Features James Taylor
3. You Don't Know Me—Features Diana Krall
4. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word—Features Elton John
5. Fever—Features Natalie Cole
6. Do I Ever Cross Your Mind—Features Bonnie Raitt
7. It Was A Very Good Year—Features Willie Nelson
8. Hey Girl—Features Michael McDonald
9. Sinner's Prayer—Features B.B. King
10. Heaven Help Us All—Features Gladys Knight
11. Somewhere Over The Rainbow—Features Johnny Mathis
12. Crazy Love—Features Van Morrison

:: Les Coles Tuesday, February 15, 2005 [+] ::

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Happy VD

Tokyo (Feb. 14)—Funny thing happened on the way to the theater last night on the way to see Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials. It was straight out of a skit from Saturday Night Live--literally straight out of one of the repeats they broadcast here in Japan on Sky Channel. Well, not so much a skit as one of those captions they use to flash up on the screen in between sketches. It was the one that went "Valentines Day=VD," something like that.

Japan-based Blues Bloggers might have an inkling of what's coming next. You see, the Japanese love abbreviating things: Diamond becomes "dia," Philharmonic becomes "Fila" (which doesn't sound too cultured even to this good ole boy), and Los Angeles becomes "Ros" (which isn't shorter than L.A.),

Yep, you guessed it. There was a shop out by Iksperia offering "VD cardo".

As for Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials--fantastic! Catch them tonight at Big Cat in Osaka if you have a chance. You're ears and feet will thank you.

I'll be doing a review for Tokyo-Blues / The Blues Blog soon. But today is VD Valentines Day and I'm spending it with my Lady, which means getting off this computer and cleaning up the pad--so no more posts today.

But here's a little gift for Blues Bloggers this VD Valentines Day—a set of 4 VD Cards:





Send a Valentines Day Card

:: Les Coles Sunday, February 13, 2005 [+] ::

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