Cover photo by Bob Kieser © 2015 Blues Blast Magazine
In This Issue
Terry Mullins has our feature interview with British Bluesman Ian Siegal. We have Part 1 of the photos from the Chicago Blues Festival. We have 7 Blues reviews for you this week including music from The Duo-Sonics, J.B.Hutto and his Hawks, Nancy Wright, Laura Cheadle, JeConte, Keith Thompson Band and Delta Moon.
We have the latest in Blues society news. All this and MORE! SCROLL DOWN!!!
From The Editor’s Desk
Hey Blues Fans,
If you live in the eastern part of the US you have a couple great choices for some hot Blues this weekend. Our friends at the North Atlantic Blues Festival in Rockland, ME have a great lineup for you.
Saturday they feature James Cotton, Tommy Castro, Eddie Shaw & The Wolfgang and Doug Deming with Dennis Gruenling and the Jewel Tones.
Sunday they have Marcia Ball, Rod Piazza, Nick Moss Band, The Peterson Brothers and Dexter Allen. Sure to be a great time! For tickets and complete info visit www.northatlanticbluesfestival.com or just click on their ad below.
Also a bit farther south on the east coast this weekend is the Briggs Farm Blues Fest. This great event is held on a farm with lots of camping space in Nescopeck, PA and features Devon Allman Band, Teeny Tucker, Alexis P. Suter, Jimmy “Duck: Holmes and Terry “Harmonica” Bean on Friday plus Danielle Nicole Band, Mike Zito and The Wheel and Slam Allen Band on Saturday. For complete info visit http://briggsfarm.com or click on their ad below.
Also, remember next Wednesday the voting for the 2015 Blues Blast Music Awards begins. So be sure to visit our website at www.bluesblastmagazine.com and vote for your favorite artists.
Wishing you health, happiness and lots of Blues music!
Bob Kieser
Featured Blues Review – 1 of 7
The Duo-Sonics – N URTOWN
Topsy Records
http://www.crossroadslearning.org/duosonics.html
12 tracks/39:38
The Duo-Sonics are led by two veteran musicians based in Oklahoma, guitarist Bobby Parker and David Berntson on harmonica. Both men have more than thirty-five years of experience in addition to being very active in presenting blues in area schools. Berntson’s efforts were recognized in 2006 when the Blues Foundation named him the recipient of a Keeping The Blues Alive Award for Education.
Their latest release, nominated for a 2015 Blues Blast Music Award award for Acoustic Blues Album, is a delightful mix of refashioned covers and several intriguing original songs. Their unconventional opener is a brief, lightly swinging Parker instrumental, “The Purple Cat,” with a hint of the tango featuring “Ice Pick Walt” Gibson on upright bass and Damon Daniels on percussion. A cover of “Early In The Morning” sports a rolling beat from Robbie Armstrong behind Berntson’s understated vocal. The temperatures rise on the Berry-esque rocker, “She’s Good To Me,” with both leaders delivering well-played solos on their respective instruments.
Parker gets to stretch out on another original instrumental entitled “Side Pocket”. Berntson uses his Hohner chromatic harp to add flavoring while Casey Van Beck on bass anchors the rhythm. Al Jolson’s “Back In Your Own Backyard” is just the duo with Parker riffing with gusto behind Berntson’s mellow vocal. He switches to a resonator guitar on “She Keeps Me Laughing,” adding a convincing lead vocal. With Parker playing a tough, hypnotic guitar line and Berntson blowing some full-bodied harp tones, “Love Me One More Once” never strays from the tight groove.
Another strong duo performance occurs on Little Walter’s “Can’t Hold Out Much Longer”. Berntson’s harp creates an appropriately forlorn backdrop for Parker’s subdued vocal. The guitarist also demonstrates his deep understanding of the Delta guitar style. “I’m Walkin’” is taken at a carefree pace with the focus on the vocal harmonizing by the co-leaders. Berntson’s original, “Clothes Make The Man,” provides him with extended blowing time, and he makes every second count.
They pay homage to Jimmy Reed on “The Sun Is Shining,” the rhythm section providing the lazy shuffle pattern while Berntson pulls high, reedy notes out of his harp. To close out the program, they return to the duo format for an intimate rendition of Jimmy Roger’s “Money, Marbles, and Chalk”. They hold your interest for six minutes, Parker’s guitar echoing his gripping vocal while Berntson underscores Parker’s efforts with several well-placed bursts of amplified harp.
Parker and Berntson definitely know their stuff. Using a relaxed, thoughtful approach mixed with a variety of styles, their release is a welcome relief from the avalanche of product filled with screaming vocals and instruments. If you favor good, old-fashion music-making, this one will bring you plenty of enjoyment.
Reviewer Mark Thompson lives in Florida, where he is enjoying life without snow. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Suncoast Blues Society and the past president of the Crossroads Blues Society of Northern Illinois. Music has been a huge part of his life for the past fifty years – just ask his wife!.
Featured Blues Interview – Ian Siegal
When he talks, it’s a dead giveaway that he’s from near Portsmouth (population 205,400), on the south coast of England.
But when Ian Siegal sings the blues and plays guitar, one would swear that the Englishman hailed from near Potts Camp (population 494), deep in the heart of Marshall County, Mississippi.
So just how does Siegal – who now calls Amsterdam (the Venice of the North) home – pull off that impressive feat?
“Well, I guess it’s just that I’ve really immersed myself in that (Hill Country) music. It’s just part of the furniture in my head and I just love it so much,” Siegal recently said just an hour or so removed from exiting a studio session for his latest release. “It’s nice to know that I can fit in with guys over there who truly come from that culture. I guess in a way, it’s my tribute to that. I would never pretend to come from there (Mississippi), but it’s an intrinsic part of my musical background and hopefully I’m appreciating it in the proper way.”
He may not be a household name in the lexicon of the blues cognoscente, but Ian Siegal is no new kid on the block, having authored 10 albums of rich, roots-related music in the past decade.
And while he’s became musical contemporaries and runnin’ pardners with a who’s-who of the Hill Country circuit – cats like Jimbo Mathus, Luther and Cody Dickinson, Alvin Youngblood Hart and members of the Burnside and Kimbrough families, Siegal isn’t content to just try and turn in a paint-by-numbers rendition of the music those guys grew up around. Rather, he’s simply flavored his own Chess-styled blues with bits and pieces of the Mississippi Delta and flourishes of other Americana, resulting in a sound that occupies its own sonic space.
Siegal is also about as prolific an artist as one will find these days, having issued three projects in a shade over a year-and-a-half. Those are three projects that speak volumes about his versatility and eagerness to avoid repeating the same old formula over and over.
The Picnic Sessions (Nugene Records) sounds just like the title suggests – back-porch pickin’ on a Sunday afternoon, miles removed from the nearest sign of civilization.
One Night in Amsterdam is the full-blown modern electric blues, with Siegal backed up by a white-hot band of hungry youngsters.
And at the opposite end of the spectrum is Man & Guitar, a set of acoustic tunes that Siegal recorded by his lonesome at famed Royal Albert Hall.
In other words, if you’re looking for predictability, you definitely shouldn’t cast your gaze in Siegal’s direction.
“I don’t really think about it much, and none of those things were particularly planned to come out the way they did … they weren’t terribly conscious … that’s just the way they happened. They’re all just different colors and different flavors, but they’re all inter-connected, of course,” he said. “I’m such a big fan of so many different musical styles that I find it easy to slip into things like that. That’s one of the similarities between myself and Jimbo and Luther and Cody and Alvin. I mean, Alvin can go out and play ’70s British rock music – that’s what he loves – but then he can also go out and play Charley Patton. I think there’s a lot of people like us that have different hats they can wear with equal aplomb.”
As if that’s not been enough to keep Siegal – who may very be the Energizer Bunny of the blues, busy – he also spent a few months late last year traipsing around the United Kingdom with his good buddy Jimbo Mathus (the un-offical Mayor of Como, Mississippi) in tow. While it may not have been Gulliver’s Travels, the pairing of Siegal and Mathus roaming freely together across the countryside must have made for some astonishing tall tales that are sure to work their way into the fabric of legend.
“It was a nightmare from start to finish. He’s (Mathus) miserable and doesn’t talk,” laughed Siegal. “No, really it was great. We had an absolute blast; certainly the most enjoyable tour I’ve ever done, without any real effort on our part to rehearse. We had the luxury of having a tour manager/driver, which made it so great for us, because we could just relax and tell stupid stories. It was honestly a laugh-a-minute, it really was. The audiences just loved Jimbo. We had such a good time and people really seemed to enjoy it – it just worked.”
Much like Siegal, it seems like Mathus has always been on the precipice of mainstream success, and with any luck, both of them will get their just deserts from the blues community in the near future.
“I think he’s (Mathus) finally getting more attention. Not as much as he deserves, but it seems like things are improving,” Siegal said. “I think he had some issues with labels and stuff in the past, but now he’s finally free to do what he wants and it’s great what he’s doing.”
Siegal’s portal into the world of the Hill Country blues came via Robert Mugge’s brilliant 1992 documentary, Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads. Through that movie, Siegal learned of the patriarch families of the Holly Springs area.
“I was about 16 or 17 when that came out and my dad got it on CD, with R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. Then, it went off my radar for awhile. And then Sweet Tea (Buddy Guy’s magnificent 2001 release that celebrated Hill County blues) came out, and in a small world getting smaller, Jimbo was basically the musical director on that album,” Siegal said. “And also about that time, the North Mississippi Allstars kind of reawakened that music and brought it back into my life. Then nine or 10 years later, I find myself working with Jimbo and Luther and Cody and all these guys, so it’s strange sometimes how things happen.”
Siegal’s 2011 album – The Skinny – was billed as Ian Siegal and The Youngest Sons and features the youngest sons of Jim Dickinson (Cody), R.L. Burnside (Garry) and Junior Kimbrough (Robert).
“Yeah, thanks to Cody (who produced the album), I had Burnsides and Kimbroughs on it. It was a real honor to have them playing on it,” said Siegal.
When Siegal gets together with the Dickinson brothers and Alvin Youngblood Hart, what you have is a collective known as The Mississippi Mudbloods. They were responsible for 2012′s Candy Store Kid, an album that they were able to do a bit of touring behind, and if things shake out the proper way, blues fans may get another dose of Siegal and The Mudbloods sometime down the road.
“Quite possibly. It’s just that everyone’ s been so busy with projects – Cody and Luther, in particular. They’ve got their fingers in so many pies that I frankly don’t know how they keep up with themselves – it’s insane how much stuff they’re involved with,” Siegal said. “But it’s (The Mississippi Mudbloods) an open-ended thing and we did it because it was a convenient time and things fell into place. We did do a real last-minute show last year. There was a cancellation at the Cambridge Folk Festival and they asked me to do it with my band, who were not available at that time. As I was looking down the roster of the groups that were playing there, I noticed the North Mississippi Allstars. So I e-mailed Cody and Luther, expecting them to say they couldn’t do two shows in one day, but they were like, ‘Yeah! Let’s do it.’ So just like that, it happened, which was really cool. But I am planning another tour with Jimbo for next year, because it was just so popular. People went nuts.”
He may not have gotten the opportunity to take the bandstand with them, but Siegal still fondly recalls getting the chance to be near a couple of other Mississippi blues legends that are no longer with us.
“I did get to see Robert Belfour at the (Kenny Brown’s annual Hill Country) Picnic two years ago and even though he didn’t play, I did get to hang out with T-Model Ford, as well. That was quite an experience. It was so sweet, but Duwayne Burnside sat beside him and held his hand the whole time – T-Model had recently had a stroke and was in a wheelchair and was in bad physical shape,” said Siegal. “But Duwayne held his hand and everybody was feeding T-Model white lightning, but you know if a man gets to be in his 90s and can’t drink a little white lightning … I really don’t know when he can. And T-Model was still managing to eye all the girls with a twinkle as they went past, so it was a real honor to be in his company, if even just for a couple of hours. But it is important to get out and see people, because there’s so many that I’ve missed, so I’ll take any opportunity to see my heroes these days.”
Another interesting twist to the musical fabric that makes up Siegal is his propensity to pen songs that instantly evoke memories of the ways and the bygone days of the deep south. It wouldn’t be too far off base to think of the knack that The Band’s Robbie Robertson (a Canadian) had for telling stories about American life south of the Mason-Dixon line when thinking of some of the compositions that Siegal has created.
“So many things (inspire his songwriting) … it could be a line from a book or a line from a movie that sets me off, or even something that someone says. I don’t really have a formula; normally it comes to me in a rush, sometimes in complete songs,” he said. “But I’m not the most prolific writer. I tend to write only when I’m told I have to. I normally don’t wander around writing, although I wish that I did … it’s quite lazy of me, really.”
Siegal acknowledges the influence of Bob Dylan as a writing force, something he says that you really can’t get away from if you’re a song-writer.
“I think any songwriter is going to be influenced by Dylan in some way or another, even if you don’t aspire to be that good. And I would never compare myself to him,” he said. “But he certainly recreated – or opened things up, if you will – songwriting with all kinds of possibilities. In my early days of songwriting, I was trying so hard to be Tom Waits … it was almost painful, but I think a lot of songwriters have been there. He’s certainly still in there, although I’ve diluted that some and I purposely avoid Waits-isms. Still, his shadow looms large.”
Speaking of the one-and-only Tom Waits, Siegal’s vocal delivery is at times highly reminiscent of his. Siegal can go from a paper-thin whisper to a wall-shattering roar – at times in the same breath – and has proven that his pipes are one dangerous weapon. Sprinkle in a dose of Howlin’ Wolf, a helping of Captain Beefheart and maybe a pinch of Joe Cocker and you’ve got an idea of the power and the fury of Ian Siegal.
“Yeah, that’s become my vocal style and I can’t do a great deal about it anymore … but I think I directed it that way when I started out. When I started singing, I wanted to be Little Richard or Marvin Gaye. I have a natural tone in my voice that’s similar to Tom Waits and Dr. John, the same kind of range, anyway,” he said. “But I don’t see the Joe Cocker (comparisons), except that I’ve got a gravely voice. But when I do The Wolf thing, it’s because I’m obviously doing an impersonation of him, it’s not a coincidence. It’s like, ‘Hey everybody, I’m trying to do The Wolf, now.’ It’s a vocal adaptation that if anything, it’s done for fun. I’m not trying to pretend that I naturally sing that way … it’s a vocal trick that Taj Mahal and Omar Dykes does really well.”
Another one of Siegal’s early influences was the King of the Blues, the late, great B.B. King.
“It’s hard to describe just how important he was. When I first started playing, I remember sitting with Live at the Regal, trying to copy every note. It’s really just hard to fathom how important he was,” he said. “He just touched so many people … his influence was huge, especially when you think about all the British guys in the ’60s who were heavily influenced by B.B. And he was just such an ambassador for the blues throughout his whole career. He never stopped, he was just so relentless. He really became a part of the culture, far beyond the blues. His name was known even by people that were not into the blues. Him, Muddy and Wolf were my three earliest influences. I wish I had gotten to see him live, but I never did and that’s sad.”
Siegal looms large in the world of British blues and is included among the ranks of the British Blues Awards Hall of Fame.
“That means a lot – it means that I’m being appreciated and being recognized. I think if anyone – regardless of the field they’re in – denies that something like that is important, they’re probably lying,” he said. “It’s easy to be like, ‘Oh, awards don’t matter,’ but of course they do. So it’s an honor to be recognized in that way, so I’m very proud of those things.”
Even though his parents were not musicians, there was still plenty of music playing around the Siegal household when Ian was a young lad.
“Music was always playing in the house where I grew up. It was Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry and Elvis and The Stones and The Beatles and so I think I absorbed all of that. I was quite a precocious child, musically. It’s funny, but when I talk to my contemporaries, they talk about buying their first vinyl when they were 11 or 12, but I think I was 3 or 4 when I bought my first vinyl. I didn’t go to the store myself, but I used my Christmas money to buy a Slade record when I was 4,” he said. “I really think the first blues I heard was The Stones’ version of “Red Rooster.” And then I found out it was a Wolf song. I always say this, but it’s true – I don’t recall a time when I was not aware of the blues. I can’t tell you exactly how that happened, but I don’t ever remember not being aware of the names Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, so I got into that (the blues) pretty early on.”
It may surprise some – especially since he grew up on the very soil where they were hailed as Gods – but Siegal never really took a major liking to some of the cats that were hailed as trendsetters and saviors of the blues back in the late 1960s.
“I was about 10 years too late for the British blues boom period, so I was never really into John Mayall and Eric Clapton and Peter Green and all those guys. I sort of had the privilege of going back before them, you know? They did promote and educate people into the world of the real blues, but by the time I came of age, people like Freddie King and B.B. (King) and Albert (King) were in the public domain, and it took me less effort to get to them,” he said. “And I’m glad about that, because the sort of rockier side of the blues is really not my thing. I’m pleased that I went straight to the source and discovered American blues before I got into British blues. I think that makes you a different – I’m not saying better – but a different, player.”
As such, Siegal knows ‘classic Howlin’ Wolf’ apart from … well, let’s just say ‘not so classic Howlin’ Wolf.’
“I’ve played the original version of a Howlin’ Wolf track for someone and then I’ll play The London Sessions version of the same song he did with like Bill Wyman and Clapton and Ringo and have had people go, ‘Oh, yeah – this (London Sessions) is much better.’ I’ll go, ‘Really? This is better than the Chess originals? Are you kidding?’ But, there’s no accounting for taste, is there?” asked Siegal. “But it does take all sorts.”
Just like in the United States, blues music seems to be enjoying a wave of popularity and very solid footing in the Untied Kingdom and Europe in the 21st Century.
“Apart from the ’60s, when it was very huge and very influential, I think it’s as big now as it ever was – apart from that period. Some people would argue that the culture of the blues doesn’t exist anymore and that everything being done now is retro or in tribute,” Siegal said. “But there’s certainly some great players still out there … although there’s very few of the originals. When you look at Gary Clark, Jr., playing the White House, I mean, that’s big. And I’m hearing so much blues in movies and in TV shows and in commercials these days. It’s really in the air a lot, really more than ever, TV-wise. So the blues are quite hip at the moment and long may that continue.”
Even though blues music may be permeating the idiot box at an all-time record pace these days, Siegal says that it sometimes still is forced to take a backseat – or no seat at all – in the eyes of some concert promoters.
“One thing I find is often the case is when you get festivals that have many different forms of music where you’ll have the pop and rock stages and the metal stage and a jazz stage and a world-music stage, but they won’t have a blues stage,” he said. “And I suppose it is a niche genre and is not as popular as other things, but that’s a real shame. Sometimes the blues gets treated like a poor cousin and that should be changed. I mean, why shouldn’t there be a blues stage at some of these major music events?”
It’s not like very many blues artists were ever able to find a regular home on the charts – with a few exceptions – but there are sure not many that show up in the Top 40 these days. But then again, given the way that music is consumed in 2015, it’s a wonder that any artist – pop, rock, country or blues – is able to sell enough records to earn a spot in Billboard’s rankings.
“The whole music scene has changed in the last few years, with digital downloads and CD sales down. You can hardly keep a handle on things with CD sales almost at zero. In my case, since I’ve never been a major charting artist, that doesn’t make that much of a difference with me. I’ve always made CDs for promotion and to get on festivals and stuff like that,” he said. “It’s not that significant of a change for me. But as I always say, ‘If anyone gets in the blues to make a lot of money, they’re making a huge mistake.’ Trust me, I know people that have thought they would become wealthy by playing the blues. But guess what? That’s not why we do this and thank goodness for that or we’d really be let down.”
Despite the lack of wealth earned – coupled with the cost of doing business – it’s still full speed ahead for Ian Siegal.
“I’ve always played a Hell of a lot of gigs – I think I did over 200 last year – and I don’t plan on stopping. I can go out and do solo gigs and that’s what really keeps my head above water these days, because putting a band on the road is pretty tough and it’s getting harder,” he said. “I can honestly say it’s getting tougher out there, but I can also honestly say that I won’t stop.”
Visit Ian’s wensite at: http://iansiegal.com/.
Photos by Bob Kieser © 2015 Blues Blast Magazine
Blues Blast Magazine Senior Writer Terry Mullins is a journalist, author and former record store owner whose personal taste in music is the sonic equivalent of Attention Deficit Disorder. Works by the Bee Gees, Captain Beefheart, Black Sabbath, Earth, Wind & Fire and Willie Nelson share equal space with Muddy Waters, The Staples Singers and R.L. Burnside in his compact disc collection. He’s also been known to spend time hanging out on the street corners of Clarksdale, Miss., eating copious amounts of barbecued delicacies while listening to the wonderful sounds of the blues.
Featured Blues Review – 2 of 7
J.B. Hutto and his Hawks – Hawk Squat (Deluxe Edition)
Delmark Records
https://www.facebook.com/pages/J-B-Hutto/108214379203423?fref=ts (Tribute Page)
CD: 18 Songs; 61:32 Minutes
Styles: Traditional Electric Chicago Blues
Connotatively speaking, an idealist is someone who has crystal-clear ideas of how life should be. S/he holds lofty yet precise ideals – hence the term – in mind, and hopes for them to become reality. In the music world, idealists are the “purest of the purists”. What is their ideal of pure blues? One prime example is the remastered and re-released album Hawk Squat, by J.B. Hutto (uncle of Lil’ Ed, of Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials) and his Hawks. It’s raw electric Chicago blues. It’s not polished. It’s not slick. It’s some people’s idea of what the electric blues ought to be. Just how fantastic is this CD? Not only is it worthy of one’s reference collection, but in 2014, the National Blues Foundation inducted Hawk Squat into its Hall of Fame for “Classic of Blues Recording: Album”. Its vintage is the Age of Aquarius, with all eighteen original tracks (six previously unissued) from 1966 and 1968. This is more than a J.B. Hutto reboot. It’s a total re-mastery of slide guitar blues that conquered the Windy City. According to Dusty Groove.com, “Hutto’s a killer right from the start – singing and playing [slide] with a ferocity that easily matches, if not beats, the bigger ‘60s names on Chess Records….”
Helping Hutto catapult to fame, both then and now, are Lee Jackson on guitar, Sunnyland Slim on piano and organ, Junior Pettis, Dave Myers, and Herman Hassell on bass, Frank Kirkland on drums, and Maurice McIntyre on tenor sax.
The 20-page book hidden within the Deluxe Edition CD cover reveals: “Hawk Squat was born at Turner’s Lounge at 39th and Indiana, on Chicago’s South Side. Fifty cents would gain you entry and a beer. Not having that dollar charge at the door made Turner’s rowdier than other clubs.” Hutto’s masterpiece contains no elevator muzak. It showcases tunes tailor-made for people like one unfortunate patron of Turner’s, who got kicked out of both the men’s and the ladies’ room. Here are a few of the most powerful tracks:
Track 01: “Speak My Mind” (Original Version), Track 14, and Track 18 (Alternate Version) – OWW! This is the cry of ecstasy that those who crave Chicago blues will give once they hear J.B.’s fiery intro. Everything in the blues trifecta is here: lump-de-lump rhythm, a timeless theme of a girl who “just ain’t no good”, and robust ensemble sound.
Track 06: “20% Alcohol” – What better place to play a die-hard drinking song than in a bar? Featuring the clearest lyrics on the album, track six is a warning to our narrator’s wayward love: “Girl, you ain’t no belle. You’ve been drinking and cheating, girl – 20% alcohol.”
Track 12: “Hawk Squat” (Original Version) and Track 16 (Alternate Version) – One of the most honored traditions in blues songs is having members of a band take turns playing the lead part. The explosive Squat features all the Hawks in top form. This is great news for dancers and lovers of instrumental technique.
Attention blues idealists: You need the “new” Hawk Squat, and you need it NOW!
Reviewer Rainey Wetnight is a 35 year old female Blues fan. She brings the perspective of a younger blues fan to reviews. A child of 1980s music, she was strongly influenced by her father’s blues music collection.
Featured Live Blues Review – Chicago Blues Festival Part I
We made it to the Chicago Blues Fest again this year and it was another amazing Blues experience. This year was the 32nd annual of the premier Blues festival in the world! Held in Grant Park in downtown Chicago it is a free festival that draws more than 100,000 people each year. This year it was a bit on the rainy and cool side but that did not stop all the HOT Blues from going on. So umbrella in hand just in case, we headed off into the wild Blues yonder!
We started out at the Crossroads Stage to see Quintus McCormick on Friday. Quintus has been playing in Chicago for years and this man is a real killer guitar player and singer.
Next up was Mary Lane. Another Chicagoan, she is originally from Arkansas. She at one time sang with Robert Nighthawk. She does not really tour so you need to get to Chicago to check this real deal Blues woman.
We then headed over to the Jackson Mississippi Stage next to hear singer and harp player Scott Albert Johnson.
Next we made it over to the Front Porch Stage to see Studebaker John and the Maxwell Street Kings. John had a couple great Chicago Blues celebrities with him. Rick Kreher, who was Muddy Waters guitar player sat in as well as Steve Cushing from the famous syndicated radio show Blues Before Sunrise who was playing drums. Needless to say, it was some fine Chicago Blues!
We soon headed back to the Crossroads Stage to hear some soul Blues from Charlie Love.
Next we caught part of a set by Jj Thames
Then we went to hear Nick Nixon and Andy T on the Front Porch Stage. They are nominated in the 2015 Blues Blast Music Awards and will be our “house band” for the awards show in September. This is a great band with Nick Nixon on lead vocals, Andy T on guitar, Sam Persons on bass, Larry van Loon on keys and Jim Klingler on drums. Be sure to catch these guys at the 2015 Blues Blast Music Awards on September 25th at the Fluid Event Center in Champaign, IL. You won’t be disappointed!
Following them we listened to Blues legend John Primer for a spell on the Jackson Mississippi stage. John played in Muddy Waters’ band and also did a ten year stint with Magic Slim. John is one of the best Chicago players around today. He had some great players with him including Johnny Iguana on keyboards and Bill Lupkin on harmonica. Excellent!
Then we went to hear a few song from Blues diva Nellie “Tiger” Travis. Nellie gave a shout out to Blues Blast Magazine when she saw me in the photo pit taking pictures. We love ya Nellie! You gotta’ hear this lady!
Finishing out our afternoon we went back to the front Porch Stage to catch another Blues legend, Eddie Shaw & The Wolf Gang. Eddie has quite a musical pedigree having been a bandleader for Howlin’ Wolf and also playing with Muddy Waters, Magic Sam and Otis Rush. Eddie is the man and if you haven’t ever heard this amazing sax player, you need to change that soon.
As the supper hour approached we got a bite to eat and headed over to the Pertillo Music Shell for the day headliners starting with the great Zora Young. You can tell just by the photos that she had the cream of the crop of Chicago Blues players and did an incredible set of Blues.
The last act we caught for the day was Clarence Carter. Clarence taught himself guitar and majored in music at Alabama State University, learning to create music charts in Braille. He went on to be a Grammy Award winning R&B songwriter. The crowd loved his set.
Tired from all the exciting Blues, we headed off to rest up for the next day of great Chicago Blues.
Photos and commentary by Bob Kieser © 2015 Blues Blast Magazine
Featured Blues Review – 3 of 7
Nancy Wright – Putting Down Roots
Direct Hit Records DHR 107
12 songs – 54 minutes
www.nancywrightmusic.com
San Francisco Bay Area-based Nancy Wright has quietly built up a strong reputation as a saxophone player in a career that’s spanned 30 years, but she breaks new ground as a vocalist and songwriter on Putting Down Roots, her second CD to date, a follow-up to Moanin’, a warmly reviewed 2009 all-instrumental release.
A native of Dayton, Ohio, with a big, fat tone, she’s a classically trained musician who fell in love with the sax at age 16, influenced by King Curtis and Junior Walker & the All-Stars as well as jazz greats Illinois Jacquet and Gene Ammons. Revered guitarist Lonnie Mack taught her the ropes before she relocated to California. She’s been a member of the touring bands of Elvin Bishop, Commander Cody, John Lee Hooker and Maria Muldaur, and has been a popular addition in the studio, most notably backing Joe Louis Walker, Mark Hummel, Steve Willis and the Frank Bey-Anthony Paule Band, among many others. Her vocal delivery is warm and relaxed and demonstrates the impeccable, behind-the-beat delivery she displays with her reed work.
Nancy produced Putting Down Roots herself, aided by Kid Andersen, who recorded it at his Greaseland Studios and contributed guitar work on five of the 12 cuts, all of which were written by Wright. All of the musicians here also played with her on Bey and Paule’s Soul For Your Blues CD, which was nominated for two Blues Music Awards and achieved high honors in Downbeat Magazine’s critics’ poll. Joining her are Tony Lufrano (keyboards), Paule (guitar on 11 tracks), Paul Olguin (bass) and Lisa Leuschner Andersen (backing vocals).
Available through all of the major online vendors, the disc kicks off with the R&B flavored love song, “Sweet Soul Satisfaction,” in which she both can’t understand how she got to this place and releases she can’t get enough of her man. Her sax solo carries the lyrics to another, heavenly level. The syncopated instrumental “Funkin’ It Up” follows, with a simple, repeated horn line driving the song forward. “Just Can’t Put A Finger On It” is a slow blues burner in which Nancy is both appreciative of her love, but suspicious that something has changed. The stop time chorus is a grabber.
Another instrumental pleaser, the jazzy “A Serendipity,” leads into the New Orleans-tinged “The Big Qu