Sep 30 2008
Henry St. Claire Fredericks has a new album that his fans might enjoy. He hasn't had a U.S. release in about five years, but if his headline role at the Pittsburgh Blues Festival this year was any indication, he might never have to release another one.
Nonetheless, Fredericks' "Maestro" (Heads Up), hits the record shops today (remember record shops?). Of course, blues lovers know that Fredericks is really Taj Mahal, the world traveler who has explored music from a global perspective for 40 years, always seeming to revolve around the blues.
And just to avoid keeping you in suspense, I think this is a pretty durned fine album. It's mostly Taj-written tunes, as usual carrying the flavors of music from just about everywhere, but this one seems to stay a little closer to bluesy stuff than some of his work.
The opening "Scratch My Back" has a nice traditional feel, and "Dust Me Down" kicks out in a similar vein (Ben Harper's vocal work on this one is quite tasty). "Further on Down the Road" is not the blues chestnut, but a banjo-led original with vocals from Jack Johnson -- a plaintive ballad. There's "Black Man, Brown Man," with Ziggy Marley's band, and the very African "Zanzibar."
Taj does some interesting things here, recording with bands that range from his own Phantom Blues Band (on "Scratch My Back"), Los Lobos (the very tough and old-fashioned bluesy "TV Mama," (with her big wide screen) -- that tune, by the way, a quaintly sexual allegory with slightly digital overtones.) "Slow Drag," with the Phantoms, is also a banjo-plucking switch on an old blues style.
Some of the best tracks are those backed by the New Orleans Social Club, including Ivan Neville, George Porter and Henry Butler. That would include "I Can Make You Happy" and their extremely funky New Orleans take on Fats Domino's "Hello Josephine," with organ fills helping out where Fats used his piano keyboard.
"Strong Man Holler" is another traditional type blues with one of those odes to a 17-year-old girl who can make "a strong man holler" that might be frowned upon in these politically correct times in less bluesy circles.
And he closes with a rousing take on the Willie Dixon-Bo Diddley classic "Diddy Wah Diddy" that makes you long for some of those lyrics that actually say something: "...crazy bout my gal down in Diddy Wah Diddy..." Roll over, Beethoven, dig that.
Well, okay, it's a very good album. Maybe even worth the five-year wait. Taj is still running strong, his imagination and his chops in fine form. If you're a fan, soak this one up. If not, it will make you one.
Maybe one last word about the way Taj incorporates multiple influences into his work. In some ways, it's slightly off-putting. He never quite commits himself to the traditional blues format, even when he's doing what might otherwise be very traditional music. On the other hand, that's what keeps his music fresh and vital. He's a little long in the tooth to be the future of the blues, but his music is still timeless. And that's what counts.
Here's a recent interview with Taj about his music and the new album.
Once more for Nappy Brown
I know I've passed on a few Nappy Brown obits. But today I found this article, written by Bob Margolin for Blueswax and republished on The Blues Report E-Zine. It's a fine tribute by someone who knew Nappy well and worked with him and his music. It's a much more fitting tribute than most obits provide.
Sep 29 2008
One of my favorite kind of blues is that good old-fashioned Chicago blues, and I got a chance to indulge that passion Friday night with former Muddy Waters drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith.
Smith doesn't do as much work as drummer any more, having easily shifted instead to his first instrument, the blues harmonica, which he plays with smooth passion. And with another Chicago blues vet, bass player Bob Stroger,
Smith's band brought the notes to Moondog's, making the Blawnox club sound more like sweet home Chicago (and thanks to Moondog's resistance to anything resembling modernization, the club does its part to keep the mood flowing).
Stroger opened both sets with vocal visits to some sturdy blues, including a fine take on the old warhorse, "Key to the Highway."
Then it was really a pleasure, as Bill from Elizabeth has already commented, to see these two fine old bluesmen play off of each other. Their guitar player, Frank Krakowski, held up his end of the bargain as well, with some wicked lines and classic fills, just the right complement for this Chicago effort..
Willie, of course, did the same kind of rambling down the Chicago blues highway with songs like "Mellow Down Easy," "C.C. Rider" and a splendid job on the Waters' classic, "Long Distance Call" (which, in great haste and in the unsteady wee hours, I called "Another Mule" in post right after the show Saturday night). Smith's vocals are gruff and smooth, and he can carry the weight of this venerable Chicago music.
There were some original songs, too, but all in the same blues vein. The music was a living history lesson from two distinguished professors of the blues. And it was fun to watch.
What wasn't fun to watch was the sparse crowd that turned out. I know there a lot of people who love this music, but I don't why they don't want to grab it in what could always turn out to be one of its final passes through town. The bluesmen who helped bring us this music -- like Willie and Bob -- won't be around forever.
Of course, it could've been the presidential debate that kept everybody away. 'Cause it's true, if the wrong wrinkled ole white dude wins, there might be a heap of blues comin' round the bend.
Sep 27 2008
BlueNotes had a big choice to make last night: Watch the history-making debate between presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama at a time when the U.S. is deep in a financial crisis and up to it armpits in war with the future of our country hanging by a thread -- or, listen to Willie "Big Eyes" Smith play the blues.
BlueNotes is nobody's fool. He picked Willie.
Sure, presidential politics are important. But it's still just politics. Even if you put lipstick on it. Now, if you put lipstick on the blues, you are more like to get something full of love and life and lust. I was reminded of that listening to WIllie crank out some great old Chicago blues, including the very fine and very lustful "Another Mule."
I wrote a while back about the emotional power of the blues, and how imporatant that is, but maybe I overlooked its sensual content -- its open way of dealing with the man-woman thing. There are many other aspects of the music that are also rich and meaningful, but one of the constants has always been its bold view of the relations between the sexes.
Well, anyway. I'll have more on Willie's show on Monday. I just wanted to let you know why you didn't see me at the debate.
Sep 26 2008
A few links to some good blues reading:
Blues singer John Hammond, at 65, has been around the blues block and seen his share of artists come and go. Here's a very nice interview with him where he talks about his early years and how he came to the blues as a life's work.
* * *
It's been a few days, but here's a tribute to Nappy Brown that I think is worth reading.
* * *
Here's a story about a women's blues festival out of Wilmington, N.C.
And don't forget ...
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith at Moondog's tonight.
Comment below, or register to comment
Sep 25 2008
It's easy to tell that blues guitarist Johh Cephas and harp player Phil Wiggins have been playing together for a long while. They complete and finish each other's musical sentences, and Wiggins' harp moans in sweet bluesy sympathy behind John's guitar and vocals.
They're known for their long work in the Piedmont blues -- a thumb-and-finger-picking style described by Cephas before he kicked off their appearance last night for Calliope at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. He demonstrated how he does it, then how it sounds, as performed by one of its masters.
In his mini-lectures between songs, Cephas explained that there were basically two styles of blues, coming from Africa, the Piedmont and the Delta styles.
But while the history is good, the music is better, and they provided plenty of it -- from the Piedmont to the Delta. Among my favorites from the set: "Key to the Highway," "Crow Jane," "Stagger Lee," "Big Boss Man," "Freight Train Blues" from the great Piedmont stylist Elizabeth Cotton, and a couple of ragtime numbers that I forgot to write down (BlueNotes has to applaud too, you know).
But those were just personal favorites. Cephas and Wiggins (I've heard them described that way so often that it seems like they have just one name) worked their way through the evening delivering fine music with skill and enthusiasm.
Wiggins has an uncanny feel for fitting in with and around Cephas' guitar, matching the tenor and mood so everything almost sounds like one instrument. It's not easy to squeeze that kind of feeling from the Mississippi saxophone, but Wiggins does it almost effortlessly.
And I don't want to overlook Cephas' guitar work. He's 78, but his fingers work the strings with ease, while he manges to coax out the living sound of blues history. It was a chance to hear some great music close-up, that's about as close to the source as you can get these days.
The Monohgahela Sheiks were on hand to entertain during a BBQ that preceded the show, and did a couple of numbers just before Cephas and Wiggins took the stage. They're a fun, talented group, and the two train songs they did (one a harp solo), were right on track.
"Big Eyes" opening here
Long-time Muddy Waters drummer (and others, too), Willie "Big Eyes" Smith will be at Moondog's in Blawnox tomorrow night (9/26). These days, Willie is working mostly as a harmonica player and singer, and the blues are flowing freely. He began his blues life as a harp player, so his fine work here shouldn't be a surprise. Give him a listen. It's another chance to see one of those fine old bluesmen who helped create the music you love.
And also, Willie and Pinetop Perkins have recorded a show for Austin City Limits, set to be broadcast on Oct. 11.
Comment below, or register to comment
Sep 24 2008
Last Saturday night, while sitting at the temporary, not-so-secure location of the BlueNotes World Headquarters -- Moondog's bar -- and listening to the band Nothin' But Trouble lay down some serious sounds, a well-worn-looking gentlemen with snowy hair drifting under a faded cap laid a CD in my hands, said a few words about acoustic blues that I didn't quite catch, then vanished into the night. Something like that. BlueNotes' powers of observation exist in inverse proportion to the quantity of his libations.
On the CD cover was a photo of the man who'd given it to me, W.D. Dailey, holding a little hound dog with very serious expression and a vintage National Steel guitar. I wasn't sure which of those props impressed me most, but I knew right away I was gonna like this guy. The disc's title: "Wild Bill's Blues." A quick read said he was from the Weirton, W.Va., area, and a glance at the titles confirmed what he'd said -- an 11-song set of old country blues.
I didn't expect much -- what do you think when a guy in a bar hands you a CD? But then I actually listened to it.
It's a very fine little CD. Dailey plays both finger-picking and Delta style. He does some Blind Boy Fuller ("Step It Up and Go"), Blind Lemon Jefferson ("See That My Grave is Kept Clean") a bunch of Robert Johnson, and a handful of his own clever originals.
From his info on the CD and the way he appears, it sounds like W.D. is of mature years, and he has the whiskey-flavored vocals to prove it. His guitar work is clean and simple, and his deep, sorta growly voice favors most of the songs he's selected. He's captured the feeling of the music, which he obviously loves, and the CD makes for good listening if you enjoy this fine old music.
He's appeared at the Pittsburgh Blues Festival, the Wheeling blues festival, and traveled to China to play the blues, according to his web site. Other than that, he's kind of a mystery to me. If you're reading this, Wild Bill, write me a few of your lines about yourself.
By the way, in "Blue Tick Blues," Dailey writes about his little dog, apparently named Petie Wheatstraw, after the St. Louis pianist in the '30s and '40s, who also went by the names "High Sheriff of Hell" and The Devil's Son-In-Law." His real name was William Bunch, so it's it's not hard to see why he wanted some kind of nickname. Great name for the little guy. Almost as good as HoneyBoy Dog, our official mascot.
Don't forget...
The Cephas & Wiggins show sponsored by Calliope tonight in Shadyside. Scroll down to that post and check the details.
Comment below, or register to comment
Sep 23 2008
Two of the main men playing in the Piedmont blues style today, John Cephas and Phil Wiggins, will appear in concert tomorrow night at the Blues at the Crossroads Concert at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts in Shadyside, sponsored by Calliope, Pittsburgh's Folk Music Society.
The outdoor tent show is at 7:30, but if you want to do it up right, there's a Blues & BBQ Dinner at 6, with some local music by the Monongahela Sheiks added (Because of his own Monongahela roots, BlueNotes once toyed with the idea of calling himself Monongahela Slim. But that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue). Check Calliope's Web site for details on the dinner and concert.
Cephas and Wiggins are worth catching, as the Piedmont style is worth hearing, especially when performed by two bluesmen who speak it like it was their first language. It's a seemingly simple finger-picking style that's deceptively smooth and elegant, but still maintains its basic blues grit. It's sort of the grit and polish of the blues. They are two more of the real deal, and you know the real deals are disappearing way too fast.
What are the blues?
In a recent post, I talked about why the blues is such a powerful music, speaking to a wide variety of people in all parts of the world -- as commenter beckylee pointed out.
I finally found the quote I was thinking about that I always thought expressed that feeling very well. It's a definition by Giles Oakley, from the 1996 preface to the second edition of his 1983 book, "The Devil's Music: A History of the Blues." It goes like this:
"To some extent the blues negotiate the tensions between opposition to the status quo, accommodation to it, and transcendence of it through the joy of sensual release."
That phrasing might not exactly make a great blues lyric, but I think he nails it, with the sensual release of the music being the key to its power.
That probably explains why it was a music that was often frowned upon in respectable circles, sort of like early rock 'n' roll, and jazz, , because of the earthy freedom it seems to generate among its performers and its audience.
But then, if you want to go way back, before BlueNotes, before the blues even, there was this fine thought:
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything." That's from Plato. He probably wanted to create the first blues band, but just couldn't find the right drummer. Although he looked like he could fit right in with ZZ Top.
Comment below, or register to comment
Sep 22 2008
I just got a note from Debra Regur at Blind Pig Records that the great 1950s R&B star Nappy Brown died yesterday. There's not much availabe on him from the wire services right now, but here's a brief item from his hometown paper, the Charlotte, N.C., Post, and here's another item from the blog Juke Joint Soul. I'm sure there will be more on the Web in the next few days. Meanwhile, here's an excellent bio from Blind Pig's Web site.
Brown hit it big with "Don't Be Angry" in 1955, but maybe the most famous song he ever wrote and recorded, "Night Time is the Right Time," turned out to be a big hit for Ray Charles. He recorded and performed for years, but like many others from his era, his fame faded with the music.
Last year, Blind Pig released Nappy's first album since 1987, "Long Time Coming." He had resumed touring a few years before that, after being coaxed out of retirement. His latest was a very fine album that showed the staying power of artists like him, and of classic American R&B, of which he was a masterful proponent.
And yes, I know -- two posts in a row about the deaths of fine musical artists. That's why it's called the blues.
Sep 22 2008
He wasn't exactly a blues drummer, but Earl Palmer helped kick early rock in the drumkit with his New Orleans-style work. He also worked with jazz artists and big bands. He died Friday at age 83, and another great old musician is gone.
He worked behind Little Richard and Fats Domino, among others, in the rock era. He also worked in jazz and bi
"What we were playing on those early records was funky in relation to jazz,"
Palmer told The Los Angeles Times in 2000. "What we were playing already had that natural
New Orleans flavor about the music. I played the bass drum how they played bass
drum in funeral parade bands." (Read the entire LA Times obit.)
Wikipedia notes about him:
His playing on "The Fat Man" featured the back beat that has come to be the most important
element in rock and
roll. Palmer said, "That song required a strong afterbeat throughout the
whole piece. With Dixieland you
had a strong afterbeat only after you got to the shout last chorus. . . . It was sort of a new approach to rhythm
music."
Sep 22 2008
Well, BlueNotes had himself a fine time listening to blues over the weekend. Friday and Saturday nights were packed with good music from local bands, with guests from as far away as France, and even Delaware.
First things first. Friday night, Billy Price brought his soulful band to a packed Thunderbird Cafe in Lawrenceville, with guest Fred Chapellier, a French blues guitarist whose playing is reminiscent of his inspiration, Roy Buchanan, one of the greatest unheralded American blues guitarists. (Check their myspace page).
Chapellier is in town to work on the CD he's recording with Price at Bonedog Records in McKeesport, to be released on the French DixieFrog label. The two performed together a few months ago, but I missed that show, so this was my first shot at seeing the French bluesman.
I'm sorry I missed the first -- he's an excellent guitarist, and added a bluesier note to the band, which seemed to be in high spirits for two crackling sets. I got the feeling that Chapellier's passionate solos lifted the intensity level of the band a notch or two. It was one of the best Billy Price shows I've seen.
Billy ran through a lot of his standards, but showed off some fine new stuff, including what might well become the title track to this new CD, "Night Work" -- a tasty, soulful blues. As usual, BlueNotes goes to these shows more as a fan than as a real journalist, so I don't write down much -- and I probably should.
But a few of the things I liked best were one of Billy's staples -- the always fun, always salacious "Bump and Grind," the already mentioned "Night Work," "She Left Me With These Blues" and just about everything else. Billy's band always gives great horn, and this show was no exception, Everything felt like it was running in overdrive all night.
Chapellier's guitar work is smooth and fluid, but without losing any of its sharpness or edge. If you've ever heard Buchanan's guitar, the inspiration is obvious, but it's far beyond mere imitation. I'm looking for to a CD full of this combination.
Nothin' But Trouble on Saturday night
On Saturday night, Moondog's in Blawnox hosted the two winners of the Blues Society of Western Pa.'s International Blues Challenge, who will represent the society at the finals in Memphis in February -- Bubs McKeg of Pittsburgh, the solo/duo winner, and Nothin But Trouble, the sharp little blues band out of Delaware that cranks out a full-frontal attack on a variety of blues styles.
With two guitars (Chris McAfee and Joey Fulkerson), bass (Greg Haughey) and drums (Billy Meyers), plus some harp from both guitarists, the they manage to sound like a band about twice their size as they swap leads, share the vocals and occasionally create a blues guitar conga line (see picture at left).
Both guitarists make tasty use of the slide, and the bringing them out together adds to the intensity. And each adds a swampy harp where needed.
T
hey craft their own blues and cover some of the best (Hound Dog Taylor comes to mind), and neither suffers as they work their way through a set. What I like about them is their unflagging enthusiasm -- they were as sharp at the end of a long night for about 20 appreciative fans as they were at the beginning. They said they're working on a new CD, and based on their first, and their club work, it should be worth a listen.
McKeg is also a pleasure to watch -- and hear. He's an accomplished writer of blues that capture little slices of the world around him, sung only to his own guitar accompaniment -- which one can imagine is one of the purest forms of blues expression.
One of my favorite lines is: "How in the world did the world get away from me..." Bubs seems to be like good whiskey -- he seems to get better with age, each time I see him.
(Photos by Jim White.)
More Posts
Next page »