First, we here at BlueNotes World Headquarters hope you all had a happy Turkey Day -- at least happier than the turkeys had it. I myself enjoyed a nice, tender steak. But at least, among many other things, we have the blues to be thankful for. And, of course, welcome to Black Friday. If you want to shop, buy someone a blues CD. The blues needs a stimulus, too.
You can kick off the holiday season with one of the most entertaining blues bands around, the Tommy Castro Band, tomorrow night at Moondog's. Castro is touring behind the August release of his very nice CD, "Hard Believer." I've seen him a few times in the past couple of years, and he always manages to turn in an exciting show (Castro won the 2008 Blues Music Award for Entertainer of the Year). I've not seen him in a setting as small as Moondog's so that might raise the intensity level even more.
Opening for Tommy will be the Burgh's ubiquitous Norm Nardini, a hard-rocking musician who's been known to lay down a few fine blues licks himself. So it should be a fun evening.
Before I insert a couple of videos here, I'd like to thank Bluzer for all those fine videos he keeps posting. He really outdid himself by finding some great Louis Armstrong stuff. But, if I may offer the tiniest critical comment here, I think it's perfectly okay for commenters to mention artists like Barbra Streisand and other non-blues performers in order to make their point. Why, BlueNotes himself was sometimes heard humming Johnny Mathis tunes while he was cleaning tables at his college dining hall -- when he wasn't doing his Midnighters impersonations. But that's another story for another time (usually after a few excellent beers).
And if you're still feeling festive on Sunday night, Jeff Ingersoll, head Bonedaddy at Bonedog Records in McKeesport, is offering a show featuring Craig King at the Palisades Ballroom.
Meanwhile, here's a sample of Tommy Castro:
And here's Norm Nardini in a bluesy mood:
Posted
Nov 27 2009, 01:00 AM
by
Jim White