BlueNotes

Jimmy Thackery at Moondog's tomorrow night; BeerNotes toasts the holidays

Jim White — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Jimmy Thackery is one of those bluesguys who seems to have been around forever. He's probably best known as a co-founder of the still hard-working Nighthawks, but who struck out on his own in 1987 (is that a long time ago, or what?), and has had a couple of careers since. Now he features his powerful little band called the Drivers, who still tour and perform relentlessly, whether at festivals halfway around the world, or at dim little blues joints like Moondog's in Blawnox, where he'll show off his many licks Saturday night (and you thought I'd never get to that!).

But it might not be exactly right to call him a bluesguy these days. He's never been one to easily fit into categories, and his guitar skills are broad and deep enough to cross genres like most people cross streets. Right now he's still cruising on the strength of his last album, "Inside Tracks," released in October of 2008. He took off in different directions with that CD, so it will be interesting to see what he brings to the Doghouse tomorrow night. Much like the Nighthawks, he seems to make BluesBurgh a regular stop in his travels.

With that in mind, I thought it might be interesting to look back at what he had to say right after that album was released. Jimmy was kind enough to talk to BlueNotes on the phone then for a Post-Gazette podcast that we featured in this blog. Give it a listen if you like, and read the BlueNotes review of the CD here.

And just as sidelight, I notice that he seems to have stopped wearing all those cool hats tht he used to wear. What's up with that? We'll ask him tomorrow night, if we make it. If not, you can ask him for me.

And here's a video of Jimmy at work at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa,Fla., where BlueNotes spent a few happy hours last winter listening to some fine Florida blues. Outdoors, under gian cypress trees, of course. It's Florida, after all.

A holiday note from BeerNotes:

This blog post was inspired in equal portions by the blues, and by BeerNotes' first holiday beer of the season -- Troegs Mad Elf. That's from the very excellent Troegs brewery in Harrisburg -- yes, the same Harrisburg that brings you the state government that will drive to you to drink some of Troegs' finest brews. You should enjoy this beer, and other fine holiday brews, along with your best blue Christmas blues. I'll have more to recommend later. Feel free to suggest (and drink) your own, as well as your favorite yule blues.

Joe Louis Walker's new CD is exactly "Between a Rock and the Blues"

Jim White — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Even though Joe Louis Walker has been receiving critical acclaim for his tough and original blues for years, I think he's been an under-appreciated force in the music for way too long. His latest CD, another of those mid-year Stony Plain releases that I'm just getting caught up on, is titled "Between a Rock and the Blues," and that's a pretty good description of where his music is located.

Walker has deep roots in blues and gospel and soul, all of which he turns into sharp-edged blues with gritty rock undertones plus overtones, combined with a keen eye for songs to cover, and with extra-fine songwriting gifts.

Best of of all is the way that he and his guitar have with any song. His expressive vocals dig deep, while his guitar doesn't just gently weep, it cries out loud for attention.

He's put together an excellent album here of some great covers and originals. Label-mate Duke Robillard produced and contributed one song (the bluesy "Tell Me Why," on which Duke plays stinging guitar behind Walker's mind-ending vocals. Here's an audio clip: (Please visit the site to view this media)

He keeps it up on a range of tracks, from the introspective but tough original "If There's a Heaven," featuring his strong slide work, to the gentle soulful blues of "Hallways." Whatever he puts his voice and strings to comes out as a passionate musical statement. With Bruce Katz leading on piano, Walker does a richly soulful turn on the Ray Charles tune, "Blackjack." Here's a clip of "Heaven." (Please visit the site to view this media)

Every track seems to come out just right, full of blues power, rocking when necessary, and always driven by the intensity of Walker's vocals.

You should like this album.

Here's a video of Walker on an old Big Joe Turner classic:

Wheeling's Heritage blues festival to get KBA award

Jim White — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Most of you have probably heard of -- or even attended -- that fine blues festival on the banks of the Ohio in Wheeling: The Heritage Music BluesFest. BlueNotes hisself spent a couple of great bluesdays there last August, enjoying the sounds of Magic Slim, John Nemeth, Ruthie Foster, Sapphire the Uppity Blues Women and Sonny Landreth, among many others. There was good music, good times, good friends -- even some good beer.

But I digress. The Wheeling festival is in line to receive a Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) award from th Blues Foundation next year. It's a nice gesture. The Wheeling festival, run by Bruce Wheeler, has become a consistent spot for much great new blues talent, and much great old blues talent.

Here's the text of the announcement I got this week from the Heritage people:

The KBA ceremony will be part of the International Blues Challenge January 23, 2010, at the Doubletree Hotel in Memphis. Each year, The Blues Foundation presents the Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Awards to individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the Blues world. The KBAs are awarded to non-performers strictly on the basis of merit by a select panel of Blues professionals. Noted educator, author, journalist, and KBA Chairman Art Tipaldi notes "The KBA may be awarded for the recipient's work in the past year but most often reflects a lifetime of work".

The Heritage Music Blues Festival began in 2001 when Bruce Wheeler envisioned a Blues music festival in a newly constructed water front park on the bank of the Ohio River in downtown Wheeling. The fact that Wheeling had no blues scene or even a blues club, band or solo artist did not deter Wheeler from developing a festival. Promoted as A Weekend of Award-Winning Blues, the Festival today gets raves from coast to coast. Wheeler?s festival features two stages, a Main Stage with Blues Music Award Winners and up and coming IBC solo duo and band winning acts, and a Second Stage dedicated to local and regional artists, from WV, OH, PA, and MD. The festival is run year-round solely by Bruce Wheeler and his family, so a family atmosphere spills over to the audience from 25 states and 4 countries for the annual August event. Along with producing the Heritage Music Blues Festival, Wheeler is currently the Interim Executive Director of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra.

So already, I recommend making your reservations for thew 2010 version.

And just by the way, last year the KBA honored another regional blues force -- Burgh blues photographers Dusty and Val Scott for their untiring work to document the images of the blues.

Blues author Robert Palmer, seen through his daughter's eyes

Jim White — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Author and musician, among other things, Robert Palmer -- he wrote the great blues book "Deep Blues" -- is the subject of a new documentary by his daughter Augusta titled "The Hand of Fatima," and a new anthology of his works called "Blues & Chaos" is being released.

I haven't read or seen either yet, but Palmer was a first-class blues writer, a great musician, and a troubled man who spent his life in pursuit of music and meaning. If you haven't read "Deep Blues," you've missed a fine book about the blues.

And I would guess that these two new works will add a great deal to the man's story. Here's an article about both works from the New York Times..

Here's a paragraph from the article:

The Hand of Fatima,” a new documentary by his estranged daughter, Augusta, and a new anthology of Palmer’s writing, “Blues & Chaos” (Scribner), reveal what many colleagues knew but readers could scarcely guess from his eloquent and calmly authoritative prose: that he struggled with drug addiction and the emotional wreckage of three failed marriages, and that the place closest to his heart was not some club in New York or Mississippi but the remote Moroccan village of Jajouka, thousands of miles away.

And here's another article about how some folks are trying to turn legendary bluesman Robert Johnson's birthplace into a museum.

Duke Robillard stomps the blues again

Jim White — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Even though BlueNotes is still wandering the hills of West Virginia, I need to get to work on the four CDs I received recently from Stony Plain Records - all released about mid-year - especially since they are all very good and worthwhile albums. Since these have all been around for a while, you might already have some in your collection, but I'll run through them briefly in the next few days.

They are: Duke Robillard's Jumpin' Blues Revue with "Stomp! The Blues Tonight;" Joe Louis Walker's "Between a Rock and the Blues;" Ronnie Earl's "Living in the Light;" and "Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy."

Today we'll tackle Robillard's latest, and he picks up with the kind of jump blues and big-band sound that he made famous as the one-time leader of Roomful of Blues, modern masters of the jump blues genre.

As usual, Robillard brings his fine guitar work, full of big fat notes and liquid runs. He's a master of many styles, but mostly a master of his own guitar.

But here, he also brings a host of guests, flipping his sound back a few decades by adding a horn section that really spanks the blues along, with Doug Jones and Rich Lataille on sax, Al Basile on cornet and Carl Querfurth on trombone. Bruce Bears adds some rollicking piano.

Maybe most important, Sunny Crownover join Duke on vocals, adding a touch of the great female vocalists with tunes like Helen Humes' "Million Dollar Secret" and originals like Robillard's "Look But Don't Touch."

The band draws on a variety of good old music like Lowell Fulson's "Do Me Right," Roy Milton's "Baby, You Don't Know," Wynonie Harris' "Playful Baby," and the classic "Money's Getting' Cheaper."

Robillard is always on top of his game, whether he's playing a straight blues, some fine old R&B, or jazzy licks. It's no different here, as he works in what could be considered his first language. This is a good look at some vintage Robillard.

Of blues and beer in Philadelphia, and Burgh blues shows

Jim White — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Well, BlueNotes has returned from his long weekend in Philly, having missed Gary Belloma at the Palisades on Saturday and Eric Lindell's show Tuesday night at Moondog's. Any comments on those events? I hope they were well attended.

The Philly trip, by the way, produced nothing in the way of blues -- a search of several listings online produced nothing that seemed worthwhile. Could the City of Brotherly Love be lacking in love of the blues? But it was not a wasteland for cousin BeerNotes, who found several establishments that more than satisfied his beer jones. Among the best was an item on the Extreme Beer Menu at Tria's in the very cool Rittenhouse Square area, where we tried the very satisfying ‘T Gaverhopke Extra, a 12% Belgian, as dark and smooth and sexy as a blues guitar. Not to mention the spicy Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin, which brought a smile like a jack-o-lantern

When did this become a beer column, you ask? Whenever BlueNotes has nothing else to write about.

But in the stack of mail I found on my return to the BlueNotes World Headquarters was a package of four fine-looking CDs from Stony Plain Records, the very excellent roots 'n' bues label in Edmunton, Canada, with some excellent CDs from this summer (I guess BN is at the bottom of their list, too, just like he is for everyone else), including new discs from Ronnie Earl, Duke Robillard, Maria Muldaur and Joe Louis Walker, all of which I'll be writing about soon.

And don't forget tomorrow night, when fiery harpman Jason Ricci and sensuous guitar siren Ana Popovic take the stage at Moondog's. The last time they were there together, they burned up the stage with heated blues jams.

And then on Saturday night, Jeff Ingersoll of Bonedog Records presents the Bonedog Records Revue at the Palisades in McKeesport featuring Jimmy Adler, Miss Freddye and Robert Peckman (one of my favorite proponents of great old music) and the Bonedog Allstars.

Sadly, I'll be out of town for the weekend again. Enjoy these shows without me, if you can.

And thanks to Bluzer for those Veterans Day comments and links. BlueNotes hisself one wielded a typewriter in the service of his country in what was then West Germany, where he sharpened his taste for excellent beer and wine and went on may maneuvers in search of freedom and fräuleins.

Back to the future with Marc Benno's "Crawlin"

Jim White — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Once upon a time, back in the day -- roughly the early 1970s -- a handful of guitarists and musicians were tearing up the territory around Austin, Texas, including a young Stevie Ray Vaughan, Marc Benno and Doyle Bramhall.

They came together with Billy Etheridge and Tommy McClure to form a hot little blues-rock band called Marc Benno and the Nigthcrawlers, and toured and made quite a name for themselves in local music circles. They even came up with a bunch of songs for an album titled "Crawlin," which they recorded -- just before their record deal fell apart, and put this record on the shelf in 1973.

But now, thanks to the efforts of a little label called Blue Skunk Music, you can go back and hear Stevie and Marc play lead guitar, with Marc on vocals, and work their way through a set of bluesy rock that sounds like it could have been recorded last month. They also added four songs that were recorded shortly after "Crawlin" was shelved, and now you get a look at the roots of some of the best Texas blues rock of the day.

I especially like the uptempo tracks, starting off with the opener, "Last Train," and it's bluesy riffs and wails, and the young Benno doing his best Southern bluesman vocals. He wrote or cowrote most of the tracks, with Bramhall and McClure contributing a nice scorching "Love is Turning Green," and Vaughan creating the title track. Stevie also plays lead on a couple of songs that were added later -- "Whole Thang" and "Long Ride Home."

It's a fun CD, that gives a nice look into the early days of some of the roots of Texas blues rock.

Here are a few audio clips:

"Last Train" (Please visit the site to view this media)

"Love is Turning Green" (Please visit the site to view this media)

"Long Ride Home" (Please visit the site to view this media)

Coming up tomorrow is the fine New Orleans-flavored musician, Eric Lindell. He'll be doing a studio show at WYEP at 1 p.m., then a set at Moondog's tomorrow night at 8. Catch him if you can.

The night of Friday the 13th, you can also catch guitarist Ana Popovic and harp player Jason Ricci at Moondog's. They burned up the stage the last time they were there, and should produce an exciting show.

I mention these dates now, because, as you read this, I'm spending a few days across the state in Philadelphia. I won't make it to the Lindell show, and I'm not sure about Ana and Jason. So reviews or photos are definitely welcome.

For your enjoyment, here is a slideshow of photos from the Bye Week Blues show at Moondog's a week ago, sponsored by the Blues Society of Western Pa.

Zac Harmon ~ "From the Root" explores all shades of the blues

Jim White — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

BlueNotes is way behind on this CD -- it was released in April I think -- but it's still worth calling your attention to the album and the artist.

The artist is Zac Harmon, out of Jackson, Miss., many years ago, and the album is "From the Root" (NorthernBlues), a look at blues and soul and other fine music that Harmon seems to have mastered with considerable skill and musicality.

Harmon is an IBC winner, a singer-songwriter, an excellent guitarist and a man who seems to want to explore many possibilities that are included in the blues genre -- some sweet soul, R&B, some reggae, some acoustic and some tough down-home blues. He does them all well, and if I had one criticism of this CD, it would be that it moves around a little bit too much between these styles.

Still, it's a fine showcase for his talents as a silky-smooth soul balladeer, a tough blues singer, and an axeman who can wrap his music around all of those styles.

The CD shifts between sensuous, soulful blues like the opener, "Don't Give Me Another Reason," to the final tough acoustic "Man is Not Meant to be Alone." Harmon sounds like another of those blues talents who hasn't yet gotten enough national recognition for his talents. Maybe this album will help.

Here's a clip of each of those songs:

"Don't Give Me Another Reason" (Please visit the site to view this media)

"Man is Not Meant to be Alone" (Please visit the site to view this media)

And here's a video from a recent concert:

A couple of upcoming local shows

Jeff Ingersoll, the head BoneDaddy of Bonedog Records in McKeesport, seems determined to keep producing fine shows at the Palisades Ballroom in McKeesport, hard on the shores of the mighty Youghiogheny, that feature local blues talent.

He has two shows coming up, one this Saturday (11.7), and one the following Saturday (11.14). This Saturday will feature fine Burgh bluesguy Gary Belloma and the Blue Bombers, and the following weekend offers up Jimmy Adler, Miss Freddye, and Robert "Pecky" Peckman and the Bonedog Allstars. I'll be in Philadelphia this weekend, applying for a job as pitching coach, so I'll miss Gary, but we'll see what next week holds.

The Palisades, by the way, is a great place for concerts -- it's big enough to hold a good crowd, but still small enough to get you up close and personal. And there's lots of room to dance (not that BlueNotes is Fred Astaire, or even Ginger Rogers, but he's been known to move his feet around a little bit once the drugs take effect).

Blues legends spread some harmonica jam

Jim White — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Here's a great video clip from the American Folk Blues Festival in Germany in 1965. It came my way in a newsletter from Bob Corritore, a Phoenix blues harp player, who's obviously a fan of harp players.

This clip shows Big Mama Thornton, Big Walter Horton, J.B. Lenoir, Dr. Ross, and John Lee Hooker, taking turns on harp at the festival. Maybe you've seen this. I hadn't, and it's a lot of fun for its look at all these blues greats in one place.

Here's a very nice piece from NPR on a book by William Ferris, "Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues," a collection of short articles about blues musicians he found while traveling Highway 61in Mississippi in the 1960s and '70s. The book sounds interesting.

Some blues notes: Blues Blast winners, Bye Week Blues, harpist Norton Buffalo dies

Jim White — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Blues Blast, the online blues magazine with a set of awards that lets the public (you) vote on favorites, has announced its winners from this year's poll. They are all interesting choices. You can see all the nominees in those categories here.

Here's the list:

Best Contemporary Blues Recording
The Insomniacs - At Least I'm Not With You

Best Traditional Blues Recording
Various Artists - Chicago Blues: A Living History

Best Blues Song
Albert Castiglia - "Bad Year Blues"

Best Blues Band
Nick Moss & the Flip Tops

Best Male Artist
Elvin Bishop

Best Female Artist
Robin Rogers

Best New Artist Debut Recording
Chris James & Patrick Rynn - Stop And Think About It

Sean Costello Rising Star Award
Kilborn Alley Blues Band

Food bank wins on the bye week

Don Vecchio of the Blues Society of Western Pa. reports that the Bye Week Blues show at Moondog's on Sunday raised $2,000 and a dozen cases of food for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

Norton Buffalo dies

Harp player Norton Buffalo, who played with -- among many others -- the very fine blues slide guitarist Roy Rogers, has died at the age of 58. He had played with the Steve Miller Band for years, and was regarded as one of the most versatile harp players around, having recorded on 180 albums with all kinds of musicians. Here's his obit, from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Here's a video of Buffalo and one of his best-known songs, "Ain't No Bread in the Breadbox":