Jim Mesi Band

Jim Mesi Band - Shut Up and Play - 1998 - Just Ducky Records

The late Paul Joseph deLay was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1952, and in the early 1970's, Paul , drummer Lloyd Jones and Jim Mesi formed an electric blues band called Brown Sugar in Portland, and played to enthusiastic crowds all over the West Coast. They laid the foundation for Portland's reputation as one of the country's great blues towns. In 1976, the Paul deLay Blues Band was founded, and toured for over a decade. Jim Mesi has continued this great classic electric blues style. "Shut Up and Play" is an all instrumental allbum, and runs the gamut of blues and R&B's styles. It's a very diverse album full of various guitar styles, and is more surf rock and rockabilly orientated album than other Jim Mesi recordings. If you like early Chuck Berry, you will like this album. The music is also strongly reminiscent of Cliff Richard's famous backing band, The Shadows, and Jim Mesi's guitar work is very much like sixties Hank Marvin. You won't find any intricate SRV or Robben Ford extended guitar solos here, but Jim Mesi is a wonderful guitarist in his own right, and is very highly esteemed by many great blue/rock artists. For Jim Mesi blues/R&B's with a harder edge, check out his"Blues for Christopher" and "Hot Night at the Candlelight" albums.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Memphis - Berry
2. American Bandstand - Byron, Mardones
3. Pipeline - Carman, Spickard
4. Song for Christopher - Mesi
5. Walk -- Don't Run - Smith
6. Hideaway - King, Thompson
7. Fessin' 'n' Fussin' - Weinberg
8. Mr. Smarty Pants - Mesi
9. Sleepwalk - Farina, Wolf
10. San-Ho-Zay - King, Thompson
11. Mad House - Mesi
12. Misirlou - Roubanis
13. Short -- Guy Shuffle
14. Wham - Mack
15. Alberta Street Blues - Mesi

BAND

Jim Mesi Guitar, Pedal Steel
Dover Jon Weinberg, Keyboards, Piano, Hammond B-3
Jimmy Solberg Bass
Jeff Minnick, Drums

BIO

Jim Mesi has been a cornerstone of the Pacific Northwest music scene for some years. Originally from Portland, Mesi was one of the founding members of Brown Sugar, the original rhythm and blues band in the Pacific Northwest, and a seminal influence on the Northwest blues scene: Brown Sugar spawned the Paul de Lay Band--for which Jim was the lead guitarist and featured soloist for several years--and the Lloyd Jones Struggle. But Mesi hasn't confined his talents to just the local scene. He has toured and played with many nationally renowned acts, including B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison, Albert Collins, Big Walter Horton, Johnny Otis, John Hammond, Mary Wells, and a host of other top entertainers. Jim's guitar style is unique, masterful, and evocative. He has the rare ability to engage audiences of all kinds and tastes with his powerful, melodic, and emotional artistry. He has won numerous awards, including best band, best guitarist nine times, and five awards from Fresh Weekly Music Magazine. He was inducted into the Cascade Blues Association's Blues Hall of Fame in November, 1995. He has received consistently enthusuastic reviews from many major newspapers, is ranked as one of Portland's top 1995 guitarists by The Oregonian, and has been featured in Rolling Stone and Sunset magazines. Jim has current endorsement deals with both Chandler guitars and Rivera amps. He is in constant demand as a session player for other artists' recordings, on both standard and pedal-steel guitar. Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top remarked in Guitar Player magazine that Jim Mesi is one of his top three favorite guitar players in the world. One recent review summed it up well: "Guitar monster Mesi is one of the few players who gives the impression that every possible sound and solo is at his fingertips...you will not only dance the night away but also witness a graduate-level seminar in riffology." After his lengthy stint on the national scene, Mesi returned to his home town and formed the Jim Mesi Band in 1989. His top-notch experience, uncanny musicianship, and solid professionalism have resulted in one of the most sought after, frequently booked, and highly regarded bands around. Playing an ever-changing, eclectic, and crowd-pleasing blend of musical styles, the Jim Mesi Band works over three hundred dates a year, playing clubs, concerts and festivals all over the West Coast and beyond. The band's summer 1995 European tour included award-winning dates in Iceland, England, Scotland, Holland, Germany, and Macedonia. The Mesi Band has been a featured regular act at the Candlelight Room, Portland's most popular blues club, for over three years. Their latest CD has sold out three production runs. When you hear the Jim Mesi Band, you'll know why. © 1999 Cascade Blues Association

MORE ABUT JIM MESI

Portland native Mesi got his start in Brown Sugar, one of the two leaders of Portland’s thriving 1970's blues scene (the other was Sleazy Pieces). Brown Sugar was the springboard for the careers of vocalist and blues harp maestro Paul DeLay, guitarist/vocalist Lloyd Jones (the drummer then), and Mesi. When the group broke up in the 1980's, DeLay and Mesi continued as the Paul DeLay Band. Throughout the decade, the DeLay Band played to audiences of three hundred to five hundred people virtually every weekend. A substantial addition to the Mesi reputation came during this period, when the Paul DeLay Band was opening a show for blues guitar legend B.B. King. Toward the end of their set, Mesi looked out at the audience and noticed an especially familiar face up front. It was B.B. King himself, smiling, holding his hands as if praying, and bowing toward Mesi. Word quickly spread around the Northwest that the DeLay Band had a guitar player personally blessed by the great B.B. King. In 1988 Mesi broke away from the group, and started his own project, The Jim Mesi Band. In 1994, The Mesi Band, featuring singer Lily Wilde and guitarist Steve Bradley, released the live performance CD "Hot Night At The Candlelight" to rave reviews. In 1996, Mesi named his first solo CD "Blues For Christopher" in honor of his son. The album showcases Mesi's versatility and mastery of the classic styles of American electric music. From a Link Wray reverb twang to spicy pedal-steel guitar, and blues solo's that roar and wail, Mesi plays with an inventiveness and tone that few in the region can match. Mesi's second CD, "Shut Up And Play" is composed entirely of instrumentals. Watching other guitarists watch Mesi is a favorite pastime in Portland bars. When Mesi plays, other guitarists' jaws drop at the melodic adventurousness of his soloing. As a measure of this respect, Mesi was named to the Cascade Blue's Society's Blues Hall Of Fame in 1995. He has won many other awards including all five “Best Guitarist” awards from Fresh Weekly Music Magazine every year they had the awards, (Robert Cray was runner-up), best musical act from Two Louie’s Magazine, received several "Muddy Awards" from the Cascade Blues Association for LIFETIME ACHEIVEMENT in 2000, best band in 1992, best guitarist nine times, inducted into the hall of fame in 1995, and two “Muddy Awards” in 2001 for "Best Northwest Album of the Year" and "Best Performance of the Year" (at the 2001 Portland Waterfront Blues Festival). He has received consistently enthusiastic reviews from many major newspapers, is ranked as one of Portland's top guitarists by The Oregonian, and has been featured in Rolling Stone and Sunset Magazine. © 2008, www.woodennickel.com