Eric Bibb

Eric Bibb - Diamond Days - 2007 - Telarc

The international troubadour, Eric Bibb, makes his strongest, yet most personal statement to date with his new album Diamond Days. This is an album to read as much as listen to. It is a journey into and through this unique artist. No other compilation of songs gives you a greater insight into the workings of the wonderful Mr Bibb – from the glorious, moving personal crossroad of "Heading Home", to the loving humility in the tribute to those who formed his music, "Still Livin' On", through the upbeat celebration of life that is "Shine On". Eric Bibb has written and recorded the album of his career in Diamond Days. © 2008, ABC Online Home

Eric Bibb, the folk blues singer-songwriter has been performing around the world for over thirty years. This acoustic album demonstrates his eclectic approach with a variety of styles, including the African-flavored "Tall Cotton," the romantic, gospel-tinged "Story Book Hero," and an expert fingerpicking version of Dylan's "Buckets of Rain." An excellent album, and HR by A.O.O.F.C

TRACKS

- Tall Cotton
- Destiny Blues
- Shine On
- So Glad
- Storybook Hero
- Diamond Days
- Dr Shine
- Heading Home
- In My Father's House (Live)
- Forgiveness Is Gold
- Buckets Of Rain
- Still Livin' On
- Worried Man Blues (bonus track)

MUSICIANS

Eric Bibb - vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar
Glen Scott - keyboard, snare drum, percussion, background vocals
Kim McLeod - background vocals
Jenny Bohman - harmonica
Staffan Astner - electric guitar
Janne Robertson - drum, percussion

REVIEWS

To call Eric Bibb a bluesman would be to oversimplify things. This New York-born artist has spent much of his career abroad and has a diverse musical pedigree that's long enriched his take on the genre. With revered jazz pianist John Lewis for an uncle and singer/actor/activist Paul Robeson as his godfather (Robeson's also the subject of a tribute album Bibb recorded recently with his father Leon), it's hardly surprising that he should have such an eclectic store of influences. 'Diamond Days' digs deep into this rich heritage and elsewhere for inspiration, kicking off with the splendid Tall Cotton which features slinky Congolese-style guitar from Kahanga 'Master Vumbi' Dekula. Still Living On namechecks significant role models like gospel icon Pops Staples and there's more of that gospel flavour on So Glad. The autobiographical Heading Home showcases Bibb's storytelling skills, as does Dr Shine which finds him convincingly mimicking the sales patter of a shoe-shine boy. The only cover is Dylan's Buckets Of Rain with Bibb's smooth, reassuring voice backed by the finger-picking talents of Britfolk legend Martin Simpson. There's more than a hint of bluegrass and country here, a feel that's reprised on Worried Man Blues. The arrangements are just as varied as the inspirations, with Bibb's nimble baritone acoustic and 12-string guitars augmented by hand-claps, keyboards, harmonica, muted trumpet and even tuba in a couple of places. Diamond Days is the sound of a mature artist taking stock and finding there's plenty of water left at the bottom of the well. - HMV Choice, Aug 2006, © HMV 2008

There is an old cliché that has often been applied when assessing the potential of an individual describing them as “a diamond in the rough.” There are no rough edges on Diamond Days or Eric Bibb the blues artist behind this fabulous new CD. The man is so effortless when he plays that one has difficulty determining where the guitar stops and where Bibb begins. He reminds me of one of my favorite guitar players, Eric Clapton. In particular, “Storybook Hero” prompts images of Clapton’s Unplugged (Live) album. “Storybook Hero” is an easygoing bayou song featuring Levi B. Saunders’ banjo backstopping Bibb’s acoustic guitar. Glen Scott’s doo-wop vocal support is as silky smooth as Bibb’s own voice. Gilles Bouvier’s French accordion creates a quaint personal ambience. Saunders and Bibby combined to write an old-fashioned song about a man confessing his love for his woman. The earthy “Dr Shine” is a ballad that allows us to see life through the eyes of a shoeshine man. This song is about a man who shines shoes for a living but takes great pride in his work. Bibb has an astounding ability to use words to create portraits of real life scenes. He brings to life the interaction between the traveler and the shoeshine man. Björn Gidonsson’s uneven drum beats run counter to Janne Peterson’s funky Wurlitzer chops as Bibb strums and sings the faith based “In My Father’s House”. The song is one of hope and acceptance for those who are at the end of the line. Often it is said that an artist must experience heartache and disappointment to give his or her voice the right inflection for singing the blues. Eric Bibb blows that myth away as he tells stories with a positive spin. He has retained the simple, ballad, earthy, and acoustic elements of traditional blues but this “ain’t no man singing about how the world dun him wrong.” The bonus track, “Worried Man Blues”, most emulates that theme but the singer turns an unfortunate event into a brighter day. There are twelve vocal tracks on Diamond Days, and all of them are to be treasured. Sometimes producers get in the way of the artist and obscure their talent but that is not the case with this CD. Producer/engineer Glen Scott created a simple acoustic environment and allowed the artists to play through. Honorable mentions need to go to Jim Shearer for his tuba work on “Still Live On”, Gary Compton (harmonica) on “Worried Man Blues”, and Paul Waller’s playing of the Hilo Hawaiian Lap-steel guitar on “Worried Man Blues”. Numerous other incredible musicians also appear on this project. [26 January 2007 - Rating 7, © Joe Montague, © 1999-2008 PopMatters.com. All rights reserved]

BIO (Wikipedia)

Eric Bibb was born in New York, NY August 16, 1951 is an American acoustic blues singer/songwriter who is based in London, and launched his career in Europe. Eric's father, Leon Bibb, is a singer in musical theatre who made a name for himself as part of the 1960's New York folk scene. His uncle was the world famous Jazz pianist and composer John Lewis, of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Family friends included Pete Seeger, Odetta and actor/singer/activist Paul Robeson, Eric's godfather. Eric was given his first steel-string acoustic guitar aged seven. Growing up surrounded by talent, Eric recalls a childhood conversation with Bob Dylan, who, on the subject of guitar playing advised the 11-year-old Eric to "Keep it simple, forget all that fancy stuff". Eric Bibb remembers from his early teen years; "I would cut school and claim I was sick. When everyone would leave the house I would whip out all the records and do my own personal DJ thing all day long, playing Odetta, Joan Baez, the New Lost City Ramblers, Josh White." At 16 years old, Eric's father invited him to play guitar in the house band for his TV talent show "Someone New". Bill Lee, who played bass in this band, was later to appear on Eric's albums "Me To You" and "Friends". In 1969, Bibb played guitar for the Negro Ensemble Company at St. Mark's place in New York. He went on to study Psychology and Russian at Columbia University, but did not finish these studies. Aged 19, Eric left for Paris, where he met guitarist Mickey Baker who focused his interest in blues guitar. He moved to Sweden and lived in Stockholm, where he immersed himself in pre-war blues and the newly discovered World Music scene, while he continued to write and perform. The album "Good Stuff" was released in 1997 on Opus 3 and American label Earthbeat. Eric signed to the British based Code Blue label, but only released one album: "Me to You", featuring appearances from some of Bibb's personal heroes: Pops and Mavis Staples, and Taj Mahal. This was followed by tours of the UK, USA, Canada, France, Sweden and Germany. In the late 90's Eric joined forces with his then manager Alan Robinson, to form Manhaton Records, in Britain. The albums "Home to Me" (1999), "Roadworks" (2000) and "Painting Signs" (2001) followed, as did another Opus 3 release, "Just Like Love". After that, "A Family Affair" (2002) - the first ever album recorded together by father and son - Leon & Eric Bibb. "Natural Light" then "Friends" - 15 tracks featuring Eric duetting with friends and musicians he has met on his travels such as Taj Mahal, Odetta, Charlie Musselwhite, Guy Davis, Mamadou Diabate and Djelimady Toukara. Eric has appeared on major TV and radio shows including Later with Jools Holland and The Late Late Show. Eric and his band have played at most of the world's major festivals including Glastonbury (twice) and the Cambridge Folk Festival in the UK. He joined Robert Cray on two U.S. tours in 2001 and 2002 and opened for Bonnie Raitt on a recent UK tour, and Ray Charles in the summer of 2002. In 2005 "A Ship Called Love" (Telarc CD-83629) was released and Eric went on another successful world tour, including a major 30-date US tour with John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers and Robben Ford . "A Ship Called Love" was nominated for Acoustic Album of the Year in the 2006 Blues Music Awards. In 2006 "Praising Peace" the Leon Bibb/Eric Bibb tribute to Paul Robeson, was released on Stony Plain Records. While in September "Diamond Days" was also released (Telarc CD-83660). It was produced by Glen Scott and recorded in UK, Sweden and Canada. It includes a live recording of 'In My Father's House' featuring Eric's long-time recording and touring partner Dave Bronze (Eric Clapton Band). As usual, there is a world tour resulting from this release. Eric's talent for both performing and songwriting has been recognised with a Grammy Nomination (for "Shakin' a Tailfeather") and 4 W. C. Handy Award nominations (for the albums "Spirit and the Blues" and "Home To Me"; for 'Kokomo' as Best Acoustic Blues Song of the Year, and for Best Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year). His songs have featured on TV shows such as BBC TV's Eastenders and Casualty, and The District in the USA. Eric's version of I Heard the Angels Singin was included in the feature film 'The Burial Society' and Eric appears on Jools Holland's double platinum-selling album "Small World, Big Band", singing his own composition 'All That You Are'. In Australia, Eric has appeared several times on ABC national television on the 'Live At The Basement' series. Eric has an ability to meld traditional blues styles with more contemporary sounds. As one critic put it "Eric's singing and versatile guitar playing fuses a variety of genres to become a New World Blues". "Eric is one of the new, young singers that has appeared on the scene that, much to my delight, has a great voice, is an excellent performer and has a great knowledge about the roots of this music" - Taj Mahal

Fragile State

Fragile State - Voices from the Dust Bowl - 2004 - Bar De Lune

Brilliant , atmospheric, cinematic electronica from the genuis of Neil Cowley & Ben Mynott, programmed with some of the most amazing string sections you will ever hear. This album has a truly beautiful sound guaranteed to make you chill. If you like Air, John Barry or Zero 7, this album is for you. Note : Fragile State have now split up. However, Neil Cowley under the name of Pretz has produced a solo album called Soundcastles. Definately worth tracking down if you like Fragile State. Also check out Fragile State's superb album from 2002, 'The Fact And The Dreams.'

TRACKS

01 Four-Four-Four (8:21)
02 King For A Day (6:34)
03 New Bassa (6:33)
04 Cleo (6:20)
05 600 Bliss (5:15)
06 Stolen Generation (2:21)
07 At Last (5:11)
08 Paper Smile (4:52)
09 Overcurrent (5:12)
10 Train Time (5:34)
11 Paper Tiger (5:59)

MUSICIANS

Neil Cowley & Ben Mynott

REVIEWS

Musical dilemma#27: How do you follow up an acclaimed debut album that had heaps of praise bestowed upon it, including being voted Down tempo Album of the Year by Blues & Soul magazine, the Big Chill's Pete Lawrence and BBC Radio London's Robert Elms? Logic would dictate the old adage of it-ain't-broke-don't fix-it. But logic is not what Fragile State are about. Our two protagonists of the beautifully chilled and deconstructed - Zero 7's Neil Cowley and music journalist Ben Mynott - have instead created a soundscape that boarders on soundtracks, afrocentric rhythms, jazz and contemporary classical. Conceptually - intentionally or otherwise - Voices From The Dust Bowl is an album for listening to from beginning to end. Don't go looking for singles, as whilst several might be flagged as suitable candidates, it's the overall feel that counts. The journey beginning with the minimalist bass and Rhodes led afro-beater "Four-Four-Four" allowing subtle harmonies to draw you in, before ebbing-and-flowing into the airy light rock of "King For A Day" (imagine Steely Dan jamming in some downtime). Highlights include the warm ambience on the Moby-esque "Cleo" - folky melodrama in the best tradition of Air and (not surprisingly) Zero 7; the near-classical arrangements on the John Barry-inspired "New Bassa"; and the chilled drum 'n' bass tempoed "Overcurrent". While the big tune finale, "Paper Tiger", sounds uncannily like a seventies Blaxploitation number scored by Quincy, Curtis or Marvin. Voices From The Dust Bowl is a sophomore set of bucolic impressions and beguiling dream-inducing electronica, electing not to be a Xerox of their debut, but a worthy adversary. It's that which may similarly see it being crowded as an Album of the Year come December. © Andrew McGregor, 08 March 2004 , http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Combining the talents of Neil Cowley and Ben Mynott, Fragile State drops a collection of exquisitely soulful and funky down tempo jams on this full-length release. From the haunting, soundtrack-esque “Four-four-four” to the soul inspired “King For A Day” and lush magnificence of “600 Bliss”; this is a lovely and inspired ride on summer afternoon. Well actually, it is just a CD but if you close your eyes tight enough, you can almost feel the heat. © 2008 About, Inc., A part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved

Fragile State are made up of Neil Cowley formally of Zero 7 and Ben Mynott the well known and revered journalist who writes for Blues & Soul. 'Voices From The Dust Bowl' and 'Facts And The Dreams' are two albums that when they were released received wide spread critical acclaim making them standout chillout albums of the year. © 2002 – 2008 Last.fm Ltd.

For some, Fragile State evokes the orchestral style of British film composer John Barry — best known for the James Bond theme — but the duo's undulating, atmospheric sound owes more to '70s psychedelic soul, ethnic trance and electronic sci-fi music. Neil Cowley brings his recent stint on keyboards with Zero 7 to the funky syncopation of “Overcurrent” and the opening “Four-Four-Four,” which recall the bouncy grooves of State's debut, The Facts and the Dreams, while the string-heavy “Paper Smile” is a pure stroke of ethereal ambience. © Bill Murphy, http://remixmag.com/

BIO

Neil Cowley is an experienced musician whose keyboard skills has seen him tour extensively with Zero 7 amongst others. His production credits include East West Connection and Freil who recently had a single out on San Franciscos globally acclaimed Naked Music Recordings. Ben Mynott is a highly respected music journalist and has a monthly jazz/house column in B&S magazine. Ben has compiled two albums for Jazz Fm (Spirit Of The Street Pts 1 & 2), the nu*phusion album on Quiet Riot, and has a new series of soulful & sexy house compilations called Nu De Lune for Bar De Lune. © www.giantstep.net


BIO (BEN MYNOTT)

Ben Mynott has firmly established himself as a mainstay in the downtempo field and goes from strength to strength as a compilation connoisseur. He was one half of the critically acclaimed downtempo act, Fragile State, who were compared to Air, John Barry and Zero 7, and his talents and production prowess was lauded by the music press and record buying public alike. Over the three years Fragile State became, through the beauty of their acclaimed debut album 'The Facts & The Dreams', a firm favourite with the likes of Pete Lawrence, Mixmaster Morris, Rob Da Bank, LTJ Bukem, Groove Armada, The Bays, Jimpster, Ali B, Patrick Forge, Phil Mison, Richard Dorfmeister, Rainer Trüby, Faze Action, Ashley Beedle and Mr Scruff. The list goes on. 'The Facts And The Dreams', was an album that was awarded the title of Downtempo Album Of The Year by Robert Elms (BBC London) and Pete Lawrence (The Big Chill) amongst others. They were then this year soundtracked for the UK Vodafone Adverts which built their reputation further and Ben's marketing skills went even further still resulting in major sponsorship deals with Creative and Fred Perry, Fragile State split during the summer to concentrate on new projects, new ambitions. Ben is also a freelance journalist, with a regular jazzy house/downtempo column for B&S Magazine and is no stranger to the compilation market. He compiled albums for Jazz Fm/Hed Kandi Records (Spirit Of The Street - Pt's 1&2), the nu*phusion album on Quiet Riot, and a series of soulful & sexy house compilations called Nu De Lune for Bar De Lune. Ben also compiled the acclaimed and highly sought-after 'Just Got Home' album which brought together tracks from Yukimi Nagano, Weekend Players Gare du Nord, Hint, Troublemakers, Cocteau Twins and RSL. Others albums of his include 'Ben Mynott presents Unearthed', 'Café Karma', 'Private Party', 'Fashionista Métropolitain' and 'At Home...' on Slip 'n' Slide. Ben has a successful radio show on Worldspace Radio, Washington DC and the emphasis is always on stunningly beautiful melodic downtempo music - 'just beautiful tunes really'). The Fluid shows for this have gone down well both sides of the Atlantic. One Fluid show mix was described by a Big Chiller as 'Probably the best I've heard since Erlend Øye did the DJ kicks'. In additional, Ben has a new Chillout Show which he presents on Bournemouth's Fire FM, Saturday's 4am-7am, Sunday's 4am-7am, playing the very best in Chillout, downtempo, leftfield and jazzy breaks. Aside from making and playing music, Ben runs Fluid Nation, a music marketing company that looks after and promotes such labels as Naked Music Recording. © www.fluidnation.com/

Tower Of Power

Tower Of Power - The Very Best Of Tower Of Power The Warner Years - 2001 - Rhino / Wea

From the band that’s practically synonymous with the badass horn section come 16 full-length versions of the funkiest jams and smoothest ballads from their 1972 - 1975 golden era on Warner Bros. Check out their great 1974 "Back To Oakland" album @ TOP/B2O/74

TRACKS

01. You Got To Funkifize
02. What Happened To The World That Day?
03. Down To The Nightclub
04. You're Still A Young Man
05. What Is Hip?
06. So Very Hard To Go
07. This Time It's Real
08. Will I Ever Find A Love?
09. Soul Vaccination
10. Time Will Tell
11. Below Us, All The City Lights
12. Don't Change Horses (In The Middle Of A Stream)
13. Willing To Learn 14. Only So Much Oil In The Ground
15. I Won't Leave Unless You Want Me To
16. You're So Wonderful, So Marvelous

MUSICIANS

Chester Thompson - piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Clavinet, organ, Arp synthesizer
Lenny Pickett - flute, alto flute, soprano, alto, tenor & bass saxophones, clarinet, contrabass clarinet, lyricon
Lenny Williams
Mic Gillette - trumpet, piccolo trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, bass trombone, French horn, baritone horn
Greg Adams - trumpet, flugelhorn, French horn, bells
David Garibaldi
Stephen "Doc" Kupka - oboe, English horn, baritone saxophone
Francis "Rocco" Prestia - bass
Emilio "Mimi" Castillo - vocals, tenor saxophone
Skip Mesquite - flute, tenor saxophone

ALBUM / MUSICIAN CREDITS

Tower Of Power: Emilio Castillo (vocals, tenor saxophone); Lenny Williams, Rick Stevens, Hubert Tubbs (vocals); Bruce Conte, Willie Fulton (guitar); Lenny Pickett (flute, alto flute, soprano, alto, tenor & bass saxophones, clarinet, contrabass clarinet, lyricon); Skip Mesquite (flute, tenor saxophone); Stephen "Doc" Kupka (oboe, English horn, baritone saxophone); Mic Gillette (trumpet, piccolo trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, bass trombone, French horn, baritone horn); Greg Adams (trumpet, flugelhorn, French horn, bells); Chester Thompson (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Clavinet, organ, Arp synthesizer); Francis Rocco Prestia (bass); David Garibaldi, David Bartlett (drums); Brent Byars (congas, bongos). Producers: Ron Capone, Emilio Castillo, Tower Of Power. Compilation producers: Emilio Castillo, Stephen "Doc" Kupka, Gary Peterson. Recorded between 1972 & 1975.

ABOUT THE GROUP

In the mid-1960s, 17-year-old tenor saxophonist Emilio Castillo moved from Detroit, Michigan, to Fremont, California. He started a band called The Gotham City Crime Fighters[1] which evolved into the Motowns, specializing in soul music. In 1968, Castillo teamed up with baritone saxophonist Stephen "Doc" Kupka (aka "The Funky Doctor") and trumpet/trombone player Mic Gillette, moved to Oakland, and began writing original material. They changed the band's name to Tower of Power and began playing frequently in the Bay Area.
In 1970, Tower of Power (by then including trumpeter Greg Adams) signed a recording contract with Bill Graham's San Francisco Records and quickly released its first album, East Bay Grease. They moved to Warner Bros. Records and 1972's Bump City and 1973's self-titled release were breakout albums for the band; the latter included possibly their most enduring song, What is Hip?. On some of their releases in mid-1970s, such as Urban Renewal (1974), the band moved towards funk, but always continued recording ballads as well. After vocalist Lenny Williams left, the band's days of commercial success were over. In late 1970s they moved towards disco sounds.
Tower of Power has remained active throughout the years, and is still touring. Personnel changes have been part of the history and evolution of the band; at least 60 musicians have performed, toured, and/or recorded with the band through the years, including Saturday Night Live musical director Lenny Pickett, drummer David Garibaldi, trumpet Rick Waychesko, bassist Rocco Prestia, saxophonist Richard Elliot, and bassist and BALCO founder Victor Conte whose cousin Bruce Conte played guitar in the band as well (Bruce Conte has recently rejoined). After leaving the band, one of their original vocalists, Rick Stevens, was sentenced to life in prison on three counts of first-degree murder. The other original vocalist, Rufus Miller, performed most of the lead vocals on "East Bay Grease."
Tower of Power has released 18 albums over the years (Compilations and regional variations not included), the latest being 2003's return to form Oakland Zone. In addition, the horn section has become well-known as a backing unit for other artists. The TOP horn section has appeared on many artists' recordings, including Little Feat, the Monkees, Santana, Elton John, Linda Lewis, John Lee Hooker, Rod Stewart, Jefferson Starship, Heart, Huey Lewis and the News, Spyro Gyra, Lyle Lovett, Poison, Phish, and Aerosmith. The song, "So Very Hard To Go" was featured in the soundtrack of the film City of God.
Tower of Power has also made special guest appearances in the albums of other major recording solo artists. In 1993, the band was featured in Luis Miguel's album Aries, in a cover of "Attitude Dance" titled "Que Nivel de Mujer." Most recently, Tower of Power has been featured on Josh Groban's Awake album, during an instrumental break in Machine. Copyright © 2007 Answers Corporation. All rights reserved

Joe Beard Featuring Duke Robillard & Friends

Joe Beard Featuring Duke Robillard & Friends - For Real - 1998 - Audioquest

For Real finds Joe Beard fronting a blues dream team consisting of the great guitar stylist Robillard along with Bruce Katz, Per Hanson and Rod Carey - better known as Ronnie Earl's crack band "The Broadcasters" until a few months ago. Jerry Portnoy, known for his awesome harp work with Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton, joins in on four of the tracks. For Real is a potent combination of Beard originals and homages to Joe's main men, Lightning Hopkins and John Lee Hooker. Listen ... Joe Beard is For Real!

TRACKS

Drinking Old Taylor (Beard) - 2:59
Don't Start Me Talking (Williamson) - 3:26
It's up to You (Beard) - 4:44
See See Rider (Hopkins) - 3:33
Dirty Groundhog (Hooker) - 2:14
Reap What You Sow (Beard) - 3:30
Elem (Beard) - 8:13
Who's Using Who (Beard) - 3:05
The Things I Used to Do (Guitar Slim [Eddie Jones]) - 4:35
If That's What Pleases Her (Beard) - 3:17
She's Wonderful (Beard) - 7:59
37 Years Old (Beard) - 2:52
Airplane Blues (Hopkins) - 3:01

MUSICIANS

Joe Beard - Guitar, Vocals
Duke Robillard - Guitar
Bruce Katz - Piano, Hammond B-3
Jerry Portnoy - Harmonica
Rod Carey - Bass
Per Hanson - Drums

REVIEWS

Sixty-year-old, Mississippi-born Joe Beard is a gifted lyricist and composer, interesting blues interpreter, and rhythmic guitarist. His juke-joint sounds explode from this new disc. Beard's shifting orientations toward dance rhythms are amply illustrated in his own tunes ("Reap What You Sow" and "Drinking Old Taylor") as well as on his masterful revisitings of songs associated with Lightin' Hopkins ("See See Rider") and Guitar Slim ("The Things I Used to Do"). Duke Robillard's steady guitar and Bruce Katz's gospel piano add strong dimensions to Beard's vocals. Jerry Portnoy's harp accompaniment is distinctive, too. But the focus throughout For Real is Joe Beard. His talkin' blues style ("Airplane Blues" and "Dirty Groundhog") is convincing, and clearly John Lee Hooker-influenced. But it is the total authenticity of the entire 13-song set that screams for future Beard releases. © B. Lee Cooper, History, University of Great Falls,Great Falls MT 59405, lcooper@ugf.edu, © 2001 Popular Press, © 2003 Gale Group

The liner notes to For Real (AudioQuest Music) calls Joe Beard an almost-hidden blues treasure, and that's a good description of this very good singer and guitarist from Rochester, N.Y. Backed here by a band led by blues stars Duke Robillard and Ronnie Earl, Beard shows us a voice and style somewhat reminiscent of Smokey Wilson, although not quite as raw. Most of the tunes on For Real are originals, with my favorites being the nice, slow blues "It's Up To You" and the talking blues of "Elem," the latter featuring good piano work from Bruce Katz. © Bill Mitchell, © 1998, Blue Night Productions. All rights reserved.

BIO

Affable and elegant, Joe Beard snakes through the crowd toward the bandstand, pausing to shake hands and smile. It's a big smile that lights up the room.
The band is already cruising mid-stroll as Beard straps on his big red guitar. He hits the strings, and the guitar responds in bright bursts while his thumb casually works the bottom end. The music swells, the room heats up, people in the audience shed jackets, and the windows start to fog as Beard begins to sing with a bone-chilling urgency and want.
Beard is a world-class blues musician who has hung his hat in Rochester since 1954. He could rattle off a list of musicians he's worked with over the years --- BB King, Muddy Waters, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Floyd Murphy, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson, Lafayette Leake, Odie Payne, Willie Dixon, Son House. He considers them friends and heroes, but they are also his peers.
He has played for presidents. He has played with Kings. He has gigged all over the world playing the blues with the same fervor he does every night here at home, where many local fans may not be aware of his significance.
Beard was born in Ashland, Mississippi, in 1938. His parents were sharecroppers, and Beard was the youngest of their 12 children. The household sometimes included musician friends sharing the living space. So Beard was surrounded by guitars and music, though he wouldn't pick up the guitar until he was about 18 years old.
"As long as I can remember, there's always been a guitar," he says. "My cousin, a gentleman by the name of Wes Fells, from Louisiana --- I can remember I was about 6 or 7 years old, and I used to sing when he played the guitar. At that time, I never thought about playing the guitar myself. But I always knew I could play. It was always in me that I could play guitar."
His early influences were unrecorded rural musicians whose expression wasn't clouded by performance or fame. Among them was blind guitarist Nathan Beauregard, who lived with the Beards. Joe Beard learned the blues while serving as Beauregard's eyes.
"Down South in those days, they'd have house parties," Beard says. "I'd lead him, and he'd go and play the guitar. And I got to really listen to him."
But some of these influences wouldn't even leave the house.
"Ernest Scruggs," Beard says. "This man was amazing. He never played out. But the man could listen to a song on the jukebox and play it. The guy was amazing, I'm tellin' ya. But he would not play out. You could not get him to play a tune anywhere except the living room."
"The first thing I learned to play was something I heard Ernest Scruggs play when he used to live with us," says Beard. "It was things I'd never heard before. It was wonderful. I still do those things to this day."
When Beard was 8, his mother died and the family moved to Memphis. And by the 1950's, the blues were changing and growing and getting electrified. So was Beard's curiosity. He started going out and sneaking into places where kids don't necessarily belong.
"I was very young," he says. "The people at the club didn't mind. If you got in, fine. If you didn't get in, it was still fine. It made no difference to them."
"Where I lived, BB King used to play a club called Roosevelt Lake, outside the Tennessee line in Mississippi," he says. "This was around 1952, and he had just made his first record at that time. The club was a grocery store in front, a bar and dance hall in the middle, and a gambling hall in the back. They had slot machines."
But King's take on blues didn't really speak to Beard at the time.
"That single pickin,'" he says, "I didn't really like that. I was really into John Lee Hooker and Lightning Hopkins." Both were players who picked multiple notes, often within rhythmic chords, all the while working a bass run on the bottom strings.
Looking for work, Beard lived briefly in Dallas, then in Canton, Ohio, and landed in Rochester in 1954, getting work as an electrician.
And finally, in the late 50's, he picked up the guitar, and by 1962 was playing professionally in The Lincoln Continentals, a local trio led by John Ellison. (Ellison went on to front The Soul Brother Six and cut the hit "Some Kind Of Wonderful.")
The Continentals played soul, working gigs between Rochester and Chicago. But the blues were calling Beard louder than soul.
"I like listening to that type of music," says Beard, "but it's not in me to do it." Besides, the clubs The Lincoln Continentals found themselves in --- like the 30-30 Club on Chicago's West Side --- were more blues-type joints.
"What we were doing wasn't going over so well," he says.
So they switched it up; Ellison went to bass, and Beard started playing the guitar and singing. And now the blues came out.
"It went over real well," he says.
During this period, the band played with blues greats like Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy.
One night, while sharing the bill with Sonny Boy Williamson, Beard played his version of John Lee Hooker's "Sally Mae."
"A man comes up to me and says, ‘Where you learn that from?'" Beard recalls. "And I said, ‘John Lee Hooker.' And he says, ‘You did a helluva job. Damn, if you didn't do a better job on that song than I did. I'm John Lee Hooker.'"
"He was very nice about it," says Beard. "We kept pretty good friends."
It was the conversation with Hooker that really lit the spark in Beard.
"He said, ‘You're in the wrong field,'" says Beard. "‘You should put that bass down and start playing the blues on the guitar.' I really started to sing and play after that."
Another blues legend befriended Beard when the two became neighbors in Rochester in the early 60's. The old man living next door at 65 Grieg Street started hanging out with Beard, playing guitar and telling him all kinds of tales.
"We'd sit on the steps there," Beard says. "I had a guitar, you know, and he'd play and I'd listen. He used to tell me all these stories about his life. He was a guitar player with Robert Johnson and all these things. Then he'd talk about Muddy Waters, Charlie Patton, all these people. I was paying attention, but not really believing what I was hearing."
But, says Beard, "come to find out, everything he was tellin' me was true."
The neighbor was the legendary Delta bluesman Son House, sharing stories and music with Beard two years before his rediscovery and re-emergence in 1964.
In the early 70's, Beard joined up with The Friends of the Blues, which included John Mooney and Rockin' Red, but he eventually split to form and front The Blues Union. Joe Beard and the Blues Union played clubs around town like The K&T Tavern on Jefferson Avenue, The Red Creek Inn in Henrietta, and BK Lounge on West Main Street between jaunts to cities like London, Ontario; New York, and Boston. The Band also backed up Buddy Guy and Junior Wells on a three-week US tour.
Though he still gigged locally and traveled some, family life kept Beard occupied during the 60's and 70's. He has two daughters and two sons, including the "Prince of the Blues," Chris Beard.
"When the kids were growing up, I stayed home," he says.
Beard first toured Europe in 1983 on the Heroes of the Blues Tour with Buster Benton, John Littlejohn, Lafayette Leake, Bob Stroger, and Odie Payne, hitting cities in Belgium, France, Norway, and Portugal. And there was one particularly memorable night in Spain.
"We did one of those huge arenas," he says. "Huge.I mean, people as far as you could see. Nothin' but people. They had a huge fence between us and the audience. At the end of the show, they started climbing the fence and it fell. Oh Jesus, I'm tellin' you I was never so scared before in my life."
Later jaunts overseas would include shows with Willie Dixon and Luther Allison.
And he has picked up a wide variety of admirers. Republican leader Lee Atwater was such a big fan that he got Beard to play George HW Bush's inaugural ball in DC. ("I'm not even a Republican," he says, laughing.)
He has played numerous blues festivals, including those in Chicago and Lucerne, Switzerland, as well as a headline tour of India in 2001. He has recorded four albums --- "No More Cherry Rose," "Blues Union," "For Real," and "Dealin'" --- with next-wave blues giants like Lucky Peterson, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters, and Duke Robillard backing him up. Beard still leads his own group and frequently gigs with guitarist Steve Grills, who backed up Beard last year for several sold-out shows at Biscuits & Blues in San Francisco.
The spotlight has never shone as brightly on Beard as it has on many of his contemporaries. But, he says, he has no regrets. "No," he says. "Not one bit." His are blues that'll knock out blue-collar, beer-drinking-on-a-Saturday-night blues fans or the leaders of nations.
"Knowing that I'm doing something that they're pleased to hear, that means a lot to me," he says. The first President Bush dug Beard's performance big time, so much so that he made a point to meet Beard backstage.
"He really loved the song ‘High Heel Sneakers,'" Beard says. [Published by Frank De Blase on Apr 03, 2007], Content © City Newspaper, 2007, www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/archives/2007/4/PROFILE:+Gentleman+Joe+Beard+and+the+blues

Keef Hartley Band

Keef Hartley Band - Seventy Second Brave - 1972 - Deram

Seventy Second Brave was the last Keef Hartley Band studio album. Hartley, often dressed as an American Indian, in full headdress and war paint, and was very popular on the small club circuit. His was one of the few British bands to play the Woodstock Festival, where critics compared him with Blood, Sweat And Tears. Not a bad comparison! Evidence of Gary's future signature style was more evident on this album than on any of the other KHB albums. Check out the killer "funky chicken" bass on the album. Quite a good recording, with some excellent funky jazz rock passages. Check out his 1970 "The Time Is Near" album, which is the best example of the Keef Hartley sound.

TRACKS

A1.Heartbreakin' Woman
Written-By - J. Kerr
A2.Marin County
Written-By - C. Mercer
A3.Hard Pill To Swallow
Written-By - P. Wingfield
A4.Don't You Be Long
Written-By - J. Kerr

B1.Nicturns
Written-By - C. Crowe
B2.Don't Sign It
Written-By - C. Mercer
B3.Always Thinkin' Of You
Written-By - C. Crowe
B4.You Say You're Together Now
Written-By - G.Thain
B5.What It Is
Written-By - C. Crowe

BAND

Junior Kerr - Guitar, Vocals
Pete Wingfield - Piano, Vocals
Gary Thain - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Chris Mercer - Tenor Sax, Baritone Sax
Nick Newell - Alto Sax, Flute
Keef Hartley - Drums
Mick Weaver - Organ

BIO

b. 8 March 1944, Preston, Lancashire, England. Together with Colosseum, the Keef Hartley Band of the late 60s, forged jazz and rock music sympathetically to appeal to the UK progressive music scene. Drummer Hartley had already had vast experience in live performances as Ringo Starr's replacement in Rory Storm And The Hurricanes. When Merseybeat died, Hartley was enlisted by the London-based R&B band the Artwoods, whose line-up included future Deep Purple leader Jon Lord. Hartley was present on their only album Art Gallery (now a much sought-after collector's item). He joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and was present during one of Mayall's vintage periods. Both Crusade and Diary Of A Band highlighted Hartley's economical drumming and faultless timing. The brass-laden instrumental track on John Mayall's Bare Wires is titled "Hartley Quits". The good-natured banter between Hartley and his ex-boss continued onto Hartley's strong debut Half Breed. The opening track "Hearts And Flowers" has the voice of Mayall on the telephone officially sacking Hartley, albeit tongue-in-cheek, while the closing track "Sacked" has Hartley dismissing Mayall! The music intervening features some of the best ever late 60s jazz-influenced blues, and the album remains an undiscovered classic.
The band for the first album comprised Miller Anderson (b. 12 April 1945, Johnston, Renfrewshire, Scotland; guitar and vocals), Gary Thain (b. 15 May 1948, Wellington, New Zealand, d. 19 March 1976; bass), Peter Dines (b. 17 December 1944, Hertford, England, d. 28 January 2004; organ) and Spit James (guitar). Later members to join Hartley's fluid line-up included Mick Weaver (aka Wynder K. Frog) organ, Henry Lowther (b. 11 July 1941, Leicester, England; trumpet/violin), Jimmy Jewell (saxophone), Johnny Almond (flute), Jon Hiseman (who guested on percussion and congas) and Harry Beckett. Hartley, often dressed as an American Indian, sometimes soberly, sometimes in full headdress and war paint, was a popular attraction on the small club scene. His was one of the few British bands to play the Woodstock Festival, where his critics compared him favourably with Blood, Sweat And Tears. The Battle Of NW6 in 1969 further enhanced his club reputation, although chart success still eluded him. By the time of the third album both Lowther and Jewell had departed, although Hartley always maintained that his band was like a jazz band, in that musicians could come and go and be free to play with other aggregations.
Dave Caswell and Lyle Jenkins came in and made The Time Is Near. This album demonstrated Miller Anderson's fine songwriting ability, and long-time producer Neil Slaven's excellent production. They were justly rewarded when the album briefly nudged its way into the UK and US charts. Subsequent albums lost the fire that Hartley kindled on the first three, although the formation of his Little Big Band and the subsequent live album had some fine moments. The recording at London's Marquee club saw the largest ever band assembled on the tiny stage; almost the entire British jazz/rock fraternity seemed to be present, including Chris Mercer, Lynn Dobson, Ray Warleigh, Barbara Thompson, and Derek Wadsworth. By the time Seventy Second Brave was released, Anderson had departed having signed a contract as a solo artist. He was clearly the jewel in Hartley's crown (or headgear) and the cohesion that Anderson gave the band as the main songwriter, lead vocalist and lead guitar was instantly lost. Future recordings also lacked Slaven's even production. Hartley and Anderson came together again in 1974 for one album as Dog Soldier but Hartley has been largely inactive in music for many years apart from the occasional tour with John Mayall and sessions with Michael Chapman. In the mid-90s he had a carpentry business in Preston, Lancashire, and although it is alleged that he no longer owns a drumkit attempts were made in the mid-90s to re-form the original line-up. A highly undervalued band requiring reappraisal.
DISCOGRAPHY: Halfbreed (Deram 1969)****, Battle Of NW6 (Deram 1970)***, The Time Is Near (Deram 1970)****, Overdog (Deram 1971)**, Little Big Band (Deram 1971)***, Seventy Second Brave (Deram 1972)**, Lancashire Hustler (Deram 1973)*, as Dog Soldier Dog Soldier (Deram 1975)**.
COMPILATIONS: The Best Of Keef Hartley (Decca 1972)***, Not Foolish Not Wise (Mooncrest 1999)**.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Copyright Muze UK Ltd. 1989 - 2004

Fuzzy Duck

Fuzzy Duck - Fuzzy Duck - 1971 - MAM

Fuzzy duck were a very good underground psychedelic/progressive rock band that emerged from the UK in the early Seventies. The music is hard-edged and contains some pretty good organ-dominated instrumental passages, reminiscent of early Uriah Heep. There are some good vocals, strong guitar work, with catchy riffs, and a tight rhythm-section. Some of the music is very advanced for its time, and a good example of their advanced progressive sound style can be heard on the track, "In Our Time."The last track “A Word From Big D” includes the so called ‘ducking vocals’ from keyboardplayer Roy (Daze) Sharland, and is very amusing.The band also has a definite flavour of early Atomic Rooster, and Camel, but this is no bad thing. This is a very good album from a band that showed signs of promise. The bonus CD tracks are also excellent.. Sound quality is not great, but this one release from Fuzzy Duck is early prog-rock at its best, and is worth listening to.

SIDE ONE

Time Will Be Your Doctor
Mrs. Prout
Just Look Around You
Afternoon Out
More Than I Am

SIDE TWO

Country Boy
In Our Time
A Word From Big D

Double Time Woman [Bonus CD Track]
Big Brass Band [Bonus CD Track]
One More Hour [Bonus CD Track]
No Name Face [Bonus CD Track]

BAND

Paul Francis (drums, percussion)
Mick (Doc) Hawksworth (bass, vocals, acoustic 12-string, electric cello, cricket bat)
Roy (Daze) Sharland (organ, electric piano)
Grahame White (guitar, vocals, acoustic guitar)

REVIEW

A much sought-after classic of U.K. underground progressive rock and psychedelia, this was originally issued in a scarce edition of 500 back in 1971. The album reached legendary status by affiliation, as it features Mick Harnsworth of Five Day Week Straw People and Andromeda, and Roy Sharland, a keyboardist who later worked with the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Spice. This album is classic keyboard-driven British progressive rock in the vein of Soft Machine and Caravan and is well-deserving of reissue. The Arkarma issue features four bonus tracks previously unreleased and excellent repackaging that surpasses the originals for quality. ~ Skip Jansen, All Music Guide

BIO

Though the brief career of Fuzzy Duck may only have consisted of one album and two singles the musical history of its various members reads like a "Who's who of rock and roll". Formed in 1970 and based in North London the original line up consisted of guitarist/vocalist Grahame White, ex-Andromeda, bassist Mick Hawksworth, organist Roy Sharland and ex-Tucky Buzzard drummer Paul Francis. Managed by Gordon Mills, who also managed Tom Jones and Gilbert O'Sullivan, Fuzzy Duck signed to MAM Records, a subsidiary of Decca, and recorded their self-titled debut LP (MAM LP 1005). However just before the album was released White left (later turning up in Capability Brown, Krazy Kat and Jackie Lynton Band) and was replaced by Garth Watt Roy. His first recordings with the band came via the "Double Time Woman"/"Just Look Around You" single (MAM 37) released in August 1971. A second single "Big Brass Band"/"One More Hour"(MAM 51) was released in November 1971 but by the end of the year they decided to go their separate ways. Garth Watt Roy teamed up with his bassist brother Norman to form the Greatest Show On Earth who released two albums, "Horizons" and "The Going's Easy", for EMI's progressive Harvest label. Since then he's recorded with the likes of East Of Eden, Limey, Marmalade, Steamhammer, Bonnie Tyler, Barbara Dickson, The Barron Knights and was also a founder member of The Q Tips. Mick Hawksworth went on to work with Matthew Fisher before teaming up with Alvin Lee for The Ten Years After LPs "Rocket Fuel" and "Ride On". Drummer Paul Francis went on to work with Tranquillity, Maggie Bell, Mick Ronson, and Chris Spedding and has recently been touring with Steve Harley. [Mark Brennan
Special thanks to Garth Watt Roy. Taken from the CD reissue of "Fuzzy Duck", Repertoire 1993, REP-4352-WP ]

Debbie Davies

Debbie Davies - Blues Blast - 2007 - Telarc

Blues Blast is a brilliant album that that demonstrates Debbie Davies' great guitar skills and her vocal talents.. Backed by great blues players like Tab Benoit, Coco Montoya, and Charlie Musselwhite, Debbie Davies is one of the most talented blues ladies in contemporary blues music today, and this album proves it. VHR by A.O.O.F.C. Check out her great 1999 album, "Homesick for the Road," and Tab Benoit's wonderful " Sea Saint Sessions" album.

TRACKS


A.C. Strut (Coco Montoya)
My Time After Awhile (Coco Montoya)
Sittin' and Cryin' (Coco Montoya, Charlie Musselwhite)
Movin' & Groovin' (Charlie Musselwhite)
Crawling King Snake (Tab Benoit)
Howlin' For My Darlin' (Tab Benoit)
Like You Was Gone (Coco Montoya)
Where the Blues Come To Die (Coco Montoya, Tab Benoit, Charlie
Sonoma Sunset (Coco Montoya, Tab Benoit, Charlie Musselwhite)


MUSICIANS

Charlie Musselwhite - harmonica
CoCo Montoya - guitar
Tab Benoit - guitar
Per Hanson - drums
Debbie Davies - guitar
Bruce Katz - Hammond b-3 organ
Rod Carey - bass guitar

REVIEWS

Any blues fan dedicated to live music will testify that when musicians play with their peers, the energy rises a few notches. That's the concept behind this meeting of the minds hosted by guitarist Debbie Davies. Fellow string-benders Tab Benoit and Coco Montoya (both have worked with her previously) join harmonica veteran Charlie Musselwhite and let the resulting fireworks naturally explode. Typically, these projects wind up being overdubbed affairs, a process that dilutes and often negates the concept. But except for a few instances, largely with Benoit, Davies and her musical friends assembled in the studio, resulting in the titular explosion. Both Montoya and Davies apprenticed under Albert Collins, and the opening "A.C. Strut" captures the Texas blues legend's loose shuffle style as the guitarists trade sizzling licks. Montoya and Musselwhite join for "Sittin' and Cryin'," a finger-snapping Davies original where the harpist tears into a limber and authentic Little Walter-styled solo topped only by the next track, his own "Movin' & Groovin'," to which he also contributes lead vocals. Davies turns the microphone over to Benoit on John Lee Hooker's "Crawling King Snake," moving the proceedings down to the muggy Louisiana swamps. But when the participants join on "Like You Was Gone," the summit cooks. The closing 10-minute romp on a slow, minor-key instrumental "Sonoma Sunset" again finds the foursome swapping licks as the temperature progressively intensifies and the resulting jam shoots through the roof. © Hal Horowitz, © 1996-2008 ANTOnline (Atlanta Network Technologies)
Blues Blast (Telarc) is the latest release from blues singer, songwriter and guitarist Debbie Davies and represents Davies' 11th album outing as a group leader, or in the case of Blues Blast, a hostess of sorts, as the CD features vocal and instrumental contributions from Coco Montoya, Tab Benoit, and Charlie Musselwhite. One or more of these special guests appears on each of the CD's nine tracks, with all three plus Davies on two tracks – "Like You Was Gone," a song written by frequent Davies drummer Don Castagno (who does not play on Blues Blast) and the closing instrumental track "Sonoma Sunset" written by Davies, Coco Montoya, the recording session's drummer, Per Hanson, and its bass player, Rod Carey. The CD's rhythm section is rounded out by Hammond B3 player Bruce Katz. "All of us – Tab, Coco, Charlie and myself – are students of the old school, and there’s a sense of history that ties us together," says Davies of Blues Blast, which accurately describes the album's feel, but there's a noteworthy specific history shared by Davies and Montoya – both are the musical offspring of bluesman Albert Collins, the Master of the Telecaster. The Albert Collins connection is a fact both Davies and Montoya wear with pride and reverence and the two pay tribute to their mentor on the opening instrumental track, "A.C. Strut," a Texas shuffle written by Davies reminiscent of great Collins shuffles such as "Frosty" (Ice Pickin', 1978, Alligator Records) and "Avalanche" (Frozen Alive!, 1981, Alligator Records). Though Davies and Montoya have developed individual guitar tones and styles since their time with Collins, "A.C. Strut" is clearly a tribute to the mentor with respect to attack, phrasing, and vibrato. In fact, there are riffs on this track from Davies and Montoya that are eerily similar. The two start out exchanging verses, perhaps separately recalling Collins, but toward the end they trade riffs as if saying to each other, "Remember this one?" The tune's a heartfelt dialog. It's interesting to note that the album closer, "Sonoma Sunset," is also an instrumental, but one that features the present-day guitar approach of Montoya and Davies, the opening and closing tracks thus giving the listener a good "that was then, this is now" glimpse at the two guitarists. Mention was made in a recent concert review of Montoya's volume-knob-swell technique and you'll hear him use that to good effect on "Sonoma Sunset." Musselwhite and Benoit also deliver ear-catching contributions to the ten-minute tune, making it an overall current-day blues celebration among friends, despite the track's somewhat somber minor-key mood. Nestled between the opener and closer you'll find: Debbie Davies singing the Buddy Guy classic "My Time After Awhile" with Coco on guitar; a Davies-penned Texas-flavored original, "Sittin' and Cryin'," featuring Coco on guitar and Musselwhite's harmonica; a Musselwhite original, "Movin' and Groovin'," with Charlie on vocals and harmonica; two songs featuring Tab Benoit – John Lee Hooker's "Crawling King Snake" and Howlin' Wolf's (written by Chester Burnett and Willie Dixon) "Howlin' For My Darlin'" – on which Benoit contributes vocals and guitar on the first and guitar on the second; "Like You Was Gone" (the song written by Castagno) on which Davies and her three guests appear; and, "Where The Blues Come To Die" written by Debbie Davies and Dennis Walker and featuring Debbie's vocals and Coco's guitar. Yes, Blues Blast is essentially old-school-tinged electric blues, but presented in fresh and vital form by road warriors who've made a lifetime commitment to keeping the flame aglow. It's a worthy addition to the collection. © Tom Watson, © Modern Guitars Magazine unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved
Blues Blast is a pressure cooker recording that showcases Davies’ seasoned guitar and vocal capabilities and includes guest appearances by three high-profile bluesmen: guitarists Tab Benoit and Coco Montoya, and harpist Charlie Musselwhite. “Like a master chef’s gourmet meal offering exquisite courses, Debbie has crafted a nine-course wallop of her musical vision and spirit,” says Art Tipaldi, senior writer for Blues Revue and the author of the album’s liner notes. “One listen to Debbie’s tribute [to guitar mentor Albert Collins] with Coco, the opening ‘A.C. Strut,’ proves these kids learned Pop’s lessons.” And that’s just the beginning. While the spirit of Collins is ever-present in Davies’ guitar attack, the earthy Texas shuffle has become her trademark sound. On Buddy Guy’s classic ‘My Time After While,’ she conjures up that fiery Lone Star groove. Four of the eight remaining tracks are either written or co-written by Davies. Musselwhite ups the ante when he steps in with his high-end blows and low-end draws on Davies’ own “Sittin’ and Cryin’” and Musselwhite’s own contribution, “Movin’ and Groovin.’” Labelmate Tab Benoit joins Davies to pay homage to two legendary blues masters: John Lee Hooker on “Crawlin’ King Snake” and Howlin’ Wolf on “Howlin’ for My Darlin.’” The closer, “Sonoma Sunset,” bakes slow and rich like the perfect high-calorie dessert for every blues lover. Davies and her three accomplices join together in this minor-key, slow-blues instrumental. The combination of Musselwhite’s harp solo – an exquisite succession of one sonic innovation after another – and input from all three guitarists turn this track into a ten-minute workout. In the final coda, it’s easy to feel the spirited enthusiasm in their teamwork. “With tour schedules being what they are,” says Davies, “it’s nearly impossible to get four blues musicians in the same studio at the same time. So making this record was a rare joy, and a highly satisfying experience. All of us – Tab, Coco, Charlie and myself – are students of the old school, and there’s a sense of history that ties us together. We all brought our ‘A game,’ and when we came together, we all spoke the same language. The exchange of ideas that took place in the making of this record had very little to do with talking and everything to do with music.” More than just a creative dialogue, this album is a Blues Blast. © 2007 Concord Music Group, Inc. unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.

BIO

Davies rise to the upper echelon of blues music started at an early age as she absorbed the music heard constantly in her home. Her (professional) musician parents were either sitting at the piano or spinning discs on their turntable, filling the air with the sounds of big band jazz, harmony vocal groups, or the pop icons of the day. But the young Davies was particularly attracted to the bluesier sounds of her father’s Ray Charles records, and by the age of 12 realized that her affinity for an instrument was not for the piano, but for the guitar. “She wields an electric guitar as if it were a wand.” ~Los Angeles Times. “Davies playing is extraordinary - full of propulsion and energy and melodic invention…” ~People Magazine. Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1960’s, she found that being a female guitar player meant only one thing: acoustic guitar. Electric guitars were still toys meant only for boys. But when Debbie heard the sounds of the British blues-rock bands, particularly the electric guitar of Eric Clapton with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, she became completely captivated. Going against the grains of society’s accepted roles of the time, Debbie pursued her dream with the passion of an artist and the soul of a rebel. Davies cut her teeth playing in blues and rock ‘n roll bands in the San Francisco Bay area before returning to Los Angeles in 1984, where she landed the lead guitar spot in Maggie Mayall and the Cadillacs, an all-female band led by wife of British blues pioneer, John Mayall. In 1988 she was recruited by Albert Collins to join the Icebreakers, and for the next three years she was a featured guitarist performing behind one of the most innovative bluesmen of all time. “I stepped through a door into the real blues world when I joined Albert’s band,” Davies says. “It’s one thing to listen to the records and pull off the licks, or sit in the audience watching these artists play. But actually going out and touring with one, turned the blues into something completely three-dimensional for me. I knew then what a special opportunity this was, but I know it even more now.” During her tenure with Albert, Debbie was invited to perform on John Mayall’s 1990 album, A Sense of Place, and in 1991 she recorded with Albert Collins and the Icebreakers on the Grammy nominated self-titled release for Point Blank/Virgin Records. In the summer of 1991 Debbie became lead guitarist for Fingers Taylor and the Ladyfingers Revue, which served as the opening act for Jimmy Buffett’s “Outpost” tour. In September 1993 she came out with her debut solo release, Picture This, on Blind Pig Records, which featured a cameo by Collins on “I Wonder Why.” People like to ask Debbie if she learned her technique from Collins, to which she gently points out that she had to play well from the start to hold her own with Albert at every performance. However, the experience taught her lessons in being a better musician, both onstage and off. Says Davies, “It was the most powerful band I had ever played with, so I learned to dig even deeper into myself to pull out the music. Albert was a man of so much grace and kindness, so I can only hope that I was able to absorb some of his humanity too.” Since 1993, Debbie has produced nine solo recordings and two collaborative CD’s, one with guitarists Tab Benoit and Kenny Neal, and another with guitarists Anson Funderburgh and Otis Grand. The roster of other artists who have joined Debbie in the studio on her recordings reads like a who’s who of the blues: Albert Collins, Ike Turner, James Cotton, Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Coco Montoya, Duke Robillard, Tommy Shannon, Chris “Whipper” Layton, Sugar Ray Norcia, Mudcat Ward, Charlie Musselwhite, Bruce Katz, Per Hanson, Noel Neal, and Rod Carey. She has received eight nominations for Blues Music Awards, and in 1997 won the award for Best Contemporary Female Blues Artist. She is nominated yet again in this category for 2008. Here's What the Critic's Are Saying About Debbie Davies... "She pulls out all of the stops. She can play it all: seductive, soulful material, down-home Delta blues or humorous tales of life on the road." ~BLUES REVUE. "Davies exhibits guitar playing virtuosity with the likes of Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan." ~MUSIC CONNECTION. "Debbie is one of the direct links to the originators of this music. She knows what the blues is all about and you can hear it in the passion of her playing." ~COCO MONTOYA. "Debbie is an incredible guitarist who plays with great taste and can cook like mad. Debbie plays from the heart and her heart has a lot to say. She inspires me. Besides being a fine musician she's also an outstanding person that I am very glad to call a friend of mine." ~CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE. "I don't often give endorsements or references, but once in a rare while I hear a musician of such talent that I want people to know. I believe my reputation backs up my ability to recognize exceptional blues guitarists. Such a one is Debbie Davies. Hear her now." ~JOHN MAYALL. [Bio/Article is © 2008 Piedmont Talent, Inc., All Rights Reserved.]

Rory Gallagher

Rory Gallagher - Powerful And Velvet - 1980 - Frog Eater Records

A great unofficial recording from the late Rory Gallagher, the Donegal born Blues King, and one of Ireland's greatest sons. Jimi Hendrix was once asked in an interview, "What does it feel like to be the World's Best Guitarist", he replied "I don't know, ask Rory Gallagher." Fair comment from Jimi! Tracks like "I Could Have Had Religion" are played in the purest blues fashion. Rory's rendition of the great "Bullfrog Blues" which may be from a Lille concert in 1978 is another terrific track. .Can anybody help me out on exact dates, locations, musicians, etc. According to the vague sleeve notes, Tracks 1 - 6 were never released before? Can this be true? I doubt it! Track 4 is supposedly from his "Irish Tour 74" album, but I am not certain about this. Please excuse the sound quality, and comments are most welcome. Check out his landmark "Live In Europe" album @
D/LOAD



TRACKS / DETAILS (WHERE KNOWN)

01 Do You Read Me
02 Secret Agent
03 Moonchild
04 Too Much Alcohol (Short Acoustic Version) - (From his Irish tour 74)
05 Going To My Hometown
06 Bullfrog Blues
07 Bought And Sought - (Live Lille, October 10th 1978)
08 Right Mama - (Live French TV)
09 Too Much Alcohol (Electric Long Version) - (Recorded in Europe, March 1972)
10 I Could Have Had Religion - ( Live, Recorded in Europe, March 1972)
11 Shin Kickers - (Live 1980)
12 All Around Man - (Live - Taken from "The Old Grey Whistle Test" BBC TV Rock Show

Talking Heads

Talking Heads - 12x12 Original Remixes - 1999 - EMI Records (UK) [Also released as "Talking Heads - Remixed" in 2001 by EMI Records (UK)

Some suprisingly good remixes of songs by the legendary David Byrne and Talking Heads. Quite interesting and unusual. If you would like to hear the very best of Talking Head's music, then their 1992 album, "Popular Favorites 1976-1992: Sand in the Vaseline," is a brilliant compilation album.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1.The Lady Don't Mind (Extended Version) (6:50) - D.Byrne, C.Frantz, J.Harrison, T.Weymouth
Mixed By - David Byrne
2.Television Man (Extended Version) (7:50) - D.Byrne
Mixed By - Jerry Harrison
3.And She Was (Extended Mix) (4:53) - D.Byrne
Remix - Eric "ET" Thorngren*
4.Wild Wild Life (Long E.T. Mix) (5:30) - D.Byrne
Edited By - Chris Frantz , Jack Skinner , Jerry Harrison
5.Love For Sale (Extended Mix) (6:08) - D.Byrne
6.Hey Now (Milwaukee Mix) (7:14) - D.Byrne
Remix - David Vartanian , Jerry Harrison
Vocals - St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School Choir
7.Radio Head (Extended Mix) (4:29) - D.Byrne
Remix - Full Force , Glenn Rosenstein
8.Blind (Extended Mix) (7:40) - D.Byrne, C.Frantz, J.Harrison, T.Weymouth
Remix - Arthur Baker
9.Nothing But Flowers (Lillywhite Mix) (7:34) - D.Byrne, C.Frantz, J.Harrison, T.Weymouth
Mixed By - Steve Lillywhite
10.Ruby Dear (Bush Mix) (3:23) - D.Byrne, C.Frantz, J.Harrison, T.Weymouth
Mixed By - Steve Lillywhite
11.Blind (Deaf Dub & Blind Mix) (6:35) - D.Byrne, C.Frantz, J.Harrison, T.Weymouth
Remix - Arthur Baker
12.Love For Sale (Love Dub) (3:11) - D.Byrne

Co-producer - Steve Lillywhite (tracks: 8 to 11)
Mixed By - Eric "ET" Thorngren* (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 5, 12)
Producer - Talking Heads

SHORT BIO

America's response to punk music was incubated in clubs like New York's CBGBs. From this hotbed of musical dissent came Talking Heads, arguably the greatest of the post-Pistols "alternative" acts from America. Unlike contemporaries The Ramones and Blondie, Talking Heads never posed as punks; theirs was a more sly, subversive challenge to authority. David Byrne's nervous stage presence implied we were all a breakdown away from madness; the rest of the band quietly went about their business exuding the sort of youthful confidence that truly scares the establishment. Their first single, "Love -> Building On Fire," introduced the herky-jerky pop/art sound with which they identified on Talking Heads: 77 and More Songs About Buildings And Food. Under the stewardship of punk patron Brian Eno, the Heads explored world music on the ambitious Fear of Music and Remain In Light. As the '80s dawned, the Heads temporarily split, with David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, and the husband-and-wife team of Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth (as Tom Tom Club) planting the seeds of successful solo careers. The group reunited in 1983 to a surprisingly receptive public, graduating from college sweethearts to cultural icons. From this point on, the Heads channeled their strangest ideas into videos, leaving their music more streamlined and accessible. 1988's Naked did signal a return of sorts to world music, but it would be the Heads' last album together. David Byrne and Tom Tom Club continue to release albums; the trio (minus Byrne) also released one album as the Heads. © 2005 Connolly & Company. All rights reserved

Stan Webb's Chicken Shack

Stan Webb's Chicken Shack - Webb's Blues - 1994 - Indigo

Talented guitarist Stan Webb is one of the great un-sung heroes of British blues music. On this album, he sets out his stall, and demonstrates his great love of American blues and R&B music. It is worth listening to two great albums by Chicken Shack, "Ok Ken," and "Accept."

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

I'm Torn Down - Sonny Thompson
A Blues Song - Stan Webb
Every Little Bit of My Heart - Stan Webb
Sweet Nothin's - Ronnie Self
Crying Again - Stan Webb
Who Cares - Stan Webb
Hold On - Joe Sample, Will Jennings
Webb's Blues [Instrumental] - Stan Webb
Homework - Otis Rush, Al Perkins
Evil - Willie Dixon
Set Me Free - Stan Webb
Every Day I Have the Blues - Memphis Slim
Time Goes By - Stan Webb
I'd Rather Go Blind - Bill Foster, Ellington Jordan
Baby, What You Want Me to Do - Jimmy Reed, Aillene Bullock

MUSICIANS

Stan Webb - Synthesizer & Guitar

Rick Holmstrom

Rick Holmstrom - Late In The Night - 2007 - M.C. Records

A terrific blues album from the Alaskan born bluesman, Rick Holmstrom. Influenced by greats like Muddy Waters, and Johnny Dyer, Holmstrom has created a great album here. Rick Holmstrom has played with greats like R.L. Burnside, Jimmy Rogers, Smokey Wilson, and Billy Boy Arnold. Buy his brilliant 2002 album, "Hydraulic Groove," which was a superb blend of jazz, funk, and blues. "Hydraulic Groove," was described as ."blues for the avant mind", by Billboard, and Amazon voted it one of the best releases of 2002. "Hydraulic Groove" has also been cited as one of the most original, and innovative blues/roots albums of the decade.

TRACKS

1. Peculiar Hop (R. Holmstrom, Genome)
2. I'm Leaving (R. Holmstrom, J. Mankin)
3. One Last Chance (R. Holmstrom)
4. 77 Red V8 (R. Holmstrom)
5. Tutwiler (R. Holmstrom, R. Dziubla)
6. Better Way (R. Holmstrom)
7. On The Vine (R. Holmstrom)
8. Descanso (R. Holmstrom, S. Hodges, J. Turmes)
9. Dig Myself a Hole (Traditional w/ lyrics & arr. by R. Holmstrom)
10. Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35 (B. Dylan)
11. Hey Johnny (R. Holmstrom)
12. Wham-O (R. Holmstrom)
13. In The Night (R. Holmstrom)

MUSICIANS

Rick Holmstrom (guitar)
Jeff Turmes (acoustic bass)
Stephen Hodges (background vocals)

REVIEWS

Along with long time band members Stephen Hodges and Jeff Turmes (Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, R.L. Burnside, Mike Watt, John Hammond), Holmstrom delivers a recording that's fresh, innovative yet completely steeped in the blues. Late In The Night features twelve new Holmstrom songs as well as a unique cover of Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35." Doug Boehm (the Vines, Moby, Elliott Smith) mixed the CD with a punchy, gritty, stripped down sonic. Rick will be touring Europe in March and will be hitting the road in the U.S. & Canada in the Spring and Summer. His last CD, Hydraulic Groove (2002), which Billboard called ".. .blues for the avant mind", was voted one of the best releases of 2002 by amazon.com and frequently heralded as one of the most innovative blues/roots releases of the decade. A twenty year veteran, Rick has also played and recorded with R.L. Burnside, Billy Boy Arnold, Johnny Dyer, DJ Logic, Rod Piazza, Chuck Prophet and John Medeski. © www.mc-records.com/html/rick_holmstrom.html

Rick “L.A. Holms” Holmstrom lives in that timeless zone where country, swing, and jump blues cohabitate with ’50s rock and roll and atmospheric instrumentals, and his seductive tone is powered by the juiciest natural distortion this side of Willie Johnson (when he played with Howlin’ Wolf). Born in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1965, Holmstrom’s early musical odyssey was informed by the blues and rock records his DJ father brought home. Upon moving to Southern California in 1985, Holmstrom immersed himself in the West Coast blues scene, which led to prime gigs with harp blowers William Clarke, Johnny Dyer, and Rod Piazza. He embarked on a solo career with the instrumental Lookout! in 1996, and then flamed the purists in 2002 with Hydraulic Groove, which featured loops, samples, and guest turns by DJ Logic and John Medeski. Late in the Night [M.C.], his first studio outing in five years, finds him leading a trio, and playing with the rawness that makes his live show a guitar player’s dream. © Dave Rubin June, 2007, www.guitarplayer.com/article/rick-holmstrom/jun-07/27782

When he made Hydraulic Groove a few years ago guitarist Rick Holmstrom drew shots from the blues traditionalists even though he says he is still very much at heart a traditional kind of blues man. That said, Late in the Night should cement his relationship with the revisionists, not the traditionalists. But who cares? Late in the Night (as well as H- Groove) is an engaging work by a master bluesman with brio enough to follow his own path. You may recall Holmstrom from his brilliant tenure as guitarist with Rod Piazza’s Mighty Flyers. Even then, he showed that he is an uncompromising artist capable of reaching deep to come up with something new in a genre that was relevant, say, seventy years ago. **** stars. © Dave, © 2008 NBC Universal, Inc ,www.nbcsandiego.com/whatshot/13253944/detail.html

BIO

Rick Holmstrom was born on May 30, 1965 in, of all places, Fairbanks, Alaska. His father was a disc jockey and Rick was brought up listening to the likes of Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and the Ventures. In 1985 his family moved to Southern California. There, in Los Angeles, he started a garage type blues band covering Jimmy Reed and Chuck Berry songs. He began going to blues clubs like the Pioneer Club, Babe & Ricky's, and the Pure Pleasure Club and began hanging out with such greats as Smokey Wilson and Junior Watson, one of Rod Piazza's original Mighty Flyers. From 1985 to 1988 Holmstrom toured with harmonica player William Clark, spending one year of this time as rhythm guitarist only. During that period he also backed up Jimmy Rogers, Smokey Wilson, Billy Boy Arnold, and Finis Tusby. Later he was befriended by another great harpist, delta bluesman Johnny Dyer who he started playing with in 1989. And in 1994 he was featured on Dyer's "Listen Up". This was followed by Shake It! (again with Dyer) in 1995. Both were released on Black Top Records. Through Black Top, Holmstrom had worked with Rod Piazza on numerous occassions. So when Rod's guitar player, Alex Schultz, gave his notice in 1995, Holmstrom was the obvious choice. In 1996 he recorded the all instrumental "Lookout!" for Rounder Records. This was followed by his Tone-Cool debut "Gonna Get Wild" in 2000. On that disc Holmstrom not only plays guitar but takes over lead vocals, and has written all thirteen songs. There is no doubt about it. Rick "L.A. Holmes" Holmstrom has come a long way from his Alaskan roots and garage band guitar licks. Says Blues Revue Magazine "...Holmstrom is destined for greatness." Having seen him many times live, I can not be in more agreement. Holmstrom brought a much needed blaze of fire to the Flyers, whose 1997 Tone Cool album, Tough and Tender, proved Rod and his group were the hottest band on the circuit. The Holmstrom solo effort Gonna Get Wild followed in the spring of 2000. Holmstrom played another year with the Might Flyers, leaving after 2001's Beyond the Source. Holmstrom turned some heads with his 2002 release, Hydraulic Groove, where he brought a bit of jazz and funk to his blues, also utilizing loops and samples and guests like John Medeski and DJ Logic. Holmstrom stayed busy producing other acts and playing guitar before releasing Live at the Cafe Boogaloo in 2006. © R.J. Bianchino, Blues Internet, www.jazzinternet.com/boulderblues/holmstrom/index.html

Chicken Shack

Chicken Shack - Accept - 1970 - Blue Horizon

Great album of British blues, tight and enjoyable. Check out their "Ok Ken," and "Accept," albums. Another great worth listening to is the 1994 release "Stan Webb's Chicken Shack - Webb's Blues" album. Details @ Stan Webb's Chicken Shack/Webb's Blues

TRACKS

1. Diary Of Your Life
2. Pocket
3. Never Ever
4. Sad Clown
5. Maudie
6. Telling Your Fortune
7. Tired Eyes
8. Some Other Time
9. Going Round
10. Andalucian Blues
11. You Knew You Did You Did
12. She Didn't Use Her Loaf
13. Apple Tart
14.Hideaway [Instrumental Bonus CD Track]

BAND

Stan Webb - Guitar, Vocals
Dave Bidwell - Drums
Paul Raymond - Keyboards, Vocals
Andy Sylvester - Bass
Allison Young - Vocals

BIO (Wikipedia)

Chicken Shack was a British blues band, primarily of the late 1960s, consisting of Christine Perfect (vocals and keyboards), Stan Webb (guitar and vocals), Andy Sylvester (bass guitar), and Alan Morley (drums). The band was formed in 1967 and reputedly named themselves after the chicken coop in Kidderminster where they rehearsed; chicken shacks (chicken restaurants) had also by then frequently been mentioned in blues and rhythm and blues songs, as in Amos Milburn's hit, "Chicken Shack Boogie". Their first concert was at the 1967 National Blues and Jazz Festival at Windsor and they were signed by the Blue Horizon record label in the same year. Chicken Shack enjoyed modest commercial success, with Christine Perfect being voted Best Female Vocalist in the Melody Maker polls, two years running. Christine Perfect left the band in 1969 when she married John McVie of Fleetwood Mac. Pianist Paul Raymond, bassist Andy Sylvester, and drummer Dave Bidwell all left in 1971 to join Savoy Brown. Webb was also recruited for Savoy Brown in the mid 1970s, and recorded the album Boogie Brothers with them. Although Chicken Shack went through several subsequent incarnations, it never equalled its earlier successes. However, Webb remains as its only constant band member.

Kenny Drew

Kenny Drew - Undercurrent - 1960 - Blue Note

One of the greatest jazz hard bop albums ever recorded by the late, great jazz pianist, Kenny Drew. Check out his albums, "Ruby, My Dear," and "If You Could See Me Now."

TRACKS

1. Undercurrent
2. Funk-cosity
3. Lion's Den
4. The Pot's On
5. Groovin' The Blues
6. Ballade

All compositions by Kenny Drew.

MUSICIANS

Kenny Drew (piano)
Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone)
Freddie Hubbard (trumpet)
Sam Jones (acoustic bass)
Louis Hayes (drums)

REVIEWS

Kenny Drew recorded fairly frequently in the 1950s but after his Blue Note album (reissued on this CD), he moved to Europe and did not appear as a leader on records until 1973. Still just 32 in 1960, Drew was teamed with the young trumpeter Freddie Hubbard (who already showed great potential), tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes on six of his originals (including "Undercurrent," "The Pot's On" and "Groovin' the Blues"). A fine hard bop set. © Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
One of the greatest albums ever by the late, relatively unknown pianist Kenny Drew -- a super-rare Blue Note session from 1960! The album's got a sock-solid soul jazz frontline -- with Hank Mobley on tenor and Freddie Hubbard on trumpet -- and working here with Drew, the trio of players craft a set of tunes that are surprisingly edgey, especially considering Drew's more staid piano trio work on his own. The backing is great, too -- with Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums -- and the album's filled with original tunes by Kenny, including "The Pot's On", "Undercurrent", "Funk-Cosity", and "Lion's Den". Kenny Drew has made irreplaceable contributions to many Blue Note classics -- "Blue Train" and "Dexter Calling" to name two -- in addition to this fine album as a leader. This is the classic Kenny Drew album. Undercurrent begins with a Flight of the Bumblebee-esque flurry of notes from Drew, which is quickly followed by a swinging solo from Mobley that briefly incorporates Drew's intro. Hubbard's solo is blasting and brash, though his sense of control allows his excited playing to never get too unwieldy. Funk-Cosity is a minor key funk workout that begins with Hubbard and Mobley sharing a descending progression. Hubbard's solo on the song is restrained (at least for him) while still spirited. Drew's solo is wonderfully tense because it‚s restrained and melodic, forcing you to wait before the main theme bursts through again.On Lion's Den, a reference to Alfred Lion's original studio on Lexington Ave. in East Harlem, Drew plays around with the shifts in rhythm, playing more straightforward lines when the rhythm is bumpier and playing bouncier when the rhythm straightens up. Groovin' the Blues finds Mobley bouncing his notes into the pocket of groove created by the rhythm section of Jones and Hayes, while Hubbard creates tension by phrasing notes all over the meter and then slowing down for longer, bluesy lines. Hubbard's tone is seductive on the final track on the album's only ballad, entitled Ballade. According to the liner notes, Drew wrote the song in honor of a woman he was enamored of. His playing on the song is almost impossibly delicate, sounding as close to a harp as you will ever hear a piano sound. For fans of hard bop, Undercurrent is where it's at. This album is an almost forgotten classic.That's a shame because "Undercurrent" is a magnificent hard bop session from December 1960 featuring the talents of Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes. The six compositions, all by Drew, are terrific medium and up- tempo swingers, with the exception of the lovely concluding piece, "Ballade." "Undercurrent" is as good as anything Blue Note recorded in 1960.

BIO

A talented bop-based pianist (whose son has been one of the brightest pianists of the 1990s), Kenny Drew was somewhat underrated due to his decision to permanently move to Copenhagen in 1964. He made his recording debut in 1949 with Howard McGhee and in the 1950s was featured on sessions with a who's who of jazz, including Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Milt Jackson, Buddy DeFranco's quartet, Dinah Washington, and Buddy Rich (1958). Drew led sessions for Blue Note, Norgran, Pacific Jazz, Riverside, and the obscure Judson label during 1953-1960; most of the sessions are available on CD. He moved to Paris in 1961 and relocated to Copenhagen in 1964 where he was co-owner of the Matrix label. He formed a duo with Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson and worked regularly at the Montmartre. Drew recorded many dates for SteepleChase in the 1970s and remained active up until his death. © Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

LaVerne Butler

LaVerne Butler - Blues In The City - 1999 - MAXJAZZ

Blues In The City by LaVerne Butler was not only her MAXJAZZ debut, but maintains the distinction of launching the label’s highly acclaimed Vocal Series. The release hit #1 on the Gavin Jazz Chart and was nominated for the AFIM (Association for Independent Music) Indie Award for Best Jazz Vocal.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

01. This Bitter Earth - Clyde Otis
02. Please Send Me Someone to Love - Percy Mayfield
03. Hit the Road Jack - Percy Mayfield
04. Willow Weep for Me - Ann Ronell
05. The Blues Are Out of Town - Marcia Hillman & Joe Darise
06. One for My Baby (And One More for the Road) - Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer
07. Late Sunday Afternoon - Bruce Barth
08. I'm a Fool to Want You - Jack Wolf, Joel Herron, & Frank Sinatra
09. Born to Be Blue - Bob Wells & Mel Torme
10. Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying - Joe Green
11. All That I Know - LaVerne Butler
12. Since I Fell for You - Buddy Johnson
13. Backwater Blues - Bessie Smith

MUSICIANS

LaVerne Butler, vocals
Bruce Barth, piano
John Webber, bass
Klaus Suonsaari, drums
Ava Burton & Janet Hall Givens, background vocals

REVIEWS

“Ever since Cassandra Wilson, Holly Cole and Diana Krall started topping the jazz charts, record companies have been signing almost any woman with a strong, sulky voice…LaVerne Butler stands out in this suddenly crowded field because she is no warmed-over pop singer; the Louisiana veteran has a sure grasp of jazz’s two essential elements - blues and swing.” © Washington Post

“LaVerne Butler is a rising star with fine jazz chops.” (3½ stars) © Skanner Newspapers

“ . . is an exceptional jazz singer, yet her vibe is the blues. Her delivery is authoritative yet passionate as she gives new meaning to favorites such as ‘Please Send Me Someone To Love,’ ‘This Bitter Earth’ & ‘Since I Fell For You.’” © Ebony

BIO

Not to be confused with R&B great LaVern Baker, LaVerne Butler is a superb but underexposed jazz singer whose main influences include Nancy Wilson and Sarah Vaughan. Butler is originally from Shreveport, LA, where she grew up listening to jazz and R&B extensively with a lot of encouragement from her father, saxophonist Scott Butler. After leaving Shreveport, she moved to New Orleans, where she studied music at the University of New Orleans and become a fixture in the city's Dixieland and bebop venues. Butler worked with such distinguished locals as Alvin Batiste, Ellis Marsalis, Henry Butler (no relation), and James Black before deciding to move to the New York area in 1984. Butler studied with Jon Hendricks after arriving in New York and later earned her living as an English teacher while tackling the Manhattan club world. The early to mid-'90s found Butler signed to Chesky, for which she provided her bop-oriented debut album, No Looking Back (1992), and her lighter, more relaxed sophomore release, Day Dreamin' (1994). After leaving Chesky, Butler planned to record an album for Herbie Mann's Kokopelli label in 1997, but her plans fell through when the company experienced financial problems. 1999 saw the release of her third album, Blues in the City. © Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

Paul Rodgers

Paul Rodgers - Live: The Loreley Tapes [Live] - 1999 - Spv

A brilliant live album from "The Voice," recorded at the Rockpalast Open Air Festival, at Loreley, Germany on 8/7/95. Buy his magnificent "Muddy Water Blues" album, and check out his bio, and great 1999 album, "Electric," @ Electric/Rodgers/Bio

TRACKS

01 - Paul Rodgers Live - Little Bit Of Love
02 - Paul Rodgers Live - Be My Friend
03 - Paul Rodgers Live - Feel Like Makin' Love
04 - Paul Rodgers Live - Louisiana Blues
05 - Paul Rodgers Live - Muddy Water Blues
06 - Paul Rodgers Live - Rolling Stone
07 - Paul Rodgers Live - I'm Ready
08 - Paul Rodgers Live - Wishing Well
09 - Paul Rodgers Live - Mr. Big
10 - Paul Rodgers Live - Fire and Water
11 - Paul Rodgers Live - The Hunter
12 - Paul Rodgers Live - Can't Get Enough
13 - Paul Rodgers Live - All Right Now

Any info. on musicians on this recording would be welcomed by A.O.O.F.C

The High Llamas

The High Llamas - Snowbug - 1999 - V2

Another example of The High Llamas' unique blend of strong tunes and sophisticated presentation. If yo are not aware of the connection, the CD features vocal appearances by Laetitia and Mary of Stereolab coupled with production and guest vibes from John McEntire. The conservative production on this album makes it charming but not overbearing. There's nobody showing off here, just some quality sounds. It's quite heavy on the 60s TV lounge theme, and light on the beat, and the album makes for a great Sunday drive, and this possibly flippant remark does not detract from the quality of this album. Check out The High Llamas excellent 2007 "Can Cladders" album @

Can Cladders


TRACKS

1. Bach Ze
2. Harpers Romo
3. Hoops Hooley
4. Cookie Bay
5. Triads
6. The American Scene
7. Go To Montecito
8. Janet Jangle
9. Amin
10. Daltons Star
11. Cotton To The Bell
12. Green Coaster
13. Cut The Dummy Loose

BAND

Sean O'Hagan -vocals, guitars, keyboards
John Fell -bass
Rob Allum -drums
Marcus Holdaway -various instruments

REVIEWS

Snowbug is warmer and more substantial than you might expect from an outfit that called its last album Cold and Bouncy. Since their seminal Gideon Gaye, Sean O'Hagan's High Llamas have flaunted a quirky Beach Boys fetish that Brian Wilson cultists may appreciate but that has rendered much of the band's material too precious and stylized. Snowbug, however, sounds less like the bastard son of Pet Sounds and more like a touchy-feely cousin of Stereolab's 1997 album Dots and Loops (to which O'Hagan contributed instrumental arrangements). O'Hagan seems intent less on paying tribute to Brian Wilson's mad genius than on establishing his own voice as an obsessive pop savant. More than ever, he's trusting his own instincts, especially on the buoyant, catchy "Cookie Bay," where sophisticated vocal harmonies are supported by a strange brew of plucked banjos, backward cymbal crashes, and synthetic marimbas. The disc's reliance on the electro-organic sound of analog synths gives each song a similar retro-futurist feel, but it's one that belongs to O'Hagan, not to the past. © Jared White, http://weeklywire.com/ww/12-20-99/boston_music_clips.html ( Boston Phoenix CD Reviews)

On their fifth full-length recording, the High Llamas have overcome their somewhat derivative nature and created a well-balanced and original excursion into avant-garde pop music. While band leader Sean O'Hagan's affiliation with Stereolab is reflected in his work, the melodic influences of Brian Wilson's Beach Boys, Ennio Morricone, French pop, and German electronica have all been sublimated in service of the song. Mixing conventional rock instrumentation with modern technology and the use of glockenspiels and xylophones, the band's sound is seductively textured and quietly complex. Although O'Hagan's singing isn't robust, his distinctive voice suits these quirky performances. With Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen lending some beautiful harmonies and Tortoise's John McEntire serving as sound engineer, Snowbug is a compelling group effort that deserves to be heard. © Mitch Myers (MUSIC CITY : The first collaborative Music Database), www.music-city.org/The-High-Llamas/Snowbug-3645/)

Did you ever hear music that completely transforms your sense of time and space transporting you back to what resembles either time spent in the womb or instead a long forgotten drug induced out of body experience? No? Oh...Snowbug by The High Llamas has that sort of effect. This is very different music. It is completely magical, lushly mellow, but eerily familiar in a very deep, spiritual way. Listening to this album reminds me of Mel Gibson's character in the movie conspiracy theory. Throughout the movie Gibson is haunted by these very fuzzy flashbacks to something that he knows nothing about. These visions seem so familiar to him yet he can't make sense of them. In case you hadn't seen the movie I won't ruin it by saying any more. Snowbug has a similar kind of effect on me but not in the unpleasant way that Gibson's character experiences it. For me they are very vague recollections of moments of childhood. I remember sitting in the backseat of our '69 Lincoln traveling along the belt parkway, my young parents in the front, and the associations "Windy" on the radio. This music throws me back to that era. It is psychedelic and nostalgic without being contrived. If you haven't already figured it out I absolutely love this music. I think it is the most interesting and satisfying CD I've had the pleasure of adding to my collection in a very long time.
This music is about atmosphere but it is more than just aural wallpaper. Snowbug is an album, which defies classification. It's some sort of retro- futuristic easy- listening lounge music, except it's very... strange. This sonic delight is a masterpiece of modern production. Throughout the listener is caressed with the deep rich sounds of strings, marimbas, brass, and electronics while the angelic timbres of flute, banjo, nylon guitar, glockenspiel, and the beautiful vocals of Latetia Saidler of the similarly quirky Stereolab. All of this has the potential to evolve into a cloudy harmonic bisque but alas there are never two timbres occupying the same harmonic frequency at the same time resulting in a crystal clear recording with the delicate harmonics slicing their way through the lush atmospheres below while never overstepping the boundaries so effectively introduced by the production team.
Fans of the group Stereolab will find the confines of Snowbug to be warm and hospitable. The sounds are similar but while Stereolab strives for the upbeat and rhythmically diverse, the high llamas continually seek to melodically yet sedately pay homage to composers of the past. The album's first track, "Bach Ze," speaks for both the band's exacting nature and its almost quaint futuristic drive. The chorus -- "From moon to Mars the sliders slip/But now we rarely make the trip" -- rises over whispered acoustic guitar, stately strings and electronic teasers, mourning a musical and verbal image of a '60s-era studio producer poring over his mixing board. The band's backward gaze becomes a bit less explicit as it traipses along -- as the lyrics to "Harpers Romo" tell it, "Shutters come down, safety inside/Exile at home, this is more than just a place where we hide" -- but a eulogistic glance at the past is never too far from view.
"Snowbug," like all of the Llamas' work, is mostly a meditation on a small handful of closely related melodic themes. Those melodies are always stunning, though, as crafted by a band graced with the hands of musicians and the ears of producers. The songs are rich with sounds of instruments and styles ranging from French pop, Brazilian rhythms, acoustic instrumentation, wah-wah pedals, nylon guitars, and vibraphone. The Llamas are hip to the current trend in the recording industry of integrating the live studio in lieu of a reliance on studio gadgetry. The live element brightens up the recording as a whole, with an abundance of evidence on such songs as "Green Coaster" and "Cookie Bay" (the latter featuring vocals from Latetia and Mary).
Snowbug is a masterpiece of adult contemporary pop. The dreamy soundscapes coupled with the catchy melodic musings and intricate arrangements is toothsome and satisfying. The production is a tour de force. If you own a high quality audio system treat it to Snowbug. The sophisticated craftsmanship will overwhelm your musical senses and leave you humming for weeks to come. © Anonymous, on 2001-04-30, (MUSIC CITY : The first collaborative Music Database), www.music-city.org/The-High-Llamas/Snowbug-3645/)

You won't find a more relaxing, or a more intriguing album than this one. This is where the High Lamas peaked -- even better than Cold and Bouncy and far better than the disappointing Buzzle Bee that followed. It's cool... it's cute. Best in summer perhaps. I listen to it all the time. My 9-year old daughter loves it too, but my 12-year-old son hates it. He's into Aerosmith and the like... © Anonymous, on 2001-09-01, (MUSIC CITY : The first collaborative Music Database), www.music-city.org/The-High-Llamas/Snowbug-3645/)

As an odd signature of recognition, to know Stereolab is to know the High Llamas. Fact is, since Sean O'Hagan (the main man behind the High Llamas) has been working more and more with Stereolab, the two bands' sounds have come ever closer. The key difference between the two groups, however, lies in the pace of the songs. Stereolab clearly aims for an upbeat, pop-retro blend while the High Llamas continually seek to melodically yet more sedately pay homage to composers of the past. (Also, with his own records, O'Hagan has the opportunity to exercise his talent with lyric and vocal duties.)
While the Llamas last record, Cold and Bouncy, seemed more of a programming trick, Snowbug, the fifth record since the group's 1991 inception, sets itself apart by further integrating the live studio. The band has picked up on a sort of backward trend currently on the agenda of many established music makers, that of reversing the reliance on studio machinery. The difference is noted in fewer electronic loops and dissonant passages. The live element brightens up the recording as a whole, with an abundance of evidence on such songs as "Green Coaster" and "Cookie Bay" (the latter featuring vocals from Stereolab's Laetitia and Mary).
Oddly, by the time the record is finished, Snowbug seems to exist on two separate planes: As a Stereolab adjunct project, but also, with its intricate arrangements and lesser reliance on programmed effects, it's perhaps more properly compared to the work of Burt Bacharach.
Either way, you've got a record that contains the proper combination of hailed retro and kitschy current pop sounds to remain interesting well into the future. © Liz Copeland, © 2008, Metro Times, Inc.
As his pals in Stereolab fit into a niche as tenured avant-pop radicals, the resident keyboards, gizmos, and arrangement wiz Sean O'Hagan continues to find fresh musical purchase in his remarkably sweet, experimentally smart light-pop outfit, the High Llamas. Reaching beyond alt-pop's classic canon to pull from kitschy influences like Martin Denny's exotica and Bacharach/David's expertly arranged pop, and mixing them up with quirky compositional principals, post-Moog electronics, and the occasional slice of Kraut-funk, his music is at once elevating, frustrating, and always fascinating. If 1998's COLD AND BOUNCY lived up to its title a little to stolidly, the less chilly SNOWBUG flows and flutters with the sweetness and slight of the Llamas' Brian Wilson-influenced 1997 release HAWAII. O'Hagan's vocals aren't going to co-opt Dionne Warwick's legacy any time soon, but he does his forebears proud on mini-symphonies like the bongo-led butterball "Harper's Romo," the plucky "Triads," and the florid fiesta "Go to Montecino." Stereolab singers Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen brighten the sonic palette on the watery "The American Scene," Sadier's French accent sounding almost stern in this willfully escapist context. Yet, while SNOWBUG is fervidly fluffy, it's never so lubricated that it slips through your fingers. In short, it'll take you higher. © Jon Dolan, Barnes & Noble, © 1997-2008 Barnesandnoble.com llc

BIO (Wikipedia)

High Llamas is a London-based musical project created by Irish guitarist and songwriter Sean O'Hagan after the demise of his group Microdisney. Although he writes and arranges the music and frequently uses the High Llamas moniker for his own personal musical efforts (e.g. remixes), the High Llamas are nominally a group, which usually includes Microdisney bassist Jon Fell and a rotating cast of others including keyboardist and cellist Marcus Holdaway, percussionist Dominic Murcott and drummer Rob Allum. They derived their name from a character played by Michael Nesmith in the Monkees. Although the High Llamas' output (including the eponymous debut album, technically credited to "Sean O'Hagan") shows influences including pre-1950s American pop and folk, Brazilian jazz and bossa nova, film composers of the 1960s, and 1990s European electronic music, criticism of O'Hagan's work most frequently includes references to Brian Wilson's psychedelic period and/or kitsch lounge revival. Although O'Hagan sometimes expresses discomfort at reviewers' claims of derivative works, he generally wears his influences on his sleeve, even naming several more recent songs after the composers and pop musicians who most inspired that particular track. (Examples: "Bach Ze", "Pat Mingus", "Shuggie Todd.") The Beach Boys' influence on O"Hagan is most obvious on the expansive, cinematic 1996 album "Hawaii", a musical spaghetti western on themes of tourism and colonialism. It blended elements of Pet Sounds, Smile and Wild Honey so expertly that O'Hagan was even recommended by Bruce Johnston to produce an eventually nixed Beach Boys comeback LP. The High Llamas' own musical arrangements vary according to album, but marimbas, nylon-string guitars, and heavily reverbed pounding tack pianos are often featured. For a period in the late 1990s, O'Hagan's work was often marked by distinctive vintage synthesizer "gurgling" or "bouncing" effects, first explored and developed in Turn-On, his experimental collaboration record with members of Stereolab. The High Llamas' albums are also notable for frequent guest appearances by members of that band, with whom O'Hagan once played guitar, and for whom he often contributes string and horn arrangements. The High Llamas infrequently tour and only release an album every few years; since the group was dropped by V2 Records they have made it clear that their records are personal projects that do not support them financially. O'Hagan frequently does arranging and production work for artists like The Boo Radleys, Doves, Super Furry Animals and Sondre Lerche, and percussionist Allum has worked with Turin Brakes. Their work for V2 is anthologized on the compilation "Retrospective, Rarities and Instrumentals," and they continue to record for Duophonic Records (UK) and Drag City (US).