Grana Louise's Sweet Rough Blues

I have heard Grana Louise as part of a collection of Chicago blues women, but her new Delmark CD, Gettin' Kinda Rough!,"is one to certainly bring her to the attention of more folk. The Columbus, Ohio native has been building up her reputation in the Windy City for more than a decade and was the Windy City Blues Society's representative at the International Blues Challenge June 2009.

Not living in Chicago, I have not had the opportunity to see her perform at Blues Chicago or Buddy Guy's Legends, but a really good guitarist, Tom Holland keeps his Facebook friends informed when and where he is playing with her. Holland, who regularly tours with James Cotton, is guitarist on the entire disc which includes seven studio performances and 5 live performances. Bill Hargrave plays the bass on this while Clarence 'Curfew' Scott is on drums. Bill Syniar plays all the instruments on one track, "Gonna Get 'Cha", while Carlos Showers joins Holland on guitar on the five live tracks that were recorded at Blue Chicago.

The disc opens up with studio tracks including a unusual choice to interpret Staggerlee. Ms. Louise delivers a solid performance based on Lloyd Price’s hit and Holland shines on guitar here taking a nice solo. She observes that she is a Lead Foot Mama, but doesn’t mean to be but just is how she is. She has a strong, but relaxed delivery and once again Holland shows why he is so highly regarded. Her rendition of Denise LaSalle’s Learning How To Cheat On You” is a standout on a lyric using the Someone is Stepping Out/Down Home Blues melody.

Big Dick M’isipi is a number about being out in the country where she knows where to get some of what she wants, with her amusing double entendre of deep rooted southern trees that grow tall and unlike pretty northern trees don’t break easily. This performance is definitely not radio friendly. Bang Bang Ba-Bang Bang Bang Bang has a nice funk groove and a spirited Holland solo as she knows her man may be out with Grana’s best friend, but when he holds her tight and they start making love, the fireworks begin. Bill Syniar’s multi-tracked keys, guitar and drum track works well on the shuffle,Gonna Get ‘Cha.

Her personality is even more evident on the live performances here. Wet Match is a Denise LaSalle styled song directed against men able to deliver the goods when needed and have as much love-making skills as a wet match can light a fire. Queen Bee” from the late Koko Taylor’s repertoire is delivered in a fiery performance as she is looking for her young and able king. Back Door Blues is a lengthy slow blues performance that she warns at the beginning, “We got some folks in here who embarrass easily. You better leave now,” before launching into a traditionally rooted lyric of taking the front door in but taking the back door out. She really tears into the song and its a first rate vocal performance that she really belts out with the guitarists shining here as well. The disc closes with an unusual choice for a cover, Hey Joe, and is an interesting performance.

Grana Louise is a singer that many will take note of from her impressive performances here. She certainly has a powerful voice but she has a delivery and a way of relating to her audience that is evident listening to this.

My review copy was sent by Delmark records.

Kenny Burrell Lively Guitar Remains True to Himself

Be Yourself: Live at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (HighNote) is the latest recording by the great guitarist Kenny Burrell. It comes from a live performance at the Jazz at Lincoln Center venue with a group that includes Tivon Pennicott on tenor sax and flute; Benny Green on piano, Peter Washington on bass, and Clayton Cameron on drums. This is a strong, what might have once been called, mainstream session, matching Burrell’s fleet and fluent lyricism with a strong rhythm section and Pennicott’s robust playing on a program of mostly jazz standards.

Pennicott’s sax and flute provide an energizing bite that can be reflected in Burrell’s playing on the solid rendition of Billy Strayhorn’s Raincheck, with a nice latin groove and Benny Green’s piano also sounding dynamic. Opening was a nice Tin Tin Deo, from the Dizzy Gillespie repertoire with Burrell sounding quite lyrical. Pennicott’s impressive flute playing is impressively featured on Burrell’s ballad, Listen to the Dawn, followed by the leader with some precious playing. This is followed by a lively rendition of Kenny Dorham’s classic Blue Bossa, with Pennicott and Burrell standing out and Cameron is outstanding pushing the groove and his use of dynamics especially in his use of brushes during his solo. Be Yourself is a solo guitar feature for the leader, while Bass Face, with a prancing melodic hook, was originally written by Burrell for Ray Brown and spotlights Washington here.

Pennicott is featured on Ellington’s In a Sentimental Mood, and responds with some wonderful playing. Will Davis, a Detroit pianist, wrote Mark I, in the mid-fifties, and Burrell is scintillating on this. Burrell and the group close this with the classic Milt Jackson blues, Bag’s Groove. A solid hour plus of swinging bop-inflected jazz that is beautifully recorded. Be Yourself is a solid addition to Kenny Burrell’s formidable body of recordings.

This review was written originally for Jazz & Blues Report from whom I received the review copy.

1st Pennsylvania Blues Festival Celebrates 20 Years of Blues in the Poconos

Kenny Neal, one of the featured performers at the Pennsylvania Blues Festival

Shemekia Copeland

It was a shock when the word came out that the Big Boulder Ski Resort would no longer be holding the annual Pocono Blues Festival after 19 years. The Pocono Blues Festival had established itself as the signature blues festival in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic with a commitment to bring the finest real deal blues, mixing in major names like Luther Allison, Shemekia Copeland, Mavis Staples, Ruth Brown, Taj Mahal with legends who rarely toured like Jimmy McCracklin, Jimmy Johnson and Jody Williams. A change in policy at the resort ended what was an annual tradition that attracted blues fans from all over the United States and countries around the world.

Michael Cloeren, and the others involved in the Pocono Blues Festival have found a new location to carry out the tradition of bringing the best blues to the Poconos with the 1st Pennsylvania Blues Festival at the Blue Mountain Ski Area in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, not far from Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, Pennsylvania. The Festival is Saturday and Sunday, July 30 and 31 and the line-up is as strong as any blues festival anywhere on an outdoor stage and a tent stage. This first Pennsylvania Blues Festival celebrates 20 Years of Blues in the Poconos.

Performers that have been announced for the festival include Shemekia Copeland, Magic Slim and the Teardrops, Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials, Bettye Lavette, Kenny Neal, Cyril Neville, Shakura S’Alda, John Nemeth, The Lee Boys, Big Daddy Charles Stallings, Samuel James, Otis Clay, Linsey Alexander and Steve Guyger & Billy Flynn. Its quite a line-up of some of the best known blues performers and some lesser known ones. There is a mix from traditional Chicago styled blues of Magic Slim, Lil’ Ed and Steve Guyger & Billy Flynn, the deep soul of Bettye Lavette & Otis Clay, the sacred steel of The Lee Boys, the swamp blues of Kenny Neal, and the personal blues interpretations of Samuel James and Charles Neville. Shemekia Copeland is always a favorite but this writer is also looking forward to seeing Shakura S’Alda, another formidable female blues talent. Then a chance to see at another festival Baltimore’s Bog Daddy Stallings get exposure leading a jam after hours on Saturday night as well as two sets on Sunday with his down home back porch blues that is mixed with Louis Jordan, Albert King and James Brown.

For more information on the festival, check out the Festival website, http://www.skibluemt.com/SkiBlue/activities/pa-blues-fest.aspx, for the line-up and more information including directions. I have my hotel reservations already and I know folks from as far away as San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest that have there plans for this as well. Incidentally, Mike has produced the Vermont Blues Festival at Mount Snow, usually in later August, but apparently this will now be the Vermont Blues and Roots Festival and will take place on July 22-24, the weekend before the Pennsylvania Blues Festival. I will have more on this festival when more information is available.

Roy Haynes. Still Hip After All These Years

Roy Haynes is of course one of the greatest drummers in the history of jazz who has about played with everyone the past 60 odd years. In the March 2008 issue of Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 302) I reviewed the Dreyfus Jazz Box Set, A Life in Time: The Roy Haynes Story.  This fabulous set is still available.  My review, from three years ago, follows.

This writer can still remember that weekend in late fall 1976 in Buffalo when this publication’s editor brought Roy Haynes & the Hip Ensemble in to the original Tralfamadore Cafe, a basement jazz room that featured fine local talent as well as brought in a variety of jazz greats of the time. Haynes led a terrific band that included Marcus Fiorello on electric guitar and Hannibal Marvin Peterson on trumpet. What sticks out in my memory over three decades later was not only the sheer joyfulness of the music, but the joyfulness that Haynes played with. I have remarked over the years that if I were a young boy who had been at the gig with my parents, I would have wanted a drum kit the next day.


Dreyfus Jazz, Haynes label for the past 15 years, has just issued this box set with 37 performances (over 3 and 1/2 hours) over three discs with a bonus DVD of interview and performance. Starting with 1949 recordings with Lester Young and Bud Powell, the music on the box takes us up through his contemporary recordings with his Fountain of Youth quartets in 2006. One wonders if even a decade ago one company would have found other recording companies cooperating and licensing the material for this set. Through the musical journey we find him with nearly every major jazz performer of the past six decades including Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Sarah Vaughan, Cannonball and Nat Adderley, Jack DeJohnette, Stan Getz, Roland Kirk, Eric Dolphy, Chick Corea and Andrew Hill; as well as see him nurse such young talents as Hannibal Marvin Peterson, George Cables, Donald Harrison, and Christian McBride. It perhaps should not be surprising that when Rollins wanted a drummer to help him celebrate the 50th Anniversary of his Carnegie Hall Debut, he called on Haynes to fill that chair; or that he was John Coltrane’s drummer of choice when Elvin Jones was unavailable.


As for the music, what can one say listening to his sizzling cymbal work behind Lester Young on the opening Ding Dong, or his crisp work on the classic Bouncin’ with Bud, and the call and response type playing behind Coltrane in Newport on My Favorite Things. And while that track, like Monk’s Rhythm-A-Ning from Monk’s Live at the Five Spot (with Johnny Griffin on tenor sax), and Oliver Nelson’s Stolen Moments from The Blues and the Abstract Truth will be familiar to many, there are sure to be surprises like the marvelous 1997 reunion with Gary Burton (and Dave Holland and Chick Corea) Question and Answer, or the support behind vocalists Sarah Vaughan (How High the Moon) and Etta Jones (her original Don’t Go the Strangers). The more recent recordings include a remarkable rendition of Greensleeves by his Fountain of Youth Ensemble. The DVD includes a video from an Ashley Kahn interview of Haynes who talks about his drum sound, playing with Coltrane and other matters of interest followed by a marvelous video of Haynes and his Fountain of Youth Ensemble in performance followed by Haynes doing a drum solo from a 1973 Highlights of Jazz Concert.


Ashley Kahn provides succinct and astute commentary in the accompanying booklet. Perhaps the only negative may be the folding digipak for the CDs which feels a little flimsy, but otherwise this collection provides us with an overview of one of the premiere drummers of the past several decades and is highly recommended.

I received a review copy either from Jazz & Blues Report or a publicist for the record label.

Piano Boogie Woogie and Blues From Smithsonian Folkways

Smithsonian Institution’s acquisition of the legendary Folkways catalog served music lovers well by preserving and keeping available the rich trove of music that label had recorded. it also has served as a vehicle for the Smithsonian to issue new recordings of diverse musical traditions from around the world including live performances recorded at Smithsonian Folklife Festivals and programs. Included is the production of compilations drawn from the thousands of recordings in their catalog and in their archive. One such compilation is Classic Piano Blues that brings together recordings by Memphis Slim, Speckled Red, Victoria Spivey, Meade Lux Lewis, Roosevelt Sykes, Little Brother Montgomery, Lead Belly, and James P. Johnson from Folkways albums with efforts by Booker T. Laury from the 1990s “Folk Masters” series of concerts and radio broadcasts and a 1976 Folklife Festival performance of Dices Blues by Big ‘Chief’ Ellis (with John Cephas and Phil Wiggins accompanying him).

Jeff Place has compiled an interesting mix of material that is a credible introduction to the piano blues tradition although some might suggest that there are some curious choices of material. The opening Memphis Slim Tribute to Pete Johnson,” is a rousing boogie woogie as is Meade Lux Lewis’ Medium Blues, a strong medium tempo variation on Yancey Special, with a strong left hand bass. Booker T. Laury was heavily influenced by Roosevelt Sykes as his vigorous rendition of Early in the Morning,” that some may be more familiar from Junior Wells’ recordings of this Walter Roland number. I am surprised that a rendition of The Dirty Dozens by Speckled Red was not included, but this barrelhouse player is heard on a solid How Long, attributed by Red to St. Louis pianist Walter Davis. Red’s barrelhouse rendition of Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie, follows the more ragtime-tinged rendition by Little Brother Montgomery, and the contrasts in style is fascinating. Little Brother is good here and on his own No Special Rider Blues, but this listener has heard stronger recordings by him.

Champion Jack Dupree’s Black Wolf Blues, is a European small group recording of Texas guitarist-vocalist, J.T. ‘Funny Paper’ Smith’s Howling Wolf. Big Chief Ellis (he was part Black Creek Indian) originally recorded Dices Blues for a small New York label, and reprised it here displaying the influence of the afore-mentioned Walter Davis in his bittersweet approach. Lead Belly’s Big Fat Woman is more interesting for his mix of traditional lyrics than his unusual piano style. Sam Price’s instrumental, Parlour Blues, is another performance from the Folk Masters series and captures the famed pianist and talent scout in one of his last performances. While the booklet credits this to a performance at the Barns of Wolf Trap, I wonder if this was from the first season of Folk masters which I believe was held at Carnegie Hall.

Little Drops of Water, bring together the Deep Morgan (St. Louis piano of Henry Brown with vocalist Edith Johnson, both of whom recorded in the heyday of blues recordings in the twenties. Another St. Louis pianist is Henry Townsend who does a sober rendition of Roosevelt Sykes All My Money Gone” in an approach that suggest Walter Davis’ influence (Townsend played guitar on many Davis recordings). Sykes is represented by a solo version of Sweet Old Chicago, which he had recorded in New Orleans for Imperial. This is a variant of Sweet Home Chicago, but in any case Robert johnson’s recording itself is derived from Kokomo Blues and Sykes includes a verse not in Johnson’s recording. Sykes takes a boogie solo here, unlike his Imperial recording that featured a hot guitar solo, but was wondering why one of his more famous numbers were not included. Stride pianist James P. Johnson is heard with a small group for Hesitation Blues, as well as backs Katherine Handy Lewis on her father’s Yellow Dog Blues, where she wonders where her “easy rider has gone.” These are fine performances, although I am not sure they are classic piano blues.

As indicated, this serves as an introduction of the piano blues that can be heard on Smithsonian Folkways. There is some marvelous music here and even what I might consider curious selections is entertaining. It comes with a booklet that includes Jeff Place’s overview on piano blues and a discussion of the tracks as well as a biography and a list of pertinent Smithsonian piano blues releases. You can access the Smithsonian/Folkways catalog through the Smithsonian’s website, www.si.edu. The Folkways link is http://www.folkways.si.edu/index.aspx, and you can order or purchase as downloads there.

I purchased this CD.

Candye Kane's Home Cookin' Keeps One Satisfied

Candye Kane certainly has established herself as a significant and powerful presence on the blues and roots music scene. Back in the October 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 195) I wrote the fopllowing review of her Antone’s album, “Home Cookin’. You may have to look for this for sellers specializing in out-of-print recordings (on amazon or through ebay), but I suspect her fans may want to seek this out. I certainly enjoyed it greatly at the time. Her website is http://www.candyekane.com/. Given her background, many will approach Candye Kane’s debut album on Antone’s with curiosity and skepticism. After all when she sings on Dance Hall Girls - about strippers with their g-strings hoping for a “Mr. Right to save a girl tonight,” it is something she knows about. But- when you hear her sing, you’ll be stunned. She is fabulous singer, and this is a fabulous recording. Mostly jump blues based, she shows she can belt out the blues with the force of a Koko Taylor on the opening It Won’t be Long, and she also can tear into a slow blues groove with Big Mama Candyes’ Blues - where she boasts that”bigger is better,” and “I know the reason why. I’m soft and full of lovin’, guaranteed to satisfy,” with legendary guitarist Roy Gaines adding his singular touch to the track. She’s not simply a blues belter. She is at home in a country vein on Dance Hall Girls, and the Tex-Mex flavored She Wore a Red Carnation with Los Lobos’ Cesar Rojos on bajo sexto and Chris Gaffney adding some accordion. And the boppish Why Did You Have to Say That “L Word?”, is a swinging number where she doesn’t overpower the lyric. Roy Gaines is also present on this selection playing some nice Grant Green flavored lines, as well as on the rocking Seven Men a Week. Kim Wilson does a duet with her on Don’t Blame It On Me. Her own band, The Swingin’ Armadillos, certainly do more than yeoman service in backing her, and horns, arranged by saxophonist Johhny Viau, are fresh and imaginative, with plenty of nice touches such as April West’s imaginative trombone smears on Why Did You have to Say That “L Word?” Candye Kane wrote most of the songs here, and they are generally not typical hackneyed blues lyrics. Perhaps it is because she is such a good singer that the lyrics stand out. Given her voice, the power, subtlety and range of her singing, strong original material and the excellent backing she receives, it has resulted in a terrific album, and for that reason, one should be very curious about how she sounds live. Candye is such a wonderful person as well as singer and I will post my review of White Trash Woman from 2006 in a few days.

Kirsten Thien's Blues and Soul Infused Pop

Singer- songwriter Kirsten Thien caught the R&B and blues bug while a student at Georgetown University, and after relocating to New York City, found she preferred the thrill of performing in public and abandoned a potentially lucrative career in banking and investment for a creative one in singing and songwriting. She formed a band and issued an album in 2001, then woodshedding on guitar and songwriting, issued a second recording. Now she has issued a third CD, Delicious (Screen Door Records), which has her backed by producer Erik Boyd on bass with the core being her road band of David Patterson (guitar), Johnny Pisano (bass) and Dylan Wissing (drums). Also present are session cats from her 2006 recording, Steve Holley (drums), Tommy Mandel (keyboard and Hammond organ), Kent Smith (trumpet), Andy Snitzer (saxophone) and Mike Freeman (vibraphone). Spice is added by the addition of Arthur Neilson (guitar), Billy Gibson (harmonica) and Hubert Sumlin (guitar) on some of the 11 selections here, eight or which she wrote or collaborated on.

Listening to this CD, I have mixed reactions. Musically there is plenty to like. There is a good mix of blues and blues-infused material and the band is pretty strong. Arthur Neilson is fine as usual and Sumlin lens his distinctive guitar. However, I am ambivalent about Thien as a singer. Not that there is anything forced about her performances. It is that her vocals sound sort of like how Olivia Newton John might have sounded like as a blues-oriented singer. One example is listening to enunciate that her man’s love is ‘delicious’ on the title track. To these ears it is similar to listening to cajun french sung with a Bronx accident. Even on the attractive opening truck, where Neilson and Sumlin trade riffs, “Love That’s Made to Share,” her phrasing is of a pop-oriented vocalist who also imparts plenty of passion in her singing. 

Nobody's Ever Loved Me Like You Do is a lovely rendered soulful ballad. Please Drive, with a nice stop-time groove, benefits from Sumlin’s distinct, quirky guitar as she affects a sultriness in her raspy, whispering styling here. Taxi Love, penned by Charlie Feldman and Jon Tiven, is a soul-infused number about getting it on in a yellow cab followed by the pop-oriented title track with its lyric about “eve came to adam with an apple and tempted him to take a little bite.” Ain’t That the Truth,” is a very attractive soul ballad and love song, followed the driving rendition of Treat ‘im Like a Man, has a pretty interesting lyric about treating her man with respect and as her best her friend as opposed to controlling his every move.

Ida Cox’s Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues, is done as a duet with harmonica Billy Gibbons’ harmonica accompaniment in addition to Thien’s vocal and acoustic guitar. There is a folkiness in the performance, but also the vocal might have benefited if Thien kept her vocal delivery relaxed throughout. A fresh arrangement graces her rendition of Willie Dixon’s I Ain’t Superstitious, and Neilson lays down a hot solo, although her vocal doesn’t sound convincing to these ears. Her ballad A Woman Knows, has an appealing country flavor while Get Out The Funk, Get Into the Groove, is a funk, dance number. The CD concludes with radio edited versions of Taxi Love and Treat ‘im Like a Man.

An attractive sounding recording of blues and blues-soul infused songs that has a definite appeal to it if not compelling as viewed as blues.


I received a review copy from a publicist for this release.

Dan Adler's Organ Trio Shines On "Back to the Bridge"

Israeli born guitarist Dan Adler has established himself on the New York scene where he has played and studied with saxophonists Steve Grossman and Bob Berg as well as such guitarists as Jack Wilkins, Pul Bollenback, Peter Bernstein and Rodeny Jones. His second recording, Back to The Bridge (Emdan Music) is an organ trio session with Joey DeFrancesco handling the keyboards, and DeFrancisco’s regular drummer Bryon Landham on drums. The result is a terrific, swinging recording that showcases Adler’s solid guitar playing backed by perhaps today’s most impressive organist.

The opening Adler original, Gold and Silver, is dedicated to the great Horace Silver, and a brisk number that quickly displays Adler’s tone along with his fleet, precise and imaginative delivery followed by DeFrancesco taking over. Joe Bushkin’s Oh, Look At Me Now, a swing era hit associated with frank Sinatra, introduced by some unaccompanied guitar before DeFrancesco and then Landham join in behind Adler’s nicely articulated and developed solo. An unexpected pleasure is the organ trio rendition of Clifford Brown’s Joy Spring, with its alternating rhythms at the beginning before the trio gets off on a hot groove. The title track is an Adler original, and is, in his words, an attempt to mix a non-bebop head to some bebop solos and in any event a delightful musical trip.

It is suggested that Adler’s jazz waltz, Good Old Days, harkens back to the relaxed feel of the Larry Young, Grant Green and Elvin Jones organ trio, and DeFrancesco’s funky playing precedes strong soloing from Adler. In his liner notes, Scott Yanow observes how Landham sets a tone with a New Orleans march groove, before Adler and DeFrancesco set a medium tempo swing groove. Adler plays homage to his homeland with a languid performance of the Israeli ballad, Yatsanu At (We Left Slowly), which spends a doleful mood. The calypso rhythm of Between Jobs, helps lighten the spirits, while I’ve Never Been In Love Before, is taken at a quicker tempo than usual with a especially adept and intriguing solo by Adler. This splendid session ends with Oscar Peterson’s blues, The Smudge, that ends this recording with more wonderful playing.

I have not heard Adler’s prior recording, but Back To The Bridge, is a superb, straight-ahead organ trio marked by imaginative material and excellent playing from all involved that has worn well over repeated listening. Dan Adler’s website is http://danadler.com.

My review copy was provided by a publicist.

Iconic "Sketches of Spain" Revisted by Harmonie Ensemble New York

A new recording of one of the iconic jazz recordings of the twentieth century “Sketches of Spain” features the trumpet of Lew Soloff along with Harmonie Ensemble New York conducted by Steve Richman. Both Soloff and Richman have connections to the classic Miles Davis recording. Soloff had a long association with the late Gil Evans, and Richman had a close family friend who played trumpet on the original classic Miles Davis recording and had regaled him with recording session stories of the Evans-Davis collaborations. As George Avakian observes in his notes the original recording was first performed in the studio with little rehearsal time. Evans adaptation of two Spanish composers works and three originals along with his orchestrations made for a celebrated recording which has been sporadically performed over the years.

Harmonie Ensemble New York are known for the ability to handle both classical and jazz works including “Gershwin by Grofé,” “Symphonic Jazz,” and performed Gershwin’s symphonic orchestrations for over 50 years. A claim is made that they are better able to handle the Evans scores than the original session five decades ago and in any event, before this complete rendition of Sketches of Spain was recorded, there was rehearsal and a concert at the Church of St. Peters in New York City, marking one of the rare complete performances of this masterwork. It was also an opportunity for trumpeter Soloff to play the entire “Sketches,” as he had played parts at different times in part through his association with Evans. One interesting fact that is revealed is that a many lines and passages of Davis’ trumpet on the original recording was written by Evans, so for those who would say Soloff is merely copying Davis, that is a partial explanation. For the improvised portions, Soloff takes inspiration from Miles, and “trying to convey the depth of expression” of Davis, but admittedly can only be himself.

I have not listened to Davis’ original recording in some time and I did not revisit it for purposes of making comparisons. If I did a blindfold listening I suspect I would be far from able to detect differences from Davis’ original recording. In the context of a ‘jazz’ recording, its unusual to respond to it as a performance of a repertory item as one might do to a symphonic recording of Beethoven. However, this is wonderfully recorded and played. It is a luxurious listening experience (as was Davis’ original) recording. Soloff’s trumpet cries, moans and soars against an orchestral background that pulses and dances and is exhilarating to listen to. Even viewed simply as a revisiting of the original, the performance here reminds us of Gil Evans stellar works. Half a century after originally imagined and recorded, this new rendering of Sketches of Spain shows its continuing vitality.

The above review appeared in the February-March 15, 2011 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 333) at page 21-22 (The issue can be downloaded at jazz-blues.com). I received a review copy from the publicist for the release.

The Blues Doctor Cures The Blues

I have written about the Music Maker Relief Foundation several times (such as here) and the activities they undertake on behalf of blues and other musicians in need. MMF has compiled a substantial body of recordings by its associated artists and among the latest CDs they have issued is Hallelujah Boogaloo by Drink Small, who is known as “The Blues Doctor.” The Blues Doctor label drink uses in part is a reference to his ability to play a variety of styles. After all, he grew up in the church (first recording as part of a gospel group) as well as learning Blind Boy Fuller tunes. It also refers to his ability to make you feel good by his playing the blues.

Drink Small is among the Music Maker Foundation Artists that has a significant body of recordings for having recorded for a variety of labels including Ichiban and his own Bishopville label (referring to South Carolina hometown). The present CD was recorded by Tim Duffy between 1997 and 2005 by Tim Duffy. It contains 11 songs and clocks in at just under 45 minutes. These are solo performances and cover a wide range of material and while all the songs are credited to Drink Small, some are not such as Blind Boy Fuller’s “So Sweet” and “Blues By the Drink” which is a revamped “Baby Please Don’t Go.”

There is a gregarious quality to Drink Small’s performances that is evident throughout, whether on the opening “Widow Woman” with a folk-tinge, to his exquisite rendition of Fuller’s So Sweet, as well as his Song With No Name, where he references Howlin’ Wolf and howls and moans. His language can get raunchy at times as on Moanin’, which is definitely not radio friendly or simply descriptive as on Woman Love a ManThat Can Play The Slide. His guitar playing whether in a Blind Boy Fuller mode as on So Sweet or playing slide, is thoughtful and crisply executed . The vigor of his performances and the varied material makes for quite an enjoyable recording.

I obtained this as part of my Givin’ It Back Record Club membership which includes a quarterly CD release as a premium for my donation to MMF, but also can be acquired on its own from MMF at musicmaker.org.

I am writing this a week before the Music Maker Foundation hosts on Monday March 14 Capitol Blues Night at Clyde’s, at Gallery Place in Washington DC. Only a limited number of tickets are available for this fundraiser for Music Maker Relief Foundation. There will be musical performances by Captain Luke, Ironing Board Sam, Big Ron Hunter, Mudcat, Bubba Norwood and Sol, the event offers an evening of diverse and feet-stompin’ music and in addition to the phenomenal entertainment, tickets will include beer, wine and hors d’oeuvres. Go to musicmaker.org for more details on the event and how to order tickets.

John Lee Hooker's Everybody's Blues

John Lee Hooker was an American icon when he passed away a few years ago. The first albums I purchased by him were on the ABC-Bluesway label and the first one was recorded Live at the Cafe Au Go Go in new York with Muddy Waters Band backing him. I still remember when Barrett Hansen (better known today as Dr. Demento) helped compile some blues reissues for the Specialty label. One of these were early, often solo recordings, that were hauntingly powerful. Like reissues of his contemporaneous recordings for Modern (on Kent or UNited) and his Federal 78s (on King), they are amongst his finest works. The CD era saw Hooker reissues thrive in the 1990s, and Specialty issued Graveyard Blues in 1992 and Everybody’s Blues in 1993. My review of the latter appeared in the May 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 191) and reproduced below with minor changes. Both Specialty reissues show as being available. The Modern Recordings I briefly discuss towards the end may be available as a used or collectible.

Fantasy has issued the second of its Specialty John Lee Hooker reissues, Everybody’s Blues. It contains twenty more choice early examples of the King of The Boogie. The first eight recordings are made by Bernie Besman and involve Hooker’s own reworking of traditional blues themes. Hooker’s driving boogie accompaniment, with his calculated extension beyond the 12-bar form, makes Do My Baby Think of Me sound completely different from Little Brother Montgomery’s Special Rider Blues. In contrast, the following Three Long Years Today is a brooding Hooker slow blues. Another similarly styled blues, Walkin’ This Highway, is marked by Hooker’s somewhat violent sounding guitar playing. Four Women in My Life (also issued on Modern) is a stunning, relatively straight rendition of a delta blues theme which sounds like someone is playing rhythm with Hooker, although not credited. Eight of the performances were recorded with a small jump combo who bring a certain amount of chaos to the talking blues I‘m Mad, where Hooker complains menacingly about working hard to take care of his woman while his woman plays around, Boogie Rambler, derived from Gatemouth Brown’s recordings, the jaunty version of Rosco Gordon’s No More Doggin’, and the title cut which is a recast version of Eddie Boyd’s Five Long Years. The final four tracks find Hooker solo again and the version of Percy Mayfield’s I Need Love So Bad illustrates how Hooker can take straight blues lyrics and through his guitar embellishments, his extending a verse past 12 bars, and deliberately not rhyming lines, make a familiar song into what clearly becomes his own slow blues. One would never have guessed its source. The liner notes on this set of vintage Hooker are the same as on Graveyard Blues, the earlier Specialty reissue of Hooker. The two Specialty albums are the two best collections of John Lee Hooker’s early recordings currently available in the United States. The English Ace Records has issued The Legendary Modern Recordings 1948-1954 which may be found at better stores carrying imports. This contains most of Hooker’s most commercially successful recordings including Boogie Chillen and the original I’m in the Mood, and one can only hope that Virgin Records’ Flair subsidiary will make this available in the US soon. Other recommended early Hooker includes the Krazy Kat collection of Joe Van battle recordings of Hooker along with some real obscurities, Boogie Awhile, as well as Do You Remember Me, Hooker’s explosive Federal recordings which are some of the most intense post World War II down home blues recordings made.

Jason King's Blue Skies & Black Shoes Appealing Blues & Rock Mix

Jason King (Roxas), originally from the Philippines, hails from Northern Nevada where he holds forth with a busy schedule of performances leading the Jason King Band which today features a lineup of bassist Wilbert Banks, drummer Michael Moore and Weissenborn/ lap steel guitarist Tommy Stiles.

On his new release, Blue Skies & Black Shoes (Hip-Rex Music), the band is augmented by Pat Dodson playing drums on several tracks, Jason Stanton on keyboards, Freddie Mills on harmonica and Rick Metz on saxophone. King contributed all the songs here which range from straight blues to some numbers, including the title track, that are more rock flavored.

He is an personable vocalist and a stinging guitarist. One can detect some Stevie Ray Vaughan influence although his vocals and guitar attack are a bit more restrained. Certainly listening to the opening S teppin’ Out, one can get a sense of his appeal with some nice harp added to the mix. Driftin’, with its churning rhythm is a mixed track as his vocal comes off a bit muffled, but Cryin’ Shame, is a slow blues with exceptional, jazzy guitar as he tells his woman its a crying shame how she throws her love away and its he who she betrays. It is a pretty straight-forward performance, but he delivers it strongly. 

Learn to Take It Slow, is another solid blues performance with a nice groove. The mood changes on Broken, which has a country - southern rock feel, along with a reflective lyric. On Mean & Nasty, a full band is present with Stanton’s greasy Hammond B-3, and Metz’s raspy saxophone backing this slow blues, with forceful solos from Metz and King (again really strong here). The title track, another tune more southern rock than blues, evokes the Allman Brothers with a nice lyric and some guitar styled in a Dickie Betts vein. Soulshaker, with a nice funky groove, also has some blues-infused rock flavoring. My Little Baby, is a rocking blues shuffle but does not stand out.

Listening to Blue Skies & Black Shoes, one can appreciate that he is quite busy around Reno, Nevada. This is quite a very listenable mix of blues and southern rock with several strong performances, along with some that are congenial if not standing out per se. It should particularly appeal for those who listening tastes run from blues to country and southern rock.  His website is http://JASONKINGBAND.COM and is available from the website, cdbaby and downloadable at itunes.

This review originally appeared in slightly different form in the July Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 328). My review copy was provided by a publicist for the release.

Big Joe Turner's Music Still Jumps

Back in the early 1990s, EMI issued a series of blues reissues that made some important and vintage blues available for blues listeners. In the October 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 195) I reviewed a pair of reissues by Amos MIlburn and Big Joe Turner. Yesterday I presented my review of the Milburn reissue. Today I turn to the Big Joe Turner reissue, Jumpin’ With Joe. The original CD can be found used and the music is available as downloads. Here is my review from 1994. The Joe Turner collection, Jumpin’ With Joe, brings together his 1947 Aladdin and 1950 Imperial recordings. The Aladdin sessions include a date shared with Wyonnie Harris including a stomping two-part Battle of the Blues, as well as a different date with some jump blues versions of staples from Turner’s repertoire, Nobody in Mind, Roll ‘Em Pete and Low Down Door. Turner’s in strong voice, and the horn arrangements and backing give these jump blues a different flavor from other Turner versions. Some real treats here are the Imperial sides with the famous Dave Bartholomew studio band, with Fats Domino at piano. The slow blues Story to Tell and Lucille have particularly compelling vocals and splendid boogie blues piano from Domino. Jumpin’ Tonight is a rocking jump blues similar to some of his Freedom recordings. Alas, these made little chart impression. Shortly thereafter Turner started recording for Atlantic Records, a label which developed a winning formula with Big Joe, reviving his career as a major recording artist. This is a valuable addition to the available Turner discography, and includes several recordings that previously were issued only in Europe, or on 45s, and an alternate take of the Battle of the Blues Part 1. This reissue contains line notes and list all of the pertinent Aladdin and Imperial recordings by the artists. Lacking is personnel and other complete discographical information, although the notes do highlight the important sidemen. Jumpin’ With Joe should have little difficulty pleasing fans of the great shouter.

Amos Milburn was the Chicken Shack Boogie Man

Back in the early 1990s, EMI issued a series of blues reissues that made some important and vintage blues available for blues listeners. In the October 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 195) I reviewed a pair of reissues by Amos MIlburn and Big Joe Turner. These reissues included their important recordings for Aladdin and Imperial which in Milburn’s case was his legacy. I have noted that while the original CD sets (which had wonderful booklets) may be available from used sources, but the music is available as downloads on itunes and amazon (and I presume other sources), so my observations are worthwhile, especially since Milburn is such an important artist whose star has faded. Given that most people today associate Milburn’s big hit “Chicken Shack Boogie” with Pinetop Perkins, these recordings should be a revelation to many. What follows is the pertinent portion of my review from 1994 with a few stylistic changes. 

{Amos} Milburn’s star has been in eclipse for at least twenty years, yet, in the late forties, he was one of the biggest hit-makers in the rhythm and blues world, with most of his hits included on his collection. Despite Amos Milburn’s importance and influence, Rhino Records included no selections by Milburn on their Blues Masters Jump Blues or Texas Blues volumes. With the release of Down the Road Apiece, Milburn’s star will perhaps shine a bit brighter today. Inspired by the boogie woogie threesome of Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson, and Louis Jordan’s jumping jive, Milburn was discovered playing in Houston by Lola Anne Cullum and taken to the West Coast to record at sessions that also produced Lightnin’ Hopkins’ first sides.

His earliest recordings were strong Texas boogie woogie numbers, represented here by the title track, with Milburn’s firm piano and smooth, soulful singing, and a November 1947 session that produced his chart record, Chicken Shack Boogie, which was on the charts for 23 weeks and reached number 1. It would start a period of several years where Milburn consistently was on the Billboard R&B charts, with the boogie instrumentals and uptempo numbers Let’s Have a Party, Roomin’ House Boogie and Sax Shack Boogie (many with Maxwell Davis’ gritty tenor saxophone); Charles Brown influenced ballads and dreary blues including Hold Me Baby, Empty Arms Blues and Bewildered, (some also showing kinship to T-Bone Walker’s blues ballads); and mid-tempo blues like Walking Blues and Thinking and Drinking, the latter one of many recordings he made about booze including Bad, Bad, Whiskey, and One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer.

With the success of his songs about drinking, Milburn’s life imitated art and he started drinking heavily, including shot glasses from his his piano while performing. While he continued to chart records until mid-1954, he wasn’t able to stay on the charts with the advent of rock and roll despite efforts to update his sound. Even a pounding new version of Chicken Shack Boogie, in New Orleans with Dave Bartholomew’s studio band, that rocked with the force of a two-trailer diesel doing 75, could not restore him to his status as a chart topper. It is one of the greatest rock and roll records, and it is unfortunate that EMI did not include it in this collection.

After his tenure with Aladdin ended, Milburn continued performing and he recorded for a variety of labels, including some duets with Charles Brown for Ace. He even did an album for Motown, now a collector’s item. He suffered the first stroke in 1969 while working in Cincinnati. He suffered a second stroke shortly thereafter, and in April, 1971, this writer spent an afternoon with Milburn, then in a wheelchair, at the Cleveland VA Hospital. Somehow Milburn recovered enough use of one hand so that in 1976, with Johnny Otis playing the left hand parts, Milburn recorded for Otis’ Blues Spectrum label, although these cuts were not memorable. He died in 1980.

Down the Road Apiece collects his hit records and a few other choice items, although obviously ignoring a substantial part of his 160 or so sides for Aladdin (for instance, there is also a great version of Flying Home). Fans of boogie woogie, club blues and jump blues will find plenty to enjoy here, and, if it meets with your approval, you might watch for a rumored Mosaic box set. {The Mosaic Box was a joy, but has been long out-of-print}.

This collection includes liner notes and lists all of the pertinent Aladdin and Imperial recordings. Lacking is personnel and other complete discographical information, although the notes do highlight the important sidemen. Given the absence of available Amos Milburn, Down the Road Apiece, is a particularly important reissue.

As a footnote to my review I should mention that Milburn’s guitarist, Texas Johnny Brown, is still on the scene, laying down his sophisticated, urban blues.

Intriguing Blues Diva from Detroit

“Sweet Claudette” Harrell has been a mainstay of the Detroit music scene as a singer and songwriter. She gets to display her multi-faceted skills backed by her solid band on her new recording for Blue Skunk Records “That Man’s Got to Go.” The band includes the guitarists, Dan DeKuyper and Howard Glazer, the bass of Todd MacIntosh, the trumpet of Al ‘Big Al’ Haralson, the saxophone of Marty Montgomery, and the drums of Greg Manning.

The afore-mentioned band is a solid grouping that serves its accompanying role well and its members take some concise and thoughtful solos. The band arrangements are decent but the horn riffs are somewhat generic, while the solos show more imagination and flair. Sweet Claudette is a singer with a deep, understated delivery. Although she is not a shouter, she can belt a lyric out. There is a nice variation of material sung and played consistently at relaxed tempos. She can celebrate her man in the opening Best Damn Loving, while complain about her man who has Too Many Irons, in the pot and can’t stay true.

Glazer adds slide guitar to help give atmosphere to her lyric directed against a cheating man who she tells “honey hush, honey hush, honey hush” and Don’t Talk That Yak To Me, with Montgomery ripping off some tough tenor sax. This is followed by Love I See in Your Eyes, with a different lyrical sentiment and plenty of solo space for her band members. The CD cover notes that this was recorded “Live in the Studio,” which perhaps explains the length of some of the tracks. Despite the very nice playing (trumpeter Haralson is wonderful on Love I See in Your Eyes), a string of solos still diminishes the impact of a vocal when one is listening to a performance at home as opposed to seeing a group live. Shortening a couple of the lengthier performances would have provided the performances with more focus and a stronger impression. Its not that the performances are lacking, but as a recording they would have been stronger with some editing.

A couple of interpretations of well known blues conclude this recording. Ain’t Nobody’s Business, based on Albert King’s rendition, opens with some hot guitar before Sweet Claudette delivers her “Detroit Blues Power.” Meet Me is her reworking of the Cheatham’s Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On, with Glazer adding nice guitar. It ends an intriguing hour of blues with a slight touch of funk seasoning added.


My review copy was provided by the record label.