Recreating classic American music, paying tribute to the masters and honoring the man who said “I do not play no rock and roll”

 

Rory Block has her own simple watchwords she tries to live by: “Life is short and fragile, and I know we all have a mission. It is a great privilege to be in this miraculous place, and that if you're here, you're chosen.”

 

And she has been chosen — to recreate, revitalize and reinterpret the most classic of all American musical idioms: the Delta blues. The choice, of course, was hers to make — and she has followed it, with integrity, heart, soul and passion, since she was a young teenager.

 

Now, with the release of her third CD paying homage to the classic American blues artists, she has confirmed and delineated her mission. The new album (release date: March 29) is called Shake ’Em on Down: A Tribute to Mississippi Fred McDowell.

 

McDowell, who was born in 1904 and who died in 1972, was one of the first artists from north Mississippi to attract national attention, after he had been “rediscovered” by Alan Lomax and recorded in 1959. His material was covered by — among many others — the Rolling Stones, and he was a vital part of the country blues revival of the early sixties.

 

Rory Block adds: “Fred was famous for saying ‘I do not play no rock ‘n’ roll’ — but in fact he did... or if he did not, he practically invented it. He (much like Muddy Waters) taught electric players how to take the rock solid groove of the soul of country blues and bring it into modern music.”

 

Shake ‘Em On Down is the second album she’s made for Stony Plain Records, the international roots music label based in Edmonton, Alberta.

 

The lustrous Chicago blues scene of the 1950s was predominated by great pianists, and Henry Gray was one of the finest.  His rolling two-fisted keyboard work graced countless Chicago blues recordings during the '50s for leading labels like Chess and Vee Jay.  He recorded on classic sides by Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, and Jimmy Rogers, among others. Starting in 1956, Henry spent twelve years as pianist for the legendary Howlin' Wolf.  The sessions for Lucky Man, his first solo American album, were recorded in 1988, and marked something of a comeback for Henry, who had recorded only sporadically in the previous two decades.  Audio magazine said that on the album, "Gray performs as if the heyday of Chicago blues never ended."

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The 22^nd annual Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival in Simi Valley, CA has announced an impressive lineup of performers for the two day event which runs Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.

 

The Blues stage features the 6^th Annual Delta Groove All-Star Blues Revue.  Saturday’s performers include Los Fabulocos featuring Kid Ramos, Mikey Jr. & Stone Cold Blues, Arthur Adams, Ana Popovic, the Mannish Boys Review with Tracy Nelson, John Nemeth and the 44s.  Sunday’s lineup features Elvin Bishop, Maria Muldaur, Cadillac Zack with special guests, the Mitch Kashmar Band, the Kirk Fletcher Band, Big Pete with a tribute to Lester Butler and Shawn Pittman.

 

The second stage features Cajun & Zydeco music with Buckwheat Zydeco, Andre Thierry & Zydeco Magic, Lil Pookie & The Zydeco Sensations, Bayou Brothers and Billy Lee & The Swamp Critters.  All Cajun-Zydeco performers will be appearing both days.

 

In addition to two stages, each with dance floors, there is a huge kids area with their own stage featuring a variety of talented kid friendly acts.  And there are jumpers and crafts just for the kids.

 

 

Included at the festival are a variety of food choices from authentic Cajun and Creole dishes like crawfish and alligator to traditional barbecue and hot dogs. And each day there is a New Orleans style parade with bands, stilt walkers and audience participation.

 

Tickets are $ 18 for adults ages 13 and up, $ 15 for kids ages 5 through 12.  Kids under 5 are free.  Tickets may be purchased at the event or on-line.  For more information and ticket purchases, visit the website at www.cajun-blues.com.

 

The Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival is produced by the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise and all proceeds go to charity.

 

The band will be touring this spring and summer in support of the CD with the following significant dates: 

-       April 6, 2011 – BB’s Jazz, Blues, & Soups – St. Louis, MO

-       April 7, 2011 – The Mission – Jefferson City, MO

-       April 8, 2011 – 308 Blues Club & Café – Indianola, MS

-       April 9, 2011 – Phil Brady’s Bar – Baton Rouge, LA

-       April 10, 2011 – Cactus Music – Houston, TX

-       April 10, 2011 – Private Event – Houston, TX

-       April 11, 2011 – Echo @ The Jet Lounge – Houston, TX

-       April 12, 2011 – R. Landry’s – Fort Smith, AR

-       April 13, 2011 – River City Blues Society – Pekin, IL

-       April 16, 2011 – Grafton Blues Challenge – Cedarburg, WI

-       April 21, 2011 – Shank Hall, CD Release Party – Milwaukee, WI

-       May 14, 2011 – University of Wisconsin Memorial Union Terrace – Madison, WI

-       May 28 & 29, 2011 – Famous Dave’s – Hayward, WI

-       July 4, 2011 – Village of Shorewood 4^th of July Festival – Shorewood, WI

-       August 12, 2011 – Waukesha BluesFest      

 

 

  The 2011 Marathon Sports "Lets Run, Have Some Fun & Be Fit Summer Race Series" kicks off on May 19th @ 6:30PM down at the American Legion Marsh Post #442 with the Marathon Sports "Blues Run & BBQ".
  This is the 10th anniversary year of this great series that includes exercise, food, refreshments & music all in one neat little package.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEHe1m76IGI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjCr-kumKsE
  The great blues band - Roomfull of Blues is returning to entertain the crowd this year for the Marathon Sports "Blues Run & BBQ"....remaining bands to be announced shortly. Please see above youtube clips of last years performance by Roomfull of Blues.
For more information on the Marathon Sports "Lets Run, Have Some Fun & Be Fit Summer Race Series please see
www.baevents.com/letsrunseries

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BIG BEAR LAKE, CA - Friends of the Moonridge Zoo announce their second BLUES FOR THE ZOO benefit concert to celebrate this unique Alpine animal rescue sanctuary.  The special lakeside concert will raise funds for the Mooonridge Animal Park’s wildlife rehabilitation program.  BLUES FOR THE ZOO is set for Saturday, August 6, 2011 at Big Bear Lake’s Swim Beach Outdoor Amphitheater, 41220 Park Avenue, Big Bear Lake 92315, with a line-up of world class Blues artists.

 

On the sandy shore of crystal blue Big Bear Lake, surrounded by ancient pine trees, this setting offers a scenic backdrop for an afternoon of internationally recognized musicians along with a selection of local arts and crafts and a freshly prepared food/beverage menu.  Headlining the afternoon of music is the CHICAGO BLUES GUITAR SHOOTOUT! featuring Ronnie Baker Brooks, Lurrie Bell and Larry McCray.  Three of Chicago’s “leading lights” in the next generation of high-energy Blues will make a rare appearance together, packaged specially for this event.

 

                         

 

Tickets which go on sale May 1, 2011, are $30 in advance and $35 at the gate.  Children 10 and under admitted free.  Music runs from 3:00pm to 7:00pm with gates opening at 1:00pm.  Beach chairs and blankets are welcome for lawn festival-style seating, NO COOLERS PLEASE (a selection of food and beverage will be available on site). Parking on the grounds is $3.00 per vehicle.  Tickets may be purchased in person or via telephone from the Big Bear Chamber of Commerce, 909-866-4607, at the Moonridge Animal Park Gift Shop (43285 Goldmine Drive in Big Bear Lake) or online at www.moonridgezoo.org/. For lodging/ticket packages call the Big Bear Lake Resort Association 1-800-4-BIG-BEAR or go online at www.bigbear.com/.

Ben Sisario, The New York Times

                      

The Supreme Court has sided with a lower court's ruling in a lawsuit over the worth of music sold on iTunes, saying that digital music should be treated as a license, not a sale, which could potentially entitle artists to higher royalties. Experts say this decision will have a huge affect on older artists whose contracts pre-dated digital sales. For decades, artists have been getting 10-15 percent in royalty rates off sales; however, the licensing of music usually entitles an artist to a 50 percent share, because there is no packaging to be done by the record label.

Pretty, pretty pictures - from whence do they come? From the eye of the storm and the middle of the road.  From the vast horizon and the internal soul.  From hither, thither, yon and everywhere in between.  This is where we've been - and this is what we've seen.   We are not shy. We are "Old Blues Eye".

 

This week - Peggy DeRose Photography

 

Q:   Who is easier to photograph - men or women?

A:   Blues photography has been a large part of my life for some years now. Capturing the mood of the venue and musicians is important to me. When shooting at the venues the performers' music drives the energy for me.  I watch, listen and anticipate that moment the performer hits their peak of emotion.  I'm intuitive rather than technical.  Men and women who are comfortable in front of the camera are easiest to photograph. "Pinetop" Perkins was an easy subject, always ready to smile, wink and nod to me.

 

                    

                         2008 Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins

                        

  The All-Star concert, which closes out the Chicago Blues Festival on the Petrillo Main Stage, will be preceded by a set from vocal powerhouse Shemekia Copeland, who began her career as an Alligator artist.

  On February 22 the label released The Alligator Records 40th Anniversary Collection to widespread critical and popular acclaim. The two-CDs-for-the-price-of-one set received a glowing four-star review from Rolling Stone. Label founder and president Bruce Iglauer was recently featured on NPR's Weekend Edition, in addition to national and regional media attention from other outlets, including a two-part, two-hour interview and feature on XM/Sirius B.B. King's Bluesville Channel 74.

  To read a full history of the label, click Alligator Records.

Yvonne Varner - Modesto, Ca.    

 

   Who would think that a show featuring 4 disabled persons and 6 cancer survivors would end up so lovely?  Pinkie's Hair Raising Experience was a beautiful thing where some wonderful people in the blues show business dedicated their time to raise money and hair for Locks of Love.  Locks of Love makes and gives human hair wigs to underpriviledged children who are going through chemo treatments and other hair loss problems.  It was four hours of blues to include the talents of Big Earl Matthews, Shad Harris, Mike Torres, Jr., Mike Osborn, Isis, Amy Lou, Carie Anne, Pinkie & Blind Resistance (host band), headlined by the awe-inspiring Cole Fonseca and the always incredible - Candye Kane. 

                       Rebecca Stark Photography

             

                       

 

 

  It was bold of the members of the young European Blues Union to hold their annual General Assembly together with the first European Blues Challenge but they were willing to take the risk and they managed to bring together no less than sixteen member countries for the first European Challenge.

   After a short, compulsory detour via Brandenburg Gate and other famous Berlin sites, there we were in a unique place called Kulturbrauerei, an old brewery now converted in a cultural centre, the perfect setting for the weekend's festivities.

       

  Our "quiet" winter season has been a busy time this year at the Delta Blues Museum.

  After a flurry of meetings in January and February to set up the final preparatory work, the Museum Board of Trustees, along with the Stovall family and representatives of D. Carroll Construction, officially broke ground for the Muddy Waters Addition on Tuesday, March 22. To be completed by the end of this year, the wing features a two-story building that will showcase the cabin from Stovall Farms where McKinley Morganfield a.k.a. Muddy Waters grew up. (It is currently on display in our galleries, but in a cramped space.) The Addition will also house new permanent exhibits. The wing is designed to complement the Museum's current home, Clarksdale's historic railroad freight depot, a Mississippi Landmark Property, and will double the size of our gallery space. Construction will be completed by the end of this year.

Blind Pig Records has re-issued on CD a pair of classic long-out-of-print blues LPs from the '80s - "Lucky Man" from noted pianist Henry Gray and "Blues Mandolin Man" from mandolin master Yank Rachell.  Both CDs are available for only $9 as part of Blind Pig's midline budget series.

 

 

HENRY GRAY  "LUCKY MAN"
The lustrous Chicago blues scene of the 1950s was predominated by great pianists, and Henry Gray was one of the finest.  His rolling two-fisted keyboard work graced countless Chicago blues recordings during the '50s for leading labels like Chess and Vee Jay.  He recorded on classic sides by Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, and Jimmy Rogers, among others. Starting in 1956, Henry spent twelve years as pianist for the legendary Howlin' Wolf.  The sessions for Lucky Man, his first solo American album, were recorded in 1988, and marked something of a comeback for Henry, who had recorded only sporadically in the previous two decades.  Audio magazine said that on the album, "Gray performs as if the heyday of Chicago blues never ended."

 

 

YANK RACHELL  "BLUES MANDOLIN MAN"
Yank Rachell began his recording career in the late 1920s.  Through the ensuring decades, he established himself as the finest and most revered mandolinist the blues ever produced, performing regularly with Sleepy John Estes and Sonny Boy Williamson, among many others.  Rachell drifted away from the music scene in the '40s, but resumed performing during the folk-blues revival of the late '60s and early '70s. These sessions from 1986, where Yank is joined for the first time by a rhythm section (his accustomed way of playing for many years), find Yank in fine form, his voice and instrumental skills still strong and compelling.  Downbeat magazine called the LP "a fun, effective presentation of old-timey music in a fresh, contemporary setting."

 

                      

 

  On Saturday, May 7, the BBS will present an event featuring many local and regional bands from 3 p.m. until after midnight, at Maddy's Nightclub, 1639 Broadway, Saugus. This event will be held as a BBS fundraiser and membership drive. Many bands have signed on, including Satch Romano, Shirley Lewis, Gil Corea, Boston Baked Blues, Mario Perrett and many more to be announced. The event will start out with youth blues groups and feature the headliners starting around 7PM. More artists are signing on and will be announced very soon. There will be a hot buffet, raffles and new membership specials!

    

 

 

 2011 marks the 40th anniversary re-issue of the legendary Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs. There are several new versions of the release including tracks from the band’s never finished second album, performances on The Johnny Cash TV Show, Derek and the Dominos live at Fillmore East, and more. Elwood will be playing lots of goodies. Plus: archive interviews with Eric Clapton, and a new interview with original keyboard player, singer, and songwriter, Bobby Whitlock. All that, plus Delaney and Bonnie, and the hidden Albert King connection. Special bonus! This week’s blues breaker is a sample from Gregg Allman’s first solo album in fourteen years.

 

RBA Publishing Inc is based in Reno, NV with a satellite office in Beverly Hills, Florida. We produce the annual Blues Festival Guide magazine (now in its 7th year), the top-ranking website: www.BluesFestivalGuide.com, and this weekly blues newsletter: The Blues Festival E-Guide with approximately 20,000 weekly subscribers. We look forward to your suggestions, critiques, questions, etc.

Reach the E-Guide editor, Gordon Bulcock, gordon@bluesfestivalguide.com

or contact our home office at 775-337-8626, eguide@bluesfestivalguide.com
 

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