Outdoor festivals abound this time of the year. New CDs and even vinyl LPs have been released. There are always news items and visiting musicians. So let’s zoom in for a closer look.
- FESTIVAL ACTIVITY
The Sacramento Heritage Festival, Inc. has mini-festivals throughout the year. In April, they had a Blues Guitar Showdown with Philllip Walker, Chris Cain, and Zac Harmon. In June, they had a Father’s Day Blues Blowout which featured The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Kenny Neal, and Rick Estrin & The Nightcats. Evidently Lil’ Charlie isn’t with this group anymore. Proceeds from these shows are always given to a music education program in a public school in the Sacramento area.
The San Jose Blues Week mid-May was filled with live blues music in several clubs and a noon BBQ with performances by Nathan James and Ben Hernandez, seventh place winners in the solo/duo group of the 2007 International Blues Challenge (IBC) in Memphis. The radio station, KSJS, discussed the history of blues during the week.
The week culminated in the 28th annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival, which was hosted by The Associated Students of San Jose State University. At the festival, both Ron Thompson and Koko Taylor were honored for their contributions to the blues. The festival was held on campus and featured The Robert Cray Band, Koko Taylor & Her Blues Machine, Sonny Landreth, Smokin’ Joe Kubek with Bnois King, Shane Dwight and Max Cabello, Jr.
There were two blues fests over Memorial Day weekend, the end of May.
The 16th annual Santa Cruz Blues Festival was a two-day event. Saturday’s show had Bonnie Raitt; Legends of the Blues with Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, & The Mike Schermer Allstars; Coco Montoya; Jimmy Thackery; & JJ Grey & Mofro. Sunday’s show featured Al Green; Subdudes; Boneshakers; Ryan Shaw; & Trombone Shorty.
On that Monday, the 14th annual California Blues Festival was held in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Performers were: Fillmore Slim; Curtis Lawson; Tia Carol; Willie G; Kelley Richey; Emma Jean Foster; Robin Smith; & Rose Eger. They were all backed by producer, sax man and band leader, Bobbie Webb and His Smooth Blues Band.
June was a busy week as there were blues fests nearly every week.
Pittsburg, California hosted The Black Diamond Festival the first weekend. Saturday’s show included Lenny Williams, E.C. Scott & Smoke, Jessie James, Camp Stoneman Tribute, and BABS Caravan of Allstars. On Sunday, players were Charlie Musselwhite, Texas Johnny Brown, Chris Cain, Camp Stoneman Tribute, The Legget Brothers & Dorothy Morrison Gospel Hour, and Three Dimensions Plus One.
The next weekend was the Russian River Blues Festival. There were 16 bands on 2 stages who played a mix of traditional blues, rock, R&B, and soul music. Some of the players on Saturday were Johnny Lang, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Shemekia Copeland, and Dan Hicks and the Hot Links. Sunday’s lineup included Los Lonely Boys, Robben Ford, Coco Montoya, and Earl Thomas.
- THE BIG ONE
The last weekend in June was indeed a big one, with 50 groups playing music on three stages for three days. This was the one and only 23rd annual Monterey Bay Blues Festival. (MBBF). The show started on Friday evening with the morose singing and guitar playing of James Blood Ulmer and then the popular singer, Betty LaVette on the main stage.
While on the smaller Garden Stage, there was a dose of R&B, including two runners-up from the MBBF Battle of the Blues competion, Pamela G.and L.A. Big Daddys. Blues was more the essence on the other small President’s Stage. Country blues artist, Dave Riley, the Lara Price Band, and Doug MacLeod were some of the performers.
On Saturday afternoon, one of the highlights of the festival was the Volker Strifler Band, who opened the main stage show since they were the winners of the MBBF Battle of the Blues competition. The band had great soul and depth, and was powerful. Volker also had a slow, melodic side to his singing and some slide guitar playing. It was an exciting hour of music! Also on the afternoon program was Teeny Tucker, an uninspiring blues shouter and Joe Bonamassa, who played a mournful as well as a melodic guitar, but sounded very heavy in the rhythm section. Keb’ Mo’ & Band closed out that part of the show.
C.J. Chenier and The Red Hot Louisana Band opened the Saturday main stage evening show. They were hot and sizzling with their infectious zydeco beat. C.J. has been carrying on the family business of his father, the legendary Clifton Chenier, for two decades. They also played some gentle blues. C.J. has soothing and smooth vocals and a tight band. It was a very entertaining and enjoyable show. The 73-year-old James Cotton was next. He blew the heck out of his harmonica, and is truly a blues legend. Susan Tedeschi had strong vocals and guitar playing in her rock-blues set. She could use more soul. The Taj Mahal Trio finished out the evening show.
There is always too much to see and hear and too little time to do it at this event. Hence many of the 40 artists on the smaller stages won’t be mentioned. Big names like Robben Ford, Frank Bey, and Henry Butler performed on the smaller stages. Several Bay Area musicians performed there, including Pat Wilder, Lady Bianca, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Bobbie Webb & Smooth Blues Band, Jackie Payne & Steve Edmonson Band, Russell City Memorial Blues Band, and Mitch Woods & His Rocket 88’s. Mitch played some high energy keyboards and had a good varied show, with boogie, swing, jump and slow blues, and his own style of Rock-a-Boogie music, as he calls it.The crowd was on its feet dancing.
This year there was only one show on the main stage on Sunday. The popular gospel group, Blind Boys of Alabama opened that show. Another type of gospel, called Swamp Gospel, was the opener on the Garden Stage. The quartet of Roy Tyler & New Directions combined Afro-American church music of the Deep South with the drive and compulsion of beat-based music, almost creating a contemporary R&B sound. Back on the main stage, the Homemade Jamz Blues Band (more about them later), Debbie Davies, & Charlie Musselwhite all played.
B.B King was the headliner on the main stage and winner of the MOBBAY award, the MBBF 2008 artist-of-the-year award. Unfortunately, he shared too many stories about his life to the detriment of his guitar playing and singing. But at the age of 82, and still out there on the road, I guess he has the prerogative to do a show like he wants. After all,he is hailed, honored, and beloved as the King of the Blues.
Interesting things happened on the smaller stages on Sunday. Three youth groups performed. The Homemade Jamz Blues Band, who also played on the main stage earlier in the day, was composed of three siblings. Ryan Perry,16, played lead guitar and sang,; Kyle, 14, played bass guitar, and Taya, 9, played drums. Their father played the harmonica.
They all sounded like adult blues veterans. They even competed in the International Blues Challenge against 93 adult bands last year and came in fourth. They already have a record contract. And their two guitars are made out of old car mufflers, which they prefer for a fuller, warmer tone. Their dad built the instruments because they didn’t have enough money to buy new ones. They are based out of Tupelo, Mississippi. They were a big hit with their mix of blues, rock, and funk.
There was also a set by Matt Wigler, 13, who played boogie woogie with depth and power on those keyboards. Also there was a Blues In The Schools Showcase which was a large group of their Honor Band from the local schools. The female vocalists were particularly impressive. The group had the audience dancing.
MBBF is very active in their ever-expanding Blues in the Schools program for middle and high-school students. MBBF also gives music scholarships. Both programs are funded through Festival event income and contributions which are tax-deductible. They are educational outreach programs to keep the blues alive for the next generation.
Janiva Magness was scheduled to be on the Garden Stage, but she had fallen and broken her ankle. So at the last minute, Kenny Neal and his band filled in. Kenny did a powerful, danceable set from the heart. Debbie Davis even sat in with him for a few numbers. J.C. Smith presented three very talented young guns of Chicago in his set. Nellie Travis, Mike Wheeler, and Chico Banks were all very impressive.
All in all, the weekend was very entertaining. There was more new talent, both on the Main Stage and on the Garden and President’s stages. There seemed to be an improvement in the amount of blues programs. A hearty thanks to all those involved in this weekend!!!
- NEWS OF INTEREST
Wendy Dewitt, talented Bay Area boogie woogie piano player, had an exciting spring. First she opened for the well-known Marcia Ball. Then she played several gigs with the Queens of Boogie Woogie show. Sue Palmer, winner of the IBC award for the Best Independent Album and Lisa Otey, a powerhouse entertainer, joined her for the concert. This group has been invited to play at the Cincinnati Blues Fest in August.
The next month she played in a Blues Piano Orgy with the accomplished musician, Macy Blackman, who had the New Orleans thing totally down, and Sid Morris who knows how to tear it up on blues.
It was an honor for Charlie Musselwhite to have a brass note in his name placed on the sidewalk on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. It is just outside of B.B.King’s venue and right next to BB’s note. Charlie spent a lot of time there during the twenty years he lived in Memphis.
Tommy Castro was the winner in two categories at the May, 2008 Blues Music Awards. He won the Contemporary Blues Album award for his “Painkiller” CD, and the B.B.King Entertainer award.
Mitch Woods gets around. He played at the New Orleans Fest, the Crawfish Fest in New Jersey, and venues in Florida and also France in May.
Eli’s Mile High Club, a blues haven for many musicians, was closed down permanently in May. It may even be torn down for a new construction project.
Kenny Neal had the cover story in the U.S. “Blues Revue” magazine for June/July, 2008. He also had a CD release party at the Oakland Yoshi’s venue in June.
The San Francisco Yoshi’s had a fundraiser for the radio station, KPOO, in June. There were two shows and Fillmore Slim played.
The San Francisco Blues Festival will be September 27 and 28, 2008 at the usual Great Meadow. Their schedule is already posted at http://www.sfbues.com.
- VISITING MUSICIANS
A fair amount of musicians played in the area. That included Buddy Guy, George Thorogood & Destroyers, Tracy Nelson, Otis Taylor, Johnny Rawls, Chris Smither, John Nemeth, Michael Burks, Janiva Magness, and others that also played festivals. Nappy Brown had to cancel his West Coast gig due to illness.
- VINYL NEWS
Yes, that is what I said – vinyl news. Blind Pig Records, one of the world’s leading independent American roots music labels, plans to release three LPS from their catalog every three months as part of their Master Vinyl Series. Label president, Edward Chmelewski, believes that these LPs will be a “response to the growing audiophile market for high-quality LPs.” He says, “ It’s great to have the larger artwork canvas…and the warmth and depth of the sound quality on these new versions is amazing.” He hopes these LPs will attact a new generation of listeners to the blues. There’s another advantage that LPs can not be returned by a retailer, whereas CDs can. Sometimes the CD return can approach 50 percent.
The LPs will be a high-quality 180 gram virgin vinyl, which is a much heavier LP than standard records of the past. Each pressing will be limited to a couple thousand albums. The records will be sold through retail stores that still stock vinyl, speciality Web sites, and the label’s own site. They will cost about $20 per album.
The first three of the series was released in May, 2008. One was “The Lost Tapes” by Muddy Waters, which are live recordings from 1971.
Another one was “Drinkin’ TNT ‘n’ Smokin’ Dynamite” by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, which was recorded live in 1974 at the Montreux Jazzs Festival. It has remained the all-time best-selling title in the label’s catalog. The third one was Tommy Castro’s “Painkiller,” which was voted “Album of the Year 2007” by the readers of Blueswax.” the largest subscribed blues ezine in the world.
- CD RELEASES
Blind Pig Records issued two new CDs during the last three months.
One was “Let Life Flow” by Kenny Neal and the other was “Treat Me Right” by Robin Rogers. Blue Records realeased “Tulsa Shuffle” by Elvin Bishop and “Don’t Say That I Ain’t Your Man,” by the late Michael Bloomfield. Factory Records said “some of the tightest band-backed sides he ever cut,” were on their CD re-release of “I’m John Lee Hooker”, from his 1955-58 singles.
“Volker Strifler Band Live” is their latest release. It was recorded live in three different venues at different times. Alvon Johnson put out “Guitars and Cars” on the P.G. Heaven label. “King of A Mighty Good Time” is the title of R.J.Mischo’s latest CD on the Challis label. Some of the Bay Area’s best musicians: Craig Horton, Steve Gannon, Henry Oden, Bernard Anderson, Marion Green, Raymond Victor, and Joe Lococo played on Rick Baskin’s new debut CD, “Baskin In The Blues.” Baskin is a Bay Area harmonica player and singer. Jackie Payne and Steve Edmonson have a new CD, “Overnight Sensation,” on the Delta Groove label.
Mitch Woods’ latest CD, “Jukebox Drive” on the El Toro Records label is now available on his website, www.mitchwoods.com, It was recorded in Barcelona, Spain when Mitch teamed up with Spanish jump blues aces, The Lazy Jumpers. Monica Dupont’s super CD, “Life Goes On,” with its stellar performances, is out and has been well-received. Just check her My Space on the web as proof. It is:
www.myspace.com/monicadupont .
That wraps it up for this time. I’ll leave you with some comments about the blues from Dennis Murphy, renowned musician and Director of the MBBF Blues-in-the-School program. He says, “I love the Blues. It’s the basis of every kind of popular music.”
----- Maria Bainer
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