Here's a few items that you might have missed over the past few weeks while trying to get your Christmas shopping list completed.....
To begin, there was terrible news early Thursday morning in Chicago when it was reported that Eric "Guitar" Davis was shot and killed while sitting in his car, one of two victims that were shot and killed within blocks of each other. As of today, details are murky as to who and why. Davis was 41 years old and was a rising star, having recently signed to Delmark Records, according to his website. The Windy City blues community is mourning his loss. Davis was the son of Bobby "Top Hat" Davis, who played drums for Otis Rush and Muddy Waters, and initially got his musical start drumming at the age of 10 behind Junior Wells, B.B. King, and others. Buddy Guy later turned him on to guitar, teaching him to play his first chord. Please keep the families of the victims of this absolutely senseless violence in your prayers.
Last week, the Blues Foundation announced the nominees for the 35th Blues Music Awards. These awards will be presented at the Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis, Tennessee on Thursday, May 8, 2014. I've had the opportunity to listen to many of the nominated albums this year and I'll just go ahead and say that this has been a fantastic year for blues recordings. It will be really difficult to pick a Top Ten list this year because I can think of about twenty-five albums that I would put in my Top Ten. Congratulations to all of this year's BMA nominees, listed below......
Traditional Blues Male Artist Anson Funderburgh Billy Boy Arnold James Cotton John Primer Lurrie Bell
Also named last week were the recipients of the 2014 Keeping The Blues Alive Awards. These awards are given to non-performers each year who have made significant contributions to the Blues World, not necessarily for their work in a particular year, but often as a "Lifetime Achievement" award. Congratulations to all of the winners this year (including a few regular FBF visitors), who will be recognized during the 2014 I.B.C. in January at Memphis. Affiliated Organization: Crossroads Blues Society of Illinois – Rockford, Illinois Art: Cristen Craven Barnard – Senatobia, Mississippi Club: Kingston Mines – Chicago, Illinois Education: Tas Cru – Chaumont, New York Festival (International): Cazorla Blues Festival – Cazorla, Spain Festival (U.S.): Mississippi Valley Blues Festival – Davenport, Iowa Film, Television and Video: Stefan Grossman – Sparta, New Jersey Historical Preservation: George Mitchell – Fort Myers, Florida International: The Royal Mail Hotel – Goodna, Queensland, Australia Journalism: Gene Tomko – Lafayette, Louisiana Literature: Gerard Herzhaft – Lyon, France Manager: Marcia Weaver – Jackson, Mississippi Photography: Dick Waterman – Oxford, Mississippi Producer: Tom Hambridge – Nashville, Tennessee Promoter: Myron Mu – San Francisco, California Publicist: Frank Roszak – North Hills, California Radio (Commercial): Jerry Schaefer – East Islip, New York Radio (Public): Larry Lisk – St. Petersburg, Florida Record Label: Stony Plain Records – Edmonton, Alberta Special Committee Award: Blue Star Connection – Winter Park, Colorado
In 2006, Blues Bytes won a KBA Award in the Blues on the Internet category. I wasn't able to attend the presentation of the award that year because of prior commitments and I really regret not going and missing out on the opportunity to meet Bill Mitchell, who puts together Blues Bytes every month. I've been submitting reviews to Blues Bytes since 1999, and have yet to meet Bill in person, but have still managed to forge a great working relationship with him over the past 14 years. If you've not ever visited the site, stop by and check it out. As I said above, 2014 has been a fantastic year for new releases, and the great ones are coming out right down to the wire. Here's a few brand new releases that have run across my stereo over the past couple of weeks that should appeal to all blues lovers. You will find more detailed reviews of these discs in the December issue of Blues Bytes.
Charlie Musselwhite has been pretty busy and pretty successful over the past couple of years. He earned five Grammy nominations for two different projects...a collaboration with Ben Harper (Get Up!) and the Little Walter tribute album released by Blind Pig (Remembering Little Walter). He also received five BMA nominations as you can see above. Not one to rest on his laurels, Musselwhite has also released a new album, Juke Joint Chapel, recorded "live" at the Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale, MS, teaming the legendary harp man with his superb band. He mixes covers of songs by many Windy City harp legends (Little Walter, Billy Boy Arnold, Shakey Jake) with a solid set of his own songs. It's a really inspired set and it continues his hot streak.
Michael Packer has been a big part of the New York City blues scene for a number of years, but his musical career dates back to the early 1960's. He recorded for Atlantic, Buddha, and RCA in the late 60's and early 70's with the bands Papa Nebo and Free Beer, performed as part of the Matt Murphy Band, and currently leads the Michael Packer Blues Band. For many years, Packer battled alcoholism and drug addiction, eventually spending time in prison, but he has rebuilt his life and career over the past couple of decades. His latest release, "I Am The Blues" My Story, is a look at his life and career, completely unvarnished. It mixes Packer's narration with songs from over the span of his career. The narration portions are stunning in their imagery and their frank tone.....Packer has a good-natured humor about his past, but he pulls no punches and tells it like it is, taking responsibility for his own actions and reactions over the years. The songs are impressive, too. In the early part of his career, Packer was told that "White boys can't sing the blues," but he proves those critics wrong with these performances. Blues fans will find this to be riveting listening. It's nice that this blues story has a happy ending.
Lou Pride passed away in the Summer of 2012, but he had completed recording what would be his final disc for Severn Records, which the label just released a few weeks ago. Ain't No More Love In This House is as good a soul/blues album as you will hear this year. Pride had a warm, gospel-influenced vocal style and the disc, which features the great Severn house band, a sweet horn and string section, and Johnny Moeller on guitar, is a mix of some great Pride originals and well-chosen covers, including a Wayne Newton classic (yes, THAT Wayne Newton). If you liked the Stax and Hi recordings of the late 60's/early 70's, you will go nuts for this disc. Pride sounds fantastic and so does the band. He definitely saved his best for last. Here's a clip from Pride's reading of a classic 80's pop tune.
Downchild has been a Canadian tradition for over forty years. The band has played swinging jump blues and their version of the classic Chicago-styled traditional blues since 1969 and have influenced scores of Canadian blues artists during that span, including a young man named Dan Aykroyd, who was inspired to form the Blues Brothers from what he'd seen from Downchild and even recorded several of the band's tunes during the band's brief tenure. Can You Hear The Music is Downchild's 17th album and longtime fans won't be disappointed because there's plenty of swinging blues here and plenty of founder Donnie "Mr. Downchild" Walsh's tasty guitar work and harmonica present. It's just a fun disc from start to finish.
I really enjoyed Brad Wilson's latest release, Hands On The Wheel. The back cover reads that this California guitarist plays "high-octane rocked-up Blues," which should be music to blues-rockers' ears. A more true description could not be found. Wilson has guitar chops to burn, but he doesn't bang you over the head with endless meanderings. He plays what the material calls for and he should know because he wrote all of the songs, which range from hard-charging boogie rockers to jazzy blues to ballads. There's a cool tribute to boogie master John Lee Hooker that Z.Z. Top probably wishes they had thought of first. In addition, Wilson is a strong, versatile vocalist and this disc should help him reach a bigger audience if there's any justice in the world. Click on the song title to check out "Slide On Over" from the new disc, and see Wilson in action below.
In recent years, I've grown to enjoy the music of Eric Bibb. Though he's rooted in the blues, he incorporates other styles into his music, such as world, soul, and folk music, and always focuses on the positive aspects of life, with a belief that man is basically good and that there is hope for all. His latest, Jericho Road, is an album of stunning beauty and grace, with Bibb's acoustic and electric guitar work being augmented by various instruments, including a penny whistle, djembe, kora, harmonica, accordion, keyboards, and even a horn section on several tracks. The music, as always, is upbeat and positive and you'll find yourself revisiting this one for quite awhile. Jericho Road is the album that Eric Bibb has been working toward for the past few years and should be considered the apex of his musical vision.
Friday Blues Fix wants to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hopes everyone has a wonderful holiday season.
2 comments:
Bert Hut
said...
Merry Christmas to you and your family and that 2014 will be full of blues and health!
Last week, the Blues Foundation announced the nominees for the 35th Blues Music Awards. These awards will be presented at the Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis, Tennessee on Thursday, May 8, 2014. I've had the opportunity to listen to many of the nominated albums this year and I'll just go ahead and say that this has been a fantastic year for blues recordings. It will be really difficult to pick a Top Ten list this year because I can think of about twenty-five albums that I would put in my Top Ten. 
2 comments:
Merry Christmas to you and your family and that 2014 will be full of blues and health!
Bert Hut
Fondarella - Spain
Thanks!! Merry Christmas to you and yours, too!! Thanks for stopping by.
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