Some weekend blues-light specials

There are a couple of special local blues shows around over the weekend, so take note and try to take part. The blues needs you just as much as you need it. Or them. I never know for sure.

First, on Saturday night, at the Hard Rock Cafe in Station Square, the Muddy Kreek Blues Band holds a benefit for P.R.O.M.I.S.E., a youth-mentoring group, and will feature group members as well. Muddy Kreek is a relatively new band in town, and I hear good things.

Then on Sunday, from noon-8, at Moondog's in Blawnox, the 3rd Annual No Steelers Game Blues Jam to benefit the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank and food drive (bring non-perishable food).

Here's that lineup:
12:30 - Shot o' Soul
1:15  - Blu Razor Band with Zach Tyler
2:00 - Sweaty Betty Blues Band with Bubs McKeg
2:45 - Jimmy Adler Band
3:30 - Jill Simmons and Andrea Pearl
4:15 - Pamela Bick and the Warehouse Band
5:00 - Mystic Knights with Gil Snyder and Craig King
5:45 - Big ol' Blues Jam with Patti Spadaro

Dylan speaks

I guess I'm just catching up with the news, but it's still worth a mention. Bob Dylan (who had already endorsed Barack Obama for president), gave his first-ever concert at the University of Minnesota on election night. By all accounts, he was beside himself (for the silent one, anyway), in his encore after Obama had pretty much won the night.

Here's a description from the Minneapolis City Pages:

... last night, after a lengthy break between his regular set and his encore which I can only imagine was spent discovering that Barack Obama had won the election, Dylan returned to the stage to play "Like a Rolling Stone" and then turned to the audience and spoke.

"I was born in 1941," he said, a wavering sentimentality in his scratchy voice. "That was the year they bombed Pearl Harbor. I've been living in darkness ever since. It looks like things are going to change now."

I know, that's a long excerpt. But it's a good one. And what does that have to do with BlueNotes? Well, BlueNotes is a big Dylan fan (much like Obama, I hear), and Dylan has always been a big blues fan.  So that's good enough.

But it's a good one.

2 movies coming about Chess Records

It's hard to believe that after many years of inattention, one of the blues' most important stories will be told - maybe - in two feature films set to be released next month: "Cadillac Records" and "Who Do You Love."

That story is the story of Chess Records, and the owners and artists who made it happen. Chess was probably the most important record label in blues history, and it could well be a great movie subject. Judging from what I've read about both films, however, they sound entertaining, but not exactly historical.

It's easy to understand the difficulty in getting rights to some of the music -- Chuck Berry, for example, always notorious about getting his cash up front, was reportedly very hard to deal with on the rights to use his music. One  film met his price and one did not, so an important part of the Chess history isn't well-represented. And "Cadillac Records," which stars Beyonce as Etta James (a great singing job, from what little I've seen) and Oscar-winner Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess, cuts Leonard's brother and Chess co-founder Phil, out of the movie. What kind of history is that?

I know, it's the movies. And the idea is to make an interesting film. But do we have to sacrifice accuracy when there's so much life and drama and great spirit and music in the real thing? I suppose that's a dumb question, considering all the liberties that filmmakers take with history. I guess I find it annoying because this part of our musical culture hasn't been well-documented in the popular media. It would be kind of unfair, I think, for all those Beyonce fans to grow up thinking that Phil Chess did not exist.

Here's a quote from a Los Angeles Times blog about "Who Do You Love":

After an early screening of "Who Do You Love," one of the--count 'em--two new movies about 1950s powerhouse blues label Chess Records, a pair of women sought out Marshall Chess, whose dad, Leonard, was the driving force behind the record label. They were puzzled about one of the key story lines in the film. "Did your mother and father really make up after your father had that torrid affair with that beautiful singer?" one of them asked. Marshall rolled his eyes. "No, they didn't make up," he said, "because there never was an affair. The filmmakers made that part up."

I suppose I should wait until I actually see the films  before being critical (what a concept!). If only the producers had come to BlueNotes before they started, we could have avoided all this negativity. Still, the music promises to be interesting. Maybe I'll just wait for the soundtrack CDs.

I also hope the films don't perpetuate the unfortunate myth about the Rolling Stones finding Muddy Waters painting the ceiling at the Chess studios.  Muddy would never risk paint splattering on his fine blues duds.

 Here are some articles and a movie trailer so you can find out a little more:

Here's a Billboard article about the films

The LA Times blog mentioned above (in case you forgot).

The "Cadillac Records" trailer. Maybe it's just me, but I think this trailer looks a little bit too much like a '50s "Superfly" flick with good music.

Elvin Bishop: 'The Blues Rolls On'

Blues guitarist Elvin Bishop, who made history as a co-founder of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band amid an amazing era of 1960s Chicago blues, has created a new album that takes him full circle to his roots.

"The Blues Rolls On" (Delta Groove) is one of Bishop's best in years, because he goes straight for the throat of the blues that got him into the music in the first place -- tough, gritty and your mama's blues. And the addition of a few musical friends like James Cotton, B.B. King, Kim Wilson, Ronnie Baker Brooks, George Thorogood, John Nemeth, Tommy Castro and Angela Strehli doesn't hurt, either.

In fact, it may be less of an Elvin Bishop album than a celebration-of-Elvin Bishop album. But that's okay. It's a good album. It's filled with a younger generation of blues musicians, a few blues veterans and some fine blues backed by some excellent musicians, including Bishop and his slide guitar.

He kicks off the CD with the title track with himself on a chunky vocal tribute to the blues, with extra-sharp backing by Warren Haynes on guitar and sassy harp by Wilson.

The rest of the tracks flow in the same blue vein, from his solo turn on the biographical "Oklahoma," the classic "Yonders Wall" with Brooks and Castro, Roy Milton's classic "Keep a Dollar in Your Pocket" with B.B. King, And Clifton Chenier's "Black Gal" -- a wide assortment of goodies.

Some of my favorites involve blue-eyed soulman and harp guy John Nemeth, who does considerable justice to the great torchy blues. "Night Time is the Right Time," with Angela Strehli shouting up the middle like Margie Hendricks did on the unforgettable Ray Charles version of the song. Nemeth returns on the lazy shuffle "Who's the Fool" then closes out the CD with an instrumental version of the Jimmy Reed classic, "Honest I Do." Nemeth's harp and Bishop's slide make beautiful old music beautiful again.

Here are a few song clips:

The title track highlights Bishop's guitar and vocals, and Kim Wilson's harp:

Here's a clip of "Night Time is the Right Time," beginning in middle of Strehli's tough solo:

And just for fun, here's a clip of the same spot in the Ray Charles version of "Night Time," with Margie Hendricks electrifying solo. A lot has been written about the intimate relationship between Charles and Hendricks that produced this very emotional and personal duet.

And for good measure, here's a good interview with Bishop on his life and blues available at NPR.

Blues in pictures from Iraq

Bluzapalooza, a 12-day tour of blues musicians to Kuwait and Iraq ended the first of the month -- it took a number of performers for a second version of a blues tour earlier in the year.  but this time it took a photographer along to document the shows, and Joe Rosen writes that his work has been displayed in a gallery on the New York Daily News Web site. Take  a look; they're great photos.

Here's how Joe describes his photographic journey:

The trip was an amazing event that will be with me for the rest of my life. It was a special experience which I want to share. The people I traveled with were a wonder and a joy. I consider myself lucky to have spent this time with them. The effect of the music they performed for the troops was indescribable. That’s where the photos come in. The good people at the New York Daily News have posted a gallery on their web site. I am very grateful to them. I believe it conveys the sense and spirit of the tour;

One of the performers on the tour, blues singer Shemekia Copeland, has also posted some photos from the trip on her Web site. The singer said that the tour "was the hardest but the most rewarding thing I've done in my career."

Susan Tedeschi goes 'Back to the River'

Susan Tedeschi, who just happened to be in town for a show Saturday night, also just happens to have a new CD -- "Back to the River" (Verve) -- that showcases all her singing, songwriting and guitar talents. And they also get a boost her from husband and guitarist Derek Trucks.

It's not really a blues album, and that seems to be just the way Tedeschi wanted it. Here's what she told PG Mag editor Scott Mervis in an interview last week:

"There were a lot of directions I wanted to go in and one was to make it more of a rock record," she says, "like Derek and the Dominos, Delaney and Bonnie, Janis, Jimi Hendrix, whatever, more of that time period -- and still incorporate the blues mixed in with trying to create great stories, song-telling, Bob Dylan kind of style."

And that's just how she kicks off the CD, with a Janis/Bonnie-type vocal on the hard-edged rocker "Talking About." The album is filled with tough and tender music, all but one written or co-written by Tedeschi. Here's a clip from "Talking About."

The title track is co-written by the swampy blues legend, Tony Joe White based on a conversation he had with Tedeschi, about her longing to be at her home on a river in Jacksonville, Fla., described on White's Web site:

Tony Joe asked Susan to tell him about her life and she said "I feel like I am constantly trying to get home and back to the river and back to my family." Susan lives on the St. John's River in Jacksonville, FL with her husband Derek Trucks and their two children. Tony Joe suggested she write about that and "Back To The River," the album's title track was born.

The first couple of lines highlight its haunting nature:

"Wakeup in a cold sweat, nightmare by my bed;
Waiting for the rider, wandering through my head."

That's the way the album goes -- from tough to tender, all enhanced by Tedeschi's vocals and guitar. A very nice effort.

Blues from Japan, brews for the holidays

It's part of BlueNotes' job to surf the Web for blues info, and pass along what seem to be interesting or newsworthy items (BlueNotes surfs while you sleep, or something like that).

Well, here's an item I found, that's at least as interesting for its source as for its content. At last summer's Chicago Blues Festival, I watched Koko Taylor and her band stir things up, and playing with her was a Japanese guitarist named Shun Kikuta, who really tore it up with his backing and solo work.

This is from Taipei (Formosa) Times, focusing on Kikuta, who is about to headline an annual Blues Bash there. (Here's what the actual article page looks like.) Here's a sample from the article:

The Tokyo-area native was enraptured by the blues after hearing BB King’s classic 1964 recording Live at the Regal while studying jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After graduating, he moved to his current home of Chicago, where he established his reputation through countless evenings jamming at blues clubs and playing on the streets. Through the years he has shared the stage with blues legends such as James Cotton, Junior Wells and Otis Rush.

And the photo above is one I found from my collection of Chicago Blues Festival photos, showing Koko and Kikuta performing.

More brews news

I don't have any photos, but there have been a few inquiries at BlueNotes World Headquarters lately as to the whereabouts of BeerNotes -- is he being kept in a secure location? Well, no, not unless you consider various brewpubs to be secure locations.

BeerNotes is warming up to the season to be jolly, especially with the flood of holiday beers about to be tapped. Here's an item on that from colleague and astute beer dude, Bob Batz. As for BeerNotes, he's already dipped into his beer cellar for some very nicely aging 2007 Belgian Gouden Carolus Christmas -- dark and smooth and rich with seasonal flavors. Just right for sipping and dreaming of sugarplums and blue notes dancing in his head.

Blues and brews make great music together, as long as the brews live up to the music. 

Tinsley Ellis kicks off a bluesy weekend

Yes, what you read in the papers is true. Today is Thursday, and if you think like BlueNotes does, it's time to begin the weekend.

It's another weekend full of blues, like last weekend, when you could find a good show every night, including Sunday.

So tonight at Moondog's in Blawnox, you can get down with blues-rocker Tinsley Ellis, a tough and fiery axman. Sure, it's a work night, but go in late on Friday and tell your boss that preserving the blues is more important than being at work on time (we hope your boss is Moondog).

Friday night, an unusually named-but-great-sounding band -- Reverend Raven and the Chain-SMoking Altar Boys, a down and dirty blues band -- wth  Pittsburgh's Jimmy Adler and his band opening the night at the Thunderbird Cafe.

On Saturday night, you can go to possibly your first holiday party of the season at the Rhythm House in Bridgeville, where the Blues Society of Western Pa. will be presenting two fine blues bands for a mere $7 (yes, that's seven). If you're a member, there's a little private food thrown in.

The bands are Felix and the Hurricanes and the Kilborn Alley Blues Band, either one worth the price of admission.

Also on Saturday, at the Byham Theater Downtown, Susan Tedeschi offers her blue and bluesy-flavored music, in which she's stretching out into new areas, as nicely displayed on her new CD, "Back to the River." And her opener is British soulman James Hunter, who I recommend at least as much as Tedeschi.

Okay. Writing about them is the easy part. Now let's go listen.

A few blues notes: Chicago blues, Buddy Guy, Honeyboy Edwards

The fate of the blues in Chicago -- sweet home Chicago -- seems to have fascinated many writers in recent months. Here's the latest piece I've read, from the Christian Science Monitor. It's a nicely written article, but kind of glum in its outlook.

Speaking of Chicago blues, here's an interview in the Calgary, Canada, Herald, with one of its few remaining stalwarts, Buddy Guy, in which he talks about how Chess Records couldn't figure out what to do with his fiery blues until the British blues invasion began.

Honeyboy Edwards, at 93 one of the oldest living bluesmen, is still hard at work sharing the world of his music. Here's a very nice little review of a recent show at a club in New York. (This is a New York Times article, and might require a free registration to read.)

'Rich Man's War:" The blues as protest music

Just as the presidency of George W. Bush is coming to an end, a CD of blues protest music adds an unlikely chronicle -- and a fitting end -- to his administration (Yes, BlueNotes is biased. Contact our lawyers. If you can. They're in a witness protection program)

This very fine, interesting and unusual CD -- "Rich Man's War (Ruf Records) -- is the brainchild of Kenneth Bays, managing editor of the also very fine blues mag, Blues Revue, headquartered just a little farther on down the road in Salem, W. Va. If you're a blues fan and you don't already subscribe, you should.

Bays has assembled a collection of contemporary blues that have been written in the grand tradition of protest  music, but with a laser focus on the years of the Bush administration and the war that came with it -- and a few other injustices along the way.

There are tracks like Guitar Shorty's uplifting "We the People," and Norman and Nancy Blake's acerbic "Don't Be Afraid of the Neo-Cons." And the unlikely Candye Kane's "Jesus and Mohammed" (yes folks, religion is involved.) Eddie Clearwater shows up with "A Time for Peace," and Doug MacLeod adds "Dubb's Talkin Politician Blues." And that's just a sample of the tracks.

Bays has put together a blues soundtrack of our recent political history, and it's enjoyable on multiple levels -- as music and as commentary. It used to be that us '60s children took protest music for granted, and we knew that our musical heroes would always have something to say about the life we were living. But bringing it on from a blues perspective is a little different.

Kenneth Bays was kind enough to answer a few BlueNotes questions about the CD, and how it came to be. Here are his answers. And our thanks for undertaking this project. Blues has always been a protest music in some way, and this is an excellent contemporary example of both genres at their best.

BlueNotes:  What inspired your project?

Bays: Four years ago, right before the presidential election, the progressive political organization MoveOn.org put out a CD called "Future Soundtrack for America" that consisted of songs by artists in the indie rock world. Some of the songs on it were overt in their political message, others were more subtle. But beyond the message that these artists were bringing to the table, it was just a great, musically enjoyable CD that became one of my favorite albums of the year. I found myself going back to it over and over while driving to and from work each day, which is where I seem to do most of my music listening (apart from the listening that relates to my job as managing editor of Blues Revue magazine).

Besides my daily "managing" and "editing" duties, part of my job at Blues Revue entails listening to pretty much every new blues CD that's released.  In 2007, I started to notice that more and more of the CDs I was being sent contained a song or two in which the artist spoke his or her mind about the state of the world and of America. As an unrepentant liberal, I've always been drawn to protest songs of all stripes anyway, so I started keeping track of these songs from the blues discs I listened to, "collecting" them on my iPod and taking notes about the artist, the style, and my general thoughts about the song.

Eventually I said to myself, "Why not put together a ‘blues' version of the MoveOn.org CD I liked so much?" The MoveOn disc leaned heavily on previously unreleased songs and live tracks-they even commissioned some of the performers to write and record new songs specifically for the project-and while I knew I would have neither the budget nor the time to assemble something that ambitious on my own, I felt that a pretty great record could be made out of the songs I was already hearing.

BlueNotes: How much blues protest music did you find?

Hundreds of songs, on all kinds of topics: the war in Iraq, the government's handling of the Katrina disaster, economic injustice, discrimination of all types, the ecological crisis, and even a few songs about issues local to a particular songwriter's home region. In the end, in the interest of having a cohesive CD that had a tangible focus, I decided to focus on songs that addressed the topic of war-the war in Iraq in particular, its causes, and its effect on those involved in it. And because I believe this particular war is strongly linked with economic issues, I wanted to include some songs that addressed the disparity between rich and poor in America as well. Thus the title. Rich men start wars; poor men die in them.

BlueNotes: Most of the selections seem to be contemporary. Didn't you find much of this genre in older blues?

Bays: My goal with this CD was to look at the protest songs being written in the blues genre today. The history of blues includes a whole line of protest songs going as far back as Leadbelly in the 1930s and artists like Josh White and J.B. Lenoir later on. And of course the blues style in general is regarded by some as a form of protest, in that it was created by an African-American population who had few other ways to speak out against the injustices being perpetrated against them. But there have already been compilations released that compiled the early blues protest songs and those of the Sixties and early Seventies. I wanted "Rich Man's War" to focus on current events, to document, if you will, the protest songs of the Bush era.

And there were a couple of reasons I felt like that was a worthy thing to do. First, while the number of blues protest songs has increased in recent years as a result of worsening conditions, the vast majority of blues music being made today is pretty tame when it comes to having a "message," with artists reluctant to take a side politically because they're afraid, legitimately, of alienating any members of their audience. The blues genre has been in a severe financial slump lately, and a lot of artists can't afford to risk angering those fans who might not agree with them. So part of what I wanted to do with this CD is to show blues artists that, you know, it IS okay to sing what you believe, to write songs that describe the world in the way that they see it. That there are listeners who appreciate socially-aware music. My hope is that performers will see the existence of this CD as a sign that it's okay to sing political songs, and think, "If legends like Eddy Clearwater can do it and people take notice, so can I."

The second reason I felt this project would be worthy is that it can serve as a document. Just like the collections of protest songs from the Sixties and Seventies that people still buy and still listen to, I hope that 30 years from now, this CD can serve as proof that there were voices of dissent in the first decade of the new millennium-that in a time when speaking out was in some ways an unpopular thing to do, there were artists willing to take that risk of standing up for their beliefs.

BlueNotes: Do you think music like this can have an impact? Or does it just preaching  to the choir?

 
Bays: It probably does preach to the choir to a large extent. But that's okay with me. When that choir has been made to feel afraid of letting their voice be heard (look what happened to the Dixie Chicks in 2003, for example), I think it's a valid and valuable thing to join with other members of the "choir" and rally together, so that you don't feel like you're in it alone. One of the functions of music in any society is to bond people together. So even if the people who disagree with the messages in these songs never hear this CD, I still think it's served a purpose. Of course, part of the appeal of this project is that beyond its message, it's just great music. There's humor in it, there's emotion, and there's some fantastic playing on it from individual musicians and from bands. So I think anyone can enjoy "Rich Man's War" regardless of where they stand on the issues. And that's been born out by some dyed-in-the-wool supporters of the war who have heard the CD and told me they enjoyed it.

BlueNotes:  How has it been received so far?


Bays: It's too early to say. The album came out in the U.S. on October 21, and I haven't seen any sales figures yet.

BlueNotes:  Will there be more like this?

Bays: I'd love to say yes, that there's some record label out there waiting to issue a "Rich Man's War, Part 2." But I haven't been contacted by anyone yet who's interested in releasing such a project. I was very fortunate to work with Ruf Records, a great label based in Germany, for this collection. They were willing to take a risk and put it out with no guarantee that it would sell, so I'm very grateful to them for that. But considering the number of songs I collected, I certainly had to leave out some amazing selections in narrowing down the final track list, so I'd love nothing more than the chance to produce another one of these. If "Rich Man's War" sells well enough, who knows?

Thanks Ken. I hope there will be more like this. It's a great concept to take a sub-category of blues like this and explore it to this extent and and then show us what it means.

The blues is a rich and deep music that feels good, but has always had profound meaning that underlies the surface. It the best of of both worlds.

Burgh blues photogs Dusty & Val Scott win Blues Foundation award

Pittsburgh blues photographers Dusty and Val Scott have won the Blues Foundation's 2009 Keeping the Blues Alive Award for Art and Photography.

Each year the foundation honors a group of blues-friendly people and organizations, and hands out the awards as part of its International Blues Challenge in February. Next year the KBAs will be presented Feb. 7, during the IBC weekend.

Here's how the foundation describes the awards:

The Keeping the Blues Alive Awards recognize the significant contributions to Blues music made by the people behind the scenes. Each is selected on the basis of merit by a select panel of Blues professionals. KBA Chairman Art Tipaldi notes with respect to this year's recipients, "As is often the case, this year the committee recognized some individuals that have long-deserved to be honored as well as identifying others who have made a very impressive mark on Blues music in a relatively short period. Once again, the honorees cover the United States map. In addition, two Italian organizations were selected for their commitment to the Blues genre in their country."

Congratulations to Dusty and Val. I keep running into them at shows and festivals, and they're always hard at work documenting the blues in photos. (The photo above is Dusty as he usually looks, with a long lens where his face should be. That's Val, working beside him. I grabbed this admittedly lousy photo at last summer's Heritage Music BluesFest in Wheeling.)

Here's the full list of KBA winners for '09:

1. Agent: Steve Hecht, Piedmont Talent, Charlotte, NC
2. Art and Photography: Dusty & Val Scott, Dusty Blues, Pittsburgh, PA
3. Blues Club: B.L.U.E.S, Chicago, IL
4. Education: Monroe County Black History Month, Monroe County, MI
5. Festival: Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, Telluride, CO
6. Film, Television and Video: Willy Bearden, Memphis TN
7. Historical Preservation: Shack Up In, Clarksdale, MS
8. International: Associazione Roots ‘n' Blues, Parma, Italy
9. Internet: Pandora.com, Oakland, CA
10. Journalism: Hal Horowitz, Marietta, GA
11. Literature: Craig Hopkins, Cedar Hill, TX
12. Manager: John Hahn, New York, NY
13. Organization: Washington Blues Society, Seattle, WA
14. Print Media: Il Blues, Milan, Italy
15. Producer: David Z, Nashville, TN
16. Promoter: Omega Events, Lake Forest, CA
17. Publicist: Betsie Brown, Blind Raccoon, Memphis, TN
18. Radio Commercial: Kai Turner, Denver, CO
19. Radio Public: John Kessler, Seattle, WA
20. Record Label: Delta Groove, Van Nuys, CA
21. Retailer: Manifest Discs, Charlotte, NC
22. Sponsor: Barbara Hammerman, Gig Harbor, WA

And here's some financial news

Who is the top-earning dead celebrity?

Elvis, of course.

According to Forbes, Presley is the top-earning dead celebrity. The singer, who died in 1977, brought in $52 million in the last 12 months. He even outranks current stars like Justin Timberlake ($44 million) and Madonna ($40 million). Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz ranked second on the list, followed by Heath Ledger, Albert Einstein, Aaron Spelling, Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel), John Lennon, Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, James Dean, and Marvin Gaye.

Just so you know.