Baltimore Blues Society BluesRag Winter 18

BRADLEY ALSTON: HISTORICAL SURVEY OF BLUES RADIO/4 L A R R Y B E N I C E W I C Z : E D D Y C L E A R WA T E R PA R T I I / 1 6

OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE BALTIMORE BLUES SOCIETY VOL. 33, ISSUE 5, WINTER 2018 • MOJOWORKIN.COM

PHOTO: LISA MAC

JOHN NEMETH & THE BLUE DREAMERS PLAY ROSEDALE OCTOBER 20 ➡ SEE PAGE 3

Baltimore

BLUES NEWS NEAR & FAR

B

Y

B

O

B

S

E

K

I

N

G

E

R

Society BluesRag is published

by Baltimore Blues Society, Inc. 401 Murdock Road, Baltimore, MD, 21212 BBS INFO LINE: (410) 744-2291 Send address changes to: BluesRag c/o Baltimore Blues Society PO Box 4522 Baltimore MD 21212 OFFICERS President - Bob Sekinger (410) 638-1242 • bob@mojoworkin.com Treasurer - Alan Burke aburke@mojoworkin.com Secretary - Larry Fogelson (410) 377-8339 • fogie@mindspring.com BBS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Bradley Alston, Mae Brooks, Larry Fogelson, Imelda Hill, Anne Jones, Don Jones, Kevin Miskelly, Bob Sekinger, Brian Sweeney NEWSLETTER STAFF Design: Joe MacLeod (443) 690-3275 joe.macleod@gmail.com Reviews Editor: Bob Sekinger (410) 638-1242 bob@mojoworkin.com Contributing Writers: Bradley Alston, Larry Benicewicz, Dennis Rozanski, Jr., Bob Sekinger, Kathy Minke Photographers - Bradley Alston, Larry Benicewicz, Larry Fogelson, Kathy Minke, Bob Sekinger, Dave Strickler ADVERTISING Bob Sekinger (410) 638-1242 Advertising Rates Full Page - $100, 1/2 pg, $60 1/4 pg - $35 Advertising Dimensions Full Page - 7 1/2” w x 9 3/4” h 1/2 Page Horizontal - 71/2” w x 4 3/4” h 1/2 Page Vertical - 3 5/8” w x 9 3/4” h 1/4 Page - 3 5/8 w x 4 3/4” h DEADLINE: Editorial submissions, ad copy, or art must be in by the 15th of the month prior to each issue.

WEB SITE mojoworkin.com FACEBOOK facebook.com/BaltimoreBluesSociety WEB MASTER Doug Lyford dlyford@mojoworkin.com Operations of the BBS are supported by grants from the Maryland State Arts Council, and agency funded by the State of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Baltimore Blues Society is an official 501(c)3 non-profit corportation dedicated to the preservation of America’s Native musical art form - the Blues!

Otis Rush in Baltimore circa 1990 photo: larry benicewicz

BLUES LOSES ANOTHER GIANT

OTIS RUSH (APRIL 29, 1935 – SEPTEMBER 29, 2018) RIP

2 | BLUESRAG | WINTER 2018 | MOJOWORKIN.COM

SATURDAY OCTOBER 20

JOHN NEMETH PRESENTS

& THE BLUE DREAMERS

8:30PM-12AM · $25 ADVANCE · $30 DOOR

ROSEDALE AMERICAN LEGION 1331 SELING AVE, ROSEDALE MD BYOB/COOLERS OK · PUBLIC IS INVITED · LEGION BAR OPEN

BBS MEMBERS RESERVE TABLES FOR GROUPS OF 6 OR MORE BY CONTACTING SAM COHEN AT (410) 866-6280

ADVANCE TIX SEND SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE WITH CHECK (PLEASE INCLUDE CONTACT INFO) BEFORE OCTOBER 14 TO BBS TIX PO BOX 4522 BALTIMORE MD 21212

SOUND BY NAZ BROS.

BBS INFO LINE: (410) 744-2291 · MOJOWORKIN.COM MOJOWORKIN.COM | WINTER 2018 | BLUESRAG | 3

PLAY THE

BLUES!

A HISTORICAL SURVEY OF BLUES RADIO IN OUR REGION

T

he wonderful blues radio programming we enjoy today is a relatively recent phenomenon. Rice “Sonnyboy Williamson” Miller was the first blues radio star in the south. He was joined by Maurice “Hot Rod” Hulbert, Riley ”BB” King and Rufus Thomas. The DC based, Nighthawks founder Mark Wenner shared that locally, blues was played on radio but often under the name of rock and roll or R&B. Baltimore, historically, has a less than stellar record on presenting blues on the radio while Annapolis and Washington DC have done a somewhat better job. Blues music has not been seen as a commercially viable commodity by radio owners and the genre tend to exist on college and listener supported radio stations. In this article we will survey the field of past and present blues radio efforts in the Maryland and DC region. Initially Jonny Meister of WXPN in Philadelphia was to be included, however space constraints required him to be presented in a future article.

BB King was a DJ on WDIA Memphis known as the “Beale Street Blues Boy”

BY BRADLEY ALSTON 4 | BLUESRAG | WINTER 2018 | MOJOWORKIN.COM

Sonnyboy Williamson left on the KFFA Helena Arkansas King Biscuit Time radio show

THE BEGINNINGS In the spring of 1947, two Memphis businessmen launched WDIA AM--a l ow p owe r, 2 5 0 -wa t t d ay- t i m e operation. Memphis was a citadel of southern segregation and the two white owners moved cautiously towards the first all-black format geared to an allblack audience in the nation. Soon they brought in the legendary African American DJ Nat D. Williams. Williams was also a respected educator who taught history and sociology at the local high school. One of the first on air talents Williams recruited was one of his former students, the talented Maurice “Hot Rod” Hulbert. Hot Rod’s new show was called the Sepia Swing Club, and with its rocket ship theme and rapid black street patter, it became an instant success. Advertising revenue for his show skyrocketed and his radio career flourished. In 1950 his exceptional ratings caught the attention of Jake Emory, co-owner of WITH AM radio in Baltimore, Maryland. Emory lured Hot Rod away from WDIA with a fat salary increase. By the end of 1951, Hot Rod’s rocket-ship show on WITH made him the top black disc jockey in the Baltimore

market. Hot Rod was replaced at WDIA by a young, eager Mississippi Delta farmhand who aspired to be a radio blues star like Sonnyboy Williamson. Riley B.

King would become the internationally renowned B.B King, “King of the Blues.”

When King first walked into the WDIA studio and asked Nat Williams for a job, he liked what he heard and offered King a spot on his show. Soon, that led to his own 15-minute weekday segment. One of the station owners later hired him to promote a tonic medicine, Peptikon, on a live Saturday-afternoon broadcast.

So, when Hot Rod left for Baltimore, King was named to replace him. By that time, he was known on WDIA as the “Beale Street Blues Boy”---a nickname that would later be shortened to “B.B.” WDIA launched his musical career.

He made his first recordings in their studios, and members of the station’s white management team worked as his first booking agents for a period in the early 1950’s. As BB King’s musical career gained momentum, he had less time to devote to radio and he left WDIA in 1953 to work full time as a bluesman.

The year after BB left WDIA, the station went from 250 watts to a behemoth 50,000 watts and broadcasting 24 hours a day. In addition to the 150,000 African Americans in Memphis, the station could now reach an additional 350,000 African Americans living in surrounding areas.

Moreover, during the late-night hours,

Nat D. Williams Creator of the WDIA sound MOJOWORKIN.COM | WINTER 2018 | BLUESRAG | 5

PLAY THE BLUES!

continued

Rufus Thomas on WDIA Memphis early 1950’s

when WDIA’s signal could be heard all over the mid-south, the potential black audience grew to 1.5 million. It was doing this growth period that Rufus Thomas joined the WDIA staff as a DJ. The WDIA story was exceptional. In the south before World War Two, neither black disc jockeys or radio formats geared towards that community existed.

In the early 1940’s however regional white southern establishments that catered to African American clientele began to sponsor live music shows oriented towards their customers. For the most part those shows featured black musicians and one of the first and most influential was” King Biscuit Time”, aired on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. The show was launched in 1941 to promote King Biscuit Flour, produced and sold by the Interstate Grocery Company. It featured the white announcer, Sonny Payne, and the legendary black blues musician Rice Miller, soon to be better known throughout the Mississippi

Delta by his radio name “Sonnyboy Williamson.” His radio band included guitarist Robert “Junior” Lockwood and drummer Peck Curtis, and they played on KFFA five days a week at noon-time, when most of the Delta’s field hands were taking their lunch break, and then traveled to evening engagements in the region. Both KFFA and WDIA were foundational in the growth of blues radio programming. Locally they were joined the 1950’s in Baltimore by WSID (1949) WWIN (1951) and WEBB, names for local jazzman Chick Webb (1955).

The big blues entry in the region was made around the same time by the 1000watt day time operation, WANN AM in Annapolis, Maryland. Like Memphis and Helena, Annapolis in the 50’s was a segregated place and the birth of blues radio in Maryland was conceived in a Jim Crow environment. The star of WANN was Charles “Hoppy” Adams Jr. who like Nat D. Williams at WDIA also became a civic and community leader.

6 | BLUESRAG | WINTER 2018 | MOJOWORKIN.COM

The WDIA story was exceptional.

In the south before World War Two, neither black disc jockeys or radio formats geared towards that community existed.

ANNAPOLIS RADIO CHARLES “HOPPY” ADAMS JR., WANN- 1190 AM, ANNAPOLIS, MD. The first radio station heard in the Baltimore/Washington listening area to play blues regularly was the 1000-watt daytime station, WANN-AM located in Annapolis, Md., one of the pioneering stations that were central to black life in the pre-Civil Rights era. Station owner, Morris Blum, a Jew who came of age in the New Deal, conceived of the station while in the service during WWII. He explicitly rejected the segregation he saw in the armed forces, especially after he saw that death did not discriminate.

The station eventually became a 50,000 watts juggernaut reaching as far away as Ohio. The star of the station was DJ Hoppy Adams. Hoppy Adams was a distinguished Radio Personality and Executive Vice President with radio station WANN for over 40 years. Hoppy Adams became station manager and was an active community supporter and behind the scene philanthropist.

Mr. Adams was hired by Morris Blum in 1952. The Baltimore Sun hailed Mr.

Charles Hoppy Adams

Blum “as a pioneer in race relations for putting African-American personalities on the air more than five decades ago.”

During the 50’s and early 60’s, Anne Arundel County was still segregated and the beaches for [African Americans]

were Carr’s Beach and Sparrow’s Beach in Annapolis. Carr’s Beach, owned by the successful Baltimore African American businessman, Willie Adams, was the most famous of the beaches and was affectionately called “The Beach.”

During the week “The Beach” was a place for day camp, church picnics, etc. But on the week-ends especially Sunday afternoons, Carr’s Beach had the unique distinction of being a major stop on the “Chitlin Circuit”. Blues and Soul artists like Muddy Waters, Ruth Brown, Little Walter, Otis Redding, James Brown and Big Joe Turner all played there. Baltimore and DC Blues Societies star supporter, Mae Brooks fondly remembers attending the beach as a child with her aunt and seeing Howlin’ Wolf there. Hoppy Adams broadcast live shows from Carr’s Beach filtering blues onto the local airways for the first time. His regular radio show also featured blues along with early soul music and R&B. Hoppy Adams died in 2005 at age 79. The Hoppy Adams Foundation continues to support youth and community projects in the area.

Hoppy Adams at Carrs Beach

MOJOWORKIN.COM | WINTER 2018 | BLUESRAG | 7

PLAY THE BLUES!

BALTIMORE RADIO PAUL “FAT DADDY” JOHNSON, WSID- 1010 AM BALTIMORE, MARYLAND “Hear me now, Up from the very soul of breathing. Up from the orange crates. From the ghetto through the suburban areas comes your leader of rhythm and blues, the expected one - Fat Daddy, the soul boss with the hot sauce. Built for comfort, not for speed. Everyone loves a fat man! The Fat Daddy show is guaranteed to satisfy momma. I’m gonna go way out on a limb on this one, Baltimore. Fat poppa, show stoppa.” —Fat Daddy’s opening radio monologue.

Born in 1938, Baltimore native Paul Johnson was raised near Pennsylvania Avenue, graduated from Douglass High School, where he was sports editor of the school paper, and later received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communications from the University of Maryland, College Park. While in college, he began working as a disc jockey at the new Albert Ballroom in the 1200 block of Pennsylvania Ave. and the Royal Theater and was influenced by the flamboyant style of another local deejay, Kelson “Chop Chop” Fisher.

After working briefly at a Danville, Va., radio station, Fat Daddy returned to Baltimore, subsequently working for radio stations WSID, WITH, and finally WINN. WSID stated the same year as

continued

WDIA in Memphis and switched in 1949 towards programming the African American community.

Fat Daddy and his music were popular with African-Americans but also found a wide audience among whites. He was the first to break BB King’s “The Thrill is Gone” in the Baltimore market. “I programmed my show for the Negro originally,” he said in the magazine article. “Rhythm and blues used to be race music. But Fat Daddy has become such a large character with everybody that now I program for white and black both. Music brings people closer together.” In 1971, Fat Daddy left Baltimore to do national promotions for record companies, working for Motown, Atlantic, and Capitol Records. He was 40 when he died in Los Angeles in 1978.

Esquire, Cashbox, and Billboard have acclaimed him as one of the top five R&B disc jockeys in America, while Record World magazine called him simply the No. 1 soul man in the nation.

JAMES “BIG JIM” STATON, WEAA- 88.9 FM, MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE MD. Big Jim is probably the only local blues radio DJ who actually experienced firsthand the rural southern agrarian life

of early bluesmen. Raised on a farm in the county seat of Tarboro, North Carolina, the family of nine with seven siblings worked the farm from sun up to sun down every day except Sunday when church was mandatory. On rainy days he went to school. One of the highlights of the hardworking family was the cherished time on Saturday night around a little radio to listen to the blues broadcast out of Randy’s Record Mart in Cincinnati, Ohio where musicians like BB King, John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters were just staring out. Later while doing a stint in the Army, Jim was exposed to early rock and roll, R&B and jazz. After graduating from North Carolina, A&T, Jim joined the Great Migration north and landed in Baltimore where he connected with the lively jocks from WEBB and WSID AM stations catering to the city’s black audience. DJ’s like Diamond Jim Sears, Rocking Robin, Russ Johnson and others, all took to the young, eager lad and showed him the ropes of radio and working public events. Eventually Jim stated hosting live cabarets and one night the station manager at the new Morgan State University’s WEAA public radio station heard him and offered a volunteer slot the 1st Saturday of each month. That became every Saturday morning slot and the next thirty-one years Big Jim handled the only blues presence on the jazz and public affairs station. Beloved throughout the community and blessed

Big Jim WEAA Morgan University early 2000’s

8 | BLUESRAG | WINTER 2018 | MOJOWORKIN.COM

photo: bradley alston

with a calming and soothing voice that still hints at his tar heel heritage, Big Jim is proud that he catered his show to a wide audience, but consciously targeted the older demographic with his “Turn Back the Hand of Time” format. “My philosophy was the same programming for the young as the elderly,” Big Jim shared, “They say, no child left behind, I say no elderly left behind. They should have the same opportunity to turn on the radio and hear programming that they can relate to and I gave them that.” Morgan University recently went through a major station reorganization and reformatting and Big Jim after 31 years left to a well-deserved retirement.

Saturday morning radio just doesn’t seem the same.

MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY currently airs a nationally syndicated blues show called “Blues America.” The Thursday evening, 10:00 – 11:00 PM slot, is a public radio series broadcasting weekly coast to coast from the Chico Chism Studio in Phoenix. It is an amazing production that features music and live interviews. One recent show featured Shemekia Copeland, Anthony Geraci and Trudy Lynn with visits to past legends like Koko Taylor and Texas Alexander. Drew Verbis is the disc jockey ANDY “NEARLY SLIM” ALLEN, WTMD, 89.7 FM, TOWSON UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE MD. Nearly Slim’s Blues Connection aired on the Towson University public radio station in the 90’s when blues in Baltimore was at its height. The city had more blues clubs and venues offering blues ever…and since. In addition to regular and frequent live concerts, the Baltimore Blues Society also sponsored well- attended “Members Night Out” events around town. Andy Allen helped to push that wave with a combination of new and legacy blues on his turntable, blues artists doing live sets in his studio and keeping the region abreast of current blues happenings. On successive Sundays in March 1997 he hosted WC Spencer and his dobro for a live-in studio performance and the following week brought in Dave Sherman and the Night Crawlers for a rocking time on the air. Andy doubled as the University IT

specialist and retired recently from the college.

GEORGE “SKIP” DORER. WHFC, 91.1 FM, HARFORD COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE “Harford County has the Blues!” The phrase at first does not roll easily off the tongue, but every Tuesday night from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM, Harford County is blues central. The reason is because “Blues and More in the Basement” is on the air! The popular radio program is celebrating its tenyear anniversary and the show’s host, George “Skip” Dorer is not slowing down. The long time & George “Skip” Dorer on WHFC, Bel Air, MD popular Baltimore Blues Society member and all around nice guy has Baltimore powerhouse radio stations actually been a staple of Harford County like WCAO, WEBB, WWIN and WSID. radio since 2005. After a career as a social He imbibed the soul and R&B music of worker at Spring Grove Hospital, Skip the era and became a lifelong fan. Later took classes at the Broadcast Institute of he added folk to his musical inventory Maryland on a part-time basis. That led and was even a member of a church to a volunteer position at WHFC-FM. In sponsored folkie “coffeehouse” scene as September 2005 he started to host the a teen. His blues radio show is a part of “WHFC’s Golden Age of Radio,” which the communication strategy of Harford featured archival radio shows from the County Community College. The 110030’s, 40’s and 50’s with programs like watt community station has an eclectic format and in addition to broadcasting to Harford County, the radio signal also covers parts of Baltimore and Cecil Counties and extends into Delaware and Pennsylvania. Skip primarily pulls from his own personal music library to bring the blues to his growing listeners and over the years has developed favorites like John Lee Hooker, Irma Thomas, and Johnny Adams. The Andy Allen on WTMD Towson University Radio, late 1990’s shows format is free form and often include soul, photo: bradley alston funk and even blues-rock, Dragnet, Gunsmoke and Jack Benny. In always with the listener in mind! To get 2008 the station manager, Gary Helton, your song played call the request line at spotting talent and the growing interest 443-412-2305 when the show is on the in blues asked Skip to start “Blues and air. Listen in at 91.1 FM or stream on More in the Basement.” Skip was the the world wide web, www.whfc911.org. perfect person to take on the project and Either way, check out the show and you make it a success. A lifelong resident too will be saying, “Harford County has of Arbutus, he grew up listening to the the Blues!”

MOJOWORKIN.COM | WINTER 2018 | BLUESRAG | 9

PLAY THE BLUES!

Bob Sekinger, WTMD

BOB SEKINGER, WTMD, 89.7 FM, TOWSON UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE MD. If James Brown was billed as “The Hardest- Working Man in Show Business,” than the moniker of “HardestWorking Man in the Blues,” could go to WTMD Blues DJ, Bob Sekinger. In addition to hosting the popular Towson University community radio blues show, “The Roadhouse with Bob Sekinger,” he is also the long-time president of the nationally recognized and award winning, Baltimore Blues Society. He recently helped lead the organization to its second “Keeping the Blues Alive” (KBA) award from the national Blues Foundation. An accomplished photographer, his photos have been featured in several national publications.

His blues and roots music connections have benefited the Baltimore Blues Society and regional blues community when he is able to book well-known as well as little known exceptional talent for the BBS and other concerts.

Bob grew up in Ohio listening to the radio from Chicago as well as the local WMMS. College afforded him his first radio DJing opportunity as a

WASHINGTON DC RADIO

continued

sophomore. So, when WTMD blues announcer, John Matthews decided to leave the show seven ago, Bob’s 30 years of knowledge and experience in the blues world made him the logical choice to take over the show. For the last decade the time slot has been 6-9 PM on Saturdays. Bob’s goal for the show is to “Bring the best blues to the audience and hopefully expose lesser known artists and songs as well.” The songs featured on the show are both pre-planned and spontaneous. Birthdays and deaths are sometimes used to highlight selections and occasionally themes are utilized to organize sets of songs. The sounds of New Orleans are regularly featured.

The show is up tempo with a few slow songs in the rotation. He takes requests by text and the studio phone. Bob’s blues knowledge is encyclopedic, and he is guardedly optimistic on the future of the genre. “I think Otis Rush said it ’The Blues Will Never Die.’ I sometimes think Tedeschi-Trucks Band, Trombone Shorty, Gary Clark Jr. are the next generation’s SRV, Robert Cray and Thunderbirds. I think there will always be a blues subculture, maybe not as prevalent as in the late 70’s to 90’s, but it will always be with us.” We are looking for “The Roadhouse w/ Bob Sekinger” blues show to always be with us as well.

JERRY “THE BAMA” WASHINGTON, WPFW 89.3 FM, PACIFIC RADIO, WASHINGTON DC “Never leave someone who will, for someone who might.” That aphorism was just one of the gold-plated missiles of wisdom that Jerry Washington sent forth from his perch at listener supported WPFW-FM in the nation’s capital. Every Saturday from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, the listenership for the Pacifica station increased for “The Bama” show. His listeners included a wide swath of DC society from former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell; Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke; DC Mayor Marion Berry; prize fighter Sugar Ray Leonard and actor Avery Brooks. His radio career began almost by accident when a friend in 1977 asked him to substitute for him. He was so good that the WPFW station manager offered him his own show. He stayed with the station until his death in 1993.

His down-home humor and wisdom brought comparisons to Garrison Keillor of Lake Wobegon fame, but The Bama delivery was not from bland middle America, but the rough and tumble world of down home blues. Often the Bama would talk about his fictional

Jerry The Bama Washington with Kenny Neal

10 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

girlfriend, Denise. Other times he would share about happier times when his health was good, and the family was still together. Always by his side in the studio was his number one fan, his daughter Lucille, running the board and cueing up the records. His music was that of urban and often older blues like BB King, Little Milton, Bobby “Blue” Bland and Esther Phillips. His audience was a mixture of young and old African Americans, many from the South, and hip young whites who used his show to peek into an unfamiliar world. He also had a strong following in the Baltimore area where, in a car, his voice came in strong up to the northern part of the 695 Beltway.

Fortunately, The Bama’s radio shows have been immortalized. You can go to YouTube and download any number of his archival shows. “When people talk about the landmarks and legends in Washington, you’re going to hear about the Monument, Duke Zeibert’s, the Redskins, and at some point, Jerry Washington’s name is going to come up,” boasted the then WPFW program director, Tom Porter in the October 3, 1994 New York Times obituary.

STEVE HOFFMAN, WOWD 94.3 FM, TAKOMA PARK, MD. “I’ll take you back into the alley, down into the roots, and deep into the heart of the blues.” -- Steve Hoffman Like blues archivists, blues historians, and blues writers, blues DJs keep alive the institutional memory of the blues. Steve Hoffman has done all of the above. He consulted for Time Life Music’s blues series, helped develop the Delta Cultural Center’s music exhibits in Helena, Arkansas, and contributed to the Encyclopedia of the Blues. The New York transplant spent time in DC in 1975-76 and moved there in 1980.

Since 1992, he’s lived near the DC/MD border in Takoma Park. As a youngster on Long Island in the ‘60s, Steve listened to AM radio personalities like WMCA’s “Good Guys” and WOR’s monologist Jean Shepherd; later in the decade, he dug the emerging sounds of free-form FM radio. To this day, he prefers radio to TV. As an Antioch College student in the early 70s, he transitioned from listener to programmer, hosting a show

greatest creativity, which ebbs at some point. If Little Walter had been born in 1990 instead of 1930, he’d probably aspire to do hip hop, not blues.”

BILL WAX, WPFW, 89.3 FM, PACIFICA RADIO, WASHINGTON DC “Listening to a Bill Wax radio show was like taking Blues 101” -- Mae Brooks

Steve Hoffman at WOWD

on WYSO called “Steve’s Spoonful.”

Attending the Midwest and Ann Arbor Blues Festivals during his college years, he saw dozens of blues legends in their prime, making him a blues fan for life. Steve’s DC radio resume began in 1982 with his Sunday night show “The Blues Experience” on WDCU/Jazz 90.

It ran 15 years, until WDCU was sold.

In 2002, he joined 50,00-watt WPFW, 89.3 FM, where he held the Wednesday slot of its weekday noon-time “Don’t Forget the Blues.” Soon after WOWD/ Takoma Radio launched in 2016, he began hosting shows on that low-power community FM station, dropping his WPFW gig after being named WOWD’s Program Director in late 2017. He’s now heard exclusively on WOWD, with two shows: “Blues Hall of Fame” (alternate Tuesdays 6:00-8:00 PM) and “Tuesday Morning Mix” (every Tuesday 8:0010:00 AM). Listeners in parts of DC and Montgomery and PG Counties can hear WOWD at 94.3 FM; others can hear it on-line at TakomaRadio.org. Despite his love of blues, Steve believes the greatest blues is already behind us. “Today’s blues is far removed from its roots,” he says, “and today’s rock & roll is no longer rooted in the blues the way it once was.

Every musical style has its period of

Fired! In the fall of 1966 in his freshman year at the University of Missouri, the young Bill Wax was fired from the campus radio station KCOU for playing too much soul and R&B. The early incident showed the teenager, that maybe commercial radio was not his forte if he could not stick to the playlist at his own college station. The future Executive Producer for National Programming for Pacifica Radio thus began his stellar radio career. Undaunted by the short- sighted folks at the Midwest school, Bill followed his love of broadcasting and eventually became the program director at KOPN in Columbia Missouri after just one year as the late Saturday night rock and soul DJ. Later he moved to KBOO in Portland, Oregon where his skills were again noticed, and he was tapped as program director.

Returning to Washington DC to help care

Bill Wax WPFW

M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 11

PLAY THE BLUES! for his mother, Bill started volunteering for the Pacifica Network’s local station, WPFW-FM. Pacifica Foundation is an American non-profit organization which owns five independently operated, non-commercial, listenersupported radio stations known for their progressive political orientation.

WPFW-FM in Washington DC is owned by the foundation. Pacifica announced that they were going to cover the Iran Contra hearings live. With Bill’s broad engineering and producing experience, they hired him for the broadcast. The production was very successful and that led to Bill being recruited to engineer and produce the Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and Robert Bork, Supreme Court confirmation hearings which in turn led to him being tapped by the Pacifica Radio Network to be their Executive Director for National Programming. A job he held for the next ten years. During this time Bill never left DC and had continued to volunteer at WPFW. His “Blue Plate Special” blues radio show had become one the top-rated blues shows in the market.

However, once again, a nationwide organization recognized the talented Mr. Wax and tapped him for greater recognition and responsibility. Bill’s national experience and communication expertise came in handy for his job as Program Director and creator/host of the XM Sirius Radio’s, new Blues channel. Again, his managerial skills and vision helped to build the station into a national powerhouse and in April 2013, when he moved on after 13 years, he had over three million weekly listeners. Luckily for the region’s blues community, Bill returned to WPFW and eventually created a new Saturday format called “Roots and Fruits.” The show has blues at its center and R&B, Soul, Gospel, Jazz Reggae and Afro-beat are all part of the mix. Call the show with your requests. On the changing blues music scene, Bill shares, “We already seen that the music has moved from vocals being the centerpiece of the music to guitars and instruments mostly being the focus. As far future implications I am as much concerned by the aging of

continued

the audience and fans as much as I am concerned about preserving the African American heritage, traditions and their place in continuing to create the music.”

Bill is the dean of regional (and national) blues radio DJs and we are grateful for the University of Missouri’s termination back in 1966. Commercial’s radio’s lost has truly been our gain!

NAP “DON’T FORGET THE BLUES” TURNER, WPFW-89.3 FM, PACIFICA RADIO, WASHINGTON DC Renaissance Man- Definition: A person who has wide interest and has achieved proficiency in many fields” -- Merriam Webster dictionary.

The definition could describe WPFW blues DJ, Nap Turner. Nap had many interests and excelled in most. He was an orator, poet, activist, writer, musician, historian, singer, recording artist, philosopher, philanthropist and humanitarian. He brought all those interests to his radio show and informed and uplifted his appreciative audience.

His endearing and expert recitations of American poet Langston Hughes’ “Simple” montage elevated radio to new heights and introduced listeners to the “Jazz-poetry” style that came out of the post-World War l Harlem Renaissance. Nap came to WPFW with a checkered past that he used to bring authenticity to the airways. According to his 2004 Washington Post obituary “He had done hard drugs, hard time and a hard road back.” A child of the 1940’s and 50’s DC jazz culture, he hung out with Charlie Parker and smoked reefer behind Turner’s Arena when the big bands were playing, listening to Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie. He became a working and touring musician landing gigs at the Kennedy Center, overseas and the many clubs around DC. Nap wound up with a heroin habit that led to crime and incarceration. Along the way he switched from his jazz bass to singing the blues. Free from drugs he worked as a statistician at the old Narcotics Treatment Administration and later as a DC drug counselor. In his last two decades he took his act to the

12 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

Nap Turner

radio. In 1994, WPFW asked him to fill the shoes of the late Jerry “The Bama” Washington, host of the station’s most popular show. Nap took over the show and made it his own. Nap also recorded for Wayne Kahn’s DC-based Right On Rhythm records. He died June 17, 2004 at the age of 73. To honor Nap after his death, WPFW renamed its weekday blues slot from “Blues Plate Special” to Nap’s motto (and de facto middle name) “Don’t Forget the Blues.”

RICK “DA GATOR” BOLLING, WPFW-89.3 FM, PACIFICA RADIO, WASHINGTON DC I got up early this morning so I could walk the floor, I’ve got to hit the streets, Cause there’s a wolf outside my door, the bill collector’s calling and my kids need better shoes, gonna go to church on Sunday, cause I got nothing left to loose, and it´s a good day, it´s a real good day for the blues: “Good Day for the Blues” by Ruth Brown Its 1:00 PM on Saturday and Ruth Brown signals that it is indeed a good day for the blues because “Da Gator” show is starting on WPFW 89.3 FM

radio. The Ruth Brown tune became, for a time the theme song of the program and help set the mood for the time slot. The poplar broadcast commanded a loyal following in Washington DC, Northern Virginia, Baltimore and other areas. In addition to blues and Southern Soul music, the program provided information on concerts and community events. “Da Gator” was Jerry Bolling. A fixture on the station since the ‘90s, Bolling started at WPFW as a weekday jazz DJ under his own name. Later he added a Saturday program to his hosting duties, under the name “Da Gator,” and included multiple styles of blues along with southern soul tracks like “Junk in the Trunk (I Like that)” and “Slap That Booty.” Known for his easygoing manner and distinctive laugh, he pleased listeners—who he affectionately called “Gatorettes” and “Gator Papas”—on the air, as well as in person. He was often seen out and about the DC area at music events and was a regular host of the Bluebird Blues Festival held annually in the fall at the Prince George Community College. For several years, he hosted an annual “Gator Day” with local and national acts at Lamont’s Nightclub in Pomonkey, Md. The Gator took his position in the blues community seriously and made sure the local musicians, and the DC and Baltimore Blues Societies received support.

He was also a mentor for young and aspiring broadcasters. One was Chris DeProperty, a former “Gatorette,” who currently holds down the Thursday afternoon blues slot on WPFW and manages the stations blues calendar.

Rick was loved and respected in the blues and southern soul communities Local act Memphis Gold wrote a 2009 song about him and the Gatorettes, called “Gator Gon’Bitechu! “The Gator” retired from WPFW in 2014 and died August 2, 2016. His warm, infectious laugh has been missed.

The Gator on WPFW photo: bradley alston

CHRIS DEPROPERTY, WPFW, 89.3 FM, PACIFICA RADIO, WASHINGTON DC Troy, New York is famous for the invention of the Ferris wheel and detachable collars, as well as the home to writers Kurt Vonnegut and Herman Melville. To that impressive list, area blues fans would add WPFW blues announcer Chris DeProperty. The New York native holds down the Thursday afternoon blues time slot and plays a lively set of modern and traditional blues. When WETA stopped offering blues and R&B on the weekends, Chris found WPFW and was drawn by the fun that the pledge drive on air personalities seemed to be having. Never one to shy away from new challenges and worthwhile opportunities, she volunteered during future fund drives.

That led to her being asked to work with Rick Bolling on his “Da Gator” blues and southern soul radio show covering one of the four Saturdays slots reading on air announcements and eventually learning how to run the engineering board with the help of Guy Middleton formerly of

“Guy’s Groove.” She excelled at the tasks and was recruited to sub for Rick when the need arose. Rick suggested her as a replacement when another Blues programmer gave up ‘The ‘Bama” Hour, a Blues show that preceded Gator’s. She worked the Saturday time slot until the stations reorganization in 2012 and returned to do the “Don’t Forget the Blues” Thursday show in 2013. She has been holding forth ever since. In her Thursday show Chris shared that she has incorporated more “contemporary blues” so that people can learn that the music is still relevant today.”

Her programming philosophy could be described according to Chris as “a little old, a little new, a little electric, a little acoustic, but all Blues.” She takes requests and works off a laptop, so she can often accommodate them right away. Her own personal favorites include Luther Allison, BB King, Bobby Blue Bland, the Cash Box Kings and Diunna Greeleaf. A supporter of the DC and Baltimore Blues Societies, she is often out and about the local music scene and will be sailing with the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise in February 2019. For Chris, the blues is not just about the music. “It is also an American History Lesson.”

Chris DeProperty WPFW

M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 13

PLAY THE BLUES!

continued

WHFS DJ Damien Einstein and Mark Wenner

Al Bell at KOKY in Memphis before coming to WUST in Washingon DC

Weasel (Jonathan Gilbert) and Damian Einstein with musician Jesse Colin Young in between at WHFS studos early 80’s photo: steven king

MARK WENNER of the Nighthawks grew up outside of Washington DC. He recalls hearing blues on several radio stations while growing up in the region.

Stations that offered blues in the DC area included WOOK, WOL, WGTB and WDON. Mark thinks that the 1960’s entrance into the radio market of WHFS was a game changer. The progressive free form Bethesda- based station owned

by Jacob Einstein, fielded talented announcers like Damien Einstein, Jonathan “Weasel” Gilbert and Don

Cerphe Colwell. They broke new blues music in the area, gave the genre a steady forum and interviewed visiting blues artists. When Mark first met Damián in 1971, he was J.B Hutto’s harmonica player. Barry Richards was also a presence on DC radio, Mark shared. In addition to his radio show on WHMC, Barry also had a television show and one day Muddy Waters visited and played some real blues for the show’s hippie audience. Later Barry moved to WKTK in Baltimore. Al Bell, a top executive at STAX Records, at one time had a radio show in the DC area on station WUST. He was in between his connections to STAX Records and was really credited with bringing the Memphis Sound to the area. Al Bell was featured in last season’s hit musical “SOUL: The Stax Musical,” at Baltimore’s Center Stage Theater. ● A HISTORICAL SURVEY DOES NOT GET DONE WITHOUT HELP FROM OTHER FOLKS. I WANT TO THANK STEVE HOFFMAN FOR HIS REVIEWING AND BACKGROUND ON THE NAP TURNER AND BAMA SECTIONS. CHRIS DEPROPERTY REVIEW OF THE GATOR SECTION WAS HELPFUL. MARK WENNER PROVIDED IMPORTANT BACKGROUND ON THE EARLY DC RADIO SCENE AND MAE BROOKS RECOLLECTIONS OF CARR’S BEACH TIED THE HOPPY ADAMS SECTION TOGETHER. I CONSULTED THE BOOK “VOICE OVER: THE MAKING OF BLACK RADIO” BY WILLIAM BARLOW FOR THE BACKGROUND ON WDIA IN MEMPHIS. BILL WAX, BOB SEKINGER, “BIG JIM” STATON AND GEORGE “SKIP DORER ALL GRACIOUSLY ENDURED MY HARASSING THEM FOR MORE INFORMATION. THANKS TO ALL. ANY MISTAKES ARE MY OWN —BRADLEY

14 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

Friday, November 16 / 11:30 a.m.

Kickoff Luncheon THE BLUESMASTERS featuring BENNIE SIMS, CLIFF STARKEY, ERICH CAWALLA The Peanut Bar Restaurant For reservations, 610-376-8500 peanutbar.com Friday, November 16 / 4:00 p.m.

Blues Happy Hour ROCKMAN BLUES BAND Sofrito Gastro Pub/Reading 220 Douglass Street, Reading, PA 19601 For reservations, 610-373-3115 sofritogastropub.com Friday, November 16 / 5:00 p.m.

Blues Dinner DAVE HINKEL & NICK PEETROS Double Trouble BBQ Restaurant @ DoubleTree Friday, November 16 / 6:00 p.m.

Welcome Concert CRAIG THATCHER BAND with very special guest G.E. SMITH Crossroads at the DoubleTree Friday, November 16 / 8:00 p.m.

A Night of Soulful Blues BOOKER T. JONES plus RUTHIE FOSTER featuring DOXA GOSPEL ENSEMBLE DoubleTree by Reading Grand Ballroom Friday, November 16 / 9:00 p.m.

Blues Party HOGAN HEROES BLUES BAND Cheers Lounge at DoubleTree Friday, November 16 / 11:30 p.m.

BLUES JAM hosted by CRAIG THATCHER BAND with very special guest G.E. SMITH Crossroads at the DoubleTree Ronnie Baker Brooks will headline the Chicago Plays the Stones concert Saturday afternoon.

Saturday, November 17 / 10:30 a.m.

GUITAR CONVERSATIONS: CRAIG THATCHER & G.E. SMITH hosted by MICHAEL CLOEREN DoubleTree by Hilton Reading/ Amphitheater Saturday, November 17 / 11:30 a.m.

Blues Brunch BENJAMIN VO BLUES BAND Judy’s on Cherry For reservations, call 610-3748511 judysoncherry.com Friday, November 16 / 11:30 a.m.

Blues Lunch DAVE HINKEL & NICK PEETROS Double Trouble BBQ Restaurant @ DoubleTree Saturday, November 17 / Noon Sensational Multi-Instrumentalist BLIND BOY PAXTON Crossroads at the DoubleTree Saturday, November 17 / 1:30 p.m.

Windy City Blues Doubleheader CHICAGO PLAYS THE BLUES featuring RONNIE BAKER BROOKS, BILLY BRANCH and more plus LIL’ ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS DoubleTree by Hilton Reading Grand Ballroom Saturday, November 17 / 4:30 p.m.

A Sly Fox Brewing Co. Happy Hour Concert ALEXIS P SUTER & THE MINISTERS OF SOUND Goggleworks Center for the Arts $10 donation at door goggleworks.org Saturday, November 17 / 5:00 p.m.

Blues Dinner DAVE HINKEL & NICK PEETROS Double Trouble BBQ Restaurant @ DoubleTree

Saturday, November 17 / 6:00 p.m.

Sensational Multi-Instrumentalist BLIND BOY PAXTON Crossroads at the DoubleTree Saturday, November 17 / 7:00 p.m.

ANGIE & THE HONEYBEEZ The Speckled Hen Cottage Pub & Alehouse For reservations, 685-8511 speckledhen.com Saturday, November 17 / 7:30 p.m.

DAVE MELLS BLUES BAND The Peanut Bar Restaurant For reservations, call 610-3768500 peanutbar.com Saturday, November 17 / 8:00 p.m.

Burnin’ Guitar Doubleheader TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAINKILLERS plus TINSLEY ELLIS DoubleTree by Hilton Reading Grand Ballroom Saturday, November 17 / 9:00 p.m.

Blues Party HOGAN HEROES BLUES BAND Cheers Lounge at DoubleTree Saturday, November 17 / 11:30 p.m.

BLUES JAM hosted by VANESSA COLLIER Crossroads at the DoubleTree Shemekia Copeland headlines an all-star lineup to close out the fest on Sunday.

Sunday, November 18 / 10:00 a.m.

Special Film Screening SIDEMEN: LONG ROAD TO GLORY Post-film Q&A session with director SCOTT D. ROSENBAUM hosted by MICHAEL CLOEREN DoubleTree by Hilton Reading / Amphitheater

Sunday, November 18 / Noon Blues Brunch JOSH TAYLOR’S NEXT GEN BLUES Sofrito Gastro Pub/Reading 220 Douglass Street, Reading, PA 19601 For reservations, 610-373-3115 sofritogastropub.com Sunday, November 18 / Noon Fest Finale / Four Concerts SHEMEKIA COPELAND plus JOHN NEMETH & THE BLUE DREAMERS with THE BERKS HORNS plus JAZZ GETS THE BLUES: CLARENCE SPADY & NICK COLIONNE plus VANESSA COLLIER DoubleTree by Hilton Reading Grand Ballroom Sunday, November 18 / 2:00 p.m.

Ladies Sing the Blues BLUES DIVAS: ANGIE EZELL, MARIA DAMORE, SUE LANGE featuring LAMONT BATES, ROGER HARRIS, DAVID WILLIAMS Grill Then Chill 400 Woodward Street, Reading For reservations, 610-373-1136 Reading Blues Fest Ticket Packages 1) VIP All-Event Ticket: $175 (limited availability) Preferred seating for all major concerts at the DoubleTree by Hilton Reading Grand Ballroom.

Commemorative VIP Pass Laminate 50% discount coupon on Reading Blues Fest souvenir merchandise Other special offers 2) All-Events Friday Ticket: $59 3) All-Events Saturday Ticket: $79 4) All-Events Sunday Ticket: $59

READINGBLUESFEST.COM

M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 15

REMEMBERING

EDDY “THE CHIEF”

CLEARWATER

A

S EDDY CLEARWATER WAS soon to learn, if the 60s were bad for the blues, the 70s were even worse. “If soul music didn’t get us, that disco sure did us in,” he said. Not only were the second generation bluesmen dying at an alarming rate like J.B. Lenoir (at 37 in 1967), Little Walter Jacobs (at 37 in 1968), Magic Sam Maghett (at 32 in 1969), and Otis Spann (at 40 in 1970), many perhaps burned out victims of both the dangerous and hardscrabble existence on Chicago’s South and West Side, but also many former blues luminaries would soon be vacating the Windy City to be welcomed abroad, there embraced anew as blues heroes.

One such colleague of Clearwater’s was Luther Allison, who formerly held court at the celebrated L&A Lounge at 14th and Pulaski before making his permanent home in the southwest suburb (banlieu) of Paris, St. Cloud. Other soon to be expatriates included pianist Willie Mabon, who in 1972 also found refuge in the City of Light; Champion Jack Dupree and Louisiana Red (Iverson Minter), who both eventually settled in Hannover, Germany; Memphis Slim (John L. Chatman) who first landed in Lyon, France before heading on to Paris; and pianist Eddie Boyd, who after a sojourn in Belgium, finally found a niche in Helsinki, Finland. In addition, another up-and-coming, young Turk guitarist, Jimmy “Fast Fingers” Dawkins, would also find greener pastures overseas rather than the heretofore friendly confines

(1935-2018)

of home. Clearwater, himself, received a taste of this appreciation in the Old Country when he took his first excursion “over the pond” in the company of fabled guitarists, Jimmy Johnson and Hubert Sumlin, on the first of many junkets to come. And he always talked fondly of Paris’ hallowed world music shrine, New Morning Club (which amazingly is still in existence at 7-9 rue des Petites Ecuries [10th], Metro: Chateau d’Eau), as if it were a second home, having played over the years at least a half-dozen times in this spacious room. One significant outcome of this “French connection” were his first LPs, Black Night on the MCM label (900-296), a live project recorded at Ma Bea’s Lounge in Chicago on November 5, 1976 and Direct From Chicago (900.305) also from Ma Bea’s and the Golden Slipper club. Exceptional debut albums (albeit imports), they capture typically dynamic in house performances of Clearwater, surrounded by an all star cast of characters including guitarists, Jimmy Dawkins and Eddie Taylor, bassist Sylvester Boines, and drummer, Fred Below. These vinyl albums can also be found as CDs on the late Karl Knudsen’s Storyville logo of Denmark as STCD 8036 and STCD 8043. And yet another positive result of these first two European tours (the other with Buddy Guy and Junior Wells) in the 70s was also a triumphant

appearance on BBC TV, an engagement which further endeared him to his fans on the continent.

But on the home front, things were deteriorating rapidly. As far as the West Side was concerned, there weren’t too many bluesmen left holding down the fort. Maybe an Eddie Shaw at his own establishment, the 1815 Club on Roosevelt or an Otis Rush, whose longtime headquarters was Mel’s Hideaway at Roosevelt and Loomis. And even those bluesmen who remained, like Freddy King, who had a long standing gig at the Squeeze Club at 16th and Homeland, were soon to meet their demise (a sudden heart attack at 42 in 1976). Or a Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Burnett), who succumbed of kidney failure the same year. Then there was pianist Bob Riedy, whom Clearwater had backed on his 1974 Flying Fish album, Just Off Halstead (FC 27006), and accompanied on tour to the famed Zoo Bar in Lincoln, NE. Despite this close association, no one, including Eddie Clearwater, ventured to guess what became of Riedy, who after being such a fixture in this mid to late 70s Chicago blues scene, seemed to so thoroughly disappear. Clearwater by then officially counted himself among the remaining West Siders, having moved in the 70s from the rough and tumble South Side, wherein he spent most of the 60s. It was definitely a step up to the more affluent subdivision of Westmont, at the corner of 60th and Cass Ave., not too far from Muddy Waters’ residence

Part II: Surviving the ’70s and Beyond

BY LARRY BENICEWICZ 16 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 17

EDDY “THE CHIEF”

CLEARWATER at Quincy and Adams or that of the late Larry “Big Twist” Nolan, front man for his Mellow Fellows.

Amazingly enough, during this spell when Chicago blues was at its nadir, Clearwater, though he was living in better “digs” not only managed to make

ends meet but also avoided, for the most part, having to accept a day job, no easy feat in this lean period. “I think it was in the early 70s that I stumbled upon the Harmony Music Company in an industrial area. They actually made [acoustic] guitars. But I think I lasted about

18 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

two months,” he said. But one unpaid occupation during that time frame was to finally wrest control of Atomic-H records from his uncle, which, under the stewardship of the good reverend, appeared to be slowly grinding to a halt.

Ironically, though the live blues opportunities were drying up in the Windy City and the Black citizenry was ignoring the new releases of this genre of music, a new national audience (mostly White and well educated) for the blues, a byproduct of the 60s folk revival phenomenon, was either

still emerging or already entrenched.

And young entrepreneurs in Chicago like Bruce Iglauer of Alligator records, Bob Koester of Delmark, and later Jim O’Neal of Rooster Blues were willing to take the risks and deliver the goods, catering to this new market of hard-core blues fans.

Bob Koester, who recorded several extraordinary albums of Chicago blues greats during this era, including those

by Magic Sam, J.B. Hutto, Junior Wells, Luther Allison, and Otis Rush, also reissued older classic material, such as Wells’ now seminal States label sides of the early 50s. In 1972, he approached Clearwater about a retrospective of his uncle Houston Harington’s Atomic-H masters, which included not only Clearwater’s previous efforts but those of Elmore James’ former horn man, J.T. Brown, barrelhouse pianist, Sunnyland Slim (Albert Luandrew), guitarists Jo Jo Williams, Homesick James, and Morris Pejoe, and the rather obscure Harmonica George Robinson. Although Houston Harrington is given credit as supervisor for this undertaking, Clearwater claimed to have handled the

Luther Allison and Dale Patton, ex-president of the Baltimore Blues Society photo: larry benicewicz

negotiations with Koester, who appears on the jacket as producer. However, regardless of these semantics, Chicago Ain’t Nothin’ But A Blues Band (Delmark #624) is a significant compilation in that it not only documents the whole history of a record company (which undoubtedly would have been lost) but also marks the first instance wherein Clearwater appears on a domestic LP—“I Don’t Know Baby,” “A-Minor Cha Cha,” and “Hillbilly Blues,” a total of three tracks, all which contributed mightily to introduce him to a quite new and altogether different demographic.

Nonetheless, things at Atomic-H were not going very smoothly, as friction soon developed between the more laid-back, laissez faire uncle and his nephew, who understandably was aggressive, intent upon forging his own recording career. “To avoid a serious family confrontation, I started my per-

sonal label in the early 70s, Cleartone, and began making my own singles,” said Clearwater in an interview. In addition, he became one of the few bluesmen who had the forethought of acquiring his own publishing, C-Tone (Cleartone), BMI. By late 1974, he had released his first single on Cleartone, “True Love” bw “Lonely Nights” (C-004), plaintive blues ballads. Although ably backed by Abb Locke on tenor and Bob Riedy on piano, Clearwater, however, failed to make an impression with his inaugural trial.

Despite this setback, in the late 70s, one interested party came knocking, Ron Bartolucci of Baron records based at 11 Dell Avenue in Melrose, MA. Although he did not run a major operation, he perhaps taking advantage of the downturn in blues, assembled, at a low personal cost, quite a formidable aggregate of well-known artists to launch his label, including rockabilly legend, Sleepy LaBeef, J.B. Hutto & the House Rockers, the young Sugar Ray (Norcia) & the Bluetones, and Guitar Johnny (Nicholas) & the Rhythm Rockers (featuring Sarah Brown on vocals). In order to economize, Bartolucci’s modus operandi was picking up already recorded

Otis Rush in Baltimore circa 1990 photo: larry benicewicz M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 19

EDDY “THE CHIEF”

CLEARWATER and “good to go” product (as would be in Clearwater’s case) and subsequently releasing it under his own aegis. Thus, with nothing to lose, the guitarist leased him an LP’s worth of then-recent Cleartone intended efforts (which included the support of another celebrated crew of Chicago sidemen, including drummer Casey Jones, guitarist Jimmy Jones, and the aforementioned tenor, Abb Locke). Being singles oriented, Bartolucci issued the Chuck Berry influenced rocker, “2 X 9,” with the flip, “Came Up the Hard Way,” as Baron #5145 (formerly Cleartone 005) on pink vinyl. It was to have been included on an album, A Little Bit of Blues, A Little Bit of Rock & Roll, which, for some reason, never materialized. However, the principals of Charly (a notorious rip-off reissue label) based in England made in 1981 a deal with Bartolucci to distribute it overseas. Needless to say that once in the hands of Charly (as Two Times Nine, CRB 1025), Clearwater could expect no royalties. And although the “colorful” 45 rpm didn’t make much of as splash commercially (except as a collector’s item), it again served to put Clearwater back in the public eye. By the way, the all the tracks (most recorded live at Kingston Mines in 1977) that Clearwater submitted to Bartolucci’s Baron were later reissued on the Austrian imprint Wolf as a CD (120.897), Chicago Daily Blues.

In 1978, came yet another import on the French Fan Club logo (422411), Live At Kingston Mines, evidently quite the popular blues venue of that era. This vinyl LP which also featured sidemen Abb Locke and Casey Jones later saw the light of day as a CD, not only as a CD for Fan Club (FC 118) but also on the French New Rose label (ROIR 6-5411) in 1981. Also in 1978, Clearwater’s scintillating live performance of Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie Coochie Man” was captured at the Montreux Jazz Festival of Switzerland on the evening of July 9 of that year and eventually was released on the French Black and Blue label, as CD (59.530). Although, at this juncture

of his career, Eddy Clearwater hadn’t enjoyed a domestic album of his own, he didn’t despair. And the fact that so many overseas companies vied for his music proved one thing---that he had by then become a figure to be reckoned with on their turf.

In this regard, it may be fruitful to return to the 1977 project which was originally recorded for the Second City label but never released on that logo, ultimately appearing on the Peter Shertser’s UK Red Lightnin’ imprint in 1984 as an LP (RL 0051). This endeavor on Red Lightnin’ was entitled I Don’t Give A Damn If Whites Bought It!: The Ralph Bass Session Vol. ll and was envisioned to have been Clearwater’s pride and joy (deservedly so, it would later go on to win a W.C. Handy award in 1985 for the Best Contemporary Blues Album [import]). Later, the same Bob Koester of Delmark concluded that the guitarist was long overdue with an album he could truly call his own. At its inception, this affair began promisingly enough, containing all the requisite earmarks of a successful undertaking. Recorded at the state-of-the-art facility, Paul Serrano’s PS Studios in Chicago, it was overseen by the legendary Ralph Bass, the former right-hand man (A&R man, producer, arranger, and writer) for both Herman Lubinsky’s Savoy (Johnny Otis, Little Esther, Mel Walker, H-Bomb Ferguson, Big Jay McNeely, and a host of vocal groups) of Newark, NJ, and Syd Nathan’s Federal records (the Platters, Midnighters, Lamplighters, Billy Ward & the Dominoes [with both Clyde McPhatter and successor Jackie Wilson], James Brown, Little Willie Littlefield, Jimmy Witherspoon, etc) of Cincinnati, OH, before joining the Chess brothers, Leonard and Marshall, in the same capacity in the late 50s, supervising all their blues and gospel sessions. In addition, some of the finest musicians that Chicago had to offer, including the aforementioned enigmatic Bob Riedy, harp man Little Mack Simmons, and fatback drummer, Sam Lay, were sum-

20 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

moned to lend a hand in the production.

Unfortunately for Eddie Clearwater this collection which held so much potential could not have come at a more unfavorable time for blues consumption. The public was caught up in the Saturday Night Fever of the disco rage that was sweeping the country. And, by that time, no one, absolutely no one was buying blues music; so Koester, after acquiring the rights and with much reflection decided to let the tapes remain in the can. But, in short, this undertaking was just too great an accomplishment to never see the light of day. For Shertser of Red Lightnin’ it was no risk, since Clearwater already was possessed of an enthusiastic European fan base. Yet, it still lay moldering in the vaults for nearly two decades thereafter, before finally being released as Boogie My Blues Away in 1995 on Delmark (#678).

After nearly thirty years as a professional bluesman, Clearwater, though much beloved overseas, would still not have a stateside album. But with the dawn of the 80s, his situation would change dramatically. By this time, blues aficionado Jim O’Neal had founded in Chicago the Rooster Blues label, a record company (at 2615 N. Wilton Ave) dedicated to blues music originating from the Mississippi Delta and he initially released fourteen albums by South Side blues musicians, including Carey Bell, Larry Davis, John Littlejohn, Magic Slim, Big Daddy Kinsey, and Willie Cobbs. Also among these artists who met this criterion was Clearwater and his first release on Red Rooster, The Chief (R 2615), was an unparalleled success and which many reviewer has called his magnum opus. The LP recorded in Chicago on November 5th and 6th in 1979 and in which Clearwater graces the cover astride a horse in his Native American attire features cousins, Carey Bell (Harrington) on harmonica and his son Lurie, on guitar, and the aforementioned Joe Harrington on bass, along with his regular sidemen Casey Jones on drums, Abb Locke on tenor, and Lafayette Leake on piano. Of this particular project, noted blues music critic, Bill Dahl, in the All Music Guide is most effusive with his praise. “It’s an extraordinary strong album by any standards which announced to the world that Eddy Clearwater’s ascendancy to Chicago

blues stardom was officially underway.”

He goes on to say that this “charismatic southpaw rocks like Chuck Berry used to but no longer can on ‘I Wouldn’t Lay My Guitar Down,’ tears up the West Side-based ‘Bad Dream’ and ‘Blues For A Living,’ imparts a Chi-town shuffle to ‘Find You A Job’ and ‘I’m Tore Up,’ and gives ‘Lazy Woman’ a decidedly un-lazy Latin tempo.” In many ways, The Chief, reveals Clearwater’s typical eclecticism, his being conversant with all genres of music, including rock and blues to provide whatever impetus was needed to keep the party going. No doubt, owing to the overwhelming positive reception of The Chief, Eddy Clearwater (who claimed that his grandmother was a fullblooded Cherokee) thereafter would make this feathered headdress an integral part of his stage show.

On the heels of his first triumph for Red Rooster, he would go on to record two more albums for this logo. In 1985 came Flimdoozie (R 2622), an undertaking in which Otis Rush appeared in a cameo and Sugar Blue, James Joshua “Jimmie” Whiting (who famously blew harp on the Stones’ “Miss You”), also assumed some vocal chores. It, too, received critical acclaim. And recorded in January, 1989, three years after O’Neal had moved his base of operations to Clarksdale, MS, came a two club offering, the aptly titled A Real Good Time--Live (R 2625) recorded both at Jake’s in Bloomington, IN, and at Nick’s in West Lafayette, IN. This latter disk, taped during a period of intense touring, showcased a new “road” supporting cast, including Will Crosby on second guitar, Herman Applewhite on bass, Tim Austin on drums, and Leroy Brown on vocals. Although Clearwater only released three albums during his ten year association with Red Rooster, he recorded nearly a hundred tracks during this time frame that were never issued, a incredible tally which indicated just how much faith Jim O’Neal had in Clearwater’s broad appeal, even to the extent of releasing a single, “All About the Blues,” in 1985, leased to The Wax Museum label as Wax 4611. One thing was certain, this flurry of activity for Red Rooster cast a spotlight on him; so much so, that he was invited on a U.S. Government sponsored tour of six African nations in 1987, not to mention

Although Clearwater only released three albums during his ten-year association with Red Rooster, he recorded nearly a hundred tracks.

Eddy Clearwater at Fletchers, Baltimore, Fall of 2003 photo: larry benicewicz

those of Europe and Mexico wherein he also appeared as a headliner.

As blues was experiencing a new resurgence in the 90s, it wasn’t difficult for Clearwater to find suitors for his talents. In fact this would prove to be his most prolific decade. Recorded on a French tour in 1989 and released in 1990 on the Black & Blue label was Eddie Clearwater---Blues Hang Out (59.732) with Big Time Sarah on vocals. Stateside, it was issued in 1992 on Howard Rosen’s and Jerry Gordon’s Evidence logo (ECD 26008). That same year, the French Fan Club label on CD (FC 118) saw fit to reissue Clearwater’s aforementioned 1978 vinyl, Eddie Clearwater---Live At Kingston Mines. In addition in 1992 came Clearwater’s inaugural studio (Chicago) effort for the prestigious Blind Pig imprint with Little Mike (Markowitz) and Carey Bell sharing the harp duties--

-Help Yourself (BPCD 74792). Just three years later came the aforementioned release of Boogie My Blues Away on Bob Koester’s Delmark (DD 678). Another Chicago recording in 1996, Mean Case of the Blues, with Billy Branch on harp, appeared on Clearwater’s own Cleartone label (CR 9601). And it was soon picked up for distribution by Rounder (Cambridge, MA) subsidiary, Bullseye Blues (CD BB 9584). As usual, the selections of Mean Case of the Blues again reveal Clearwater’s eclectic mind set, his predilection with performing all types of music from soul, Gene Allison’s “You Can Make It if You Try,” to the slashing West Side blues like Magic Sam’s “Look Watcha Done,” to Nat King Cole’s pop ballad, “Send For Me,” to his own rock and roll infused “Party at My Place.” Another gem from this album and Clearwater composition, “Don’t Take

M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 21

EDDY “THE CHIEF”

CLEARWATER My Blues,” was nominated for a Handy award. Furthermore, in 1998 was Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater with the Duke Robillard Band---Cool Blues Walk also on Bullseye Blues (BB 9614). Recorded in West Greenwich, RI, in 1997 it shows Clearwater more than holding his own in a mostly blues milieu, exchanging riffs with ex-Muddy Waters’ harp man extraordinaire, Jerry Portnoy, and licks with stellar guitarist and founder of Roomful of Blues. The title track, too, was nominated for a Handy award by the Blues Foundation. Finally, closing out the 90s were two reissues on CD by the Austrian Wolf label. The first of the two imports was a live concert recorded in Cambridge, MA, in 1980---Eddy “The Chief ” Clearwater and Carey Bell--Chicago Blues Session Vol. 23 (120.869) which appeared in 1998 and the second the following year was the aforementioned 1977 collection of tracks intended for release on Baron but unissued---a live session at The Kingston Mines, Eddy “The Chief ” Clearwater Feat Jimmy Johnson, Abb Locke & Casey Jones---Chicago Daily Blues (120.897).

Into the new millennium, Clearwater, still signed with Bullseye Blues, authored Reservation Blues in 2000, named after his brand new club on the North Side of Chicago in the Wicker Park neighborhood at 1566 Milwaukee Avenue which closed in 2003 after hosting a slew of blues greats (Bobby Rush, Bobby Blue Bland, James Cotton, Robert Lockwood, Jr. etc) including himself. This fine album (BB 9636), also recorded at Lakewest Studio in West Greenwich, RI, like its predecessor could boast of a cameo by Carey Bell and was aided immensely throughout by Duke Robillard on rhythm guitar. Moreover, it also contained the Leipziger/Fleming composition, “Winds of Change,” which not only earned a nomination of the W.C. Handy Awards for Blues Song of the Year but also contributed to the CD’s nomination as Best Contemporary Blues Album. This “double” candidacy resulted in Clearwater being acknowl-

edged in 2001 (as a winner) by this same Blues Foundation in the category of Contemporary Blues Male Artist.

His next and last undertaking for Bullseye Blues was the Grammy nominated 2003 CD (BB 9640), Eddy “The Chief ” Clearwater Featuring Los Straitjackets---Rock ‘N’ Roll City. As usual, Clearwater, here backed by this renowned masked surf rock ensemble, sampled from all sorts of species from the musical map, including New Orleans R&B, Roy Brown’s “Let the Four Winds Blow;” C&W, a reprise of his “Hillbilly Blues;” rock and roll, Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue;” a plaintive ballad, Ricky Nelson’s “Lonesome Town;” and rockabilly, Rocket Morgan’s “You’re Humbuggin’ Me.” Corresponding to the release of this CD was an extensive promotional tour which took Clearwater and his able-bodied sidemen all over the U.S., including venerable Mid-Atlantic venues such as Baltimore’s 8X10 club and the now-defunct Fletcher’s in Fells Point and also the State Theatre in Falls Church, VA. Though at first sight, what was seemingly an odd juxtaposition, this collaboration fit like glove and hand, once more proving that Clearwater, chameleon-like, could easily adapt to any situation. To say the least, the group got a lot of unexpected mileage out of this durable album both literally and figuratively.

Next up for this singer and guitarist was the highly lauded 2008 studio album, Eddy “The Chief ” Clearwater— West Side Strut on the prestigious Chicago-based Alligator label (AL CD 4911) run since 1971 by the much respected Bruce Iglauer. At the behest of Clearwater, it was produced by Ronnie Baker Brooks and the endeavor was touted for its many original compositions by both Clearwater and Brooks, including Brooks’ “They Call Me the Chief ” which thereafter served as a staple to introduce the former artist at show time. Moreover, a whole host of individuals lent their services in its creation, including Lonnie Brooks (father

22 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

of Ronnie), Billy Branch on harp, Otis Clay, and Jimmy Johnson. Thus, it was no surprise that West Side Strut attained a number one ranking on the Living Blues magazine chart. And another trade magazine, Downbeat, praised this venture for its “raw chops, soulful vocals, and earthy, humorous lyrics” while Blues Revue remarked its “joyous raveups” in which “Clearwater testifies with stunning soul fervor.” Perhaps, though, it is Guitar One that aptly depicts the mature Clearwater’s signature West Side style in which he “takes his listeners on an inspired trip to that rollicking crossroads where the blues and rock collide.” With all these accolades, it’s no wonder then that Clearwater was nominated in 2009, the 30th installment of the Blues Music Awards, in the categories of Traditional Blues Male Artist and Traditional Blues Album.

By 2014, Clearwater issued his Soul Funky CD on his resurrected Cleartone label which was recorded live on January 10 at Sound (club) in Evanston, IL, and again featuring Ronnie Baker Brooks on second guitar, Billy Branch on harp, and newcomer Johnny Iguana (of the Claudettes) on keyboards. Although 79-years-old, Clearwater was in his usual amazing top form as he reprises some of his greatest hits (most his compositions) from prior CDs, including four tracks culled from the West Side Strut album. It, too, made quite an impression with the critics. “Raw. Real. Playful.

Ruthless. Surreptitiously libidinous to the dirtiest extreme. Piercing and powerful beyond the point of exhaustion.

And it’s all captured on Soul Funky as something so wild seldom is,” wrote the ecstatic reviewer, Terry Abrahamsom in the Chicago Blues Guide. Moreover, that same year, Clearwater made a promotional tour of Norway and the Low Countries, executing a series of onenighters for his adoring fans---November 21, Friday, De Casino in St Nicklaas, Belgium; November 22, Saturday, in De Tambooer, in Hoogeveen, Holland; and November 23, Sunday, Le Montmartre, in Brussels, Belgium, just to name a few stops on the itinerary---proving again, that even pushing 80, he was still unrivaled as a road warrior. Indeed, as ambassador of goodwill over the course of his career, this hard charging globetrotter had spread the gospel

from left:

Lazy Lester, 1994; New Morning Club, Paris; Carey Bell, 1990

of the blues to some far-flung outposts, including the aforementioned Africa, Russia, Romania, Turkey, Japan, and lastly Brazil.

Nonetheless, despite his many recordings, awards, and his long career in music, wider recognition for Eddy Clearwater came rather late in life. In August, 19, 2007, the Noxubee Alliance, along with partners, Main Street Macon and the Noxubee (County) Historical Society, hosted an unveiling of a historical marker which would become a permanent monument along the Mississippi Blues Trail. This signpost, entitled Black Prairie Blues, was erected specifically to honor native sons, Clearwater, guitarist Willie King, and Carey Bell, for their contributions in the dissemination of this indigenous, uniquely American music which sprang from this Delta region. As part of the festivities, these musicians were invited to perform before the new Macon Welcome Center on Jefferson St in the downtown Historical District. Since Carey Bell, by then, was deceased, his son, Steve, ably filled in on harp as the trio enthralled the crowd of 200 or more citizens who gathered there to show their appreciation. For Clearwater, particularly, it was quite an emotional homecoming, not having returned to his roots for perhaps thirty years. In fact, during the ceremony, he met boyhood friend, O.C. Gilkey, one of his earliest inspirations to take up the guitar and

whom he hadn’t seen since moving from Macon to Birmingham in 1948. And it was reported that Clearwater even shed tears when he saw the banner that proclaimed “Welcome Back Eddy.”

By 2016, Eddy Clearwater was at long last inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame as Performer by the Blues Foundation, an acknowledgement long overdue.

And that same year, he took pride in his participation in a widely viewed commercial, Visit Illinois Tourism, which served to hugely broaden his exposure to a national audience. And owing to the success of this first video, the state again availed him of his services in yet another similar promotional clip the next year.

No doubt this recent, new found notoriety resulted in a subsequent exploration of his body of work; so much so, that an Australian hip-hop group, Hermitude, sampling from Clearwater’s extensive inventory of tunes, came across his Versa single of the late sixties, “Doin’ the Model,” and incorporated it into their song, “All of You,” which became a commercial for Google during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Needless to say that Clearwater was thrilled that it was chosen and viewed it many times on YouTube, singing along to the lyrics “Baby Baby, Baby Baby, Baby Baby, You look so good.” Oddly enough, another contemporary, just as prolific as Clearwater (and also a belated inductee into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame

photos: larry benicewicz

in 2012 at age 79), Lazy Lester (Leslie Johnson), was the subject of a recent, often repeated GEICO insurance advertisement. Ironically, both of these artists, cult figures for most of their lives, expired within months of each other just as they were on the brink of discovery and, perhaps, of being elevated to celebrity status.

With Eddy Clearwater’s passing, it’s nearly the end of an era for the golden age of Chicago blues and you can probably count on one hand the holdovers of blues’ second generation from that memorable, illustrious period—an Otis Rush or Buddy Guy, both in their 80s.

Sadly, Eddy “The Chief ” Clearwater never really became a household name.

But his vast catalogue of music speaks volumes and he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as these demigods, to be enshrined in the same blues pantheon. We were lucky to see not only a great showman and indelible character, not to mention a humble and gracious human being, but also we can console ourselves that he left so much of himself behind.

Survivors include his wife of 25 years, Renee Greenman Harrington, five children, and two grandchildren. ● PS: THANKS GO OUT TO BRUCE I G L A U E R O F A L L I G AT O R A N D LY N N ORMAN WEISS, PUBLICIST FOR E D DY C L E A R WAT E R F O R P R O V I D I N G D E TA I L S F O R T H I S A R T I C L E .

M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 23

BLUES REVIEWS

VARIOUS

Chicago/The Blues Legends/ Today!

W E ST TO N E

C Today! is every bit a testament

hicago/The Blues Legends/

to the city’s unheralded legion that labors out of the limelight.

Staying true to the music, the project’s mission was as straightforward as its final result: Invite three unsung veterans—Mary Lane, Little Jerry Jones and Milwaukee Slim—into a studio; then stock that studio with a no-frills band traditionally versed in both pounding and creeping the blues; and simply let each headliner do what they have customarily done for decades. (By championing overlooked, under-recorded talent, Today! makes a sort of unofficial companion piece to West Tone’s Howlin’ at Greaseland, which corralled John Blues Boyd, Alabama Mike, and Henry Gray, among others, to honor Howlin’ Wolf last year.)

Fear not: You may have never heard Mary Lane before, a holdout from Theresa’s underground blues lair, but once you do, you won’t forget the fantastic South Side bluntness of her delivery.

“Hurt My Feelings” and “Don’t Want My Lovin’ No More” reap the benefit of her streetwise credibility. The same assurances go for any first-time meetings with singing guitarists Jerry Jones and Milwaukee Slim. Besides being able to tell you personal stories about Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter, Jones is also the one with the boozier voice.

Both, however, are authentically bar-stained.

The session’s anchor is Rockin’ Johnny Burgin, who leads the ensemble from behind a guitar that has worked alongside nearly every blue Chicagoan since the 1990s. That’s why “I Always Want You Near” attains yesteryear nirvana on the basis of its reverb alone, whereas the bottleneck slide through “Dust My Broom” is way more Homesick James than Elmore James—a looser ride along the strings to compliment Jones’ swashbuckling approach. Besides bringing out the best in their guests, the ensemble also fends for themselves with Burgin (“Things Gonna Work Out Fine”) and omnipresent har pist Mike Mettalia (his own “Midnight Call”) taking lead.

Liquor, rotten relationships, Magic Sam, pangs for doing you-know-what, and shuffles heavy enough to leave their imprint in the carpet all figure into the game plan at one point or another. Close your eyes and it’s another night down at Jimmy’s Woodlawn Tap. DENNIS ROZANSKI

TRUDY LYNN

Blues Keep Knockin’ C O N N O R R AY

T the story goes that, once hank Albert Collins. Because

upon a time, the famed Master of the Telecaster invited a teenaged Trudy Lynn up on stage for a chance to sing. That was the spark—and the rest has been ongoing history. Fifty-some years and now 13 solo albums later, Houston’s venerable soul-

blues diva has yet to put down the microphone, still answering the call every time those Blues Keep Knockin’.

Lynn, a six-time Blues Music Award nominee, has the seniority to bend evergreens her way, as the age-worn wisdom in her mahogany voice does wonders with the defeatist anthem “That’s Alright,” not to mention Big Bill Broonzy’s bourbon-breath’d “When I Been Drinkin’” or the original title track. Yet it’s her unflagging sass that hyperventilates “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show” back to life with newfound vibrancy and happy horns. “Never Been to Spain” simmers the same tension that neither Three Dog Night nor Elvis could resist. “Would It Make Any Difference to You” showcases an even more relaxed side, relying on balladeer skills to realize the soft sadness in a lover’s goodbye.

Yet provide Lynn reason to take off the gloves and she’ll gladly kick out gravel from her 70-yearold throat. To that end, the backto-back suite of “I Sing the Blues” and the self-deprecating “Pitiful” becomes a quarry, getting ground down hard from Lynn’s level of vocal exclamation giving Steve Krase’s burning harp and the string bends from Bob Lanza’s guitar a run for their money.

envy over the drop-jawed fire and ice that reedmaster extraordinaire Mark Hummel’s pulls off on Harpbreaker. You just have to own a pair of lungs. Because the power, range, control, nuance and creative authority in his blowing is a marvel.The man’s chops have chops.

This series of jeweled performances gathers from all sorts of sources: newly recorded, never released and previously issued; plugged and unplugged; studio and live; blues, jump, jazz, and wisps of third-position smoke (“Cristo Redentor”). But what puts the showcase over the top, making for a purist’s delight, is dispensing with all vocals, which only end up stealing away precious space better spent on soloing.

And there’s no mistaking the alpha-male reigning over this expansive all-instrumental territory. Not even within a savvy pack of musicians that at any moment can include the saber-toothed guitars of Anson Funderburgh, Billy Flynn, Rusty Zinn or Little Charlie Baty. Not when Hummel keeps pulling one rabbit after the next out of his hat, magically delivering works of sheer beauty (exquisitely skating notes across “Glide On”), pudgy-toned saunters (“Ready, Steady, Stroll”), DENNIS ROZANSKI acoustic meditations (“See See Rider”) and iron-fisted tangos MARK HUMMEL (“Billy’s Boogaloo,” one of the Harpbreaker new ones).The pulmonary panic ELECTRO-FI ou don’t have to be a fellow “Harpoventilatin” and Buddy harpist to be brought to the Rich’s profoundly swinging point of slobbering with awe and “Rotten Kid” boldly acknowledge that Hummel can soar high off any bandstand on any given night. To this, add the hard bop standard “Senor Blues”—the har monica’s coolest revelation of hornlike aptitude—and Harpbreaker compiles all the stunning proof needed of the mighty muscle and grace capable of an instrument that conveniently fits within the palm of one’s hand.

Y

24 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

DENNIS ROZANSKI

TUNDE MABADU

TOM FELDMANN

THE LUCKY LOSERS

Viva Disco

The Guitar of John Lee Hooker

Blind Spot

1

WO R K S H O P ( DV D )

S ing

MR BONGO

STEVE KRASE BAND

Just Waitin’

C O N N O R R AY

H have a good time for all to

arpist Steve Krase is out to

hear.Truth be told, the energized Texan got this party started back in 2014 with Buckle Up, which rolled into last year’s Should’ve Seen It Coming, and now hurtles breathlessly through Just Waitin’.

Stylistically, the caffeinated set zings around the room, moving with bold, boisterous gestures. Howlin’ Wolf ’s “My Baby Walked Off,” beefed up with far huger springs, bounces off the walls, as opposed to “Blame It All on Love,” whose pogo-pop rebounds off the ceiling. “Settin’ the Woods on Fire” never pressed this hard when Hank Williams originally cut loose.

And throughout, Krase’s excitable enthusiasm continually tugs at the leash, even getting keyed up while the guitars slowly burn down “Nobody Loves Me.” Although remaining the go-to harpist for Houston’s soul-blues diva Trudy Lynn (her brand-new Blues Keep Knockin’ features his blowing), Krase is quite omnivorous here, tailoring solos to fit every flavor of fun at hand. That goes for thumping “I Don’t Mind” with a Bo Diddley beat or swinging on Glen Miller’s “In the Mood” riff to make Wolf ’s “All In the Mood” dance. The ultimate tilt-a-whirl ride, however, is the Beverly Hillbillies theme, “The Ballad of Jed Clampett.”

Completely retooled as a shout-along, har p-squeezed zydeco workout, it’s a job that calls for a party animal’s cracked creativity.

DENNIS ROZANSKI

ST E FA N G R O S S M A N ’ S G U I TA R

980’s Viva Disco works everyone hard.That goes for the listener sucked into its series of dancehall mantras as much as for Tunde Mabadu & His Sunrise merrymakers, who sweated through these six floor-filling workouts. Starting with “Alabosi” and not resting until the waves of funk from the instrumental title track finally fade away, a one-track mindset gets maintained: Keep the Nigerian disco-boogie continuously pumping so its rubbery rhythms spin you around and ‘round beneath the glitter ball without reason or opportunity to sit down. With vamps hovering around the seven-minute mark, extended grooves don’t heat up the dance floor only to quickly shut down, instead providing “African Parowo” and “Angelina—Sugar Daddy” ample time to move heaven and earth, body and soul—and feet. The fouron-the-floor beat is an insidious taskmaster, racking up points for synching the concerted heave of horns and the twitch of synths and guitars. A fat bass serves as enforcer, ensuring anyone in earshot falls in line with the repetition’s intoxicating hypnosis.

Face it, even without having any clue of what “Amupara Ko Ma Dara” is telling you, resistance is futile: There will be jubilation and there will be dancing. From out of the deepest depths of rarity, Viva Disco is once again open for business, freshly offering 40 minutes of cathartic getaway. But this time that reaches beyond the nightlife of Lagos.

DENNIS ROZANSKI

S

tomping out a John Lee Hooker song on guitar comes with a certain untold power.

Imagine the visceral rush from personally running down “Boogie Chillen,” the groove heard ’round the world. Or knowing the ins and outs when creeping through the iconic labyrinth of doom, “I’ll Never Get Out of These Blues Alive.” Or having “I’m a Crawling King Snake” slither from beneath your own fingers. Tom Feldmann—who has altruistically also broken the code to Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and a score more greats— now diligently teaches you how-howhow-how to attain badass blues nirvana by harnessing The Guitar of John Lee Hooker.

The two-hour master class is a complete boogie ’n’ blues kit, stocked with step-by-step guidance, tab/music notation, lyrics, and even vintage footage of John Lee performing half of the lesson plan. By transferring the blueprints to eight songs (divided between standard and Spanish tunings), along with basic Hooker design elements (landmark riffs as well as signature strum patterns, finger brushes, bass rumbles, trills, hammer-ons and bends), you’ll be well prepped to springboard off into one of the deepest, most mesmeric discographies ever to have been spawned by misery.

Because it is one thing to listen to the almighty “Boom Boom,” but it’s a vastly more intense experience to physically pump the chord while howling out “I’m gonna shoot you right down, right off your feet.” As did everyone from the Doors to George Thorogood to ZZ Top, tap into that Hooker power.

D I R T Y C AT

an Francisco’s genre-blendLucky Losers come to Blind Spot, their third Dirty Cat record, with an even surer sense of artistic self-identity.

Cathy Lemons and harpist Phil Berkowitz remain the nucleus, taking turns singing but making the best magic when convening to share the job. That takes nothing away from her vocal fortitude that thrusts “Take the Long Road” past a steamrolling bassline or his ever so smooth sailing through “Bulldogs & Angels (Bring It on Out).” It’s just that style points rack up doubly during their repartee, alternately blending voices into reinforced ribbons but then sharply trading lines like boxers in a ring. The prize fight is “Make a Right Turn,” requiring quick reflexes and a quicker tongue to spill the lyrics in a back-and-forth flurry.

“You Left Me Behind” is more vaudeville with its exchange of barbed zingers. Not only do these Lucky Losers write their own material, but they also invest some real thought when putting pen to paper, poking and prodding at life from different angles, philosophizing atop horn crescendos that make “Alligator Baptism” sweat all the more. And that mix-it-up, keep-you-guessing personality likewise spreads across melodies as irresistibly quirky as a hard-edged, bulletsprayed “Last Ride” or, best yet, when riding up and down the hilly “It’s Never Too Early.” Gui-

DENNIS ROZANSKI

M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 25

BLUES REVIEWS CONTINUED

ates its own naturally whooshing effect. If R.L. Burnside or Junior tarists Laura Chavez and copro- Kimbrough mean anything to ducer Kid Andersen guest on this you, you’re halfway there. lyrically hard-hitting funhouse.

Amplifiers crackle and hum in DENNIS ROZANSKI between outbursts. The amassed crowd freely participates in the frenzy, interactively shouting, clapping and firing off ululating approval that squiggles skyward like bottle rockets. Everything but the pervasive grit of sand is here. Vicarious doesn’t come close to conveying the incredibly vivid you-are-there vibe radiating off this hazardously wild adventure.

DENNIS ROZANSKI

ELTRAN DE L’AIR

No. 1

SA H E L S O U N D S

N extreme-energy trance that ever

exper ienced

an

doubles as just an everyday street gig around Agadez, an urbanized outpost stranded in the Sahara? Well, here’s your rare chance. Because by simply letting tape run over the course of an impromptu open-air gathering, a perfectly unspoiled shot of amped-up guitar ecstasy was captured alive and twitching.

Christopher Kirkley, who’s in the regular business of introducing West Africa’s desert stars to the world via his Oregon-based Sahel Sounds label, managed to bottle up lightning yet again.

And the easy part is that neither ears nor nerve endings need be versed in Niger’s music scene to affirm that Eltran de L’Air are the region’s party kings (since 1995). And that No. 1 is a kinetic masterpiece, pulsing throughout from three competing electric guitars, a bass, a set of bashed drums and communal vocals that work circular logic with their hypercharged grooves. Everything they touch swirls with a primal, rhythmic insistence: the wickedly lurching “Tarha,” “Mon Amour” that lets lead guitarist Abdourahamane Ibra “Allamine” go long and bright, or any of the five other fantastically raw and rowdy tracks. Liftoff is attained during “Hadija,” ten minutes of sustained feverish pitch that gener-

ing this self-titled debut to a high shimmer. Those core three crisscross their mix of worldly strings with a sleekly smoothed sound, filled out with electric keyboards, bass and percussion. So, “Blues for Brazil” can now honor its title better than ever, indulging a vastly airier, measurably lusher staging than Rogers and Charlie Musselwhite offered in 1996.

And “God Prayed It,” another Rogers holdover, stunningly lifts above the clouds with the greatest of ease, especially thanks to Assad’s pristine voice that works wonders with the abundant balladry. Slidewise, though, Rogers’ bottleneck has a real ball bursting through ”Back to Havana,” its aqueous waves amplifying the instrumental’s tropical bounce as much as does the equally excited violin.

DENNIS ROZANSKI

face-smashing horns), and “Ain’t No Weak Woman,” “Check Me Out” and “Get It When I Want It” are—pow!—on you in a flash.

“Love’s Creeping Up on You” enters into an old-fashioned soul duet with Igor Prado that, along with Denise LaSalle’s “A Woman Rules the World” and Shay’s own altogether calmer ballad “Empty Hand,” cools down the timbre of attack. The trend continues with more original material as strong as “Don’t You Fool Me No More” seamlessly blending among chestnuts borrowed from the soulful likes of Candi Staton and Bill Coday. Live, however, “Get Down With It” must be the wildest of all to experience.

Caught up in the stomping fever of Shay directing everyone to interactively let loose in phases of semi-controlled pandemonium, we’re putty in her hands.

DENNIS ROZANSKI

STRINGSHOT

StringShot

CHOPS NOT CHAPS

C tarist Roy Rogers has always alifornia’s bearded slide gui-

been up for a good challenge.

His range has fanned out across soundtracks (The Hot Spot), partnerships (harpist Norton Buffalo) and signature instrumental-heavy workouts that openly declare their allegiance (Slidewinder, Slide of Hand, Slideways). He climbed the ranks up from a player in John Lee Hooker’s Coast-to-Coast Band to producing Hook’s titanic comeback records, stretched between 1989’s The Healer and 1995’s Chill Out. Then, more recently, there was that productive alliance struck up with the Doors’ Ray Manzarek.

Now, at 68, Rogers’ latest test of versatility takes on the gorgeous elegance of StringShot, a blues-Latin fusion trio completed by dulcet-voiced Brazilian guitar virtuoso Badi Assad and Paraguayan stringed harp master/violinist Carlos Reyes.

Although before taking the show out on the road in the fall, their first order of business was polish-

WHITNEY SHAY

MALAWI MOUSE BOYS

A Woman Rules the World

Score For a Film About Malawi Without Music From Malawi

L I T T L E V I L L A G E F O U N DAT I O N

R Whitney Shay brings a fresh, ed-haired and sequined,

new face and a ton of energy to the blues scene by way of San Diego. And if A Woman Rules the World is any index, then the fireball vocalist has to be leaving a trail of splinters from the 200+ stages she burns up, then tears down every year. Cosmopolitan songcraft, dressed in rich arrangements, certainly do contribute to the power.

(The big-band push, with brass ablaze, through Dinah Washington’s “Blues Down Home” is phenomenal.) But really it’s the go-go-gusto of Shay’s delivery that runs the ten tracks hardest. Unite her spunk and ultra confidence with the bluster of her musicians (including those

26 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

TOY G U N M U R D E R ( M A L A -

W I M O U S E B OY S . BA N D C A M P. C O M )

S world in 2012, the Malaprung onto an unsuspecting

wi Mouse Boys have become known for two indelible things: The delectable rodent kebobs they hawk along the roadside in their southeast African homeland and their own brand of contagious musical euphoria. Basically, give the Mouse Boys access to a scrap yard and they’ll jerryrig a whole orchestra of DIY instruments, from a four-string sheet-metal guitar to a hi-hat fashioned out of stacked bicycle gears. Even more striking is the naturally golden weave of their voices soaring high atop. Ah, the magnificence in simple genuineness.

Here, those same sweet harmonies take to the “Sky Above.”

And their guitars remain the crystalline source of “Water.”

That hasn’t changed. But what has is the creative intent.

Although still 100% handmade in their remote village, Score For a Film About Malawi Without Music From Malawi is not a successorin-kind to the three prior Mouse Boys albums. This free-form session lets their freak flag fly.

Edgy and purposefully fractured, its 15 shards of sonic abstraction were intentionally designed for heightening moods—contemplation, rumination, elation—of what would have been flashing on the silver screen. Regrettably, however, the commissioned soundtrack was never used. Undaunted, the orphaned work now stands on its atmospheric own. “Eclipse” and “Power Lines” do their haunting amorphously, within a group of instrumentals that release mercurial ghosts from such everyday objects as water buckets, a machete, shovels, insects, and the wind. But how “Alone” generates its Pink Floydian sonar pings in the middle of rural nowhere is anyone’s guess. Call it ingenious bush art.

DENNIS ROZANSKI

RAY BONNEVILLE

At King Electric STO N E F LY

brewed storms, the stellar At King Electric sessions triggered. More so than on his eight prior trophywinning emotional downloads, the air grows tighter here, closing in around “Next Card to Fall” and the no-better-off “It’ll Make a Hole inYou.” Like his restrained grooves which rarely hurry, Bonneville’s wise and worldweary voice carries a natural gravity that commands attention.

The subject matter only heightens the situation, transmitting personal communications from down in the ditch of life, be that a prison cell (“The Day They Let Me Out”), the addict’s room (“Codeine”) or anywhere light is not welcome (“Waiting on the Night”). His uncompromised integrity extends to a small, patient band that paints thick atmospheric counterpoint. Of the bunch, electric piano often trickles through the hornless Americana landscape eroded by Bonneville’s non-showy, brooding guitar and occasional harmonica wails. Even “Riverside Drive” stays in murky mood on its wordless slither through rolling drumbeat thunder. Depending on how the light hits this set, shades of J.J. Cale and post-Dire Straits Mark Knopfler can be heard. That said, in a just world, Ray Bonneville’s rootsy runins with flesh-and-blood strife would be a household name.

DENNIS ROZANSKI

T

here’s trouble afoot. And, thankfully, Ray Bonneville is knee-deep in it. Because the Austin-associated singer/songwriter embraces anguish by laying pen to paper and fingers to guitar, trying to scrape together a sliver of prospect for his emptyhearted characters. After piling up enough thumbnail sketches of unsettled souls and internally

design not commonly encountered within the blues idiom: the concept album. And the concept is this: Enact the fictional tale of a blues musician starving for original material, who discovers a trunk full of uncredited lyrics that ends up altering his life in more ways than imagined. But the added twist is to tell that tale by marrying Basile’s songcraft, cornet playing and singing with his award-winning poetic indulgences.

So, he continually alternates between the firstperson storyteller giving spoken narration and then performing his character’s songs. Inspiration for the design came from Louis Armstrong: My Musical Biography; the rest, though, came from Basile himself.

Musically, a familiar cast of New England all-stars readily personify the crack band, whose ranks include saxophonist Doug James, drummer Mark Teixeira and noted kingpin Duke Robillard. Besides producing the project, Robillard keeps very busy by crafting solo guitar lead-ins for the 13 spoken tracks as well as injecting some of his finest fretwork into the 12 horn-laden songs (the bellyaching lead and fills throughout “She Made Me Believe It” are spectacular). But then again, the universal level of musicianship is spectacular throughout, be that cornet’s round brassy tone in “Here Comes Your Trouble” or the group-bounce given “My J-O-B.” Basile makes his best music yet—delivered on every other track, interspersed among his multitasking one-man play.

horses that bring to life how to get the chords under your fingers to interact with a melody line. In other words: Introducing Chord Melody. After first breaking in the valuable technique with a series of warmup e xe rc i s e s , Raniolo jazzfully guides you out into open waters once charted by Billie, Ella and Benny, and sailed by your fellow fretsmen Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell and George Benson.

That’s where the line between practical application (single notes, chords, chord voicings) and gorgeous expression blurs tremendously. Just as sumptuous now, each classic example comes with its own fine details, be that the bluesy bridge swinging across “Moonglow” or some of the most cottony E flat, C minor and F minor chords you’ll ever hear put to use floating “These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You).” For daredevils, there’s that finger-busting A minor voicing in the midst of “All of Me.” DENNIS ROZANSKI

GYEDU-BLAY AMBOLLEY

Simigwa

MR BONGO

W record

hat is this curious little with the most unforgettable yellow cover? For one thing, Simigwa is ongoing proof that Mr Bongo’s deep dive to retrieve sunken African treasure hasn’t come remotely close to nearing the bottom. The second, more precise answer is that 1975’s sonic secret is a concentrated shot of everything-butthe-kitchen-sink Ghanaian stew:

DENNIS ROZANSKI

AL BASILE

VINNY RANIOLO

Me & the Originator

Introducing Chord Melody

A

WO R K S H O P ( DV D )

SW E E T S P O T

ST E FA N G R O S S M A N ’ S G U I TA R

fter tenure in Roomful of Blues and then building a hefty discography on his own, Al Basile may well have found the ultimate forum for all his artistic creativity. The ambitious Me & the Originator employs a

N olo’s watch. No longer will ot on guitarist Vinny Rani-

the congenial “Four Leaf Clover” get looked over, passively. Instead, the timeless standard joins three others as demonstrative work-

M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 27

BLUES REVIEWS CONTINUED 30 minutes of grooving high on the homeland’s highlife, Fela’s Afrobeat, American-made funk, a dash of Afro-Cubanism, and a freewheeling sense of originality.

But the music’s key role model gets snitched on every time a “hit me now!,” “good god!,” or, the real giveaway, “sex machine!” erupts with James Brownian flair. All those vibrant sources got mixed together, then cooked under the constant heat of horns and percussion, and served up by the super-sized personality that is Gyedu-Blay Ambolley.

While Ambolley would later go on to found and grow the hiplife movement, a crossbred style of hip hop with highlife, these six tracks find him at his earliest phase of getting Ghana up on its feet. To do so, he stokes his cocksure strut with the saxophone-trumpet tête-à-tête “Akoko Ba,” a reggae-infused “Adwoa,” and the syncopated call-and-response bubbling from both “The Hustling World” and “Kwaakwaa.” Plus, he’s got game on the mellowed “Toffie,” playing up his pseudo sweet talking and Soul Brother shrieks. The danceable jams on the inside of Simigwa burn into your memory cells as much as does Ambolley’s striking image on the outside cover, staring right through you with jaw akimbo.

DENNIS ROZANSKI

MARKEY BLUE/RIC LATINA PROJECT

Raised in Muddy Water ELLERSOUL

T merly

he blues-rocking band forknown as Markey Blue now requires a longer marquee to accommodate their newly expanded name: the Mar-

key Blue/Ric Latina Project.The division of labor stays the same, equitably placing a microphone in Markey’s hand and a guitar in Ric’s. It’s just that, starting fresh with Raised in Muddy Water, the frontline officially receives double billing.

And that teamwork wastes no time cowriting this entire record that often draws a Southern identity, lyrically lurking around backwater Mississippi and Louisiana while a slide guitar snakes about accentuating the swampiness all the more.

First to capitalize on the combination is the leadoff title track, whose hoodoo majestically ebbs and flows. “Walking Over This Line” is a breathy, cottony-soft, tear-stained crusher that slows the pace and dims the lights to nurse its wickedly tortured case of lover’s envy. “Red Room,” a devilish roadhouse with “Hotel California”-like properties, benefits from Ronnie Owens’ harp cameo. But the leading guest spot gets taken when Markey teasingly jousts over “I Like It Like This” with the late, great Eddy Clearwater, who died in June, at age 83. The Project traffics in wider circles, as further revealed by nods to Taj Mahal (the perky “Corrina Shine”), John Prine (the glassy “A Little More I Die”), and Delbert McClinton (“Come and Go,” a horn-battered, chicken-fried, chest-beating parting shot of a breakup song). Then, for a jazzy finale, “Drowning in His Ocean” offers live, onstage proof in its swinging gait that the Project doesn’t rely on studio smoke and mirrors to pull off their sound.

just as grabby as those first four minutes that tensely march past while pointing fingers. For an overall frame of reference, think the Temptations during their edgier Cloud Nine period, along with the Isley’s Brother, Brother, Brother.

Before evaporating into obscurity, the mysterious Skull Snaps managed to fire off this one self-titled salvo in ’73. If their band name alone didn’t throw R&B fanatics off the trail, then the skeletal artwork on the jacket cover surely did.

Bewildering? Yes, but fantastically rewarding for the intrepid who discovered them nonetheless. Because waiting inside— true to the times—tough funk (“Trespassing”) alternates with towering Northern soul ballads (“Didn’t I Do It to You”). The vocals are sturdy and fabulous, no matter which of the leads is temporarily in control, shielded by the others’ harmonies. Equally secure is the music, thick with wah-wah guitars instead going wacka-wacka, beds of strings, banks of horns, and a domineering lock between bottomless bass and hissing hi-hats. Yet no matter how downright Super Fly the streetwise rhythm and rhyme of DENNIS ROZANSKI “I’m Your Pimp”—“I wear my hat on the side and walk with a SKULL SNAPS limp”—was, those few seconds Skull Snaps of drumbeat skipping into “It’s MR BONGO a New Day” are what hip-hop kull Snaps comes in handy. samplers eventually jacked. One For when conversation turns of the year’s best out-of-the-blue to competitive one-upmanship surprises. in trying to stump others with DENNIS ROZANSKI vintage vinyl obscura, knowing this gone-missing slice of ROCKIN’ JOHNNY BURGIN 1970s soul-funk will win brag- Neoprene Fedora ging rights. Just don’t dare try the W E ST TO N E first track, “My Hang Up Is You,” ockin’ Johnny Burgin has unless you have a half-hour to worked alongside all the spare. Yeah, the whole album is cool Chicago cats. The short

S

R

28 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

tally runs from Jimmy Dawkins, Johnny Littlejohn, Taildragger, Eddie Shaw and Jimmy Burns to Sam Lay, Willie Kent, Lurrie Bell, Dave Myers and Paul DeLay. Not bad, huh? But, after decades of bandstand and studio service, the city’s go-to guitar (and harp) resource has recently migrated from the West Side all the way to the West Coast. Imaging that, an Epiphone stranded in the golden land of Fender.

Neoprene Fedora is a response to Burgin’s new incoming stimuli while still acting upon what’s been long engrained. At sevenand-a-half minutes, the title track makes a decisive opening statement: Chicago’s loss is California’s gain. The epic surf instrumental erupts in multiple stages, finding Burgin slinging oceanic reverb, diving off the whammy bar, and working the high treble while a saxophone digs out the bottom. It’s the way blues sound around Big Sur, like a Dick Dale fandango cheered on by Magic Sam. The set keeps right on tipping heavily with originals, regardless of stylistic slant. “I Did The Best I Could” is the kind of organ-drenched soul music that implores guest vocalist Alabama Mike to chew on his syllables as well as his heart.

“Smoke and Mirrors” is mod and nefariously funky. And “Kinda Wild Woman” joins “Our Time Is Short” on a zydeco detour to respectively boogaloo and waltz away the blues alongside a buzzing accordion in the mold of Clifton Chenier’s Red Hot Louisiana Band.

Still, the vast majority of time gets devoted to Chicagoanointed shufflers (Blueblood McMahon’s “Guitar King”), grinders (“My Baby’s Gone”) and Otis Rush-styled moaners

(“Give Me An Hour in Your Garden”). That said, capturing the many changing moods of Rockin’ Johnny Burgin now calls for a soundtrack to catch a wave in addition to, of course, slogging the blues.

DENNIS ROZANSKI

SÉKOU BAH

Soukabbè Mali CLERMONT

I breezier: Bassist/guitarist/ t’s a real tossup. Which is

composer Sékou Bah’s graceful way with innervating a groove or how his singing glides through the action with equal fluidity?

Both work their sense of freeness with cool-headed composure, even when the percussion is really boiling over and the guitars are peeling off note-flooded runs. That goes as much for the popcorning “Doke Doye” as for the majestically flown title track to Soukabbè Mali, Bah’s deliriously smoldering record. Whatever the flow, the intricately

textured sound of virtuosic West Africa washes over you.

And virtuosic it is, since Bah began as an 11-year-old child prodigy in the grownup Nangabanou Jazz orchestra before going on to be crowned “the monster of Malian rhythm” and eventually enhancing the work of world-stage godhead Salif Keita and Wassoulou diva Oumou Sangaré. So, given such quality control, his own forward-looking band gets stocked with scintillating talent at all positions (listen no further than the flying-fingered chain reaction lit inside the “Planete” jam). Everything is always on the move: “Dogon Oulon” briskly stacks its vocals; “Nge Mounkila” splashes funk every time Yacouba Konè’s foot squashes the wah-wah pedal; and “Kalan Ko” lunges forward on Bah’s bassline punching through this (and every) mix.

Yet the contemporary, synthfree tracks can get endorsed by Malian signatures as ancient as the crystallized pluck of kora or a balafon’s hollow tumbling rumble. Still, a pair of booming remixes soup up their big beat all the bigger to induce ecstasy out on the parquet while reinforcing that these breezes are meant for today.

DENNIS ROZANSKI

JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR

Wild SONY

S for blustery British blues-

ony Music has huge plans

rocker Joanne Shaw Taylor and her roaring guitar: A freshlyinked global deal calls for three albums starting in early 2019.

But first paving the way is the full-press reissue of her last two albums, letting 2016’s Wild, along with 2014’s The Dirty Truth, build a bigger buzz now than Taylor’s own limited-distribution boutique label, Axehouse Records, originally could. So, if you missed out before, now’s the time to get back up to speed on the guitarist who was hired at age 16, in 2002, by the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart to inject fire into his DUP supergroup and has since fully evolved into the all-around artist who wows audiences from Buckingham Palace and Royal Albert Hall all the way to the Rams Head, just a few short weeks ago in August.

Not only did Taylor come to these Wild sessions with her Lemon Drop Les Paul, her 1966 Fender Esquire and a clutch of nails-tough handmade songs, but she also brought producer Kevin Shirley, who, having made records with Joe Bonamassa, Aerosmith and Iron Maiden, knew how to further tighten down and turn up a band of marauders. Right from the start, the hard galloping “Dyin’ to Know” sets the tone with its heads-down thrust soon infiltrating “I’m in Chains” and the drum-whipped “Wanna Be My Lover,” whose stressed-out riffing smacks of Stevie Ray. “Ready to Roll” and “Get You Back” kick just as hard, while Taylor, never a showy singer, unleashes a secondary fury with her steely voice on narratives typically bargained from a position of strength. Even when Gershwin’s “Summertime” wafts in, the encore is far more Janis than Ella, expectedly more overt flames than radiant heat.

Yet, when the gap of vulnerability in Taylor’s armor gets exposed, the standout ballad “I Wish I Could Wish You Back” does so with a glorious ache that speaks to anyone who ever had a relationship slip away. Until the first of those three upcoming albums arrives in spring, Wild will more than tide us over.

DENNIS ROZANSKI

SATURDAY NOV 3 8PM

NICK MOSS BAND FEATURING DENNIS GRUENLING Chicago guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Nick Moss is a bona fide bluesman down to his soul, a 30-year veteran of the city’s takeno-prisoners blues scene. Moss paid his dues gigging in Chicago’s rough and tumble West and South side blues clubs under the tutelage of some of the city’s greatest blues luminaries. Blues Revue says, “Nick Moss is at the top of the blues world ...ambitious and intense... He can play traditional blues with the best.”

New Jersey’s Dennis Gruenling is considered among today’s best blues harmonica players. His high-energy, full-throttle playing has earned him comparisons to the late James Cotton.

$25, $22 MEMBERS (+3 at the door) Use the code “BALTIMORE BLUES SOCIETY” for member pricing at online checkout or over the phone. CA MEMBERS log in as a member and save an additional $3

CREATIVE ALLIANCE AT THE PATTERSON 3134 EASTERN AVE BALTIMORE CREATIVEALLIANCE.ORG M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 29

BLUESBEAT

ALONZOS & BLUES BENDER PHOTOS BY LARRY FOGELSON

30 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 31

BLUESBEAT PHOTOS BY LARRY FOGELSON CONTINUED

Melvin Long

32 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

Suzanne Loudermilk & Greg Haughey Henry Tate

M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 33

BLUESBEAT PHOTOS BY LARRY FOGELSON CONTINUED

Mr. Sipp

Mark Wenner

Ursula Ricks

34 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

Zack Sweeney

Guitar Shorty

Leon Blue

Curtis Salgado

John Naz on the soundboard

Clarence “Bluesman” Turner M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 35

BLUESBEAT PHOTOS BY LARRY FOGELSON CONTINUED

Steve Wolf

Anne Harris, JP Soars, Jason Ricci

Tab Benoit

Billy Price and Charm City Rhythm Band

Bender Horns, Randy Oxford, Mark Early, Doug Woolverton, Jimmy Carpenter

36 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

Jimmy Carpenter

James Mabry and Linwood Taylor

Victor Wainwright & The Train

Mark Stutso

Rodney Dunton

Robert Finley

M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 37

BLUES FANS UNITE! Baltimore

SUPPORT THE BALTIMORE BLUES SOCIETY, A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO THE PRESERVATION OF AMERICA'S NATIVE MUSICAL ART FORM: THE BLUES T H E

M E M B E R S H I P

Society

L E V E L S

STUDENT: (PHOTOCOPY OF STUDENT I.D. REQUIRED) INCLUDES NEWSLETTER, BUMPER STICKER, AND MEMBERSHIP CARD - FREE SHIPPING............................................................. $15 INDIVIDUAL: NEWSLETTER, BUMPER STICKER, AND MEMBERSHIP CARD................................................................... $25 FAMILY: NEWSLETTER, 2 BUMPER STICKERS, 2 MEMBERSHIP CARDS............................................................................... $35 BBS BENEFACTOR: NEWSLETTER, BUMPER STICKER, MEMBERSHIP CARD, ADMISSION CARD FOR 2 TO ANY ONE BBS EVENT OF YOUR CHOICE THAT YEAR, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IN BLUESRAG.................................................... $75 LIFETIME: BBS T-SHIRT, 10% DISCOUNT ON BBS MERCHANDISE, NEWSLETTER, BUMPER STICKER, MEMBERSHIP CARD, ADMISSION CARD TO ANY ONE BBS EVENT OF YOUR CHOICE DURING YEAR OF MEMBERSHIP, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IN BLUESRAG - FREE SHIPPING ........................................................................................ $250 BUSINESS: BBS T-SHIRT, BUSINESS CARD AD FOR A YEAR OR SIX 1/4-PAGE ADS, NEWSLETTER, BUMPER STICKER, MEMBERSHIP CARD, ADMISSION CARD GOOD FOR FOUR TO ANY ONE BBS EVENT OF YOUR CHOICE THAT YEAR, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IN BLUESRAG - FREE SHIPPING .................................................................... $300

NAME _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ADDRESS __________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CITY _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ STATE _______ ZIP __________________________________________________________________________________________ PHONE (

) ____________________________________________________________________________________________

EMAIL _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ OCCUPATION _________________________ O R D E R F O R M HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE BBS? DESCRIPTION COST SIZE QTY. TOTAL MEMBERSHIP LEVEL: [____________________] $_____

SHIRTS AVAILABLE IN SIZES M L XL XXL IF ORDERING 3 OR MORE ITEMS: ADD $1.50 PER ADDITIONAL ITEM. EXAMPLE: 3 ITEMS: $3.95+$1.50, 5 ITEMS: $3.95+ $4.50, 10 ITEMS: $3.95+$15.00

MAIL FORM TO: BBS, P.O. BOX 4522, BALTIMORE, MD, 21212 38 | B L U E S R A G | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | M O J O W O R K I N . C O M

CONTRIBUTIONS: ANY ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS YOU CARE TO MAKE TO THE BBS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED, PLUS, THEY'RE TAX DEDUCTIBLE! REMEMBER, THE COST OF YOUR BBS MEMBERSHIP OR MERCHANDISE PURCHASE IS NOT TAX-DEDUCTIBLE. ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTION

$5

$10

$25

$50

$100

BBS ANNUAL “THIS Turkey’s got the Blues” SHOW! THE

NIGHTHAWKS SATURDAY NOV 24

ROSEDALE AMERICAN LEGION

8:30PM-MIDNIGHT • WITH SPECIAL GUEST

BILLY PRICE

b i l ly

• Sound by NAZ Bros. •

price

BYOB/Cooler • Public is Invited BBS members reserve GROUPS OF 6+ contact Sam Cohen (410) 866-6280

.c o m

1331 Seling Ave $25 adv $30 door Send SASE to: BBS PO BOX 4522 BALTIMORE MD 21212 by NOV 12

M O J O W O R K I N . C O M | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 | B L U E S R A G | 39

FIRST CLASS U.S. POSTAGE

Baltimore

PAID

HAGERSTOWN, MD PERMIT NO. 208

Society PO Box 4522 Baltimore MD 21212

YOUR MAILING LABEL SHOWS WHEN YOUR MEMBERSHIP EXPIRES. IF IT READS 01/01/19, YOUR MEMBERSHIP WILL EXPIRE ON THAT DATE! PLEASE RENEW EARLY TO ENSURE NO INTERRUPTION OF SERVICE! CONTACT THE SECRETARY WITH ANY CHANGE OF ADDRESS.

RA DIO BLUES THE ROADHOUSE on WTMD 89.7 with BBS Prez Bob Sekinger, Saturdays 6pm-9pm Streaming at wtmd.org.

Apps for your mobile devices, too!

Featuring Contemporary & Classic Blues WPFW 89.3: DON’T FORGET THE BLUES Monday-Friday 12-1pm WPFW 89.3 ROOTS AND FRUITS with Bill Wax, Saturdays 12-2pm

WHFC 91.1: BLUES & MORE FROM THE BASEMENT with Skip Dorer Tuesdays 9-11pm WXPN 90.5: THE BLUES SHOW with Jonny Meister Saturdays 7pm-12am THE RINGBELL & LOU LOU HAPPY HOUR SHOW, Thursdays 5-7pm, Rebroadcast Saturdays 4-6pm caldoniascrossroad.com