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April 2, 2010 

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Hey Blues Fans,

Today is another milestone in our Blues journey. With this issue we begin our fourth year of publishing Blues Blast Magazine! Our efforts have been a labor of love each week for the last three years.

Over the years our website has grown and so has our readership. We have met quite a few of you on the Blues trail and hope to meet many more. Thank you to our fine readers and advertisers for all your kind support!


Music Wanderings!

We made it to see Motor City Josh this week. The Detroit native was doing a show for the River City Blues Society.

It was the warmest April first on record and a record crowd stopped in to hear some rocking music. These guys had the dance floor full!


In this issue - Blues Reviews and MORE!

James "Skyy Dobro" Walker reviews a new CD from David Gerald. George "Blues Fin Tuna" Fish reviews a new CD by RJ Spangler’s Blues Four. Ian McKenzie reviews a new CD called Flyin' High, A Collection Of Phoenix Blues, Rhythm, and Spirit. John Mitchell reviews a new DVD by Tail Dragger. Steve Jones reviews a new CD by John Campbelljohn.

John Mitchell sends in a live show review of Hamilton Loomis at The Forum, Hatfield, Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. All this and MORE! SCROLL DOWN!!!


 Featured Blues Review 1 of 5

David Gerald - Hell and Back

David Gerald Enterprises

www.davidgerald.com

10 songs; 55:41 minutes; Meritable

Styles: Contemporary Blues, Blues-Rock

2008 – 2009 – 2010: We are now in the third year of The Great Recession. While signs of recovery are emerging, as every economics student knows, jobs are always the last to recover. Job recovery is especially difficult when the economy undergoes a periodic, “fundamental” shift like we have had this time. Accordingly, David Gerald wrote in his debut CD’s “Hell and Back” title track, “He had a job at the factory. But it ain’t coming back / (And daddy didn’t count on that).”

As a resident of Detroit, where his Mississippi father moved the family so they would have a better chance at the American dream, Gerald is perfectly positioned to write “Hell and Back,” about desperate times. “I held a boy that was crying today. He was at the place where he plays. He told me daddy is usually gone. And at night momma leaves home.... the neighbors - They say his momma’s on the street (Just trying to make ends meet). (Chorus) She’s been through Hell and Back / She’s got a baby, and that’s a fact.” Gerald plays all the studio instruments creating an ominous mood to match the heart-breaking lyrics.

Now in his 40s, Gerald has produced a half and half CD – five studio originals interspersed with five covers recorded live with his band. His 1980s Rock influences are apparent, and it is also apparent that he is a quality musician and fair songwriter with solid vocals.
Gerald started playing guitar at the age of 16 influenced by Prince and 80s Rock guitarists.

He rediscovered the Blues and listened to music like Albert King, ZZ Hill, B.B. King, and, especially, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Gerald performed in many local Blues, R&B and Rock bands cutting his guitar and vocal chops live and in person. Along the way, Gerald learned to play guitar, bass, keys and drums which was invaluable in putting a band together for the next gig.

Times may be tough, but there is joy to be found playing his guitar Gerald explains in the opening upbeat song, “My Guitar.” The song is an amazing full production, with horns and everything. The lyrics are not deep, but they don’t need to be in a number dedicated to exuberance and fun.

The other three originals (“How I Feel,” “Postman,” and “Stay”) tap the emotions of pursuit, seduction, delivery, love, and comfort. The third track (“...Feel”) has a distinct Stevie Ray Vaughan sound to it.

The choice of his live covers is curious. While some artists go to great lengths to find obscure songs to perform, Gerald chose arrangements of well known tunes including “The Thrill is Gone,” “Red House,” “I’ll Play the Blues For You,” “She Caught the Katy,” and “Cold Shot.” He is audibly encouraged by the boisterous applause of the audience, but sometimes the channeling is practically note for note with the original. On others, like “...Thrill...,” Gerald does some long soloing and improvising on guitar. Again, the live audiences seem to love it.

Overall, I thought the album was enjoyable and entertaining. The title track was particularly moving, and it didn’t hurt me to be reminded of two monsters on guitar: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix.

Reviewer James "Skyy Dobro" Walker is a noted Blues writer, DJ, Master of Ceremonies, and longtime Blues Blast Magazine contributor. His weekly radio show "Friends of the Blues" can be heard Saturdays 8 pm - Midnight on WKCC 91.1 FM and at www.wkccradio.org in Kankakee, IL

To See James “Skyy Dobro” Walker's CD rating system, CLICK HERE 

For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE.



 Featured Blues Review 2 of 5

RJ Spangler’s Blues Four - You Know I Can’t Refuse: The Bill Heid Sessions

Eastlawn Records

11 tracks total time: 46:11

www.myspace.com/rjspangler  and  http://detroitradiocompany.com

For guest guitarist Johnnie Bassett: www.mackavenue.com/sly_dog_records

Highly-accomplished pianist/vocalist and roots music aficionado Bill Heid joins here with another highly accomplished musician and roots music enthusiast, Detroit drummer R.J. Spangler, along with the other members of Spangler’s Blues Four, tenor saxophonist Keith Kaminski and upright bassist Pat Prouty, to deliver a CD deeply rooted in the blues and jazz styling of the 1930s and 1940s, a classic time in pop music when jazz-blues was integral to pop.

This CD, You Know I Can’t Refuse: The Bill Heid Sessions, is further enhanced by brief but informative notes on Heid, Spangler, guest guitarist Johnnie Bassett, and the music that inspired them. Joining with Bassett and the Blues Four on instrumentation are trumpet-player James O’Donnell and baritone saxman Joshua James in a loving-tribute CD of ten “covers” and one Heid original, tack 6, the piano-with-drums boogie instrumental composed on the spot, “Boogie For Mr. B.” “Covers” is deliberately put in quotation marks because the ten songs written by others that are performed here are not so much attempts to reproduce the originals as much as they are loving extensions of them, spirited recapturing brought home for modern listeners with all the power and soul of the originals.

These originals are all classics indeed. While eight of them are from the 1930s-1940s period, two are more contemporary blues of the 1950s: Sonny Boy Williamson II’s “Ninety Nine,” track 1, done as a piano-driven contemporary blues with Johnny Bassett on accompanying and solo guitar. “You Know I Can’t Refuse,” track 10, is a rhumba that was originally recorded on Fortune records by the Five Dollars, where Bassett also played guitar. Like all the other tracks, it is essentially piano-driven, with the active support of Joshua James’s baritone sax and Keith Kaminski’s tenor sax, along with Johnnie Bassett’s guitar and elaborate Latin-style drumming by R.J. Spangler.

Contained on You Know I Can’t Refuse are the venerable “I’m Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town,” track 9, and the Pete Johnson-Joe Turner classic, “Piney Brown Blues,” track 7, along with two songs penned by Floyd Dixon, the delightfully double-entendre “Red Cherries,” track 2, and the far more sexually direct “Baby Let’s Go Down To The Woods,” track 3. Count Basie Band veteran vocalist Jimmy Witherspoon contributes two songs to the CD as well, both tunes of hard times physically as well as economically, “Failing By Degrees,” track 5, and “Times Are Getting Tougher Than Tough,” track 8. The famed R&B/rock ‘n’ roll songwriting team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller contribute another double-entendre, done nicely here as a stride piano blues with horns, track 4, “Too Much Jelly Roll.” Rounding out the list is track 11, “Meet Me Baby,” a masterful depiction in blues of a cheating woman, her husband finding out accidentally, and determined to make her lover pay for his indiscretion, with the lyrics by Rudy Green depicting all this is in the graphic poetics that are the heart of the blues.

Bill Heid’s vocals and piano are masterful, with Heid’s virtuosity on the piano moving with ease from straightforward blues to direct jazz and jazz-inflected blues. He plays creative, elaborate solos throughout, as does tenor saxophonist Kaminski, whose playing ranges from straight-ahead blues/R&B to jazzy inflections, and whose mood created on his instrument ranges from exuberant to melancholy, as called for by the song. Joining Heid and Kaminski on powerful solos are guest guitarist Johnnie Bassett on three tracks, trumpeter James O’Donnell on one track, and bassist Pat Prouty on one track.

You Know I Can’t Refuse: The Bill Heid Sessions, recorded in 2008 and 2009, is a vivid illustration of just how powerful those old blues styling of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s still remain, a welcome and elegant reminder of their everlasting, ever-rockin’, significance brought up masterfully, accessibly, to now.

Reviewer George "Blues Fin Tuna" Fish hails from Indianapolis, Indiana, home of blues legends Yank Rachell and Leroy Carr. He has written a regular music column for several years. He wrote the liner notes for Yank Rachell’s Delmark album, Chicago Style. He has been a blues and pop music contributor for the left-wing press as well, and has appeared in Against the Current and Socialism and Democracy.

For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE.



 Featured Blues Review 3 of 5

Flyin' High, A Collection Of Phoenix Blues, Rhythm, and Spirit

Southwest Musical Arts Foundation SWMAF 07

http://www.southwestmusicalartsfoundation.org/products.htm

http://www.bobcorritore.com/records1.html

Thanks so much to Blues Blast Magazine for sending this one to me to review. At a time when commercial Blues recording is moving in the general direction of the white line in the middle of the road, it is good to be reminded of the wealth of material recorded in the 50s and 60s that serves as the foundation to contemporary Blues and gospel.

Back in the dim and distant past – well 25 years ago anyway – I was made an honorary deputy sheriff of Maricopa County, AZ. The county seat is Phoenix, which is Arizona's largest city and state capital – all that aside, I’ve never been to the place before or since, and now I wish I had! Arizona, and in particular Phoenix, had, it seems, a vibrant R&B scene in the 1950s and 1960s and a great deal of it is reflected on this super CD.

The music ranges from early rock and roll, through jump Blues to gospel music and most of it is of the highest quality. Many of the recordings on this CD were made at Floyd Ramsey’s ‘Audio Recorders of Arizona’ studio on North Seventh Street and most of them had the advantage of a highly skilled engineer Jack Miller. Miller was often also link between final recorded versions of tracks laid down in the studio and the artists themselves. A good example is the man known by the name of the Lone Wolf. We do know that this was a man who went by the real name of Bob Felder and that he was a true one-man-band, playing guitar, hi-hat, bass drum and harmonica, and of course singing, in a whirl of activity! Little else is know about him. Two of the three tracks that he laid down, two are included on this CD, and they are, in my humble opinion, worth the price alone.

Check out too, Rev. Louis Overstreet, a native of Louisiana, who stopped in Phoenix with his wife and four sons whilst making an intended emigration to Los Angeles. Overstreet reported that God told him to stay in Phoenix and before long, he was spreading the gospel 365/24/7 from his base at the St. Luke’s Powerhouse Church of God in Christ. Well, powerhouse is a good word here. The two tracks here “Rather Fight Than Switch” and “Black But Proud” are wonderful examples, of the sermonizing-in-song typified, 20 years before, by the work of the Rev. Samuel Kelsey and others. Powerful, foot-tapping, hand-clapping examples of truly spiritual music.

There are 27 tracks on this essential CD, and unfortunately, I do not have space to commend them all. But I cannot leave this review without mentioning the delight of listening to the track laid down by what is referred to as an “unknown Blues singer”, of the Elmore James/ Tampa Red classic, “It Hurts Me Too”. Apparently a mystery man who was present at an earlier recording session at a church hall, I asked if he could play the piano whilst people cleared up after the gig and it got recorded. What a performance! Another one which – alone - is worth the price of the CD.

This CD was compiled and produced by John P. Dixon and Bob Corritore. Corritore is a long time Blues musician, publisher, historian and proprietor of the Rhythm Room, Phoenix, Arizona's famous Blues Club.  The tape and disc transfers were made by the man who was often the original recording engineer, Jack Miller, at Jack Miller Productions, using WAVES Restoration software. Great job Jack!

It is possible you may find this one a bit hard to come by but my advice is don’t give up. Frankly, I cannot praise it enough!

Reviewer Ian McKenzie lives in England. He is the editor of Blues In The South (www.bluesinthesouth.com) a monthly flier providing news, reviews, a gig guide and all kinds of other good stuff, for people living and going to gigs along the south coast of England. Ian is also a blues performer (see www.myspace.com/ianmckenzieuk ) and has a web cast regular blues radio show on www.phonic.FM  in Exeter (Wednesdays: 1pm Eastern/ 12 noon Central).

For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE.


 Blues Society News


 Send your Blues Society's BIG news or Press Release to:  

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Mississippi Valley Blues Society - Davenport, IA

The Mississippi Valley Blues Society presents the preliminary round of the Iowa Blues Challenge on Sunday April 11th starting at 5:00 p.m. at Rascals (1414 15th St., Moline) Admission is $10, $7 for Mississippi Valley Blues Society members. Bands scheduled to compete are the Pocket Deuces Blues, V.J.J. Groove and the Steady Rollin’ Blues Band.  Each band will play a 30- minute set, and after the challenge there will be a jam session.

The winner of this round will travel to Des Moines on May 22 to compete at the state level in the Iowa Blues Challenge. The winner of the Iowa Blues Challenge will represent the state of Iowa in the 2011 International Blues Challenge and will also have a slot at the 2010 IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival.

Also Chicago blues guitarist, composer, actor, writer, and educator Fernando Jones will be the artist for the Mississippi Valley Blues Society Blues in the Schools Residency Series during the week of April 12-16, 2010. Fernando will conduct workshops at schools and colleges as well as free open-to-the-public performances:

Wednesday April 14, 11:30 a.m.—Black Hawk College, Building 1 lower lobby, Moline
Wednesday April 14, 7 p.m.—Mojo’s in the River Music Experience, Davenport
Thursday April 15, 7 p.m.—St. Ambrose University, Galvin Fine Arts Center, Madsen Hall, Davenport .

For more info call the MVBS office at 563-32-BLUES or visit our website at: http://www.mvbs.org .

Blues Blowtorch Society - Bloomington, IL

BBS Presents 3rd Friday Blues - On April 16, 2010 the Blues Blowtorch Society will host Steve "The Harp" Blues Band with Special Guest from Austin Texas Lightning Red at the Treehouse Lounge 2060 Ireland Grove Road, Bloomington, IL 61704 (309) 662-5231 Show starts at 7 PM till 10 PM For more info: www.bluesblowtorch.org

Columbia College - Chicago, IL

Free Blues Camp Audition - Thursday, April 8 5:00 – 7:00 PM, Buddy Guy’s Legends, 754 S. Wabash, Chicago. This is an opportunity to audition for this great youth Blues Camp held at Columbia College July 4 – 9, 2010 by Artistic Director, Fernando Jones.

Other audition dates are Saturday, May 22, 10:00 AM - Noon, Columbia College Chicago Music Center, 1014 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago and Thursday, June 3, 6:00 – 8:00 PM, at Guitar Center, 4271 West 167th Street, Country Club Hills, IL. Go to www.BluesKids.com for more details. RSVP Online at Bluesnewz@aol.com

The Friends Of The Blues - Watseka, IL

Spring 2010 Friends of the Blues shows- April 13 - Perry Weber & DeVilles, 7 pm , Kankakee Elks Country Club, April 17 - Joel Paterson Trio, Kankakee Valley Boat Club (“Rockin’ the River”), April 20 - Too Slim and the Taildraggers, 7 pm , Bradley Bourbonnais Sportsmen’s Club, June 22 - Al Stone, 7 pm , River Bend Bar & Grill. For more info see: http://www.wazfest.com/JW.html 

Illinois Central Blues Club - Springfield, IL

BLUE MONDAY SHOWS - Held at the Alamo 115 N 5th St, Springfield, IL (217) 523-1455 every Monday 8:30pm $3 cover. April 5 - Motor City Josh, April 12 - Perry Weber and the Devilles,  April 19 - Too Slim & the Taildraggers

River City Blues Society - Peoria, IL

The River City Blues Society has started booking more of their weekly Blues shows. The shows start at 7:00pm at Good Fellas Pizza and Pub, 1414 N 8TH St Pekin, IL. Admission for all shows is $4 or $3 for RCBS members. Shows currently scheduled are:  Wednesday April 21st, 2010 - South Side Cindy & the Slip Tones


 Featured Blues Review 4 of 5

Tail Dragger – Live at Rooster’s Lounge DVD

Delmark Records

www.myspace.com/taildraggercrawlinjames

12 tracks; 75 minutes

Tail Dragger (real name James Yancey Jones) is a veteran of the Chicago blues scene and currently has a regular Saturday slot at Rooster’s Palace (not Lounge as in the DVD title!) on the West Side of town where this DVD was recorded in March 2009. It also comes in a CD version with one fewer track (“Be careful”).

Tail Dragger acquired his nickname from Howling Wolf and his voice is close to the Wolf’s in style. He played with Hubert Sumlin after the Wolf’s death and in recent years his stock has risen, with tours across the States and to Europe. In the bonus commentary Tail Dragger recognises that he has enjoyed this renaissance and the chance to play regularly to the public. He states that once he hits the stage he takes on this different personality and clearly loves performing.

At this gig the crowd is clearly also enjoying Tail Dragger’s antics. His jacket comes on and off, one moment he is seated front of stage, next moment he is prowling down the bar and serenading the crowd, especially the ladies! Point to note: if you go to see Tail Dragger live, best not to sit at the corner of the bar near the stage. The lady in that seat sees a LOT of Tail Dragger, up close and personal, as he tells her his troubles and offers her advice on her relationships, through songs such as “Stop Lying” and “Be Careful”.

The DVD takes you right into the heart of a Chicago club on a Saturday night. Rooster’s is not a smart place and the fairly basic décor is clear to see. However, the crowd are here for a good time and dancing is going on from the start of the show. The camera work goes in for close ups, so you see all the band and especially Tail Dragger himself in detail.

The band is excellent and has clearly worked this sort of material a lot over the years. The DVD sees the return of Rockin’ Johnny Burgin to the scene after a lengthy sabbatical while raising a family. His playing on one of two lead guitars is very clean and precise and matches well with Kevin Shanahan on the other guitar (who also handles all the slide parts). Both feature heavily, as does an excellent harp player, Martin Lang who has played for many years with both Tail Dragger and Rockin’ Johnny; Martin is referred to as “the best harmonica player you’ve never heard of” and I can concur as I had never heard of him before this DVD!

The rhythm section of Todd Fackler on bass and Rob Lorenz on drums are very tight and the overall sound is quintessentially Chicago blues; close your eyes and this could be one of Muddy’s bands in the 50’s. A guest appearance by Jimmy Dawkins (replacing Kevin Shanahan for “Wander”) is the only change of instrumentation through the set.

The tracks on offer here are five of Tail Dragger’s own, two from Little Walter at the end of the show, two from Howling Wolf aka Chester Burnett, and one each from Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Joe Williams and John Lee Hooker.

This DVD takes you into the atmosphere of a Chicago club and records an excellent band backing a charismatic old school singer. If you can’t get to Chicago for real, this comes a close second!

Reviewer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK. He also travels to the States most years to see live blues music. He has just returned from his first Legendary Blues Cruise.

For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE.



 Featured Blues Review 5 of 5

John Campbelljohn - Good to Go

Nood Records

www.campbelljohn.ca

12 tracks

The more I listen to music and get exposed to new artists (both new on the scene and, alas, older ones that are new to me) the more I am amazed how many really good ones are out there. John Campbelljohn is a wonderful guitar player, singer, and songwriter. These twelve original tracks on his eighth release since 1993 blend blues, rock, reggae, and even has a little influence from the Irish. There are strong Celtic lines lilting from this native Cape Bretoner.

Campbelljohn and his trio are a tight and powerful group. Campbelljohns’ slide work is impeccable and his vocals are quite fluid and well-done. The crisp, clean vocals almost remind me a bit of a young Jack Bruce at times. His bio states that Duane Allman’s version of “Statesboro Blues” was his first big influence at age 14, but what I hear most is a lot of the young Johnny Winter in his ax work. I was very impressed with this CD from all angles!

The music here is mostly power blues delivered in a fairly controlled and professional manner. Tracks like “Manslaughter” and “Snake Oil” are rocking blues anthems but are not done to excess, which is a good thing. His guitar work is restrained yet powerful. In “Lockdown”, “Epiphony”, “No Dear John”, and the title track we get some up tempo and bouncy blues with strong vocals and guitar. In fact, the cool and lilting, Celtic influence infiltrates a bunch of songs. “Pocket Full of Stones” opens the CD; here and on “Land of the Living” we get two different speed boogies going. The songs are all strong and the lyrics are usually interesting if not completely down and out and telling a story.

I really like this guy’s style. I find his work intriguing and his slide, acoustic and lap guitar play are all great. I’ll be checking this Atlantic Provinces Canadian guy out a lot more and recommend you do the same!.

Reviewer Steve Jones is secretary of the Crossroads Blues Society in Rockford. IL.

For other reviews and interviews on our website CLICK HERE.


 Featured Review - Hamilton Loomis

Hamilton Loomis –
The Forum

Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK
11 March 2010.

Having reviewed Hamilton’s latest CD for Blues Blast Magazine it was good to have the chance to see Hamilton Loomis again on his latest UK tour.

As on the live CD, Hamilton was backed by his US sax and bass players, Stratton Doyle and Kent Beatty, with drums provided by Jamie Little from Birmingham (the UK one, not Alabama!).

As always with this band the audience gets a 100% committed show. The band played two long sets, concentrating on the live CD which has been released here to coincide with this tour.

Highlights included “Get my Blues on”, “Working real hard” and “What it is”, but in truth every song was superb, with great interplay between the musicians, each of whom had the opportunity to show their chops on extended versions of several tunes.

For those who had not seen Hamilton before the adapted vacuum cleaner which he uses to house his harmonica was interesting and we enjoyed Jamie Little’s hand percussion approach to his solo.

Outstanding sax from Stratton Doyle climaxed in his incorporation of Joe Zawinul’s “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” into one solo, as well as his ‘duel’ with Hamilton where each tried to outdo the other in conjuring up licks from across the rock and roll repertoire, including Deep Purple, Stevie Wonder and the Rolling Stones!

Hamilton Loomis is a superb guitarist and singer who generates a wonderful rapport with his audience.

A must when he comes to your town!

Reviewer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK. He also travels to the States most years to see live blues music. He has just returned from his first Legendary Blues Cruise.


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