De meer dan geslaagde jubileumeditie van Duvelblues in 2011 is inmiddels alweer meer dan een half jaar achter de rug, en velen onder ons kijken dan ook reikhalzend uit naar wat er op het 'menu' van 2012 zal staan. En we willen ter gelegenheid van deze Nieuwjaarsdagen dan ook reeds een redelijk groot tipje van de sluier oplichten want het beloofd, met wat we nu al weten, weer een schitterende hoogdag voor de Blues te worden daar in het Hof van Coolhem op Zaterdag 26 Mei 2012.
Dat met namen als Rod Piazza en Charlie Musselwhite op de laatste editie de lat hoog gelegd werd, heeft Duvelblues er niet van weerhouden om met vol goede intenties er weer tegenaan te gaan om ook in 2012 weer een echt Duvelblues programma samen te brengen. En de organisatie kan nu reeds aankondigen dat het programma voor 90% klaar is en het beloofd weerom een Duvelblues editie te worden met alles erop en eraan : Een internationaal programma met onontdekte pareltjes, vuurwerk en briljante stemmen die allen hun sporen reeds meer dan verdiend hebben in het bluescircuit :
De affiche 2012 is compleet !!
Dat met namen als Rod Piazza en Charlie Musselwhite op de laatste editie de lat hoog gelegd werd, heeft Duvelblues er niet van weerhouden om met vol goede intenties er weer tegenaan te gaan om ook in 2012 weer een echt Duvelblues programma samen te brengen. En de organisatie kan nu reeds aankondigen dat het programma voor 90% klaar is en het beloofd weerom een Duvelblues editie te worden met alles erop en eraan : Een internationaal programma met onontdekte pareltjes, vuurwerk en briljante stemmen die allen hun sporen reeds meer dan verdiend hebben in het bluescircuit :
De affiche 2012 is compleet !!
- Kenny Neal (USA)
Kenny Neal is een alom geprezen multi-instrumentalist en is vooral bekend als een begenadigd swamp-blues gitarist. Hij is geboren in 1957 New Orleans, en groeide op in Baton Rouge. Van jongs af aan rolde hij in de blues dankzij zijn vader , zijn familie en vrienden waaronder namen zoals Buddy Guy.
Door de jaren heen deelde Kenny het podium met een impressionante lijst van blues en R & B grootheden waaronder BB King, Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters, Aaron Neville, Buddy Guy en John Lee Hooker.
Zijn nieuwe CD volgt na de triomf van zijn in 2008 bekroonde comeback album Let Life Flow : drie prestigieuze "Album Of The Year" awards, twee "Song of The Year" awards voor de titel track, en Kenny zelf tweemaal genomineerd tot "Artist of the year".
Het is duidelijk dat Kenny iets diep in de blues gemeenschap raakt met zijn soulvolle gitaarspel en opzwepende songs : Nog een schitterende reden om Duvelblues 2012 niet te missen !
Kenny Neal is an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and is widely renowned as a modern swamp-blues master. His new release, Hooked On Your Love, follows the triumph of his multi-award winning 2008 comeback album, Let Life Flow. An outstanding success, the CD raked in the accolades: three prestigious Album Of The Year awards, two Song of The Year awards for the title track, and Kenny himself garnered two Artist of the Year honors.
It was clear that Kenny touched something deep in the blues community with his soulful guitar playing and uplifting songwriting, and his hot streak continues with a batch of new songs. Hooked On Your Love covers the plethora of accomplished roots styles Kenny has become known for. The tasty musical gumbo of swamp-boogie, jazz, R&B, and straight-ahead blues all swirl together on this new CD.
Kenny Neal was born in 1957 in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge. He began playing music at a very young age, learning the basics from his father, singer and blues harmonica player, Raful Neal. Family friends like Lazy Lester, Buddy Guy and Slim Harpo also contributed to Kenny’s early musical education. In fact, it was Harpo who gave the crying three-year-old a harmonica to pacify him. Kenny stopped crying that day, and eventually learned to play the harmonica. Along the way, he also mastered the bass, trumpet, piano and guitar. At 13, he joined his father’s band and began paying his musical dues. Four years later, he was recruited and toured extensively as Buddy Guy’s bass player.
Following Buddy's advice to concentrate on his guitar playing, Kenny relocated to Toronto, and along with his brothers Raful, Jr., Noel, Larry and Ronnie - formed the Neal Brothers Band, honing his chops backing up visiting blues stars. Through the years, he has shared the stage or worked with a who’s-who list of blues and R&B greats at one time or another, including B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters, Aaron Neville, Buddy Guy and John Lee Hooker. Later, he fronted Canada's Downchild Blues Band, before returning to Baton Rouge to begin his solo career.
Signing with Alligator Records in 1988, Kenny began releasing a series of consistently lauded albums featuring his laid-back, Baton Rouge blues, with a modern spin on the Louisiana sound he grew up with. Throughout this period, Kenny distinguished himself as one of the brightest prospects of the contemporary blues scene, receiving great critical acclaim in the process. The Chicago Tribune pegged Kenny as “one of a mere handful of truly inventive young contemporary guitarists, Neal has something fresh to say and the chops with which to say it,” while AllMusic said his “gruff-before-their-time vocals retain their swamp sensibility, while assuming a bright contemporary feel that tabs him as a leading contender for future blues stardom.” Blues Revue agreed, calling Kenny "one of the brightest young stars on the blues horizon, and a gifted artist."
In 1991, Kenny branched out into the world of acting when he starred as the lead in the much-acclaimed musical, Mule Bone, a lost play written by the famed African-American poet Langston Hughes and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston in 1930. Featuring music written by Taj Mahal, Kenny’s performances garnered a prestigious Theater World Award for “The Most Outstanding New Talent On and Off Broadway,” and he concurrently set two Hughes poems to music on the album Walking With Fire.
After his impressive run with Alligator, Kenny switched to Telarc, and continued to release albums highlighting his developing skills as a songwriter, as well as interpreting songs from musicians as diverse as Bob Dylan, John Hiatt, and Nick Lowe. His 2004 release with Billy Branch, Double Take, garnered Kenny a W.C. Handy award for Best Album. More recently, Kenny released A Tribute to Slim Harpo and Raful Neal, which pays homage to blues harp icon Harpo as well as Kenny’s father, who passed away as the album was being completed.
After relocating to the Bay Area in 2004, Kenny began hosting his own local cable TV program, “Neal’s Place.” The show features Kenny jamming and talking with the many international blues stars he has met and performed with, as well as local artists he has spotted at festivals and clubs. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, “Neal’s Place” has a relaxed, informal atmosphere that brings out the best in the artists, while giving an unscripted, improvisational edge to the performances.
In 2005, health problems forced Kenny to completely stop performing and recording for a few years. And, within an eleven month span during this recovery period, Neal lost his dad, sister, and brother. In the best blues tradition, Neal took the tragedies, adversity and heartbreak of those years and turned them into great songs and performances.
Writing, playing, and singing with a renewed sense of purpose and energy, he used the time to craft an inspired collection of songs that make up Let Life Flow. Released in 2008, the CD met with immediate critical success. Vintage Guitar said, “Kenny Neal’s new release is full of blues and soul music of the highest standard. While Neal’s always been one of his generation’s finest bluesmen, Let Life Flow helps push him into the upper echelon of the genre. His maturity, mastery of the music, and sheer determination show it, making this one of 2008’s best.”
Living Blues magazine added, “His latest effort is a resounding affirmation of his talents as a musician, songwriter, and singer,” while About.com offered that “Kenny Neal’s Let Life Flow album should be considered a masterpiece.”
The critical acclaim and passel of awards that followed are testament to not only the album’s soulful grooves, but also to the deep, emotional resonance in Kenny’s perseverance in face of life’s trials.
Kenny was able to return to the scene and the stage with a new vigor and outlook on life. With these, he entered the studio to whip up the good time gumbo of Hooked On Your Love.
The new album casts that potent Neal spell of deep grooves and deep feelings that put him where he is today. With tunes like swampy Louisiana look-back “Down In The Swamp,” the funky shuffle of Memphis in his take on “Blind Crippled Or Crazy,” or the soul searching blues of “Bitter With The Sweet,” Hooked On Your Love extends the spirit of his acclaimed Let Life Flow.
Take a listen and prepare to be hooked.
Kenny Neal is een alom geprezen multi-instrumentalist en is vooral bekend als een begenadigd swamp-blues gitarist. Hij is geboren in 1957 New Orleans, en groeide op in Baton Rouge. Van jongs af aan rolde hij in de blues dankzij zijn vader , zijn familie en vrienden waaronder namen zoals Buddy Guy.
Door de jaren heen deelde Kenny het podium met een impressionante lijst van blues en R & B grootheden waaronder BB King, Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters, Aaron Neville, Buddy Guy en John Lee Hooker.
Zijn nieuwe CD volgt na de triomf van zijn in 2008 bekroonde comeback album Let Life Flow : drie prestigieuze "Album Of The Year" awards, twee "Song of The Year" awards voor de titel track, en Kenny zelf tweemaal genomineerd tot "Artist of the year".
Het is duidelijk dat Kenny iets diep in de blues gemeenschap raakt met zijn soulvolle gitaarspel en opzwepende songs : Nog een schitterende reden om Duvelblues 2012 niet te missen !
Kenny Neal is an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and is widely renowned as a modern swamp-blues master. His new release, Hooked On Your Love, follows the triumph of his multi-award winning 2008 comeback album, Let Life Flow. An outstanding success, the CD raked in the accolades: three prestigious Album Of The Year awards, two Song of The Year awards for the title track, and Kenny himself garnered two Artist of the Year honors.
It was clear that Kenny touched something deep in the blues community with his soulful guitar playing and uplifting songwriting, and his hot streak continues with a batch of new songs. Hooked On Your Love covers the plethora of accomplished roots styles Kenny has become known for. The tasty musical gumbo of swamp-boogie, jazz, R&B, and straight-ahead blues all swirl together on this new CD.
Kenny Neal was born in 1957 in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge. He began playing music at a very young age, learning the basics from his father, singer and blues harmonica player, Raful Neal. Family friends like Lazy Lester, Buddy Guy and Slim Harpo also contributed to Kenny’s early musical education. In fact, it was Harpo who gave the crying three-year-old a harmonica to pacify him. Kenny stopped crying that day, and eventually learned to play the harmonica. Along the way, he also mastered the bass, trumpet, piano and guitar. At 13, he joined his father’s band and began paying his musical dues. Four years later, he was recruited and toured extensively as Buddy Guy’s bass player.
Following Buddy's advice to concentrate on his guitar playing, Kenny relocated to Toronto, and along with his brothers Raful, Jr., Noel, Larry and Ronnie - formed the Neal Brothers Band, honing his chops backing up visiting blues stars. Through the years, he has shared the stage or worked with a who’s-who list of blues and R&B greats at one time or another, including B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters, Aaron Neville, Buddy Guy and John Lee Hooker. Later, he fronted Canada's Downchild Blues Band, before returning to Baton Rouge to begin his solo career.
Signing with Alligator Records in 1988, Kenny began releasing a series of consistently lauded albums featuring his laid-back, Baton Rouge blues, with a modern spin on the Louisiana sound he grew up with. Throughout this period, Kenny distinguished himself as one of the brightest prospects of the contemporary blues scene, receiving great critical acclaim in the process. The Chicago Tribune pegged Kenny as “one of a mere handful of truly inventive young contemporary guitarists, Neal has something fresh to say and the chops with which to say it,” while AllMusic said his “gruff-before-their-time vocals retain their swamp sensibility, while assuming a bright contemporary feel that tabs him as a leading contender for future blues stardom.” Blues Revue agreed, calling Kenny "one of the brightest young stars on the blues horizon, and a gifted artist."
In 1991, Kenny branched out into the world of acting when he starred as the lead in the much-acclaimed musical, Mule Bone, a lost play written by the famed African-American poet Langston Hughes and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston in 1930. Featuring music written by Taj Mahal, Kenny’s performances garnered a prestigious Theater World Award for “The Most Outstanding New Talent On and Off Broadway,” and he concurrently set two Hughes poems to music on the album Walking With Fire.
After his impressive run with Alligator, Kenny switched to Telarc, and continued to release albums highlighting his developing skills as a songwriter, as well as interpreting songs from musicians as diverse as Bob Dylan, John Hiatt, and Nick Lowe. His 2004 release with Billy Branch, Double Take, garnered Kenny a W.C. Handy award for Best Album. More recently, Kenny released A Tribute to Slim Harpo and Raful Neal, which pays homage to blues harp icon Harpo as well as Kenny’s father, who passed away as the album was being completed.
After relocating to the Bay Area in 2004, Kenny began hosting his own local cable TV program, “Neal’s Place.” The show features Kenny jamming and talking with the many international blues stars he has met and performed with, as well as local artists he has spotted at festivals and clubs. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, “Neal’s Place” has a relaxed, informal atmosphere that brings out the best in the artists, while giving an unscripted, improvisational edge to the performances.
In 2005, health problems forced Kenny to completely stop performing and recording for a few years. And, within an eleven month span during this recovery period, Neal lost his dad, sister, and brother. In the best blues tradition, Neal took the tragedies, adversity and heartbreak of those years and turned them into great songs and performances.
Writing, playing, and singing with a renewed sense of purpose and energy, he used the time to craft an inspired collection of songs that make up Let Life Flow. Released in 2008, the CD met with immediate critical success. Vintage Guitar said, “Kenny Neal’s new release is full of blues and soul music of the highest standard. While Neal’s always been one of his generation’s finest bluesmen, Let Life Flow helps push him into the upper echelon of the genre. His maturity, mastery of the music, and sheer determination show it, making this one of 2008’s best.”
Living Blues magazine added, “His latest effort is a resounding affirmation of his talents as a musician, songwriter, and singer,” while About.com offered that “Kenny Neal’s Let Life Flow album should be considered a masterpiece.”
The critical acclaim and passel of awards that followed are testament to not only the album’s soulful grooves, but also to the deep, emotional resonance in Kenny’s perseverance in face of life’s trials.
Kenny was able to return to the scene and the stage with a new vigor and outlook on life. With these, he entered the studio to whip up the good time gumbo of Hooked On Your Love.
The new album casts that potent Neal spell of deep grooves and deep feelings that put him where he is today. With tunes like swampy Louisiana look-back “Down In The Swamp,” the funky shuffle of Memphis in his take on “Blind Crippled Or Crazy,” or the soul searching blues of “Bitter With The Sweet,” Hooked On Your Love extends the spirit of his acclaimed Let Life Flow.
Take a listen and prepare to be hooked.
- Elmore D (B)
Elmore D werd geboren als Daniel Droixhe in 1946 in Herstal nabij Luik. Jawel een Belgischeartiest. Zijn naam is een verwijzing naar Elmore James. In het begin van zijn carrière immiteerde hij graag de sound van James op de slide gitaar.
Hij houdt vooral van de voor-oorlogse Blues met voorbeelden als Casey Bill Weldon en Kokomo Arnold.. Zijn favoriete instrument is een National Triolian 1931 gitaar volledig in metaal die zijn sound het beste kan weergeven. Pas in 1997 sticht hij zijn eigen band, de Elmore D Band, met twee ex-leden van The Electric Kings, Big Dave op de harp and Willie Maze aan de drums. Stergitarist wordt Lazy Horse die ook voor Flip Kawlier heeft gespeeld.
In 2001 krijgt hij de "Blues Trophée -Best European Artist", en het is vooral tijdens festivals dat hij van zich laat spreken. Hij heeft daarnaast 5 cd's op zijn naam staan.
Tegenwoordig promoot hij vooral blues songs gezongen in het Waals, dus een dialect van het Frans. Daarnaast geeft hij ook nog lezingen aan den Univ van Luik, waar hij ook professor is.
Elmore D est né à Herstal, près de Liège, en 1946. Il a longtemps joué et chanté le blues traditionnel, à la guitare, dans des cercles familiaux ou privés. Il propose aujourd'hui un répertoire mêlé de classiques en anglais et de chansons originales en dialecte wallon. Il tâche d'abord d'y renouveler — sans étroit «revivalisme» — le blues rural et «d'avant-guerre» qui puise ses thèmes dans des circonstances typiquement locales, à la manière de Sleepy John Estes. Aussi ses textes font-ils volontiers référence à des anecdotes biographiques ou à des épisodes de la communauté qui l'entoure. Il y joint un rapport souvent protestataire à l'actualité politique et sociale, tel qu'illustré autrefois par Leabelly ou par le skiffle britannique de Lonnie Donnegan, dans les années '50 et '60. Son action musicale s'est spécialement infléchie en direction d'une «défense et illustration» de l'identité wallonne, et de la Wallonie en général.
Il se produit avec son fils Gilles selon des formules diverses. Celles-ci, sans limites de frontières, s'étendent généralement à un groupe d'une demi-douzaine de musiciens belges ou originaires des Pays-Bas.
Elmore D werd geboren als Daniel Droixhe in 1946 in Herstal nabij Luik. Jawel een Belgischeartiest. Zijn naam is een verwijzing naar Elmore James. In het begin van zijn carrière immiteerde hij graag de sound van James op de slide gitaar.
Hij houdt vooral van de voor-oorlogse Blues met voorbeelden als Casey Bill Weldon en Kokomo Arnold.. Zijn favoriete instrument is een National Triolian 1931 gitaar volledig in metaal die zijn sound het beste kan weergeven. Pas in 1997 sticht hij zijn eigen band, de Elmore D Band, met twee ex-leden van The Electric Kings, Big Dave op de harp and Willie Maze aan de drums. Stergitarist wordt Lazy Horse die ook voor Flip Kawlier heeft gespeeld.
In 2001 krijgt hij de "Blues Trophée -Best European Artist", en het is vooral tijdens festivals dat hij van zich laat spreken. Hij heeft daarnaast 5 cd's op zijn naam staan.
Tegenwoordig promoot hij vooral blues songs gezongen in het Waals, dus een dialect van het Frans. Daarnaast geeft hij ook nog lezingen aan den Univ van Luik, waar hij ook professor is.
Elmore D est né à Herstal, près de Liège, en 1946. Il a longtemps joué et chanté le blues traditionnel, à la guitare, dans des cercles familiaux ou privés. Il propose aujourd'hui un répertoire mêlé de classiques en anglais et de chansons originales en dialecte wallon. Il tâche d'abord d'y renouveler — sans étroit «revivalisme» — le blues rural et «d'avant-guerre» qui puise ses thèmes dans des circonstances typiquement locales, à la manière de Sleepy John Estes. Aussi ses textes font-ils volontiers référence à des anecdotes biographiques ou à des épisodes de la communauté qui l'entoure. Il y joint un rapport souvent protestataire à l'actualité politique et sociale, tel qu'illustré autrefois par Leabelly ou par le skiffle britannique de Lonnie Donnegan, dans les années '50 et '60. Son action musicale s'est spécialement infléchie en direction d'une «défense et illustration» de l'identité wallonne, et de la Wallonie en général.
Il se produit avec son fils Gilles selon des formules diverses. Celles-ci, sans limites de frontières, s'étendent généralement à un groupe d'une demi-douzaine de musiciens belges ou originaires des Pays-Bas.
- Guy Davis (USA)
Whether Guy Davis is appearing on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” or nationally syndicated radio programs such as Garrison Keillor’s, “A Prairie Home Campanion”, “Mountain Stage” or David Dye’s,“World Café”. , in front of 15,000 people on the Main Stage of a major festival, or teaching an intimate gathering of students at a Music Camp, Guy feels the instinctive desire to give each listener his ‘all’.
His ‘all’ is the Blues.
The routes, and roots, of his blues are as diverse as the music form itself. It can be soulful, moaning out a people’s cry, or playful and bouncy as a hay-ride.
Guy can tell you stories of his great-grandparents and his grandparents, they’re days as track linemen, and of their interactions with the infamous KKK. He can also tell you that as a child raised in middle-class New York suburbs, the only cotton he’s picked is his underwear up off the floor.
He's a musician, composer, actor, director, and writer. But most importantly, Guy Davis is a bluesman. The blues permeates every corner of Davis' creativity.
Throughout his career, he has dedicated himself to reviving the traditions of acoustic blues and bringing them to as many ears as possible through the material of the great blues masters, African American stories, and his own original songs, stories and performance pieces.
His influences are as varied as the days. Musically, he enjoyed such great blues musicians as Blind Willie McTell (and his way of story telling), Skip James, Manse Lipscomb, Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotton, and Buddy Guy, among others. It was through Taj Mahal that he found his way to the old time blues. He also loved such diverse musicians as Fats Waller and Harry Belafonte.
His writing and storytelling have been influenced by Zora Neale Hurston, Garrison Keillor, and by the late Laura Davis (his one hundred and five year-old grandmother).
Davis' creative roots run deep. Though raised in the New York City area, he grew up hearing accounts of life in the rural south from his parents and especially his grandparents, and they made their way into his own stories and songs. Davis taught himself the guitar (never having the patience to take formal lessons) and learned by listening to and watching other musicians. One night on a train from Boston to New York he picked up finger picking from a nine-fingered guitar player.
Throughout his life, Davis has had overlapping interests in music and acting. Early acting roles included a lead role in the film "Beat Street" opposite Rae Dawn Chong and on television as ‘Dr. Josh Hall’ on "One Life to Live". Eventually, Davis had the opportunity to combine music and acting on the stage. He made his Broadway musical debut in 1991 in the Zora Neale Hurston/Langston Hughes collaboration "Mulebone", which featured the music of Taj Mahal.
In 1993 he performed Off-Broadway as legendary blues player Robert Johnson in "Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil". He received rave reviews and became the 1993 winner of the Blues Foundation's "Keeping the Blues Alive Award” presented to him by Robert Cray at the W. C. Handy Awards ceremony.
Looking for more ways to combine his love of blues, music, and acting, Davis created material for himself. He wrote "In Bed with the Blues: The Adventures of Fishy Waters" -- an engaging and moving one-man show. The Off-Broadway debut in 1994 received critical praise from the New York Times and the Village Voice.
Davis' writing projects have also included a variety of theatre pieces and plays. "Mudsurfing", a collection of three short stories, received the 1991 Brio Award from the Bronx Council of the Arts. The Trial", (later renamed, "The Trial: Judgement of the People"), an anti-drug abuse, one-act play that toured throughout the New York City shelter system, was produced Off-Broadway in 1990, at the McGinn Cazale Theater. Davis also arranged, performed and co-wrote the music for an Emmy award winning film, "To Be a Man". In the fall of 1995, his music was used in the national PBS series, "The American Promise".
Davis also performed in a theater piece with his parents, actors/writers Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis, entitled "Two Hah Hahs and a Homeboy", staged at the Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ in the spring of 1995. The show combined material written by Davis and his parents, with music, African American Folklore and history, as well as performance pieces by Hurston and Hughes. Of Davis' performance, one reviewer observed that his style and writing "sounds so deeply drenched in lost black traditions that you feel that they must predate him. But no, they don't. He created them. "
For the past decade, Davis has concentrated much of his efforts on writing, recording, and performing music. In the fall of 1995, he released his Red House records debut "Stomp Down Rider", an album that captured Davis in a stunning live performance. The album landed on top lists all over the country, including in the Boston Globe and Pulse magazine.
Davis' next album, "Call Down the Thunder", paid tribute to the blues masters, but leaned more heavily towards his own powerful originals. The electrifying album solidified Davis' position as one of the most important blues artists of our time. It too was named a top ten album of the year in the Boston Globe and Pulse, and Acoustic Guitar magazine called it one of the “thirty essential CDs from a new generation of performers”.
Davis' third Red House disc, "You Don't Know My Mind", which includes backing vocals by Olu Dara, explodes with passion and rhythm, and displays Davis' breadth as a composer and powerhouse performer. It was chosen as ‘Blues Album of the Year’ by the Association For Independent Music (formerly NAIRD)The San Francisco Chronicle gave the CD four stars, adding, "Davis' tough, timeless vocals blow through your brain like a Mississippi dust devil. "
Charles M. Young summed up Davis' own take on the blues best when he wrote his review in Playboy magazine, "Davis reminds you that the blues started as dance music. This is blues made for humming along, stomping your foot, feeling righteous in the face of oppression and expressing gratitude to your baby for greasing your skillet. "
Guy’s fourth album was, “Butt Naked Free”, the first of all of the albums since that have been produced by John Platania, former guitarist for Van Morrison. In addition to John on electric guitar, it includes musician friends such as Levon Helm (The Band), multi-instrumentalist, Tommy “T-Bone” Wolk (Hall & Oates, Carly Simon, ‘Saturday Night Live’ Band), drummer Gary Burke (Joe Jackson), and acoustic bassist, Mark Murphy (Walt Michael & Co. , Vanaver Caravan). The musicians all performed “Waitin’ On the Cards to Fall” from this album on the Conan O’Brien show.
Of the fifth album “give in kind”, Music critic Dave Marsh wrote, “Davis never loses sight of the blues as good time music, the original forum for dancing on top of one's sorrows. Joy made more exquisite, of course, by the sorrow from which it springs.”
It was this album that caught the ear of Ian Anderson, founder and lead singer of one of Rock & Roll’s greatest bands, “Jethro Tull”, who invited Guy to open for them during the summer of 2003. He wrote in his invitation, “Folk Blues (Sonny Terry, J. B. Lenoir) is where I started. Hearing Guy is like coming home again. ”
In fact, there are many notables in the entertainment world who call themselves Guy Davis fans including Jackson Browne, Maya Angelou, and Jessica Lange, who had Guy perform his take on the Bob Dylan song, “What’s a Sweetheart Like You (Doing in a Dump Like This)” for a special fundraiser she and her husband Sam Shepard organized for Tibetan Monks in Minnesota.
“Chocolate to the Bone”, Guy’s sixth album followed with more accolades and acclaim including a W. C. Handy award nomination for “Best Acoustic Blues Album”. In fact, Guy has been nominated for nine ‘Handy Awards’ over the years including for “Best Traditional Blues Album”, “Best Blues Song” (“Waiting On the Cards to Fall”) and as “Best Acoustic Blues Artist” two times.
His latest album, “Legacy” was picked as one of the Best CDs of the Year by National Public Radio (NPR), and the lead track on it, “Uncle Tom’s Dead” was chosen as one of the Best Songs of the Year. This of course is ironic as FCC rules won’t allow it to be played on the air, but it’s a fitting tribute none the less. The only other artist on both lists was Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys fame.
The cover for this album was drawn by noted comic book artist and graphic illustrator, Guy Davis. The tongue-in-cheek cartoon strip that is included in the liner notes, is a collaboration between the two Davis’. A winery in California completes the triumvirate as it is headed by a man also named Guy Davis. He created a limited edition wine in their honor with the label artwork done by illustrator Guy.
Bluesman Guy has contributed songs on a host of ‘Tribute’ and ‘Compilation albums’, including collections on bluesmen Charley Patton and Robert Johnson, for Putumayo Records collections including, “From Mali to Memphis” and the children’s album called, “Sing Along With Putumayo”, for tradition-based rockers like the Grateful Dead, songwriters like Nick Lowe, and for Bob Dylan’s 60th birthday CD called, “A Nod to Bob”, even on a Windham Hill collection of Choral Music, and alongside performers like Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Bruce Springsteen for a collection of songs written by his friend, legendary folksinger, ‘Uncle’ Pete Seeger, called, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”.
However, easily the proudest recording project he’s been involved with is the one produced by his friend Larry Long, called “I Will Be Your Friend: Songs and Activities for Young Peacemakers”, in which Guy contributes the title track. It’s a CD collection of enriching songs combined together with a teacher’s aide kit to help teach diversity and understanding. It is all part of the national “Teaching Tolerance” (www. tolerance. org) campaign and continues to be distributed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and sent to every public school in the country to help combat hatred.
And speaking of children’s projects, Guy wrote a couple songs and recorded with Dr. John for Whoopi Goldberg’s “Littleburg” series, and appeared and sang in “Jack’s Big Show”, both for the Nickelodeon network, “Nick, Jr”.
Guy has also done residency programs for the Lincoln Center Institute, the Kennedy Center, the State Theatre in New Jersey, and works with “Young Audiences of NJ”, doing classroom workshops and assembly programs all across the country and in Canada for Elementary, High School, and College students.
Most recently Guy had the honor of appearing in the PBS special on Jazz and Blues artist, the late Howard Armstrong. And he was an honored guest at the Kennedy Center Awards, in which his folks received their medals, alongside other recipients like Warren Beatty, Elton John and composer John Williams from the President of the United States.
Whether Guy Davis is appearing on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” or nationally syndicated radio programs such as Garrison Keillor’s, “A Prairie Home Campanion”, “Mountain Stage” or David Dye’s,“World Café”. , in front of 15,000 people on the Main Stage of a major festival, or teaching an intimate gathering of students at a Music Camp, Guy feels the instinctive desire to give each listener his ‘all’.
His ‘all’ is the Blues.
The routes, and roots, of his blues are as diverse as the music form itself. It can be soulful, moaning out a people’s cry, or playful and bouncy as a hay-ride.
Guy can tell you stories of his great-grandparents and his grandparents, they’re days as track linemen, and of their interactions with the infamous KKK. He can also tell you that as a child raised in middle-class New York suburbs, the only cotton he’s picked is his underwear up off the floor.
He's a musician, composer, actor, director, and writer. But most importantly, Guy Davis is a bluesman. The blues permeates every corner of Davis' creativity.
Throughout his career, he has dedicated himself to reviving the traditions of acoustic blues and bringing them to as many ears as possible through the material of the great blues masters, African American stories, and his own original songs, stories and performance pieces.
His influences are as varied as the days. Musically, he enjoyed such great blues musicians as Blind Willie McTell (and his way of story telling), Skip James, Manse Lipscomb, Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotton, and Buddy Guy, among others. It was through Taj Mahal that he found his way to the old time blues. He also loved such diverse musicians as Fats Waller and Harry Belafonte.
His writing and storytelling have been influenced by Zora Neale Hurston, Garrison Keillor, and by the late Laura Davis (his one hundred and five year-old grandmother).
Davis' creative roots run deep. Though raised in the New York City area, he grew up hearing accounts of life in the rural south from his parents and especially his grandparents, and they made their way into his own stories and songs. Davis taught himself the guitar (never having the patience to take formal lessons) and learned by listening to and watching other musicians. One night on a train from Boston to New York he picked up finger picking from a nine-fingered guitar player.
Throughout his life, Davis has had overlapping interests in music and acting. Early acting roles included a lead role in the film "Beat Street" opposite Rae Dawn Chong and on television as ‘Dr. Josh Hall’ on "One Life to Live". Eventually, Davis had the opportunity to combine music and acting on the stage. He made his Broadway musical debut in 1991 in the Zora Neale Hurston/Langston Hughes collaboration "Mulebone", which featured the music of Taj Mahal.
In 1993 he performed Off-Broadway as legendary blues player Robert Johnson in "Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil". He received rave reviews and became the 1993 winner of the Blues Foundation's "Keeping the Blues Alive Award” presented to him by Robert Cray at the W. C. Handy Awards ceremony.
Looking for more ways to combine his love of blues, music, and acting, Davis created material for himself. He wrote "In Bed with the Blues: The Adventures of Fishy Waters" -- an engaging and moving one-man show. The Off-Broadway debut in 1994 received critical praise from the New York Times and the Village Voice.
Davis' writing projects have also included a variety of theatre pieces and plays. "Mudsurfing", a collection of three short stories, received the 1991 Brio Award from the Bronx Council of the Arts. The Trial", (later renamed, "The Trial: Judgement of the People"), an anti-drug abuse, one-act play that toured throughout the New York City shelter system, was produced Off-Broadway in 1990, at the McGinn Cazale Theater. Davis also arranged, performed and co-wrote the music for an Emmy award winning film, "To Be a Man". In the fall of 1995, his music was used in the national PBS series, "The American Promise".
Davis also performed in a theater piece with his parents, actors/writers Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis, entitled "Two Hah Hahs and a Homeboy", staged at the Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ in the spring of 1995. The show combined material written by Davis and his parents, with music, African American Folklore and history, as well as performance pieces by Hurston and Hughes. Of Davis' performance, one reviewer observed that his style and writing "sounds so deeply drenched in lost black traditions that you feel that they must predate him. But no, they don't. He created them. "
For the past decade, Davis has concentrated much of his efforts on writing, recording, and performing music. In the fall of 1995, he released his Red House records debut "Stomp Down Rider", an album that captured Davis in a stunning live performance. The album landed on top lists all over the country, including in the Boston Globe and Pulse magazine.
Davis' next album, "Call Down the Thunder", paid tribute to the blues masters, but leaned more heavily towards his own powerful originals. The electrifying album solidified Davis' position as one of the most important blues artists of our time. It too was named a top ten album of the year in the Boston Globe and Pulse, and Acoustic Guitar magazine called it one of the “thirty essential CDs from a new generation of performers”.
Davis' third Red House disc, "You Don't Know My Mind", which includes backing vocals by Olu Dara, explodes with passion and rhythm, and displays Davis' breadth as a composer and powerhouse performer. It was chosen as ‘Blues Album of the Year’ by the Association For Independent Music (formerly NAIRD)The San Francisco Chronicle gave the CD four stars, adding, "Davis' tough, timeless vocals blow through your brain like a Mississippi dust devil. "
Charles M. Young summed up Davis' own take on the blues best when he wrote his review in Playboy magazine, "Davis reminds you that the blues started as dance music. This is blues made for humming along, stomping your foot, feeling righteous in the face of oppression and expressing gratitude to your baby for greasing your skillet. "
Guy’s fourth album was, “Butt Naked Free”, the first of all of the albums since that have been produced by John Platania, former guitarist for Van Morrison. In addition to John on electric guitar, it includes musician friends such as Levon Helm (The Band), multi-instrumentalist, Tommy “T-Bone” Wolk (Hall & Oates, Carly Simon, ‘Saturday Night Live’ Band), drummer Gary Burke (Joe Jackson), and acoustic bassist, Mark Murphy (Walt Michael & Co. , Vanaver Caravan). The musicians all performed “Waitin’ On the Cards to Fall” from this album on the Conan O’Brien show.
Of the fifth album “give in kind”, Music critic Dave Marsh wrote, “Davis never loses sight of the blues as good time music, the original forum for dancing on top of one's sorrows. Joy made more exquisite, of course, by the sorrow from which it springs.”
It was this album that caught the ear of Ian Anderson, founder and lead singer of one of Rock & Roll’s greatest bands, “Jethro Tull”, who invited Guy to open for them during the summer of 2003. He wrote in his invitation, “Folk Blues (Sonny Terry, J. B. Lenoir) is where I started. Hearing Guy is like coming home again. ”
In fact, there are many notables in the entertainment world who call themselves Guy Davis fans including Jackson Browne, Maya Angelou, and Jessica Lange, who had Guy perform his take on the Bob Dylan song, “What’s a Sweetheart Like You (Doing in a Dump Like This)” for a special fundraiser she and her husband Sam Shepard organized for Tibetan Monks in Minnesota.
“Chocolate to the Bone”, Guy’s sixth album followed with more accolades and acclaim including a W. C. Handy award nomination for “Best Acoustic Blues Album”. In fact, Guy has been nominated for nine ‘Handy Awards’ over the years including for “Best Traditional Blues Album”, “Best Blues Song” (“Waiting On the Cards to Fall”) and as “Best Acoustic Blues Artist” two times.
His latest album, “Legacy” was picked as one of the Best CDs of the Year by National Public Radio (NPR), and the lead track on it, “Uncle Tom’s Dead” was chosen as one of the Best Songs of the Year. This of course is ironic as FCC rules won’t allow it to be played on the air, but it’s a fitting tribute none the less. The only other artist on both lists was Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys fame.
The cover for this album was drawn by noted comic book artist and graphic illustrator, Guy Davis. The tongue-in-cheek cartoon strip that is included in the liner notes, is a collaboration between the two Davis’. A winery in California completes the triumvirate as it is headed by a man also named Guy Davis. He created a limited edition wine in their honor with the label artwork done by illustrator Guy.
Bluesman Guy has contributed songs on a host of ‘Tribute’ and ‘Compilation albums’, including collections on bluesmen Charley Patton and Robert Johnson, for Putumayo Records collections including, “From Mali to Memphis” and the children’s album called, “Sing Along With Putumayo”, for tradition-based rockers like the Grateful Dead, songwriters like Nick Lowe, and for Bob Dylan’s 60th birthday CD called, “A Nod to Bob”, even on a Windham Hill collection of Choral Music, and alongside performers like Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Bruce Springsteen for a collection of songs written by his friend, legendary folksinger, ‘Uncle’ Pete Seeger, called, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”.
However, easily the proudest recording project he’s been involved with is the one produced by his friend Larry Long, called “I Will Be Your Friend: Songs and Activities for Young Peacemakers”, in which Guy contributes the title track. It’s a CD collection of enriching songs combined together with a teacher’s aide kit to help teach diversity and understanding. It is all part of the national “Teaching Tolerance” (www. tolerance. org) campaign and continues to be distributed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and sent to every public school in the country to help combat hatred.
And speaking of children’s projects, Guy wrote a couple songs and recorded with Dr. John for Whoopi Goldberg’s “Littleburg” series, and appeared and sang in “Jack’s Big Show”, both for the Nickelodeon network, “Nick, Jr”.
Guy has also done residency programs for the Lincoln Center Institute, the Kennedy Center, the State Theatre in New Jersey, and works with “Young Audiences of NJ”, doing classroom workshops and assembly programs all across the country and in Canada for Elementary, High School, and College students.
Most recently Guy had the honor of appearing in the PBS special on Jazz and Blues artist, the late Howard Armstrong. And he was an honored guest at the Kennedy Center Awards, in which his folks received their medals, alongside other recipients like Warren Beatty, Elton John and composer John Williams from the President of the United States.
- King King (UK) – feat. Alan Nimmo
Softly softly” is not a maxim that King King are familiar with. Since surging into life two years ago they have barely stopped for breath, and their electrifying sound and scorching live shows have generated more of a thunderous roar than a buzz.
Straight out of the blocks it was clear that King King is a band which knows how to make an entrance. An exhilarating debut at the Monaghan Blues Festival created such a stir that it prompted organizer Somhairle MacConghail to remark: “King King aren’t just playing the festival. Word is that King King ARE the festival”. With a reception like this there’s little surprise that the phone has been ringing off the hook ever since, and the last year has seen them bring their inimitable brand of multi-faceted blues rock to the Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival, the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, Abertillery Festival and even Glastonbury. This was in addition to a seemingly non-stop series of rousing live shows across the UK and Europe, much to the delight of the band’s burgeoning fan base.
In the midst of all this, a particular highlight of 2010 was King King’s invitation to perform within the hallowed walls of the BBC’s Maida Vale studios. The boys’ set went out on Radio 2 and won the approval of DJ and blues aficionado Paul Jones who was moved to remark: “Here at Radio 2, we think Alan Nimmo and King King are going to go all the way”.
Having signed to Manhaton Records, next came a return to Chapel Studios to record the eagerly anticipated debut album. King King are familiar faces having recorded their critically acclaimed EP Broken Heal at the studio, and again collaborated with the production team behind the Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs and the Editors.
The resulting album, Take My Hand, is a bold and wildly enjoyable collection of songs showcasing King King’s unique sound, swaggering from Stones-tinged blues rock through throbbing funk to reflective ballad and back.
Alan Nimmo
Ever present are Nimmo’s impassioned vocals and intricate guitar work, cohort Lindsay Coulson’s punchy bass, and the made-to-make-you-grin keyboard/piano work of Bennett Holland and Dale Storr. Craig Blundell and Wayne Proctor offer selfless vigour and expertise on drums, whilst Jacquie Williams joins the boys to bring gutsy, soulful backing vocals to several tracks. Intelligent and compelling, Take My Hand overflows with unexpected gems and reaches just the right balance of refinement and juke joint clout.
It’s all pretty impressive stuff for a band which didn’t exist a couple of years ago.
The driving force behind King King’s unstoppable charge is the aforementioned Nimmo, a fleet-fingered frontman imbued with almost impolite quantities of charisma and the talent to back it up. Widely known across the UK and Europe for his pivotal role with the award-winning Nimmo Brothers, his full-blooded style, technical brilliance and impassioned vocals are infectious and instantly recognisable. Accordingly, he surrounds himself with the hottest talent currently working the scene and this cherry-picking approach means that King King represents a melting pot of skills and influences. The result is a sound which is energetic, potent and irresistibly funky, branded with the stamp of a band intent on mapping out their own unique territory in blues.
So what next for King King? Demand for the album is already through the roof, and 2011 will see the band make a welcome return to Blues on the Farm (voted the best UK blues festival of last year) as part of an impressive schedule of appearances across the UK and European. A tour of Sweden in October is thrown in for good measure.
It’s a frenetic schedule, and further proof of a fact for which the British blues scene should be truly thankful: nobody on planet King King seems to know how to take their foot off the gas. And hearing the results, let’s hope nobody tells them.
Softly softly” is not a maxim that King King are familiar with. Since surging into life two years ago they have barely stopped for breath, and their electrifying sound and scorching live shows have generated more of a thunderous roar than a buzz.
Straight out of the blocks it was clear that King King is a band which knows how to make an entrance. An exhilarating debut at the Monaghan Blues Festival created such a stir that it prompted organizer Somhairle MacConghail to remark: “King King aren’t just playing the festival. Word is that King King ARE the festival”. With a reception like this there’s little surprise that the phone has been ringing off the hook ever since, and the last year has seen them bring their inimitable brand of multi-faceted blues rock to the Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival, the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, Abertillery Festival and even Glastonbury. This was in addition to a seemingly non-stop series of rousing live shows across the UK and Europe, much to the delight of the band’s burgeoning fan base.
In the midst of all this, a particular highlight of 2010 was King King’s invitation to perform within the hallowed walls of the BBC’s Maida Vale studios. The boys’ set went out on Radio 2 and won the approval of DJ and blues aficionado Paul Jones who was moved to remark: “Here at Radio 2, we think Alan Nimmo and King King are going to go all the way”.
Having signed to Manhaton Records, next came a return to Chapel Studios to record the eagerly anticipated debut album. King King are familiar faces having recorded their critically acclaimed EP Broken Heal at the studio, and again collaborated with the production team behind the Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs and the Editors.
The resulting album, Take My Hand, is a bold and wildly enjoyable collection of songs showcasing King King’s unique sound, swaggering from Stones-tinged blues rock through throbbing funk to reflective ballad and back.
Alan Nimmo
Ever present are Nimmo’s impassioned vocals and intricate guitar work, cohort Lindsay Coulson’s punchy bass, and the made-to-make-you-grin keyboard/piano work of Bennett Holland and Dale Storr. Craig Blundell and Wayne Proctor offer selfless vigour and expertise on drums, whilst Jacquie Williams joins the boys to bring gutsy, soulful backing vocals to several tracks. Intelligent and compelling, Take My Hand overflows with unexpected gems and reaches just the right balance of refinement and juke joint clout.
It’s all pretty impressive stuff for a band which didn’t exist a couple of years ago.
The driving force behind King King’s unstoppable charge is the aforementioned Nimmo, a fleet-fingered frontman imbued with almost impolite quantities of charisma and the talent to back it up. Widely known across the UK and Europe for his pivotal role with the award-winning Nimmo Brothers, his full-blooded style, technical brilliance and impassioned vocals are infectious and instantly recognisable. Accordingly, he surrounds himself with the hottest talent currently working the scene and this cherry-picking approach means that King King represents a melting pot of skills and influences. The result is a sound which is energetic, potent and irresistibly funky, branded with the stamp of a band intent on mapping out their own unique territory in blues.
So what next for King King? Demand for the album is already through the roof, and 2011 will see the band make a welcome return to Blues on the Farm (voted the best UK blues festival of last year) as part of an impressive schedule of appearances across the UK and European. A tour of Sweden in October is thrown in for good measure.
It’s a frenetic schedule, and further proof of a fact for which the British blues scene should be truly thankful: nobody on planet King King seems to know how to take their foot off the gas. And hearing the results, let’s hope nobody tells them.
- Davina and the Vagabonds (USA)
Davina Sowers hit the Midwest scene in February 2005 and she hasn’t looked back since. It didn’t take her long after moving to Minnesota from Key West, FL to start making a name for herself. With great vocals and piano, she commands attention on stage and leaves everyone smiling. Davina has been performing since the age of 5, with the support of an extremely musical family. Sowers, a classically-trained pianist, has years of experience in piano performance. She and her band made a big splash at Duluth’s Bayfront Blues Festival in 2006 to2008, having the highest sales in CDs all three years. She has been called the “hardestworking blues woman in frigid Minnesota. ” “Two things remain consistent in all her shows: her throaty, but cushiony voice, which has a sort of hardmattress comfort to it that’s part Bonnie Raitt, part Etta James and a little Amy Winehouse; and her band’s rollicking New Orleans flavor, driven home by dueling horn players and a bayouthick standup bass. ” (CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER, Star Tribune) Davina has already shared the stage with Little Feat, Buddy Guy, Elvin Bishop, The Lamont Cranston Band, The Blues Brothers, Joe Bonamassa, Irma Thomas and James Hunter, among others, at venues such as House of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ and the Bayfront Blues Festival in Duluth, MN.
Davina Sowers hit the Midwest scene in February 2005 and she hasn’t looked back since. It didn’t take her long after moving to Minnesota from Key West, FL to start making a name for herself. With great vocals and piano, she commands attention on stage and leaves everyone smiling. Davina has been performing since the age of 5, with the support of an extremely musical family. Sowers, a classically-trained pianist, has years of experience in piano performance. She and her band made a big splash at Duluth’s Bayfront Blues Festival in 2006 to2008, having the highest sales in CDs all three years. She has been called the “hardestworking blues woman in frigid Minnesota. ” “Two things remain consistent in all her shows: her throaty, but cushiony voice, which has a sort of hardmattress comfort to it that’s part Bonnie Raitt, part Etta James and a little Amy Winehouse; and her band’s rollicking New Orleans flavor, driven home by dueling horn players and a bayouthick standup bass. ” (CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER, Star Tribune) Davina has already shared the stage with Little Feat, Buddy Guy, Elvin Bishop, The Lamont Cranston Band, The Blues Brothers, Joe Bonamassa, Irma Thomas and James Hunter, among others, at venues such as House of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ and the Bayfront Blues Festival in Duluth, MN.
- Lubos Bena & Matej Ptaszek (SK)
"While blues remains a distinct African-American cultural expression, it has also become an international popular music in the twenty-first century. In the nation of Slovakia blues has found a fine representative in Lubos Bena. "
"He comes from Slovakia, Europe. What impresses me most about Lubos Bena is his strong singing and rhythm. It's natural to him, without any forced mannerisms or affectations, and with perfect timing. "
"He listens long and intently to nothing but the best artists - people like Fred McDowell, Son House, Lead Belly, Jessie Mae Hemphill, R. L. Burnside, and others - and lets the sound of their music get inside his head. Then out it comes through his hands on the guitar, his foot stomping, and his voice. This the same way these other great artists learned the blues. Lubos has spent some time in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee, observing blues artists in action, listening, and sitting in, thereby adding a new dimension to his music. The result is real blues feeling with a Slovakian accent. It goes down like southern soul food with a good wine from Skalica, his hometown. "
2010
Lubos Bena & Matej Ptaszek are performing in the new Czech film "Ob?ansk? pr?kaz". In this tragic comedy from the Czechoslovakia communist hippie era they play roles as juke joint musicians. Their music is featured in the opening of the film and also in several main scenes together with Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath and Sweet.
2009
Bena & Ptaszek was honored as the Hohner Newcomer of 2009 and they performed at the World Harmonica Festival 2009 in Trossingen, Germany.
2009
Bena & Ptaszek was the opening act of Johnny Winter during his concert in the Czech Republic.
2005/2006/2008
Lubos Bena is the first Slovak bluesman who has visited the USA not only as a tourist, but who has also gave performances there. Notably in the Memphis Blues music scene and Arkansas festival circuit.
"While blues remains a distinct African-American cultural expression, it has also become an international popular music in the twenty-first century. In the nation of Slovakia blues has found a fine representative in Lubos Bena. "
"He comes from Slovakia, Europe. What impresses me most about Lubos Bena is his strong singing and rhythm. It's natural to him, without any forced mannerisms or affectations, and with perfect timing. "
"He listens long and intently to nothing but the best artists - people like Fred McDowell, Son House, Lead Belly, Jessie Mae Hemphill, R. L. Burnside, and others - and lets the sound of their music get inside his head. Then out it comes through his hands on the guitar, his foot stomping, and his voice. This the same way these other great artists learned the blues. Lubos has spent some time in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee, observing blues artists in action, listening, and sitting in, thereby adding a new dimension to his music. The result is real blues feeling with a Slovakian accent. It goes down like southern soul food with a good wine from Skalica, his hometown. "
2010
Lubos Bena & Matej Ptaszek are performing in the new Czech film "Ob?ansk? pr?kaz". In this tragic comedy from the Czechoslovakia communist hippie era they play roles as juke joint musicians. Their music is featured in the opening of the film and also in several main scenes together with Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath and Sweet.
2009
Bena & Ptaszek was honored as the Hohner Newcomer of 2009 and they performed at the World Harmonica Festival 2009 in Trossingen, Germany.
2009
Bena & Ptaszek was the opening act of Johnny Winter during his concert in the Czech Republic.
2005/2006/2008
Lubos Bena is the first Slovak bluesman who has visited the USA not only as a tourist, but who has also gave performances there. Notably in the Memphis Blues music scene and Arkansas festival circuit.
- Roomful of Blues (USA)
At 43-years-old, New England’s Roomful of Blues has been around even longer than Alligator Records. For all that time, they’ve celebrated the jump blues, R&B and early rock ‘n’ roll music of the horn-powered golden era of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Roomful don’t simply recreate the famous and obscure 78s and 45s of those years. Inspired by the spirit of the groundbreaking bands of the post-World War II decade, they’ve breathed new life into vintage songs, infusing them with boundless energy and fiery, swinging solos and vocals. For the last two decades, Roomful has been led by Chris Vachon, one of the most underrated guitarists in the blues. For 40 years, their hard-charging horn section has been sparked by Rich Lataille on tenor and alto sax. Energizing the band on Hook, Line & Sinker is their terrific new vocalist, Phil Pemberton. Phil’s performances showcase his flamboyant, multi-octave voice, fun-loving attitude and his deep understanding of the era when jumping blues bands were fronted by huge-voiced singers like Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris and Big Joe Turner. This album also gives more showcase space to Chris Vachon’s tough guitar work. His version of Gatemouth Brown’s Gate Walks To Board proves his talent can match that of the best string-benders. Hook, Line & Sinker is a proud addition to Roomful’s glorious musical history.
At 43-years-old, New England’s Roomful of Blues has been around even longer than Alligator Records. For all that time, they’ve celebrated the jump blues, R&B and early rock ‘n’ roll music of the horn-powered golden era of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Roomful don’t simply recreate the famous and obscure 78s and 45s of those years. Inspired by the spirit of the groundbreaking bands of the post-World War II decade, they’ve breathed new life into vintage songs, infusing them with boundless energy and fiery, swinging solos and vocals. For the last two decades, Roomful has been led by Chris Vachon, one of the most underrated guitarists in the blues. For 40 years, their hard-charging horn section has been sparked by Rich Lataille on tenor and alto sax. Energizing the band on Hook, Line & Sinker is their terrific new vocalist, Phil Pemberton. Phil’s performances showcase his flamboyant, multi-octave voice, fun-loving attitude and his deep understanding of the era when jumping blues bands were fronted by huge-voiced singers like Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris and Big Joe Turner. This album also gives more showcase space to Chris Vachon’s tough guitar work. His version of Gatemouth Brown’s Gate Walks To Board proves his talent can match that of the best string-benders. Hook, Line & Sinker is a proud addition to Roomful’s glorious musical history.
- Shirley Johnson (USA)
Singer, Nightclub Entertainer, Shirley Johnson is a veteran Chicago Blues Singer. Her music is soulful and smooth; her lyrics are warm, affectionate, and understanding. Shirley presents a sound that is distinctively her own, conveying stories of reality, with the ultimate message that personifies love.
Born in Franklin, Virginia, Shirley’s musical talent was evident from the age of 10, when she began singing gospel music. After 8 years of singing Gospel, In 1965 she began singing Pop and R&B music. From there Shirley was recognized as one of the up and coming female artists in R&B music. Because of popular demand Shirley became an opening act for such superstars as: Al Green, Jerry Butler, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, and Millie Jackson and many others. Also, during the late 60’s she recorded her 1st three singles on Biggs and Shawn Records.
In 1984, she was advised by a close friend to move to Chicago, the home of the Blues. With her warm personality, Shirley was welcomed into the Blues arena with open arms. She opened for some of the best in the in the industry. Some of those artists were: Johnny Christian, Artie “Blues Boy” White, BuckWheat Zydeco, Little Milton Campbell, Johnnie Taylor, Buster Benton, Koko Taylor, and Bobby Rush.
Between 1986 and 1988, Shirley recorded 2 more singles on Diamond Jim & Big Boy Records. In 1989, Shirley became acquainted with Professor Eddie Lusk, and later toured with him as his opening act. Shirley later formed her own band in 1991,which jump-started her Blues career. She was asked to appear in 3 movies: “Next of Kin” with Patrick Swayze, “Father Jim” with Robert DeNiro, and “V. I. Warshawski” with Kathleen Turner. She also did a commercial for the Dept. of Tourism for the state of Illinois.
Hard work and dedication finally paid off, because in 1994 Shirley released her debut CD called “Looking for Love”. The 1st single to ride the charts was “I’m Gonna Find Me A Lover”. Shirley also did three compilation CDs. She currently is a Delmark Recording Artist with two CDs distributed by Delmark: Killer Diller and Blues Attack. The Delmark Releases caused Shirley to be nominated for two Blues Music Awards. Shirley is in constant demand all over the world, having toured 21 countries. You can find her at Blue Chicago, one of Chicago's top Blues Clubs and other Blues Venues near you.
Singer, Nightclub Entertainer, Shirley Johnson is a veteran Chicago Blues Singer. Her music is soulful and smooth; her lyrics are warm, affectionate, and understanding. Shirley presents a sound that is distinctively her own, conveying stories of reality, with the ultimate message that personifies love.
Born in Franklin, Virginia, Shirley’s musical talent was evident from the age of 10, when she began singing gospel music. After 8 years of singing Gospel, In 1965 she began singing Pop and R&B music. From there Shirley was recognized as one of the up and coming female artists in R&B music. Because of popular demand Shirley became an opening act for such superstars as: Al Green, Jerry Butler, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, and Millie Jackson and many others. Also, during the late 60’s she recorded her 1st three singles on Biggs and Shawn Records.
In 1984, she was advised by a close friend to move to Chicago, the home of the Blues. With her warm personality, Shirley was welcomed into the Blues arena with open arms. She opened for some of the best in the in the industry. Some of those artists were: Johnny Christian, Artie “Blues Boy” White, BuckWheat Zydeco, Little Milton Campbell, Johnnie Taylor, Buster Benton, Koko Taylor, and Bobby Rush.
Between 1986 and 1988, Shirley recorded 2 more singles on Diamond Jim & Big Boy Records. In 1989, Shirley became acquainted with Professor Eddie Lusk, and later toured with him as his opening act. Shirley later formed her own band in 1991,which jump-started her Blues career. She was asked to appear in 3 movies: “Next of Kin” with Patrick Swayze, “Father Jim” with Robert DeNiro, and “V. I. Warshawski” with Kathleen Turner. She also did a commercial for the Dept. of Tourism for the state of Illinois.
Hard work and dedication finally paid off, because in 1994 Shirley released her debut CD called “Looking for Love”. The 1st single to ride the charts was “I’m Gonna Find Me A Lover”. Shirley also did three compilation CDs. She currently is a Delmark Recording Artist with two CDs distributed by Delmark: Killer Diller and Blues Attack. The Delmark Releases caused Shirley to be nominated for two Blues Music Awards. Shirley is in constant demand all over the world, having toured 21 countries. You can find her at Blue Chicago, one of Chicago's top Blues Clubs and other Blues Venues near you.
Tickets I More info I Guy Davis I Room Full Of Blues I Shirley Johnson I King King I Lubos Bena & Matej Ptaszek I Davina and the Vagabonds I Kenny Neal I Elmore D
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