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by Eric Steiner A BLUES LEGEND RETURNS...
This month, I’m going to shout about a true Chicago blues legend. Charlie Musselwhite is touring behind his latest studio CD, Sanctuary, on Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records. I caught his live show last month in Seattle, with a first-class road band that will rock FitzGerald’s in Berwyn on May 14th. Don’t miss this show: Charlie’s pipes and harp are in fine, fine form, and his set includes music from his early days as well as his last studio CD on Telarc, One Night in America. Sanctuary is his 34th album in a career that spans 40 years in the blues. After a Spring tour, he’ll join Shemekia Copeland and Dr. John on the road in the Fall. Sanctuary is a dozen songs that wander around the darker side of the blues, with Musselwhite’s melancholy harp wrapping itself around original blues and covers of songs from the likes of Sonny Landreth, Eddie Harris, Townes Van Zandt, and Randy Newman, among others. Savoy Brown’s “Train to Nowhere” is one of the many standouts on Sanctuary, backed on the CD by the Blind Boys of Alabama (another blues act that’s found a home with Real World). Musselwhite’s band includes guitarist Charlie Sexton (Bob Dylan), and the rhythm section of Jared Michael Nickerson (NYC funk/jazz Burnt Sugar) on bass and Michael Jerome (Pleasure Club, Richard Thompson) on drums, and for a unit that hadn’t played together before, this band nails Charlie’s understated approach to the blues. Charlie’s road band features Kirk "Eli" Fletcher (Kim Wilson) on guitar, Randy Bermudes (Mark Hummell) on bass, and some of bluesman Rusty Zinn’s fave players, June Core on drums, and Bob Welsh on piano and guitar. This month, Charlie finds sanctuary in the blues at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn on the 14th.
A Legend in the Making…
Later this month, discover the rough-hewn blues of Jake LaBotz. He’s returning home to the Chicago area to play a benefit show for the Jesse Mae Hemphill Foundation. Jake will take the stage at 7:00 PM at the Benton House Community Center on May 28th in Chicago. While he’s moved to Los Angeles to pursue music and film interests there, he was raised in Chicago and learned the blues on Maxwell Street under the tutelage and mentorship of blues elders like Maxwell Street Jimmy. A portion of the $15 ticket will be donated to the Jesse Mae Hemphill Foundation, in addition to a special raffle which will donate 100% of the proceeds to the foundation. For more info, call (773) 927- 6420, or visit: www.jakelabotz.com Jesse Mae Hemphill deserves some special mention as one of the true pioneers of the blues. She’s been playing guitar since the 1950’s in remote areas of Northern Mississippi. Her work has caught the ear of blues guru James Mathus, who’s work includes Squirrel Nut Zippers, North Mississippi All Stars, and The Blue Eyed Devils. Check out Jesse Mae and her rough-edged hill country blues sound online at: www.jmhemphill.org After reading the foundation’s web site, I thought that these artists are exactly the type of bluesmen and blueswomen who were captured by the great blues songcatcher, Alan Lomax. The Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation is devoted to preserving the local music of the hill country of Northern Mississippi, and we’re fortunate to have Jake La Botz contribute time and money to this unique cultural institution. According to the Foundation’s website, “Many of the artists of this genre live in extreme poverty, some having already succumbed to sickness and old age. Many have not maintained sufficient shares of their publishing. Having lived their lives in relative obscurity, North Mississippi blues musicians are currently experiencing something of a renaissance.” I think back to how Lomax helped Mississippi Fred MacDowell (“I Do Not Play No Rock and Roll”), and wonder about the other natural talents living in Mississippi that did not get the opportunity to play for him.
It’s About Time...
Next month, the Chicago Blues Festival will turn 21. This year’s theme is appropriate: “It’s About Time.” This annual free blues fest kicks off on Thursday, June 10th with an impressive line up. You’ve got Smokey Smothers with Pat Scott followed by Eddy Clearwater and Los Straitjackets. The showstopper that night, though, will be the special “Howlin’ For Hubert” jam featuring Hubert Sumlin, David Johanson, Levon Helm, Jimmy Vivino, David Maxwell, and Mike Merritt. June 11th features C.J. Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band, a Brooks’ blues extravaganza with Lonnie, Ronnie and Wayne Brooks, and Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson and the Magic Rockers. There’s also up and coming blues diva Nora Jean Bruso with the Carl Weathersby Blues Band, too. Also blues legend Robert Lockwood, Jr. Headliners for June 12th include -- Alvin Youngblood Hart, Chris Thomas King, and Harry Manx. On June 13th, the Fat Possum Mississippi Juke Joint Caravan returns to the Midwest, featuring Cedric Burnside, Kenny Brown, Michael Burks, Paul "Wine" Jones, Spam, and the original Bad Man himself, T-Model Ford. Until next month, let’s play the blues. | ||
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