Duke Robillard, #27 of the Top 100 Blues Guitarists

Duke Robillard


Michael John "Duke" Robillard (born October 4, 1948, Woonsocket, Rhode Island) is an American blues musician.

 

Duke Robillard


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Duke Robillard



After playing in various bands and working for the Guild Guitar Company, he co-founded the band Roomful of Blues with pianist Al Copley in 1967. He has also been a member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds which included Kim Wilson, replacing Jimmie Vaughan on guitar. Also experienced in jazz, swing, and rock and roll, aside from his preferred blues music, Robillard has been generally regarded as a guitar player keeping the blues style of T-Bone Walker.

 

Duke Robillard



He has recorded with artists such as Jimmy Witherspoon, Snooky Prior, Jay McShann, Hal Singer, Pinetop Perkins, Joe Louis Walker, Todd Sharpville, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan. In the summer of 2006, Robillard accompanied Tom Waits on a tour of the Southern United States.

 

Duke Robillard


Robillard has contributed to a large number of musicians' recordings in his career. Some of the most famous have been mentioned, but others include artists as diverse as Wham! and Jimmy Witherspoon.
Robillard was hired by Tom Waits, who was looking for a blues guitarist and a master of American roots music for his Orphans Tour. Although Robillard did not record with Waits, the 2006 dates were widely bootlegged. Robillard's latest album Tales from the Tiki Lounge, was a tribute to Les Paul, and he played an array of Gold Tops and other Gibson Les Paul models, plus an Epiphone Broadway

 Duke Robillard and his band

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He has been nominated for and has received numerous awards over his career.
Awards include:
2007 Rhode Island Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts
2001 "Best Blues Guitarist" W.C. Handy Award
2000 "Best Blues Guitarist" W.C. Handy Award

Robillard has also been nominated for:
2007 "Best Contemporary Blues Album" for "Guitar Groove-A-Rama" Grammy Award
2010 "Best Traditional Blues Album" for "Stomp! The Blues Tonight" Grammy Award


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Duke Robillard

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Until next time, remember to "keep your boogie on".

 

MUSICIAN by Night

 

 

"Help Keep The Blues Alive"

 

 



100 Featured Blues Artists: Todays Featured Blues Artist - Ada Brown

100 Featured Blues Artists: Todays Featured Blues Artist - Ada Brown

Ada Scott Brown

 

Ada Brown (May 1, 1890, - March 31, 1950 was an American blues singer. She is best known for her recordings of "Ill Natural Blues", "Break O' Day Blues", and "Evil Mama Blues".
Biography
Ada Scott Brown was born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas, United States; her cousin James Scott was a ragtime composer and pianist. Her early career was spent primarily on stage in musical theater and vaudeville. She recorded with Bennie Moten in 1926; the side "Evil Mama Blues" is possibly the earliest recording of Kansas City Jazz. Aside from her time with Moten, she did several tours alongside bandleaders such as George E. Lee.


 

Brown was a founding member of the Negro Actors Guild of America in 1936, and worked at the London Palladium and in Broadway in the late 1930s. She sang with Fats Waller in the film Stormy Weather in 1943, and followed it with appearances in Harlem to Hollywood, accompanied by Harry Swannagan. The ASV/Living Era compilation album, Ladies Sing the Blues included two "raunchy" tracks from Brown ("Break O'Day Blues" and "Evil Mama Blues.")

Ada Brown and Fats Waller in 1943
 "That Ain't Right" from Stormy

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Ada Brown and Fats Waller in 1943
"That Ain't Right" from Stormy

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Ada Brown and Fats Waller in 1943
"That Ain't Right" from Stormy

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Ada Brown died of kidney disease in March 1950 in Kansas City,
at the age of 59.


Source and Additional Info Here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Brown

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It has been a very long and busy week for me.  Thus the reason for no posts since last Sunday.  I have family visiting and I am caring for my elderly parents which takes up 100% of my time when I get home from work.


I'll be posting more regularly again this coming week so stay with me.


I hope you enjoyed this post; it is a little different than what I typically publish, however, Ada Brown is worth talking about about and remembering so check out some of her recording's if you can locate any.


Until next time, "keep your boogie on"


MUSICIAN by Night

"Help Keep The Blues Alives"



Louisiana Red, The GIANT of Blues . . .

Louisiana Red

1932 Born in Bessema, Alabama as Iverson Minter. His mother died a week after his birth.

1941 Louisiana Red’s father was killed by the Ku-Klux-Klan.

1972 His first beloved wife died from cancer.

1975 Festival in Montreux Strongly influenced by Muddy Waters,

Lightnin‘ Hopkins and Arthur Crudup, he has long ago found his own voice,
his own style, his own form of expression.
Louisiana Red has played with just about every major bluesman you can name, some of the most memorable encounters being his jams with B.B.King and Muddy Waters..

1981 Louisiana Red leaves the United States for living now in Germany

1983 W.C. Handy Award as best traditional blues artist.

1984 Marriage with his beloved wife Dora.

1997 The first triumphant comeback tours in the United States.

1998 Several comeback tours in the United States.

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Louisiana Red

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RED'S VISION

The current blues scene in the U.S. and Europe is characterized by a wide variety of styles and musicians. However, as the years go passing by there are fewer and fewer artists left that were active during the formative years of blues music, those who participated in the development of the music.

Thus, it is all the more important and cause for celebration that there are still artists such as Louisiana Red.

Louisiana Red has lived the Blues. And Louisiana Red not only plays the Blues, he lives it through his guitar and his singing. Strongly influenced by Muddy Waters, Lightnin‘ Hopkins and Arthur Crudup, he has long ago found his own voice, his own style, his own form of expression.

When Red performs, the songs are often only launching pad for expressing his immediate feelings in the almost lost tradition of spontaneous composition that goes back to the original Delta Blues artists an even further to the West-African griot bards.

In a career spanning over half a century, Louisiana Red has played with just about every major bluesman you can name, some of the most memorable encounters being his jams with B.B.King and Muddy Waters.

But it doesn’t matter who he plays with or where he appears - Louisiana Red brings the same intensitiy and enthusiasm to every stage he appears on, whether in front of 10,000 people at a festival or 100 people in an intimate club.

Louisiana Red’s albums have been called masterpieces by critics, and in 1983 he won a W.C. Handy Award as best traditional blues artist. After living in Germany for 20 years, he has made a several triumphant comeback tours in the United States.

Louisiana Red, The GIANT of Blues


But if you ask Red about it, he won’t tell you much about his success. He’ll much rather talk about his latest CD project, about a new song or a new guitar lick. Because Louisiana Red is constantly creating, always searching für another expression of his blues. For once, the hyperbole ist justified: Louisiana Red is the Blues.

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RIP Iverson Minter AKA Louisiana Red March 23rd,
1932- to February 25, 2012.

It is with a heavy heart that we report the passing of one of the greatest and most beloved traditional blues artists. Louisiana Red died on February 25th in a hospital in Germany. He was 79. Louisiana Red was a powerful downhome blues artist who could channel his teachers (among them Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Robert Nighthawk, Lightnin' Hopkins and John Lee Hooker) into his own heartfelt musical conversation, delivered with such moving passion and honesty that it would leave his audiences indelibly touched.

He was fine singer with a distinctive voice, and an amazing guitarist who could play all of the traditional blues styles and excelled as one of the world's greatest slide guitarists. He could create moods and textures, both musically and spiritually, and had the ability of falling so deep into his own songs that he would go to tears, making his audience cry with him. That was the gift of this great artist.

It is sad to say goodbye to the loving persona of this great bluesman who's music warmed our hearts. Louisiana Red's vulnerability became his strength and he filled his heart with an unstoppable passion for music and acceptance. His legacy is great and his friendships are many. He can now rest in peace after a lifetime of giving us everything he had through his amazing blues.

God bless you Red. . .

Bob Corritore

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Well we all hate to see a Blues GIANT pass on; it's like losing a member of our own family.  It's felt very deeply amongst us blues artists and supporters alike. 

I know that Red's passing happened back in February of this year, but I never took the opportunity to pay my respects by sharing his life with all of you.  I hope you liked this post and learned a little about Louisiana Red, The Giant of Blues.

Until next time, keep following the heart of music, the BLUES and try to listen to new CD's (albums) as often as you can to broaden your collection of blues artists to follow.

MUSICIAN by Night

 
"Help Keep The Blues Alive"



Mimi Fox, Internationally renowned jazz guitarist /composer & recording artist

Mimi Fox

She plays with tremendous fire.
She can do pretty much anything she
wants on the guitar.
- Joe Pass

Internationally renowned guitarist/composer/recording artist Mimi Fox has been named a winner in 6 consecutive Downbeat Magazine international critic's polls and has been recognized by writers and colleagues alike as one of the most eloquent guitarists on today's scene. In one of many feature stories, Guitar Player Magazine hailed Mimi as "a prodigious talent who has not only mastered the traditional forms but has managed to reinvigorate them."

Mimi has performed/recorded with some of the music world's most commanding players, including fellow guitarists Charlie Byrd, Stanley Jordan, Charlie Hunter, and Mundell Lowe, Grammy-nominated saxophonists Branford Marsalis, David Sanchez and Houston Person, and the late Don Lanphere, vocalists Abbey Lincoln, Diana Krall, Kevin Mahogany and Janis Siegel (Manhattan Transfer), B3 organ masters Joey DeFrancesco, Barbara Denerlein and Dr. Lonnie Smith, and powerhouse drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. She has also performed with legends Stevie Wonder and John Sebastian and with Patty Larkin's Vanguard Records-produced La Guitara project.

Mimi at the Heritage Guitars
All-Star Concert with Jackie King

Mimi has released nine recordings as a leader including her newest release on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label, "Live at the Palladium." This new DVD features Mimi in front of a sold out audience and has all the magic and excitement of a live performance. Pop Culture Classics said: "Fox demonstrates her vibrant virtuosity in this concert and turns each selection into a distinctive gem." Just Jazz Guitar said: "This is simply jazz guitar playing at its best. Her ideas are creative, heartfelt, and sophisticated."

2006's double CD, 'Perpetually Hip', received rave reviews from scores of publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, which called this project Fox's "Masterwork" and said: "The two discs stand as a definitive Fox statement. The first showcases her simmering interplay with a quartet featuring drum maestro Billy Hart, while the second captures her breathtaking solo style in an approach that is as harmonically resourceful as it is lyrically inventive."



Mimi Fox

Fox had already established her credentials as a worthy successor to Joe Pass with the astonishing 2001 Origin Records solo album, Standards. In a glowing Cadence Magazine review, Jim Josselyn said: "to say Mimi Fox's touch, sound, sensitivity and understanding of the guitar as a solo vehicle of expression is masterful would be an understatement. This is simply some of the best guitar music I have heard."

Fox introduced herself to the international jazz scene in the 1990s with a pair of CDs on Monarch Records including Kicks, a high energy project pairing her with collaborators such as Joey DeFrancesco and Yellowjackets Russell Ferrante and Will Kenney. Allaboutjazz.com awarded the album a superlative four star rating: "This is a strongly melodic collection and one that swings out stylishly. Mimi Fox is a major talent."



Mimi Fox, live at the Palladium



Mimi maintains a whirlwind touring schedule, playing major festivals from New York to Tokyo, including tours of the Caribbean, Japan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. International festivals include the Montreal, Guinness Cork, Perth International, and Monterey Jazz Festivals. Stateside, she has headlined at elite venues such as The Blue Note, Merkin Concert Hall, and the Village Gate in New York City, The Regattabar and Scullers in Boston, The Kennedy Center and Blues Alley in Washington D.C., the Triple Door and Jazz Alley in Seattle, and Yoshi's and the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.

As a composer, Mimi has written and performed original scores for orchestras, documentary films and dance projects while receiving grants from prestigious funders such as Meet the Composer and the California Arts Council. Mimi has received repeated grants from the William James Association/California Arts Council to give concerts and workshops in California prisons as part of the highly successful Arts In Correction program. She has also appeared on numerous television shows such as "BET on Jazz" and has been a guest on many radio shows, including Marian McPartland's NPR program, "Piano Jazz".

Mimi Fox

As a devoted educator and clinician, Mimi has taught master classes worldwide while serving as head of the guitar program at the Jazz School in Berkeley and Adjunct Professor at New York University. In 2005, Mimi received an award from the International Association Of Jazz Educators for outstanding service to jazz education. She has published several popular instructional books and interactive CD-Roms for Mel Bay Publications and True Fire.

Born in New York City, Fox started playing drums at nine and guitar when she was ten. She was inspired by the wide variety of music enjoyed by her family - show tunes, classical, Dixieland, Motown - and her own youthful inclination towards pop, folk, and R&B. When she was fourteen, she bought her first jazz album. That album, John Coltrane's classic Giant Steps, changed the course of her musical life. She began touring right out of high school and eventually settled in the San Francisco Bay area where she became a sought after player.

Mimi and Mundell Lowe at the
Jazz in the Park Series, San Diego

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Mimi, Harvie S, and Terri Lyne Carrington
 at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival

Whether delivering jaw-dropping solo sets, performing dazzling duets with sympathetic partners, or leading a hard-charging combo, Mimi is a consummate improviser who seizes the imagination of her listeners with her passion, soul, and unerring ear for beauty.

Some notable quotes:

Mimi was a revelation to me the first time I heard her play. It wasn't just that her technique is amazing, it's that she sounded very original to me. I was just knocked out. -- NEA Master, guitarist Jim Hall

While Fox makes her first impression with her technical skills, it's her emotional depth as a player that leaves an enduring mark. -- Andrew Gilbert, Downbeat Magazine

Fox distinguishes herself as a remarkably accomplished straight ahead player with flawless time, pristine execution, serious chops, a keen ear for reharmonization and an inner urge to burn. -- Jazz Times

Guitarist Extraordinaire Mimi Fox presented a stunning set of music that kept the audience riveted from the opening blues excursion to her immaculately delivered solo. Fox's firm control, clarity of concept, and emotional depth made this the most memorable moment of the festival. -- All About Jazz in a review of Mimi's performance at the Kennedy Center.

From the opening notes that revealed a loving touch and superb control, Fox left no doubt why she has received the highest praise from the highest places. Her attention to detail and nuance lent her entire play list a feeling of adventure and discovery. -- Arts and Opinion in a review of the Montreal Jazz Festival

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It has been a while since I covered a jazz artist but I just had to share what I learned about Mimi Fox thru her involvement with TrueFire.com, a musicians on-line school that I support and am a member of as I am currently working on increasing my blues guitar skills.

I hope you enjoyed this post and learned a little about Mimi as I also hope you reach out and pick-up one of her albums (CD's) and start listening to what she has to offer.

Until next time, let's all keep an open mind and listen to different genres of music from time to time; it will makes us all better musicians in the long run.

MUSICIAN by Night

"Help Keep The Blues Alive"



100 Featured Blues Artists: Todays Featured Blues Artist - Sugar Ray Norcia

100 Featured Blues Artists: Todays Featured Blues Artist - Sugar Ray Norcia

Sugar Ray Norcia and the BLUETONES

Sugar Ray Norcia (born Stonington, Connecticut, United States) is an American electric and soul blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known for his work with his backing band, The Bluetones, with whom he has released seven albums since 1980.

The BLUETONES

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Sugar Ray Norcia

 

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'Biography'

Norcia started to play his harmonica based blues at high school. Once Norcia had relocated to Providence, Rhode Island, he formed The Bluetones which secured a residence as the house band at a local nightclub. They backed touring acts, such as Big Walter Horton, Big Mama Thornton, Big Joe Turner and Roosevelt Sykes in nearby clubs. During the latter part of the 1970s, the band backed Ronnie Earl before he departed to join Roomful of Blues.

'Sugar Ray Norcia Big Band'

Norcia's solo recordings included the EPs Sugar Ray and the Bluetones (1979); Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters featuring the Sensational Sugar Ray (1982), plus a couple of releases on Rounder Records, Knockout (1989) and Don't Stand In My Way (1991). Don't Stand In My Way was the first release by the 'Bullseye Blues' label. The Bluetones also backed Miki Honeycutt on her initial album, Soul Deep.

In 1991 Norcia himself joined Roomful of Blues as their lead vocalist. They issued three albums with Norcia and undertook extensive touring duties. Norcia also undertook work away from the group. He appeared on a 'Bullseye Blues' album from trombonist Porky Cohen, Rhythm and Bones, (1996) and on the LP Little Anthony and Sugar Ray: Take It From Me, (1994). Also in 1994 Norcia appeared on Otis Grand's Nothing Else Matters album.




'Dualing Harmonicas'



In 1998 Norcia exited from Roomful of Blues, and issued Sweet & Swingin', which featured songs written by Hank Williams, Arthur Alexander and Big Walter Horton; plus a guest appearance from The Jordanaires. In 1999 Norcia participated with James Cotton, Billy Branch and Charlie Musselwhite, on the Grammy Award nominated album, 'Superharps'.

 'Sugar Ray Norcia Big Band'



More recently, Norcia contributed his harmonica playing on records by
 Pinetop Perkins and Doug James, in addition to touring along with the
 'Sugar Ray Norcia Big Band'.

In June 2011, Sugar Ray and the Bluetones released their 8th studio album, "Evening" on Severn Records.

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Until next time, "remember to help keep the blues alive by playin' it at home, at work , in your car, everywhere you are . . ."

MUSICIAN by Night

"Remember to Keep Your Boogie On"
Source And Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Ray_Norcia



The Blues Alley, Jazz Dinner Club

Downtown Georgetown, Washington, DC



The Sign for the Entrance to the
Blues Alley Jazz Dinner Club

Blues Alley Entrance seen from the street
1073 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Washington,DC 20007

Side View of the Entrance to the
Blues Alley Jazz Dinner Club

Front View of the Entrance to the
Blues Alley Jazz Dinner Club



Blues Alley, founded in 1965, is a jazz dinner-and-nightclub in an alley off Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood. As of 2008, exclusively jazz musicians are booked into Blues Alley for approximately 360 nights out of the year.

Over the years many of the world's very greatest jazz musicians have performed at Blues Alley, including Monty Alexander, Mose Allison, Tony Bennett, Ruby Braff, Charlie Byrd, Mel Clement, Buck Clayton, Billy Cobham, Larry Coryell, Roy Eldridge, Maynard Ferguson, Rachelle Ferrell, Ella Fitzgerald, Kenny Garrett, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby Hackett, Roland Hanna, Clancy Hayes, Buck Hill, Earl Hines, Freddie Hubbard, Lurlean Hunter, Phyllis Hyman, Ahmad Jamal, Dr John, Stanley Jordan, Steve Jordan, Stacey Kent, Ramsey Lewis, Les McCann, Taj Mahal, Pat Martino, Wynton Marsalis, Charles Mingus, Mark Murphy, Oscar Peterson, Joshua Redman, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Rushing, Gil Scott-Heron, Charlie Shavers, George Shearing, Wayne Shorter, Maxine Sullivan, Stanley Turrentine, McCoy Tyner, Sarah Vaughan, Grover Washington, Jr., Mary Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Teddy Wilson and Sol Yaged.

Among the several jazz musicians to record a "Live at Blues Alley" album are the late Eva Cassidy and Dizzy Gillespie [featuring tenor saxophonist Ron Holloway], Ahmad Jamal, Ramsey Lewis, Wynton Marsalis, Stanley Turrentine and Grover Washington, Jr.
In 1975 Earl Fatha Hines spent a week, during the afternoons while the club was closed, making an hour-long solo film for British TV entirely in Blues Alley, prominently featuring Frank Hart, Blue's Alley's famous 'clean-up man'.

Terrance Blanchard, will be appearing at the

Blues Alley Jazz Club from

Thursday, August 23rd thru Sunday the 26th.

Blues Alley also has a non-profit jazz arm, the Blues Alley Jazz Society, dedicated to jazz education and outreach for young performers in the local area. Education and outreach programs include the Blues Alley Youth Orchestra and Blues Alley Jazz Summer Camp. Blues Alley honors its most popular performers by allowing them to create dishes and have them as a regular part of the restaurant's menu. Phyllis Hymans jumbo shrimp dish is one of the most popular items on the menu. Not all performers have this honor and it is shared with the greats such as Nancy Wilson and John Williams.

The Blues Alley Jazz Club is a supporter of the JazzFest at Sea,
"The Ultimate Jazz Cruise" from December 1st thru the 11th of 2012. 

Jeff Coffin just appeared at the Blues Alley Jazz Club from

Friday 08/10 thru Sunday 08/12/2012.

Jonathan Butler, (born 10 October 1961, Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa)

 is a singer-songwriter and guitarist.

  He is appearing at the Blues Alley Jazz Club

from Thursday, 11/29 thru Sunday 12/02/2012.

Chris Thomas King,  (born October 14, 1962)
is an American New Orleans, Louisiana based blues musician and actor.
Chris is also appearing at the Blues Alley Jazz Club
on Tuesday, September 11th, 2012

Andre Manga, from Yaounde, Cameroon in West Africa, is best known for his work as Music Director for Manu DiBango and band member with Josh Groban, built his first musical instrument at the age of seven, a pseudo-marimba constructed from bamboo and part of a tree trunk; later designing a guitar with strings made from bicycle brake cables.

Andre will be appearing at the Blues Alley Jazz Club
 on Tuesday, August 28th, 2012.

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Lee Ritenour with his unique Yamaha Silent Guitar
Lee has played the Blues Alley Jazz Club a number of times over the years. 
His last gig there was on April 9th, 2011 and we were lucky enough to catch both of his performances that night.  What a incredible evening . . . 

Lee actually asked my to hold his Gibson Les Paul while he straighten up his cables that were all tangled up at his feet.   WOW !  Like a little kid, hugh?

Me and Lee Ritenour

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If you ever get the opportunity to catch a show at the Blues Alley Jazz Club, do it, you'll really enjoy yourself.  The venue is small and quaint which allows you to be up-close and personal with the artists performing.  The food is great and of course the people are all there to enjoy themselves and have a wonderful time so you don't have to worry about any riff-raff.

"Go for it, you'll really enjoy yourself."

Until next time, "remember to keep the blues playin' in your car, your house, where ever you are . . ." 

"I love good smooth jazz too, so keep an open mind for good ole' blues and smooth jazz; either way, you can't go wrong."

MUSICIAN by Night

"Help Keep The Blues Alive"