RIP
Johnnie Bassett - Oct 9,
1935 to Aug 4, 2012 Detroit
blues guitarist and vocalist
extraordinaireJohnnie
Bassett, died
from complications of liver
cancer on Saturday, August 4 at
Saint John Hospital in Grosse
Pointe, Michigan. He was 76
years old. Born in Marianna,
Florida, Johnnie and his family
moved to Detroit in 1944. He did
his first recordings as a member
of Joe Weaver's band who also
recorded behind
Nolan
Strong & The Diablos,
and
Andre
Williams for
Fortune
Records. He also
played and recorded with the
Miracles
on their 1958 recording of
"Got A
Job." Johnny seemed
to emerge as an artist in his
own right late in his career,
with his great mid '90s
recording work including
Cannonball Records
various artist collection Blues Across America; The
Detroit Scene and his first
CD I Gave My Life To The
Blues on the Dutch
Black
Magic label. He made
further recordings for
Cannonball before switching to
Mack
Avenue Records and
found many awards and
nominations for his work. He
also backed up
Alberta
Adams on her
recordings for Cannonball
Records. He will always be
remembered as one of the the
greatest blues musicians of the
Detroit scene. To see a
great video of Johnnie on TV
singing "A Woman's Got Ways,"
click
here,
and a live performance
of "Bassett Hound Blues," click
here.
A very cool reissue is coming from the fine folks at Stax. They are reissuing the Stevie Ray Vaughn, Albert King concert from 1983. This was a great show, and we all need to pick this disc up as soon as it hit the shelves.
Here is the press release
For immediate release:
On June 30, 2009, the legendary Stax Records label will reissue the digitally remastered version of In Session – the Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughan 1983 live album that reached #1 on Billboard’s blues album chart, selling more than 300,000 units. The reissue includes three sets of liner notes by Fantasy and Stax Records’ Bill Belmont, and journalists Lee Hildebrand and Dan Forte.
Among blues guitarists and fans of the craft, Albert King was the master. Austin, Texas’ Stevie Ray Vaughan, 31 years King’s junior, exploded onto the scene in 1983, first as guitarist on David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” followed by his own smash hit “Pride and Joy.” When the two met onstage at Antone’s in 1973, they formed an ongoing friendship. This bond culminated with the December 1983 live recording titled In Session. This remastered version of the 1983 performance by two blues legends is the only known recording of them playing together.
RIP Mel Brown 10/7/1939-3/20/2009: This note just in from Eric Thom: "Mel Brown has just passed - around 5pm tonight, but details are still pending. He was to open for MavisStaples tonight, but has been in St. Mary’s Hospital in Kitchener fighting to get his breathing back without the use of a machine. This is a huge loss for the blues, and for the blues world in Canada, specifically".Mel Brown was one of the real treasures of blues guitar and piano. He had a long history of spectacular recordings for labels such as Impulse, Bluesway,Antone's, and in recent years, for his home base label of the Electro-Fi records. He also recorded as a sideman for some of the greatest of blues artists, including T-Bone Walker, B.B. King,Bobby "Blue" Bland, Albert Collins, Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Snooky Pryor, Jimmy McGriff, James Cotton,Doug Sahm,Earl Hooker, and CharlesBrown (could a discography be any more fulfilled than that?) Yet another irreplaceable blues great has left us. For MelBrown's complete bio, click here. To see a cool video of Mel Brown performing the swinging instrumental "Crosstown", click here.
Robert Cray on a TV appearance in the 1980s. It is amazing how fast time flies. I can remember the first time I heard this on the radio in Kansas City. I can't believe that this song is over 20 years old! YIKES!!!
I found an update on Jeff Healy from the Digital Journal. Apparently Healy died of Retinal Cancer which is the same cancer that stole his sight when he was a child. It is a sad story indeed, but it also a great story of how someone can overcome a disability and achieve success. Click here to read the Digital Journal article.
I learned about this sad news last night from Illinois blues. Jeff Healy the increadabliy talented blind guitarists who had some great commercial sucess in the 80s has died of cancer. Healy was only 41. Here is the email from Illinois Blues
Jeff Healey March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008
IllinoisBlues.com is saddened by the loss of guitarist Jeff Healey. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
Arguably one of the most recognized blues-rock guitarists of the early 90s and beloved around the world, Jeff Healey passed away in a Toronto hospital today after a long bout with cancer. He was 41. Healey came into the limelight in the early 90s with his Grammy-nominated album for Arista Records See the Light that blended blues with a rock sensibility,topping the charts with the single “Angel Eyes.” Blinded at birth with a rare form of cancer, retino blastoma, Healey became well known after his appearance as part of a bar band and an integral part of the movie soundtrack in Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze. The movie along with the single would propel Jeff Healey and his power trio, the Jeff Healey Band into Canada’s highest music honor the Juno Award for Entertainer of the Year. Healey would go on to release two more albums for Arista that never reached the same success as Light. As the 90’s passed, Healey picked up his love for early jazz from the twenties through the forties culminating in the Jeff Healey Jazz Wizards’ release on Stony Plain last year in which Healey played guitar, drums, and trumpet and had British jazz virtuoso guest star on called It’s Tight Like That. Healey, a family man with a wife and two children who survive, preferred to stay home in Canada in his last years. However, he remained active in the music scene, having a jazz-oriented radio show for Canada’s CBC. At the time of his death he was about to see the release of his first rock/blues album in eight years, Mess of Blues, which is being released in Europe on March 20, and in Canada and the U.S. on April 22. The album was the result of a joint agreement between the German label, Ruf Records, and Stony Plain, the independent Edmonton-based label that has released his three jazz CDs. Early last year, Healey underwent surgery to remove cancerous tissue from his legs, and later from both lungs; aggressive radiation treatments and chemotherapy, however, failed to halt the spread of the disease. Despite his battle with cancer, he undertook frequent tours across Canada with both his blues-based band and his jazz group; he was set for a major tour in Germany and the U.K. and was to be a guest on the BBC’s famed Jools Holland Show in April. Remembered by his musicians — and his audiences — for his wry sense of humour as well as his musical playfulness, Healey was a unique musician who bridged different genres with ease and assurance. Funeral arrangements are pending.
For further information, please contact:
Canada: Richard Flohil 416 351-1323 / 416 997-4788 rflohil@sympatico.ca
Holger Petersen Stony Plain Records 780 468-6423 holger@stonyplainrecords.com
Europe Thomas Ruf. Ruf Records 011 49 (0)36087 / 92200 ruf@rufrecords.de
United States Mark Pucci, MP Media 770-804-9555 mpmedia@bellsouth.net
The Jeff Healey website contributed to this article.
Cool short article on Tommy Castro on the Voice of America website. Also there is a podcast of the Levine Report with an interview with Castro. Click Here!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just recieved a press release from Ariel Publicity about Jason Crigler. Jason is a great guy who has overcome some serious health issues. Check out his myspace HERE, Webpage HERE, and buy his CD HERE.
About The Artist
Persevering through hard times is one of the greatest and most eternal themes of blues and soul music. Jason Crigler, a New York based singer/songwriter and highly sought out guitarist has always found inspiration in that music, but little did he know how that he would endure and win a battle for his life that would give the toughest bluesman a run for his money. His new album, Down Like Hail, is a riveting document of a musician playing for the sheer love of it, but it also is the testament of someone who has played for the biggest stakes of all – his own life. Read a complete biography Biography
Jason made his reputation as one of the most sought after guitarists in New York through his work in the band Goats in Trees (which he formed with his wife Monica) and by playing with such luminaries as Linda Thompson, John Cale, Marshall Crenshaw, Teddy Thompson, Juliana Nash and Edison Woods. In 2003, Jason began to play under his own name, and began the process of recording what would become Down Like Hail. By the middle of 2004, Jason was excited about upcoming plans for recording and touring, and was even more thrilled about becoming a father, as Monica was expecting their first child.
Then things took a drastic turn. Jason recounts: "It was August 4, 2004. I was playing a gig and after the first couple of songs all of a sudden things got really weird – everything sounded and felt very distant. It got so freaky I had to leave the stage. Thank God Monica was there. I couldn't hear anything. I finally lay down on the ground and that's the last thing I remember for a year and a half."
What Jason had was an AVM, which stands for Arterio-Venous Malformation. It is a collection of abnormal blood vessels in the brain, which then burst, like an aneurysm. The threat to Jason's life was very real, and initially, the doctors didn't give Jason much, if any chance to recover. ("They made a lot of doomsday predictions that turned out to be wrong," says Jason.) He went through three different hospitals, various surgeries and even when it became apparent that Jason would survive, there was no guarantee that he'd ever walk again, let alone be a working musician.
It was a grim prognosis for Jason, both medically and financially, but it was then that his friends stepped in. In January of 2005, Norah Jones, who Jason had met and played with for years when they were both sitting in night after night at the Living Room, announced that she was headlining a benefit show for Jason at Irving Plaza, a show that raised over $50,000 for Jason's medical expenses. Norah said about Jason in announcing the show, "Everyone who has ever had the pleasure of playing with Jason will know how special he can make it feel and sound, and what a magical cast he helps to create within all the music he plays."
With support from family and friends, Jason was on his long journey back. And after almost 18 months of intense physical therapy in which he had to struggle to relearn such basic actions as walking and talking, in early of January 2006, Jason was well enough to begin playing guitar again – but that was an immense challenge. As Jason recounts, "Because of the bleeding I had, initially I could barely get my fingers to play. After 10 minutes I would have to stop. I saw a physical therapist, which helped, and by April, I sat in with Teddy Thompson. I played one song – it was tiring, but I did it. And then, on my birthday, May 27th, I was playing with Rachel Loshak, and it all came together. I was overjoyed."
Now, in 2007, Jason has readied the release of Down Like Hail, an album that he recorded prior to his illness, but one that with it's blues spirit, portends much of what Jason endured with his illness. He explains, "To me, it's an album about the blues. There aren't any actual blues songs, but the approach to the album and the influences come out from my love of blues and old soul. It was all recorded live – no overdubs. Me and my guys (Paul Bryan on bass and Dan Rieser on drums) just walked in and put it down."
The album showcases Jason's melodic sensibility and versatility as a player, arranger and singer. There's the punchiness of "Bush and the Tree Song, Part One," and the loping rhythms and laconic feel of the hooky "She Waits For An Answer." Jason's love of American music is present in his version of "Swing Down Sweet Chariot" ("I got it from Elvis's gospel sessions – I don't do it nearly as well as him.") and "What I May Love," which was inspired by Jason trying a Skip James guitar tuning and then writing a song around it.
With the appreciation and hard earned knowledge of how fragile and lucky he is, Jason has now tapped into something previously unavailable to him. He explains, "I feel like I'm playing from a much more authentic place now – I'm a better player now then I was before." As a musician dedicated to constant growth, improvement and communication, Jason Crigler is unique even beyond his considerable skills, for his playing now comes from a struggle and journey that few ever take, let alone emerge from. But after all he's been through, his goals are simpler and perhaps more profound. "I want to play good music continually do it better," he explains, "And I want to hang out with my daughter Ellie J."
One of the legendary blues guitar players that influenced everyone from Robert Johnson to Charlie Christian, Lonnie Johnson was one of the first to introduce the single string guitar solo. He influenced both jazz and blues guitarists, and had a long career that spanned nearly 40 years. To see his videos click on the video box on the right side of the blog titled artist of the week.
I know better, than to be snarky about young British bands after Blues and Snake! Who would think that they would be so sensitive:-) I found this article in the Boston Herald about Back Door Slam that features a young guitarist named Davey Knowles. I don't know if he is the second coming of Hendrix/Stevie Ray, but he does have some good press. To read about him and his band Click HERE.
The Chicago Daily Herald has a cool interview with Shun Kikuta the current lead guitarist for Koko Taylor. Shun was born in Japan, and is considered a blues legend in Japan. Check out his story HERE.
I must admit I don't know a lot about Ed Vadas, in fact I know nothing, but I love the picture of him, and article that goes with it from the Valley Advocate! As the author states their isn't a lot of blues in the valley, but then he rediscovers Ed! Read it HERE.
Chuck Berry was a bluesman before he became better known as one of the originators of rock and roll. Here is a clip from Hail, Hail, Rock And Roll, back in 1986! So if my math is correct Chuck should be 81 today!! Wow! It is amazing how long some of these guys keep on playing the blues. That is the beauty of the blues is there is no age limit. As long as you can sing, you can still play the blues:-)
A nice short interview with Albert King, and a great live recording of Albert King singing As The Years Go Passing By. You certainly can not underestimate the influence of Albert King on a lot of guitar players. Much like BB, he had a very distinctive style, that many blues guitarists, (especially Stevie Ray) picked up and have carried on his style now that Albert is gone. BTW, check out that he calls his guitar Lucy! Hmmmmmmm, perhaps a bit of a dig at his better known rival who also went by King:-)
a nice short article about New Orlean's Mem Shannon from Beach Connection net. Mem has gone from Taxi driver, to traveling bluesman! Read all about it HERE.
I was checking out my friend Marcus's website Blues Masters, and I ran across this new blues artist Erja Lyytinen. Erja is from Finland, and she is hot! I mean her guitar playing!
anyway, she has a few videos on youtube, so I found one that I think everyone will like. check it out
