Claudia Swartz In Atlanta

received an email from Claudia Swartz letting me know that she is relocating to Atlanta. She is one of those talented artists that also is well organized and tirelessly promotes the blues. Here is an article about her in NEXT! Magazine Click HERE to read all about it. To check out her myspace page click HERE.

Taylor Hicks: Gonna Move

It is tough finding a decent recording of this song, however, their seems to be a lot of versions of this floating around the net!! This is a nice soul tune by Taylor Hicks

Bob Corritore Newsletter

March 23, 2008

• Bob Porter Feature Interview Tonight on Bob’s Radio Show: Tune in this evening for a four-hour interview that Bob Corritore conducted with the legendary producer/radio host, Bob Porter. This show will air during the last four hours of Bob Corritore’s five hour radio show. Bob Porter was in town this week, and he and Bob Corritore got together for the interview on Thursday, which was pre-taped. Those familiar with Bob Porter’s highly respected show, Portraits in Blue, know well Bob Porter’s articulate vocal delivery and knowledge of the subject. This interview will focus on Bob Porter as a producer and reissuer. Throughout the course of these four hours, you will hear that great theme song that starts each Portraits in Blue show, a great 60s remake of Jimmy Forrest's “Bolo Blues” (from the Prestige album, Out Of The Forrest). Then you will hear selections from sessions produced by Bob Porter, including Helen Humes, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (with Roomful of Blues), Big Joe Turner (also with Roomful of Blues), Charles Earland, Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff, Houston Pearson, Rusty Bryant, and others interspersed with sets from the Atlantic and Savoy vaults that Bob Porter was intimately involved in reissuing. When listening to Bob Porter’s Portraits in Blue, you would think that the articulate reading and anecdotes of this material was scripted; so it was interesting to Bob Corritore to see that Bob Porter had all of that information at the tip of his tongue with an amazing ability to tell the story off the cuff. Listeners may hear Bob Corritore’s KBA-Award-winning radio show, Those Lowdown Blues, anywhere in the world (real time Sunday nights from 6pm-11pm Phoenix time) via web streaming by clicking here, or on KJZZ in Phoenix at 91.5 FM in Phoenix, Arizona, 89.5 in Cottonwood, 90.1 in Prescott, 98.9 in Tucson, and 99.1 in Kingman.
• Dave Riley and Bob Corritore to Perform Saturday Night at Prankster’s Too: Come see the BMA-nominated team of Dave Riley and Bob Corritore on Saturday, March 29, 2008 as they perform as a duet in an intimate, neighborhood bar setting of Pranksters Too at 7919 E. Thomas Rd. Ste. 102, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. Music starts at 9pm, admission is free. For more information, call (480)990-1114.
• San Diego Trip Recap: This weekend’s trip to San Diego highlighted that town's great local blues scene. Friday night, Bob performed at a CD release party for San Diego’s secret jewel, Tomcat Courtney. Bob produced and played harmonica on Tomcat’s new CD, Downsville Blues, which will be released nationally on Blue Witch Records on May 20, 2008. Tomcat is greatly loved and highly respected in his own home base, but is an obscurity to blues lovers outside of his community. Tomcat was in great form, and his performance was a reaffirmation of his simply amazing voice, great songwriting, down-home blues guitar, and remarkable showmanship. When Tomcat plays, it’s nothing but the straight and natural blues, done to perfection. The band consisted of Tomcat Courtney on vocals and guitar, Chris James and Patrick Rynn, Kurt Kalker, and Bob. In attendance were Michael Kinsman, the president of Blues Lovers United of San Diego, Bob’s old friend, Rich Pietras, who Bob knew from the years Rich spent managing and booking Smokey Wilson, John "Juke" Logan, Mighty Joe Milsap from The Fremonts, Nena Anderson (who took the cover shot for the CD and performed a couple of numbers with the band in fine voice), Darlene Grimes, and many others. Bob finally got a chance to meet Tomcat’s lovely wife, JoJo. Bob was very touched by all the people who went out of their way to thank him for producing this long overdue record, which we hope will give Tomcat the international attention he certainly deserves. The next day, Bob played as one of the many acts featured at the Ninth Annual Spring Harmonica Festival Benefit. Bob met so many wonderful harmonica players and blues musicians from the San Diego area. It seemed like everywhere you turned, someone had a harmonica in their hand. The lineup included Rachelle Danto, Mark Abbott, Dan Byrnes, Vince Estrada, Billy Watson, "Harmonica" John and Lance, Ken Shoppmeyer, Budd & The Unknown Harmonica Players Jam, Bob Corritore & Johnny Dyer, John "Juke" Logan, The Fremonts, Mark Bukich, and Chet's Jam Finale. Bob’s portion of the show was really a tribute to Bob’s harmonica mentor, Johnny Dyer, one of the greatest old school harmonica players living today. Johnny and Bob switched off playing harmonicas throughout the set backed by Chris James, Patrick Rynn, and Kurt Kalker. These days Johnny has developed into a role of singing classic Chicago Blues numbers and having other harmonica players blow the harp parts. Some of the songs performed were “Act Like You Love Me”, “Blow Wind Blow”, “Hoochie Coochie Man”, “I’m A Howlin’ Wolf”, and others. The set was warmly received and the love between teacher and student was apparent to all who saw. Special thanks to festival organizers/founders Chet Cannon, Budd "The Banker" Willis, and "Harmonica" John Frazer. Also thanks to Harmonica Zack and Steve Arredondo for helping with CD sales. Of note was the great booth set up by harmonica collector John Whiteman, with his vast collection of vintage and unusual harmonicas on display at his booth. Photos of harmonica greats were on display over the stage, including Little Walter, Jimmy Reed, Big Walter, both Sonny Boys, Kim Wilson, and others. For scans of the event program, click here (page 1, page 2). Much appreciation to the great community of musicians and blues fans in San Diego who were there performing at and supporting this event.

Delmark Records Update

Delmark New Blues Releases soon!!- Street date - April 22, 2008

* Dave Specter, Live in Chicago, on Delmark DVD- 1794 and CD - DE 794, with special guests Jimmy Johnson, Tad Robinson, and Sharon Lewis - www.davespecter.org
- Specter is definitely one of Chicago's best guitarists- blues, jazz, funk, soul.- heavy grooves!! (You like Otis Rush, Kenny Burrell, and early Leo Nocentelli?) Not only do you get Dave's signature instrumentals, the new release has not one or two, but 3 special guests! Jimmy "Bar Room Preacher" Johnson and Specter sound so great together- you can tell they really feed off each other's unique styles. Vocalist/harp player Tad "Mr. Blue-Eyed Soul" Robinson is one of the best soul/blues singers anywhere and he and Dave have worked together for years. If you don't already know Sharon "Texas Fire" Lewis, you won't forget her after hearing her original performances on this fantastic new release- one of Chicago's best female blues singers.
Dave Specter's "Live in Chicago" DVD/CD Release Parties!
Wed, May 21: Buddy Guy's Legends, 9:30-1:00, Featuring Tad Robinson & many special guests.
Thurs, May 22: SPACE (Dave's new club!) Featuring Tad Robinson & many special guests., 9:00-?, SPACE = Society for Preservation of Arts & Culture in Evanston, 1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston, IL

* MISSISSIPPI HEAT, Hattiesburg Blues, (Delmark CD - DE 795), with special guests Lurrie Bell and Carl Weathersby -
www.mississippiheat.net
This very underrated Chicago blues band is led by harp innovator/ band leader Pierre LaCocque and dynamic female vocalist Inetta Visor, along with their fantastic new guitarist Giles Corey (check out his guitar and vocals on his spotlight song!) Chris "Hambone" Cameron on keys (including clavinet) and the ubiquitous Kenny Smith on drums. Special guests besides heavies Lurrie Bell and Carl Weathersby are guest vocalist, Devin Thompson, and latin percussionist Ruben Alvarez and the Chicago Horns (Hank Ford, Bill McFarland, and Kenny Anderson) - making for a very full sounding (but not cluttered) blues recording, with some unique twists!
DELMARK CD release party for Mississippi Heat's Hattiesburg Blues
FRIDAY, MAY 30TH, BUDDY GUY'S LEGENDS with special guest Carl Weathersby!!


We are especially excited and proud about these two new blues releases for Spring. They are both wonderful examples of blues recordings that are extremely diverse, each with multiple vocalists sharing the spotlight, both anchored by two of the best and hardest working Chicago Blues bands on today's scene. Almost like ol' school blues/funk/soul revues with everyone struttin' their unique talents with a few numbers while the main band rips it up behind them. You're gonna be blown away with some of the talent here, some old timers and some fresh faces as well.


Delmark 55th Anniv. All Star blues party at Buddy Guy's Legends on March 7th was an absolute blast!

A big heartfelt thank you to all of the artists and fans who performed and attended and gave their support to Bob Koester and Delmark on this historic musical milestone. A very special thanks to guitarist Dave Specter and Delmark's GM, Steve Wagner for making sure the night ran smoothly, acting as MC's for the who's who of Chicago blues artists that performed! Also a very special thank you to the staff of Buddy Guy's Legends! Considering how many artists were involved, the show flowed really well with the all of the artists playing their heart out, and I think we all had a ball to say the least! To quote our friend, guitarist Scott Cable, "One of the best things about the night was that everyone's egos seemed to have been checked at the door- everyone was supportive!" If you can't wait for the DVD to come out, in the meantime you can check out the many great photos on the Blindman Blues Forum website. Thanks to photographers, esp Bill Steber, Jen Wheeler, Brat, Victoria...

The house band(s) who worked so hard all night providing perfect support:
Dave Specter with Harlan Terson (bass), Brother John Kattke (keys) and Marty Binder (drums)
And for the majority of the night - Kenny Smith (drums), Roosevelt 'Mad Hatter" Purifoy (keys) and the always smiling Bob Stroger (bass) with Lurrie
Bell handling rhythm and lead guitar like no one else can.

A list of the Delmark artists who performed:
Dave Specter, Jimmy Johnson, The Big DooWopper, Aaron Moore, Johnny B. Moore (!), Little Arthur Duncan, Lurrie Bell, Shirley Johnson, Eddie Shaw, Tail Dragger, Zora Young, and Byther Smith.
We also had special guests Nick and Kate Moss in fantastic support on guitar and bass-especially backing up The Big DooWopper (wow, was DooWopper having a ball, y'all!) One of the toughest harp players of all, Billy Branch, graced us with his formidable presence on many songs. Branch and our friend Scott Cable (guitarist/producer with Carey Bell, Nappy Brown, Eddie Kirkland) played well with Zora Young (a turning heads guitar solo from Scott!) and Lurrie Bell. Tail Dragger's set was one of the many highlights, with his outstanding regular guitarist Kevin Shanahan and the underrated Davin "Big D "Erikson and Billy Branch on harp, tearing it up hypnotic Wolf style! Our dear friend and Back Scratcher rhythm guitarist extraordinaire Rick Kreher brought down the house with the charismatic crowd pleaser, the down home house rocker, Little Arthur Duncan. I always enjoy the down home raw gritty blues of both Little Arthur Duncan and Tail Dragger, and both of their sets surpassed my expectation.
There were so many musical highlights to mention (and remember) but a few personal ones for me: the ageless vocalist/guitarist Jimmy Johnson (is he really almost 80!) along with guitarist Dave Specter. I wish those 2 funk blues masters played together all the time! The premier blues saxophonist/singer Eddie Shaw sounded really great in his set as well- no one knew he had just left the hospital (same with Tail Dragger!) Eddie has the most distinctive sound on that horn, honkin' Blues saxophone at its best. Delmark's blues piano pounders were well represented by the criminally underrated vocalist/pianist Aaron Moore (still sounding great, even in his late '80's!!) and the wild and raw blues/gospel/soul stylings of street musician Big DooWopper! It was a special treat to have both Zora Young and Shirley Johnson grace the stage with their beauty, charisma, and powerful, yet sensitive vocals. Byther Smith closed out the highly successful night, playing the most intense BB King style you can hear these days.
The big surprise of the night was the return of vocalist/guitarist Johnny B. Moore, who had suffered a stroke a few years ago that severely affected him and his playing. He has improved vastly, and although he is definitely not the Johnny B from before (have you heard his incredible playing on the Willie Kent LP from Big Boy Records, "I'm What You Need" from '89- still not on CD?!), he sounded pretty damn good, especially his vocals. It is very encouraging how his health keeps getting better and better- we wish him the best in his recovery. We send our good friend, blues guitar tone king Jimmy Dawkins get well wishes as he was unable to attend due to illness. He sent his best and really wished he could have been there to celebrate.
Bob Koester and Buddy "Friendly Chap" Guy accepted the Grammy Hall of Fame award for Junior Wells' Hoodoo Man Blues on Delmark, arguably the greatest Chicago blues recording of all time. When Vice Chair of the Recording Academy/Grammy rep and Chicago jazz critic Neil Tesser presented the award, Buddy amusingly exclaimed "We were drunk as a Motherf*&(#er" during the Hoodoo Man sessions. Bob made the comment what a pleasure it was working with Junior Wells and what a nice guy he was, which Buddy jokingly disagreed. Bob K was quite moved by the mayor's proclamation of March 7th being declared Delmark Records Day in Chicago!! Thank you to Barry Dolins from the Mayor's Office of Special Events and Mayor Daley!
Thanks to all the musicians and movers and shakers of the blues scene who attended (forgive me if I missed you):
Lonnie Brooks, Scott Barretta, Michael Frank, Tom Marker, James Porter, Guy King, Justin O'Brien, Dick Shurman, Bruce Iglauer, Steve Sharp, Scott Dirks, Dave Waldman, Grana Louise, Gerry Hundt, Bob Kieser, Steve Tomashefsky, Did i see the obscure Delmark artist AL"WIld Card" Miller in the house?

If you get a chance, check out the April issue of DOWNBEAT with a wonderful feature story on Little Arthur Duncan by Chicagoan Aaron Cohen: WORKING BLUES - "I've been making neckbone money and I need some turkey or steaks" - find out what this blues purist has to say!

Keep it goin' Bob Koester- you are truly an inspiration and a great American Music hero!

Kevin Johnson
Delmark.com
773 539 5001

Bob Dorr And The Blue Band Update

By Bob Dorr

Today I am thinking that an Iowa driver's license is one of the "best buys" on the planet. More on that after the facts for the mammels...

It's the bad news and the good news regarding tomorrow night's (Fri) Iowa Public Radio celebration in Ottumwa. The good news: The IPR-Classical frequency will hit the air Friday morning, Mar. 21, as announced. The bad news: The IPR-Alternative Music frequency (the stream that airs the shows I produce) will not. The good news: it WILL hit the air asap, so The Show Goes On! Long story/short: Some of the extremely technical (knitpicky) requirements of the FCC granted license would not EXACTLY be right, so the IPR lawyers thought (since we've been waiting for this frequency to be granted for nearly 10 years!) that we should have everything EXACTLY right before hitting the airwaves so that this long awaited frequency could not be taken away from us. Good things come to those who wait! Anyway, the Blue Band show will go on and now IPR has decided to tape the show to air it on the first day that the frequency DOES go on! So join us at the Bridge View Center (http://www.bridgeviewcenter.com) in Ottumwa and be on the recording! The event/meet & greet starts at 5:30p, Blue Band plays 7-9p, Uncle Al will join Heath in the horn section and Mr. Phil will be along to fine tune the sound...

Next week, Saturday Mar. 29, join us at the Riverside Casino, south of Iowa City. We play the show lounge 8:30-midnight. We'll also be celebrating Pinkstuff and Mike's anniversary so BRING CAKE!...

We added another 4 dates to the calendar this last week. We've still got ALOT of open Saturdays in April and June. Make me an offer we can't refuse...

I'm just not getting the hang of this My Space thing. What's up with "ranking" your friends? I have a nearly 7 year old E-Mac. It's programs and memory (like it's owner) are failing. It crashes every time I ask to "see all my friends" It no longer even let's me "approve my friends" without giving me grief (kinda like my mom when I was 16) Anyway, bear with me while I try and figure this out...

Mr. Phil and I are scheduled to spend a little time with the New Year's Eve recordings during the next two weeks, expect to hear some of those tunes on that My Space page as well as the Listen To The Band page on our website. It's a GIANT sound: 3 horns, Hammond organ, two (sometimes 3) guitar players, two drummers, harmonica, and lots of voices. The Hotel Fort Des Moines has invited us to do it again this year. Blue Reunion II-NYE 2008!...

OK, the driver's license thing. First, my advice is to NEVER let your driver's license expire. The state of Iowa is EXTREMELY lenient in extending the expiration date (you get the rest of the month of your birthday PLUS the entire next month!) but I still didn't remember (there's that memory thing I was talking about earlier) (what was I talking about?...oh, yeah) So I was cruisin' down Hwy 330 heading to Des Moines last Saturday afternoon for the tent gig at the Twisted Parrot (that was alot of fun wasn't it?) (I always love it when the crowd is young enough that beautiful young women come up to me and say..."you were always my mom's favorite band, she always used to drag us to the State Fair to see you"...) Anyway, while I was driving, I started to think about how long we've kept The Blue Band going and how I wasn't getting any younger and I just had another birthday two months ago and... HOLY SHIT, I wonder if my driver's license is still valid...no, the expiration date was Jan. 12, 2008. I was FREAKED!! What if I was stopped because a tail light was out or any of the other reasons you can get pulled over?! Let's see, a band truck, being driven by a guy without a valid license. YIKES! Paranoia strikes deep. But that was just the beginning. I got home without being stopped, but the driver's license station was not open on Sunday. Nor Monday. What if they ask me how I got out there to renew my expired license?! Apparently, being closed for two days in a row makes Tuesday THE BUSIEST DAY FOR LICENSE RENEWAL STATIONS! I had to stand in line in order to find out what line I should be standing in. Then, because my license had expired 17 days beyond the lenient two month extension, I had to take the written test! YIKES! It's been nearly 40 years since I had to take a drivers test! These days it's by touch screen and it gives you a running total of how you're doing. You're allowed to miss seven questions and still pass. I had missed 6 with 9 questions still to go. YIKES!! Fortunately I guessed correctly eight of the last nine times and qualified for the license renewal (whew) That's when I found out what a bargain an Iowa Driver's license is (seriously) You are granted FIVE years of driving privilages as well as having a proof of identy card for $23! Five years of driving for less than $5 A YEAR??!! Cool. So check your license, you don't want to take the test, it was drivin' me crazy!...

I'm doing the Saturday night Backtracks Rock'n'Roll history show live again this week, 7-10p, check in at 800-772-2440, ext. 5, listen anywhere on the planet at www.kuniradio.org...

See ya on the Blue Highway (I'll be the licensed driver in the big white truck) I hope yer bunny is good to ya this Easter, Happy Spring (spring has officially been here for nearly 3 hours now) (celebrate by bringing CAKE!) Rub yer washboard, and remember we love you. Bob Dorr & The Blue Band

The Politics Of Music

Here is an interesting article forwarded to me from a friend of the Central Iowa Blues Society. You always here the good talk from city big wigs about the importance of bringing people into town, and having them spend money. The Central Iowa Blues Society has done this for years for the city, but according to this article from Cityview, there seems to be some strange things going on, which may not be helpful to our good friends in Des Moines.

Civic Skinny

While John and Mary Pappajohn may have intended to beautify the Western Gateway Park when they announced in January that they were donating 16 pieces of world-class sculptures valued at $30 million to create a sculpture garden in the downtown park, Skinny hears their philanthropic ways have had some unintended consequences on the local music scene. For starters, the city’s decision to begin construction of the sculpture garden the week after the Greater Des Moines Music Coalition hosts its debut 80/35 music festival the weekend of July 4 has raised eyebrows among insiders in the local music scene who smell nepotism. The non-profit DMMC’s festival not only has the support of the city’s advisory music commission — which convinced the city council to give the DMMC $50,000 for the fest — but it also has the financial backing of several downtown players like BRAVO and the Iowa Arts Council in the form of tens of thousands of dollars in additional grants, and Skinny hears that Park and Recreation officials don’t want to jeopardize the city’s investment in the event by starting construction beforehand. That’s good news if you’re part of the 80/35 event, but bad news if you’re a member of the Central Iowa Blues Society, which had proof that it had reserved the park for its second annual Gateway Blues Festival to be held Labor Day weekend, but was told by one Park and Recreation official — just days before the Pappajohn announcement — that the reservation “had been lost.” The loss of the park and the reservation has forced CIBS to scramble to find another site, Skinny hears, and has put not only the event, but also CIBS — which has helped generate interest and money in downtown for years by hosting festivals there — in financial jeopardy because the group’s annual festival is one of its biggest fundraisers. “We were the first group to make an investment in the park for live music, and now we have to start again,” said a CIBS official. Skinny suspects the group will rally to host an even bigger event this Labor Day, but don’t look for it to be held downtown. Meanwhile, Skinny wonders how much taxpayer money will be wasted to redesign the park, which was originally fitted with power sources so it could host concerts.

Sounds like business as usual for Des Moines. Short term thinking, PO the people who have worked hard for years, or worse take them for granted, and they move away. It sometimes amazes me how anything gets done around here! (hey if its helps any, things work the same way up here too:-)

Blues Soceity News From Illinois Blues

Some Blues Society news from Illinois Blues, and also a plug for the upcoming blues symposium in suburban Chicago this may.

Blues Society News

Send your Blues Society's BIG news or Press Release to: Max of 125 words, Text or Word file preferred. Illinois Central Blues Club Springfield, IL - Blue Mondays Held at the Alamo 115 N 5th St, Springfield, IL (217) 523-1455 every Monday 8:30pm $2 cover March 24 - Scott Holt Band, March 31 - Suzy and the Smokers, April 7 - The Blu Tonz, April 14 - Pleasure Chest with Robert Sampson, April 21 - Bryan Lee, April 28 - Kilborn Alley Blues band Mississippi Action for Community Education - Greenville, MS 31st Annual Mississippi Delta Blues & Heritage Festival - Poster Contest. (MACE) is accepting entries for the poster design for the 31st Annual Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival to be held on September 20, 2008. The theme for this year’s festival is: "Rollin’ Goin’ Home to da Blues". Winning entry will receive $500 cash. Entry deadline is April 30, 2008. Mail entries to: Mississippi Delta Blues Festival Poster Contest, 119 South Theobald Street, Greenville, MS 38701. Contact William Brown at 662-335-3523 or macetop@bellsouth.net for more info. Visit www.deltablues.org , for contest rules and application form. The Grafton Blues Association - Grafton, WI The Grafton Blues Association will host it’s annual Blues in the Schools and Scholarship fundraiser with the Legends of Chicago Blues! Pinetop Perkins - Hubert Sumlin – Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and Bob Stroger will take the stage on March 29, 2008 at Circle B Recreation Center in Cedarburg Wisconsin. More information is available on our website www.graftonblues.org

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Thursday, May 22 - Saturday, May 24, 2008 http://www.dom.edu/blues Email: bluesandthespirit@dom.edu Phone: (708) 524-6050

A Symposium on the Legacy of Blues & Gospel Music Dominican University (located just minutes from the Chicago Loop) hosts the Blues and the Spirit Symposium, emphasizing the heritage of African-American Chicago and exploring the shared roots of Blues and Gospel. Panels and presentations with Timuel Black, Portia Maultsby, Horace Maxile, Paul Garon, Sterling Plumpp, Gayle Dean Wardlow, Barry Dolins, Jim O’Neal, Marie Dixon, Bob Davis, Bob Koester, Fernando Jones, Bob Marovich, David Whiteis, Scott Barretta, Salim Muwakkil, Sandra Pointer-Jones, Suzanne Flandreau, Bob Riesman, Stephanie Shonekan, Morris Phibbs, Bob Jones, Billy Boy Arnold, Stan Mosley and others Blues Workshop with Billy Branch and Gospel Workshop with James Abbington Multimedia Presentations, Raeburn Flerlage Photography and Outsider Art Exhibits Musical Appearances by Larry Taylor, James Wheeler and Bob Stroger Bronzeville Tour with a stop at the Blues Heaven Foundation, located in the former Chess Records Chicago Blues Club Crawl Otis Clay and Sharon Lewis in Concert CLICK HERE to see schedule and registration information

Bob Corritore Newsletter

March 20, 2008

• Two great gigs in San Diego this weekend: Bob Corritore heads down to San Diego this weekend for two spectacular gigs (see below).
• Friday, March 21, 2008 - Tomcat Courtney San Diego CD Release Party: Bob Corritore will appear at Patrick's II in San Diego with Tomcat Courtney for a Pre-CD Release Party. Tomcat's new CD on Blue Witch called Downsville Blues. CDs will be available here for the very first time, and the actual street release date for the CD is May 20, 2008. This is Tomcat's home base, and everyone is excited about this new record. Music starts at 9pm. The band will consist of Tomcat Courtney, Chris James, Patrick Rynn, Kurt Kalker (of The Fremonts), and Bob Corritore. Cover charge is $3 from 8-9pm, and $5 after 9pm.
• Saturday, March 22, 2008 - Spring Harp Fest: Bob Corritore will appear on a set with Johnny Dyer, Chris James, Patrick Rynn, and Kurt Kalker at the ninth annual Spring Harmonica Festival Benefit - Saturday March 22, 2008 at Harry Griffen Park Amphitheater - 9550 Milden St., La Mesa, California 91942-4115. The fest runs from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, and Bob will play at the 3pm set. Also on the festival are The Fremonts, John "Juke" Logan, Billy Watson Band, Kenny Shoppmeyer and Delta Heat, Dan Byrnes, Mark Bukich, Rachelle Danto, Chet and The Committee, Lance Diekmann, Vincent Estrada, Mark Abbott, Tim Shoup, James Brown, Ric Lee, Budd & The Unknowns, Harmonica John Frazer's, The Spring Harp Fest All Star Volunteer Jam, and more!. Admission is free. Bob looks at Johnny as a father figure of blues harmonica. They are dear friends, and always enjoy playing together. Bob and Johnny will be switching off on harp, and Johnny will sing a number of Muddy and Jimmy Rogers songs, with Bob blowin' behind him. Thanks to Chet Cannon for putting this together.
• Dave Riley & Bob Corritore to play the Cognac Blues Passions Festival in France! This just confirmed: Dave Riley and Bob Corritore will be traveling to Cognac, France to Perform at one of Europe's most heralded blues festivals: The Cognac Blues Festival! The festival takes place July 22 - 27, 2008. Very exciting! More details forthcoming.
• Delta Groove Showcase Additions: This just in from Delta Groove: Added to an already amazing lineup for the 3rd Annual Delta Groove Showcase are Jason Ricci & The New Blood, Mike Zito, and Marco Pandolfi (a great blues harmonica player from Italy). Previously announced acts are The Mannish Boys (Kid Ramos, Finis Tasby, Randy Chortkoff, Richard Innes, Franck Goldwasser, Bobby Jones, Tom Leavey, and Kirk Fletcher), The Insomniacs, The Jackie Payne/Steve Edmondson Band, the amazing Phillip Walker, plus Mikey Junior, John Black, Lionel Young, the Blue Witch Records showcase set with Big Pete Pearson and The Rhythm Room All-Stars, Dave Riley & Bob Corritore, and Tomcat Courtney, Debbie Davies, Candye Kane, and Tony Braunagel. This party happens on May 9, 2008 at Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi. This party happens the day after The Blues Foundation's Blues Music Awards, which take place on May 8, 2008 in Tunica, Mississippi. For more information on the 3rd Annual Delta Groove Showcase, click here.
• Unreleased Muddy, Wolf, Spann, Spoon, Sonny & Brownie, and Sonny Boy from Chris Barber's vaults: British Jazz trombonist Chris Barber was responsible for bringing some of the greatest American blues artists to Europe during the late 50s and early 60s. These concerts were often recorded by Barber, who held on to these masters for years. Finally, these releases are soon to be available on the Blues Legacy Label with 3 CD volumes. These have just been released in Europe, and will soon be available in the US. Artists include Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Champion Jack Dupree, Louis Jordan, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Howlin' Wolf (with Hubert Sumlin) and Jimmy Witherspoon. To read more about these releases, click here.
• Photos Posted from Santa Barbara Blues Society Event: Thanks to Steve Daniels and the Santa Barbara Blues Society for having Big Pete Pearson and The Rhythm Room All-Stars perform last Saturday at Warren Hall. So many new friends were made, and a good time was had by all. Photographer Ted Rhodes's images from this night are already posted on the SBBS site and can be seen by clicking here.

LB Lenoir: Vietnam Blues

JB was a brave man. Not only did he tackle issues of race in his songs, but he also took on the Viet Nam War. The war was not popular in the African American community due to high percentage of deaths suffered among blacks then the rest of the population. African Americans made up 11% of the population when 15% of the deaths in Viet Nam were black.

JB Lenoir: Alabama Blues

I think this is a fan video, that is taken from the blues series on PBS. This is another great song about conditions in Alabama, before the civil rights era.

JB Lenoir: The Whale Has Swallowed Me

This is from the PBS blues mini series form about five years ago. It captures the world of pre civil rights, and features the haunting music of the great JB Lenoir.

Obama Speech From Youtube

I am not in the mood to post the blues tonight. In fact, I have a bad case of the blues. I have the blues because I have watched, and read endless rants about Barack Obama, and the speech. It bothers me because I still don't think that white America gets it. How is one mans rant a danger to America, or could be the downfall of a presidential candidate? What control do you have over your preacher? Do you leave your church, or your religion? Is this what American has become?? Is it that our cherished ideas of freedom of religion, to believe and worship as you please are no longer true. That you must pass a litmus test, or belong to an acceptable church to be president?? Is that what the founding fathers really wanted??

This is not only about race, but it is also about religion. Our founding fathers would be appalled at the lack of understanding that our people, the press and politicians have about what our nation truly stands for. One of those basic rights is freedom of religion. This idea did not start with us, but was born of the Enlightenment. The great philosophers of the Enlightenment shared one great universal idea, that everyone should have the right to practice or not practice the religion that they pleased. Our founding fathers saw the battles of religion that had torn Europe apart, and how religion and the state worked together to stop change. In the eyes of the founders, One religion (a state sanctioned religion) equaled tyranny, two religions led to civil war, while many religions led to peace. This is what freedom of religion means, that everyone is entitled to believe as they may. Anyone who thinks otherwise, and seeks document from the colonies that predate the founding documents are looking at papers that pushed theocracy, and created the same tyranny that people were escaping from Europe. The other important topic is a litmus test. Mitt Romney, unfortunately found out about litmus tests. Mormonism didn't pass with the Republican party. Of course, there was no actual limitation to Romney, but the press, and his political enemies stirred up so many stories about Romney and his religion that it had a negative effect on his campaign. The reality is that the founders fought the idea of a litmus test. Many people wanted to make sure that only those of a predetermined faith could hold office, but our founders made sure that, that didn't happen. It makes you think, what chance would Thomas Jefferson, or John Adams have of being president today, when neither was a Christian, and both were deist. I would say neither would be in politics, and it would be a great loss to our country.

It is true that the question is also about race. I think I have hit on the topic several times on this blog about what it was like for African Americans in America before the Civil Rights Acts, of the 1960s. It was a world of Segregation, and second class citizenship. They were told where to eat, where to drink, where to go to the bathroom. They were only allowed to live in selected neighborhoods, and in many places, where they had the legal right to vote, their vote didn't count either because of poll taxes, or literacy tests. Some believe that this happened only in the south, but that is not true. In the south they put it on paper, but in the north it still happened, they just didn't make it the law. I wrote a paper about Des Moines Iowa, a place that had a reputation as a great place for African Americans to live in, but it still was segregated. It had red-lined neighborhoods, black schools, and places in downtown Des Moines that had segregated lunch counters like the south. Don't you think if you grew up in that world that you would be bitter too??? As I said in an earlier post, I was not shocked, or angered by what the Rev. Wright said. I know many people of his age that feel that way, and rightly so. ( even the talk about HIV, has a small basis in truth. there was the Tuskegee experiment where African American men were purposely left untreated with late stage syphilis. This went unreported until recent times. I don't believe that HIV has been purposely introduced into the African American community, but you can see why people think it was)

Things have improved, and we have come a long ways in the last 50 years. However, what has happened over the last few days have really turned the clock back. The ill advised, and uneducated comments on TV have made me ill. Perhaps part of the problem is that the reporters are too young to know what life was like back then, but perhaps if they talked to some people who lived in those days they would realize just how embarrassing this is and what fools we look like to the rest of the world, and yes the whole world is watching.