Last night as I drove home from work, I was feeling a bit ill and very tired, sort of like serious jet lag. I put in my CD player a recording of the Pentangle live in concert from the Royal Festival Hall, June 29, 1968...and I was already starting to feel a bit better.
I've been a big fan of the Pentangle and all of the individual members too for over 30 years, but I don't recall the last time I gave them a good listen in the past year. So last night as I was negotiating the tricky turns of the newly built but badly mis-planned bridge near the big Ramat Gan Mall complex, it was a great delight to once again hear the delicate tones of Jacqui McShee singing "Hear My Call" and "Way Behind the Sun". As her voice gives way to the rest of the band in improvisation mode, I recalled the greatness of this ensemble - who took Elizabethan style Folk songs and zapped them with pure Jazz and Blues feeling.
The bowed Bass riff that Danny Thompson plays at the start of "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" invokes a real Blues feeling, as does the rhythm that is later established by the rest of the band - this song is probably 300 years old or more, but they have made it totally 20th century.
As I turn into the underpass that leads me home - only about 2 km left to go, I hear Bert Jansch's unmistakable voice begin singing "A Woman Like You" with his lovely acoustic guitar sounds in the background. Jansch is one of the first virtuoso guitarists that I ever became enamored with, and his playing can still make the hairs rise on the back of my neck to this day.
It's such a pleasure to be able to listen to the Pentangle again in this digital age where so much of the recent musical offerings seem to be a rehashing of yesterday's commercial trash over and over again. So go out today and get yourself a Pentangle album!!!
Eli Dr. Blues Marcus - Blues, Blues, Blues, and some other stuff too...
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Root Doctor - "Change Our Ways"
I just received the new CD from Root Doctor Band a couple of days ago, so this morning I gave it a "test drive" so to speak on my way to work.
It was a fairly normal day today, with moderate traffic as I got onto the highway. But of course, the laws of "Carma" - the cosmological laws of driving and traffic, have a way of balancing out your experience sometimes. What you gain in a break in traffic at one part of your journey, you certainly will lose as you encounter a minor jam somewhere further on up the road.
Root Doctor are an interesting band of mostly young Blues musicians fronted by a more veteran vocalist named Freddie Cunningham. Cunningham has one of those soulful voices that have a rich rounded tone and deep vibrato or sustain in his technique. He wouldn't stand out that much among old style R&B/ Soul singers, but in the Blues idiom it adds a breath of fresh air and a different take on the Blues.
Root Doctor are a tight band with a good dose of Soul and Funk in their playing, but they can certainly prove their mainstream Blues roots as well. Their previous album from last year (Been A Long Time Coming - Big O Records 2406)impressed me as a fresh new band on the scene, and this new CD just keeps up that good feeling with a selection of original tunes, and some interesting covers.
One such cover, "Soul Shine" by Warren Haynes, is a very pleasant surprise since I am a very big fan of Warren and his band Gov't Mule, and Root Doctor do a fine cover of this inspirational song.
Well, I finally made it through that last surprise traffic jam just 800 meters from the office, and managed to slip into the parking lot without event as I flipped to the first track on the CD - "Blues Will Take Care of You", written by their keyboard man Jim Alfredson, a very nice Blues song to carry with me through my day...
It was a fairly normal day today, with moderate traffic as I got onto the highway. But of course, the laws of "Carma" - the cosmological laws of driving and traffic, have a way of balancing out your experience sometimes. What you gain in a break in traffic at one part of your journey, you certainly will lose as you encounter a minor jam somewhere further on up the road.
Root Doctor are an interesting band of mostly young Blues musicians fronted by a more veteran vocalist named Freddie Cunningham. Cunningham has one of those soulful voices that have a rich rounded tone and deep vibrato or sustain in his technique. He wouldn't stand out that much among old style R&B/ Soul singers, but in the Blues idiom it adds a breath of fresh air and a different take on the Blues.
Root Doctor are a tight band with a good dose of Soul and Funk in their playing, but they can certainly prove their mainstream Blues roots as well. Their previous album from last year (Been A Long Time Coming - Big O Records 2406)impressed me as a fresh new band on the scene, and this new CD just keeps up that good feeling with a selection of original tunes, and some interesting covers.
One such cover, "Soul Shine" by Warren Haynes, is a very pleasant surprise since I am a very big fan of Warren and his band Gov't Mule, and Root Doctor do a fine cover of this inspirational song.
Well, I finally made it through that last surprise traffic jam just 800 meters from the office, and managed to slip into the parking lot without event as I flipped to the first track on the CD - "Blues Will Take Care of You", written by their keyboard man Jim Alfredson, a very nice Blues song to carry with me through my day...
Frank Zappa - OZ Live
I think that I first remember hearing Zappa back in high school at some friend's basement after school. I recall the song Dyna-Moe-Hum,so I guess it was the Over-Nite Sensation album that was on the turntable at the time. As I drove home tonight, facing the wind-down of the weekend, tired from the whole week of work and other little worries of life, I tried to play a Jazz album that I recently acquired, but my car CD player refused to register it properly - even though it was an official commercial pressing. So I slipped in the burned copy I have of Frank Zappa's OZ double CD - live from Sydney Australia back in January of 1976.
I love Frank Zappa, I have always thought of him as the greatest genius of the Rock/Pop/Contemporary music field - he could do it all - compose, write lyrics, play amazing guitar, sing, produce, promote, perform , conduct an orchestra, and of course, he had vision and an amazingly sharp wit.
A number of DVDs and video clippings have recently become available with segments from Frank's 1973 band performances with the great Napolean Murphy Brock on Sax and , mania, and vocals. Well, Napolean is also on hand at the Australian tour that is featured on OZ. It's always fun to hear some of Frank's on stage talk and antics from a live show, and this show is no different - die hard fans can probably pickup all the nuances and variations in this show over other performances, and that is part of what makes each live recording a unique experience and a fresh take on something you may have heard many times before.
As long as I can listen to the guitar solo masterpiece "Black Napkins", I'm cool. That tune is one of my top 5 all time greatest guitar instrumentals of all time and all music. It was originally presented on the album "Zoot Allures", where Zappa and his studio editing magic has it dissolve into the surreal song "The Torture Never Stops". I can't ever seem to get enough of that tune "Black Napkins"
I'm sure I'll play this double CD a number of times in my car in the months to come...
I love Frank Zappa, I have always thought of him as the greatest genius of the Rock/Pop/Contemporary music field - he could do it all - compose, write lyrics, play amazing guitar, sing, produce, promote, perform , conduct an orchestra, and of course, he had vision and an amazingly sharp wit.
A number of DVDs and video clippings have recently become available with segments from Frank's 1973 band performances with the great Napolean Murphy Brock on Sax and , mania, and vocals. Well, Napolean is also on hand at the Australian tour that is featured on OZ. It's always fun to hear some of Frank's on stage talk and antics from a live show, and this show is no different - die hard fans can probably pickup all the nuances and variations in this show over other performances, and that is part of what makes each live recording a unique experience and a fresh take on something you may have heard many times before.
As long as I can listen to the guitar solo masterpiece "Black Napkins", I'm cool. That tune is one of my top 5 all time greatest guitar instrumentals of all time and all music. It was originally presented on the album "Zoot Allures", where Zappa and his studio editing magic has it dissolve into the surreal song "The Torture Never Stops". I can't ever seem to get enough of that tune "Black Napkins"
I'm sure I'll play this double CD a number of times in my car in the months to come...
Bill Withers - Acoustic Soul!!!
Sunday morning traffic is always the heaviest around the greater Tel Aviv area, as well as other parts of the country. A large number of traffic jams seem to be unnecessarily caused by drivers who simply don't know how to use lanes properly - they hesitate too much, block exit lanes that could easily flow faster if they were surer of themselves or decisive in any way.
To compound all that, there is a fanning out or widening funnel effect caused by assholes who try to cut in further down the line and block additional lanes that are not part of the exit, this causes a chain reaction that slows down the rest of the lanes, causing a traffic jam backup of a few miles...So I wanted a mellow album to help me be patient, and also to try to wake up. I took along the new Bill Withers Super Hits compilation that I picked up last Friday.
Sundays are hard days to get back to work, the one and a half day weekend is short, and I'm quite often still very tired - the body wakes up at 6:30 in the morning, but the brain sometimes takes it's sweet time in fully waking up 'till around one hour after I arrive at the office...
I was just starting high school as Bill Withers began hitting the charts with songs like "Ain't No Sunshine (When She's Gone)", "Use Me", "When I'm Kissing My Love", and the following year, "Grandma's Hands" and his all time classic "Lean On Me".
I consider Withers to be a real crossover artist - someone with true R&B sensibilities - he started his career teamed up with Booker T. Jones.
Withers played acoustic guitar and wrote very catchy pop-oriented tunes, so it's not surprising that he made it big at the time as part of the Pop-Folk-Singer/Songwriter scene. Many of his songs are timeless, standing up today as well as they did back then when I would hear them on Boston radio stations all the time, and I have performed his classic "Lean On Me" quite a few times on stage over the years.
Well, maybe it was the karma of Bill Withers' music, and maybe it was sheer luck, but once I got past the unnecessary jam in the Sheraton City Towers area of the highway, the rest was smooth sailing, and I was in the office trying to wake up in no time...
To compound all that, there is a fanning out or widening funnel effect caused by assholes who try to cut in further down the line and block additional lanes that are not part of the exit, this causes a chain reaction that slows down the rest of the lanes, causing a traffic jam backup of a few miles...So I wanted a mellow album to help me be patient, and also to try to wake up. I took along the new Bill Withers Super Hits compilation that I picked up last Friday.
Sundays are hard days to get back to work, the one and a half day weekend is short, and I'm quite often still very tired - the body wakes up at 6:30 in the morning, but the brain sometimes takes it's sweet time in fully waking up 'till around one hour after I arrive at the office...
I was just starting high school as Bill Withers began hitting the charts with songs like "Ain't No Sunshine (When She's Gone)", "Use Me", "When I'm Kissing My Love", and the following year, "Grandma's Hands" and his all time classic "Lean On Me".
I consider Withers to be a real crossover artist - someone with true R&B sensibilities - he started his career teamed up with Booker T. Jones.
Withers played acoustic guitar and wrote very catchy pop-oriented tunes, so it's not surprising that he made it big at the time as part of the Pop-Folk-Singer/Songwriter scene. Many of his songs are timeless, standing up today as well as they did back then when I would hear them on Boston radio stations all the time, and I have performed his classic "Lean On Me" quite a few times on stage over the years.
Well, maybe it was the karma of Bill Withers' music, and maybe it was sheer luck, but once I got past the unnecessary jam in the Sheraton City Towers area of the highway, the rest was smooth sailing, and I was in the office trying to wake up in no time...
Mingus is God
Tuesday, the middle of the work week, another one of those unexplained traffic slowdowns where the highway seems like a parking lot more than a thruway. Just as soon as I entered the highway from the La Guardia exit, I was already making my way back out at the Shalom exit, to continue up the main road parallel to the highway, that takes me northward to the edge of the urban center.
There is an old Jazz musician's joke about the musician who just arrived in heaven, and is sitting in at the big band rehearsal with all the great legends of Jazz, and there is one guy in the corner with a trumpet playing something awful. The punchline is: "oh, that's just God, he thinks he's Miles". Well to me, Mingus has always been and always will be God.
I finally cracked open that Mingus at Antibes CD that my buddy Yair gave to me for my birthday. This is a classic live session (so many of Mingus's recordings are...) from a festival on July 13, 1960 at Juan Le Pins, France. On hand with "Chazz" (Mingus never liked the nickname Charlie - he felt it was demeaning like calling a Black man "boy")were Ted Curson (Tpt), Eric Dolphy (various reeds), Booker Ervin (T Sax), and Dannie Richmond (Dms), with special guest Bud Powell sitting in on one song.
The first tune, "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" is true Mingus, a happy and upbeat Gospel song that allows each of the musicians to stretch out a bit and "present their case" as it were with Mingus egging them on with shouts and screams as well as his bass riffs.
The third track, "What Love" has an amazing blowing session as both Curson and Dolphy get to really explore some of the "outer limits", Curson soloing first, followed by Dolphy, who then gets into a direct dialog of call and response with Mingus's bass and the encouragement by Dannie Richmond from time to time.
As I make the turn into Devora Ha Nevia St. I see a bit of a slowdown, so I try the shortcut through the Ramat Hachayal residential neighborhood, only to find just as big a pileup on Raoul Wallenberg. Well, I finally get through it all as I hear the beginning of "I'll Remember April" with Bud Powell as a guest on piano.
It must have been a very hot day on stage at Juan Le Pins that day,
Mingus is God!!!
There is an old Jazz musician's joke about the musician who just arrived in heaven, and is sitting in at the big band rehearsal with all the great legends of Jazz, and there is one guy in the corner with a trumpet playing something awful. The punchline is: "oh, that's just God, he thinks he's Miles". Well to me, Mingus has always been and always will be God.
I finally cracked open that Mingus at Antibes CD that my buddy Yair gave to me for my birthday. This is a classic live session (so many of Mingus's recordings are...) from a festival on July 13, 1960 at Juan Le Pins, France. On hand with "Chazz" (Mingus never liked the nickname Charlie - he felt it was demeaning like calling a Black man "boy")were Ted Curson (Tpt), Eric Dolphy (various reeds), Booker Ervin (T Sax), and Dannie Richmond (Dms), with special guest Bud Powell sitting in on one song.
The first tune, "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" is true Mingus, a happy and upbeat Gospel song that allows each of the musicians to stretch out a bit and "present their case" as it were with Mingus egging them on with shouts and screams as well as his bass riffs.
The third track, "What Love" has an amazing blowing session as both Curson and Dolphy get to really explore some of the "outer limits", Curson soloing first, followed by Dolphy, who then gets into a direct dialog of call and response with Mingus's bass and the encouragement by Dannie Richmond from time to time.
As I make the turn into Devora Ha Nevia St. I see a bit of a slowdown, so I try the shortcut through the Ramat Hachayal residential neighborhood, only to find just as big a pileup on Raoul Wallenberg. Well, I finally get through it all as I hear the beginning of "I'll Remember April" with Bud Powell as a guest on piano.
It must have been a very hot day on stage at Juan Le Pins that day,
Mingus is God!!!
Todd Wolfe - Live
OK, my body is moving toward the car, but my brain doesn't seem to be fully awake yet.
I've got a piece of cake and my portable coffee mug (with a spring loaded seal at the top for drinking and driving) filled with hot Turkish coffee/swill.
I pop a live CD of Todd Wolfe in the player and get going while the getting is good.
It's a nice sunny day today, not hot, just pleasant. As I get onto the highway and start devouring the cake, I realize that some days you just gotta get tough with traffic - you gotta seize the moment and get past all the idiots who are hogging a lane while driving 60 kph while everyone else is up at 80-100 kph.
It doesn't hurt to have the hot guitar work of Todd Wolfe playing "The Cissy Strut" in the background, as I find the empty holes in traffic to maneuver around the slow-pokes and get myself ahead in line and into a more free and open zone of traffic going 100-120 kph.
"Cissy Strut" has become a minor classic instrumental piece favored by Jazz, Rock, and even some Blues artists, it was originally written and recorded by the New Orleans funk band the Meters. I first heard it on one of John Scofield's late 1980's albums, and in recent years I've discovered recordings by the Derek Trucks Band, Gov't Mule, Danny Gatton and Redneck Jazz Explosion, and by Jaco Pastorius playing with Hiram Bullock.
Two tracks later, and Wolfe is doing the early BB King number "Woke Up This Morning" from BB's first recordings in the 50's.
I've now managed to sip at least half the coffee and taste the strong Turkish coffee aroma from the Galilee with cardamom and ginger and other special Yemenite coffee spices that I put in this morning, this is no ordinary coffee at all, it is a festival of flavors.
A little background on Todd Wolfe - he's a hot Blues-Rock guitarist that I was alerted to by someone who returned from a year in New York and was a number one fan of Todd's live shows, and brought me a few CDs of his music.
Wolfe has a good bit of professional mileage behind him, playing in assorted Rock and Blues bands in the 80's on the east coast, followed by a five years working closely with Sheryl Crow both as guitarist and co writer, but then he turned his back on the Rock and Roll fame game, and decided to return to the Blues. More power to him!! for keeping the Blues alive and for reaching new and young audiences with the Blues.
As I approach the high tech industrial area where I work, Todd is singing the Peter Green classic "I Need Your Love So Bad"
I guess that getting tough paid off this morning as it was a relatively short ride with no serious nerve wracking situations...
I've got a piece of cake and my portable coffee mug (with a spring loaded seal at the top for drinking and driving) filled with hot Turkish coffee/swill.
I pop a live CD of Todd Wolfe in the player and get going while the getting is good.
It's a nice sunny day today, not hot, just pleasant. As I get onto the highway and start devouring the cake, I realize that some days you just gotta get tough with traffic - you gotta seize the moment and get past all the idiots who are hogging a lane while driving 60 kph while everyone else is up at 80-100 kph.
It doesn't hurt to have the hot guitar work of Todd Wolfe playing "The Cissy Strut" in the background, as I find the empty holes in traffic to maneuver around the slow-pokes and get myself ahead in line and into a more free and open zone of traffic going 100-120 kph.
"Cissy Strut" has become a minor classic instrumental piece favored by Jazz, Rock, and even some Blues artists, it was originally written and recorded by the New Orleans funk band the Meters. I first heard it on one of John Scofield's late 1980's albums, and in recent years I've discovered recordings by the Derek Trucks Band, Gov't Mule, Danny Gatton and Redneck Jazz Explosion, and by Jaco Pastorius playing with Hiram Bullock.
Two tracks later, and Wolfe is doing the early BB King number "Woke Up This Morning" from BB's first recordings in the 50's.
I've now managed to sip at least half the coffee and taste the strong Turkish coffee aroma from the Galilee with cardamom and ginger and other special Yemenite coffee spices that I put in this morning, this is no ordinary coffee at all, it is a festival of flavors.
A little background on Todd Wolfe - he's a hot Blues-Rock guitarist that I was alerted to by someone who returned from a year in New York and was a number one fan of Todd's live shows, and brought me a few CDs of his music.
Wolfe has a good bit of professional mileage behind him, playing in assorted Rock and Blues bands in the 80's on the east coast, followed by a five years working closely with Sheryl Crow both as guitarist and co writer, but then he turned his back on the Rock and Roll fame game, and decided to return to the Blues. More power to him!! for keeping the Blues alive and for reaching new and young audiences with the Blues.
As I approach the high tech industrial area where I work, Todd is singing the Peter Green classic "I Need Your Love So Bad"
I guess that getting tough paid off this morning as it was a relatively short ride with no serious nerve wracking situations...
Saturday, September 01, 2007
"Fuzzaneli" - in memory of a true friend
Michael Jeffrey "Fuzz" Friend was a good friend to me back in my college days at Innis College in the University of Toronto. I just got the news today of his passing away last Friday, August 24th, 2007.
My first encounter with Fuzz was hearing him growling an expletive like "turkey shit" or "You look just like death warmed over" or "there goes some sex on the hoof..." at someone in the Innis College Student Society office in the "old building" of Innis College on St. George St.
I soon learned that Fuzz spoke this way all the time, but only to those he knew and liked or were in some way close to him.
I was good with my hands, and pretty soon I found myself doing handy work and house renovations with Fuzz during summer vacations, winter breaks, and any other free time I had when I could help out.
Fuzz taught me all the little professional secrets and tricks of the trade, as well as imparting much of his grass-roots life wisdom - and he had plenty life wisdom and plenty experience to base it on.
Mike was 13 years my senior, and had been a professional auto mechanic and a Narcotics Detective on the Toronto Police force before arriving at U of T. so, you can imagine how worldly and experienced he was in contrast to students who had just left home for the first time and/or were fresh out of high-school.
Many of the skills Mike taught me carried me through a renovations and handyman career for many years, safe work habits kept me from harm - it was Mike's insistence that we secure ourselves with strong rope that saved my life once when I fell off the side of a three story house we were painting.
Mike and I became good friends, and within the space of a year we were also a good work team that was in demand six months in advance each summer to fix, renovate, or re-build homes in the Toronto area.
On one particular job, we were putting up new drywall, and I had scribbled the words "Fuzz 'n' Eli" on the wall as a sort of signature of our "masterwork", well from that day on, Cathy - the wife of the family who's home we were renovating, referred to us as "the Italian firm of FUZZANELI".
Mike also knew how to enjoy himself with simple pleasures, like sitting at the Old Brunswick House bar in the main hall downstairs with friends, and drinking those little 40 cent glasses of beer that they would serve us by the dozen.
I can recall one very peaceful and quiet Christmas vacation weekend at the Innis College "InnisFree farm" out in the country, where Fuzz cooked a nice pot roast for us, and enjoying the company of a Fuzz and Sue and a few other friends out there.
Mike loved animals, from dogs (like the legendary "Guppy"), to birds, to reptiles. Through his live snake and reptile collection, Mike taught me and others to understand these reptiles, to not fear snakes (at least not boa constrictors), as well as providing himself with a hobby that he dedicated so much of his life to.
Mike loved Country music, but also appreciated many contemporary Canadian Folk and Rock artists. He certainly was not shy about speaking his mind or telling us what his likes or dislikes were.
On my recent two visits to Canada, in summer of 2001 and last month (July 2007), I was very glad to have had the chance to visit Mike and Sue and spend the evening with them.
Under that growling rough exterior, long hair and fuzzy long beard, Mike had a heart of 24 Carat gold.
"You Turkey Shit!!! You look like death warmed over!!!"
Rest in peace Mike - you've done your part, you deserve the rest!
My first encounter with Fuzz was hearing him growling an expletive like "turkey shit" or "You look just like death warmed over" or "there goes some sex on the hoof..." at someone in the Innis College Student Society office in the "old building" of Innis College on St. George St.
I soon learned that Fuzz spoke this way all the time, but only to those he knew and liked or were in some way close to him.
I was good with my hands, and pretty soon I found myself doing handy work and house renovations with Fuzz during summer vacations, winter breaks, and any other free time I had when I could help out.
Fuzz taught me all the little professional secrets and tricks of the trade, as well as imparting much of his grass-roots life wisdom - and he had plenty life wisdom and plenty experience to base it on.
Mike was 13 years my senior, and had been a professional auto mechanic and a Narcotics Detective on the Toronto Police force before arriving at U of T. so, you can imagine how worldly and experienced he was in contrast to students who had just left home for the first time and/or were fresh out of high-school.
Many of the skills Mike taught me carried me through a renovations and handyman career for many years, safe work habits kept me from harm - it was Mike's insistence that we secure ourselves with strong rope that saved my life once when I fell off the side of a three story house we were painting.
Mike and I became good friends, and within the space of a year we were also a good work team that was in demand six months in advance each summer to fix, renovate, or re-build homes in the Toronto area.
On one particular job, we were putting up new drywall, and I had scribbled the words "Fuzz 'n' Eli" on the wall as a sort of signature of our "masterwork", well from that day on, Cathy - the wife of the family who's home we were renovating, referred to us as "the Italian firm of FUZZANELI".
Mike also knew how to enjoy himself with simple pleasures, like sitting at the Old Brunswick House bar in the main hall downstairs with friends, and drinking those little 40 cent glasses of beer that they would serve us by the dozen.
I can recall one very peaceful and quiet Christmas vacation weekend at the Innis College "InnisFree farm" out in the country, where Fuzz cooked a nice pot roast for us, and enjoying the company of a Fuzz and Sue and a few other friends out there.
Mike loved animals, from dogs (like the legendary "Guppy"), to birds, to reptiles. Through his live snake and reptile collection, Mike taught me and others to understand these reptiles, to not fear snakes (at least not boa constrictors), as well as providing himself with a hobby that he dedicated so much of his life to.
Mike loved Country music, but also appreciated many contemporary Canadian Folk and Rock artists. He certainly was not shy about speaking his mind or telling us what his likes or dislikes were.
On my recent two visits to Canada, in summer of 2001 and last month (July 2007), I was very glad to have had the chance to visit Mike and Sue and spend the evening with them.
Under that growling rough exterior, long hair and fuzzy long beard, Mike had a heart of 24 Carat gold.
"You Turkey Shit!!! You look like death warmed over!!!"
Rest in peace Mike - you've done your part, you deserve the rest!
Monday, July 30, 2007
In memory of Bill Perry RIP
I was quite shocked to receive the sad news last week of Bill Perry's passing on July 17th, 2007 - he died of an apparent heart attack at age 49,
a bit young for any active human being, and certainly an early age by Blues standards.
About eight years ago, I was given the pleasurable task of writing a promotional review for a one week stand at Tel Aviv's Camelot club.
I was given a preview copy of his 1999 CD, recorded live at Manny's Car Wash in NYC ( I highly recommend this CD!!!).
When Bill Perry got onto the stage at Camelot, I was a bit shocked at his diminutive size - the power and energy of his playing on the live CD, and the cover photo, had me expecting a much taller man, with a bigger physique.
Nonetheless, Bill Perry was a big man, in more ways than one. A powerful Blues guitarist and a singer with an unusual voice.
By all accounts from friends and musicians who worked with him, Bill was a very warm, genuine, and a funny man.
SInger Ritchie Havens considered him not just an excellent band member, but a soulmate, a close friend.
Bill, you left us much too soon, you will be sorely missed.
a bit young for any active human being, and certainly an early age by Blues standards.
About eight years ago, I was given the pleasurable task of writing a promotional review for a one week stand at Tel Aviv's Camelot club.
I was given a preview copy of his 1999 CD, recorded live at Manny's Car Wash in NYC ( I highly recommend this CD!!!).
When Bill Perry got onto the stage at Camelot, I was a bit shocked at his diminutive size - the power and energy of his playing on the live CD, and the cover photo, had me expecting a much taller man, with a bigger physique.
Nonetheless, Bill Perry was a big man, in more ways than one. A powerful Blues guitarist and a singer with an unusual voice.
By all accounts from friends and musicians who worked with him, Bill was a very warm, genuine, and a funny man.
SInger Ritchie Havens considered him not just an excellent band member, but a soulmate, a close friend.
Bill, you left us much too soon, you will be sorely missed.
Sunday at the Toronto Beaches Jazz fest
I had a great day yesterday in the artistic village area called the Toronto Beaches where the Beaches Jazz Festival is held -
a totally free festival in its 19th year - http://www.beachesjazz.com/mainstage.html
they have sponsorships from Subaru to the provincial Lottery to food vendors...
I made contact with Brian Blane, the head of the Toronto Blues Society, and he directed me to the Media Tent so that I could sign in as a Radio Journalist, and get backstage access and meet all the other organizers and folks in the biz.
I met the mother of a new 16 year old Blues/Jazz diva Sophie Berkal Sarbit
- the mother heard I was from Israel, and spoke to me in Hebrew - she is the daughter of a Rabbi from Winnipeg - the Jewish connections in the music scene never cease to amaze and surprise me.
So I got to hear 2 blues shows of the Saturday Night Fish Fry
http://www.beachesjazz.com/mainstage/2007/bios/BillKingFishFry.html
headed up by singer, organist and piano player Bill King, who is also the Beaches Jazz festival organizer and the creator of the JazzReport and the http://www.jazzpromo.com/ sites
next up was an amazing guitarist and solid singer named Kal David in a trio with Hammond organ and drums, later accompanied by his partner, singer Lauri Bono:
http://www.beachesjazz.com/mainstage/2007/bios/KalDavid.html
of course, I distributed copies of the book (Touched By The Blues) to Jazz radio people, local organizers, etc. let's hope we get some reviews...
a totally free festival in its 19th year - http://www.beachesjazz.com/mainstage.html
they have sponsorships from Subaru to the provincial Lottery to food vendors...
I made contact with Brian Blane, the head of the Toronto Blues Society, and he directed me to the Media Tent so that I could sign in as a Radio Journalist, and get backstage access and meet all the other organizers and folks in the biz.
I met the mother of a new 16 year old Blues/Jazz diva Sophie Berkal Sarbit
- the mother heard I was from Israel, and spoke to me in Hebrew - she is the daughter of a Rabbi from Winnipeg - the Jewish connections in the music scene never cease to amaze and surprise me.
So I got to hear 2 blues shows of the Saturday Night Fish Fry
http://www.beachesjazz.com/mainstage/2007/bios/BillKingFishFry.html
headed up by singer, organist and piano player Bill King, who is also the Beaches Jazz festival organizer and the creator of the JazzReport and the http://www.jazzpromo.com/ sites
next up was an amazing guitarist and solid singer named Kal David in a trio with Hammond organ and drums, later accompanied by his partner, singer Lauri Bono:
http://www.beachesjazz.com/mainstage/2007/bios/KalDavid.html
of course, I distributed copies of the book (Touched By The Blues) to Jazz radio people, local organizers, etc. let's hope we get some reviews...
Friday, July 20, 2007
Belkin and Jutas - Blues from Lithuania
In the beginning of April 2007, two Blues performers from Lithuania arrived in Israel for a 10 day tour of local clubs. On many of the gigs, they were joined by local Bluesman and Blues-harp master Dov Hammer.
The Belkin-Jutas Duo are an acoustic Blues duo made up of guitarist and singer Aleksandr Belkin and guitarist and singer Virgilius Jutas. Each of these guys has his own electric Blues band back in Lithuania, but for the sake of travel, they formed this compact duo.
Belkin and Jutas are both fine guitarists, with Jutas playing acoustic guitar rhythm and some soloing on this tour, and Belkin playing acoustic rhythm and also some very nice slide guitar. Aleksandr Belkin also accompanies himself on harmonica part of the time. Both artists provided us with various renditions of Blues standards, and even a couple of original songs, although their English is far from perfect, the feeling was there, and they sure can "belt out" a few...
The 10 day tour was a success, thanks to local Blues promoter Alex Shain, and the duo is considering coming back to Israel again in the coming year.
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