---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Blues Blast Magazine <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, Apr 29, 2021 at 2:33 PM
Subject: Aki Kumar – Blues without borders! - in this week's issue
To: <jakecat39@xxxxxxxxx>
*No images? Click Here to view on website
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c1ee61cc6f28645d5ac8405a0f6c59ca9>*
*Cover photo © 2021 Marilyn Stringer*
------------------------------
* In This Issue *
*Marty Gunther has our feature interview with Aki Kumar. We have four blues
reviews for you this week including a coffee table photo book by noted
Blues photographer Marilyn Stringer plus new music from Pat O’Bryan and
Friends, Kai Strauss and Elizabeth King.*
------------------------------
* From The Editor's Desk *
*[image: image]*
*Hey Blues Fans,*
*The 2021 Blues Blast Music Awards submissions are open until May 31st,
2021.*
*Submission fee is $50 until midnight on April 30. Fee increases to $75 on
May 1 and increases to $100 on May 16. PLEASE get album submission in as
soon as possible. Hurry to avoid the price increase. It makes the
nominators job much easier. *
*For 2021, all submissions must be digital. Eligible recordings for the
14th Annual Blues Blast Awards are albums released from June 1, 2020 to May
31, 2021.*
*To submit your album for consideration to the Blues Blast Music Awards
visit www.bluesblastmagazine.com/blues-blast-awards-submission-information
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96cccce990ed7a9af73268b03f7b3ffcee2>*
*Wishing you health, happiness and lots of Blues music!*
*Bob Kieser*
------------------------------
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c360adfe5faed902f734ff4cb0284ebba>
------------------------------
* Featured Interview - Aki Kumar *
[image: image]The sound of blues takes many forms, and when someone takes
it in a new direction, it’s a real attention-grabber. And there’s no bigger
head-turner in the blues world today than Bay Area harp player Aki Kumar,
who’s forged a new brand of the music that’s definitely all his own.
Based in San Jose, Calif., where he’s proven himself as a standard bearer
for traditional Chicago stylings and more, he’s a native of Mumbai, India,
who discovered by accident one day that the flatted thirds and seventh of
American blues meld perfectly with the microtones of South Asia and spread
around the planet through the musical scores of Bollywood movies produced
in his hometown.
Aki lovingly terms the hybrid as “Bollywood blues,” and he’s released three
albums of the revolutionary new product – two in the U.S. and one abroad –
since coming up with the idea six or seven years ago. And his latest
effort, *Diruba* – issued in partnership with Sony, has compiled more than
a million downloads in India, planting powerful new seeds in one of the
most diverse musical markets in the world.
While it’s true that Mumbai has been hosting the annual Mahindra Blues
Festival for the past decade – the largest event of its kind in all of
Asia, it’s still an amazing accomplishment because the music has barely
made a foothold in a nation with the second largest population in the world.
“Before anything else, I’m a *traditional* blues man,” Kumar told Blues
Blast in a recent interview, noting that he formerly downplayed his
nationality while spending a couple of decades assimilating into American
culture. That said, however, he now wants to play the blues in a manner
that’s both familiar to listeners, but also in a form in which “nobody will
ever wonder where I came from.”
It’s been a long, strange trip for Akarsha Kumar, a dashing man in his
early 40s who’s an electrifying showman with both a rapier wit and deep
social conscience.
“My parents are very big music lovers,” he says, noting that his father –
who’s retired from a mid-level management position in the government bank –
spoke Kannada, commonly used in southwestern India, while his mother spoke
Telugu, the official language of the southeastern states of Andhra Pradesh
and Telangana.
“Whatever my dad saved from his job, he bought records. My mom was never a
musician by any means, but she liked to sing. If karaoke culture had been
big at the time, I’d bet my money that she’d have been a karaoke person
(laughs). Their love for music subconsciously became part of my
personality.”
Their record collection was small by Western terms, but a major possession
for the family, Aki notes, and it covered a lot of ground. Growing up in a
country where literally hundreds of different dialects are spoken among 1.4
billion residents, the homegrown music of India is so rich and diverse that
“I could have gotten lost in it by itself for ten lifetimes with no reason
to venture outside the borders,” he says.
"But when Western classical, rock-‘n’-roll, R&B, pop and Afro-Caribbean
were added to the mix through the LPs, “…stuff that just jumped out of
nowhere, and I didn’t know what to make of it.”
[image: image]Kumar took piano lessons as a child and fooled around with
the tabla, the bowl-shaped drums used in Hindustani music, too. “I like to
say I ‘dabbled’ at tabla because it was nothing more than a couple of
months’ of an adventure,” he insists. “I got to go to a friend’s house when
I was about nine or ten, where I got to play it once a week for two months.
In other interviews, it’s sounded like I’m somebody who’s steeped in
traditional music and that I’m a proficient tabla player. But, no! I just
learned some basic rhythm patterns.”
Aki’s unsure about when he picked up the harmonica for the first time, but
it was probably in infancy because his father owned one. “He’d pull it out
once every few months and play it, and I’d be like: ‘Oh, *that’s* what a
harmonica sounds like,’” he recalls.
“Then, in my teens, I started dabbling and could play a couple of old
Bollywood songs. But the harp didn’t have all the notes, so I thought it
wasn’t a complete instrument, so I put it down.”
In truth, however, it was a tremolo harp. Built with two parallel rows of
reeds that are tuned in parallel, too -- one set sharp and the other flat,
tremolos appear frequently in the scores of Bollywood movies and are also
well-suited for playing waltzes and Gypsy songs, but virtually useless to
most other Western music – especially blues.
“Now, I know that it has a specific purpose,” Kumar says. “But back then,
if that’s the only thing you have and you’re trying to fit the world of
music into it, it feels very uncomfortable. As a musician, I knew that
there were certain notes that I couldn’t produce. Back then, I thought
that, to play the blues, there was a special harmonica that you needed to
use, that it was very expensive and, for me, very unattainable. I know now
that I was wrong (chuckles).”
Aki came to the U.S. just prior to his 18th birthday, initially settling in
Oklahoma City to pursue a career in computer science. “I tried applying to
every single school I could, and almost bankrupted my dad just through the
admissions process,” he admits. It cost $25 to $50, each time Kumar
submitted an application – a huge amount to an Indian household, where it
was the equivalent of $500 in local currency.
While the Oklahoma school provided the least expensive route for Kumar to
pursue his dream, he quickly transferred to San Jose State University in
Silicon Valley south of San Francisco, where he knew he’d receive the best
education possible.
“It really set me on a great path,” Kumar says, “because it allowed me to
do an internship with Adobe while I was a student and get my grades up well
enough that they immediately hired me out of college.”
He started out as a quality tester for Adobe’s PDF programs before becoming
a programmer for Flash, Photoshop and other applications. But music became
an overwhelming, all-consuming pursuit. He’d discovered oldies radio
stations after listening to KOMA-FM in Oklahoma City and had fallen in love
with doo-wop before moving on to classic rock, the Beatles and early
rock-‘n’-roll in the Bay Area.
“I didn’t know what it was other than rock,” he admits. “I didn’t know any
of the blues inspiration and influence behind it – something that – in my
20s – I started to figure out thanks to folks who were 25 or 30 years older
than me at work and from the blues and blues-rock generation. They kinda
knew that I was musically inclined.
“There was a small, informal band that met every six months and tried to
play cover songs. I jumped in a couple of times and tried to play the
Beatles’ ‘Love Me Do’ on harp. And they hipped me to where the Brit rock
guys were influenced…why the Rolling Stones had the name Rolling Stones.
“So I started to delve into blues, too. When I found people like Muddy
Waters, it was *devastating*…wow!...where has *this* been my whole life!”
Aki expanding his education by spending nights on very active local blues
scene, and decided to get serious about the harmonica by seeking out David
Barrett for lessons. One of the most important instructors in the world and
the author of several instructional books, Barrett operates the School of
the Blues in San Jose as well as internationally acclaimed Harmonica
Masterclass Workshops and a go-to website.
“David kinda narrowed my focus,” Kumar says. “’If this is what you want to
play,’ he said, ‘start listening to *this* (turning him on to music in the
process).’ He changed my life for better or worse (laughs). He changed in a
big way the notion that, for me, all I could do was software engineering.”
[image: image]On some levels, it was a concept that – as a stranger in a
strange land – is often difficult to understand. It’s something that every
world traveler has to come to terms with from time to time because of
unspoken cultural differences between your new home and your homeland. For
Aki, it meant wrapping his mind about changing professions.
“I come from a culture that’s often not relatable to standard American
culture,” he notes. “A lot of my peers in the U.S. had both early
encouragement and access to music-making. Not only did they have the
license to make the music, they believed they could. Being a musician was a
*thing*.
“In India, it was pretty ingrained in my head that either you come from a
privileged family where you can afford to be an artist and spend a lifetime
pursuing it – elite society stuff – or you end up doing the struggling
artist thing in a very brutal, severe way, trying to be a rags-to-riches
story.
“That was not made an option to me (at home). For me, it was ‘get your act
straight, and get outta here. Lay down a solid foundation for your life,
and think of everything else as frivolous pursuits.”
His own parents came from very difficult backgrounds and worked diligently
to elevate themselves to the middle-class lifestyle they sweated and
strained to achieve. Fortunately, they were well-meaning, encouraging and
only wanted the best for their sons.
“When I made the transition to music,” Aki says, “I had to overcome that
first mental hurdle – some of it cultural, but mostly mental. Fortunately,
I had an advantage: I was raised to learn in a methodical way and to submit
myself to my teachers, which is the traditional way in Indian music.
“Given that the diatonic harmonica is a difficult instrument – it really
is, and all of the dexterity that we admire in the blues masters doesn’t
come to them for free -- that takes a lot of diligent work. It was
something that I was dedicated to putting in because I knew I had a good
teacher who’d already figured all of this out.
“I would have had to have been a fool not to put in the time – and playing
an instrument is a lifelong pursuit. That’s one of the things I’d tell
anyone who wants to be a harmonica player: Commit to it because it’s
something that’s not going to come easy unless you’re a genetic freak of
nature where they can tongue block from day one – something it took me
years to master.
“For me, bending reeds was incredibly hard. I still work on bending as a
very simple exercise all the time without trying to do overblows or
anything like that.”
Aki started sitting in at local jams about six years after his arrival. He
admits that his limited skill set often resulted in him getting schooled
pretty quickly in the process. But the older players were still welcoming,
and the compliments he received – some justified, others not – made it all
worthwhile.
As his skills progressed, he served short stints with a couple of local
classic rock groups – learning quickly that his heart was elsewhere.
“You’re not gonna fit Big Walter licks into a Led Zeppelin song,” he says,
“not to disrespect Led Zeppelin. It’s just not a good match.
“But once in a while, I was able to sneak in a couple of songs to my liking
– ‘Key to the Highway.’ Once a month for three years, we did an opening set
at JJ’s Blues in San Jose. It gave me a way to practice for a month, go on
stage…and mess it all up, then go home and say: ‘Okay, what did I screw up?
Work on that.’
“I had a run early on where I could hide without being embarrassed –
something that’s impossible to do now because everything you today do winds
up on Tiktok or YouTube tomorrow.”
Kumar eventually established himself in the Bay Area blues scene as a
member of Tip of the Top, which were regional favorites during his
three-year run. The group was led by vocalist Little Jonny Lawton, a Bay
Area veteran who’s enjoyed a long career as a front man and guitarist,
along with bassist Frank DeRose, a journeyman who’s worked with Kenny
“Blue” Ray and Jackie Payne.
[image: image]Delivering West Coast and Chicago blues, they released a pair
of well-received albums, most notably *From* *Memphis to Greaseland*, which
was Aki’s first trip in the studio with award-winning producer, engineer
and multi-instrumentalist Kid Andersen.
“Working with Tip of the Top really helped me step up my game,” Kumar says.
“Working was a lot like Buddy Guy working with Junior Wells. I’d play lead
and then slip into the background for a while, too.”
By the time the band disbanded, Aki was ready to launch a solo career and
announce himself to the world as what he terms “a disciple of the blues.”
His first album, *Don’t Hold Back*, appeared in 2014 on Andersen’s
Greaseland Records imprint. It was a tour de force debut with an all-star
roster that included Kid, Little Jonny, Rusty Zinn and Johnny “Cat”
Soubrand (Terry Hanck Band) on guitars, Robert Welsh (Elvin Bishop) on keys
as well as June Core and Vance Ehlers on drums.
It really was a tribute album to Jimmy Reed, Little Walter, Hank Ballard
and others, he says, despite containing four originals. “I picked my
favorite material, covered it and sent out a message that ‘look, I’m really
a traditional blues guy, and I really want to do this!’”
The last track, however, debuted what Kumar now terms Bollywood blues.
Entitled “Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Yeh (A Strange Story),” it was a traditional
tune from the Hindi songbook that he’d been humming to himself at home one
day when he dawned on the realization that it had similarities with
something he’d heard from Jimmy Reed.
“I said: ‘I have 12 traditional blues songs that you’ll like, but here’s
one that’s a curve ball,’” Aki remembers. He covered the tune with a New
Orleans stroll feel and closed the disc by singing it in one of his native
tongues.
As solid as that album was, Aki proved he truly belonged in the blues world
later that year with another Greaseland release, *It Takes Three*, a
partnership in which he traded licks throughout with Barrett and the
masterful Gary Smith, the West Coast harmonica giant who’d taught David how
to play.
“It was *huge* for me to do an album with them,” Kumar says. “I got to be
in the room with two guys who are heavily influential, join them in music
making – and also do a little ‘sword fighting,’ too, which is also fun. It
was intimidating.
“In the moment, I realized that there I was and that both of them had been
playing 40 years more than me. But when I listened to the end result, I
realized: ‘Wow! My playing really holds up – and when you listen to it, you
can’t tell who’s playing what!’
“No matter where I go worldwide today, if I talk to a blues harmonica
person, they invariably have the album, and they love it!”
As Aki explained recently in an interview in *Harmonica Happenings*, the
quarterly bible of the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of
Harmonica, he developed Bollywood blues concept as a reaction to many peers
being overwhelmingly consumed by in what they consider to be “blues
authenticity” – playing *authentic* licks on *authentic* equipment and
creating an aura of “black cred” while totally disregarding the fact that
the music was created by African-Americans.
His furor for the idea increased as xenophobia and overt racism swept
across the U.S. as the Trump administration came to power.
“I’d been in the U.S. about 18 years and had never seen that level of
hostility toward immigrants,” Kumar says. “I’d always dealt with ‘go back
home – you’re stealing our jobs’ knowing that I’d be a well-established,
second-class citizen just because of the way things are.
“But I’d never imagined that the openness that the Trump campaign ran on
that platform…how easily he was able to say those things.”
As a person of color himself – albeit not American born and bred, he wanted
to use his voice to make a musical statement about his own ethnicity and
heritage while also encompassing the blues.
[image: image]It was a path that took root thanks to the relationship Kumar
built with Grammy-winning keyboard player Jim Pugh. A longtime member of
the Robert Cray Band who also recorded and toured with Etta James, Pugh and
Aki met while laying down tracks as sidemen in Andersen’s studio.
“Jim had just started Little Village Foundation as a musical
non-profit/label,” he remembers. “He’d been seeking different kinds of
talent in the Americana realm – folks who were exploring music in different
directions. During one of our conversations, he asked me what I had going
on. I told him I had this concept in my head to do a fusion album of sorts.
He jumped at the idea of doing that, and he was wa-a-ay more enthusiastic
than I could ever have imagined. That made me go: ‘Okay! At least *one*
other guy wants to put money behind this, so it might not be a bad idea!
(laughs)’”
The end result was the 2016 Little Village release, *Aki Goes to Bollywood*.
“To me, it became very important because we all know what was happening
(politically) that year,” Kumar says.
“I had already proven my credentials in this blues scene by saying: ‘Hey,
I’m a good student. I’ve done my part. I’ve learned all the vocabulary –
and I’m going to keep doing it. But now you guys are going to have to
understand who I am. I’m not just a guy who plays Little Walter licks. So
here goes…”
As difficult as the concept might be for non-musicians to wrap their minds
around, after trial and effort, it became a fairly simple transition
because of the similarities between blues and the two traditional Indian
styles of music, Hindustani in the north and Carnatic in the south, both of
which, like blues create their distinctive sounds because of the use of
microtones.
And the similarities run strong in other music, too, primarily from the
Middle East and North Africa. Another Bay Area bluesman, chromatic master
Big Harp George, dipped heavily into his ethnic background on his latest
album, *Living in the City*.
“It was a natural fit,” Kumar says, “whether I thought about it consciously
or not. It was actually a lot of experimentation on my part.”
The first disc was so well-received that Aki served up another platter of
his hybrid with *Hindi Man Blues* in 2018, and now mixes in the music with
his traditional blues at his performances, making sure to alternate English
and Hindi lyrics so everyone in the audience can understand what he’s
saying. He occasionally performs full sets of Bollywood blues accompanied
by Andersen, Pugh and his regular playing partners – all of whom are
dressed head-to-toe in Indian regalia for full effect.
“What I find very enriching is that I get up there and play a Jimmy Rogers
song, then follow it with a Bollywood blues song, go back and do Jimmy
Reed, an original song in Hindi and then an original blues in English,” he
says. “The course of my show is unique.
“Blues lovers often find themselves in a position where they aren’t sure
why they’re liking something that they’re listening to – but they’re liking
it. And it makes me very happy that I’ve found a position that’s all my
own.”
Both of the Bollywood albums did well, Kumar says, “and somehow – I don’t
know how…possibly YouTube or Spotify – they caught the attention of an A&R
person who worked for Sony Music in India.
“They reached out to me, said: ‘Hey, you’re doing interesting stuff. Do you
want to work with us?’ I thought it was a scam at first until I talked to
the guy on Skype.
[image: image]“I explained to him at the time that I was almost 40 and
didn’t do anything pop or contemporary and that my music would be pretty
much unrecognizable to any kids they might be selling Hindi hip-hop to.
They said: ‘Let’s just try this. Just do your thing.’”
The resulting partnership produced the 2019 album *Dilruba*, on which Kumar
delivered four originals and covered four others. It’s available as a
digital download worldwide because the Indian market hasn’t produced
physical copies of music for quite some time. And Aki filmed three
hilarious, colorful videos to accompany the release.
He toured New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore that December just prior to the
coronavirus epidemic. It was his first-ever chance to entertain in his
homeland, where his efforts are laying down the foundation of the blues for
a new audience. While the sounds are still foreign, he points out, if the
blues captures one-100th of one percent of the population, that’s a pretty
sizable number in a country of 1.4 billion people. “If my album helps in
any way,” he says, “yay!”
Despite the current shutdown, Aki’s remained busy with “another album
swimming in my head, which promises to be a stripped-down, bare-bones work
without any of the heavy production. “One benefit of coronavirus,” he says,
“is that I’ve set up a studio in the garage and been experimenting with
recordings, and I just might try to do everything myself.”
Earlier this year, he and Pugh teamed once again for the digital single
“Zindagi,” which follows in the format, but is delivered atop an uplifting
reggae beat. When he spoke to *Blues Blast*, he was looking forward with
fingers crossed to May and a planned outdoor concert in Berkeley, his first
show in a year.
Meanwhile, he’s been busy taking drum lessons from June Core. “I actually
played a 90-minute set behind a friend the other day, and came away from it
feeling like I wasn’t the worst musician in the world (laughs)!” he jokes.
Among his other projects has been trying to figure out how to mic a kit in
the studio and teaching himself how to use free Garageband software to
record his own material.
“I’ve also learned how to use multiple very old phones to do multi-camera
video,” he says. “And I’ve been livestreaming doing that. As a result, I’ve
gotten into the habit of posting one self-produced song each week to my
YouTube channel and Facebook.”
The world’s changing rapidly, Kumar insists. The one thing he’d recommend
to his fan base is “to be open-minded in your consumption of music and the
arts. There’s gonna be more people like me infusing new ideas to the music
that you love.
“To be fair, I learned a dozen Little Walter songs note-for-note when I
first started out. Unfortunately, too many people play his songs the same
way. But that’s not how Little Walter approached his own music. He didn’t
play his songs the same way twice. He would have scoffed at it. Why should
I do it that way?
“We should really be building on top of it and adding our own identity.
Being rigid in clinging to sounds of the past isn’t always helpful because
we’re all moving forward.”
Check out Aki’s music and – hopefully – where he’ll be playing next by
visiting his website: www.akikumar.com
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96ca8187e5a72fb4b064fc1330572a715d7>.
And be sure to pay a visit to his YouTube channel, too.
*Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life.
Now based out of Charlotte, N.C., his first experience with live music came
at the feet of the first generation of blues legends at the Newport Folk
Festivals in the 1960s. A former member of the Chicago blues community,
he’s a professional journalist and blues harmonica player who co-founded
the Nucklebusters, one of the hardest working bands in South Florida.*
*For other interviews on our website CLICK HERE
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c9a5ee6c4b2a85a720e120d440172d3b5>*
------------------------------
*Blues Blast Music Award Submissions
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c8bca72eaf70b1c888285ffb1b102a8e8>
Now open until May 31st, 2021!*
[image: image]
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c8bca72eaf70b1c888285ffb1b102a8e8>
*The Blues Blast Music Awards honor contemporary Blues artists and their
recordings.*
*Artists with major labels and independent artists are eligible to be
considered.*
*NEW FOR 2021* - All submissions are digital. No physical CDs needed.
*Submission Fees for 2021*
$50 until April 30, 2021.
Fees Increase Soon!
$75 May 1, 2021 to May 15, 2021.
$100 May 16, 2021 to May 31, 2021
*Please submit your music as soon as possible!*
It makes the nominators job easier.
*For complete information, click HERE
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c8bca72eaf70b1c888285ffb1b102a8e8>
to visit our website.*
------------------------------
* Featured Blues Review - 1 of 4 *
*[image: image]Marilyn Stringer - Blues In The 21st Century Vol. 3 - The
BMA Experience*
*Self-published*
*www.MJStringerPhoto.com
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c1ec44b2e1015c889920268a57f32de0b>*
*Hardcover 366 pages*
[image: image]As she describes in the introduction to her latest book,
Marilyn Stringer has been taking photos of blues musicians and events for
the past 15 years. Her photographs appear regularly in various blues
publications. The first volume of her *Blues In The 21**st** Century*
series focused on the musicians, with interviews punctuated with photos.
The second volume was dedicated to a decade of the Waterfront Blues
Festival, held annually in Portland, Oregon, switching to format that
featured her pictures of over 300 performers who appeared at the festival
over the ten year period.
She utilizes a similar format for her new book, offering a photographic
montage covering ten years of the Blues Music Awards ceremony and related
events held in Memphis, and the surrounding area. Sponsored by the Blues
Foundation, the Blues Music Awards show is an annual event featuring many
of the best blues artists in the world. While the Awards show is the
highlight of the weekend, there are plenty of other sterling, unique
musical events that take place over the four day weekend.
The first section of the book pays tribute to some of the blues artists as
well as people listed as “Friends of the Blues” who left this planet during
the span covered by the book, including Otis Clay, Eddie Shaw, Michael
Ledbetter, and Little Charlie Baty.
Subsequent sections start with two pages that list each of the Blues Music
Awards for that year, the nominees for each, and the recipient of the award
listed first in highlight. Mixed in are small photos of some of the artists
accepting their awards, as well as shots of a number of celebrity
presenters. The following pages contain larger photos of the artists who
performed at the awards show, always some of the best in the business.
Then Stringer adds more vivid photographs taken at various fund-raising
events, jam sessions, and showcases throughout Memphis. Also included are
photographs of some of the award show attendees and musicians displayed in
page after page of colorful montages, with photos of varying sizes vying
for your attention, as many as 20 photos to a page, so there is plenty to
look at.
Part of the fun of slowly turning the pages is challenging yourself to see
how many people you can identify on each page. There are plenty of pictures
capturing special moments on the stage, as each musician strives to play
their best in front of many of their peers. There is always plenty of music
going on in Clarksdale, Mississippi, on the Saturday after the awards
ceremony, and Stringer gives readers a taste of what you can expect from
that experience, too.
[image: image][image: image]While the book is a treasure trove of memories,
it will undoubtedly tug at your heartstrings at some point. When you turn
to page 186, you immediately see Little Charlie smiling at you. Then you
notice that the photo to his left shows the legendary Otis Clay talking to
Bob Sekinger, another noted photographer. And directly below Baty is a
picture with another great, Eddie Shaw. All three are no longer with us.
Seeing a multitude of photos from 2017-2018 featuring singer Michael
Ledbetter sparks memories of a dynamic performer taken just as he was
reaching for the stars. A historic photo from Eddie Shaw's retirement
party, held at the Blues Hall of Fame in 2018, has four Hall of Fame
inductees with Shaw, Latimore, Eddy Clearwater, and Bobby Rush, along with
then Chairman of the Blues Foundation Board of Directors, Paul Benjamin.
The 2020 Awards show was done virtually due to the pandemic restrictions,
so that section is two pages of awards, nominees & winners, and photos of
most of the recipients with their awards, including Christone “Kingfish”
Ingram with his five awards. Following that is eight pages of color-coded
spreadsheets that include many of the musicians appearing in the book in
alphabetical order by first name, listing the years that they were part of
the Awards show or various other key musical events. And as a final
thoughtful touch, there are five pages at the end left blank so that book
owners have room for autographs. The pages are bordered at the bottom with
photos of Memphis highlights like the sign for Gus's World Famous Fried
Chicken (yes, it is that good!) and one for the Sun Recording Studio.
Stringer is donating the bulk of the profit from sales of her book to the
Blues Foundation's Emergency Covid Relief Fund, which has already helped
many artists deal with the monetary effects of the pandemic on their
livelihood, in case you needed one more reason to help you decide to
purchase a copy.
For those who regularly attended the BMA weekends during the covered
period, this book will surely bring back a flood of memories as you check
out each photo to see if you make an appearance. If you have yet to
experience the Blues Music Awards, Stringer has now made it possible for
you to live vicariously through her fine photographs, which will probably
spark your desire to attend next year's event, when it will hopefully be
live and in-person once again.
And don't forget, buying the book from Marilyn's website helps make the
world a better place for the musicians that speak to our souls. From the
shot of Beale Street on the cover, to the photo of a bottle tree at the
Hopson Plantation in Clarksdale on the back cover, the BMA experience takes
flight through Marilyn Stringer's loving work in a book that you will refer
to time and again. Don't miss it!
(Disclosure - The reviewer appears in a number of photographs in T*he BMA
Experience*.)
*Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Mark Thompson lives in Florida, where
he is enjoying the sun and retirement. He is the past President of the
Board of Directors for the Suncoast Blues Society and a former member of
the Board of Directors for the Blues Foundation. Music has been a huge part
of his life for the past fifty years - just ask his wife!*
*For other reviews on our website CLICK HERE
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c6da14a931cc5ab23cda1282cfefba604>*
------------------------------
[image: image]
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96cee839382cb956ed6c1aefe5a3b9ed041>
------------------------------
* Featured Blues Review - 2 of 4 *
*[image: image]Pat O’Bryan and Friends - Boomer’s Last Stand*
*www.patobryan.com
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96ca3d69f6879f08c7f5d15a2f1f0634797>*
*self released*
*10 songs, 40 minutes*
What does it mean to be a “success” in music? It is easy to see the range
of popular musicians from superstars like Taylor Swift or Beyonce to more
niche acts like Old Crow Medicine Show or Tedeschi Trucks Band as
successes. In reality all of these popular musicians are in the 1%. There
are millions of successful blue-collar/working-class musicians worldwide
who make their living off of their art; grinding it out and shopping at big
box retail stores like the rest of us. We Blues lovers know this. Our
favorite musicians often have personal relationships with us because in
some cases they are our neighbors.
Pat O’Bryan is a great example of one of these gifted musicians who has
lived a life of art and creation with some international success, but, with
minimal name recognition. A tried and true Texan, O’Bryan’s twisted musical
journey has led him through early experiments in electronic music at UT
(University of Texas, ya’ll), Country Western Swing bands, hard core
touring barrelhouse Blues and the Austin Blues explosion of the 70’s and
80’s. Using the pandemic as an opportunity to slow down off the grid in
East Texas, O’Bryan, a record producer of countless local projects, has
released his mostly self recorded and all original pandemic record *Boomer’s
Last Stand*.
Staying socially distant the few collaborations on this record were all
done remotely. Austin Blues guitar royalty Carolyn Wonderland sent in a
searing lead part for one track, the highly irreverent “She Looks Just Like
You.” Italian drummer extraordinaire Beppe Facchetti sent his percussive
music across the Atlantic adding funk and depth to all 10 tracks. Smoky
singer Elizabeth Lee offers backgrounds on a couple tracks and solo lead on
the epic “Satisfied” which also features lead guitar work from Lary Chaney.
Chase Peeler sent saxophone down from Colorado and Allan McGinty recorded
bass for one track in a different part of Texas.
Even though *Boomer’s Last Stand* is credited as “and Friends,” this last
stand is the Pat O’Bryan show. Not a beautiful singer, O’Bryan growls out
his lead vocals but doesn’t overreach, a mistake made too often by limited
singers, ensuring his vocals are always engaging. O’Bryan’s real talent
comes in his instrumental and production prowess. Layered sweeps of organ,
piano, drum programming, guitars of all type and tone create a well
realized vision of popular, slightly Blues colored, music. The dramatic
ballad “Burn It Down” is a great example. A medium-slow classic soul
ballad, O’Bryan rasps and pleads in perfect sync with his lush organ and
piano counter point. A searing yet tasty lead guitar line slinks through
the open spaces and creates a deeply satisfying performance.
Pat O’Bryan is clearly a Blues artist. He was a member of the Monday night
house band at Antone’s, toured with W.C. Clark all through the West, opened
for Johnny Winter and ZZ Top and worked with Albert Collins. But, O’Bryan
was also bit early on by the innovations of electronic instruments and the
composers who used them. O’Bryan indulges a wide pallet of styles from 80’s
Hair Band Rock to faux-Reggae to gut bucket Blues to Roots Rock burners.
These diverse interests come to bear in some of the more rock informed
tracks. Album opener “Tell Me the Truth” is a hair metal workout. The
hopped up zoom of “Nikki Put the Knife Down” is a cross of Morphine and the
Stooges. These diverse turns make for an interesting ride that shows off
what this multifaceted artist can do. Thank goodness Pat O’Bryan is a
musical success.
*Reviewer Bucky O'Hare is a Bluesman based in Boston who spreads his brand
of blues and funk all over New England. Bucky has dedicated himself to
experiencing the Blues and learning its history. As a writer, Bucky has
been influenced by music critics and social commentators such as Angela
Davis, Peter Guralnick, Eric Nisenson, Francis Davis and Henry Louis Gates
Jr.*
*For other reviews on our website CLICK HERE
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c6da14a931cc5ab23cda1282cfefba604>*
------------------------------
[image: image]
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c3bb9858d9850124b33b757a7f9b2ec2a>
------------------------------
* Featured Blues Review - 3 of 4 *
*[image: image]Kai Strauss - In My Prime*
*Continental Blue Heaven*
*www.kaistrauss.com
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c1c82af6dd3610e1dcdaef8e164040217>*
*11 songs time - 54:38*
German singer-guitarist Kai Strauss's music shows the extent of the reach
of American blues music across the globe. He absorbs the influences of the
blues greats while putting his personal stamp on everything he touches. He
puts his assertive voice to good use on all songs, be they self written or
co-written songs. The specter of B.B. King's and Albert King's guitar
styles is evident much of the time. His backing musicians include the usual
suspects-drums, bass, keyboards, guitar, harmonica and a horn section led
by Sax Gordon that was recorded in the USA.
In the midst of mainly relationship oriented material is "World Crisis
Blues", a dissertation on our current Covid-19 world situation. Harmonica
player Thomas Feldman makes his first of two effective appearances here as
well. Kai's strong vocals along with his ever present guitar goodness
enliven every selection on this effort. On "Guest In The House Of The
Blues" he rattles off a litany of his favorite blues icons.
On the slow "Keep Your Happy Home" he occasionally interjects a bit of
jazzy guitar into his otherwise bluesy solos. "You're Killing My Love"
recalls the rhythm & blues accented styles of Bobby Blue Bland and B.B.
King, a song bolstered by the horn section. He delivers a classic Otis Rush
style "crying in my beer" blues on "Day Late And A Dollar Short". His
guitar supports the sentiment.
Harmonica returns on the closing tune "Wait A Minute Baby" along with
organ, piano and Chicago style slide guitar. A fitting ending for this
tribute to old school blues.
As long musicians of this quality keep fanning the blues flame, us blues
lovers will be in great shape. Can't wait for the next chapter from Kai and
his companions. Stuff like this suits the Ol' Bluesdog quite nicely!
*Reviewer Greg “Bluesdog” Szalony hails from the New Jersey Delta.*
*For other reviews on our website CLICK HERE
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c6da14a931cc5ab23cda1282cfefba604>*
------------------------------
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c4db7a7ffa484516cf65a0493c2800cc9>
------------------------------
* Featured Blues Review - 4 of 4 *
*[image: image]Elizabeth King - Living in the Last Days*
*Bible & Tire Recording Company
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c1c58c61d7f26d1c59f99b99b9fad06cf>
BTRC011*
*11 songs - 34 minutes*
The blues and gospel have walked hand-in-hand for more than 100 years –
built on the same three chords and differing primarily in the subject
matter of their lyrics. And this disc is old-school gospel at its best.
A rising star in the 1960s, Elizabeth King returns to the studio for the
first time since 1973 after raising 15 children to put her powerful
contralto voice on display for the first time since being a rarity in the
gospel world when she fronted The Gospel Souls, an otherwise all-male group
that charted a few singles on the Designer, D-Vine Spirituals and Messenger
labels.
Now 77, King has been singing spirituals since childhood, when she credited
the Lord for her miraculous recovery from a serious illness, a faith that
only grew after she was T-boned in a car wreck and bounced back after
doctors told her she’d never walk again. She “retired” from the stage in
1973 and raised 15 children, singing only in church and hosting a radio
show for decades until the Rev. Juan D. Shipp, her former producer, reached
out to her again.
Shipp had been in the control room when Elizabeth had recorded her final
single, “I Heard the Voice,” which earned her the Gospel Gold Cup, an award
presented annually by an association of deejays, and he’d recently started
working with Bible & Tire Recording label boss Bruce Watson. The label was
in the process of putting out Elizabeth King & the Gospel Truth’s album, *The
D-Vine Spiritual Recordings*, a disc that had never been issued because of
monetary reasons.
Within a week of contacting her, King was in the studio, laying down tracks
for her first new record in 45 years, picking things up like she’d never
left. She’s backed here by a who’s who of Memphis artists, including The
Sacred Soul Sound Section -- Will Sexton and Matt Ross-Spang on guitars,
Mark Stuart on bass and George Sluppick on percussion.
Rounding out the lineup are Al Gamble, Rick Steff and William Graves on
keys, Jim Spake and Art Edmaiston on horns and backing vocals from Chris
Barnes, Courtney Barnes as well as The Vaughn Sisters – Pastor Carolyn
Brown, Deborah Ballard and Rae Hicks – and The D-Vine Spiritualettes – Cora
White, Audrey Fuller, Michelle Carter and Angela White – who deliver
additional vocals.
A simple bass line introduces “No Ways Tired” and then accompanies King as
she enters the action to assert that -- despite her long, difficult journey
-- she’s just as vital as she’s always been. Things intensify a few
measures in when the full orchestration kicks in. “He Touched Me” follows.
It’s an unhurried update of a tune first recorded by the Shaw Singers in
the late ‘60s and comes with a funky, interesting, unhurried shuffle beat.
Things heat up dramatically for the title tune, “Living in the Last Days,”
which will have you dancing in the aisles thanks to tasty fretwork and
call-and-response vocals. “Testify” – one of three reworked classics from
the Gospel Souls era -- serves up a little faith and gratitude to something
akin to a rockabilly beat before “Mighty Good God” swings easily and
steadily from the hip.
If you loved the Staple Singers, you’ll adore “A Long Journey,” which is
steeped in sacred soul, before the fiery “Reach Out and Touch” continues
the feel forward with a powerful R&B beat. “Walk with Me” – the second
Gospel Souls cover – strolls confidently forward before “Call on Him” hints
of Wilson Pickett and Solomon Burke’s “If You Need Me.” Two more pleasers –
the acapella “Blessed Be the Name of the Lord” and a haunting
reinterpretation of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “You’ve Got to Move” –
bring the album to a close.
Sing along, raise your voices and praise the Lord because Elizabeth King is
back!
*Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life.
Now based out of Charlotte, N.C., his first experience with live music came
at the feet of the first generation of blues legends at the Newport Folk
Festivals in the 1960s. A former member of the Chicago blues community,
he’s a professional journalist and blues harmonica player who co-founded
the Nucklebusters, one of the hardest working bands in South Florida.*
*For other reviews on our website CLICK HERE
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c6da14a931cc5ab23cda1282cfefba604>*
------------------------------
[image: BB logo]
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c6f726be67f84b3bb2fb08e288ba3ba93>
© 2021 Blues Blast Magazine 116 Espenscheid Court, Creve Coeur, IL 61610
(309) 267-4425
Blues Blast Magazine · 116 Espenscheid Court · Creve Coeur · Illinois ·
61610
Preferences
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c8e679e6c5ddbbd7d3b2906aabb3db9f5>
| Unsubscribe
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96c5e2d676b50a328a99a03c404c032c1a6>
This email was sent to jakecat39@xxxxxxxxx.
Click here to view the online version.
<https://track.robly.com/b963510e-c9b9-4e23-b42e-bd1112d2f96cd6ef69e001d1dd23ae839c3ff9ae30fd>
