2013 Blues Guitar from Jeff Jensen – road worn and ragged!!

So yesterday as I was exploring and writing about the Blues Music Award Nominees for Blues Rock Album of the year one of the albums  on the sidebar of the website, caught my attention.because I thought it was very tastefully done….. So I went over to Spotify and found the album,road worn and ragged.by Jeff Jensen, When I looked at the track list, I saw that Brandon Santini and Victor Wainwright played on several of the tracks, now, not only are those two favorites of mine, but they are nominated for 2013 Blues Music Awards! Brandon is nominated for Contemporary Blues…

Continue reading

The Safari investigates:The Best Rock Blues Album of the Year – Is it Luther’s Blues?

And the nominees for,,,,,Rock Blues Album of the Year at this year’s Blues Foundations Blues Music Awards are: Mike Zito & the Wheel, Gone to Texas Tedeschi Trucks Band, Made Up Mind The Rides, Can’t Get Enough Toronzo Cannon, John The Conquer Root Walter Trout, Luther’s Blues Ok so before I choose which album I think should win, I’ll have to listen to the first three albums a few more times, and the last two, I really hadn’t heard until recently….Toronzo Cannon’s album I give a quick listen last night and tonight I listen to Walter Trout’s Luther’s Blues for the…

Continue reading

2013 Blues from Jim Allchin – Q.E.D.

So I have listened to an album over the last few days that i think is one of the best blues albums of the year, Q.E.D. by Jim Allchin. Jim is not quite your typical blues artist. How many blues artist do you know that you can say this about??…. While pursuing his Ph.D. in Computer Science at Georgia Institute of Technology in the early eighties, he was the primary architect of the Clouds distributed object-oriented operating system;[6] his thesis was entitled “An Architecture for Reliable Decentralized Systems”.[7] That’s because not many blues artist are former Microsoft executives. While Allchin…

Continue reading

Today in Music – Dec 23, 1940 – Happy 73rd Birthday – Jorma Kaukonen

So today is the birthday of one of my favorite guitar players Jorma Kaukonen! Jorma was born on this day in 1940 in Washington, D.C., the son of Beatrice Love (née Levine) and Jorma Ludwig Kaukonen, Jorma Kaukonen had Finnish paternal grandparents and Russian Jewish ancestry on his mother’s side. I am a fan of both sides of Jorma’s music. The rock side which he of course displayed as a member of the Jefferson Airplane, and his acoustic side, which he has displayed in his solo releases. Then there is Hot Tuna, where sometimes he’s acoustic and sometimes electric. My…

Continue reading

2013 Blues from Down Under – Kara Grainger – “Fire on the Bayou”

So this afternoon’s soundtrack will be the new album from Kara Grainger Shiver & Sigh. Here’s some background from Amazon.com Australia native, now Los Angeles based, Kara Grainger first picked up the guitar at age 12. She started performing in the late ’90s as lead vocalist and guitarist with the successful Sydney-based blues outfit, Papa Lips. With her brother, acclaimed harmonica player Mitch Grainger, Kara and Papa Lips enjoyed a quintessentially Australian experience. Fuelled by national ABC Radio play for their two albums, “Harmony” and “High Time Now,” the band toured up and down the sun drenched beach towns of…

Continue reading

December 5th, 1899??? – A Blues Legend – Sonny Boy Williamson II is born!!

So one of those early bluesman who mightily influenced blues and rock performers in the 60s  and 70s was born on December 5th! Now the year he was born that may be in question in his review at the AllMusic Guide, Cub Koda writes: A moody, bitter, and suspicious man, no one wove such a confusing web of misinformation as Sonny Boy Williamson II. Even his birth date (stated as December 5, 1899 in most reference books, but some sources claim his birth may have been in either 1897 or 1909) and real name (Aleck or Alex or Willie “Rice” — which may…

Continue reading

2013 Blues – Kim Wempe – Coalition – leads to a night with East Coast Canadian Music and Musicians!

So premiering at number 46 this week on the Roots Music Report is the new album from Kim Wempe Coalition. After giving the album the thirty-second test the fresh voice of Kim sounded like an artist that I’d like to get to know! I downloaded the album on to the iPhone and my initial assessment was correct she is a great sounding new talent!! So let’s find out a little more about Kim, From her website…… A powerful performer with smoky vocals and an undeniable stage presence, Kim Wempe has been tearing up highways and stomping her way across every stage…

Continue reading

2013 Blues from Oakland’s – No – Austin’s Birdlegg

A review of the Roots Music Blues Chart this morning led me to the blues of , Eugene “Birdlegg” Pittman and his 2013 Dialtone release Birdlegg.(#38) Since 1980 Birdlegg has been playing the blues in and around Oakland, California with his band the Tight Fit Blues Band. The band’s lineup would change from time to time but regularly included Texas-born bass player and singer Country Pete McGill and even once featured legendary Chess session guitarist Luther Tucker. Through the years he often told folks:, “I don’t do floors, windows or shoes—I play the Oakland blues!”Birdlegg was named Blues Harmonica Player of the Year by the…

Continue reading

Today in Music Nov 16, 1873 and 1939 – W.C. Handy and Clark are born – Happy Birthday’s W.C.s!!

Today is the birthday of two  blues – W.C”s the first is W.C. Handy the “father of the blues” from Wikipedia….. William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was a blues composer and musician.[1] He was widely known as the “Father of the Blues”. Handy remains among the most influential of American songwriters. Though he was one of many musicians who played the distinctively American form of music known as the blues, he is credited with giving it its contemporary form. While Handy was not the first to publish music in the blues form, he took the blues from a regional music style with a limited audience…

Continue reading

Today in Music – Nov 14, 1936 – Blues Harpist Carey Bell was born!!

The harmonica amazes me. Such a simple little instrument yet in the hands of a master it’s one of the most expressive of all musical instruments. One of those masters Carey Bell was born on this day in 1936! For those of you who are unfortunate enough not to know Carey here’s some background from Wikipedia: Carey Bell (November 14, 1936 – May 6, 2007)[1] was an American blues musician, who played the harmonica in the Chicago blues style. Born Carey Bell Harrington in the blues-fertile state of Mississippi, Bell played harmonica (harp) and bass for other blues musicians during…

Continue reading