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Blues Mus ic Onl ine Weekly Edi t ion
GILES ROBSON - HOROJO Trio: A Winning Performance
- Central Iowa Blues Society
" B l u e s I s M y P a s s i o n "
- CD Reviews In This Issue - Licensed Artist Merchandise Included
Mick KolassaBlind Lemon Sessions
Eric Hughes BandEric Hughes Band
Mick Kolassa & the Taylor Made Blues Band
A Good Day for the Blues
David DunaventA Storm is Coming
Our Celebrated 2019 Releases!
LOOK FOR THE FOLLOWING TITLES IN 2020
CHECK OUT THESE SHOWCASES DURING THE 2020 INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE IN MEMPHIS!
I M M E D I A T E LY F O L L O W I N G T H E E V E N I N G ’ S C O M P E T I T I O N
Endless Blues Showcase JANUARY 30 @ BLUES CITY CAFE
Featuring Tennessee Redemption / Tullie Brae / Sister Lucille / Eric Hughes Band / In Layman Terms / Kern Pratt / Mick Kolassa and the Taylor Made Blues Band featuring David Dunavent
Women in Blues ShowcaseJANUARY 30 @ ALFRED’S ON BEALE
Featuring Keeshea Pratt with special guest Gaye Adegbalola and a host of blues women. More info at www.nationalwomeninblues.com
D E D I C A T E D T O H E L P I N G I N D E P E N D E N T B L U E S A R T I S T S G E T T H E I R M U S I C T O T H E W O R L D !check out all the latest and upcoming releases at endlessblues.com
8 G I L E S R O B S O N B l u e s I s M y P a s s i o n B y A r t Ti p a l d i
1 2 A R O U N D M E M P H I S A Wi n n i n g P e r f o r m a n c e B y J W- J o n e s
1 4 C D R E V I E W SF E AT U R I N G THE HOLLYWOOD FATS BAND, CHRIS “BAD NEWS” BARNES, GHOST TOWN BLUES BAND, AND GA 20. By Various Writers
1 8 F E AT U R E D B L U E S S O C I E T YT h e C e n t r a l I o w a B l u e s S o c i e t y
2 1 O F F I C I A L LY L I C E N S E D B L U E S A RT I S T S M E R C H A N D I S E
B L U E S M U S I C O N L I N E F e b r u a r y 1 4 , 2 0 2 0 - I s s u e 4
Table Of Contents
COVER & TOC PHOTOGRAPHY © COURTESY OF GILES ROBSON
R I S I N G S TA R S • S E A S O N E D V E T E R A N S B A D A S S D E B U T S • W O R L D - C L A S S B L U E S
check out all the latest and upcoming releases at vizztone.com
GILES ROBSONBlues Is My
PassionBy Art Tipaldi
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“Blues is my passion. As the years go by, I’m just amazed at how communicative
it is with people. You don’t want to throw something that precious away,” says Giles Robson the latest in a long line of British blues harmonica players and vocalists. Robson was well-known in the UK blues scene and had already recorded three records with his British blues-rock band, the Dirty Aces [think Little Walter’s Aces]. However, it was his 2019 recording, Journeys To The Heart Of The Blues, a stripped down acoustic album featuring Joe Louis Walker and Bruce Katz, that introduced this blues enthusiast to American fans. That record was so well-received that it won the 2019 Blues Music Award as Acoustic Album of the Year. Today, Robson has recently released his own record, Don’t Give Up On The Blues.
BMO – How does it feel that in your first foray into the American blues scene, you win a Blues Music Award?
Giles Robson: It was incredible. I’ll remember the ceremony and the feeling that I had backstage when it was announced for the rest of my life. I also did some breakfast TV on CBS with Joe Louis Walker, and we were recognized around the town [Memphis]. It was a magical experience. What was so great about it was the purity of the album. It was celebrating old blues tracks and giving them a fresh coat of paint. Celebrating the tracks not only for their musicality, but for their lyrics.
BMO – That’s the tightrope a performer walks. How to celebrate traditional music but bring it into this millennium? What were some of those challenges?
Giles Robson – It’s been something that I’ve thought about a lot over the last ten years. Journeys To The Heart Of The Blues was the fourth album that I‘ve made. Two previous albums were trying to experiment with the blues, adding extra influences. The third one I went back to the tradition.
What I realized was that people love the blues template and format of 12-bars. My big conclusion has been that you put a lot of tradition in there and add a bit of originality, but trying to not take it too far away. It’s about the amount of feeling that it can generate, and the effect it still has on audiences. Last year [2019], I’ve played 14 different countries across the world. The reaction, whether you are in Moscow or Shirley, MA, is the same. It’s an incredible and powerful music. When you move too far away from it, you dilute that feeling, and that feeling is so valuable and precious.
BMO – You can’t just write traditionally lyrics. You have to put some of yourself and your influences into the music that goes with those lyrics.
Giles Robson – The magical thing about the blues is that it’s a music that will last for our whole life. You can have a career when you’re 75 or 80. The music grows with you. When you are 22 and playing blues, you’re not experiencing anything that the lyrics are talking about. When you are 41, like I am, you’ve been through a lot of what the lyrics are talking about. Those lyrics are so precise and up there with great literature and poetry because they are so economical and well written by people who largely couldn’t read or write. It’s something that with each passing year, I have more respect for. When I write my original numbers, I try and draw from that poetry and put my own experiences in there.
BMO – If you put your experiences into your lyrics, that will touch those people around the world who’ve had the same experience, and that’s how this music can evolve and stay fresh.
Giles Robson – Exactly. That’s right. And also musically. I love slow blues. I do a traditional, 12-bar slow blues in the key of E. People would say that’s boring, but the solo in there
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gets a round of applause everytime. I’m not doing anything revolutionary, but I put as much emotion in there that I can. That shows you the genius of Little Walter or Sonny Boy Williamson. I find that I’m constantly knocked out with what they did with the harmonica. Both of them were an amazing mixture of technical and emotional brilliance. Both were so tasteful and economical and soulful. That’s an incredible gift that they gave us. We’ve got their music to study and learn from on a daily basis. That shows me how that their music is still valid.
BMO – How does a harmonica player from the UK, whom we didn’t know about in America, hook up with Joe Louis Walker and Bruce Katz?
Giles Robson – This is all to do with the wonderful country of the Netherlands. My career has been largely based in Holland, which has an incredible blues scene. I had just recorded my 2016 record with V2 Records [in Germany] and it did really well. I wanted my next record to be an acoustic album of traditional blues. I thought that it would be amazing to get a really great artist involved. In the winter of 2016, I met Joe at the Amstelveen Blues Festival [in the Netherlands]. He’d heard of me, and we had a great chat and he invited me to come up and jam. We really got along musically. And then we talked for about two or three hours after. I was listening to Junior Wells’ Come On In This House record on Telarc where he has a lot of guests and I really got into that.
I suddenly understood it with the dynamics. I emailed Joe and he was interested. I suggested bringing Bruce onboard and then V2 Records financed it. We recorded that in Catskill, N.Y. in January of 2018. V2 Records distribute Alligator Records in Holland, so we got into contact with Bruce [Iglauer] at Alligator, and he loved the record, put it out, and it was a wonderful success. BMO – How much of you was in the direction
of that project in terms of song choices, etc?
Giles Robson – I came up with the concept for it, and then I just tried to be as relaxed as possible and let everything breathe. Joe and Bruce came with songs and I also came with a few. It was a really wonderful set of rehearsals and sessions. I tried to let everyone breathe. It was magical. I think you can hear that organic synergy between the three of us on the record. I think I held my own, and the whole thing really came together
beautifully. I’m proud to have that as a record for the rest of my life.
BMO – Looking back on that experience, what have you learned from Joe and Bruce? Giles Robson – That’s a really good question. Both Joe and Bruce are giants in the music and just emit musicality. First, there were the stories. I just sat back and listened to Joe and Bruce exchange stories.
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It was more when they talked about artists and touring that brought it all to life. It’s those stories that can bring things to life. That gave my knowledge a lot more depth. Secondly, being in the studio with two musicians who are experienced with recording in the studio, improved my studio game tenfold. I think that my new record wouldn’t have been as successful if I hadn’t done that album with Joe and Bruce. I just learned so much about their approach to recording be being there. Watching the very casual way they go about their business in the studio is something I’ve taken with me.
BMO- Did you find your harmonica playing reach a level that hadn’t been there before?
Giles Robson – I think so. I wasn’t trying to rock it up. I was really trying to put as much soul in there as possible. Otis Spann used to say that the harp is the mother of the band. Joe really loves harmonica. It was nice to be in there bracketing Joe’s vocals and playing off Bruce’s piano. That was the spirit of the album.
BMO – To me, that album celebrates back porch blues, while your new record is more representative of 1950s, Chess Records. Is that a fair assessment?
Giles Robson – I think that my new album is playing within the tradition, but it’s slightly loose with it. I’ve got a great guitar player, Aaron Lieberman, and bass player, Antar Goodwin, who bring a slight touch of contemporary feel that gives it a combination of old and new. It’s that dash of originality. As with Journeys To The Heart Of The Blues, I didn’t want to be too strict. Sometimes I find that if a blues album goes down a resolutely traditional path, it can sound a bit of a museum piece. I was playing fast and loose with the rules.
BMO – Which would you say that you are working hardest at, harmonica, vocals, or songwriting?
Giles Robson – I’ve been working a lot on my vocals over the last few years to find a happy space where I don’t sound like an Englishman trying to sound American.
I like a lot of the English singers like John Mayall or Mick Jagger. I used to be a real blues purist in my teenage years. It had to be an American artist. I’ve relaxed since then. I think Mayall or Jagger have really convincing voices. So I’ve been listening to them a lot to get my vocals into a good place.
BMO – Have you found a sweet spot with your harmonica playing where you can say, “that’s my voice”?
Giles Robson – I’m always searching and always musically curious about what I can add. Today, I’m trying to add the upper register which I think gives my playing a bit more melodic interest, like a counterpoint to the lower register stuff. I’m always looking for new ways to approach the instrument. It’s really that precious emotion that the instrument can bring across. Little Walter was such a miraculous musician in conveying emotion. It’s a poised melancholy he had which is different to the Muddy sound.
BMO – Is the placement of emotion in a harmonica different when you play electric versus acoustically?
Giles Robson – It’s a completely different beast. It’s all about stretching out the notes, the placement of the notes, the rhythm of the notes. If you look at what Little Walter was listening to in the fifties, he was listening to all the R&B horn players, who were blasting it out to get people to dance. The great thing about the harmonica is that it’s so tonally versatile. Even thought it’s an upbeat number, “Juke” still has that poised melancholy emotion. The harmonica has the potential to convey complex emotions because of its tonal range. I did three albums where I was trying to rock it up a bit and reach out to younger audiences, and I realized that the moment you start to put the harmonica over straighter rhythms in rock and roll, it squeezes it. It’s a groove instrument and a tonal instrument. The moment it goes over straight rhythms, it loses everything that’s magical about it. Because you’re playing it straight so you lose the groove and you lose the dynamics. -BMO
Around Memphis
A Winning PerformanceIt’s taken a week to catch my breath from an
unbelievable experience at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis via The Blues Foundation that featured over 240 acts from all over the world. We knew our set was strong, and decided after much deliberation, not to change a thing and just make it tighter. Liz Sykes told us that the Paul DesLauriers band closed with a slow blues featuring an epic guitar solo, which took them to second place overall. I’ve always thought it would be the most badass thing to either open or close with a slow blues, and the guys were in agreement - close it is! We timed a 25-minute set for the quarterfinals, a 30-minute set for the semi-finals, and a 20-minute set for the finals. I made a point of trying to get us all talking about these sets as if we were definitely going to play them all in Memphis. I thought it was important to say when, not if. This is about visualizing and projecting the best possible results, not to be taken as if I thought it was guaranteed, or it wouldn’t be extremely difficult, not to mention the subjectivity being completely out of our hands, no matter how well we perform as a band.
Literally nothing stressed us out more than only having ten minutes between bands to set up and get comfortable in time to play in front of people who are literally judging you with a scorecard. Not only that, you are there to entertain. It’s your job. Forget about the scorecard, just play. We rehearsed in the hotel room before every single set we played. We ironed out anything that wasn’t perfect, from the pushes to the dynamics, from the script to the dress code. The Orpheum Theatre is absolutely stunning. It was an honor to set foot on that stage, let alone play a slow blues down to whisper volume, to a full house! We had incredible stage crews and sound techs in every venue. It all happened so fast. So many incredible artists that all played their hearts out. Joe Whitmer’s speech was inspiring and made us feel like a team instead of competitors. He reminded us that everyone in the room is already a winner if we’ve made it that far. We made friends backstage. We did the best HOROJO could do. We had no idea who the five judges were, though I later found out that Bruce Iglauer from Alligator Records and
By JW - Jones
A Winning Performance
W here The Blues Is Still Hip!
Roger Naber from the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise were two of the five. It was an honor to be considered for the Gibson Guitar Award for Best Guitarist, and Gabe Stillman passed on the Award, a gorgeous Gibson 335 in Beale Street Blue with the Blues Foundation logo on it and an epic Category 5 custom amp. We did nothing but play the best we can. I feel like we played real blues, and we did it with an original angle. I will tell anyone wondering about getting into the IBC…DO IT. You will meet incredible people and have the opportunity to showcase to experts from all over the world. The networking is incredible, and there is love in the air. I mean the love of Blues! -BMO
Congratulations to the members of HOROJO Trio of JW-Jones, Jeff Rogers, and Jamie Holmes for their first place win at the 2020 IBC. JW-Jones also won the Gibson Guitar Award. We look forward to seeing their shows on the road this year.
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THE HOLLYWOOD FATS BANDBlues By the Pound, Vol. 1Blues By the Pound, Vol. 2TopCat Records
In the mid-1970’s, there were only a handful of white blues bands keeping the blues alive, the Nighthawks, Roomful of Blues, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Rod
Piazza and the Mighty Flyers, and the Hollywood Fats Band. Named for guitarist Michael Mann, aka Hollywood Fats, the Hollywood Fats Band formed in 1975, featuring Fats’ guitar, Fred Kaplan’s piano, Richard Innes’ drums, Al Blake’s harmonica and vocals, and Larry Taylor’s bass to play a fresh vision of the blues.
The band came apart in 1980 when gigs were harder and harder to come by because disco clubs ruled the mainstream. After a short stint with the Blasters, Fats returned to the blues and the James Harman band. In 1986, Blake and Kaplan regrouped the Fats band and performed again in December of 1986. The next day, Michael Mann was dead of a heroin overdose. Thus far, what we mostly have of Fats and his band are the few releases he is part of from the late-‘70s or through Fats’ work with James Harman in the 1980s. In the new millennium, Fats’ band mates recorded three CDs for Delta Groove as the Hollywood Blue Flames using Kirk Fletcher and Junior Watson on guitars. Thankfully, TopCat Records has released two live outings by the Fats band from performances in 1979 and 1980. The first disc, Blues By The Pound, Vol. 1, features 14 songs variously recorded in 1979-80 at the White House, the Musicians Union Local 7, and the Keystone all on their home turf in California. It contains 14 songs, both originals and iconic covers performed with an old school approach. Specifically the classic interplay between guitar, piano, and harmonica fortified by a rock solid rhythm section. To hear this approach give a listen to Jimmy Oden’s “Soon Forgotten,” Fats’ instrumental “Tribute To T-Bone Walker,” or Lowell Fulson’s “Love Her With A Feeling.” The CD ends with another Fats’ solo guitar instrumental “Road Camp Blues,” which segues into “Good Night.” Blues By The Pound, Vol. 2 (62 minutes) was recorded live at the Belly Up Tavern in 1980 and spotlights the band backing George “Harmonica” Smith (one tune) and Otis Rush (five tunes). After the band’s four-song introduction, Smith shows off his chromatic harp mastery on a harmonica boogie as Fats and Kaplan dance under Smith’s chordal voicings. The star of the CD is Rush. You can almost picture him walking to the stage and plugging in as Kaplan and Fats provide the musical introduction on “Worry Worry.” At the two-minute mark, Rush acknowledges the crowd and adds his left-handed B.B. King bends to the King instrumental. He follows with his classic Westside approach on “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)” (eight minutes), “I Can’t Quit You Baby” (six minutes), “D Shuffle” (seven minutes), and “You’re Breaking My Heart” (11+ minutes). Those 33 minutes of Rush and the Fats band offer some of the most resounding blues I’ve recently heard. Remember that these were mostly recorded with unsophisticated recording equipment so at times there is the chatter or clatter from fans seated nearby. Those imperfections should not deter as the authenticity of these indispensible and historic recordings. – Art Tipaldi
NEW CD RELEASES - CLICK ANY REVIEWED CD COVER TO ORDER TODAY
NEW CD RELEASES - CLICK ANY REVIEWED CD COVER TO ORDER TODAY
CHRIS “BAD NEWS” BARNESLiveVizzTone
Not many blues performers have as intriguing a background as Chris Barnes. Formerly a member of the famed Second City comedy troupe based in
Chicago, he has written for and performed on Saturday Night Live. This is no comedy recording, though; the man can sing the blues.
Barnes established a firm niche in the blues world with his 2017 CD release, Hokum Blues, singing covers of raunchy 1920s and 1930s tunes. His newly earned notoriety earned him a spot on the January 2019 Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, from which this live set was recorded. Harmonica ace Steve Guyger displays his magic on the “Mississippi saxophone,” and guitar is plied by Gary Hoey, whose rock and blues resume is extensive and impressive. The ensemble is completed by A.J. Pappas (bass), Sandy MacDonald (piano), Matt Scurfield (percussion), and the familiar names Mark Earley (saxophone) and Doug Woolverton (trumpet). Backing vocals are courtesy of the powerful pipes of Gracie Curran. Three of the baker’s-dozen tracks are live versions of songs that appeared on Hokum Blues. “It’s Tight Like That,” which originated in 1928, has Barnes and crew morph it into a Bo Diddley rocker, with vivacious horns and some nifty slide by Hoey. It’s followed by Tampa Red’s “It Hurts Me Too”; the tempo is moderated and Guyger lays into a dazzling solo. Then Big Bill Broonzy’s “Keep Your Mind On It” is given a syncopated treatment with an undeniable Latino vibe. The remainder of the set manifests equal expertise. Even familiar compositions are given fresh looks. Cases in point, two Willie Dixon classics: “You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover” is turned into a driving blues rocker, and “Hoochie Coochie Man,” the longest track of this almost hour-long album, is slowed down compared to the many versions recorded by Muddy Waters. Neither suffers from the change. There are also covers of more contemporary songs, such as “I Drink Alone” (George Thorogood), “Whipping Post” (Gregg Allman), and “What’s Coming Next,” by the late Portland, Oregon harmonicat Paul DeLay; Guyger and Hoey blast out meaty solos again on the latter. Mention should also be made of “Hungry & Horny,” listed as a parody of the Earl King tune “Come On.” Barnes introduces it by explaining that he gained inspiration for it by watching an episode of an Oprah Winfrey show in which men were castigated for not understanding women’s feelings. Barnes’s risible response: “Men only have two emotions: hungry and horny.” (Humorous and poignant; write more songs, Chris.) Like this entire set, the song delivers expert musicianship seasoned with humor and led by Barnes’s supple and gritty vocals.– Dan Stevens
GHOST TOWN BLUES BANDShineGTBB
There are no traditional blues tunes on this collection of 12 originals from the Memphis-based GTBB. Nonetheless, the blues influence is prominent as are the influences of Southern soul, Southern rock, country, and folk. The band is led by the songwriting
duo of vocalist Matt Isbell who also contributes harmonica and guitar and guitarist Taylor Orr. They are joined by producer/saxophonist Kevin Houston, trombonist/trumpeter Suavo Jones, bassist Mark Karner, drummer Andrew McNeill, and keyboardist Cedric Taylor. The title track is a Southern soul strutter with themes of love and hope. Two other Southern soul tunes are the lilting “My Father’s Son” which evokes classic Al Green (and other Hi Records label mates Syl Johnson and Otis Clay) and “Carry Me Home” a ballad about absence making the heart grow fonder. The salaciously metaphoric “Soda Pop” starts off as a neck-snappin’ boogie twister with frenzied slide and raucous harp and finishes as romping rockabilly. Except for the dreamy folk rock of “Lucinda” which closes the album on the soft side, the remaining tunes are eclectic Southern rock reminiscent of Wet Willie. Two of the best are on the funky side: “Running Out Of Time,” self-reflection about the future underscored by searing slide and “Lyin’ To Yourself” which commences with a lightly strummed chord, followed by a glistening 60-second piano solo, and then blazing duel guitars a la Allman Brothers kick in launching Isbell’s gritty vocals that admonish the fork-tongued trouble magnet “Molina.” I really enjoyed Taylor’s virtuoso playing and would have liked more of Isbell’s harmonica. GTBB is a cohesive unit with well-crafted songs that will appeal to fans of Southern rock and Americana.– Thomas J. Cullen III
NEW CD RELEASES - CLICK ANY REVIEWED CD COVER TO ORDER TODAY
NEW CD RELEASES - CLICK ANY REVIEWED CD COVER TO ORDER TODAY
GA-20Lonely SoulKarma Chief
Does Matthew Stubbs need another project? The Boston-based, longtime guitarist for Charlie Musselwhite releases solo albums under his own name and also leads the instrumental retro-psych band The Antiguas. Now he teams with fellow guitarist/vocalist Pat Faherty and
drummer Chris Anzalone to churn out grimy garage blues-rocking in GA-20. The bass-free trio takes its cues from the rootsy, rugged sounds of Bo Diddley (whose “Crackin’ Up” they cover), Earl Hooker, and the Yardbirds among others who injected raw rocking into bluesy riffs. Six of these ten tunes are originals, but tracks like “One Night Man” sound so close to their influences – in that case Bo Diddley – it’s hard to tell they aren’t excavating obscurities from the past. A few guests like Musselwhite and Luther Dickinson swing by for a song or two, adding their well-established mojo, but this soulful, grungy music doesn’t need, or even particularly benefit from, the help. If the Rolling Stones never progressed past their first few albums, they could easily be GA-20. There’s also a swamp undertone to this, perhaps most obvious on their covers of Slim Harpo’s “Got Love If You Want It” and Clifton Chenier’s grinding “My Soul.” Although fronted by two terrific guitarists, this is far from a six-string slinging showcase. Rather the duo digs into the lowdown ambiance, punching out short solos then retreating to the safety of the gutsy groove that anchors this disc. Singer Flaherty doesn’t have a great or even distinctive voice, but it’s perfect for this lowdown music since the focus is more on feel than either member stealing the spotlight. It doesn’t seem like the threesome spent much time laboring over this short (just over half hour) but tangy set. It would be surprising if there were any overdubs since that’s contrary to the rough/tough if somewhat subdued attack they consistantly nail. As the rather bland album package design implies, there’s nothing pretty or cute about GA-20’s unvarnished style. The only frustrating aspect is that Lonely Soul should be twice as long. But what’s here is just enough to show that Stubbs has yet another quality outlet for his impressive talents. Hopefully he has enough room in his schedule to crank out more of where this came from. – Hal Horowitz
The Central Iowa Blues Society (CIBS) is a volunteer non-profit arts organization ded-icated to the education, preservation and
celebration of blues and roots music throughout Iowa. CIBS was incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in 1992 by 200 blues lovers who wanted to help to improve the blues scene in central Iowa. We endeavor to increase awareness of and appreciation for blues music by providing a network of association for blues enthusiasts. We recognize and honor our Iowa blues heritage through the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame program. We celebrate blues performance by promoting numerous concerts throughout the year including the Winter Blues Fest and the Iowa Blues Challenge. We strive to educate and ensure the future of the blues through the Blues in the Schools program. Central Iowa Blues Society is a 2016 re-cipient of The Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive Award. The Memphis-based Blues Foundation presents the Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Awards to individuals and organiza-tions that have made significant contributions to the Blues around the world each year. They’re other signature events and honors include; the Blues Music Awards, the International Blues Challenge, and the Blues Hall of Fame.
Keeping the Blues Alive throughCelebration, Preservation & Education!
From the inception of CIBS, Blues Educa-tion has always remained a priority for the membership. In October 1994, CIBS cre-
ated a Blues section at the Forest Ave. Public Library and has donated resources over the course of several years. In February 1997, CIBS booked 1993 KBA award winner for The-atre, Guy Davis, to perform his award–winning theatrical performance “In Bed with the Blues: The Adventures of Fishy Waters” at North High School and DMACC in honor of Black History Month, as well as a spot at the Court Ave. Win-ter Blues Fest that weekend. After nearly six years of planning and fund-raising, in September 1998 CIBS was
finally able to present its first true Blues in the Schools program, a residency program for 20 students at Moulton Elementary taught by 1997 KBA award winner for Education, Fruteland Jackson, assisted by local musicians “Chica-go Rick” Lussie & Rob Lumbard. After 7 class days involving 2-4 hours of instruction per day in blues history as well as technique and per-formance on guitar and harmonica, the program culminated with a lunchtime performance in the Capitol Square lobby featuring a song that was not only performed by the class, but written by them as well. In addition, Fruteland presented brief “Blues 101” programs at four other area schools. In September 2002, CIBS presented its 2nd BITS endeavor, again bringing in Fruteland Jackson, this time for a two-week residency at Harding Middle School and assisted by Des Moines harmonica player “Jammin’ Jimmy” Schieffer. The program concluded again with a lunchtime Capitol Square performance. Two students from the Moulton program 4 years ear-lier were back to participate again at Harding. Additionally short programs were presented at 6 area schools as well as an all-ages presentation at Blues on Grand. The third edition of CIBS’ BITS program took place in June 2007 involving a group of stu-dents at the Scavo campus, and this time taught by two artists-in-residence, Iowa City’s Kevin Burt and Iowa Blues Hall of Fame Inductee Dar-tanyan Brown, assisted by Maxx G and fellow IBHOF members George Davis and Sam Sa-lomone. This time around, the program’s con-clusion was a performance on the U.S. Cellular stage at the Des Moines Arts Festival.
CIBS is again reviving its BITS efforts in 2014 with a bit of a change in focus. As opposed to bringing in an artist-in-residence, an expen-sive proposition that has limited the frequency with which the program can be presented, we are creating a core group of interested area mu-sicians, some of whom are professional music educators, and developing a core curriculum which can be adapted to classes of varying du-ration and age levels in the hope that we can present multiple opportunities throughout the year in the near future. Our first such program will be held at East High this spring.
Tax-deductible donations to support CIBS’ education
programs can be made to the Carol Thomas Memorial Endowment Fund by mailing
checks to:
Central Iowa Blues SocietyPO Box 13016
Des Moines, IA 50310-0016
O U R 3 0 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y
March 27- April 5, 2020Reading, PA
For tickets and complete festival schedule,visit berksjazzfest.com
CHRIS BOTTI
BRIAN CULBERTSON: THE XX TOUR
MARCUS MILLER LAID BLACK TOUR featuring SURPRISE SPECIAL GUESTS
KEIKO MATSUI & KIRK WHALUM
BÉLA FLECK & THE FLECKTONES
BONEY JAMES
INCOGNITO with MAYSA
CELEBRATING THE MUSIC OF STEVIE WONDER AT 70! with CHRIS “BIG DOG” DAVIS, ERIC DARIUS, MAYSA and many more
30TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION ALL-STAR CONCERT featuring RICK BRAUN, PETER WHITE, NICK COLIONNE, MINDI ABAIR, EUGE GROOVE, BRIAN BROMBERG, LARRY BRAGGS
GERALD ALBRIGHT & JONATHAN BUTLER
DAVID BENOIT & LINDSEY WEBSTER
DAMIEN ESCOBAR
PIECES OF A DREAM
TAB BENOIT
JAZZ FUNK SOUL featuring JEFF LORBER, EVERETTE HARP, PAUL JACKSON JR.
DEAN BROWN’S SUMMER OF LOVE EVOLUTION
30TH ANNIVERSARY BERKS BOP BIG BAND directed by ERIC MARIENTHAL & ANDREW NEU
JANIS SIEGEL & JOHN DI MARTINO
SOUL PATROL: LARRY BRAGGS, BLAKE AARON, TOM BRAXTON
THE BRUBECK BROTHERS CELEBRATE DAVE BRUBECK’S CENTENNIAL
... and many more!
Featuring ...
LONG SLEEVE TEE SHORT SLEEVE TEE LONG SLEEVE TEE
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