Jesper Munk (* 31. Mai 1992 in München) ist ein deutscher Blues-, Soul-, Rock- und Folk-Singer-Songwriter und Gitarrist. Jesper wurde in München als Sohn der Dänin Helle Munk und des Musikers Rainer Germann (Cat Sun Flower) geboren. Mit 15 Jahren begann er Gitarre zu spielen, seit 2010 spielt er in der Band Lila's Riot. Nach dem Abitur am Städtischen Luisengymnasium München begann er auch eine Solokarriere, trat auf der Straße und regelmäßig bei den Fish'n Blues-Veranstaltungen der Münchener Glockenbachwerkstatt im Glockenbachviertel auf.[1] Entdeckt wurde der ursprüngliche Straßenmusikant von Musikredakteuren des Bayerischen Rundfunks.[2] Am 14. Juni 2013 erschien sein Debütalbum For In My Way It Lies.[3][4] Das Album spielte Jesper Munk zusammen mit dem Lila’s Riot-Bandkollegen und -Schlagzeuger Clemens Finck von Finckenstein und seinem als Berater, Bassist und Co-Produzenten fungierenden Vater ein. Beide unterstützen Jesper Munk als Band auch bei Bühnenauftritten.[5] Das ZDF bezeichnete Jesper Munk im Rahmen eines Fernsehauftritts als „Deutschlands gehypten Blues-Act“ und die Jugendzeitschrift Bravo sah ihn als „einzigartige Neuentdeckung“ und ergänzte: „Diesen Namen sollte man sich merken“. Im Herbst 2013 ging Jesper Munk auf Tour und war in der Show von Harald Schmidt zu hören, von nun an folgten weitere Fernsehauftritte in bekannten Shows.[6] Ende 2013 tourte Jesper Munk als Vorgruppe bei Eric Burdons Deutschlandtour.
Deutsch-Dänischer Singer-Songwriter, Blues- und Rockgitarrist.
Jesper wurde 1992 in München als Sohn der dänischen Modedirektrice Helle Munk und des deutschen Musikers Rainer Germann (Cat Sun Flower) geboren, er behielt die Staatsbürgerschaft seiner Mutter.
Noch unerfahren übernahm der damals 16-Jährige die Bassgitarre in der Bluesrock Band LiLa’s Riot. Lektionen zum professionellen Gitarrenspielen begann Jesper zwischen dem 17. und 18. Lebensjahr zu erlernen.
Jasper’s Freundin boxte den Musiker, der bei Jam-Sessions gerne mal den Weg zur Schule vergaß, regelrecht durch die Abiturprüfungen. Gleich nach dem Abschluss am Städtischen Luisengymnasium München startete seine Solokarriere.
Als kleines Dankeschön widmete Jesper später seiner Freundin den Song Drunk On You.
Amy Winehouse († 23. Juli 2011), Tom Waits und J.J. Cale zählen zu seinen Top Favoriten. Jesper’s Lieblingssong heißt Shake Your Hips von The Rolling Stones. Gegenwärtig spielt er auf einer Les Paul Bonnamassa Gitarre und der 11 saitigen Strat.
Jesper’s zweiter Berufswunsch tendiert zwischen Gitarrenbauer und Goldschmied. Seine 1. selbstgebaute Gitarre machte er seiner Freundin zum Geschenk.
Ralf Sommer, Radakteur des Bayrischen Rundfunks, entdeckte Jesper Munk beim Straßenmusizieren in München und lud ihn zum Vorspielen ins Studio 12 des Jugendradios Zündfunk. Hier veröffentlichte Jasper kurz darauf die sehr gelungene Unplugged Version von Timeless Throne.
In Zusammenarbeit mit Lila’s Riot-Schlagzeuger Clemens Graf Finck von Finckenstein und seinem Vater erschien am 14. Juni 2013 das Debütalbum For In My Way It Lies. Jesper’s Vater fungierte als Berater, Bassist und Co-Produzent.
Das zweites Studiowerk Claim erstellte Jesper im Zusammenwirken krass unterschiedlicher Produzenten wie Mocky (Feist, Jamie Lidell), Jon Spencer (The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Heavy Trash, Pussy Galore) und Sepalot (Blumentopf). Das Resultat ergab 14 Songs, die von Rock, Folk über Soul bis zum Blues reichen.
Jesper definiert den Stil seines neuen Albums als den bittersüßen Konflikt zwischen traditionellen Werten und dem unvermeidlichen Bruch mit Konventionen.
Jesper Munk covert bei verschiedenen Konzerten auch gerne Songs von Little Walter, Etta James oder Willie Nelson.
Beide Alben erhielten nach Veröffentlichung gute Kritiken von Presse, Rundfunk und TV Stationen.
22 Years Old German-Danish Singer, Songwriter & Guitarplayer
Biografie
Born in Munich 1992, danish mother Helle Munk (fashion business) and father Rainer Germann (musician & editor), started playing guitar at the age of 17, joined his first band Lila's Riot in 2010(bass player and backing vocals), began his solo career after exam at Luisengynasium in 2012, first album recordings summer 2012
Paul Reddick (born Lakefield, Ontario)[1] is an award-winning Canadian blues singer, songwriter and harmonica player.
Paul Reddick began playing the harmonica at the age of twelve. In 1990, he formed The Sidemen, a blues band based out of Toronto, which toured and recorded until the early 2000s. The Sidemen's album Rattlebag (2001) was nominated for a Juno, as well as a W.C. Handy Award. In 2002, The Sidemen also won three Maple Blues Awards, including Album of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year. Reddick was also the 2008 Maple Blues Award winner as Songwriter of the Year.[2]
Reddick's songs have been used in such feature films as Two If by Sea, Triggermen, Niagara Motel and The Evel Knievel Story, in addition to the television series Due South, Dawson’s Creek, 15 Love and Madison. In 2006, the Coca Cola Company used the song "I'm A Criminal", from Rattlebag, in a US commercial for Coca Cola Classic.
Melding poetry, mystery, darkness and light, along with an extensive knowledge of the history and traditions of blues music is what makes Paul Reddick on of the most popular figures on the blues and roots music scene today. For over 25 years he’s been writing and performing his eclectic brand of blues, bringing the art form to new frontiers with his rapacious, deep vocals, masterful harmonica playing and song writing. As the unofficial poet laureate of Canadian blues, words are his weapon of choice and when he sings, it is near impossible not to listen and get lost within the songs, right alongside him and illustrating what the influential British magazine Mojo described as his “wayward brilliance.”
A devotee of pre-war blues and classic artists such as Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf, Reddick formed his innovative band Paul Reddick & The Sidemen in Toronto in 1990, developing a cult-like following in the clubs and venues on the circuit at the time and spent a the better part decade touring across Canada. Together they released four albums, two of which were JUNO nominated and in 2002 their ground breaking release Rattlebag won three Maple Blues Awards including Electric Act of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Album of the Year and was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award in the USA. One of the tracks from Rattlebag, the gritty “I’m A Criminal”, was used in the popular Coca-Cola “Sip Stealing” television commercial that aired during the Superbowl. Following the trajectory set forth by The Sidemen, Reddick continued to re-work blues traditions on his solo recordings; Villanelle (2004), Sugarbird (2009), which earned Reddick a Maple Blues Award for Songwriter of the Year, and his seminal recording Wishbone (2012). These recordings were released to critical acclaim from reviewers around the world.
Reddick is also the creator and benefactor of The Cobalt Prize for Contemporary Blues Composition. The intention behind the Cobalt Prize is to promote blues music through exploration of its form. Entries are judged on their ability to creatively utilize blues traditions within the broad contemporary musical landscape. The inaugural Colbalt Prize was awarded at the Maple Blues Awards in 2015, and will continue to be an annual event.
With his extensive career and importance as a major player in the Canadian blues scene, there is no doubt that Paul Reddick will long continue to be an innovator and boundary-pusher in the genre.
This is poetry. This is history. This is blues. This is Paul Reddick.
Johnnie
Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000)[1] was an American
vocalist in a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues,
soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop and disco.
Biography
Early years
Johnnie
Taylor was born in Crawfordsville, Arkansas. As a child, he grew up in
West Memphis, Arkansas and performed in gospel groups as a youngster. As
an adult, he had one release, "Somewhere to Lay My Head", on Chicago's
Chance Records label in the 1950s, as part of the gospel group Highway
QCs, which had been founded by a young Sam Cooke. His singing was
strikingly close to that of Sam Cooke, and he was hired to take Cooke's
place in the latter's gospel group, the Soul Stirrers, in 1957.
A few
years later, after Cooke had established his independent SAR Records,
Taylor signed on as one of the label's first acts and recorded "Rome
Wasn't Built In A Day" in 1962. However, SAR Records quickly became
defunct after Cooke's death in 1964.
In 1966, Taylor moved to Stax
Records in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was dubbed "The Philosopher of
Soul". While there he recorded with the label's house band, Booker T.
& the MGs. His hits included "I Had a Dream", "I've Got to Love
Somebody's Baby" (both written by the team of Isaac Hayes and David
Porter) and most notably "Who's Making Love", which reached No. 5 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1968. "Who's
Making Love" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold
disc.[2]
During his tenure at Stax, he became an R&B star, with
over a dozen chart successes, such as "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone",
which reached No. 23 on the Hot 100 chart, "Cheaper to Keep Her" (Mack
Rice) and record producer Don Davis's penned "I Believe in You (You
Believe in Me)", which reached No. 11 on the Hot 100 chart. "I Believe
in You (You Believe in Me)" also sold in excess of one million units,
and was awarded gold disc status by the R.I.A.A. in October 1973.[2]
Taylor, along with Isaac Hayes and The Staple Singers was one of the
label's flagship artists. He appeared in the documentary film, Wattstax,
which was released in 1973.[3]
Columbia Records
After Stax folded
in 1975, Taylor switched to Columbia Records, where he made his best
known hit, "Disco Lady", in 1976. It spent four weeks at number one on
the Billboard Hot 100 and six weeks on the Billboard R&B chart in
the U.S. It peaked at #25 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1976.[4] "Disco
Lady" was the first certified platinum single (two million copies sold)
by the RIAA.
Malaco Records
After a brief stint at Beverly Glen
Records, Taylor signed with Malaco Records after the label's founder
Tommy Couch and producing partner Wolf Stephenson heard him sing at
blues singer Z. Z. Hill's funeral in the spring of 1984.
Backed by
members of The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section as well as in-house veterans
like former Stax keyboardist Carson Whitsett and guitarist/bandleader
Bernard Jenkins, Malaco gave Taylor the type of recording freedom that
Stax had given him in the late 1960s and early 1970s, enabling him to
record ten albums for the label in his sixteen-year stint.
In 1996,
Taylor's eighth album for Malaco, Good Love!, reached number one on the
Billboard Top Blues Albums chart (#15 R&B), and was the biggest
record in Malaco's history. With this success, Malaco recorded a live
video of Taylor at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, Texas in the summer
of 1997. The club portion of the "Good Love" video was recorded at 1001
Nightclub in Jackson, Mississippi.
Taylor's final song was "Soul
Heaven", in which he dreamed of being at a concert featuring deceased
African American music icons from Louis Armstrong to Otis Redding to
Z.Z. Hill to Notorious B.I.G., among others.
Radio
In the 1980s
Johnnie Taylor was a DJ on KKDA-FM, a Dallas/Fort Worth radio station.
The station's format was mostly R&B and Soul oldies and their
on-the-air personalities were often local R&B, Soul, blues, and jazz
musicians. Mr. Taylor was billed as "The Wailer, Johnnie Taylor".
Death
Taylor
died of a heart attack at Charlton Methodist Hospital in Dallas, Texas,
on May 31, 2000, aged 66.[5] Stax billed Johnnie Taylor as "The
Philosopher of Soul". He was also known as "the Blues Wailer". He was
buried beside his mother, Ida Mae Taylor, at Forrest Hill Cemetery in
Kansas City, Missouri.
Awards
Taylor was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1999.
Musical influence
In 2004, the UK's Shapeshifters sampled Taylor's 1982 "What About My Love?", for their #1 hit single, "Lola's Theme".
1. Who's Makin' Love 2. Little Bluebird 3. It's Still Called The Blues 4. Just Because 5. Wall To Wall 6. Medley: Love Bones~ Stop Doggin' Me Around~ Take Care Of Your Homework~ Hello Sundown~ Steal Away 7. I Don't Want To Lose Your Love 8. Jody's Got Your Girl 9. It's September 10. Stormy Monday Medley 11. I'm Changing
"King Ernest" Baker (May 30, 1939 – March 5, 2000)[1] was an American blues and soul singer. He recorded "I Feel Alright" and "That's When I Woke Up."[1] Baker was born in Natchez, Mississippi, and died in a car crash in 2000,[1] just after finishing recording an album.
His first professional outing was in 1958 with Byther Smith at Wynn's Lounge in Chicago, Illinois. Baker credited Smith with giving him his start as a professional.[2]
He became a popular Chicago club attraction, and performed variously with Tyrone Davis, Buddy Guy and Howlin' Wolf.[3] Due to some disappointments in his career he got a job with the Sheriffs department. He stayed there for 14 years until retiring at 55, and then returned to show business.[2]
In 2000, Baker had just finished recording his second album, Blues Got Soul.[4] He had a listen to the CD on March 2, and a few days later while on his way back to Los Angeles he was killed in a car crash, near to Santa Maria, California on Highway 101.
Rick Holmstrom (born May 30, 1965) is an American electric blues and rhythm and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter.[1] Holmstrom has previously worked with William Clarke, Johnny Dyer, and Rod Piazza. He is currently the bandleader for Mavis Staples.[2] In addition, Holmstrom has played and recorded with Jimmy Rogers, Billy Boy Arnold, Jody Williams, and R. L. Burnside.[3]
One critic observed of Holmstrom, "he delivers music with technical savvy and traditional stylings, without sacrificing originality and pure adventure".
Holmstrom was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States, and his father was a DJ.[1] After relocating to Southern California, and while attending college in Redlands, California, he joined a local blues group.[3] Holmstrom also went to blues concerts, where he played guitar with Smokey Wilson and Junior Watson.[1]
He joined William Clarke's backing band, and played both lead and rhythm guitar for three years up to 1988. That same year, Holmstrom suffered a significant tragedy in his family, as his father and younger sister were killed in a whitewater rafting accident in Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.[5][6] Later joining forces with Johnny Dyer, Holmstrom played on his albums, Listen Up (1994) and Shake It! (1995). He moved on to join Rod Piazza's backing group, the Mighty Flyers and, in 1996, released his first solo album, Lookout! on Black Top Records.[1] It was an instrumental affair, about which one reviewer noted "Holmstrom's inventive ideas are top-notch, making each track stand mightily on its own".[7]
However, Holmstrom continued to perform with Piazza, and help him record Tough and Tender (1997). By 2000, Holmstrom's second solo effort, Gonna Get Wild was released on Tone-Cool Records, and he stayed long enough with Piazza's backing ensemble to participate on Beyond the Source (2001). Holmstrom's next release, Hydraulic Groove (2002) is one of his most daring efforts, where he used loops and samples, and incorporated elements of acid jazz/nu-jazz, funk and trip-hop to his blues, featuring guest performances of John Medeski and DJ Logic.[1] Hydraulic Groove peaked at #9 in the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart.[8] In 2005, Holmstrom played at the Dark Season Blues festival. Holmstrom turned to record production duties for other musicians before, in 2006, releasing Live at the Cafe Boogaloo.[1]
Holmstrom switched record label to M.C. Records, and in 2007 issued Late in the Night. In 2012, he toured as the guitarist in Mavis Staples' backing band.
Born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, Rick Holmstrom grew up surrounded by the sounds of 50's rock, 60's surf, folk, and the Beatles. Though appropriately impressed when his disc jockey father took him to see Chuck Berry at an early age, young Rick nevertheless preferred sports through his teen years.
It wasn't until senior year at college that guitar began to take over; when Holmstrom joined a band playing blues and roots at parties. A band mate introduced him to records by blues artists like Lightnin' Hopkins, Muddy Waters, et al, setting the young musician on a quest.
Graduating in 1987, Holmstrom moved to Los Angeles, where he was a freelance reporter by day, haunting the city's funkiest blues clubs at night to observe, sit-in and learn. His budding talent was recognized by William Clarke, who took him on tour. Eventually the road won out over reporting and Holmstrom became fully immersed in the blues scene, working with local luminaries Johnny Dyer, Smokey Wilson and Rod Piazza, as well as legends Jimmy Rogers, Billy Boy Arnold and R.L. Burnside.
In 1996 he released the first record under his own name, Lookout!, on the New Orleans label Black Top, followed at the millennium's turn by Gonna Get Wild on Tone Cool. 2002's Hydraulic Groove, also on Tone Cool, turned the blues world on its head with its blues meets hip hop grooves, electronica and DJ remixes. "I'm glad I made that record," says Holmstrom, "even though it pissed a lot of folks off. I was a young, up and coming traditional blues hope, so I dashed those hopes with that record, but that's cool, I'm proud of it. It has its flaws, for sure, but it was heartfelt."
In 2007 Holmstrom released Late in The Night on M.C. Records. Gone were the hip hop and electronica elements, but the guitarist was not done pushing the limits of the blues, this time experimenting with the genre's song forms. "I love blues," Holmstrom says, "I listen to Lightnin' and Gatemouth and Little Walter all the time, but I'm interested in blues feeling, phrasing and tones without necessarily using the same 12 bar forms over and over."
Just as Holmstrom and long time band mates Stephen Hodges and Jeff Turmes were about to hit the road in support of Late in The Night, the call came to back up gospel/soul legend Mavis Staples, fresh off the release of her critically acclaimed We'll Never Turn Back record (Anti, 2007). It was a no-brainer; Holmstrom and his Late in The Night trio hit the road with Staples, accompanying her on Live: Hope at the Hideout for Anti Records in 2008. Smart enough not to mess with a great thing, producer Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) used the now tight as nails trio to back Staples on her Grammy award winning You Are Not Alone (Anti, 2010).
This same trio brought their telepathic interplay into the studio for Holmstrom's latest M.C. Records recording, Cruel Sunrise, combining it with the guitarist's evolved songwriting and evocative vision to make Cruel Sunrise his best record yet.
"We've been around songwriters like Jeff Tweedy, Neko Case, Buddy Miller, Billy Bragg and Jolie Holland while recording and touring with Mavis," says Holmstrom, "and I figured there's gotta be a way to combine that kind of literate writing with low down blues feeling to create songs that regular music fans might like, in addition to blues aficionados."
No doubt both aficionados and regular fans will appreciate Cruel Sunrise, a record that honors Rick Holmstrom's past as a blues master while pointing to his future as a songwriter to be reckoned with.
Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson (August 16, 1915, Tyler, Texas - May 30, 1976, Dallas[1]) was an American blues guitarist. He was a contemporary of Lightnin' Hopkins.
Jackson's mother played gospel guitar, and he played early on in a gospel group called the Blue Eagle Four.[1] He trained to be a mechanic and did a stint in the Army during World War II, then decided to pursue a career in blues music.[1] He recorded a demo and sent it to Bill Quinn, the owner of Gold Star Records, in 1946.[2] Quinn signed him to a recording contract and released "Freedom Train Blues" in 1948, which became a nationwide hit in the U.S.[1] He recorded for Imperial Records between 1950 and 1954, both as a solo artist and with a backing band.[1] His 1950 tune "Rockin' and Rollin" was recast by later musicians as "Rock Me Baby".[1][3]
He was hurt in a car crash in the middle of the 1950s and gave up his music career, returning to work as a mechanic.[2] In 1960 he released albums for Arhoolie and Limelight Records, but he did not make a major comeback in the wake of the blues revival.[2] He died of cancer in 1976 in Dallas, at the age of 60.
B.B. King covered Jackson's "I Got to Leave This Woman", on his 2000 album, Makin' Love Is Good for You. Eric Clapton covered Jackson's "Travelin' Alone", on his 2010 album, Clapton.
Peter Palus „Pete“ Cosey (* 9. Oktober 1943 in Chicago, Illinois; † 30. Mai 2012 ebenda)[1] war ein amerikanischer R & B- und Fusiongitarrist, der insbesondere als Mitglied der Band von Miles Davis zwischen 1973 und 1975 bekannt wurde und stilistisch prägend war.
Leben und Wirken
Cosey, dessen Eltern Musiker waren, lernte zunächst das Geigenspiel. Nach dem Tod seines Vaters zog er mit seiner Mutter nach Phoenix (Arizona), wo er als Jugendlicher Gitarre lernte.[2] Seit 1965 arbeitete er zunächst als Studiomusiker für Chess Records und begleitete dort Fontella Bass, Etta James, die Rotary Connection, Muddy Waters (Electric Mud, After the Rain) und Howlin’ Wolf (The Howlin' Wolf Album), der sein verzerrtes Spiel ablehnte.[3] Auch gehörte er zu Phil Cohrans Artistic Heritage Ensemble[4] und den am Afro Jazz interessierten The Pharoahs; seit den 1960er Jahren war er daher Mitglied der Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).[5] Auch spielte er in einer Band um Maurice White, aus der später Earth, Wind & Fire entstand.
MIt Miles Davis tourte er ab 1973 weltweit und war an dessen Alben Get Up with It, Dark Magus, Agharta und Pangaea (sowie an einigen Tracks von The Complete On the Corner Sessions) beteiligt. Davis schrieb in seiner Autobiografie über die Zusammenarbeit mit Cosey, dieser sei genau der Richtige gewesen für den Sound von Jimi Hendrix und Muddy Waters, den er damals gesucht habe. Coseys Soundvorstellung und Instrumentaltechniken beeinflussten Gitarristen wie Henry Kaiser, Vernon Reid, Elliott Sharp und Robert Quine.[3]
Nach 1975 hat die Jazzwelt von Cosey zunächst „so gut wie nichts mehr gehört, allenfalls noch eine kleine Gastrolle bei Herbie Hancocks Future Shock.“[6] Erst auf Akira Sakatas Album Fisherman's.com (2000, mit Sakata, Bill Laswell und Hamid Drake) wurde er wieder präsent. Dabei hatte er 1987 im Trio Power Tools (mit Bassist Melvin Gibbs und Drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson) Bill Frisell ersetzt.[7] Mit einer Repertoireband, The Children of Agharta, zu der unter anderem Gary Bartz, John Stubblefield, Matt Rubano und J T Lewis gehörte, begann er 2001, die Werke von Davis aus der Mitte der 1970er Jahre zu interpretieren. Auch ist er als Solist auf einem Album von Greg Tates Band Burnt Sugar (The Rites, einem Dirigat von Butch Morris) und auf Bob Beldens amerikanisch-indischen Tributalbum Miles from India zu hören; auf der letztgenannten Doppel-CD ist er an insgesamt fünf Stücken beteiligt – Ife (Fast), It's about That Time, Miles Runs the Voodoo Down, Great Expectations und Ife (Slow). Auch ist er auf Bill Laswells Method of Defiance: Inamorata auf zwei Stücken mit Graham Haynes bzw. Byard Lancaster vertreten.
2004 war Cosey in der Folge Godfathers and Sons von Martin Scorseses Dokumentarreihe The Blues zu sehen, in der Marshall Chess und Chuck D (von Public Enemy) die einst am Album Electric Mud beteiligten Musiker zusammenrufen, um wieder gemeinsam im Studio zu spielen: Neben Cosey waren das die Bläser Gene Barge und Don Myrick, Gitarrenkollege Phil Upchurch, Bassist Louis Satterfield und Drummer Morris Jennings.
Pete Cosey (born Peter Palus Cosey, October 9, 1943 – May 30, 2012)[1][2] was an American guitarist most famous for playing with Miles Davis' band between 1973 and 1975. His fiercely flanged and distorted guitar bore comparisons to Jimi Hendrix. Cosey kept a low profile for much of his career and released no solo recorded works.[3] His unique guitar rhythms were showcased on Davis' albums Get Up with It (1974), Agharta (1975), Pangaea (1976), Dark Magus (1977), and The Complete On the Corner Sessions (2007).[4]
Biography
Early life
Cosey was born in Chicago, Illinois.[5] He was the only child of a musical family. His father and mother wrote for Louis Jordan and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson and his father played for Sidney Bechet and Josephine Baker. Following the death of his father, Cosey and his mother moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he spent his teenage years and began developing his guitar style.[5]
Early career
Prior to joining the Miles Davis band in 1973, Cosey was a busy session guitarist with Chess Records, playing on records by Etta James, Fontella Bass ("Rescue Me"),[5] Rotary Connection, Howlin' Wolf (The Howlin' Wolf Album) and Muddy Waters (Electric Mud, After the Rain).
Cosey was also an early member of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).[6] He was an early member of the Pharaohs, and a group with drummer Maurice White and bassist Louis Satterfield that eventually evolved into Earth, Wind & Fire. Some of his pre-Miles jazz playing is available on albums by Phil Cohran's Artistic Heritage Ensemble.
After joining Davis, Cosey performed on the albums Get Up with It, Dark Magus, Agharta and Pangaea. By 1975, Cosey had developed a remarkably advanced guitar approach—involving numerous alternate tunings, guitars restrung in unusual patterns and a post-Hendrix palette of distortion, wah-wah and guitar synth effects—that has influenced many adventurous guitarists, including Henry Kaiser and Vernon Reid.
Following the 1975 break-up of the Miles Davis band, Cosey largely disappeared from public view. He played on the title track of Herbie Hancock's Future Shock album, but did not appear on record again until Akira Sakata's album Fisherman's.com (with Sakata, Bill Laswell and Hamid Drake) in 2000. Throughout the '80s, he was involved in a number of Chicago- and New York-based groups with various musicians, but no recordings have been released. In 1987, he replaced Bill Frisell in the trio Power Tools with bassist Melvin Gibbs and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson (a live recording is available through RSJ's website).
2000s
In 2001, he started a group called Children of Agharta to explore the electric Miles Davis repertoire. The first line-up was Cosey, Gary Bartz, John Stubblefield, Matt Rubano, J. T. Lewis, and DJ Johnny Juice Rosado (studio DJ for Public Enemy). The group's booking agency was listing the band as a quartet of Cosey, Bartz, Melvin Gibbs and Doni Hagen.
In 2003, Cosey appeared on an episode of American television's The People's Court, successfully suing a promoter for failing to pay fully for a Children of Agharta gig.
Cosey was also a featured soloist with the group Burnt Sugar on their album The Rites.
In 2004, Cosey appeared in the Godfathers and Sons episode of Martin Scorsese's documentary series The Blues. The episode followed Marshall Chess and Chuck D (of Public Enemy) reuniting the musicians from Muddy Waters' Electric Mud album to record a new track.
In July 2006, Cosey was fleetingly glimpsed during the finale of Bill Laswell's PBS Soundstage concert (his performance having been edited out of the broadcast).
In 2003, Cosey scored a short film, directed by Eli Mavros, entitled Alone Together. Cosey and Mavros had met the previous year during production of Mark Levin's episode for the PBS Blues series. After appearing on Eli's college blues radio show, Shake Em On Down, on New York University's radio station, 89.1 FM WNYU, he agreed to score the film. In the spirit of jazz and spontaneity, the soundtrack to the film was improvised by Cosey in real time over several takes, with several different instruments; no two takes were the same. He played guitar (using several distortion pedals, often bowing the strings like a violin), African thumb piano, and a zither given to him by Miles Davis. The film went on to show at several small film festivals.
From September through October 2007, Pete Cosey briefly appeared playing his guitar (no sound, due to narrative voiceover) in two scenes of a national thirty-second television commercial for AARP's Senior Advantage Complete Care Healthcare Insurance.
In 2007-08, Cosey contributed to the CD Miles from India, which celebrates the music of Miles Davis.[7] It features many former Miles sidemen and Indian musicians, with Cosey playing on five tracks: "Ife (Fast)", "It's About That Time", "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down", "Great Expectations", and "Ife (Slow)".
Death
Pete Cosey died on May 30, 2012 of complications following surgery at Vanguard Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago.[5] Although he had spent most of his life in Chicago, he had been living in Evanston, Illinois.[5] He is survived by five children and six grandchildren.
The Wolf LP dubbed this "dog shit", and many blues purists agreed with
him. Like his pair Muddy Waters, Wolf was not too thrilled with
psych-ing and feared his som.Blues with psychedelic rock! Records Chess
tried to incorporate the old traditional blues and some more psychedelic
arrangements with wha-wha guitars and everything else! Then he
detonated recording saying it was not blues! this protest is written on
the cover of Lp! Imagine a Lp where the artist himself says on the cover
did not like, could only sell little. I found a wonderful experience! Howlin 'Wolf - vocal,harmonica Morris Jennings - drums Louis Satterfield - bass Hubert Sumlin - guitar Pete Cosey - guitar & bowed guitar Phil Upchurch - guitar Roland Faulkner - guitar Donald Myrick - flute Gene Barge - sax Recorded Novembro,1968 at Ter Mar Studios,Chicago Label: Chess Records/Cadet Concept Records (* Track vinyl )
1951 Charly Beutin* 1951 Ron Levy* 1954 Stoney B* 1970 Julian Sas* 2005 Percy Strother+ 2012 Doc Watson+ Andreas Ernstberger* Eddie Martin*
Happy Birthday
Julian Sas *29.05.1970
Julian Sas (* 29. Mai 1970 in Beneden-Leeuwen, Niederlande) ist ein niederländischer Blues- und Bluesrock-Gitarrist und -Sänger.
Im Alter von 12 Jahren bekam Julian Sas seine erste Gitarre. Er verschrieb sich der Musik von Jimi Hendrix, Alvin Lee, Freddie King, Elmore James und Peter Green. Im Alter von 17 Jahren sah er zum ersten Mal Rory Gallagher live in Utrecht, von dessen Musik er stark beeinflusst wurde.
Mit 26 Jahren gründete er die Julian Sas Band, mit der er bis heute in verschiedenen Besetzungen tourt. Aktuell gehören am Bass Tenny Tahamata und an den Drums Rob Heijne zur Band. Das musikalische Programm wird geprägt von Blues, Bluesrock und Boogie. Als Zeichen seiner Verbundenheit spielt Sas bei jedem Konzert neben Eigenkompositionen Stücke von Rory Gallagher oder Jimi Hendrix. Mehrfach spielte Julian Sas mit den ehemaligen Mitgliedern von Rory Gallaghers Band, dem Bassisten Gerry McAvoy sowie dem Drummer Brendan O'Neill
Im Mai 2008 spielte Sas als Headliner auf dem alljährlich stattfindenden Rory Gallagher-Tribut-Festival Going to my Hometown in Ballyshannon, dem Geburtsort des irischen Musikers.
My name is Julian. I was born on a river in 1970 in a small town in the center of the Netherlands called Beneden-Leeuwen. Since I was born I have been a restless person, This is something that I still have today. Only until I was 6 years old I knew where this was coming from; I saw this movie called the Toronto rock 'n roll festival. There I saw Jerry lee lewis and Chuck Berry. From that day on I knew what I was going to be In my life I wanted to make music. I was hooked as a little child on what I felt when I saw this movie, it was Jerry lees immense energy and maybe more important for my future I saw Chuck's guitar.
My mother saw that I dreamed and talked only about guitars from that day on. So they gave me little toyguitars and stuff like that but I kept dreaming about the real thing. By the time I was 10 I was into bands like Motorhead and AC/DC, Judas priest and Iron Maiden and more heavy stuff. Loud guitars and big Marshall amps and again a lot of energy. They saw me listening to music that most children of my age weren't doing at that time so I started again about a real guitar and when I was about 12 years old I got one an Ibanez les paul copy which I still have today.
With a guitar comes an amplifier so they gave me this 30 watt Yamaha where I could practice with. I started to listen to anything I could lay my hands on, and this is something that I still do today. I have never had no musical schooling so this is for me the only way to learn music. By listening and playing you start to know how things work. A friend of mine taught me some basic chords and a few scales and something about where to put your fingers and that was it. The rest was up to me. By the time I was 13 I heard something that really got me deep emotionally and his name was Muddy Waters. From that day on I decided to dedicate my life to blues and bluesrock.
When I was not in school I played guitar, I kinda locked myself in my room to become what I wanted. The guitar became and still is an obsession for me. I'm a very quiet guy in fact and this instrument really gave me the chance to express my feelings. When I was 17 years old it was 1987 and that was great year for me because I met a girl who is now my wife; someone who knows what drives me in being a musician and understand what music means to me. And it was the first time I saw Rory Gallagher. He shocked my world big time. That was what I was going to be. I started a band and two years later I quit school, because we had a lot of gigs and becoming a history teacher was not my thing.
I must have had a thousand jobs and a lot of jams and bands and duo's but by the time I was 26 I started this band called Julian Sas Band. We got a record deal and the first album was called 'Where will it end!?'. And that my friends is still the story today, when it is up to me we got along time coming, because we really love what we do. For me being a musician is all about freedom and doing what you really love. I am fortunate to be in such a position but then again I worked hard for it and still work hard for it because nothing in life comes easy.
So this is my story. I want to tell you that for me playing music is something I try to do until the day I will lay my guitar down and I will meet the great spirits in the sky. I will always write songs about loneliness and oppression and being free out on the road. Music still comforts my ever restless soul. Which after all these years is still inside of me...
Thank you for making my dream come true......... Julian
„Er ist einer der besten Musiker, mit dem ich je gespielt und gearbeitet habe“, sagt Blueslegende B.B. King über Ron Levy (*1951, Cambridge, MA). Und er muss es wissen, schliesslich war Levy sieben Jahre mit ihm auf Tour und hat 13 Alben mit B.B. aufgenommen.
Ein Konzert von Ray Charles packte den jungen Ron dermassen, dass er umgehend Piano lernte. Bereits mit 18 Jahren spielte er für Albert King. Im Verlauf seiner langen Karriere stand er mit unzähligen Blueslegenden auf der Bühne. Er arbeitete als Organist, Pianist, Komponist, Arrangeur, Sideman oder Solist, Produzent und A&R-Mann (er war Mitbegründer der famosen Labels „Rounder“ und Canonball“) für über 200 Projekte mit traditionellem und modernem Blues, R&B, Jazz, Gospel usw.
Ron Levy erhielt viele Auszeichnungen und neun Grammy-Nominierungen und seine Kompositionen/Aufnahmen wurden auf TV-Networks und in mehr als einem Dutzend Filmen und Fernsehserien verwendet.
Mitte der 80er Jahre gründete er seine eigene Formation „Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom Band“ mit Musikern von Roomful of Blues, Neville Brothers und den Fabulous Thunderbirds. Sein neustes Album „Funky Fiesta“ überschütten die Kritiker mit Lobeshymnen. Aufsehen erregt Levy derzeit auch mit seinem Webbook „Tales of a Road Dog“, einer spannenden und humorvollen Aufzeichnung seiner Reisen und Erlebnisse im Musikbusiness.
Ron Levy (born Reuvin Zev ben Yehoshua Ha Levi, May 29, 1951)[1] is an American electric blues[2] musician and composer.
Levy was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. He primarily plays piano and organ. Levy grew up in Brookline, MA, and began playing the piano after seeing Ray Charles in concert at age 13.[1] He later switched to playing a Hammond organ. After gaining experience playing in Boston nightclubs, Levy was hired by Albert King in 1968. After an eighteen month association, Levy joined B. B. King's backing band. Throughout the years, Levy has performed and recorded with a wide range of blues, funk and jazz musical groups, notably including Roomful of Blues (1983–87) and Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom (1988 - 2014).[1]
After learning and refining his studio chops with Hammond Scott's Blacktop Records in New Orleans, Levy became the in-house record producer and co-founder, A&R for Rounder Records' Bullseye Blues record label, where he was nominated nine times for a Grammy Award as producer. He then recorded and produced 16 albums for his own label Cannonball Records from 1997 - 2000. He has since released numerous albums on his own imprint Levtron.com Records. Levy wrote in 2013 the book, Tales of A Road Dog - The Lowdown Along the Blues Highway (self-published by Levtron.com). Today, he teaches, records, produces and performs with his Soul-Jazz-Blues Hammond organ based group, Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom Trio.
Die Charly Beutin-Story ist die Geschichte von einem Jungen, der in einer Norddeutschen Arbeitersiedlung aufgewachsen ist, in der der Horizont schon am Ende der Straße aufhört. Vater erst Schuster, dann Kriegsheimkehrer. Das Haus war klein, man lebte in Wohnküche und einem Zimmer, das andere war für gut vorbehalten. Gut war nicht so oft im Hause Beutin.
Der Junge wurde am 29. Mai 1951 geboren. Erst einmal natürlich zur Volksschule. Rainer war oft krank, deshalb konnte er weder da mithalten noch auf dem Bolzplatz. Endgültig zum Außenseiter machte ihn ein ärztliches Attest „Beutin darf nicht geschlagen werden”. So war das damals. Aber Außenseiter entwickeln oft besondere Talente, um Anerkennung zu finden. Schon als Kind lebte er die Vision, dass seine Zukunft mehr für ihn bereit halten würde als die Knochenarbeit auf der Werft oder „auf Dünger”, bei der nahen Kunstdüngerfabrik, die für die Kinder in seiner Straße vorgezeichnet war.
Karrierestart durchs Klofenster
10 Jahre weiter und einige Schrammen auf der sensiblen Seele mehr kamen Rock’n Roll- und R&B-Musik an die Eider. Einige der Bands, die einen Gig im Hamburger Starclub hinter sich hatten, zogen weiter übers flache Land und traten im „Saatsee-Club” auf, ganz in der Nähe. Sogar welche in der Güteklasse wie die Kinks. Die Große Freiheit in der Provinz. Rainer fühlte sich magisch angezogen, half beim Aufbau, schleppte die Anlage und sicherte sich damit einen Platz im Backstagebereich, ganz nah an den Künstlern. Da gingen bei ihm alle Lampen an. Er beschloss, Rockstar zu werden und gründete die erste Garagen-Band. Klappte erstmal nur bedingt - die anderen mussten immer schon um 6 Uhr zuhause sein. Er eigentlich auch, aber er kletterte gleich wieder aus dem Klofenster zurück in die Konzerte und Gigs mit Sly & The Family Stone, Frumpy und so weiter. Irgendwann in diesen Jahren wurde aus Rainer Charly, der lernte Gitarrespielen, aber dessen Hauptinstrument war seine markante Stimme, die er gnadenlos in allen Facetten zwischen markerschütternd kreischend und schmuseweich-schmeichelnd ausreizte. Der Übergang vom Amateur zum Profi geschieht schnell und wie von selbst.
Ein besonderes Gespür beweist Rainer Beutin, indem er immer wieder mit Passion und Überzeugungskraft Musiker aus der obersten Liga für sich gewinnen kann. Die ersten drei Langspielplatten, die er zwischen 1981 und 1988 veröffentlicht, bekommen durch die Bank allerbeste Rezensionen und werden alle drei mit dem offiziellen Vierteljahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik ausgezeichnet. Hattrick. Später kommen noch Album 4 und 5 dazu die so geehrt werden. Insgesamt hat Beutin 10 Alben veröffentlicht, viele davon mit Sammlerwert.
Authentische Songs, nur echt aus Beutins Bauch und Herz, Kopf und Seele.
Seine Musik begeistert mit leidenschaftlichem Soul, packendem Rock, groovendem Boogie und immer wieder mit dem authentischsten R&B-Feeling zwischen Eider und Isar. Einerseits besticht die musikalische Brillanz, zum anderen sind es die pointierten Texte zwischen rau und zart, zwischen poetisch und lakonisch. Das Engagement seiner Musiker ist unschätzbar. Deshalb werden sie jetzt auch beim Namen genannt und müssen sich nicht mehr in der „Schreckschuss”-Anonymität verbergen. Am längsten dabei sind der Bassist Bernd Ohnesorg und der Drummer Jörg Berger, dann kam Wolfgang Meis, seit neuestem der Akkordeonist Kai Dorenkamp. Immer wieder gesellt sich Manne Kraski dazu, dann wird der Gitarrensound mächtig wie eine Kathedrale. Manne Kraski ist auch als Produzent für das neue Album „Wildes Herz und Klare Kante” zuständig.
Wenn die Gitarre mal im Koffer bleibt:
Charly Beutin lebt in Klein-Königsförde, direkt am Nord-Ostsee-Kanal. Die großen Schiffe pusten Diesel und Fernweh in seinen Garten. Mit seiner Frau Hanna hat er drei Kinder großgezogen. Wenn er nicht Musik macht, ist Beutin als Masseur mit eigener Praxis in Rendsburg tätig. Und wenn dann noch Zeit bleibt, holt er die Fender rein und segelt in der Flensburger Förde oder macht sein Seekayak klar. Zwischen Wasser und Wolken lädt er die Energien auf, die er auf der Bühne mit Windstärke 10 rauslässt.
Sein Name ist in kommerziellen Kreisen nicht so bekannt und auch wenn er sich selbst als Newcomer bezeichnet, hat "Ernie" schon einige Stationen in seiner Laufbahn beschritten. In den 80er Jahren aktiv in den Gruppen "Atlantis" und "inteam" - später mit seinem ganz eigenen Bandprojekt - gründete er 1994 das Musiklabel "Secret-Word-Records" und begann mit der Produktion verschiedener Künstler.
In seinem Haus entstanden z.B. die beiden Soloscheiben von Reinhard Fissler. Angestachelt aus dieser Zusammenarbeit machte sich Ernie wieder an eigene Songs, die auf den bisher zwei erschienen CDs zu hören sind.
Das Bemerkenswerte ist die musikalische Vielfalt, die in keine Schublade passt und gemischt mit deutsch und englischen Texten versehen sind.
b.
c. 1965, London, England. Martin played acoustic guitar from his
mid-teens and was deeply influenced by early and middle period
American folk musicians such as Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Later
influences included contemporary bluesmen such as Joe Hill Louis and
Dr. Ross. He later took up the electric guitar and fell under the
spell of Freddie King’s Texas blues playing. Despite these many
influences, Martin very soon brought them under the wing of his own
distinctive styling. He quickly built a reputation not only for his
skill but also for the authority of his playing. In addition to
working as a solo act, playing guitar, harmonica and singing, Martin
has worked in trio with Marion Dolton (bass) and Michael Wiedrich
(drums). He has also headed larger bands, usually using Dolton and
Wiedrich, plus Jason Smith (trumpet), Dominic Norcross (saxophone)
and Paddy Milner (keyboards). In addition to playing and singing,
Martin writes some of the material that he plays, bringing a
contemporary British edge to the style and content of his lyrics
while never losing an aural connection with the country blues and
folk masters of the American past.
Martin toured the USA in
1999, heading a trio, the Texas Blues Kings, with Guthrie Kennard
(bass) and Jimmie ‘Blue Shoes’ Pendleton (drums). Based in
Bristol, where he plays regularly at the Hard Rock Bar, Martin
continues to tour in the 00s and regularly draws enthusiastic and
appreciative crowds at blues venues throughout the UK. He has also
played in Europe, notably in France and Germany. Among his successes
in Germany was his being named as an important innovator on
harmonica at the 2006 World Harmonica Festival. In addition to
playing clubs and concerts, Martin has also performed and composed
for the soundtracks of films and television shows. Despite his
success, Martin did not become a full-time musician until the late
90s. His 2006 trio featured Dolton and Wiedrich. In addition to his
playing, while on tour Martin also conducts workshops in different
aspects of guitar playing.
Eddie Martin in concert
at the Rhythm n Blues Club Moscow 31st January 2014, with Galina
Kiselva on bass, and Vladimir Vojevodin drums. The concert was part
of the British Blues Invasion Festival organised by Moscow promoter
Boris Litvintsev.
STONEY B - Band Leader, Guitar & Vocals
Stoney
B (Michael Stone) was born May 29th, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew
up listening to the blues. His father Lil' Howling Wolf, who now lives
in Memphis, Tennessee, played and performed the blues in Chicago. Stoney
B’s passion for the blues really took hold when he began teaching
himself the bass guitar at the age of 13. Stoney B started performing at
age 15 in his first band called The Rayshons. They performed and
competed mostly in talent shows including one he recalls against The
Jackson 5 at the Regal Theatre.
Since then he has continued to
fulfil his heart felt desire of bringing his music to audiences around
the US. In 2013, with 46 years of experience, he has become a highly
accomplished guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and recording artist of the
Blues. Stoney B not only has lots of talent but that wonderful gift of
communication which grabs people’s attention as he brings them into a
truly enjoyable, masterful and often humorous experience as he
entertains them with the Down Home Blues. He feels and shares at a
soulful level the essence of the blues with strong influences from Muddy
Waters, BB King and Jimmy Reed.
After a number of years in the
Army, where in his spare time he continued his self education on his
Fender Stratocaster guitar, he came back to Chicago and started playing
rhythm guitar for Johnny Guitar Embry and the Blues Kings mostly around
the Southside of Chicago. He went on to play for Johnny’s wife, Queen
Silvia Embry, opening sets for her. He sang and played the bass and then
switched to the guitar when she came on stage. This began a number of
years of playing in bands in Chicago including Junior Wells, James
Cotton, Koko Taylor, Johnny Dollar, Lefty Dizz, Johnny Littlejohn,
Lovelle White, Lovie Lee, Zora Young, Frank Pelligrino & The
Kingston Mines All Stars and The Pete Allen Band, who backed up Buddy
Guy.
He formed his first Stoney B Blues band in 1982 and soon
after was featured on the cover of the Chicago Reader entertainment
magazine. They performed regularly at The Kingston Mines, Lee’s Unleaded
Blues, B.L.U.E.S., Momma Roseas and Wise Fools. Stoney B Blues captured
the interest of Johnny Winters and Albert King who came to see his band
perform. He also played in the Chicago Blues Festival with Queen Silvia
Embry. Stoney B also played in a gig with his father, Lil’ Howlin’
Wolf, around this time. They have taken separate paths musically over
the years, however, it is rumoured they will perform and record together
some time in late 2010.
Stoney B left Chicago in 1986 and headed
south to Greenville, Mississippi. In his 3 years there he played in
Roosevelt Boobie Barnes band performing as his opening act and rhythm
guitarist. He moved on to form another band of his own with some local
musicians who played at the Flowing Fountain on Nelson Street, the home
of Little Milton. Stoney B was then approached by Lockett Staple, the
owner of the Rum Boogie Hotel in Leland, Mississippi, to play in the
band he managed, The FM Stereo Band. They were the best R&B band in
the Delta at that time. He also played with other local musicians Willie
Mississippi Foster, Jessie Clay and T-Model Ford. In 1989 Stoney B
moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he met Eric King who was a DJ on WRFG
and booked the acts for Blind Willies, Atlanta’s most noted Blues Club.
He quickly created a new Stoney B Blues band and played at Blind Willies
along with well known blues artists Luther Houserocker Johnson, Chicago
Bob Nelson, Sandra Hall and Butch Travette. Stoney B Blues were the
house band at Muddy Waters in Sandy Springs , Georgia and played at
Clancys in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Roosters in Macon, Georgia and
Jerry Zambino’s Club in Savannah, Georgia.
On the move again
Stoney B landed in New Orleans, Louisiana in late 1992. He began playing
as a street musician and soon after his next Stoney B Blues Band was
formed. His talent appreciated by local club owners had his band playing
regular gigs along Bourbon Street. They played at The Funky Pirate, The
Old Absinthe House Bar, where he also joined Bryan Lee on occasions,
The Tricou House and The R&B Club.
He met another well known
street musician, Elliott Small, during this time and the act known by
many as Stoney B and Grampa was born. Stoney B created the character of
Grampa through his quick wit and talent and Elliott took to it like a
duck on water! When they got together and combined Stoney B’s vocals and
guitar with Elliott’s vocals and harmonica it came naturally and it was
like magic. In Stoney B’s words, ‘We have never practised or rehearsed
anything….Never!’ Yet they appeared as a highly polished act right from
the beginning. Usually found on Royal Street in the French Quarter,
their musical talents and experience created captivating entertainment
for many travellers from all over the world.
Arthel Lane „Doc“ Watson (* 3. März 1923 in Deep Gap, North Carolina; † 29. Mai 2012 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina[1]) war ein US-amerikanischer Gitarrist und Sänger von Country-, Bluegrass-, Gospel- und Folksongs.
Zu seinem Künstlernamen „Doc“ kam Arthel Lane Watson während einer Radioübertragung aus einem Möbelhaus in Lenoir (North Carolina) zu Beginn der 1940er Jahre. Der Sprecher fand seinen Namen Arthel zu unaussprechlich für die Sendung, und eine Zuhörerin vor Ort schlug vor ihn „Doc“ zu nennen, möglicherweise in Anspielung auf Sherlock Holmes’ Assistenten. Von da an hieß er in der Öffentlichkeit Doc Watson.
Kindheit und Jugend
Der im ersten Lebensjahr an den Folgen einer Augeninfektion erblindete Watson wuchs in einer außerordentlich musikalischen Familie auf. Mutter Annie war eine Sängerin traditioneller und religiöser Lieder, während Vater General das Banjo spielte, das auch Watsons erstes Saiteninstrument wurde.
Watson besuchte die Blindenschule, in der er mit Jazz, Klassik und der Musik von Django Reinhardt konfrontiert wurde. Dadurch machte er wesentlich mehr musikalische Erfahrungen als andere und bekam einen umfassenderen Zugang zu Musik. Hier unterschied er sich später deutlich von anderen Countrymusikern. Der Talentescout, Musiker und Produzent Ralph Rinzler schrieb über ihn: „Doc ist ein musikalischer Mischling, aber ein Mischling von besonderer Art.“
Im Alter von dreizehn Jahren spielte Watson seinem Vater auf einer ausgeliehenen Gitarre das selbst erlernte Stück When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland vor. Dieser war vom Können seines Sohnes so beeindruckt, dass er ihn in einen Laden mitnahm und ihm dort eine 12-Dollar-Stella-Gitarre kaufte.
Watson entwickelte in weiterer Folge einen eigenständigen, persönlichen Stil, der beeinflusst wurde durch Platten des Banjospezialisten Clarence Ashley, der Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers u. a. durch die damals sehr einflussreichen Country-Radioprogramme und außerdem durch die traditionelle Musik, die er von seinen Eltern vermittelt bekam.
Heirat und Kinder
Watson machte nun in erster Linie Musik mit der Familie und Nachbarn wie dem Fiddler Gaither Carlton, dessen Tochter Rosa Lee er 1947 heiratete. 1949 wurde Eddy Merle Watson (so benannt nach Eddy Arnold und Merle Travis) geboren. Tochter Nancy Ellen Watson kam 1951 zur Welt.
Musikerkarriere
Es dauerte bis 1953, ehe Watson mit dem Pianisten Jack Williams und dessen Country and Western Swing Band erste bezahlte Auftritte spielte. Das Repertoire beinhaltete neben Western Swing auch Rockabilly und eine dem Kommerz angepasste Countrymusik. Watson spielte Lead-Gitarre, wobei er eine Gibson Les Paul E-Gitarre als Instrument verwendete. Im 1995 erschienenen Album Docabilly würdigte Watson diesen für ihn eher untypischen Karriereabschnitt noch einmal.
1960 besuchte Ralph Rinzler Docs Nachbarn Clarence Ashley, um mit ihm Aufnahmen zu machen. Dabei lernte Rinzler auch Watson kennen und war von dessen instrumentalen Fertigkeiten so beeindruckt, dass er ihn kurzerhand in die Aufnahmesessions mit Ashley miteinbezog. Das daraus entstandene Album war Watsons erste Plattenaufnahme und erschien unter dem Titel Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley’s.
Die Phase der stromverstärkten Gitarre war damit vorbei und Watson nahm im folgenden Jahr mit Clarence Ashley, dem Fiddler Fred Price und dem Gitarristen Clint Howard am später legendär gewordenen Friends of Old Time Music Concert in New York teil. In weiterer Folge gab Watson Konzerte in der Carnegie Hall und beim Newport Folk Festival. Dort wurde 1963 und 1964 das Doppelalbum The Essential Doc Watson mitgeschnitten, auf dem er von Junior Huskey (Bass), Floyd Cramer (Piano), Shot Jackson (Dobro), Buddy Harman (Schlagzeug) u. a. begleitet wurde. Auf solchen Live-Alben erzählte Watson auch schon mal humorige Kurzgeschichten wie The Preacher and the Bicycle; zu finden auf der Doppel-LP Doc Watson on Stage. Ab Mitte der 1960er Jahre arbeitete Watson ebenfalls mit dem „Father of Bluegrass“ Bill Monroe zusammen, mit dem er auf den verschiedenen Bluegrass- und Folk-Konzerten auftrat. Ihre Zusammenarbeit gipfelte 1978 mit dem gemeinsamen Album Bill and Doc Sing Country Songs.
Seine Auftritte in Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village brachten ihn in Kontakt mit Musikern, die in ihren Songs Kritik an politischen und gesellschaftlichen Missständen übten. Durch das persönliche Kennenlernen dieser Künstler entwickelte Watson, der sich selbst stets der konservativen Haltung seiner Eltern verbunden fühlte, eine offenere Haltung gegenüber Musikern wie Joan Baez und Tom Paxton. Auch hier bestand ein Unterschied zu vielen anderen Countrymusikern.
Spieltechnik und Einflüsse
Von Maybelle Carter von der Carter Family übernahm Watson zunächst die in der traditionellen „Old Time Music“ übliche Daumenpick-Technik (to pick: [Gitarre] „zupfen“), auch Fingerstyle genannt. Beeinflusst von Jimmie Rodgers wechselte er dann zum Straight Pick und entwickelte in weiterer Folge das Flatpickingspiel zu einer konzertanten Perfektion. Neben dem großen Vorbild Django Reinhardt übten auch noch andere Musiker wie die Delmore Brothers, Merle Travis, Chet Atkins u. a. einen maßgeblichen Einfluss auf Doc Watson aus. Bestimmend blieb für ihn jedoch zeitlebens die Musik seiner Heimat in den Appalachen. Diese Gebirgsregion gilt als die Wiege der weißen, amerikanischen Bluegrass-, Hillbilly- und Countrymusik.
Merle Watson
Merle Watson, der sich im Lauf der Jahre selbst zu einem erstklassigen Gitarristen und Banjospieler entwickelt hatte und trotz des direkten Einflusses des Vaters ebenso wie dieser seinen eigenen, an Musikern wie Mississippi John Hurt orientierten Stil fand, arbeitete ab Mitte der 1960er Jahre mit seinem Vater in musikalischer wie in administrativer Weise zusammen. Dieses produktive Zusammenwirken führte die beiden bei Tourneen durch Europa und Asien; außerdem wurden mehr als ein Dutzend Platten eingespielt. Durch einen Traktorunfall, bei dem Merle 1985 ums Leben kam, fand diese Phase ein abruptes Ende.
Jack Lawrence, ein Freund von Merle, nahm – zumindest als Musiker – dessen Platz neben Doc Watson ein. Obwohl dieser vom Verlust seines Sohnes schwer getroffen wurde, führte er seine Tätigkeit als Musiker fort und veröffentlichte in fast regelmäßigen Abständen Alben wie das 1990 erschienene On Praying Ground und Legacy aus dem Jahr 2002.
Würdigung
In seinem Genre nimmt Doc Watson eine Sonderstellung ein. In puncto Geschwindigkeit, Präzision und musikalischem Ausdruck setzte Watson mit seinem Gitarrenspiel neue Maßstäbe. Er übte nicht nur auf die amerikanische Folkmusik, sondern genreübergreifend auf Gitarristen in der ganzen Welt einen großen Einfluss aus. Es ist zu einem großen Teil sein Verdienst, dass die Gitarre in der Folk-, Bluegrass- und Countrymusik das führende Instrument wurde. Sein Bluegrass-Leadguitarstil wurde von Musikern wie Clarence White und Tony Rice übernommen und weiterentwickelt. Dan Miller vom „Flatpicking Guitar Magazine“ über Watson: „Playing for the Love of Music is what has sustained Doc Watson...“
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded. He performed with his son, guitarist Merle Watson, for over 15 years until Merle's death in 1985 in an accident on the family farm.[1][2][3]
Biography
Early life
Watson was born in Deep Gap, North Carolina. According to Watson on his three-CD biographical recording Legacy, he got the nickname "Doc" during a live radio broadcast when the announcer remarked that his given name Arthel was odd and he needed an easy nickname. A fan in the crowd shouted "Call him Doc!" presumably in reference to the literary character Sherlock Holmes's sidekick Doctor Watson. The name stuck ever since.[4]
An eye infection caused Doc Watson to lose his vision before his first birthday. He was taught by his parents to work hard and care for himself. He attended North Carolina's school for the visually impaired, The Governor Morehead School, in Raleigh, North Carolina.[5]
In a 1989 radio interview with Terry Gross on the Fresh Air show on National Public Radio, Watson explains how he got his first guitar. His father told him that if he and his brother David chopped down all the small dead chestnut trees along the edge of their field, he could sell the wood to a tannery. Watson bought a $10 Stella guitar from Sears Roebuck with his earnings, while his brother bought a new suit.[6] Later in that same interview, Watson explained that his first high-quality guitar was a Martin D-18.[7]
Watson's earliest influences were country roots musicians and groups such as the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. The first song he learned to play on the guitar was "When Roses Bloom in Dixieland", first recorded by the Carter Family in 1930. Watson stated in an interview with American Songwriter that, "Jimmie Rodgers was the first man that I started to claim as my favorite."[8] Watson proved to be a natural musical talent and within months was performing on local street corners playing songs from the Delmore Brothers, Louvin Brothers, and Monroe Brothers alongside his brother Linny. By the time Watson reached adulthood, he had become a proficient acoustic and electric guitar player.[9]
Career
In 1953, Watson joined the Johnson City, Tennessee-based Jack Williams' country and western swing band on electric guitar. The band seldom had a fiddle player, but was often asked to play at square dances. Following the example of country guitarists Grady Martin and Hank Garland, Watson taught himself to play fiddle tunes on his Les Paul electric guitar. He later transferred the technique to acoustic guitar, and playing fiddle tunes became part of his signature sound.[1][10] During his time with Jack Williams, Doc also supported his family as a piano tuner.
In 1960, as the American folk music revival grew, Watson took the advice of folk musicologist Ralph Rinzler and began playing acoustic guitar and banjo exclusively.[5] That move ignited Watson's career when he played on his first recording, Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's. Also of pivotal importance for his career was his February 11, 1961 appearance at P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village.[11] He subsequently began to tour as a solo performer and appeared at universities and clubs like the Ash Grove in Los Angeles. Watson would eventually get his big break and rave reviews for his performance at the renowned Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island in 1963. Watson recorded his first solo album in 1964 and began performing with his son Merle, the same year.
After the folk revival waned during the late 1960s, Watson's career was sustained by his performance of the Jimmie Driftwood song Tennessee Stud on the 1972 live album recording Will the Circle Be Unbroken. As popular as ever, Doc and Merle began playing as a trio, with T. Michael Coleman on bass guitar, in 1974. The trio toured the globe during the late seventies and early eighties, recorded nearly fifteen albums between 1973 and 1985, and brought Doc and Merle's unique blend of acoustic music to millions of new fans.[10] In 1985, Merle died in a tractor accident on his family farm.
Arlen Roth writes, "...we can attribute an entirely new style and a whole generation of pickers to [Watson's] inspiration. He was the first rural acoustic player to truly 'amaze' urban audiences in the early 1960s with his dazzling, fast technique, and he has continued to be a driving, creative force on the acoustic music scene."[12]
Watson played guitar in both flatpicking and fingerpicking style, but is best known for his flatpick work. His guitar playing skills, combined with his authenticity as a mountain musician, made him a highly influential figure during the folk music revival. Watson pioneered a fast and flashy bluegrass lead guitar style including fiddle tunes and crosspicking techniques which were adopted and extended by Clarence White, Tony Rice and many others. Watson was also an accomplished banjo player and sometimes accompanied himself on harmonica as well. Known also for his distinctive and rich baritone voice, Watson over the years developed a vast repertoire of mountain ballads, which he learned via the oral tradition of his home area in Deep Gap, North Carolina. His affable manner, humble nature and delightful wit endeared him to his fans nearly as much as his musical talent.
Watson played a Martin model D-18 guitar on his earliest recordings. In 1968, Watson began a relationship with Gallagher Guitars when he started playing their G-50 model. His first Gallagher, which Watson refers to as "Old Hoss", is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1974, Gallagher created a customized G-50 line to meet Watson's preferred specifications, which bears the Doc Watson name. In 1991, Gallagher customized a personal cutaway guitar for Watson that he played until his death and which he referred to as "Donald" in honor of Gallagher guitar's second generation proprietor and builder, Don Gallagher.[13] For the last few years, Doc had been playing a Dana Bourgeois dreadnought given to him by Ricky Skaggs for his 80th birthday.
In 1986, Watson received the North Carolina Award and in 1994 he received a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award. Also in 1994, Watson teamed up with musicians Randy Scruggs and Earl Scruggs to contribute the classic song "Keep on the Sunny Side" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.
Later life
In 2000, Watson was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1997, Watson received the National Medal of Arts from U.S. president Bill Clinton.[14] In 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.[15]
In his later life, Watson scaled back his touring schedule. Watson was generally joined onstage by his grandson (Merle's son) Richard, as well as longtime musical partners David Holt or Jack Lawrence. On one occasion, Watson was accompanied by Australian guitar player Tommy Emmanuel at a concert at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas. Watson also performed, accompanied by Holt and Richard, at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco in 2009, as he had done in several previous years.
Watson hosted the annual MerleFest music festival held every April at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The festival features a vast array of acoustic style music focusing on the folk, bluegrass, blues and old-time music genres. It was named in honor of Merle Watson and is one of the most popular acoustic music festivals in the world, drawing over 70,000 music fans each year.[16]
Watson was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010.[17]
Personal life and death
In 1947, Doc married Rosa Lee Carlton, the daughter of popular fiddle player Gaither Carlton. Watson and Rosa Lee had two children – Eddy
Merle (named after country music legends Eddy Arnold and Merle Travis) in 1949 and Nancy Ellen in 1951.[5]
On April 29, 2012, Watson performed with the Nashville Bluegrass Band on the Creekside Stage at MerleFest. It was an annual tradition for Watson to join the Nashville Bluegrass Band for a gospel set on the festival's Sunday morning. Watson was in good form that morning, straying from the set list prepared by his supporting band. It would be his final performance.
On May 21, 2012, Watson fell at his home, after which he was sent to Watauga Medical Center in nearby Boone, North Carolina. He was listed in critical condition but was responsive at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after undergoing colon surgery.[18] Watson was not seriously injured in the fall, but an underlying medical condition prompted the surgery which required him to be airlifted to Winston-Salem.[19] Watson died on May 29, 2012 at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center[20] of complications following the surgery at the age of 89.[21] He is buried in the Merle and Doc Watson Memorial Cemetery, Deep Gap. Watauga County, North Carolina with his wife and son. According to the Find A Grave database "This memorial cemetery is on the private property of the Watson Family and is not open to visitors."[22]
Legacy
In 2002, High Windy Audio released a multi-CD biographical album titled Legacy. The collection features audio interviews with Watson interspersed with music, as well as a complete recording of a live performance at the Diana Wortham Theatre in Asheville, North Carolina.[23] The collection won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album.[24]
In 2010, Blooming Twig Books published a comprehensive biography of Doc Watson, written by Kent Gustavson. The book, titled Blind But Now I See: The Biography of Music Legend Doc Watson, features never before published content regarding Watson's life and career, gleaned from interviews with Watson's friends and collaborators, including Norman Blake, Sam Bush, members of the Seeger family, Michelle Shocked and many others. The book also goes into detail on the life, supporting role and ultimate death of Merle Watson.[25] An updated edition was released by Sumach-Red Books in March 2012.[26][27][28]
In April 2013, Open Records released a multi-disc collection of unreleased recordings by Doc Watson. The collection, titled Milestones, features 94 songs as well as stories, remembrances, and over 500 photographs. The collection was created by Watson's daughter Nancy and is being produced by ETSU Bluegrass and ETSU professor Roy Andrade.[29]
Awards and honors
Grammy awards
1973 Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording (Including Traditional Blues): Doc Watson for
Then And Now
1974 Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording: Merle Watson & Doc Watson for Two Days in
November
1979 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Doc Watson & Merle Watson for Big
Sandy/Leather Britches
1986 Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson for Riding The Midnight Train
1990 Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson for On Praying Ground
2002 Best Traditional Folk Album: Doc Watson & David Holt for Legacy
2004 Lifetime Achievement Award
2006 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Bryan Sutton & Doc Watson for Whiskey
Before Breakfast track from Not Too Far From The Tree by Bryan Sutton
For
a sense of the blues at its most tangible, one needs to look no further
than singer/guitarist Percy Strother, who triumphed over incredible
tragedy to create music of genuine pain and sorrow. Born July 23, 1946
in Vicksburg, Mississippi, he was still a child when his father died
violently; his mother passed away shortly afterward, and rather than
submitting to life in an orphanage, Strother simply took to the road. He
drifted from job to job for a number of years, all the while fighting a
battle with alcoholism; discovering the blues turned his life around,
however, and after sobering up he began teaching himself guitar, honing
his chops in virtual anonymity before recording his debut LP A Good
Woman Is Hard to Find in 1992. The Highway Is My Home followed in 1995,
and in 1997 Strother returned with It's My Time. He toured Europe
several times and recorded Home at Last there, which saw release in
2001. A legend in his adopted home of Minneapolis, Percy Strother was
diagnosed with liver cancer and passed away May 29, 2005.
.jpg)
Johnnie
Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000)[1] was an American
vocalist in a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues,
soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop and disco.
