1905 Meade Lux Lewis*
1930 John Cephas*
1934 U.P. Wilson*
1945 Danny Gatton*
1967 Frank Schwinn*
Happy Birthday
Meade Lux Lewis *04.09.1905
Lewis machte seine ersten Aufnahmen 1927, aber erst 1936 setzte der Erfolg ein, als ihn Promoter John Hammond nach New York brachte und ab 1938 in seinen „From Spiritual to Swing“ Konzerten mit Albert Ammons und Pete Johnson präsentierte. Hammond hatte ihn 1935 aufgestöbert, als er in einer Garage in Chicago als Wagenwäscher arbeitete. Seine Auftritte in der Carnegie Hall (und im Club Café Society) lösten einen Boogie-Woogie-Boom aus. Zusammen mit seinen Mitspielern Albert Ammons und Pete Johnson wurde Lewis einer der führenden Boogie-Woogie-Pianisten seiner Zeit. Er machte Ende der 1930er Jahre Aufnahmen mit beiden sowie z. B. mit Sidney Bechet und Edmond Hall. Später arbeitete er vor allem in Los Angeles, war aber in der Musikszene ziemlich vergessen. Meade „Lux“ Lewis starb 1964 bei einem Autounfall in Minneapolis.
Zusammen mit Ammons gebührt ihm das Verdienst, Musiker der ersten, 1939 entstandenen Schallplatten des jungen Jazzlabels Blue Note Records zu sein.
Vermächtnis: Honky Tonk Train Blues
Lewis´ Titel Honky Tonk Train Blues ist zu einem Boogiestandard geworden und wurde von zahlreichen Pianisten aufgenommen und gespielt. Hierzu gehören Jean-Paul Amouroux, Keith Emerson, Jay McShann, Lloyd Glenn, Jörg Hegemann, Gene Phillips, Michael Pewny, Gene Taylor, Tim Wheals und Axel Zwingenberger sowie zahlreiche Jazz-Versionen, u. a. von Benny Goodman und der SWR Big Band.
Leo v. Knobelsdorff (der „Vater des deutschen Boogie Woogie“) bezeichnete diesen Blues als den „Ausgangspunkt für den großen Boogie-Woogie Revival 1938/39 in der Carnegie Hall“; damit ging die Boogie-Woogie-Welle los.[1]
Meade "Lux" Lewis (born Meade Anderson Lewis; September 1905 – June 7, 1964) was an American pianist and composer, noted for his work in the boogie-woogie style. His best-known work, "Honky Tonk Train Blues", has been recorded by many artists.
Biography
Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois in September 1905 (September 3, 4 and 13 have all been cited as his date of birth in various sources). In his youth he was influenced by the pianist Jimmy Yancey.[1] His father, a guitarist who made two recordings of his own, introduced Meade to music and arranged for violin lessons. He gave up the violin at age 16, shortly after his father's death, and switched to the piano. The nickname "Lux" was given to him by his boyhood friends. He would imitate a couple of characters from a popular comic strip in Chicago, Alphonse and Gaston, and stroke an imaginary beard as part of the routine. His friends started calling him the Duke of Luxembourg because of this, and the name stuck for the rest of his life. He became friends with Albert Ammons during childhood, a friendship that would last throughout their lives. They went to the same school together briefly and they practiced and learned the piano together on the Ammons family piano.[2]:90–91
A 1927 rendition of "Honky Tonk Train Blues" on the Paramount Records label marked his recording debut.[1] He remade it for Parlophone in 1935 and for Victor in 1937 and a recording exists of a Camel Caravan broadcast, including "Honky Tonk Train Blues" from New York City in 1939. His performance at John Hammond's historic From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938 brought Lewis to public attention.[3] Following the event, Lewis and two other performers from that concert, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson, often appeared as a trio and became the leading boogie-woogie pianists of the day.[1][3]
They performed an extended engagement at Café Society, toured as a trio, and inspired the formation of Blue Note Records in 1939. Their success led to a decade-long boogie-woogie craze,[4] with big band swing treatments by Tommy Dorsey, Will Bradley, and others; and numerous country boogie and early rock and roll songs.
Lewis appeared in the movies New Orleans (1947) and Nightmare (1956).[1] He also appeared, uncredited, in the movie It's a Wonderful Life, playing piano in the scene where George Bailey gets thrown out of Nick's Bar.[5]
Lewis was quite fond of the Minneapolis area, where a niece lived, and would visit as often as he could. He appeared annually at the White House Restaurant (no longer extant) in Golden Valley. He began a successful three-week engagement there in May of '64. Around two a.m. the morning of Sunday, June 7, leaving the parking lot of the White House and heading east on Olson Memorial Highway, Lewis' Chrysler Imperial was rear-ended by one Ronald Bates, who was traveling an estimated 80 mph. Lewis' car was pushed 400 feet, impacting a tree and killing him instantly. He was 58. Bates survived, but his passenger died the following day.[2]:225
Legacy
Lewis' best-known work, "Honky Tonk Train Blues", has been recorded in various contexts, often in a big band arrangement.[1] Early recordings of the piece by artists other than Lewis include performances by Adrian Rollini, Frankie Trumbauer, classical harpsichordist Sylvia Marlowe, theater organist George Wright (with drummer Cozy Cole, under the title "Organ Boogie"), and Bob Zurke with Bob Crosby's orchestra. Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer often included it in his repertoire and had a Top 30 hit with it in 1976.
Lewis was mentioned in Chapter 81 of author Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle. Lewis is also mentioned in Ross Macdonald's novel The Moving Target and in Keith Richards's autobiography Life.
John Cephas *04.09.1930
John Cephas (* 4. September 1930, Washington, D.C.; † 4. März 2009, Woodford, Virginia) war ein US-amerikanischer Bluesgitarrist und Sänger und einer der bedeutendsten Vertreter des Piedmont Blues Stils.
Schon als Kind hörte er Bluesmusik und begann nach dem Gehör Gitarre zu spielen. Aufgewachsen in Bowling Green, Virginia, wurde er bald mit dem Piedmont Blues vertraut. Seine Inspiration kam von Musikern aus der Gegend wie z. B. Blind Boy Fuller aber auch weißen Bluesmusikern. Die Grundzüge des Piedmont Stils lernte er von seinem Cousin David Talliaferro. [1]Abseits von der Musik arbeitete er als Gospelsänger, Tischler und Fischer. 1951 wurde er zur Armee eingezogen und war Soldat in Korea. [2]
Aber mit Beginn der 1960er-Jahre wandte er sich beruflich der Musik zu. Einige Jahre spielte er mit dem Barrelhousepianisten Big Chief Ellis zusammen.[1] Gemeinsam mit Phil Wiggins, einem Mundharmonikaspieler, den er auf dem Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington traf, bildeten sie 1978 das Duo Cephas und Wiggins, das vom deutschen Produzenten Axel Kustner 1979 entdeckt wurde. Dieser ermöglichte eine Europatournee. Die 1980er verbrachten sie, oft als Botschafter des U. S. State Departments, auf ausgedehnten Tourneen auf allen Kontinenten. [3] Als eine der ersten US-Amerikaner spielten sie 1988 auf dem Russian Folk Festival in Moskau. Auf Bluesfestivals in der ganzen Welt traten sie ebenfalls auf. Die beiden nahmen gemeinsam viele Alben auf, die exzellente Beispiele des Piedmont Blues sind, wie er in Washington und Nordvirginia gespielt wird.[4]
John Cephas gehört 1987 zu den Gründern der Washington, D.C. Blues Society. [5]
Auszeichnungen
W. C. Handy Award 1987 für Dog Days in August in der Kategorie Best Traditional Blues
Album
National Heritage Fellowship 1989
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cephas
Piedmont blues specialists John Cephas (guitar) and Phil Wiggins (harmonica) are two of a handful of blues musicians who've benefited from the renewed interest in acoustic music in recent years. Cephas has been praised by the New York Times and other important media as "one of the outstanding exponents of the Piedmont style guitar."
Both were born in Washington, D.C., though Wiggins is 25 years younger than his guitar-playing partner. Both sing well, and their albums are a mix of standard classic blues as well as their own originals. Along with John Jackson from Virginia, they are some of the names that come to mind when we think of Piedmont blues. The Piedmont region (a geological term referring to foothills) includes the hills between the Appalachian mountains and the Atlantic Coastal plain that runs from northern Virginia to Florida. Piedmont blues refers to a blues subgenre that is characteristic of performers from Virginia, the Carolinas, Florida, and Georgia. Piedmont blues performers include Peg Leg Howell, Pink Anderson, Jackson, Blind Blake, and Willie Walker.
"Bowling Green" John Cephas is so nick-named because though he was born in Washington (September 4, 1930), he was raised in Bowling Green, VA. Cephas got his first exposure to blues from his aunt while growing up in Virginia. His aunt and her boyfriend both played guitar, and after his aunt showed him blues chords when he was eight or nine, he was off and running. Cephas' playing is influenced by the styles of Blind Boy Fuller and Rev. Gary Davis.
"Harmonica Phil" Wiggins (b.May 8, 1954), a self-taught harmonica player, cites Sonny Terry, Little Walter, Hammie Nixon, Big Walter, Junior Wells, and Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) as influences. He began playing while he was still in high school, and by 1976, he was playing the Washington, D.C. Street Fair with gospel singer Flora Molton.
The pair met at a jam session at a friend's house in Washington in 1977, and both performed as regular members of Wilbert "Big Chief" Ellis' Barrelhouse Rockers for a time, before Ellis died later that year and the group disbanded. Since becoming a professional touring duo in 1978, Cephas and Wiggins have performed on tours sponsored by the U.S. State Department, including tours of Europe, Africa, Asia, South and Central America, and the Soviet Union.
Cool Down
The duo's albums include several critically acclaimed releases for Marimac Recordings, Flying Fish Records, and most recently, Cool Down for the Chicago-based Alligator Records. The pair's Flying Fish releases from the '80s include Dog Days of August, Guitar Man, and Flip, Flop and Fly. All are great examples of state-of-the-art, acoustic Piedmont blues. They remain a popular festival act, and can be seen throughout the summer months at most U.S. blues festivals.
Both were born in Washington, D.C., though Wiggins is 25 years younger than his guitar-playing partner. Both sing well, and their albums are a mix of standard classic blues as well as their own originals. Along with John Jackson from Virginia, they are some of the names that come to mind when we think of Piedmont blues. The Piedmont region (a geological term referring to foothills) includes the hills between the Appalachian mountains and the Atlantic Coastal plain that runs from northern Virginia to Florida. Piedmont blues refers to a blues subgenre that is characteristic of performers from Virginia, the Carolinas, Florida, and Georgia. Piedmont blues performers include Peg Leg Howell, Pink Anderson, Jackson, Blind Blake, and Willie Walker.
"Bowling Green" John Cephas is so nick-named because though he was born in Washington (September 4, 1930), he was raised in Bowling Green, VA. Cephas got his first exposure to blues from his aunt while growing up in Virginia. His aunt and her boyfriend both played guitar, and after his aunt showed him blues chords when he was eight or nine, he was off and running. Cephas' playing is influenced by the styles of Blind Boy Fuller and Rev. Gary Davis.
"Harmonica Phil" Wiggins (b.May 8, 1954), a self-taught harmonica player, cites Sonny Terry, Little Walter, Hammie Nixon, Big Walter, Junior Wells, and Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) as influences. He began playing while he was still in high school, and by 1976, he was playing the Washington, D.C. Street Fair with gospel singer Flora Molton.
The pair met at a jam session at a friend's house in Washington in 1977, and both performed as regular members of Wilbert "Big Chief" Ellis' Barrelhouse Rockers for a time, before Ellis died later that year and the group disbanded. Since becoming a professional touring duo in 1978, Cephas and Wiggins have performed on tours sponsored by the U.S. State Department, including tours of Europe, Africa, Asia, South and Central America, and the Soviet Union.
Cool Down
The duo's albums include several critically acclaimed releases for Marimac Recordings, Flying Fish Records, and most recently, Cool Down for the Chicago-based Alligator Records. The pair's Flying Fish releases from the '80s include Dog Days of August, Guitar Man, and Flip, Flop and Fly. All are great examples of state-of-the-art, acoustic Piedmont blues. They remain a popular festival act, and can be seen throughout the summer months at most U.S. blues festivals.
John Cephas and Phil Wiggins - Baby, What You Want Me To Do?, Walking Blues (1999)
Danny Gatton *04.09.1945
Danny Gatton (* 4. September 1945 in Washington, D.C.; † 4. Oktober 1994 in Newburg (Maryland)) war ein US-amerikanischer Gitarrist.
Er spielte in einem weiten Stilbereich von Rock über Jazz, Blues bis Rockabilly. Gatton wurde von der Zeitschrift Rolling Stone auf den 63. Platz der „100 Größten Gitarristen aller Zeiten“ gewählt.
Danny Gatton begann als Teenager Gitarre zu spielen. Schon sein Vater Daniel W. Gatton arbeitete als Rhythmusgitarrist, gab aber das Musikerleben zugunsten seiner Familie auf.
In den 1970ern erlangte Danny Gatton als Gitarrist und Banjo-Spieler in der Gruppe „Liz Meyer & Friends“ erste Bekanntheit. In den späten 1970ern und 1980ern trat er sowohl als Solist auf als auch mit der Gruppe „Redneck Jazz Explosion“.
Der Titelsong seines Albums 88 Elmira Street war für den Grammy Award in der Kategorie „Best Rock Instrumental Performance“ nominiert, wurde aber dann von Eric Johnson mit „Cliffs of Dover“ geschlagen.
Gatton spielte überwiegend Telecaster Gitarren. Seine Fähigkeiten an der Gitarre wurden von Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle und seinem Kindheitsidol Les Paul gelobt. Gatton spielte auch mit Albert Lee und Jimmie Vaughan.
Am 4. Oktober 1994 schloss sich Gatton in seiner Garage in Newburg (Maryland) ein und erschoss sich.
Im Januar 1995 wurde im „Tramps club“ in New York City für drei Abende ein Tribut-Konzert organisiert.
Danny Gatton (September 4, 1945 – October 4, 1994) was an American guitarist who fused rockabilly, jazz, and country styles to create his own distinctive style of playing. When Rolling Stone magazine selected the 100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time in 2003, senior editor David Fricke ranked Gatton 63rd on his ballot.[1] On May 26, 2010, Gibson.com ranked Gatton as the 27th best guitarist of all time.[2]
Early life
Gatton was born in Washington, D.C. on September 4, 1945. His father, Daniel W. Gatton Sr., was a rhythm guitarist known for his unique percussive style, who left his musical career to raise his family in a more stable profession. The younger Gatton grew up to share his father's passion for the instrument.
Career
Danny Gatton began his career playing in bands while still a teenager. He began to attract wider interest in the 1970s while playing guitar and banjo for the group Liz Meyer & Friends. He made his name as a performer in the Washington, DC, area during the late 1970s and 1980s, both as a solo performer and with his Redneck Jazz Explosion, in which he would trade licks with virtuoso pedal steel player Buddy Emmons over a tight bass-drums rhythm which drew from blues, country, bebop and rockabilly influences. He also backed Robert Gordon and Roger Miller. He contributed a cover of "Apricot Brandy", a song by Elektra Records-supergroup Rhinoceros, to the 1990 compilation album Rubáiyát.
Playing style
Gatton's playing combined musical styles such as jazz, blues and rockabilly in an innovative fashion, and he was known by some as "the Telemaster." He was also called "the world's greatest unknown guitarist". Another nickname was "The Humbler", owing to his ability to out-play anyone willing to go up against him in "head-cutting" jam sessions. It was Amos Garrett, guitar player for Maria Muldaur, who nicknamed Gatton "The Humbler". A photo published in the October 2007 issue of Guitar Player magazine shows Gatton playing in front of a neon sign that says "Victims Wanted".
However, he never achieved the commercial success that his talent arguably deserved. His album 88 Elmira Street was up for a 1990 Grammy Award for the song "Elmira Street Boogie" in the category Best Rock Instrumental Performance, but was beaten by Eric Johnson with "Cliffs of Dover".
His skills were most appreciated by his peers such as Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, and his childhood idol Les Paul. During his career, Gatton appeared on stage with guitar heroes such as Alvin Lee and Jimmie Vaughan. Gatton had roomed with Roy Buchanan in Nashville, Tennessee in the mid '60s and they became frequent jamming partners, according to Guitar Player magazine's October 2007 issue. He also performed with old teenage friend Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen (from Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna) as "Jack and the Degenerates". Those recordings were never released, but live tapes are in circulation. In 1993, Gatton was invited by rocker Chris Isaak to record tracks for Isaak's San Francisco Days CD. Reports of where Gatton's playing can be heard on the CD vary, with unconfirmed reports placing him on either "Can't Do a Thing (To Stop Me)", "5:15" or "Beautiful Houses".
He usually played a 1953 Fender Telecaster (Fender now manufactures a replica of his heavily customized instrument), with Joe Barden pickups and Fender Super 250Ls, or Nickel Plated Steel (.010 to .046 with a .015 for the G) strings. For a slide, Gatton sometimes used a beer bottle or mug. In the March 1989 issue of Guitar Player magazine, he said he preferred to use an Alka-Seltzer bottle or long 6L6 vacuum tube as a slide, but that audiences liked the beer bottle. He did, however, only play slide overhand, citing his earlier training in steel guitar [Guitar Player, March 1989]. Among amplifiers Gatton is known to have used are a 1959 Fender Bassman amp and a heavily customized blackface Fender Vibrolux Reverb]].
After using Fender picks, he switched to a jazz-style teardrop pick after Buchanan had recommended them to him. He was capable of intricate passages combining Bluegrass, bebop, and garage sounds, executed with amazing clarity and at dizzying speeds. His picking technique was a hybrid combination of pick and fingers, primarily his middle and ring fingers on his right hand. The basis of his picking technique was using banjo rolls; he was an accomplished banjo player and from that he learned the traditional (Scruggs style) right-hand technique. His forward roll consisted of a pick downstroke, then middle finger, then ring finger. His backward roll consisted of middle finger, then a pick upstroke, then a pick downstroke. He possessed a classical guitar left hand technique, thumb behind the neck, fretting with arched fingers.
Among his admirers are Les Paul, James Burton, Lenny Breau, Joe Bonamassa (whom Danny mentored when Joe was eleven years old), Vince Gill, Evan Johns (of Evan Johns and His H-Bombs), Chris Cheney, Bill Kirchen, Albert Lee, Steve Vai, Buckethead, Arlen Roth, Johnny Hiland, Ricky Skaggs, Slash, and Richie Sambora.[3]
Final years, death and legacy
Throughout the late 1980s and early 90s, Danny worked closely with Fender to create his very own signature model guitar – The Danny Gatton Signature Telecaster, released in 1990.[4] On October 4, 1994, Gatton locked himself in his garage in Newburg, Maryland and shot himself. He left behind no explanation.[3] Members of his family and close friends believe Danny had silently suffered from depression for many years.[5]
On January 10, 11 and 12, 1995, Tramps club in New York organized a three-night tribute to Danny Gatton featuring dozens of Gatton's musical admirers, the highlight of which was a twenty-minute performance by Les Paul, James Burton, Arlen Roth and Albert Lee.[6] Those shows (with all musicians performing for free) raised $25,000 for Gatton's wife and daughter.
Danny Gatton has been described as possessing an extraordinary proficiency on his instrument, "a living treasury of American musical styles."[7] In 2009, John Previti, who played bass guitar with Danny for 18 years stated: "You know, when he played country music, it sounded like all he played was country music. When he played jazz, it sounded like that's all he played, rockabilly, old rock and roll, soul music. You know, he called himself a Whitman sampler of music"[5] Legendary guitarist Steve Vai reckons Danny "comes closer than anyone else to being the best guitar player that ever lived."[8] Accomplished guitar veteran Albert Lee said of Gatton: "Here’s a guy who’s got it all.”[9]
Since the advent of YouTube, decades-old bootleg performances of Danny have garnered millions of views,[10] eliciting high praise from fans worldwide.
Early life
Gatton was born in Washington, D.C. on September 4, 1945. His father, Daniel W. Gatton Sr., was a rhythm guitarist known for his unique percussive style, who left his musical career to raise his family in a more stable profession. The younger Gatton grew up to share his father's passion for the instrument.
Career
Danny Gatton began his career playing in bands while still a teenager. He began to attract wider interest in the 1970s while playing guitar and banjo for the group Liz Meyer & Friends. He made his name as a performer in the Washington, DC, area during the late 1970s and 1980s, both as a solo performer and with his Redneck Jazz Explosion, in which he would trade licks with virtuoso pedal steel player Buddy Emmons over a tight bass-drums rhythm which drew from blues, country, bebop and rockabilly influences. He also backed Robert Gordon and Roger Miller. He contributed a cover of "Apricot Brandy", a song by Elektra Records-supergroup Rhinoceros, to the 1990 compilation album Rubáiyát.
Playing style
Gatton's playing combined musical styles such as jazz, blues and rockabilly in an innovative fashion, and he was known by some as "the Telemaster." He was also called "the world's greatest unknown guitarist". Another nickname was "The Humbler", owing to his ability to out-play anyone willing to go up against him in "head-cutting" jam sessions. It was Amos Garrett, guitar player for Maria Muldaur, who nicknamed Gatton "The Humbler". A photo published in the October 2007 issue of Guitar Player magazine shows Gatton playing in front of a neon sign that says "Victims Wanted".
However, he never achieved the commercial success that his talent arguably deserved. His album 88 Elmira Street was up for a 1990 Grammy Award for the song "Elmira Street Boogie" in the category Best Rock Instrumental Performance, but was beaten by Eric Johnson with "Cliffs of Dover".
His skills were most appreciated by his peers such as Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, and his childhood idol Les Paul. During his career, Gatton appeared on stage with guitar heroes such as Alvin Lee and Jimmie Vaughan. Gatton had roomed with Roy Buchanan in Nashville, Tennessee in the mid '60s and they became frequent jamming partners, according to Guitar Player magazine's October 2007 issue. He also performed with old teenage friend Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen (from Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna) as "Jack and the Degenerates". Those recordings were never released, but live tapes are in circulation. In 1993, Gatton was invited by rocker Chris Isaak to record tracks for Isaak's San Francisco Days CD. Reports of where Gatton's playing can be heard on the CD vary, with unconfirmed reports placing him on either "Can't Do a Thing (To Stop Me)", "5:15" or "Beautiful Houses".
He usually played a 1953 Fender Telecaster (Fender now manufactures a replica of his heavily customized instrument), with Joe Barden pickups and Fender Super 250Ls, or Nickel Plated Steel (.010 to .046 with a .015 for the G) strings. For a slide, Gatton sometimes used a beer bottle or mug. In the March 1989 issue of Guitar Player magazine, he said he preferred to use an Alka-Seltzer bottle or long 6L6 vacuum tube as a slide, but that audiences liked the beer bottle. He did, however, only play slide overhand, citing his earlier training in steel guitar [Guitar Player, March 1989]. Among amplifiers Gatton is known to have used are a 1959 Fender Bassman amp and a heavily customized blackface Fender Vibrolux Reverb]].
After using Fender picks, he switched to a jazz-style teardrop pick after Buchanan had recommended them to him. He was capable of intricate passages combining Bluegrass, bebop, and garage sounds, executed with amazing clarity and at dizzying speeds. His picking technique was a hybrid combination of pick and fingers, primarily his middle and ring fingers on his right hand. The basis of his picking technique was using banjo rolls; he was an accomplished banjo player and from that he learned the traditional (Scruggs style) right-hand technique. His forward roll consisted of a pick downstroke, then middle finger, then ring finger. His backward roll consisted of middle finger, then a pick upstroke, then a pick downstroke. He possessed a classical guitar left hand technique, thumb behind the neck, fretting with arched fingers.
Among his admirers are Les Paul, James Burton, Lenny Breau, Joe Bonamassa (whom Danny mentored when Joe was eleven years old), Vince Gill, Evan Johns (of Evan Johns and His H-Bombs), Chris Cheney, Bill Kirchen, Albert Lee, Steve Vai, Buckethead, Arlen Roth, Johnny Hiland, Ricky Skaggs, Slash, and Richie Sambora.[3]
Final years, death and legacy
Throughout the late 1980s and early 90s, Danny worked closely with Fender to create his very own signature model guitar – The Danny Gatton Signature Telecaster, released in 1990.[4] On October 4, 1994, Gatton locked himself in his garage in Newburg, Maryland and shot himself. He left behind no explanation.[3] Members of his family and close friends believe Danny had silently suffered from depression for many years.[5]
On January 10, 11 and 12, 1995, Tramps club in New York organized a three-night tribute to Danny Gatton featuring dozens of Gatton's musical admirers, the highlight of which was a twenty-minute performance by Les Paul, James Burton, Arlen Roth and Albert Lee.[6] Those shows (with all musicians performing for free) raised $25,000 for Gatton's wife and daughter.
Danny Gatton has been described as possessing an extraordinary proficiency on his instrument, "a living treasury of American musical styles."[7] In 2009, John Previti, who played bass guitar with Danny for 18 years stated: "You know, when he played country music, it sounded like all he played was country music. When he played jazz, it sounded like that's all he played, rockabilly, old rock and roll, soul music. You know, he called himself a Whitman sampler of music"[5] Legendary guitarist Steve Vai reckons Danny "comes closer than anyone else to being the best guitar player that ever lived."[8] Accomplished guitar veteran Albert Lee said of Gatton: "Here’s a guy who’s got it all.”[9]
Since the advent of YouTube, decades-old bootleg performances of Danny have garnered millions of views,[10] eliciting high praise from fans worldwide.
Frank Schwinn *04.09.1967
Frank Schwinn (* 1967 in Bamberg) ist ein in Österreich lebender Gitarrist.
Leben
Schwinn wurde 1967 in Bamberg geboren, zog aber 1989 nach Österreich. Schon in seiner Jugend war er als Singer-Songwriter aktiv. Mit dem Jazzstudium in Linz (A), begann seine Karriere mit einer Vielzahl von Konzerten und Projekten im Bereich des Jazz. Er spielte jahrelang unter anderem mit dem Vienna Art Orchestra, Michael Hornek, Bob Berg, Zach Danziger, Tim Levebre, Karl Schrumpf (Bauchklang), Groovynol, Achim Tang und vielen anderen. im In- und Ausland. In den letzten Jahren kehrte er wieder zurück zu seinen musikalischen Wurzeln, dem Country-Blues.[1]
Aktuelle Formationen
Frank Schwinn "solo"
Frank Schwinn’s "The Banty Roosters" Blues-Duo mit Harpspieler Anton Willinger (A)
Frank Schwinn & Oliver Mally
Frank Schwinn is one of the most diverse and interesting guitarists /vocalists/producers in Austria.
Born 1967 in Bamberg/Germany he came to Austria in 1989 to study Jazz Guitar at the Anton Bruckner University in Linz.
1992 he moved to Vienna and worked as musician with artists like The Vienna Art Orchestra,Uli Rennert, Dave Liebman, Bob Berg, Zach Danziger, The Upper Austrian Jazz Orchestra, Joe Lovano and many others in Austria and abroad.
2001 he settled down in Upper Austria, playing guitar in many experimental/freeform projects and as a solo artist.
He also went back to his roots, the blues and singing.
He plays the Blues with his Duo "The Banty Roosters" (together with Anton Willinger on bluesharp) and
also performs together with "Sir" Oliver Mally.
He can really shine on the guitar, but is always following the main goal:
to serve the music and the song
He is also working as producer/mixer/remixer for other artists.
"Sir" Oliver Mally & Frank Schwinn - "DEVIL'S GONE FISHING"
U.P. Wilson *04.09.1934
U.P. Wilson (September 4, 1934 – September 22, 2004)[1] was an African American electric blues guitarist and singer who performed Texas blues. He recorded five albums for JSP Records, the first being Boogie Boy! The Texas Guitar Tornado Returns!, and was known for playing a style of deep Southern soul blues that was gospel inflected.
Huary Perry Wilson was born on a farm in Catto Parish, Shreveport, Louisiana, to parents Carrie Lee and Tommy Wilson.[3] Raised in West Dallas, Wilson learned the blues from ZuZu Bollin, Cat Man Fleming, Frankie Lee Sims, Mercy Baby and Nappy "Chin" Evans. Wilson later relocated from Dallas to Fort Worth and formed a duo, the Boogie Chillun Boys, with the drummer and vocalist, Robert Ealey. Later he worked with Cornell Dupree before Dupree left to become a session musician.[2] The Boogie Chillun Boys provided inspiration to fellow Texan singer and guitarist Ray Sharpe.[3]
From 1967 onwards he raised his family, and worked in Fort Worth during the day as a school janitor. At night, Wilson performed as a sideman in local nightclubs.[3] By the late 1970s, Wilson and Ealey played at a Fort Worth club named the New Bluebird, where they attracted crowds of Texas blues fans. By 1987, Wilson had began solo recording, and touring around Texas.[2] However, he subsequently rejoined Ealey in his new band, The Lovers, the following year.[3]
Music journalist, Tony Russell, noted that Wilson put on a show, playing one-handed while drinking, smoking and greeting his fans, but behind the tricks and the hyped language used in his billings ('Texas Tornado', 'Atomic Guitar' etc.,) Wilson was a musician with a talent for more than just getting boys to boogie down. His peculiar decision to sing in falsetto flawed his 1995 release This Is U.P. Wilson, but subsequent releases re-discovered his blend of Texas shuffles and low-down blues.[4]
For most of the last decade of his life, Wilson toured both the European blues circuit and throughout the United States. Activities included appearances at the Chicago Blues Festival, and playing accompaniment to Albert Collins. Wilson was imprisoned for six months in the John R.L. Jacksboro State Penitentiary for cocaine possession between 1997 and 1998, and on his release moved to live in Paris, France.[3]
Wilson went to hospital in Paris for surgery, and he died there on September 22, 2004, at the age of 70. His wife Rosie, predeceased him, and he was survived by two daughters and a son.[3]
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