Dienstag, 20. Dezember 2016

20.12. Mitch Kashmar, Cousin Joe, Lee Gates, Pat Hare, Bill "Sauce Boss" Wharton, Peps Persson, David Grissom, Tom Hambridge * Jimmy McCracklin, Son Seals, Big Chief Ellis, Walter Page +









1907 Cousin Joe*

1930 Pat Hare*

1937 Lee Gates*

1946 Peps Persson*

1957 Walter Page+

1960 Tom Hambridge*

1960 Mitch Kashmar*

1975 Jan Stehlík*

1977 Big Chief Ellis+

2004 Son Seals+

2012 Jimmy McCracklin+

Bill "Sauce Boss" Wharton*

David Grissom*

Addie Hamilton*

 

 

Happy Birthday

 

Mitch Kashmar  *20.12.1960

 


Liebhaber traditionellerer Bluesklänge dürfen sich auf eine fast vierwöchige Europatournee der Mitch Kashmar Blues Band freuen, die Kalifornier gastieren bis Mitte April in erster Linie auf deutschen Bühnen. Mitch Kashmar hat im Laufe seiner Karriere mit Künstlern wie Kim Wilson, John Lee Hooker, Big Joe Turner, Charlie Musselwhite, Lowell Fulson, William Clarke und anderen zusammengearbeitet und war zum Teil auch bei deren Plattenaufnahmen dabei. Sein Stil ist vom Chicago- und Westcoast-Jump-Blues geprägt, enthält aber auch Elemente des R&B sowie Texas-Blues, wobei Kashmars (chromatisches) Harpspiel im Mittelpunkt steht. Doch obwohl Mitch für seine Konzerte und Plattenveröffentlichungen beste Kritiken erntete, kam er bislang nicht über den Status eines "Geheimtipps" hinaus. Das dürfte auch daran liegen, dass er in seiner mittlerweile rund 35-jährigen Künstlerlaufbahn lediglich fünf Alben herausbrachte. Zuletzt erschien "100 Miles To Go", wobei es sich aber um das einzige musikalische Vermächtnis seiner 1980 gegründeten Band The Pontiax handelt, welches unter Mitch Kashmar & The Pontiax von Delta Groove 2010 neu aufgelegt wurde. Mit der ursprünglich 1989 erschienenen Scheibe, die grob umrissen eine Mischung aus Westcoast-Blues im Stile eines William Clarke und texanischem T-Birds-Sound bot, erzielte Kashmars Truppe auch international Aufmerksamkeit. Die aus Santa Barbara stammende und in Los Angeles heimisch gewordene Band tourte nicht nur kreuz und quer durch die USA, sondern war auch auf europäischen Bühnen zu Gast.

Ende der 90er-Jahre startete Mitch Kashmar dann eine Karriere unter eigenem Namen, die zu vier weiteren CD-Veröffentlichungen führte, wovon "Nickels & Dimes" (2005) zwei Nominierungen für einen Blues Music Award zur Folge hatte. Dies in der Kategorie "Instrumentalist - Harmonica" und erstaunlicherweise auch als "Best New Artist Debut", denn der Harpspieler und Sänger hatte schon einige Jahre zuvor die CD "Crazy Mixed-Up World" herausgebracht. Zuletzt erschien - abgesehen von der bereits erwähnten Reissue - "Live At Labatt" (2008) auf Delta Groove.

Noted by his peers as one of the most soulful and powerful blues singers in the business today, Mitch Kashmar has shared the stage with some of the most influential blues musicians including John Lee Hooker, Big Joe Turner, Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson, Lowell Fulson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Pee Wee Crayton, Johnny Adams and many others.
So, it was an honor, yet no surprise, for Mitch to be invited to perform at the 9th Annual Edmonton's Labatt Blues Festival in Western Canada in August 2007. Blues fans throughout Canada witnessed Mitch Kashmar and his band in action at the festival. And fortunately for blues fans elsewhere in the world, the event was captured for posterity by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and released by Delta Groove Music. Joining Kashmar at this festival performance are former bandmate from the Pontiax, drummer Tom Lackner, bassist Steve Nelson, pianist Jimmy Calire, and former William Clarke guitarist, John Marx, providing the perfect foil to Kashmar's dynamic harp playing and emotive vocals.
"Mitch Kashmar is my absolute favorite blues harp player of his generation, and one of my favorites period! He's also a first-class vocalist - his singing really knocks me out." - William Clarke
While still attending high school, Mitch Kasmar began sneaking into his first gigs with local bands in Santa Barbara using his brother's ID. By 1980, he formed his own group, The Pontiax, continuing to perform throughout the Santa Barbara and Southern California region. Around the mid-80s, Mitch Kashmar made the move to Los Angeles and The Pontiax recorded "100 Miles to Go" for the Belgium label, Blue Sting Records. They soon went out on the road expanding their fan base globally with tours throughout the US, Canada, Europe and the South Pacific.
The musical styles of The Pontiax drew on a wide range of influences including Chicago Blues, New Orleans R&B, West Coast Jump Blues and Swing, Boogie Woogie, Louisiana Swamp Rock, Texas Blues and straight forward Jazz. The Pontiax also became very popular within the music community being called into action on stage as back up band with many legendary blues musicians such as Albert Collins, Charlie Musselwhite, Luther Tucker, Pinetop Perkins, William Clarke, Kim Wilson, Roy Gaines and many of the aforementioned artists.
Mitch's blues harp playing is second to none for creativity, drive and excitement. And he's also just as witty and imaginative in the role of songwriter. He's shared the stage with some of the biggest names in blues over the years with Stevie Ray Vaughan paying him the ultimate compliment given from one musician to another: "Can I sit in?"
Moving on to a solo career recording "Crazy Mixed-Up World" in '99, Kashmar started making a name for himself and touring with his own band but it wasn't until his 2005 effort "Nickels & Dimes", featuring guitar great Junior Watson on Delta Groove Music's label, that his stock really began to rise. Kashmar was recognized two consecutive years in a row by the Blues Music Awards with nominations in 2006 as Best New Artist Debut and followed in 2007 as Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica.
When taking a break from his solo career, Mitch Kashmar has also signed on for active duty with the latest touring incarnation of the classic 70's funk-rock band War, and even made rock 'n' roll history appearing onstage alongside legendary British rocker Eric Burdon & War for a reunion concert held on April 21, 2008 at London's Royal Albert Hall.
Mitch Kashmar has come a long way since his youth in what is now often perceived as the quaint beachside community of Santa Barbara, CA. They've all known what the rest of the blues world is about to find out: Mitch Kashmar is a force to be reckoned with in the blues.

Mitch Kashmar & Guitar Ray 
The ever so tastefull playing Mitch Kashmar filmed playing a slowblues during his 2nd gig at the infamous Nix BBBlues Club in Holland.
Raymond 'Guitar Ray' Nijenhuis playing a Harmony H-62 archtop through a Gibson 1949 GA-30 amp(tone tone tone)
On drums Jody 'the Hitter' van Ooijen 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cd68-F-auc 



Mitch Kashmar Blues Band, Bichofsmühle, 06.04.2013 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0IMg8-H1Qk 

  

 

Cousin Joe  *20.12.1907

 

 

Cousin Joe (* 20. Dezember 1907 in Wallace, Louisiana; † 2. Oktober 1989; eigentlich Pleasant Joseph) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues- und Jazz-Musiker.
Leben
Cousin Joe begann seine musikalische Karriere als Sänger in der Kirche. Er wechselte zum Blues und begann, Gitarre und Ukulele zu spielen, bevor er zum Piano wechselte. 1942 zog er nach New York, wo er mit Dizzy Gillespie, Sidney Bechet, Charlie Parker und Billie Holiday auftrat. Seine ersten Aufnahmen entstanden als Pianist für das Septett Mezz Mezzrow/Sidney Bechet (King Jazz, 1945) in New York. 1948 kehrte er nach New Orleans zurück. Dort spielte er mit Lee Allen in Clubs in New Orleans sowie in der Dave Bartholomew Band. 1964 war er auf einer ersten Europa-Tournee, wo er in der BBC auftrat; 1971 entstand auf einer Frankreich-Tournee ein Album mit ihm als Pianist und den Gitarristen Jimmy Dawkins und Clarence Gatemouth Brown sowie einer Rhythmusgruppe aus Chicago.



Pleasant Joseph known as Cousin Joe (December 20, 1907 — October 2, 1989)[1] was an American blues and jazz singer, later famous for his 1940s recordings with clarinetist Sidney Bechet and saxophonist Mezz Mezzrow.
He was born in Wallace, Louisiana, United States.
Unitil 1945 Cousin Joe toured Louisiana; that year he was asked to take part in the King Jazz recording sessions organized by Mezzrow and Bechet. [2]
Cousin Joe died in his sleep from natural causes in New Orleans, at the age of 81.

 Cousin Joe - New Orleans, 1984. August 29. 











 Lee Gates  *20.12.1937

 



Powerhouse Guitar Slinger
Lee Gates was born in Mississippi and moved to Milwaukee as a teenager where he has been playing his brand of down home blues for the past 50 years. Blues legend Albert Collins is his first cousin and you can hear the family influence in Lee Gates' fluid guitar style and tone. In 1959 Lee Gates migrated to Milwaukee where he found work performing with the house band at Wilson's Club at 10th and Center Streets for 15 years straight. It is not until 1974 that he met his legendary cousin Albert Collins. "My daddy's brother had a lot of kids out there in Texas. I never met them as a child, but we all knew of each other. When Albert Collins came to Milwaukee I showed him around and we did some gigs together. Every time he came to town we would go out and eat supper together, he was a good friend to me."





80 Year old Blues Guitarist Lee Gates Has Still Got It. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jios9FDduuI 










 

Pat Hare  *20.12.1930

 


Pat Hare (* 20. Dezember 1930 in Cherry Valley, Arkansas; † 26. September 1980 in St. Paul, Minnesota), eigentlich Auburn Hare, war ein US-amerikanischer Blues- und Rockabilly-Gitarrist und Sänger.
Ende der 1940er Jahre musizierte Hare in Memphis in der Band von Howlin' Wolf. 1953 spielte er die Gitarre bei der ersten Hit-Single von James Cotton, My Baby/Straighten Out Baby und Cotton Crop Blues/Hold Me in Your Arms. Mitte der 1950er Jahre arbeitete Hare mit Junior Parker zusammen. 1957 machte er Aufnahmen mit Bobby "Blue" Bland, darunter der Hit Farther On Up The Road. In den späten 1950ern war er in Chicago Mitglied der Band von Muddy Waters, mit der er 1960 Live at Newport einspielte. 1962 ging Hare nach Minneapolis, wo er mit George "Mojo" Buford auftrat.
Eigentlich ein eher ruhiger Mensch, verlor Hare leicht die Beherrschung, wenn er trank. 1964 wurde er wegen Mordes an seiner Freundin und einem Polizisten verurteilt (die Tat war 1962 geschehen) und verbrachte den Rest seines Lebens hinter Gittern, wo er 1980 an Krebs starb. Ironischerweise hatte er 1954 ein Stück namens I'm Gonna Murder My Baby aufgenommen, in dem er sang: Yes, I'm gonna murder my baby (yeah, I'm tellin' the truth now) 'Cause she don't do nothin' but cheat and lie.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Hare 

 

Auburn "Pat" Hare[1] (December 20, 1930 - September 26, 1980),[2] was an American Memphis electric blues guitarist and singer.[3] His heavily distorted, power chord-driven electric guitar music in the early 1950s is considered an important precursor to heavy metal music.[4] His guitar work with Little Junior's Blue Flames had a major influence on the rockabilly style,[5] while his guitar playing on blues records by artists such as Muddy Waters was influential among 1960s British Invasion blues rock bands such as The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds.[4]

Biography

He was born in Cherry Valley, Arkansas.[2] He recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, serving as a sideman for Howlin' Wolf, James Cotton, Muddy Waters, Bobby Bland and other artists.[2] Hare was one of the first guitarists to purposely use the effects of distortion in his playing.[3]

In 1951, he joined a blues band formed by Junior Parker, called Little Junior's Blue Flames.[6] He played the electric guitar solo on "Love My Baby" (1953), which later inspired the rockabilly style.[5] One of their biggest hits was "Next Time You See Me"[7] which in 1957 reached #5 on the Billboard R&B charts and #74 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.[8]
  
His guitar solo on James Cotton's electric blues record "Cotton Crop Blues" (1954) was the first record to use heavily distorted power chords, anticipating elements of heavy metal music. According to Robert Palmer: "Rarely has a grittier, nastier, more ferocious electric guitar sound been captured on record, before or since, and Hare's repeated use of a rapid series of two downward-modulating power chords, the second of which is allowed to hang menacingly in the air, is a kind of hook or structural glue. [...] The first heavy metal record? I'd say yes, with tongue only slightly in cheek."[4] The other side of the single was "Hold Me in Your Arms"; both songs "featured a guitar sound so overdriven that with the historical distance of several decades, it now sounds like a direct line to the coarse, distorted tones favored by modern rock players." According to Allmusic, "what is now easily attainable by 16-year-old kids on modern-day effects pedals just by stomping on a switch, Hare was accomplishing with his fingers and turning the volume knob on his Sears & Roebuck cereal-box-sized amp all the way to the right until the speaker was screaming."[3]

Reported to have been an unassuming man in private (once married to Dorothy Mae Good, with whom he had three children — a son and two daughters); however, he had serious, and ultimately fatal, drinking problems.[3] Shortly after the "Cotton Crop Blues" recording, he recorded a version of the early 1940s Doctor Clayton song "I'm Gonna Murder My Baby" on May 14, 1954, which has since been released on the 1990 Rhino Records compilation album, Blue Flames: A Sun Blues Collection. The record also features power chords, which remains "most fundamental in modern rock" as "the basic structure for riff-building in heavy metal bands." According to Robert Palmer, the song is "as heavy metal as it gets."[4] According to the album liner notes, "I'm Gonna Murder My Baby", "is doubly morbid because he did just that". In December 1963, Hare shot his girlfriend dead, and also shot a policeman who came to investigate.[9] At the time of his arrest, he was playing in the blues band of Muddy Waters. He was replaced in the band by guitarist James "Pee Wee" Madison.[3][10] Hare spent the last 16 years of his life in prison, where he formed a band named Sounds Incarcerated.[9] Hare succumbed to lung cancer in prison, and died in 1980 in St. Paul, Minnesota. 



Pat Hare I'm Gonna Murder My Baby (1954) 











Bill "Sauce Boss" Wharton  *20.12.

 


https://www.facebook.com/bill.wharton.3/photos_albums?lst=100002257761834%3A1715072182%3A1482141977

Mal ehrlich: Wann waren Sie das letzte Mal in einem richtig guten Rock-Konzert, bei dem der Gitarrist nicht nur das Beste von Clapton und B. B. King zu vereinen scheint, sondern außerdem auch noch Koch-Klamotten trägt? Und während des Konzerts Gumbo auf der Bühne kocht, um anschließend das Publikum mit einer scharfen warmen Mahlzeit zu verwöhnen?„Ladies and Gentlemen, the Sauce Boss.“

The Sauce Boss, das ist Bill Wharton. Bill und seine Band „The Ingredients“ (die Zutaten) touren kreuz & quer durch die USA und waren auch schon mal in Europa. Bisher hat der Sauce Boss bereits mehr als 100.000 Portionen Gumbo ausgeschenkt und Millionen mit seinem genialen Blues begeistert.
Warum er sich „Sauce Boss“ nennt, dazu später mehr…Bill Wharton kocht (und isst) für sein Leben gern. Und sein Leben lang spielt der gebürtige Floridianer den Blues. Was lag also näher, beides miteinander zu verbinden? Wenn die Band auf der Bühne steht, gibt’s jedes Mal eine andere Mischung aus Wharton’s reichhaltigem bluesigen Reportoire, das er selbst eine Mischung aus „Sex, Drugs, Rock& Roll, Technology, Religion, and a whole lot of Food“ nennt. Und Food steht auch eindeutig im Mittelpunkt der Show, die wir bereits sieben mal miterleben durften, und die nie langweilig wird. Nachdem die Band ein paar Stücke zum Anheizen gespielt hat, heizt Bill den Gaskocher an, auf dem sein Markenzeichen steht: Der große Topf, in dem er live auf der Bühne Gumbo kochen wird, das berühmte deftige Südstaaten-Eintopfgericht.
„Ladies and Gentlemen – the Roux!“So kündigt Bill Wharton den ersten (und seiner Meinung nach wichtigsten) Schritt für ein perfektes Gumbo an. Die Roux ist eine Art Mehlschwitze aus Öl und Mehl, die unter laufendem Umrühren liebevoll eingedickt werden will, bis sie eine braune Farbe angenommen hat. Bill philosophiert darüber zu den heißen Rhythmen der Band: „Wenn Du die Roux gut behandelst, wird sie auch gut zu Dir sein“.

Dann läßt er den Kochlöffel fallen und greift wieder zur Gitarre. Die band rockt, und Bill legt ein Slide-Solo hin, daß das Publikum die Ohren anlegt. Selten haben wir einen Musiker besser und einfühlsamer spielen sehen und hören. Der Mann liebt seinen Job.
   
Immer wieder stellt Bill die Gitarre zur Seite, um sein Gumbo umzurühren, Zutaten zu schnippeln, und auch schon mal eine Hand voll Zucchini-Scheiben ins Publikum zu werfen.Während der Eintopf vor sich hin blubbert, spielt der Meister dann schnell wieder ein paar Riffs. Irgendwann wird er dann fast zeremonienhaft eine Hot-Sauce-Flasche aufschrauben: Liquid Summer, seine eigene Kreation, die er wie ein Wundermittel- Wanderprediger anpreist und die ihm den Namen „Sauce Boss“ einbrachte. Wenn er dann ein wenig Hot Sauce in den Kessel tröpfelt, johlt das Publikum: „More! More!“ Unter heftigem Beifall schüttet Bill schließlich die ganze Flasche rein – bei einer Soße, die aus Habanero- und Datil-Chilis gebraut wird, ganz schön heftig.

Bill Wharton kennt man überall in den USA – CNN berichtete über ihn, der bekannte Food TV Kochkanal widmete ihm eine Sendung, und vor Kurzem kam Bill Whaton’s fünfte – von Musikkritikern hochgelobte – CD „Gumbo Man“ raus.

Trotzdem spielt er am liebsten auf (relativ) kleinen Bühnen, nur Schritte vom Publikum entfernt, sodaß jeder seine Koch-Show gut mitbekommt.
Außerdem mischt sich der Sauce Boss gerne unter das Publikum, springt auf Tische, wo die Leute drumherum seine Gitarrenkünste hautnah erleben können – oder seine unglaublichen Soli auf dem Waschbrett. Obendrein hat Bill die kernigste Blues-Stimme, die man sich vorstellen kann.Währenddessen kocht das Gumbo vor sich hin…     Meister der Slide Guitar
   
    … und auch auf der Bühne wird das Publikum kräftig mit einbezogen. Mal aufs Podium zu klettern und den Gumbo-Topf umzurühren ist fast schon Ehrensache. Links hat Pepperworld’s Renate Zoschke gerade den rührigen Job übernommen. Der krönende Abschluß kommt nach etwa eineinhalb Stunden, wenn das Gumbo fertig ist: Der Sauce Boss lässt es sich nicht nehmen, selbst mit auszuschenken – und strahlt, wenn’s allen schmeckt.

Bill "Sauce Boss" Wharton brings his own hot sauce to every gig, and he cooks a big pot of gumbo, while smoking his slide guitar. At the end of the Show, everyone gets a bowl. Now he's added some new flavors to the “stew”. Sauce Boss not only plays slide, sings his tamales off, makes gumbo, and feeds everybody… he also plays a drum kit with his feet. “You take that 53 Telecaster, pump it through that 48 Fender amp, add a bass rig, mix in some drums, all simmered down over some funky swamp blues, and smothered with gumbo, and you got a recipe for the largest one-man band on the planet.”
WITH HIS HOMEGROWN STORYTELLING AND NATURAL-BORN GUITAR TALENT, THE SAUCE BOSS RIGHTEOUSLY SINGS THE BLUES.  He gives the feeling that can only come from a life lived in the eye of the storm.  He has weathered more than his share of hurricanes, sunburn, and mosquitoes – and he’s got the chops to prove it. He has taken his blues and a huge pot of gumbo to the disaster zones of the Mississippi delta and to homeless shelters across America – where he’s fed war veterans, hurricane survivors, and plenty of other regular folks who come for music but leave with much more.  The Sauce Boss offers up sustenance and redemption in the form of music, food, and above all, the love of the brotherhood of man.
ONE MORNING IN THE EARLY 70'S, THE SAUCE BOSS WALKED OUT OF HIS HOUSE AND FOUND A 1933 VINTAGE NATIONAL STEEL GUITAR in his front yard. That lead him down the Blues path. Deep in the shed, he penned “Let the Big Dog Eat”, which was featured in Jonathan Demme’s film “Something Wild”. Years later he combined his blues with his hot sauce in a big pot of gumbo, made right on stage. Singing the recipe, he mixes his music and cooking together into a new medium.
SINCE 1990, THE SAUCE BOSS HAS COOKED GUMBO FOR OVER 200,000 PEOPLE, ALL FOR FREE, while simultaneously playing his own swampy Florida blues. A Sauce Boss event transcends performance. It's a soul-shouting picnic of rock & roll brotherhood, involving everyone. And at the end of the show, everyone eats.
The Sauce Boss takes his music and his gumbo to the streets with the non-profit 501c3 organization, PLANET GUMBO (planetgumbo.org), where the Sauce Boss regularly donates performances (along with gumbo) to Homeless Shelters all over the US.
JIMMY BUFFETT SINGS ABOUT THE SAUCE BOSS in his "I Will Play for Gumbo" song. Parrotheads phlock from all over the country show up at Sauce Boss shows and also bring the Sauce Boss to "play' and a' sway' with the gumbo" at their events. Festivals and performing arts centers throughout the US, Canada, and Europe feature the Sauce Boss and his gumbo. His songs "Let the Big Dog Eat" and "Great Big Fanny" appeared on the Jimmy Buffett compilation album "Margaritaville Café Late Night Menu". NPR's "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition" have both covered the Sauce Boss. CNN and EXTRA sent film crews to New York City Sauce Boss extravaganzas in 2000, The Food Network's series "Extreme Cuisine" visited the Sauce Boss on location in New York, and another Food Network series "Keith Famie's Adventures" filmed a Sauce Boss show in Miami. The Sauce Boss is the only personality that’s been featured in “Living Blues”, “GQ”, AND "Gourmet Magazine".  



The Sauce Boss ( Bill Wharton ) 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twCtNxsSnGg 









Peps Persson  *20.12.1946

 

http://villevessla.blogg.se/2009/april/utkast-efter-insider.html

Peps Persson (* 20. Dezember 1946 in Tjörnarp; eigentlich Per-Åke Tommy Persson) ist ein schwedischer Blues- und Reggae-Musiker aus Tjörnarp in der Gemeinde Höör in Schonen. Die meisten seiner Stücke interpretierte er in Schwedisch und erlangte durch seinen schonischen Dialekt Popularität. Zu Beginn seiner Karriere als Musiker nahm er einige Alben in Englisch auf.
Karriere
Perssons Karriere begann 1975 stark beeinflusst vom Blues. Persson machte sich auch einen Namen als Übersetzer vieler englischer Blues- und Reggae-Songs ins Schwedische. Er interpretierte unter anderem Songs von Muddy Waters, Elmore James und Bob Marley auf Schwedisch neu.[1]
Nach 1975 wendete er sich vom Blues etwas ab und veröffentlichte mehr Reggae-Stücke. Einige seiner Songs, wie „Falsk matematik“ und „Hög standard“, hatten auch politische Inhalte und waren Teil der schwedischen Musikbewegung (Progg).

Peps Persson (born 20 December 1946 in Helsingborg) is a Swedish blues and reggae musician from Tjörnarp, Scania. Throughout his career he has mostly made music in Swedish and is well known for his Scanian dialect. At an earlier stage he made a few albums in English.

Career

Persson's career up to 1975 was mostly inspired by the blues, and he's known for having reworked many famous blues and reggae tunes into Swedish, by such artists as Muddy Waters, Elmore James and Bob Marley.[1]

After 1975, his career turned away from the blues and focused mostly on reggae. Some of his songs, like "Falsk matematik" and "Hög standard", made a political statement, and were considered part of the progg movement.

Peps Persson - Blues With A Feeling


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PzBpVDC1D0 








David Grissom  *20.12.





 Was haben Robert Plant, John Mellencamp, Ringo Starr, Robben Ford, Buddy Guy, John Mayall, the Allman Brothers, Joe Ely, Web Wilder, the Dixie Chicks, Bob Dylan und Chris Isaak gemeinsam? Sie alle haben schon mit dem Gitarristen David Grissom gearbeitet. Der nahm seinen Wohnsitz in der Musikstadt Austin im Jahre 1983 und wurde schnell ein Star der pulsierenden lokalen Musikszene, als er für Lucinda Williams und Lou Ann Barton in die Saiten griff. 1985 wurde er Mitglied der Band der texanischen Legende Joe Ely, mit dem er bis 1991 im Studio und auf der Bühne spielte. Danach wechselte Grissom zu John Mellencamp, für den er auf drei Alben seine Gitarre spielte sowie auf unzähligen Tourneen.

Schließlich kehrte er nach Texas zurück und gründete Storyville, eine Band, in der zwei Musiker von Double Trouble mitspielten, die vorher den legendären Stevie Ray Vaughan begleitet hatten. Kürzlich spielte Grissom auf Buddy Guys CD „Living Proof“, die mit einem Grammy ausgezeichnet wurde. Des Weiteren brachte er ein Gitarrenlehrbuch heraus. Und als Robert Plant nach Austin kam, rief dieser Grissom an, um mit ihm eine Band zu gründen.

Im Jahre 2007 stellte die Firma Paul Reed Smith Guitars das Modell DGT vor, welches Grissom nach 25 Jahren Zusammenarbeit entwickelt hat. Mit Spezialisten wie Doug Sewell und der Firma PRS arbeite er daran, neue Gitarrenverstärker zu entwerfen.

„Way Down Deep“ ist David Grissoms letztes Solowerk. Darauf wird er begleitet von J.J.Johnson (John Mayer, Derek Trucks) und Chris Maresh (Eric Johnson, Bonnie Raitt). Die Musik demonstriert eindrucksvoll die Stärken dieses Gitarristen. Auf der CD findet der Zuhörer Instrumentals und Gesangsnummern mit einer fantastischen Gitarrenarbeit des Künstlers und starken Songtexten aus seiner Feder. David Grissom kommt im Frühjahr 2014 auf Tour nach Europa.

David Grissom (fl. since 1978)[1] is an American guitarist who has played and toured with several of America's leading bands and recording artists.
Professional biography
David Grissom is a guitarist best known for his work with John Mellencamp. While still recording with Joe Ely, Grissom joined the John Mellencamp Band. Following Mellencamp, he went on to form the critically acclaimed Storyville with Malford Milligan (vocals), David Holt (guitar), Tommy Shannon (bass) and Chris Layton (drums). David Grissom has since toured with the Allman Brothers and the Dixie Chicks. On May 19, 2007, at a free concert titled "The Road To Austin", Bobby Whitlock performed his electric version of the definitive rock music love songs,[2] Layla and Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad with dueling guitars courtesy of David Grissom and Eric Johnson.[3] Grissom released his first solo album Loud Music in 2007. He has also recorded sessions, played and toured with a number of other American recording artists, including Buddy Guy, Chris Isaak, Sarah Hickman and Bob Dylan.[4] David Grissom recorded his album "Two Thousand Miles" with Owen Temple. In 2009 Grissom released his second solo album "10,000 Feet", which featured 11 new songs plus an acoustic version of "Good Day For The Blues", which was originally recorded by Storyville.
Guitars
Grissom has played PRS (Paul Reed Smith) guitars for most of his professional career. He played a modified PRS McCarty Trem for over a decade. In 2007, after a 25-year relationship working with Paul on the design and improvement of PRS guitars from a touring/session player's perspective, his collaboration with Paul Reed Smith resulted in the DGT (David Grissom Trem) signature model. Its innovations include special pickups developed by Grissom, Dunlop 6100 fretwire, a nitrocellulose finish and two volume knobs to allow the blending of both humbucking pickups. Grissom has noted that this feature was inspired by the sounds Jimmy Page created on the early Led Zeppelin albums.[5]
How It Feels to Fly (2014)
The fourth solo release included eight new studio tracks and four extended live tracks, with covers of the Allman Brother's "Jessica" and ZZ Top's "Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Grissom


David Grissom - "Good day for the Blues" - " Way down deep" 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_BRR8BQwl4 



David Grissom - Hear My Train A Comin' 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6URdQJQtZMI 



















R.I.P.

 

Jimmy McCracklin  +20.12.2012

 


Jimmy McCracklin (* 13. August 1921 in St. Louis, Missouri; † 20. Dezember 2012 in San Pablo, Kalifornien[1]) war ein US-amerikanischer Bluespianist, Sänger und Komponist. Er ist ein Vertreter des West Coast und Jump Blues. Während seiner fast sieben Jahrzehnte umfassenden Karriere nahm McCracklin mehr als 30 Alben auf, von denen einige Goldstatus erreichten. Nach eigener Aussage schrieb er nahezu tausend Songs.[2]
McCracklins großes Vorbild war der Bluespianist Walter Davis, den er als Junge kennenlernte. In jungen Jahren war McCracklin auch als Boxer tätig, entschied sich aber für die Musik. Nach seinem Militärdienst während des Zweiten Weltkriegs zog er an die Westküste, wo er 1945 mit Miss Mattie Left Me seine erste Aufnahme machte. 1946 gründete er seine eigene Band Jimmy McCracklin and His Blues Blasters.
Es folgten zahlreiche Aufnahmen für verschiedene Label. 1958 hatte er seinen ersten größeren Hit mit The Walk. Weitere Erfolgsnummern waren unter anderem Just Got to Know (1961), Shame, Shame, Shame (1962), Every Night, Every Day (1965) und My Answer (1966). 1962 erschien sein erstes Album Jimmy McCracklin Sings. 1967 hatten Otis Redding und Carla Thomas mit Tramp einen Hit, dessen Autoren McCracklin und Lowell Fulson sind; 1987 brachten Salt’N’Pepa das Stück erneut in die Charts.
McCracklin wurde 1990 mit dem Pioneer Award der Rhythm and Blues Foundation und 2007 mit dem Living Legend and Hall of Fame Award bei den Bay Area Black Music Awards ausgezeichnet. 2008 wurde er in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen.

Jimmy McCracklin (August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012) was an American pianist, vocalist, and songwriter. His style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B.[1] Over a career that spanned seven decades, he said he had written almost a thousand songs and had recorded hundreds of them.[2] McCracklin recorded over 30 albums, and earned four gold records. Tom Mazzolini of the San Francisco Blues Festival said of him, "He was probably the most important musician to come out of the Bay Area in the post-World War II years."[3]
Biography
McCracklin was born James David Walker on 13 August 1921. Sources differ as to whether he was born in Helena, Arkansas[3] or St. Louis, Missouri.[4] He joined the United States Navy in 1938, later settled in Richmond, California, and began playing at the local Club Savoy owned by his sister-in-law Willie Mae "Granny" Johnson.[5] The room-length bar served beer and wine, and Granny Johnson served home-cooked meals of greens, ribs, chicken, and other southern cuisine. A house band composed of Bay Area based musicians alternated with and frequently backed performers such as B. B. King, Charles Brown, and L. C. Robinson. Later in 1963 he would write and record a song "Club Savoy" on his I Just Gotta Know album.
His recorded a debut single for Globe Records, "Miss Mattie Left Me", in 1945, and recorded "Street Loafin' Woman in 1946. McCracklin recorded for a number of labels in Los Angeles and Oakland, prior to joining Modern Records in 1949-1950. He formed a group called Jimmy McCracklin and his Blues Blasters in 1946, with guitarist Lafayette Thomas who remained with group until the early 1960s.[6]
His popularity increased after appearing on the TV pop Dick Clark's American Bandstand in support of his self-written single "The Walk" (1957),[7] subsequently released by Checker Records in 1958. It went to No. 5 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 7 on the pop chart,[8] after more than 10 years of McCracklin selling records in the black community on a series of small labels. Jimmy McCracklin Sings, his first solo album, was released in 1962, in the West Coast blues style. In 1962, McCracklin recorded "Just Got to Know" for his own Art-Tone label in Oakland, after the record made No. 2 on the R&B chart. For a brief period in the early 1970s McCracklin ran the Continental Club in San Francisco. He booked blues acts such as T-Bone Walker, Irma Thomas, Big Joe Turner, Big Mama Thornton, and Etta James.[9] In 1967, Otis Redding and Carla Thomas had success with "Tramp", a song credited to McCracklin and Lowell Fulson. Salt-n-Pepa made a hip-hop hit out of the song in 1987. Oakland Blues (1968) was an album arranged and directed by McCracklin, and produced by World Pacific. The California rock-n-roll "roots music" band The Blasters named themselves after McCracklin's backing band The Blues Blasters. Blasters' lead singer Phil Alvin explained the origin of the band's name: "I thought Joe Turner’s backup band on Atlantic records – I had these 78s – I thought they were the Blues Blasters. It ends up it was Jimmy McCracklin's. I just took the 'Blues' off and Joe finally told me, that’s Jimmy McCracklin’s name, but you tell ‘im I gave you permission to steal it."[1]
McCracklin continued to tour and produce new albums in the 1980s and 1990s.[10] Bob Dylan has cited McCracklin as a favorite.[11] He played at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1973, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984 and 2007. He was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1990, and the Living Legend and Hall of Fame award at the Bay Area Black Music Awards, in 2007.[12] McCracklin continued to write, record, and perform into the 21st century.
He died in San Pablo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, on December 20, 2012, after a long illness, aged 91.




The Walk - Jimmy McCracklin with Ry Cooder and Wayne Bennett 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Dfz8ONT8U 









 

Son Seals   +20.12.2004

 



Son Seals (* 13. August 1942 in Osceola, Arkansas; † 20. Dezember 2004 in Chicago) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Musiker.
Geboren in Osceola/Arkansas wo er auch aufwuchs, sein Vater Jim "Son" Seals betrieb einen Juke Joint. schon mit 13 begann er Schlagzeug zu spielen, zuerst in der Band von Robert Nighthawk. Mit 16 hatte er sich außerdem das Gitarre-Spielen beigebracht und trat im T-99-Club, mit seinem Schwager Walter Jacobs (Little Walter), auf. Sie standen dabei u.a. mit Albert King, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker und Rosco Gordon auf der Bühne. Mit 19 trat er sehr häufig im Rebel Club in Osceola auf und als jemand für ein Plattenlabel auf der Suche nach Little Walter war, wurde er stattdessen genommen. Sein erste Band hieß Son Seals & The Upsetters. 1971 ging er nach Chicago, wo ihn Bruce Iglauer entdeckte und bei Alligator Records unter Vertrag nahm. Er trat häufig im Flamingo Club in der South side von Chicago auf.
Er veröffentlichte zehn Alben und hatte mit „Funky Bitch“ einen der größten Blues-Hits. Seine Markenzeichen war sein exzellentes Gitarrenspiel und seine raue Bluesstimme. Dem alten Stil des Blues ist er trotz eines kurzen Ausfluges in die Funk-Beat-Szene stets treu geblieben.
Bereits mit 13 Jahren fing er mit der Musik an und 1959 gründete er seine erste Band. Sein Mentor wurde der Gitarrist Albert King. Mit ihm und mit Blues-Stars wie Earl Hooker und Robert Nighthawk trat er auf.
In den Jahren 1985, 1987 und 2001 erhielt Son Seals dreimal den höchstangesehenen Preis der Blues-Szene, den W. C. Handy Blues Award, und wurde 2009 in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen.
Zeit seines Lebens hatte Son Seals viele Probleme, nicht nur gesundheitlich. 12 von 14 Kindern bzw. Stiefkindern der Familie Seals starben, nur seine Schwester und er überlebten. Seine Frau schoss ihm im Streit ins Kinn. Sein Bein musste wegen Diabetes amputiert werden. Bei einem Brand in seinem Haus wurden fast alle seine Wertsachen zerstört und während er einen Auftritt absolvierte, brachen Unbekannte in sein Haus ein und stahlen seine wertvolle Gitarrensammlung. Letztendlich starb er an den Folgen seines schweren Diabetes mellitus.

Frank "Son" Seals (August 13,1942 – December 20, 2004[2]) was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.
Career
He was born in Osceola, Arkansas where his father, Jim "Son" Seals, owned a small juke joint. He began performing professionally by the age of 13, first as a drummer with Robert Nighthawk, and later as a guitarist. At age 16, he began to play at the T-99, a local upper echelon club, with Walter Jefferson, “Little Walter”, who was his brother in law. At the T-99, he played with many other musicians, such as Albert King, Rufus Thomas, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, and Rosco Gordon. Their varying styles contributed to the development of Seals' own playing techniques. While playing at the T-99, he was also introduced to country-western music by Jimmy Grubbs, who would ask Seals to gig with his group every now and then on both drums and guitar. At 19 years old, he formed his own band to fill in at a local club in Osceola called the Rebel Club. Shortly thereafter, a man from Little Rock, Arkansas came to find “Little Walter” for a gig at his club, but when he turned it down the offer went to Seals. The band members were “Old man Horse” (Johnny Moore) on piano, Alvin Goodberry on either drums, guitar, bass, or piano, “Little Bob” (Robinson) on vocals, and Walter Lee “Skinny Dynamo” Harris on piano. The band’s name was “Son Seals and the Upsetters.”[3]
In 1971, Seals moved to Chicago. His career took off after he was discovered by Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records at the 'Flamingo Club' in Chicago's South Side. His debut album, The Son Seals Blues Band, was released in 1973. The album included "Your Love Is Like a Cancer" and "Hot Sauce". Seals followed up with 1976's Midnight Son and 1978's Live and Burning. He continued releasing albums throughout the next two decades, all but one on Alligator Records. These included Chicago Fire (1980), Bad Axe (1984), Living in the Danger Zone (1991), Nothing But the Truth and Live-Spontaneous Combustion (1996). He received the W.C. Handy Award in 1985, 1987, and 2001.
Author Andrew Vachss was a friend of Seals, and used his influence to promote Seals' music. Vachss gave Seals several cameo appearances in his novels[4] and co-wrote songs with him for his 2000 album, Lettin' Go.[5] Vachss dedicated the novel Mask Market to Seals' memory.[6]
In 2002, Seals was featured on the Bo Diddley tribute album, Hey Bo Diddley - A Tribute!, performing the song "My Story" (aka "Story of Bo Diddley").
Seals had a number of problems in his life. He survived all but one of his fourteen siblings, and in 1997 he was shot in the jaw by his wife, sustaining injuries which required reconstructive surgery.[7] Also, in 1999 part of his left leg was amputated, due to complications from diabetes. He lost belongings in a fire that destroyed his home while he was away performing live, and several of his prized guitars were stolen from his home.[8] After his health problems Seals used a number of different accompanying bands, such as James Soleberg's, Jimmy Vivino's, and Big Jim Kohler's, while on the road.
The band Phish performed Seals' song "Funky Bitch", and brought him on stage on multiple occasions.
Seals died in 2004, at the age of 62, from complications of diabetes; he was survived by his sister and fourteen children.[9]
In 2009 Son Seals was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in the "Perfomer" category.

Son Seals - Arkansas Woman 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZP0c29xERw 





Big Chief Ellis  +20.12.1977

 


Wilbert Thirkield "Big Chief" Ellis (* 10. November 1914 in Birmingham, Alabama; † 20. Dezember 1977 ebenda) war ein US-amerikanischer Bluespianist und Sänger.
Leben
Klavierspielen lernte er autodidaktisch im Alter von 11 Jahren.Seinen Spitznamen "Big Chief" erhielt er in seiner Kindheit von einem Freund, da seine Mutter eine Black Creek-Indianerin war.[1] In den späten 1920er Jahren spielte er auf lokalen Partys und Tanzveranstaltungen. Er verließ seine Heimatstadt und zog in den USA herum, wobei er sich mit Gelegenheitsarbeiten über Wasser hielt. Zwischen 1939 und 1942 diente er in der Armee. Am Ende seiner Dienstzeit übersiedelte er nach New York, wo er eine Bar betrieb, die Treffpunkt von ortsansässigen Bluesmusikern wurde. Einer von ihnen, Brownie McGhee, verschaffte ihm die Möglichkeit, Platten aufzunehmen, nachdem er ihn zum ersten Mal am Klavier gehört hatte. In den 1950er-Jahren einige Platten auf und spielte bei Aufnahmen, unter anderem für Brownie McGhee. Ellis wurde ein Fixpunkt in der kleinen New Yorker Bluesszene.
Schlussendlich gab er die Musik auf, da er glaubte, seinen Lebensunterhalt nicht mit ihr verdienen zu können. 1972 übersiedelte er nach Washington, D.C. und kaufte sich ein Schnapsgeschäft. Nach seiner Rückkehr ins Musikgeschäft, ein 75 $ Scheck für einen Auftritt von 15 Minuten [2] hatte ihn überzeugt, gründete er mit einem unbekannten Piedmont-Gitarristen namens John Cephas die Barrelhouse Rockers. Zur Band gehörte auch der Mundharmonikaspieler Phil Wiggins. 1977 ging er zurück nach Alabama und starb kurz vor Antritt seiner ersten Europatournee. John Cephas und Phil Wiggins arbeiteten als Duo weiter (Cephas & Wiggins).



Wilbert Thirkield "Big Chief" Ellis (November 10, 1914 - December 20, 1977)[1] was an American blues pianist and vocalist.
Biography
Ellis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, United States,[2] and was an autodidact at piano. He played at local parties and dances in the late 1920s before leaving Alabama, traveling the United States and working odd jobs. He served in the Army from 1939 to 1942, then moved to New York, where he accompanied touring blues performers for their concerts in the city. He recorded with Lenox Records in 1945, and recorded for Capitol Records with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee in the 1950s.
In 1972, Ellis moved to Washington, D.C., where he operated a liquor store. Towards the end of his life, Ellis began recording for Trix Records, where he played again with McGhee as well as Tarheel Slim and John Cephas.
Ellis died in Birmingham, Alabama, of heart failure aged 63.

Big Chief Ellis - Big Chief Ellis (1976) 
Guitar – Brownie McGhee (tracks: 03, 07), John Cephas (tracks: 05, 09, 10, 12), Tarheel Slim (tracks: 02, 11)
Piano, Vocals – Big Chief Ellis

01 Prison Bound 3:45
02 All Down Blues 7:01
03 Dices No. 2 5:01
04 Louisse 4:00
05 Fare You Well Mistreater 6:10
06 How Long Blues 3:00
07 Let's Talk It Over 5:08
08 Rocky Mountain Blues 3:59
09 Hey, Baby 5:20
10 Sweet Home Chicago 3:38
11 Chief's Eb Blues 5:15
12 Blues For Moot 4:39 


 

 

 

 

Walter Page  +20.12.1957 

 


Walter Sylvester Page (* 9. Februar 1900 in Gallatin, Missouri; † 20. Dezember 1957 in New York City, New York) war ein amerikanischer Jazzmusiker (Kontrabassist, Bandleader) des Swing.
Leben und Werk
Walter Page erhielt eine gründliche musikalische Ausbildung in Kansas City, er lernte zuerst Baritonhorn und Kontrabass, dann Saxophon, Geige, Klavier, Gesang und Stimmbildung, Komposition und das Arrangieren.[1] Zu Beginn seiner Karriere arbeitete er in der Band von Willie Lewis, den er als feinen Musiker bezeichnete. In den frühen 1920ern arbeitete er außerdem mit Bennie Moten und Dave Lewis.[1]
1927 zerbrach die Band von Willie Lewis und nach einigen Engagements in kleinen Bands gründete Page die Blue Devils, die die unangefochtene Territory Band um Oklahoma wurde. Page und Bennie Moten, der damals in Kansas City die führende Bigband hatte, gingen in Kenntnis ihrer beiden Stärken und Schwächen einem cutting contest (battle) beider Bands aus dem Weg.
So ist er vor allem als Bandleader und als Gründer von Walter Page's Blue Devils bekannt geworden, einer Swingband der späten 1920er und frühen 1930er Jahre, die zunächst in der Gruppe von Bennie Moten und letztlich in der Big Band von Count Basie aufging. In die Jazzgeschichte ging Page vor allem als der Kontrabassist ein, auf dessen Pionierarbeit der heute klassische Begleitstil des Walking Bass zurückgeht. In den frühen Jahren seiner Laufbahn war er jedoch, wie in den damaligen Jazzbands des Mittleren Westens üblich, ein Multiinstrumentalist. Bis in die erste Hälfte der 1930er Jahre spielte Page, wie viele seiner Kollegen, die Bass-Stimmen vieler Arrangements auf der Tuba ein, gelegentlich auch auf den tiefen Saxophonen (Bariton und Bass). Auf all diesen Instrumenten trat er sporadisch auch als Solist hervor.
Die Blue Devils
Die Band war teilweise so erfolgreich, dass sie sich vom ersten größeren Verdienst einen großen Tourenwagen für die ausgedehnten Touren leisteten konnte. Sie arbeitete als zehnköpfige Band im Umkreis von fünfzig Meilen um El Reno, Shawnee, Chickashay und die kleinen Städte. Ihr Territorium (deshalb die Bezeichnung territory bands) verteidigte sie gegen andere Bands in cutting contests und schlug so gelegentlich die Bands von Jesse Stone und George E. Lee.
1928 gehörte Bill „Count“ Basie der Band für einige Monate an und auch der Bluessänger Jimmy Rushing kam dazu. 1929 verließen nach und nach zuerst Basie und Eddie Durham und dann Jimmy Rushing die Band und gingen zu Bennie Moten, der ihnen bessere Gehälter bieten konnte.
1929 spielte die Band ihre einzigen beiden Aufnahmen mit Page ein: Squabblin und Blue Devils Blues. Squabblin, komponiert von Basie, bestätigt die beeindruckenden Soli und Ensemblepassagen, und Jimmy Rushing singt mit einer feineren Stimme als man es später bei Basie kennt. Der Blue Devil Blues ist in einem sehr entspannten half beat gehalten und ist halb so schnell wie die vergleichbaren stomps der Zeit bei Moten. Das ganze Stück ist mit Bläser-Riffs aufgebaut, bis auf eine Ensemblepassage am Schluss. Das Stück ist gleichzeitig die erste Aufnahme von Jimmy Rushing. Es beginnt als c-Moll-Blues und endet als Es-Dur-Blues.[2]
egen 1930 verließ noch Oran „Hot Lips“ Page, Starsolist und Halbbruder von Walter, die Band und wurde durch Harry Smith ersetzt. Lester Young gehörte auch kurzzeitig zur Band (und war auch später in der Nachfolgeband, den 13 Original Blue Devils).[3]
Page musste 1931 die Band verlassen. Gerade zu dieser Zeit hatte Page vor, sich in Richtung des wichtigen Zentrums New York vorzuarbeiten und die Band hatte gerade gute Engagements. Er hatte einem Pianisten eine Anstellung versprochen, konnte dies aber nicht einhalten, da sich ein Musiker seiner Band mit dem Pianisten nicht verstand und ihre Zusammenarbeit in der Band nur Dissens gebracht hätte. Daraufhin wurde er von der Musikergewerkschaft zu einer Strafe von 250 Dollar verurteilt. Mit dieser Strafe und seinen eigenen familiären Verpflichtungen konnte er die Gehälter der Bandmitglieder nicht mehr zahlen und überließ die Band James Simpson, damit die bereits gebuchten Konzerttermine wahrgenommen werden konnten. Danach spielte Page wieder mit kleinen Gruppen, schloss sich schließlich Bennie Moten an und spielte 1934 mit den Jeter-Pillars.
Die Blue Devils ohne Walter Page
Nachdem Page gegangen war, entschieden der Saxophonist Buster Smith und der Sänger Ernest Williams, die Band weiterzuführen. Als Leiter brachten sie Leroy „Snake“ White in die Band und nannten sich The 13 Original Blue Devils. Wieder spielte Lester Young mit. Sie spielten im Ritz Ballroom in Oklahoma City. Buster Smith bemerkte selbstbewusst: „Wir hatten eine starke Band. Wir waren ziemlich stark und sie (Bennie Moten) würden uns auch nicht kriegen. Fast jeder hing hier herum und versuchte mit uns eine battle of music zu bekommen. Wir machten uns aus keiner dieser Bands etwas, bis wir auf Andy Kirk stießen. Er hatte einen guten Blechbläsersatz; es war schwer und setzte uns zu.“
Die Band war eine sogenannte co-operative Band (auch Commonwealth Band), das heißt, sie stimmte über Bandangelegenheiten ab und teilte die Einnahmen entsprechend einer Abmachung mehr oder weniger gleichmäßig (der Bandleader bekam etwas mehr). Sie verpasste die Chance zu überregionaler Bekanntheit, als sie nach knapper Abstimmung ein Engagement mit Fats Waller in Cincinnati für eine anderthalbstündige Show ausschlug, weil die Bezahlung zu niedrig war. Stattdessen tourte die Band in der Gegend von Kentucky und West Virginia, wo sie noch unbekannt war, was in einem Fiasko endete. Als sie 1933 niedergeschlagen in einem Club spielten, stellte sich heraus, dass der Buchungsagent sie nur für die Eintrittsgelder spielen ließ, die mit etwa 30 Dollar pro Abend zu niedrig waren. Die Polizei pfändete daraufhin noch die Instrumente, die sie nur für die Nachtjobs ausgehändigt bekamen, da sie ihre Schulden gegenüber einem Taxiunternehmen nicht mehr zahlen konnten. Sie wurden aus ihrem Hotel geworfen und einige kehrten in der Art von Hobos auf einem Güterzug nach Kansas City zurück, die anderen als Anhalter. Das war das Ende der Blue Devils. Jap Jones (tb), Ted Ross, Buster Smith (as) und Lester Young schlossen sich Bennie Moten an.
Hätte die Band mit ihrem „schmissigerem“ Sound (Basie) und dem großen Einfluss, den sie auf viele Musiker hatte, in New York Erfolg gehabt, wäre die landesweite Entwicklung des Bigband-„Swing“ möglicherweise früher eingeleitet worden.[1]
Bei Basie und Rhythmusarbeit
Walter Pages musikalisches Interesse, sowohl als Leader wie als Sideman, galt vor allem der Entwicklung und Verfeinerung einer Stilistik für die vier Hauptinstrumente der Rhythmusgruppe (Piano, Gitarre, Bass und Schlagzeug), wie sie schließlich ab ungefähr 1936 in der sogenannten All American Rhythm Section des damaligen Count Basie Orchesters stilprägend verwirklicht wurde. Die drei übrigen dazugehörigen Musiker (Basie als Pianist, der Gitarrist Freddie Green und Jo Jones am Schlagzeug) hoben sämtlich die entscheidende Bedeutung von Pages rhythmischen Ideen für die Entstehung dieses Ensembleklangs hervor. Jo Jones, der die Blue Devils unter Page the greatest band I have ever heard in my life nannte und Page als musikalischen Vater von Basie, Rushing und Buster Smith[4], bezeichnet sich selbst als Schüler von Page, der ihn nebenher zwei Jahre lang in den Feinheiten des Schlagzeug-Spiels unterrichtete (how to phrase, how to turn on what the kids now call ‘dropping bombs’ ... and also a few moral responsibilities). Der swing dieser Spielart unterschied sich für die damaligen Hörer so deutlich von der Musik der übrigen Jazzmetropolen (New York, Chicago), dass man den Stil mit dem Toponym Kansas City Swing belegte − alle vier Musiker hatten in so genannten territory bands gearbeitet, die von dieser Stadt aus durch den Mittel- und Südwesten der USA tourten.
Page selbst verwahrte sich zeitlebens dagegen, als „Erfinder“ der Walking Bass-Technik bezeichnet zu werden, die er selbst auf Duke Ellingtons Bassisten Wellman Braud zurückführte.[5] Kein Zweifel besteht allerdings daran, dass in der Jazzwelt − unter Musikern und Hörern gleichermaßen − die Durchsetzung dieser Spielweise untrennbar mit Pages Namen verbunden ist. Dementsprechend spielte der Bassist neben seiner Arbeit im Basie-Orchester nicht nur mit vielen bedeutenden schwarzen Musikern der Swing-Ära, seine herausgehobene musikalische Position verschaffte ihm auch Engagements bei weißen Bands, zum Beispiel Benny Goodman und Eddie Condon, was durch die Rassentrennung in der damaligen amerikanischen Gesellschaft nicht unproblematisch war. Im Gegensatz zu seinem jüngeren Halbbruder, dem Trompeter Hot Lips Page, blieb Walter immer dem Swing-Stil verbunden und zeigte kein ausgeprägtes Interesse für den nach 1940 aufkommenden Modern Jazz.
Mary Lou Williams: "Ich habe die Basie-Band erlebt, als nur Page und die Bläser auf der Bühne waren. Page ließ die Leute auf seiner Basslinie swingen, als wäre es die einfachste Sache der Welt".[6]
Page war von dessen Anfängen in den Mittdreißigern bis 1942 bei Basie. Dann trennte er sich im Streit von Basie, spielte aber noch einmal von 1946 bis 1949 bei ihm, bis Basie die Band vorübergehend Anfang der 1950er Jahre auflöste. Auf dem Höhepunkt der Swing-Ära in den 1930er Jahren nahm er auch mit anderen Swing-Stars wie Benny Goodman, Harry James und Teddy Wilson auf und begleitete Billie Holiday. Nach seiner Zeit bei Basie spielte er 1952 bei Eddie Condon in New York, 1956 bei Big Joe Turner (Boss of the Blues) und 1957 mit Ruby Braff.[7]. Er ist in den Vierzigern und Fünfzigern auf Aufnahmen von Jay McShann, Buck Clayton, Sidney Bechet, Paul Quinichette, Big Joe Turner, Roy Eldridge, Jo Jones, Jimmy Rushing und Nat Pierce zu hören.[8]
Er starb 1957 an einer Lungenentzündung.

Walter Sylvester Page (February 9, 1900 – December 20, 1957) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist and bandleader, best known for his groundbreaking work as a double-bass player with Walter Page's Blue Devils and the Count Basie Orchestra.[1]
Early life
Page was born in Gallatin, Missouri on February 9, 1900 to parents Edward and Blanche Page.[2] Page showed a love for music even as a child, perhaps due in part to the influence of his aunt Lillie, a music teacher. Page's mother, with whom he moved to Kansas City in 1910, exposed him to folksongs and spirituals, a critical foundation for developing his love of music. He gained his first musical experience as a bass drum and bass horn player in the brass bands of his neighborhood.[3] Under the direction of Major N. Clark Smith, a retired military bandleader who provided Page his first formal training in music, Page took up the string bass in his time at Lincoln High School.[2] In an interview in The Jazz Review, Page remembers Major Smith:
    Major N. Clark Smith was my teacher in high school. He taught almost everybody in Kansas City. He was a chubby little cat, bald, one of the old military men. He wore glasses on his nose and came from Cuba around 1912 or 1914. He knew all the instruments and couldn’t play anything himself, but he could teach. ...[O]ne day he was looking for a bass player and no one was around, so he looked at me, and said, "Pagey, get the bass." I said, "But," and he repeated, "Get the bass." That's when I got started.[3]
In addition to the influence of Smith, Page also drew inspiration from bassist Wellman Braud, who Page had the opportunity to see when he came to town with a band under the direction of John Wycliffe. "I was sitting right in the front row of the high school auditorium", recalled Page, "and all I could hear was the oomp, oomp, oomp of that bass, and I said, that's for me." What attracted Page to Braud was Braud's intensity. "When Braud got ahold of that bass, he hit those tones like hammers and made them jump right out of the box."[3]
Career
After Page had completed high school, he went on to study to become a music teacher at the University of Kansas at Lawrence. At college, Page completed a three-year course in music in one year, in addition to taking a three-year course on gas engines.[3] Between the years 1918 and 1923, he moonlighted as a tuba, bass saxophone, and string bass player with the Bennie Moten Orchestra.[2] "Fridays and Sundays I played with Bennie Moten and Saturdays with Dave Lewis who was paying me $7.00 a night. Bennie was paying for my food and transportation, so when I'd be finished a weekend [sic] I'd made me $20.00 and had a ball."[3]
In 1923, Page left the Moten band and began an engagement with Billy King's Road Show, touring the Theater Owners' Booking Association (TOBA) circuit across the United States.[2][4] The band included Page's future Basie band mates Jimmy Rushing and Count Basie himself.[5]
The band soon fell apart, however, which led to the formation of Walter Page and the Blue Devils in 1925. The Blue Devils were a territory band based out of the Oklahoma City-Wichita, Kansas area.[6] Throughout various times in its six-year lifespan (1925-1931) the band featured such noteworthy figures as Basie, Rushing, Buster Smith, Lester Young, and Hot Lips Page.[7][8] In his autobiography, Basie recalls the first time he ever saw the Blue Devils Play:
    The leader was the heavyset, pleasant-looking fellow playing the bass and doubling on the baritone. His name was Walter Page, and at that time the band was known as Walter Page and his Blue Devils. But you could also hear the musicians addressing him by his nickname, which was Big 'Un. You could also tell right away that they didn't just respect him because he was the boss; they really liked him and felt close to him because he was also one of them."[9]
Page wanted badly to have his band square off against Moten's band, which he states in an interview never happened.[3] Gunther Schuller gives a different account though, writing that "an encounter finally did take place in 1928, and on that occasion Page is reputed to have 'wiped out' the Moten band."[10] What is indisputable, however, is that Moten did seem to shy away from competition with the Blue Devils, opting to buy off individual members with higher salaries and absorb them into his own group rather than do battle directly.[11] Basie and Eddie Durham defected in 1929, followed shortly after by Rushing and Page.[12] Despite this seemingly underhanded tactic, Page still felt that "[Moten] had one of the biggest hearts I knew of."[3] Page attempted to keep his Blue Devils intact, but after the departure of such key members of his band, the difficulties mounted. Unable to find suitable replacements, facing booking problems, and dealing with a musicians' union conflict, Page eventually ceded control of the band to James Simpson.[11][13] He then proceeded to join Moten's band himself in 1931, staying on until 1934.[14] Count Basie describes the immediate effect Walter Page had upon joining the Moten Band: "Big 'Un in there on bass made things a lot different in the rhythm section, and naturally that changed the whole band and made it even more like the Blue Devils."[15]
In an interview published shortly before his death, Page recalls an encounter with Duke Ellington in 1934:
    I remember Duke coming through on his way West that year. They were playing the Main Street Theatre and some of the boys in Duke's band wanted to go hear Basie. [Wellman] Braud was in the band and he acted biggety, didn't want to go, said, "What's he got?" We were playing at the Sunset Club and finally Duke and the rest crept around the scrim and started sitting in. I was playing right on top of Duke and he told Basie he was going to steal me out of the band. Basie told him I owed him $300.00 and that's how I didn't get to join Duke during all those good years he had. It was the smartest move Basie ever made.[3]
After his second stint with the Moten band, Page moved to St. Louis to play with the Jeter-Pillars band.[1] Following the death of Moten in 1935, however, Basie took over the former Moten Band, which Page rejoined.[3] Page stayed with the Count Basie Orchestra from 1935 to 1942, an integral part of what came to be called the "All-American Rhythm Section.[16] Together with drummer Jo Jones, guitarist Freddie Green, and pianist Basie, the rhythm section pioneered the "Basie Sound", a style in which Page, as bass player, clearly established the beat, allowing his band mates to compliment more freely. Until this point, the rhythm of a jazz band was traditionally felt in the pianist's left hand and the kick of the bass drum on all four beats.[2] In a sense, the classic Basie rhythm section were liberators.
After his first departure from the Count Basie Orchestra, Page worked with various small groups around Kansas City. He returned to the Basie Band in 1946 for three more years.[2][17] "Big 'Un just decided that he was ready to come back", recalled Basie.[18] After his second stint with Basie, Page worked primarily as a freelancer until his life was cut short in 1957. The artists he worked with in the later portion of his career included former band mate and trumpeter Page, Jimmy McPartland, Eddie Condon, Ruby Braff, Roy Eldridge, Vic Dickenson, Buck Clayton, Rushing, and others, including many Basie alumni.[2][17]
Death
The death of Walter Page on December 20, 1957 was very much a surprise, as the bassist had been playing gigs around New York City right up until his death. It is reported that Page contracted pneumonia on his way to a recording session in the midst of a snowstorm.[2] An obituary in Jet Magazine from January 9, 1958 under the “Died” column, reads: "Walter Page, 57, one of the greatest jazz bass players, who helped Count Basie lead an invasion of Kansas City jazz to New York in 1935; of kidney ailment and pneumonia; at Bellevue Hospital in New York."[19] It is speculated that Walter Page's early death may be a factor contributing to his relative obscurity in the history of jazz, despite his major influence and stylistic contributions.[16][20] In an interview published only a month before his death in The Jazz Review, Walter Page expressed how he never sought praise and that he just wanted to know that he was appreciated for his influence on music.[3]
Style and influence
More than any other jazz bass player in history, Page is credited with developing and popularizing the "walking bass" style of playing on all four beats, a transition from the older, two-beat style.[21] "He started that 'strolling' or 'walking' bass", recalls Harry "Sweets" Edison, "going way up and then coming right on down. He did it on four strings, but other bass players couldn't get that high so they started making a five-string bass."[22] Page himself acknowledged the influence of Wellman Braud, who may have been the first bassist to actually record the "walking bass" technique on Washington Wobble.[12] While it remains unclear who, exactly, was the true 'originator' of the walking bass style, Page is nonetheless accepted as one of, if not the primary, proponent of the style.
Page is seen as the "logical extension of [bassist] Pops Foster", an influential bassist known for his dependable timekeeping.[2][17] Page is also recognized as "one of the first bassists to play four beats to the bar", in contrast to the two-beat style of New Orleans jazz. Band mate Eddie Durham recalls how Page helped make the double bass a viable alternative to bass horns, such as the tuba: "Without amplification, a lot of guys weren't strong enough on bass fiddle. But Walter Page you could hear!"[23] Page's imposing stature led Durham to state that "he was like a house with a note."[24] Jazz critic Gunther Schuller notes describes some of Page's other stylistic contributions: "For the bass functions simultaneously on several levels: as a rhythm instrument; as a pitch instrument delineating the harmonic progression; and, since the days of Walter Page, as a melodic or contrapuntal instrument."[25] Page was also famous for his restraint, a lesson fellow bassist Gene Ramey recounts: "There's a whole lot [you] could do here... but what you must do is play a straight line, because that man out there's waiting for food from you. You could run chord changes on every chord that's going on. You've got time to do it. But if you do, you're interfering with that guy [the soloist]. So run a straight line."[24]
Although he was not well known as a soloist, Walter Page recorded one of the earliest jazz solos on the double bass on "Pagin' the Devil" with the Kansas City Six.[14] He did, however, contribute to the legitimacy of the double bass as a melodic instrument, "open[ing] the door for virtuosos like [Duke Ellington Orchestra bassist] Jimmy Blanton to garner more respect for the instrument", through improvisation. "Without Page setting the table", writes DiCaire, "the exploits of Blanton would never have happened."[2][17] "I'm not just a bass player", Page once said, "I'm a musician with a foundation."[3]
Page had a complex understanding of the roles of all the instruments in his bands, due in no small part to the fact that he was a multi-instrumentalist himself. In fact, on Blue Devil Blues, one of only two recordings of Walter Page's Blue Devils, Page begins on tuba before switching to string bass and finally baritone saxophone, playing all three "astoundingly well".[26] Drummer Jo Jones recalled an instance when "somebody was fooling around [in the band], Mr. Walter Page left his bass, went down quiet as a cat, got the baritone, played the sax parts, and went back to his place."[27]
Page is perhaps best known for his work with the Count Basie Orchestra from 1935 to 1942. Page, drummer Jo Jones, guitarist Freddie Green, and pianist Count Basie became known as the "All-American Rhythm Section" and set the standard for jazz rhythm sections that is still emulated and considered the gold-standard today.[16] Together, the four musicians "created the bedrock for the band to pile on a superstructure of exciting riffs" writes Shipton.[28] Page's playing was a great influence on Jo Jones, who "says that it was Page who really taught him to play in Kansas City: 'An even 4/4'."[29] Indeed, Berliner notes that "During the swing period, Walter Page's largely stepwise walking bass accompaniment in Count Basie's band epitomized the changing emphasis on the four-beat approach to meter described by Foster."[30] "As part of the pianist's outstanding rhythm section", says Richard Cook, "Page's rock-solid time and unflustered swing was a key part of the four-way conversation."[31] Jo Jones describes the dynamic of the rhythm section as a process and a group endeavor: "We worked at it, to build a rhythm section, every day, every night. We worked alone, not with the band all the time. I didn't care what happened—one of us would be up to par. If three were down, one would carry the three. Never four were out."[27] "At its best, the Basie rhythm section was nothing less than a Cadillac with the force of a Mack truck. They more or less gave you a push, or a ride, and they played no favorites, whether you were an E-flat or B-flat soloist."


Walter Page's Blue Devils - Blue Devil Blues (1929) 




 
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