march/april 2006issue 280free

now in our 32nd year

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ortjazz

&blues

PLUS...Regina Carter, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Manhattan Transfer, MulgrewMiller, Rebirth Brass Band...Jazz Meets Hip-Hop, Jazz Brunch & more...

Randy Weston Yellowjackets Diane Schuur

Jason Moranand The Bandwagon

Get The Scoop...INSIDE!

www.jazz-blues.com

March/April 2006 • Issue 280PAGE TWO

Published by Martin WahlCommunications

Editor & Founder Bill Wahl

Layout & Design Bill Wahl

Operations Jim MartinPilar Martin

ContributorsMichael Braxton, Mark Cole,Chris Hovan, Nancy Ann Lee,Peanuts, Mark Smith, DuaneVerh and Ron Weinstock.

Address all Correspondence to....Jazz & Blues Report19885 Detroit Road # 320Rocky River, Ohio 44116

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For close to three decades now,Jazz & Blues Report has featuredthe Tri-C JazzFest in our issue atthis time every year. Once again, weare happy to announce yet anotheredition of this premier jazz festival,and their expansion to year-roundjazz.

Now in i ts 27th year, Tr i-CJazzFest Cleveland has been a dy-namic force in cultivating the nextgeneration of jazz music loversthrough its extensive offerings ofperformances and wide range ofeducat ional programs. Tr i-CJazzFest Cleveland is known inter-nationally for presenting world-classjazz performers — from the younglions to legends of jazz.

This year ’s festival has ex-panded to a full year of jazz – notjust two weeks in April. The first an-nual Jazz Picante Weekend washeld in November 2005. This fullweekend of sizzling latin jazz fea-tured NEA Jazz Master PaquitoD’Rivera, Larry Harlow’s Latin Leg-ends with Alfredo De La Fe andYomo Toro, dance parties, salsadance lesson and more. Two excit-ing weekends of entertainment areplanned for April highlighting ourmore traditional and well-known jazzperformers. Also new this year,Jazz Fest will host the first annualSummer JazzFest Weekend July21-22.

JazzFest continues its star-studded line up of performances inApril. To whet the appetites of jazzlovers, an 8 p.m. pre-festival perfor-

mance by the Manhattan Transferwill be held at the Ohio Theatre onSaturday, April 22. Tri-C JazzFestCleveland off icial ly kicks off onWednesday April 26 at 5 p.m. with aNew Orleans-style “second line” pa-rade, complete with fans, admirersand festival revelers. Leading the Tri-C JazzFest Second Line is the Re-birth Brass Band, who will end theprocession at the House of Blues fora swinging party with The Tri-C JazzAll-Stars as special guests.

JazzFest Time is HereFestival is Expanding to Year-Round Live Jazz

NEA Jazz Master RandyWeston’s African Rhythms and theGnawa Master Musicians of Moroccohit the Metro Campus Auditorium onThursday, Apri l 27 at 7:30 p.m.Weston, influenced by Duke Ellingtonand Thelonious Monk, has developeda unique rhythmic style of jazz. Astyle that’s a perfect compliment tothe music of the Gnawa Master Mu-sicians of Morocco with their power-

RANDY WESTON

March/April 2006 • Issue 280 PAGE THREE

ful mixture of religious Arabic songsand African rhythms, trance musictinged with mysticism.

BELA FLECK & THE FLECKTONES

DIANE SCHUUR

JazzFest shifts into high gear onFriday, April 28 with a 6:30 perfor-mance by the multi award winningJason Moran and the Bandwagonat the Museum of Contemporary Art.Truly a young lion, Moran’s some-times edgy renditions bring the di-verse elements of jazz into a newage. According to Rolling Stone,Moran is “the most provocativethinker in current jazz.”

JASON MORAN & THE BANDWAGON

Later in the evening on April 28Grammy Award-winning DianeSchuur will perform with the Carib-bean Jazz Project, led by vibraphon-ist and marimba player DavisSamuels. Also appearing with Shuuras special guest are TheYellowjackets, acclaimed by Bill-board Magazine as “...an elastic out-ing of music that is straight-aheadand fusion, composed and impro-vised, imaginative and adventurous,”

THE YELLOWJACKETS

all wrapped into one exciting perfor-mance.

New for the Tri-C JazzFest is“Aesop Bops” with David Gonzalezat 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 29at the Ohio Theatre at PlayhouseSquare Center. This extraordinaryperformance is “jazz for kids” andis geared towards families attend-ing the festival with children.

Another first for Tri-C JazzFestis the “Debut Series” at 3 p.m. onSaturday, April 29 that features EricPerson & Meta-Four, and NealSmith. This unique series givesjazz lovers a preview of great per-formers who are soon-to- be jazzheadliners and is presented free ofcharge at the East Cleveland Pub-lic Library.

Wildly popular Béla Fleck andThe Flecktones bring “blu-bop,” themixture of jazz and bluegrass to theState Theatre Saturday, April 29 at7:30 p.m. The eight-time GrammyAward winning Fleck has been nomi-nated in more categories than any-one in Grammy history as evidencedby his creative energies in blue-grass, jazz, pop, rock, world beatand classical music.

Special guest performer ReginaCarter provides a fresh, aggressiveapproach to the violin and amulticultural perspective as she ex-plores musical combinations and con-texts that are both familiar and unex-pected.

Also on April 29, Jazz Meets Hip-Hop, Part 4, featuring Bill Ransomand the Cincinnati-based hip-hopband Iswhat?!, takes the festival toanother level starting at 10 p.m. at theBeachland Ballroom. This creativeperformance fuses old school jazz,socially enlightened rhythms and beatbox mastery for a performance that is“downright stunning.”

Sunday, April 30 rounds out thefestival with a Sunday Brunch with T.K.Blue, Benny Powell and SayuriGoto at 11 a.m. at the Ritz-Carlton’sSilver Grille. The April festival con-cludes with a 3 p.m. performance bythe Mulgrew Miller Trio at the EastCleveland Public Library.

For tickets and information aboutTri-C JazzFest Cleveland, call 216-987-4400 or you can visit online atwww.tricpresents.com.

As America’s premier educationaljazz festival, Tri-C JazzFest Clevelandhas many free educational offeringsthat include adjudication/performanceworkshops, clinics and seminars, theannual jazz education field trips. Ahost of free concerts include:

April 28 – Randy Weston Lecture/Performance at Showtime at HighNoon

April 29 – Downbeat Magazine In-vitational Concerts Downbeat Maga-zine Blindfold Test

April 30 – Mulgrew Miller TrioPerformance

For information on free JazzFestEducation programs, contact AliceBackus, Education Director, at 216-987-3206 or alice.backus@tri-c.edu.

REGINA CARTER

March/April 2006 • Issue 280PAGE FOUR

The following exhibits have beenadded at the Rock & Roll Hall ofFame and Museum.

Rick Nelson: From Idol to Icon– now open – In remembrance ofRick Nelson’s untimely death 20years ago on New Year’s Eve, theMuseum is paying tribute to thisearly pop icon with an exhibition ofnever before seen artifacts. The ex-hibit is on the Museum’s Main Ex-hibit Hall and includes costumes, in-struments and handwritten lyrics.

George Harrison and the Con-cert for Bangladesh – now open –The Concert for Bangladesh was thefirst major benefit concert of its kindand paved the way for Live Aid, FarmAid, Live 8 and the other rock aidevents that came later. The Concertfor Bangladesh brought together anextraordinary group of major artistscollaborating for a common humani-tarian cause. Organized by GeorgeHarrison, the event sold out MadisonSquare Garden in New York City,generated mil l ions of dollars forUNICEF and raised awareness forthe organization around the world.The concer t a lso resu l ted in aGrammy-winning triple-album boxset and feature film.

Sam Cooke: A Change isGonna Come – now open – In cel-ebration of American Music Mastershonoree, Sam Cooke, this exhibitfeatures items from Cooke’s career,some of which are on display for thefirst time anywhere, including com-mendat ions and music industryawards, wardrobe items and otherpersonal belongings, in addition tocontracts, photographs, advertise-ments , concer t programs andrecords. Highlights from the collec-tion include the tuxedo Cooke worein the early 1950s while a memberof the Soul Stirrers, his William Mor-ris Agency contract from 1960, oneof his signature red sports coats andthe ukulele he used to composemusic while on the road.

Unless otherwise noted, all tick-ets can be purchased at the Museumbox office or by calling Ticketmasterat 216.241.5555

For more information on con-cer ts and spec ia l events ca l l216.515.8444 or v is i t on l ine atwww.rockhall.com

At the Rock Hall...

SAFFIRE – THE UPPITYBLUES WOMEN

Deluxe EditionALLIGATOR

This Virginia-based bevy of blues-belting, (worldly) wise-crackin’, (ex-tremely) middle-aged mamas have nowbeen rightfully enshrined in their label’sexcellent showcase series. Well on theirway to coronation as grand dames ofmodern-day blues, Ms’s Adegbalola,Rabson, Lane (and Lewis) updated theclassic blues diva persona to her con-temporary feminist conclusion withstyle, extreme wit and (oh yeah) a raftof vocal and instrumental skills.

True to the series, Saffire’s programhere is more a cross-section of theircatalog than an anthology. It makes fora tasty program in its own right blend-ing the group’s searingly funny man/woman invective: “(No Need) Piscine’On A Skunk”, “Bitch With a Bad Atti-tude” with top-notch acoustic works ofperennial gems including “T’aintNobody’s Business” and “Is You Is Or IsYou Ain’t My Baby”? In addition, the la-bel gets points for avoiding the “previ-ously unreleased” ploy. Like the rest ofthe series, Saffire’s volume is great fornewbies, and fans of long standing mightwant all these tracks in just one setting.

Duane Verh

See Saffire in concert Sat., March 25 at8 p.m. at Tri-C Eastern Campus Perform-ing Arts Center, 4250 Richmond Road atI-271. For more information, call 216-987-4400 or visit www.tricpresents.com.

We only bring you

the Cream of the Crop!

WOODY SHAWStepping StonesCOLUMBIA/LEGACY

Back in my early days of concertpromotion I had the extreme pleasureof booking the Woody Shaw-Louis HayesQuintet into the old Tralfamadore Cafe,a wonderful small basement dive in Buf-falo NY. It was around 1976-77 andtrumpeter Shaw, who had some fine al-bums on the Contemporary and Musein his own name, had a stellar lineup ofRene McLean/saxes, Ronnie Matthews/piano, Stafford James/bass and thegreat Louis Hayes/drums. It is to this daysome of the hottest, most memorablemusic I have heard - and we got to hearit for four nights straight. About a yearlater, Shaw and that same band, minusMcLean, would back Dexter Gordon atthe Village Vanguard in NY for the liverecording of his double LP Homecom-ing album for Columbia. I was luckyenough to be invited by Maxine Gregg(Woody’s manager and future wife) tothe Vanguard for that recording.

Soon after, Woody himself wassigned to Columbia. This associationwould result in four excellent studio al-bums and this live recording - also doneat the Village Vanguard - on two nightsin August of ’78. By now the band hadchanged from the Tralf shows - changedcompletely in fact, except for Woody, ofcourse. But the calibre of musicians wasjust as good. On hand for these Vanguardshows were Carter Jefferson/saxes,Onaje Allen Gumbs/piano, Clint Hous-ton/bass and Victor Lewis/drums. Play-ing a set of seven songs, all composedby Shaw or members of the band (ex-cept for McCoy Tyner’s “Blues for Ball”),the quintet is on fire right out of the gateon Shaw’s “Stepping Stone.” One ofWoody’s fine waltz compositions follows,“In A Capricorn Way,” with the leadertaking off on a scorching trumpet solojust after the very lyrical head, followedby the more rhythmically complex Vic-tor Lewis vehicle “Seventh Avenue.” Thenext three songs, Gumbs’ “All ThingsBeing Equal Are Not,” Houston’s “Es-cape Velocity” and the Tyner tune men-tioned above are CD bonus tracks whichwere not on the original LP version. Theshow closes with Woody’s “Theme ForMaxine,” another lyrical waltz written forGregg. It is short, but sweet - running atabout a minute, acting as his break tune.

After Woody’s final Columbia album,United, his association with Columbia

March/April 2006 • Issue 280 PAGE FIVE

March/April 2006 • Issue 280PAGE SIX

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ended, but he went on to record manymore albums, returning to Joe Fields’Muse Records as well as several otherlabels. Tragically he fell in front of a NewYork City subway train in 1989 and diedin the hospital of his injuries. True, hewas legally blind, but no one reallyknows what happened that night, andeveryone who knew him said it definitelywas not suicide. He was indeed a greattrumpet player, and left us with somelikewise great music. We are fortunateto still have more released - such as thisfirst-time-on-CD reissue, and the recentLive-Volumes 1-4 discs on HighNote(Joe Fields’ label today.)

Other than the Gumbs ballad, thisstuff pretty much burns throughout. Theband was hot and tight, and the soloswere fantastic. This is modal hard bopat its best. I had previously acquired allof Shaw’s Columbia Studio recordingson the now out-of-print Mosaic box setreleased in the early ’90s. This gem com-pletes the CBS collection. Stronglyrecommended...for you...for anyone wholikes the real stuff. Bill Wahl

JOHNNY ‘GUITAR’ WATSONWhat the Hell Is This?

Love JonesJohnny “Guitar” Watson And

The Family CloneSHOUT! FACTORY

After the excellent retrospective ofJohnny ‘Guitar’ Watson’s later record-ings, The Funk Anthology, Shout Fac-tory has started to issue his seven DJMalbums as well as his last album.

Among those that have been issuedis What the Hell Is This? The title trackof this 1979 release has a topical lyricakin to Ain’t it a Bitch and A Real MotherFor Ya. The lyric is delivered in a sung-spoken manner that anticipates rap and

there is a nice solo break. Otherhighpoints include the humorous dig athis Mother-in-Law, who finds nothinggood about Johnny, the ballad In theWorld, which shows how romantic (yetstill bluesy Johnny was and perhaps whysingers like Etta james were influencedby him) and the rendition of I Don’t Wantto Be President, co-written with PercyMayfield who recorded it earlier, with hiscomplaints that he would not care somuch about Congress knowing who hewas visiting but what would he tell hiswife. Two previously unissued tracks,Watsonian Institute and The Funk I Knoware added to the original seven tracks.

Love Jones is another new Watsonreissue and opens with a nice piece offunk, Booty Ooty, celebrating some finelady’s shaking of her body to the music.The title track is an other soulful ballad,while Going Up In Smoke is a funkygroove about big money wasters, andClose Encounters sports a latin-tingedgroove as Watson sings about a closeencounter of the wrong kind and beinga fool losing his cool. Asanta Sana is afascinating African flavored numberdone before such world beat perfor-mances were common and again indi-cating how ahead of his time Watsonwas. Telephone Bill is an amusing rapbased on his phone bill getting too highwhen he called a new lady against a funkgroove. Lone Ranger is an update of atrack he first did for Fantasy about cruis-ing the world with a stranger, and no onewanting to be a lonely one. Jet Plane(“There is a Jet Plane bound forheaven,”) is a reworking of the gospelnumber “This Train.” Children of theUniverse has an autobiographical lyricabout growing up in Texas and seekingto become an entertainer. Funky Bluesand an Untitled Mix are previously unis-sued selections, with the blues being anice slow instrumental that sports somenice guitar and judicious use of a guitarvocal decoder (hope I indentified thiscorrectly), although it ends somewhatabruptly.

The final reissue is Johnny “Guitar”Watson And The Family Clone, on whichWatson actually plays all of the instru-ments except drums except for onetrack. The title is a tribute to Sly and theFamily Stone. Forget the Jones has himphilosophizing about not worrying aboutwhat the Jones are doing, while Comeand Dance With Me is a nice funk num-ber with Watson using the guitar vocaldecoder again as he asks the lady to

come and dance with him, playfully de-livered. What is Love? is another balladby Watson who delivers it so well. Voo-doo What You Do is a love song to hiswoman sung so sexily about what hiswoman does to him. The extra tracksare Watson’s soulful interpretation ofPercy Mayfield’s classic blues, PleaseSend Me Someone to Love, and Chill MeOut, are the two previously unissuedselections on the disc. Ron Weinstock

CITY RHYTHM ORCHESTRAW/ JOEY DEFRANCESCO

Vibrant TonesLIMEHOUSE RECORDS

Hammond B3 exper t, JoeyDeFrancesco performs with the CityRhythm Orchestra on this attractive 2-disc set containing a CD and DVD ofseparate performances. DeFrancesco’sartistry is well-known and respected andhe meshes well with the bold, bluesybravado of this band.

The 2001 studio-recorded CD fea-tures twelve tunes and the DVD repeatssome of them in a 2003 live-recorded,outdoor concert captured along theDelaware River in Camden, NJ. The 18-musician unit (with DeFrancesco) em-bodies the passion and sound of a mod-ern big band as they deliver rousing ar-rangements of favorites such as “SenorBlues,” “Billie’s Bounce,” “Moanin’,”“One Mint Julep” and more, all arrangedand transcribed by Joe Matt. One of thebest CD tracks is a blasting version ofBasie’s “Blues in Hoss’ Flat.” In additionto spotlighting more soloists, the 11-tuneDVD features DeFrancesco crooning on“Pennies From Heaven” and closes withthe throbbing full-band masterpiece,“Peter Gunn.”

Founded in Philadelphia, the CityRhythm Orchestra has been performingfor nearly 20 years. The band works atnightclubs, jazz festivals and in concertvenues and has released several previ-ous CDs over the years, including a 1997live-recorded concert performancedocumented on Swinging Blue.

Led by Nick Vallerio and Pete Spina,this is a superb band commendablydriven by traps man Mike Nigro. TheCRO works as a tight team, features finesoloists, and offers dazzling section workand satisfying big band sounds. The DVDis a welcome touch; seeing this band inaction adds to the enjoyment of theirmusic. DeFrancesco’s esteemed artistryis icing on the cake. Nancy Ann Lee

March/April 2006 • Issue 280 PAGE SEVEN

EXQUISITE NEW RELEASES FROM BLUE NOTE!EXQUISITE NEW RELEASES FROM BLUE NOTE!EXQUISITE NEW RELEASES FROM BLUE NOTE!EXQUISITE NEW RELEASES FROM BLUE NOTE!EXQUISITE NEW RELEASES FROM BLUE NOTE!

THE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSTHE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSTHE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSTHE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSTHE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSFrom 1953 to 1967, Alfred Lion produced a body of work that ranks as the most innovative series of recordings in modern jazz.Almost all of these masterpieces were documented by the extraordinary Rudy Van Gelder; a self-taught engineer who morethan set a new standard. Devoid of caution or timidity, he captured the full power and rich sound of jazz ensembles withdazzling clarity. His contribution to the focused approach that Blue Note took at every stage of any album was immeasurable.Decades later, Rudy agreed to take a second look at the original recordings, bringing them into the digital domain with thesame skill and focus. Six more RVG Editions have just been released. If you think you’ve heard these gems before, listen again.

Gettin’ Around, Dexter Gordon Smokestack, Andrew Hill Workout, Hank Mobley

The Gigolo, Lee Morgan Horace-Scope, Horace Silver Quintet Joyride, Stanley Turrentine

Time Lines, Andrew Hill Indigo 4, Gianluca Petrella

Thunderbird, Cassandra Wilson

Solo, Gonzalo Rublacaba

Remember, Pat MartinoBest of Lou Rawls, Lou Rawls

Coming April 4Coming April 4Coming March 21

Plus...Six More RVG Titles Just Released February 21Mosaic, Art Blakey • A Swingin’ Affair, Dexter Gordon • Dippin’, Hank Mobley • Tom Cat, Lee Morgan • Silver’s Serenade, Horace Silver • Softly As A Summer Breeze, Jimmy Smith

March/April 2006 • Issue 280PAGE EIGHT

WATERMELON SLIMWatermelon Slim & the Workers

NORTHERN BLUESSince he wrote most of the songs on this eponymously

titled CD, I assume William Homans is Slim’s real name. Ihad heard of Slim since Chris Wick contacted me to promotehis nomination for a W.C. Handy Award (Now known as theBlues Music Awards).

With his newest release, I finally have a chance to listento him and I am more than impressed. First of all there is anauthority to his singing as well as his sharp harp and slideguitar playing. His singing suggests Sam Myers to my ears,not to suggest he imitates Myers, but his voice is similar. Heis more than capable of bringing his own voice to blues stan-dards like Baby Please Don’t Go or Mississippi Fred McDowell’sFrisco Line. Devil’s Cadillac, a collaboration with drummerMichael Newberry, has evocative lyrics about the crossroadsto go with the trebly slide guitar heard here as the Workersprovide a light, Latin-groove. The Workers also include gui-tarist Ian lamb and drummer Cliff Belcher with Dennis Borykiguesting on piano. Check Writing Woman is a terrific rockerwith some rollicking piano and some fleet Tornado Alley gui-tar from Lamb and driving harp from Slim. Possum Hand is anice instrumental that displays more of Slim’s fine harp play-ing. Listening to this disc, I can understand why NorthernBlues’ Fred Litwin was excited after hearing him perform.

Watermelon Slim brings a lot of things to this set as asongwriter and a performer and has put together some ter-rific tracks. This gets a high recommendation.

Ron Weinstock

GERRY MULLIGANJeru

COLUMBIA/LEGACYOriginally recorded for the Jazzline label, this reissue fea-

turing baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan in a 1962-recordedstudio session with pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist BenTucker, drummer Dave Bailey and percussionist Alec Dorsey,marked the first time Mulligan recorded with piano and with-out other soloists.

Performing seven tunes by Billy Taylor (the bossa nova“Capricious,” the languid “Inside Impromptu”), Cole Porter(“Get Out of Town”), and Mulligan’s original, “Blue Boy,” thegroup swings heartily and with smooth finesse. “Here I’ll Stay,”a melodious, lesser-known gem by Alan Jay Lerner and KurtWeill, gives Mulligan vent for some warm, enveloping expres-sions. The set closes with “Lonely Town,” a gorgeous numberfrom the musical comedy On The Town; it launches as a sul-try ballad and steps up tempo to mid-swing. Flanagan’s lyri-cal style adds nicely to Mulligan’s cheerful, understated im-provisations and Bailey, Tucker and Dorsey maintain tidy time-keeping.

Tucker and Bailey are the only survivors of this uniquerecording, made at New York’s Nola Penthouse Studio on June30, 1962 and released on LP later that year. Michael Cuscunaproduced this reissue and plenty of effort appears to havebeen taken with the artwork. Historic photos from the originalsession enhance the attractive liner booklet and tray. Linernotes by Joe Goldberg (1964) and Bailey (2005) add valueto the CD. The marvelous music and the nicely packageddisc are destined to please Mulligan fans. Nancy Ann Lee

ELLIS HOOKSGodson of SoulEVIDENCE MUSIC

Ellis Hooks has certainly developed a buzz with his soul-inflected music. The Alabama native has busked in the streetsoverseas and New York and caught the attention of writer, musi-cian and producer Jon Tiven, who has helped put together Hook’slatest Evidence CD

Anchored by a studio band featuring producer Tiven’s gui-tar, keyboards and harp, the 14 originals (Hooks & Tiven col-laborations with Marty Brown, Steve Cropper and CharlieFeldman each assisting on one of the 14 tracks). Cropper, BobbyWomack and Memphis Horn brass player Wayne Jackson areamong those guesting on this. Hooks strength is his raspy sing-ing lending the blues and funk-driven grooves some authentic-ity whether singing about going to Vegas and being a High Roller,the bluesy feel of Black Nights, Blue Moon, or the uptempo grooveof Litta Bitta Lovin, which goes a long, long way. There is noth-ing fancy here, but rather a mix of blues and soul with a touch ofrock thrown in.

The backing perhaps does lend a sameness to some of themusic here and it may best be sampled listening to several tracks,rather than straight through. Otherwise this is recommended tothose who like bluesy soul or soulful blues. Ron Weinstock

ANDREW HILLTime LinesBLUE NOTE

Pianist/composer Andrew Hill recorded a slew of verymemorable albums for Blue Note during the sixties, includingsuch classics as Point of Departure and Judgement. One ofhis earliest recordings for the label, Smoke Stack, was justreissued in the Rudy Van Gelder series (RVG) of reissues onFebruary 7. Hill’s music often found its way onto my radioshow in the ‘70s, especially the aforementioned Point of De-parture, which included Joe Henderson and Eric Dolphy. Thisnew release from Hill reminds me of that album, perhaps mostlybecause the instrumentation is very close to the same. Now68, Hill has assembled a prodigious quintet which includesCharles Tolliver/trumpet, Greg Tardy/tenor sax, clarinet andbass clarinet, John Herbert/bass and Eric McPherson/drums.

The music, eight Hill originals, are all rather moody piecessomewhat approaching the free jazz lines, but never really“out” or what you could term as avant garde. These are morelike euphonic tapestries, and, unlike the Departure album,most are done at slower tempos. But, much like the Depar-ture album, the horns are marvelous, often delivering quitemelodic ensemble passages. The bass clarinet is definitely anice touch, and how can it not bring Dolphy to mind. It’s won-derful to hear Tolliver again, a longtime favorite...especiallyfrom the Music Inc. days. Hill himself is in great form through-out, and closes the set with a fine solo piano version of thetune that the quintet opened it all with – “Malachi.” It hasbeen a while since I’ve listened to a lot of music quite likethis. It is definitely fun to revisit the arena.

This CD marks the third Blue Note era for Hill. If this is thestarting point, we should be in for some real treats to come.This is not for the uninitiated, those looking for some swingingbop or new renditions of old standards. But then, Hill’s musicnever was. That said, the seasoned jazz listeners can stand upand take note now. Andrew Hill is back. Bill Wahl

March/April 2006 • Issue 280 PAGE NINE

A Web Exclusive

Big Al AndersonDuane Verh interviewed Big AlAnderson, longtime member ofNRBQ, a brilliant songwriter & mas-ter of many genres about his new Co-lumbia/Legacy CD “After Hours.” BigAl also speaks about just about ev-erything but the kitchen sink. On ourw e b s i t eonly ...to beposted March7 - the releasedate for thenew CD.

CHECK IT OUT!

www.jazz-blues.com

AL ANDERSONAfter Hours

COLUMBIA/LEGACYEven before his celebrated stint as

guitarist for the most-eclectic NRBQ, AlAnderson was a masterful songsmithwho took on a number of styles. Backin his mid-60’s Wildweeds days, hedrew upon the British Invasion, folk-rock and large helpings of soul musicin plying his trade. On this, his first soloouting in a decade, “Big Al” shows hecan still pull a song from most any-where.

The Anderson songwriting magicblends well with various collaboratorsand styles on After Hours. Whatevergenres he works with or mixes, the bigman’s songs always stand taller thantheir ingredients. While country may bethe most pervasive influence on thedisc, the big man unsurprisingly bringsin sounds that reflect his eclectic na-ture. Jazz fans, in particular, should taketo the grown-up straightforward balladsthat open (“Love Make A Fool of Me”)and close (“Two Survivors”) the set.Ditto for the big-band workup of “DoNothin’ Day,” co-written with DelbertMcClinton and featuring guest vocalistSharon Vaughn. And if radio knowswhat it’s doing, the tracks “Trip AroundThe Sun” and “What’s A ThousandMiles” (featuring his pen partner Tia

Sellers on vocals) will get major expo-sure.

Tempos and moods vary, butAnderson maintains a fairly laid-backattitude throughout After Hours. Long-time fans be aware- he intends to takehis forthcoming records in a new direc-tion (see our interview on the web). BigAl has been away far too long. Here’shoping this is just the first of a wholeslew of new stuff. Duane Verh

FRI 3 .......ALAN GREENE BAND FEATURING MR. STRESS

SAT 4.......COLIN DUSSAULT’S BLUES PROJECTFRI 10 .....KG BLUES BANDSAT 11.....SAM GETZ BANDFRI 17 .....ST. PATRICK’S DAY (5PM KICK OFF)SAT 18.....SWAMP BOOGIE BANDFRI 24 .....CITY HEATSAT 25.....COLIN DUSSAULT’S BLUES PROJECTFRI 31 .....ARMSTRONG BEARCAT BAND

SAT 1 .......COLIN DUSSAULT’S BLUES PROJECTFRI 7 .......STACY MITCHHART & BLUES-U-CAN-USE BANDSAT 8 .......MARY BRIDGET DAVIES GROUPFRI 14 .....KINGBEESSAT 15.....TONY KOUSSA JR. BANDFRI 21 .....TRACIE MARIE BANDSAT 22.....EDDIE & THE EDSELSFRI 28 .....DAVE C & THE SHARPTONESSAT 29.....TBA

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TUESDAYS APRIL7 GEEZE CATS

14 TBA21 TBA

28 ERNIE KRIVDA & THE FAT TUESDAY BIG BAND

MARCH4 GEEZE CATS

11 TBA18 TBA

25 ERNIE KRIVDA & THE FAT TUESDAY BIG BAND

THURSDAYS THE SAVANNAH JAM WITH BAD BOYS OF BLUES

SPECIAL EVENTS

FRIDAY MARCH 17TH

ST. PATRICKS DAY AT 5PM MCCARTHY & MORRISON AT 7PM IRISH HERITAGE PIPE BAND

AT 10 PM KG BLUES BAND

APRIL

3 GEEZE CATS10 CRUISIN

17 COLIN DUSSAULT’S BLUES PROJECT

24 EDDIE & THE EDSELSEDDIE &THE EDSELS

MARCH

RAY BARRETTOTime Was – Time Is

O MUSICIf you don’t expect that you’ll be lis-

tening to an authentic Latin Jazz band,then you might find this 10-tune, bop-based studio session by percussionistRay Barretto exciting. His selections “arereflections and extension of the music(he) experienced in (his) youth.”

Barretto has assembled a team offine musicians: Joe Magnarelli (trum-pet, flugelhorn), Myron Walden (altosax), Robert Rodriguez (piano), SeanConly (bass), Vince Charles (drums) andBobby Sanabria (percussion on fourtracks). Other than the totally refreshed“Motherless Child,” these are lesserknown tunes inspired by a Cuban lullaby(“Drume Negrita”), a French ballad

Read Duane’s interview with Big Al Ander-son online...see info to the right.

March/April 2006 • Issue 280PAGE TEN

(“Syracuse”) and a song written forBarretto’s son (“A Caper For Chris”).Additional compositions are by groupmembers.

What makes this album work are thesplendid solos by all, especially Waldenwhose fluid musings make his instru-ment sing and Rodriguez whose roman-ticism at the keys adds considerablewarmth to the fare. Nancy Ann Lee

Intra www.i-n-t-r-a.comRick Ray Band www.rickray.netRare Blend www.rareblend.netRazor Wire Shrine www.pmm-music.netNo Brass www.nobrassmusic.comDrumplay www.drumplay.comVenn Diagram www.venndiagram.netSyzygy www.syzygymusic.comTony Pulizzi www.justtony.bizHeritage Drive www.hdrive.bizBlue Jazz www.blue-jazz.com

Another other side of Cleveland art....

For inquires... music@blue-jazz.com

We are sad to announce that since this re-view was written Ray Barretto, 2006 NEAJazz Master and Grammy-winning Latin jazzpercussionist, died Friday, February 17 atHackensack University Medical Center, withhis wife and two sons by his bedside. Hewas 76.

DOUG COX & SAM HURRIEHungry Ghosts

NORTHERN BLUESWhile acoustic music lacks the

sheer visceral impact of its electrifiedcousin, that doesn’t mean that it can’tbe just as compelling. This disc is a casein point. Instead of setting sonic hooksthis music uses intricate, hushed guitarsto pull you into its web. Once there,you’re trapped in the spell that Cox andHurrie weave with the deft interplay be-tween their guitars, mandolins anddobros. With impeccable production, thevarious instruments come clearlythrough the mix so that you can’t helpbut listen as they wrap around each otherwhile moving the groove forward.

While this may be marketed asblues, it vigorously avoids any of theboogies, shuffles or other concessionsto the post-war marriage between bluesand rock. Instead, the sound is closer totraditional folk by way of Appalachiawith a side of 60’s era Greenwich Vil-lage thrown in for good measure. Whilecovers by Duane Allman, Little Martha,and the Rolling Stones, No Expectations,seamlessly enter the mix, the tunes aremostly self-penned and touch on soundsas diverse as the playful Leon Redbonestyle jug tune Nap Time for Sam, and themournful field chant lament of Grinningin Your Face. A quiet, yet forceful, lis-ten. MarkSmith

SHERRIE MARICLE & THEDIVA JAZZ ORCHESTRA

A Tommy Newsom TributeDIVA JAZZ/LIGHTYEAR

DIVA, an all-female big band, hasbeen wowing audiences everywheresince its 1990 founding by Stanley Kay,a former manager and relief drummerfor the Buddy Rich Band.

Their enthusiasm and expertise ispalpable throughout this disc of 10 tunesarranged by Tommy Newsom. Includedare Newsom’s originals, “Three Shadesof Blue,” and “Titter Pipes,” as well astunes by Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin,and others. DIVA’s version of“Pensativa,” a Clare Fischer piece, fea-

webexclusives

see theback cover

for the details!

tures fine solos from KarolinaStrassmayer (flute), Chihiro Yamanaka(piano) and Norika Ueda (bass). Clari-netist Anat Cohen shows fluid chops onthe perky “Moonlight,” a quickened takeon “What A Little Moonlight Can Do.”Maricle’s traps work and Lisa Parrot’sbaritone sax solo make a swinging “TrailMix” (based on “On the Trail”) an agree-able listen A lovely Nat King Cole Med-ley (4 tunes) is the album’s centerpiece,and its kicking full-band reading of“Route 66” is a dazzler.

Newsom’s arrangements make theold seem new and the band and its finesoloists bring emotion and splendidmusicianship to each piece. Throughout,section work is crisp and tight, rhythmsare right on, and soloists are superb. Thisis the fifth CD from New York City-basedDIVA and it’s a first-rate recording.

Nancy Ann Lee

HARRY MANXMantras For MadmenDOG MY CAT RECORDS

About nine years ago to the month,I was commissioned to write a reviewfor a now defunct magazine in town, re-garding a new release by Kula Shaker, aBritish group that crossed the music ofIndian with rock. Lo and behold, alongcome Mantras For Madmen, HarryManx’s sixth release, and it winds up inmy assignment box. The irony is thatManx is taking the music of Indian andbreeding it with the blues. But, not inthe purest sense of the concept, mindyou.

Mantras For Madmen gives a wholenew meaning to the term “eclectic,” be-cause it is all of the above with a lot offolk weaved through its audio tapestry.

Manx invented an instrumentdubbed the Mohan Veena, which is across between the sitar and guitar andputs it to good use here, both on theheavier Indian instrumentals like“Afghani Raga” and “Talkin’ Turban” andthe hybrids with vocals included, “SanDiego-Tijuana,” a J.J. Cale number, and“Your Sweet Name,” to cite two ex-amples.

His duet with Emily Braden on “ItTakes A Tear” is a highlight, while myfavorite has to be the resurrection of alost tune by the Band, “It Makes No Dif-ference,” with Harry giving it a soulfulworkout on banjo. Steve Marriner throwssome solid harp work into the bluesierefforts, most notably “Where Fools Die”

March/April 2006 • Issue 280 PAGE ELEVEN

Jason Moran...Exclusively on Blue Note Records

Hear Jason Moran & The BandwagonIn Concert at Tri-C JazzFest

Friday, April 28Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art

www.bluenote.comSoundtrack, 1999 Facing Left, 2000 Black Street, 2001 Modernistic, 2002 The Bandwagon, 2003

Same Mother, 2005

and John Reischman does the same onmandolin via “Never The Twain.”

Somewhere the spirit of the lateGeorge Harrison is smiling over this and,if the visual of John Hammond Jr. in aturban doesn’t scare you, then MantrasFor Madmen might be right up your al-ley in terms of taste. Peanuts

AMY BANKSWhen the Sun Comes Out

SELF-PUBLISHEDOn her debut jazz release, vocalist

Amy Banks sings 10 tunes, backed bySteve Rudolf or Allen Farnham on pi-ano, Steve Varner (bass), and Rich DeRosa (Drums), with guests, Tim Warfield(saxophone), and Tony Miceli (vibra-

CHRIS STEWARTPhoenix: A Tribute toCannonball Adderley

SELF-PRODUCEDAlto/soprano saxophonist Chris

“Doc” Stewart is not only a talented mu-sician-leader, he’s a prominent emer-gency room physician for the Mayo ClinicHospital. On this disc, he heads a solidgroup featuring Lucas Pino (tenor sax),Dan Delaney (piano, Fender Rhodes),Chris Finet (bass), and Dom Moio(drums).

Tunes by the Adderley brothers in-clude Nat Adderley’s “Work Song” and“Jive Samba,” and “Julian Adderley’s“Sack O’ Woe,” “Hamba Nami,” and“Domination.” Remaining tunes are byJosef Zawinul, Bobby Timmons, RandyWeston. Stewart arranged all the tunesand solos by him and the astonishing 18-

year-old improviser, Pino, are superblyexecuted with support from a sterlingrhythm team.

One of nine musical siblings, Stewartwas born in Chicago in 1960 and raisedon a farm. He began playing alto at age10 and, after his family moved to Califor-nia, Stewart won awards for his playingwhile in high school, gigged with local bigbands, and played other reed instru-ments. Stewart has created a 21-volumetranscription library of Cannonball’s so-los out of which this project arose.

The selected material, smart ar-rangements, talented musicians and pas-sionate solos make this recording a highlyenjoyable listen. Nancy Ann Lee

FREDDIE KINGLive at the Electric Ballroom, 1974

SHOUT! FACTORYIts been three decades since the

great Freddie King passed away, and thelate blues guitarist’s reputation has per-haps been lessened with the passing oftime, which is unfortunate because fewof the guitarists today play with his mixof passion and imagination. Shout Fac-tory has just issued this CD part of thelabel’s reconstruction of the Black Top

Records catalog. Recorded two yearsbefore his death, King rips throughWomen Across the River, which he re-corded with Leon Russell; blues chest-nuts like Key to the Highway, Earl King’sLet the Good Times Roll, Ain’t Nobody’sBusiness, which he cut for Atlantic’sCotillion subsidiary, Sweet Home Chi-cago and Dust My Broom before endingthis set with Hide Away Medley. Thisdisc also includes an interview with himand two acoustic performances, perhapshis only acoustic recordings. King prob-ably had the most immediate impact onrock guitar (Eric Clapton among otherswas heavily influenced by King’s mus-cular playing), and he was also a firstrate singer who brought plenty of soulto his music. This is so nice to haveavailable again. Ron Weinstock

“One of jazz’s great new artists...jazz in the truest sense: chewy, improvisa-

tional, percussive, acoustic...Same Mother is a reconsideration of the blues that

doesn’t depend on chichéd dynamics and song structure.” –The New York Times

“Those who say jazz has lost its soul...should hear Jason Moran play the blues...

the pianist is the brightest light on jazz’s future.” –Tracks Magazine

March/April 2006 • Issue 280PAGE TWELVE

phone).Born in Charleston, IL, Banks comes

from a musical family, was earliest in-spired by Nancy Wilson, and around thelate 1980s began singing with groups inthe Twin Cities area before moving toAtlanta to perform. She eventually com-pleted studies she’d begun at the Univer-sity of Minnesota, earning a Bachelor’sdegree in theater and vocal performance.Banks held myriad singing posts in vari-ous places before landing a stint with theAmerican Music Theater in Lancaster, PAin 2002. She’s made several other record-ings but this is her first jazz release.

Banks has an ear-pleasing voice andremains faithful to the melodies and lyr-ics on Hoagy Carmichael classics suchas “I Get Along Without You Very Well”and “Skylark,” on the standard “How Highthe Moon,” and on lesser-known gems.Banks delivers a sultry remake of “LoverMan,” with sensitive accompanimentfrom Varner, Micelli and DeRosa. Per-formed with Rudolf, Varner and DeRosa,her swinging original, “Ruined For theRest,” is one of the best tracks showcas-

ing her rich vocals, expressive deliveryand ability to write alluring tunes.

With her silky, mid-range voice andtidy phrasing, Banks shows considerablepromise as a jazz stylist. Nancy Ann Lee

Weekend Shows 9:30; Weekdays 8:30

216-902-4663812 Huron Rd E.. • Cleveland

ServingDelicious

FoodLunch

& Dinner

www.wilbertsmusic.com

BLUESHIGHLIGHTS

FRIDAY, MARCH 10TEN YEARS AFTERand ERIC JERARDI

THURSDAY, MARCH 16RONNIE BAKER BROOKS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29TAB BENOIT

SATURDAY, APRIL 1DELTA MOON

THURSDAY, APRIL 6VITAL INFORMATION

SATURDAY, APRIL 15JOHNNY CIAO

& THE COLIN JONES BAND

FRIDAY, APRIL 28LITTLE CHARLIE AND THENIGHTCATS and HARPER

SATURDAY, APRIL 29CHRIS CAIN

CLEVELAND FATSBlues Time

HONEYBEE BLUESPsst! There’s a new Fats CD, and it’s

kickin’.Cleveland Fats, alias Mark Hahn, is

one of the town’s and the country’s bestguitarists. A student of the great RobertLockwood, Hahn can pick, slide, andartfully place his notes. “Just A Feeling,”by Little Walter, is a supreme example.The last tune, “Other Side Of Midnight,”is a crowd pleaser at whatever the bar!

His enormous playlists make surethe audience is satified. An old salty dogof the blues! Mark A. Cole

QUADRO NUEVOLuna RosaJUSTIN TIME

On their first recording available inNorth America, Quadro Nuevo delivers17 tangos, boleros, French or Cubanwaltzes, and other international musicalforms which seem to draw from earliertimes.

Mulo Francel (saxophones, clarinet),Robert Wolf (guitars), D. D. Lowka(basses, udu drum) and original accor-dionist Heinz-Ludger Jeromin (who hassince been replaced) first came togetherfor a 1996 film score project and arejoined here by guest musician, WilliamGalison (harmonica). All are imaginative,skilled and confident players.

Performing mostly original music, thegroup makes each tune into a treasure.“Nature Boy” is reinvented as a tango.The quartet performs a lovely ballad byAmerican double-bass player, CharlieHaden, who wrote “Our Spanish LoveSong” for his wife while traveling throughSpain. The slow bolero, “Für Pauline,”was written by Francel upon the birth ofhis daughter; it beautifully expresses themiracle of birth. “Impressions d’un Reve,”is an attractive three-part suite (tango,Valse lento, Valse vivace).

This is a pleasant album of impro-vised World music. Melodies and arrange-ments are haunting and lovely, and eachtune tells a story or has special meaningto band members or their friends. Suchpersonalization adds intimacy and height-ened appeal. Nancy Ann Lee

JIMMY THACKERYTHE ESSENTIAL

JIMMY THACKERYBLIND PIG

Let’s get this out of the way right upfront. I’m a long time Jimmy Thackeryfan having followed him since a three yearstint in Virginia where his band, TheNighthawks, ruled the late 1970s withtheir hard hitting mix of rocking blues.Since then I’ve followed his careerthrough stints with the horn drenchedAssassins, the lean, three piece Driversand pairings with the likes of David Raittand Tab Benoit. As a consequence, thereis nothing here that hasn’t found its wayinto countless spins on my disc player.

Having said that, this is still a power-ful listen by virtue of the fact that BlindPig has grabbed the hottest tracks off theeight discs cut by Thackery and the Driv-ers during their tenure with the label.While the band continues to rip things upon the Telarc label its work on Blind Pigresulted in its most memorable trackswhich are amply represented here. Thecar related tunes, Mercury Blues, DetroitIron and Drive to Survive find an easyhome next to the rocky relationship styletunes such as Cool Guitar, It’s My OwnFault, Empty Arms Motel and Dancing onBroken Glass. While the entire disc is aparty in progress, Wild Night Out fromthe live disc of the same name does itabout as well as any blues disc out there.Take this baby for a spin for some stellarguitar, gutsy vocals and well craftedtunes. Essential indeed. Mark Smith

CANDYE KANEWhite Trash Woman

RUF RECORDSIf blues is, as some describe it,

“grown-up music, then Candye Kane’semergence as a blues diva is not far re-moved from her earlier career in theadult entertainment business. But whileher background may make her seem likea novelty, when you hear her poundingthe ivories, belting out a remake ofBullmoose Jackson’s Big Fat Mamas AreBack in Style or listen to her caress thecountry-ish ballad What Happened toThat Girl, one realizes her talent leadsone to quickly forget the novelty of herbackground.

Her latest album was recorded inAustin, Texas and is on the German Ruflabel. Produced by Mark ‘Kaz’ Kazanoff,who also leads the horn section, she is

March/April 2006 • Issue 280 PAGE THIRTEEN

Appearing In Concert at

TRI-C Eastern Campus

Performing Arts Center

Saturday, March 25

joined by a stellar studio band that includes drummerDamien Llanes, bassist Preston Hubbard, guitarist Jeff Ross(with appearances by Johnny Moeller and David Grissom),harp wiz Gary Primich, with keyboards by Riley Osbourn.Collectively, they bring together a smorgasbord of bluesmoods and settings, and Candye Kane comes acrossequally compelling belting out the title track (“It is an honorto be called a trashy broad in the traditions of legends suchas Divine and Dixie Rose Lee), and Estrogen Bombon†which she is the strong woman who offers no apologiesand takes no prisoners when she gets crossed. She reworksthe Lovin’ Spoonful’s What a Day For a Daydream into ablues while lending a country feel to What Happened to theGirl, and sings about being Misunderstood with the bandproviding a traditional jazz backing, including some niceclarinet.

Leiber and Stoller’s I Wanna Do More evokes LittleWalter’s hit, My Babe, with its groove and some fine harpby Primich. The following track, the original It Must Be Love,is a rocking shuffle with a fine fifties T-Bone mixed withB.B. guitar solo and strong jumping horns with a clean,soulful vocal. In contrast Queen of the Wrecking Ball, hasher singing of a woman who breaks hearts with some niceguitar evoking the gulf coast swamp blues sound. Othersongs include a boogie woogie about sexual self-gratifica-tion, and Mistress Carmen, about a Grand Domme who isproud of her sensuality set to a New Orleans groove (PleaseMistress Carmen, we just want to watch you dance), and alovely love ballad, I Could Fall For You.

With truly memorable songs and strong backing,Candye Kane convincingly delivers this varied program withhumor and passion. Candye Kane may be a White TrashWoman but this recording is most certainly high class.

Ron Weinstock

MIKE MARSHALLBrazil Duets

ADVENTURE MUSICA 27-year career veteran, Mike Marshall (mandolin,

guitar) is joined by an array of top improvisers as theyperform, in duet settings, 17 choros—the high-spirited in-strumental style from Brazil. Originally released in 1996,this CD has been totally re-mastered and repackaged withthree bonus tunes.

Marshall’s rapid picking amazes. Featured with himon the lively and engaging duets are luminaries such asAndy Narell (piano), Edgar Meyer (bass), Bela Fleck(banjo), Jovino Santos Neto (piano, Melodica, M-1 syn-thesizer) and others. Although each track intrigues andsatisfies the listener, judging from their strings-piano in-teractions on “Um A Zero,” “Luis Americano Na P.R.E.3,” “Descendo A Serra,” and “Um Chorinho Em Aldeia,”Narell and Marshall seem to enjoy a solid musical rela-tionship that sounds warmest and most appealing. Thehaunting love song, “De Coracao A Coracao,” whichMarshall performs on guitar with violinist Kalia Flexer is aspine-tingling beauty and “Gostosinho,” featuring the gui-tar/electric bass duo with Michael Manning, is a joyful en-counter.

The pleasant fare on this disc showcases emotionalBrazilian melodies as well as the talents of each collabo-rator. Nancy Ann Lee

LOU PRIDEKeep On BelievingSEVERN RECORDS

Mostly comprised of Pride’s originals, his performanceson this new disc benefit from a strong studio band that in-cludes the fabulous Texas guitarist Jon Moeller, BenjiePorecki on keyboards, Steve Gomes on bass and RobbStupka on drums. Backing vocalists on the disc includeLady Mary and Margie Clarke, two of the D.C. area’s finestfemale singers, along with Eddie Jones, the leader of theold school group The young Bucks, with a full horn sectionpunching out their riffs using Willie Henderson’s arrange-ments.

After the strong groove of Midnight Call, Pride handleshis one cover on this disc, Bob Marley’s Waiting in Vain,complemented by his vocal which does not overuse hisfalsetto towards the end. A quote notes a touch of BobbyBland in his approach, but to these ears Al Green and OtisClay are more apt touchstones for his singing. The relent-less groove on I Can’t Hold It suggests the classic Hi Rhythmsection with a strong, concise guitar solo from Moeller. Thetopical plea of Love Will Make It Alright, with its hope tochange this world of hate and strife, is followed by a terrificsoul ballad with a great vocal and lyric, I Want to Hold Your

March/April 2006 • Issue 280PAGE FOURTEEN

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Hand, and the medium tempoed la-ment Another Broken Heart.

The remainder of this disc keepsup this high level with some exquisiteplaying and Pride’s strong singing fora terrific, soulful session. Another re-ally fine release from David Earl’s la-bel. Ron Weinstock

SHEILA JORDAN +CAMERON BROWN

CelebrationHIGHNOTE

This release documents vocalistSheila Jordan’s 76th birthday celebra-tion at the Triad, a second-story caba-ret on Manhattan’s (New York) UpperWest Side, where she sang all night withonly bass accompaniment. Jordan firstperformed in the early 1950s with onlya bassist (Charles Mingus) and has con-tinued to develop her note-bending stylein this sparse setting.

Jordan and Brown capably navigatethe 16 tunes (and brief commentary)recorded on November 17 and 18, 2004.They visit standards such as “Mood In-digo,” “Birk’s Works,” three medleys(blues, Astaire/Rogers, Fats Meets Bird)and other gems.

Jordan is a master of scatting,bluesy feeling and emotional courage.Her youthful voice seems to have lostlittle with age. She splendidly shows offher skills here, accompanied with per-fection and panache by bassist CameronBrown. Nancy Ann Lee

Different GenresIRISH MUSIC

THE CHIEFTAINSThe Essential Chieftains

RCA/LEGACY

THE CORRSHomeRHINO

Well, it is time for St. Patrick’s Dayagain. Rather than venture out on ama-teur night, you might want to relax athome with some brews and Irish musicperformed by authentic Irishmen, andwomen.

The Chieftains, who formed in 1963,are certainly one of the best known (ifnot THE best known) Irish band, with aslew of recordings released in the U.S.on Columbia, RCA Victor and Sanachie.The Essential Chieftains was just re-leased on RCA Victor/Legacy and of-fers up a grand total of 35 Chieftainssongs from their long and storied career.I don’t see where any of the Sanachiesongs are included, but you certainly geta generous helping of the Columbia andRCA recordings. Many are traditionalIrish recordings, some with Irish tradguests, while many others pair them withstars from other genres. Some of thoseguests include Van Morrison, Ry Cooder,Bela Fleck, Emmylou Harris, MarianneFaithful, Jackson Browne, Allison Kraus,Ricky Skaggs, Linda Ronstadt and Irishpop stars Sinead O’Connor and TheCorrs. Talk about diverse. There is evena track with classical flautist JamesGalway. Indeed, this should be all theChieftains most folks should really need,and it all comes in a nice compact pack-age. Some very unique and interestinglistening.

The Corrs is one of those musicalfamilies who went beyond their livingroom in the house they all grew up in toachieve great success on a worldwidescale. Home, just released on RhinoRecords, is their first album of traditionalIrish music. For the past 15 years thethree gorgeous women and their brotherhave been thrilling audiences with theirfresh blend of pop songs – many of whichare originals – with traditional celtic in-struments. Andrea, the lead vocalist,also plays tin whistle. Sharon plays vio-lin. Caroline plays drums, bodhran (anancient framedrum traditionally madewith a wooden body and a goat-skin

DVDs

head, said to be the heartbeat of Irishmusic) and piano. Brother Jim playskeyboards and guitars. All three of themsing as well. The natural sibling empa-thy has been evident in their music overthe years, as it is on this collection of 12songs, mostly traditional arranged by theCorrs, and some more modern Irish fare.Very nice, very bright music from thefamily from Dundalk Ireland.

Enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day, and besure to stay out of harm’s way. The bestway I’ve found to do that is to stay home.

Bill Wahl

ELLA FITZGERALD WITH

THE TOMMY FLANAGANTRIO ‘77

Norman Granz’ Jazz In MontreuxEAGLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT DVD

Known for her recognizable supplevoice and scat singing, Ella Fitzgerald(1917—1996) excels on this DVD of 10-tunes performed with pianist TommyFlanagan, bassist Keeter Betts anddrummer Bobby Durham.

Recorded in live performance at the1977 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzer-land, Fitzgerald sings gems such as “TooClose For Comfort,” “My Man, “ComeRain or Come Shine,” “I Let A Song GoOut of My Heart” and more. Among thebest tracks are her rousing treatment ofthe Duke Ellington tune “I Ain’t GotNothin’ But the Blues” and her uptemporeinvention of “Day By Day.” Scattingwith passion in about a four-octaverange, she totally remakes the standards“One Note Samba” and “Billie’sBounce.” After a standing ovation fromthe audience, Fitzgerald returns to the

Jazz and Blues

March/April 2006 • Issue 280 PAGE FIFTEEN

COUNT BASIE BIG BAND ‘77Norman Granz’ Jazz in MontreuxEagle Rock Entertainment DVD

William “Count” Basie (1904—1984) was one of the great-est bandleaders in the history of jazz. His legendary band iscaptured on this color DVD in a July 15, 1977 performance(about 55 minutes) at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Basie leadsfrom the piano and many of the band’s fine musicians arespotlighted, including trombonist Al Grey, rhythm guitaristFreddie Green, trumpeter Waymon Reed and tenor saxophon-ist Jimmy Forrest, and drummer Butch Miles.

Among the 12 tunes (arranged by Basie, Nestico, Heftiand others) are Basie classics “Li’l Darlin’,” “Jumpin’ At theWoodside,” “One O’Clock Jump,” as well as treats such as“The Heat’s On,” “Splanky,” “A Night In Tunisia,” “ThingsAin’t What They Used To Be,” “I Needs to Be Bee’d With,”and “Fantail.” Best solos come from Forrest on his ballad,“Bag of Dreams” and Grey on “The More I See You.”

The concert tape has been restored and remastered andsound is perfect. Some minor technical flaws prevent you fromnavigating through DVD menus with your remote. And, itwould have been helpful to have the names of the soloistslisted on the screen as they were performing, or by addingcredits at the end, or in the DVD liner notes by Nat Henthoff,because Basie doesn’t always announce the soloists.

This Basie Orchestra performance also appears on theOriginal Jazz Classics CD, “Montreux ’77,” with one addedtune. At a cost of $11.98, the DVD is a great bargain and aviewing delight of lasting value. Nancy Ann Lee

REVEREND BILLY C WIRTZSermon From Bethlehem

BLIND PIG DVDThe world of Reverend Billy is a funny, funky Southern-

fried nightmare. Tattooed babes with teased hair, pot-belliedtruckers, televangelists and regional TV wrestling brought tolife in his hilarious songs and monologues; backed by hisrockin’ boogie-blues piano.

Sermon places the Good Reverend in his element, gross-ing out and cracking up a packed night club house. Long-standing fans know the drill and will love it and newcomersshould get a kick. A most pleasant surprise on the disc is theadditional bio/interview feature. Rev. Billy explains his musi-cal beginnings and reveals his considerable savvy and rangeas a blues lover, player and fellow traveler of some blues leg-ends. Duane Verh

BONNIE RAITTLive At Montreux 1977

EAGLE VISION DVDFor those who have only caught Ms.Raitt’s act on disc

lately, this very solid set from the Montreux Jazz Festival willmake for a great reminder that, in addition to her great sing-ing, what a hot guitarist she can be. About midway throughthe show, Muddy Waters’ harmonica man Jerry Portnoy showsup to join Raitt’s five-piece outfit for a two-song guest stint.Raitt responds with some hot, savvy Muddy-style counter-point. Portnoy exits but the star continues with some vintageslide work that would cause Muddy to smile, had he not beensampling the champagne backstage.

The set is stocked with Raitt favorites including “LoveMe Like A Man” and “Sugar Mama” This is video so kudusshould extend to the director’s excellent on-stage shot selec-tion that, literally and figuratively, places the star in most ap-pealing light. Duane Verh

stage for an encore, singing and injecting quotes into “YouAre the Sunshine of My Life.”

Fitzgerald is allowed to stretch out more with the trio thanwith a big band and she offers a splendid mixed set of swing-ers, blues and ballads. Flanagan is known for his melodious-ness and sensitive accompaniment behind singers and thistrio is first-rate.

The DVD delivers a keepsake performance of the oneand only Ella and holds appeal to satisfy viewers again andagain. To see these legends in performance is a real treat.And excellent camera work adds to the intimacy of their classyperformance. Nancy Ann Lee

Prestige Profiles Series Reviews

Read reviews of the 10 jazz & blues CDs in the first

edition of the new Prestige Profiles Series in the

online version of this issue only. And some more

too. Want to know more? Turn the page & look at

the back cover!

APPEARING AT WILBERT’S, DOWNTOWNCLEVELAND FRIDAY, APRIL 28

March/April 2006 • Issue 280

PRESTIGE PROFILESPROFILESPROFILESPROFILESPROFILES

PRESTIGEPROFILES SERIES

PRESTIGE/CONCORD RECORDSBob Weinstock, an avid jazz fan

and record store owner who was, atthe time, barely out of his teensfounded prestige Records in 1949.The label quickly became one of thepremier jazz monikers, and recordedmany artists who are jazz and blueslegends today. Ten of those artists arerepresented the first installment of thePrestige Profiles Series, which kickedoff October 25, 2005. These are col-lections that were previously issued asThe Best of.... They are repackagedto reflects Concord Music’s acquisi-tion of Fantasy Records, which hadpreviously acquired the Prestige cata-log. Each presents a generous sam-pling (averaging 68 minutes) of theartist’s recordings for the label, alongwith detailed annotation by prominentmusic writers and retro covers. Eachalso comes packaged with a secondCD - a sampler disc - with an averageof 48 minutes of music from manyPrestige artists, including Coltrane,Miles, Rollins, Chet Baker, GeorgeBenson, Jack McDuff, TheloniousMonk, Tal Farlow, Pat Martino andmany others. As far as I can tell, notwo of these bonus samplers are alike,nor are any tracks repeated. You canview the main disc and bonus disctracks on the back if you buy in astore, and I would presume they’dboth be listed online as well - I knowAmazon does. The best part of thestory is that the list price is only 11.98.

With ten CDs to cover, it wouldtake up way too much space to getinto them in-depth. So the three of uscovering them will give you a capsuleview of each.

Kenny Burrell: Master guitaristKenny Burrell is represented with eighttracks from his extensive Prestige out-put. These cuts were recorded be-tween 1956 and 1963 find Burrell inthe company of such heavyweights asJohn Coltrane, Tommy Flanagan,Coleman Hawkins, Elvin Jones, HankMobley, Jack McDuff, Idrees Sulieman

and Mal Waldron, plus many others,including Latin percussionist RayBarretto, who just passed away Feb-ruary 17 at the age of 76. Burrell isone of those consummate masterswho is perfectly at home in any typeof setting. It shows here, whetherbacked by a piano/bass/drums trio, asextet including Hawkins andFlanagan with Barretto on congas, aquintet with ‘Trane or an organ triowith McDuff and drummer Jo Dukes.Some extremely tasteful music is wait-ing to be digested here, and it willprobably make you run out and buysome of the Burrell discs represented.

Bill Wahl

John Coltrane: Saxophonist JohnColtrane (1926—1967) gained widernotice in Miles Davis’ quintet from1955—57, when he began to demon-strate his penchant for mining har-monic resources. This compilationcaptures most ly dates between1957—58, after Coltrane’s “spiritualawakening,” and features him withRed Garland, Tad Dameron, DonaldByrd, Idrees Sulieman, Cecil Payne,Pepper Adams and others. Easterninfluences begin to occasionally creepinto his improvisations. While all 11tracks have merit, standouts are theswinging sextet take on “The Way YouLook Tonight,” the joyful quintet ver-sion of “Come Rain or Come Shine,”an adventurous sextet reading of“Dakar” (featuring Cecil Payne & Pep-per Adams on bari sax) and a brisk,bopping version of “Lover Come Backto Me,” featuring trumpeter DonaldByrd on the front line with Coltraneand pyrotechnics from drummerArthur Taylor. Coltrane, then aboutage 30, shows seasoning and matu-rity on these mainstream tracks.

Nancy Ann Lee

Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis: As BretPrimark notes, Davis had an immedi-ately identifiable sound that suggestedthe big warm tone of Ben Websterwithout the exaggerated vibratoWebster’s later recordings displayed.A formidable, bluesy player he is bestknown for his dates with Johnny Grif-

fin and the many recordings he didwith organists, particularly ShirleyScott who is heard on 8 of the 12 sidescompiled here. Two tracks have or-ganist Don Patterson while one is apiano group with Horace Parlan, andthe final is a big band session. Theblues serves as the foundation ofDavis’ music whether on the mid-tempo “Intermission Rif f,” Davis’original “The Chef,” or the lively“Robbin’s Nest.” He brought the samesoulfulness to ballads including “Wil-low Weep For Me” and “Body andSoul.” Eric Dolphy is part of the OliverNelson led big band on Nelson’s“Trane Whistle,”a bright brash bluesynumber with Lockjaw wailing againstthe riffing big band. Some very soul-ful and fingertapping grooves on thisdisc. Ron Weinstock

Miles Davis: Of all the artists rep-resented in this series, I’d have toguess that Miles was second only toRed Garland as the most prolific re-cording artist for Prestige Records.Picking ten tracks must have been achore, but the ones chosen give youa good overview of his work. Re-corded from 1953-56 you’ll hear Milesin several different settings, includingfour cuts with the famous quintet withColtrane, Garland, Paul Chambers andPhilly Joe Jones. Also included aretwo with Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver,Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke, bothbeing Rollins compositions, “Doxy”and “Airegin.” In fact, “The Theme”is actually the only Miles compositionin the entire set. Some of the otherson hand are J.J. Johnson, Lucky Th-ompson, John Lewis and Max Roach.The mute is on...the mute is off...thetempos vary...whatever the case, thisis all classic Miles Davis. Bill Wahl

Eric Dolphy: Dolphy was quite aunique voice when these recordingswere made in 1960-61, and he re-mains so today. Equally proficient onalto sax, flute and bass clarinet, hisPrestige output was his best work,along with the recordings he madewith John Coltrane on Impulse. On theten tracks included here he is joined

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in different groupings by the likes ofRon Carter, Freddie Hubbard, JakiByard, Booker Little, Mal Waldron,Roy Haynes, Ed Blackwell, RichardDavis and others. “On Green DolphinStreet” and “Glad To Be Unhappy”are the two lone standards. The re-maining eight are or iginals byDolphy, with one from Little and twofrom Waldron. Some of what you’llhear are “Far Cry,” “Serene,” “MissAnn,” Fire Waltz,” “Out There” and“Booker’s Waltz.” Great stuff, sound-ing fresh some 25 years after it wasrecorded. Bill Wahl

Red Garland: Recorded in 1957and 1961, the six tunes on this CDfeature two quintets led by pianistRed Garland (1923—1984) withtenor saxophonists John Coltrane orOliver Nelson and trumpeter DonaldByrd, and others. The album kicksoff with a hard-swinging version ofCharlie Parker’s “Billie’s Bounce,”and includes tunes by Garner, DukeEllington, Fletcher Henderson, TaddDameron as well as a delightfullyfresh-sounding, 8:18-minute versionof the warhorse classic, “On GreenDolphin Street,” on which drummerCharlie Persip maintains tidy tempos.Tunes range around 6 to 9 minutes.Horn solos are top-notch and rhythmsections sizzle. An alumnus of theMiles Davis quintet, Garland influ-enced the next generation of pianistswith his right-hand fancywork andleft-hand block chording. This isstraight-ahead jazz at its best des-tined to keep your feet a-tappin’.

Nancy Ann Lee

Coleman Hawkins: Known for hismatchless tenor saxophone sound,Coleman Hawkins (1904—1969) wasone of the primary forces in the de-velopment of jazz. This disc compiles11 standards with an array of topsidemen (Tommy Flanagan, KennyBurrell, Pepper Adams, Eddie “Lock-jaw” Davis, Major Holley, Ron Carterand others) and features then legend-ary Hawkins in his fifties. CapturingHawkins fronting groups from quar-tets to nonets, the disc contains lushballads such as “Greensleeves,” mid-tempo tracks such as “Since I Fell ForYou,” and tidy swingers such as “I’llGet By As Long As I Have You.” Othertunes are “ In A Mel low Tone,”“Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” “I Want

To Be Loved,” Hawkins’ original“Soul Blues,” and, featuring his rec-ognizable, breathy tone, the lightlyswinging “Make Someone Happy.”From start to finish, Hawkins’ deep-rich tonalities and impeccable phras-ing make for laid-back, satisfying lis-tening. Nancy Ann Lee

Lightnin Hopkins: One of the last‘country’ bluesman to have substan-t ial commercial impact, Sam‘Lightnin’ Hopkins was in the midstof beginning to record for the folkmarket when he recorded a dozen al-bums for Prestige and its af filiateBluesville label. A folk poet, Hopkinscould spin a song from current eventslike “Happy Day For John Glenn” aswell as place his distinctive touchadapting songs from others like BigJoe Williams (“Baby Please Don’tGo” is titled here as “Back to NewOrleans”) and Arthur Crudup (“MeanOld Frisco”). Some of Hopkins’ blueshave become blues standards includ-ing “Mojo Hand” and “Katie Mae.”Several tracks are self-accompanied,while other tracks have bassistLeonard Gaskin and drummer BeltonEvans. Sonny Terry for one track andBilly Bisor each guest on harmonicawhile barrelhouse pianist BusterPickens is part of a tight Houstonrhythm section for “PneumoniaBlues.” A solid collection of first-rateblues by one of the real legends ofthe blues. Ron Weinstock

Jackie McLean: Known for help-ing to forge the hard-bop style, altosaxophonist Jackie McLean (b.1932) ranks among the most influ-ential jazz musicians. Featured in thiscompilation extracted from 1956—57dates, McLean performs with mostlysmall combos on eight tracks. In-cluded are his originals “StrangeBlues,” “Alto Madness,” and “LightsOut,” as wel l as tunes by MalWaldron, the Gershwin brothers, BobHaggart, and others. An agreeablemix of ballads and boppers, this disccaptures McLean demonstrating hispierce, penetrating tone and bitingstyle. Also featured on the front linesare trumpeters Bill Hardman, DonaldByrd, and Webster Young and rhythmsections that include such luminar-ies as pianist Mal Waldron, drummerArthur Taylor and bassist Paul Cham-bers. This disc seems more bluesy

and relaxed when compared to thePrest ige Prof i les of ColemanHawkins, Red Garland, and JohnColtrane. Nonetheless, it’s exemplaryof McLean’s recognizable sound.

Nancy Ann Lee

Sonny Rollins: Rollins led tensessions for Prestige between De-cember 1951 and 1956 in which heestablished himself as a major talent.There is a variety of groups backinghim here including a number of ses-sions with Max Roach anchoring thedrums including “I Feel a Song Com-ing On” which has line-up of theClifford Brown-Max Roach group.Thelonious Monk is at the piano chairfor “I Feel a Song Coming On,” whiletwo tracks are with the early ModernJazz Quartet (Art Blakey on drums).Included is the collaboration withColtrane, “Tenor Madness,” while ar-guably highpoints are from his Saxo-phone Colossus album, “St. Thomas”and “Moritat,” his rendition of “Mackthe Knife.” After these recordings,Rollins disappeared until discoveredplaying on the Brooklyn Bridge. Fiftyyears later, these recordings stillsound fresh and vibrant.

Ron Weinstock

MEMPHIS SLIM& BUDDY GUY

PROFESSOR LONGHAIRCLIFTON CHENIER

MAISON DE BLUESBARCLAY MASTERS

There is a myth that there wasvery little new blues of note recordedin the 1970s. The fact is labels likeAlligator, Delmark and Blind Pig pro-duced fine albums, and labels likeStax and Jewel produced strongmodern urban blues. Also, there werea number of recordings released inEurope, usually by touring Americanmusicians, on labels like Isabel andBlack & Blue. Three reissues fromBarclay’s Maison de Blues seriescaught my attention, and replace myworn vinyl LPs.

Memphis Slim & Buddy Guy,Southside Reunion, was recordedwhen Buddy Guy and Junior Wellswere touring Europe in September1970. This 35 year old session

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brought together the expatriate Slimwith the Buddy Guy-Junior Wells Bandfor what was a terrific session mixingSlim’s rolling barrelhouse piano, ur-bane singing and the tough sound Guyand Wells put together with one of thegreat blues bands of all time. Guy andWells had Phil Guy on rhythm guitar,Ernest Johnson on bass, A.C. reedand Jim Conley on sax and Roosevelt‘Snake’ Shaw on drums. When Slimkicks off a duet with Buddy on theopening When Buddy Comes to Town,the music takes off on a cookingshuffle that I doubt Buddy could comeclose to matching today with his farless approach, and how many mod-ern rhythm sections could handle theshuffle groove or settle in so able be-hind Slim on Leroy Carr’s classic,How Long Blues? Guy also handlesthe vocal on You’re the One whileWells ably supports on harp through-out. An alternate take of You’re theOne, and Jamming at the Castle arebonus tracks and come across as wor-thy companions for a really magnifi-cent reissue.

Professor Longhair was at the be-ginning of his re-emergence as a per-former when he recorded the 1974 re-lease Rock’n’Roll Gumbo, which wasreissued on George Winston’s Danc-ing Cat label in 1985 with horns addedto the reworking of Mardi Gras in NewOrleans. The Maison de Blues reissueis musically the same as the DancingCat and had Fess pared withGatemouth Brown on guitar and fiddlefor Jambalaya, with a rhythm sectionof Julius Farmer on bass, ShebaKimbrough, who recently (October2005) passed away, and Alfred‘Uganda Roberts on congas. The mu-sic is marvelous as the empathy be-tween brown and Fess is obviousthroughout whether on remaking HeyNow Baby and Tipitina or bringing afresh take to Junco Par tner, RayCharles’ Mess Around, Stag-o-lee, andMean Ol’ World. After the mix of funkand blues grooves, the album closeswith just Fess at the piano taking careof business on (They Call Me) Dr. Pro-fessor Longhair. This is perhaps myfavorite Longhair album, and interest-ingly Rhino took seven songs from thiswhen they did their two-CD ProfessorLonghair anthology.

The third reissue is CliftonChenier’s Frenchin’ the Boogie, re-corded at a time when Stanley ‘Buck-

wheat’ Duval was part of the band.The Frenchin’ in the title refers to thefact that Chenier sings a number ofblues and rhythm and blues classicsin Creole French. There are severalnods to Louis Jordan, Caledonia,Choo-Choo Ch’Boogie, and LaissezLes Bon Tons Roulet (a retitled Letthe Good Times Roll) along with ver-sions of Shake Rattle and Roll andGoing Down Slow mixed with a waltz.Chenier was in peak form for this 1976session, singing ebulliently and soul-fully, putting as much soul in his pi-ano accordion as Jimmy Smith on theorgan and the Red Hot Louisiana Bandrocking as hard as any band ever did.Like the other two releases, this isspectacular stuff. Ron Weinstock

First Annual LegendaryRhythm and Blues

Cruise on West Coast• Taj Mahal and Hurricane Blues

composer, Hawkeye Herman,among stars on cruise

The Legendary Rhythm and BluesCruise has announced the launch of itsfirst West Coast cruise out of San Di-ego, Calif. October 3-7 after mid-yearsell-out success for the recent January2006 cruise out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Artists on ship will include TajMahal, Ike Turner, Irma Thomas, KimWilson Tommy Castro, Curtis Salgado,Janiva Magness with Kid Ramos, LarryMcCray, James Harman with MarkHummel’s harmonica blowout,Deborah Coleman, Doug MacLeod,Zac Harmon, Daniel “Slick” Ballinger,Hawkeye Herman, among others.

“This incredibly successful musiccruise is preserving and capturing his-tory as it passes before our eyes,” saysBill Rich, bass player for Taj Mahal. ”Wehave loved touring on the annual Car-ibbean cruise and are thrilled to be in-cluded on the first ever West Coastcruise.”

Unlike other music-themed cruisesoffered today, where the music is sec-ondary to the ship’s day to day sleepyroutines, The Legendary Rhythm andBlues Cruise for both the Caribbeanand West Coast literally hands cruis-ers a backstage pass with dozens ofconcerts, pro-am jams, artist work-

shops, industry summits and auto-graph parties.

“Blues is not a museum piece,”says Roger Naber, owner of The Leg-endary Rhythm and Blues Cruise andrecipient of The Blues Foundation’s2005 Keeping the Blues Alive Award.“Our mission is to promote the live per-formance of Blues music because it isliterally part of America’s history andmust not be forgotten. The overwhelm-ing support for our cruise is great evi-dence that the musicians not only, en-joy performing for and with their peers,but also for their fans in a close up in-teractive environment! “

As the world’s only fully charteredblues cruise, The Legendary Rhythmand Blues Cruise has experienced ex-ponential market demand. When TheLegendary Rhythm and Blues Cruiselaunched its first Caribbean cruise inJanuary 2000, the fan base numberedonly a few hundred. In 2005, nearly twothousand purchased their tickets far inadvance and hollered for more.

“Roger Naber has always had aknack for knowing what Blues fanswant,” says West Coast Blues legendHawkeye Herman who just releasedKatrina, Oh Katrina* (Hurricane Blues).“With the predictably wonderfulweather on the West Coast, this newWest Coast cruise is bound to be thekind of ‘jammin’ Blues vacation fans willlove.”

The West Coast cruise offers afford-able options starting at $725 for the fournight, five day experience. The cruiseis quite well booked as of this time, butthere are mid-price cabins still available.The 2007 January cruise out of FortLauderdale is also prebooking now.

“Individuals from different races,ethnicities, countries and backgroundsleave their day-to-day routine to join fa-mous Blues musicians on board andon wonderful excursions in exotic portsof call,” says Naber. “The LegendaryRhythm and Blues Cruise is a four-yeartradition that has spilled over the rail-ings into a new second-annual cruise.”

For info and booking, go towww.bluescruise.com. You can readthe lenghty review of the 2005 BluesCruise on our site at www.jazz-blues.com - click the “Notable” buttonto find it.

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