The Blues Blogger

I am now seeing a big rise in traffic to this site! I thought it was important to officially say hello and acknowledge the readers of this Blog. A big part of this traffic is returning readers. I am very flattered and humbled by your loyalty and kind comments via e-mails.

Just because there are only a few comments on this Blog is not an indication that no one is paying attention. When you are ready to leave comments it will happen given time. However, don’t be shy if you have something you want to add to any of the articles, I would love to hear from you.

People are telling me they are finding the stories very down to earth and easy to read. They like the personal touch and enjoy the tunes I have selected for the site. It’s been a great feeling for me to discover my writing roots once again. Many years have passed and I feel the rust. Given time and your continued support, I will generate ideas and work on some themes that I hope will strike a pleasant reflective chord.

Many of my personal musical experiences have been locked up in my head for well over 20 years. I intend to pull memories from my early childhood at home, to my teenage years working at several record boutiques, to my previous life as a recording engineer in New York. From these times I have met, seen and worked with many talented artists. Some of these musicians, producers and recording engineers were and continue to be very successful. Like most people in every day life some were fantastic to work and hang out with while others were quite mischievous. There are some rich memories I intend to sprinkle throughout this Blog. It is not my intention to brag be controversial or revealing, it’s just a canvas for me to paint some thoughts and share some experiences with you through my writing. I’m not sure where it will all go, and you never know who we will stumble across together, but I hope you enjoy the journey along the way.

To keep with the theme of past posts, I will leave you with a song that has some significance to me. In my previous article, The Jewish Influence in Blues and Jazz, I make mention of Jack Bruce. (You will have to read the article to see the reference) I love listening to his work with the legendary Cream and his solo pieces. One of the albums I was very keen on at the time is entitled; “I’ve Always Wanted To Do This”. It featured David Sancious, Billy Cobham and Clem Clemson. It was an absolute thrill for me to stand several feet away from this musical legend at The Bottom Line in New York back in 1981. The following is a clip from the year I saw the band and I believe is from SNL.

Cheers,

The Blues Blogger.

Tags: Blues Reflections, Jazz Reflections by The Blues Blogger
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I haven’t written very much in the past 20 years. It’s only been in the last few months that I have rediscovered my greatest passion. There are many reasons for this that are not necessary for me to get into. That’s another story. Perhaps my recent heart attack gave me the opportunity to spend a fair amount of time reflecting back into my past.

I started listening to a lot of music recently and drifted back to my childhood. Maybe in some profound way I finally felt more justified to discuss my love of jazz music and especially blues. These latest events made me finally attempt to bring my love of music and writing together.

Growing up in the sixties I recall so many genres of music that played in our household. From The Beatles and The Monkees in my sister’s room, to Big Band Jazz in the living room, to my brother’s turntable that span the soulful sound of electric blues and jazz in the bedroom we shared.

Music was everywhere. Tunes were always playing in our house even before my birth. It would appear that I was breast-fed music and by the time I was in my early teens, as a result, I developed a natural but unusual knowledge level for my age. My father played the harmonica and my brother the guitar. Together they would have jam sessions that filled the house with a vibrancy that I can never forget.

My grandparents were very orthodox, and while my parents never got too involved in Judaism, they thought that out of respect, they should make me understand my roots. I went to Hebrew School and studied up until I had my Bar Mitzvah at thirteen. I was the strange child that loved listening to the Cantor sing at the synagogue because I was convinced he sounded like Jack Bruce of Cream. To this very day I still think that! It was this very thought wave that made me think… Is there a link between this? Maybe there was something to it. I know there are people who are going to think I’m off my rocker, but that’s OK. We’re all entitled to our opinion. I wanted to see if instinctively I felt something back then that I couldn’t explain until now.
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Tags: Blues Reflections, Jazz Reflections by The Blues Blogger
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Helen Folasade Adu, more commonly known to her fans as Sade, was born in January 16th, 1959 in Ibadan Nigeria. Her father was a Nigerian teacher and mother an English nurse. Sade’s parents separated when she was four. Together with her mother they would then move Great Hawkesley in North London.

Sade is a hypnotic performer that puts a calm spell over her listeners. She has a alluring sway and calm soothing style that have her fans craving for more. When you surf the internet and try to find current information on the vocalist, you will not find much. Fan letters and websites are full of comments begging for her return.

On my about page on this Blog I mention putting my guitars on my wall for arts sake. I am not a musician and never will be, but I have a confession. When I listen to Sade, at the right moment when no one is around, I tune up the guitar and play along. I’m not sure what it is, but it seems to be the only moments where I sound like I can really play. Wishful thinking? Of course! Maybe I just want to say that I can play with Sade.

As a teenager Sade studied Fashion design at St. Martins Art College in London while working as a waitress and bike messenger. She was inspired musically through her love of Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Gil Scott-Heron, Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. It was these influences that motivated her to spend most of her free time singing. Her melodic passion would rapidly overtake her fashion career interests. After going to an audition she soon found herself performing as one of three vocalists in an upcoming jazz-funk group known as Pride.
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Tags: Jazz Reflections by The Blues Blogger
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I want to dedicate this post to my wife. She has managed to stay positive as I hound her with all the trivial ramblings I have worked on for this blog. I got the inspiration to write a brief post about Beale Street in Memphis Tennessee while listening to my wife playing some tunes from her all time favorite artist Joni Mitchell.

What does Joni Mitchell have to do with the blues or Beale Street you may ask? Not as much as she has with jazz or folk music, but there are some strong influences in some of her songs. One tune in particular is Furry Sings the Blues, written for her meeting back in the seventies with old time Memphis blues player Furry Lewis and her experiences of Beale Street and its music scene at the time.

Briefly for the folks not familiar with the history of the famous Beale Street: It is a street that runs almost two miles in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee from the Mississippi River to East Street. It is a significant location in African-American history and the history of the blues.

In 1909 a talented and gifted musician by the name of W.C. Handy and his band moved to Memphis and established themselves on Beale Street. This move would change the course of music history. Handy wrote many popular tunes including a campaign song for then Mayor Candidate E. H. Crump. The song Mr. Crump would later be entitled Memphis Blues and the song became huge. History would go on to look at W.C. Handy as the Father of the Blues. That’s why mentioning this famous street makes a valid post. Beale Street is not just some ordinary street in the United States. It is the most important street in the history of blues music!

Handy also wrote the classic song Beale Street Blues in 1916, influencing the change of the street’s name from Beale Avenue to Beale Street. For many decades afterwards so many famous blues and jazz players made their name on Beale Street and helped develop the style that would become known as The Memphis Blues.
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Tags: Blues Reflections by The Blues Blogger
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