Sam Jimenez – Discover The Blues

Musicopedia Media – 2025

ISBN: 979-8-218-74616-2

133 pages

Sam Jimenez authored and did the artwork for this illustrated history of the blues. Madman Sam has been a blues fan for his entire life. He is a musician and author, wrote over 1,000 songs, served as President of the Cascade Blues Society in Portland, Oregon, and was on the board of the Blues Foundation.

Jimenez wrote the book ten years ago. Mixing his artwork with some AI assistance, he generated over 160 illustrations that fill the book. Every page features at least on piece of artwork. The book is intended as an introduction to the blues for ages 12 to 100+, so there is something in this for anyone.

Mixing humor and his knowledge of the blues, Jimenez presents to us everything the reader needs to know to understand what the blues are, where it came from, and how it evolved. Sam talks about the electrification ad amplification of the blues and how it gave rise to rock and roll.

Then we learn about the blues revival that occurred as part of the folk music renaissance in the 1960s. The audience grew as white music fans began to embrace the blues. Then the blues hit Hollywood and films brought the blues to an even wider audience with films like The Blues Brothers. Then the 1980s gave us more recognition for the blues as main stream artists like Stevie Ray Vaughn and developed new audiences to savor the blues. The 1990s and new millennium ushered in  even more artists and fans as the internet and technology made music even more approachable. He even notes the blues concert at the White House where President Obama joined in the fun and sang “Sweet Home Chicago” with the all star band who played for him.

The book concludes with the blues most important era– TODAY! Jimenez covers all the facets of blues to be had, from festivals to broadcast media to blues societies and to the Blues Foundation and more. He tells the reader it’s up to them to enjoy and help the blues live on.

It’s an enjoyable read. For seasoned blues fans there is not a lot of surprises here, but it’s still enjoyable to said through the fun text and great artwork that make the book flow along rapidly. It’s a great introduction to the blues for new fans and it would make a great present for kids and grand-kids. I enjoyed the book and compliment Jimenez for his efforts to make the blues more accessible to an even wider audience. Well done!

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Steve Jones is president of the Crossroads Blues Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In addition to working in his civilian career since 1996, he writes for and publishes the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival and works with their Blues In The Schools program. He resides in Byron, IL.

Duke Tumatoe – Have You Seen My Keys?

Tumatoe Tuff Tunes

http://www.duketumatoe.com

10 Tracks – 35 minutes

William “Duke Tumatoe” Severn Fiorio was born in Chicago in June 1947. His father was a first-generation Italian whose family hailed from San Bonifacio, Italy. Growing up in Chicago, he frequently visited Maxell Street where many of the blues greats hung out. He first saw Muddy Waters when he was 13 and “knew all of the old guys. I’d see them every day”.

In 1965 he enrolled at the University of Illinois at Champaign – Urbana. He also started the short-lived psychedelic rock group Lothar and The Hand People, which gained much attention with the futuristic sound machine the theremin. That device had been used in 1950’s science fiction and horror movies and was used in The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations”. Lothar elevated the device to a feature element of their sound and had some success with the song, “Space Hymn”, which was a track on the album. While intriguing, the public was not ready for the synthesized sound.

In 1967, Duke became an original member of REO Speedwagon. But it quickly became clear that the band’s vision of moving up in the rock genre did not fit with his desire to play the blues.  In 1969, he left REO and founded Duke Tumatoe & The All-Star Frogs. They toured for thirteen years and released three albums. In 1983, Duke moved to Indianapolis and disbanded the Frogs. He then formed The Power Trio which went though many personnel changes over the years and played an average of 200 dates per year and released thirteen albums. In 1985, it was suggested that Duke record a song for the new Indianapolis Colts football team. The song, “Lord help Our Colts” became a constantly changing version of the song that changed with the tides of the team and caused some occasional strife with him between the Colts players and fans.  In 1987, John Fogerty stumbled onto a Duke Tumatoe concert, was fascinated by the crowd’s energy at the concert, and decided he would like to produce an album by Duke. That resulted in the 1988 live album, I Like My Job. 

Throughout his musical journey, Duke has demonstrated a musical mastery mixed with lyrics that are frequently tongue-in-cheek or downright humorous. Duke promises “A good time, a lot of mischief, and a lot of great music”. That promise is kept with this current album.

Duke plays guitar and handles lead vocals, with Bill Ritter on bass and vocals, and Dawson Ouelette on drums completing the current trio. They are backed on this album by Dan Holmes on piano and organ, Jay Young on alto and tenor sax and bass clarinet, Mark Buselli on flugelhorn, Neil Broeker on baritone sax and alto flute, and Kent Hickey on trumpet and flugelhorn.

The album consists of eight original songs and two covers starting with “What A Damn Man Needs”. He says, ” I can’t get enough of your precious love”. The song rocks out with Duke dropping a solid guitar solo. He follows up with a declaration that “You Know I Love You”. My every thought is of you. With you by my side, my every dream comes true.” The first cover is Ray Sharpe’s 1959 “Linda Lou”.  He declares “You never know what my Baby’s gonna do.” “If you ever leave me you gonna break my poor heart in two.”

On “I’m Selfish Baby” “I want your love for me alone. Things are so much better when I get home.” “Call all your lovers tell them to stay away” as he proceeds to run down a laundry list of names and tells her to “delete those photos from your phone”.  “Baby’s got a dress on, and I “Can’t Find My Shoes” which concludes after a search with “Have you seen my keys?”. Things really get rocking again on this one. “When A Door Is Open” “does not mean you should go inside”.  “Just because you can does not mean that you should.” “You come home late. I know that smell.”

“You Don’t Love Me Anymore” is propelled by a booming sax. “I believe things ain’t going right”. “I may have said something I shouldn’t have said, I didn’t mean you were fat. You know big girls can be real sexy.” He begs ” I believe we can start anew”. “Sonny B” is an instrumental giving each of the musicians an opportunity to stretch on their instruments. He then says, “No one wants you when you are down and out” and he exclaims “Baby, we are through. “Don’t Want You Back”. The album concludes with a cover of Rosco Gordon’s 1960 rock and roll classic “Just A Little Bit”. He begs her to “Turn your lights down low. Honey, slip me a kiss. I want a teeny-weeny bit of your love”.

Duke’s guitar playing continues to be the star of the show along with his unwavering vocals. The album title could be interpreted as an admission of getting older, but nothing in this album’s music indicates anything slowing him down. The album is another notch in Duke’s growing discography.

Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter.

John Christopher Morgan – Right On Time

Self-release

www.facebook.com/61577322175813

13 songs – 45 minutes

John Christopher Morgan is a Ventura, CA, based drummer and vocalist and, while Right On Time is his debut album, he has had a long and storied career in music, playing, touring and recording with a vast array of renowned musicians, including Johnny Thunders, Lester Butler, Robert Lucas, King Ernest, and Mitch Ryder. On Right On Time, he has surrounded himself with various friends made over the years and released a glorious set of blues, roots and soul, with nine original songs and some marvelously re-imagined covers.

The album was produced and engineered by Ralph Carter at Ralph Carter Studios and Pacifica Recording Studios and he has captured a series of powerful performances from all involved.  Of particular note is that, despite a large number of revolving guest musicians, there is a consistency in sound and quality throughout.

Morgan handles all the drumming and percussion duties and most of the lead vocals. He is aided and abetted by Carter on bass on every track  (bar “Done Got Over It”, which features Blake Watson), together with Martin Gagnon on piano on a number of songs. On various other tracks, guests include Bill Flores on accordion, Aaron Liddard on saxophone, Trevor Mires on trombone, Simon Finch on trumpet, Ron Dziubla on saxophone and flute, vocalists Marcy Levy, Jamie Wood and Viva Vinson and harmonica player, RJ Mischo. Perhaps most eye-catching, however, is the list of guest guitarists, who include Albert Lee, Zach Zunis, Franck Goldwasser, Rick Holmstrom, Trevor West Morgan and Brophy Dale.

It goes without saying that Morgan is a top drawer drummer and percussionist, but he is also a fine vocalist, singing in a roadworn voice that suits the roadhouse material perfectly. It also blends perfectly with the other singers, providing dramatic contrast in duets such as “Ain’t We All In It Together” (with Vinson), “San Buenaventura” (with Macy) and “The Jeweler’s Daughter” (with Woods).

Highlights abound throughout this album. The covers are expertly chosen. Bo Diddley’s 1965 hit, “Let The Kids Dance”, is given a delightful run-through, while “Black Bag Blues” is a heartfelt tribute to King Ernest and Lester Bangs with a stand-out performance by Zach Zunis. Guitar Slim’s classic, “Done Got Over It” is given a jungle-beat workover with magically reverb-laden guitar by Brody. Even more left-field is Huey Lewis and The News’ mid-80s neo-doo wop masterpiece, “Bad Is Bad”, which is re-imagined as a roaring shuffle with majestic harp from Mischo. The self-written tracks are all of equally high quality. Albert Lee’s scorching guitar adds a country flavor to the opening rock’n’roll track, “Vidalia”, and to the closing Cajun dance of “Right On Time”. The instrumental, “Jumpin’ With Leon”, lets Goldwasser demonstrate his expertise in West Coast jump blues (although also check out his ferocious straight blues guitar on the slow “Black Bottom Blues”). “Last Heartbeat” is a lovely piece of classic soul, with powerful horns and backing vocals, while “The Jeweler’s Daughter is a furious slow blues, with great horns, superb vocal interplay between Morgan and Wood and an outrageously good guitar solo from Zunis.

Right On Time is a superb release that deserves a wide audience. This is modern blues and roots music at its best. One of the best albums of the year.

Reviewer Rhys “Lightnin'” Williams plays guitar in a blues band based in Cambridge, England. He also has a day gig as a lawyer.

Raphael Callaghan – Always in Arrears

Blue Cee Recordings

www.raphaelcallaghan.com

14 tracks – 50 Minutes

Raphael Callaghan is from Liverpool, England. In 1964, at age 14 or 15, he heard Alexis Korner’s Blues, Inc. play in a basement club. After attending multiple concerts by them and followed afterwards with blues concerts from Howlin’ Wolf with Hubert Sumlin and with Big Joe Tuner, he became hooked on the blues. He continued his blues affair with rapidly acquired blues albums and publications. His father brought him a Hohner harmonica which he learned to play. By 1966, he joined guitarist Jim James for a blues duo act called Jm and Raphael. The act became the resident players for six years at a local club. In 1969, Vocalist Jo Ann Kelly saw them perform and recommended them to Tony McPhee. Tony records four of their songs and selects two of them to include on his album “I Asked for Water, They Gave Me Gasoline”. Things did not work out for that, and other opportunities likewise fell apart.  In 1987, he traveled to Chicago with side trips to Memphis and the Mississippi Delta. While there he got the chance to play harmonica with Jesse Mae Hemphill.

In the 1990’s, he joined with his partner, Christine” in a group they called Blue C. That group made the circuit for many British festivals in the next 20 years. Over the years, he received opportunities to play harmonica with Luther Grosvenor, Eric Bibb Otis Taylor and even Bonnie Raitt. In 2010, Christine had to give up playing and Raphael reinvented himself as a solo act playing his own slide guitar and harmonica. In 2016, he celebrated 50 years as a performer with the release of a cd, Said and Done”. 

This new album includes 11 original songs and three covers. He declares “I’ve Got a Secret” “It’s mine alone to tell…I’ve got to keep it to myself” in a soft, folksy acoustic opener. “Rolling Stone – Part 1” was written by Robert Wilkins in 1928 and has nothing to do with the Muddy Waters song that came along later. “Don’t care how long she is gone, how long she stays”. “She’s a rolling stone, roll back home someday.” Mike Rimmer joins him on bass on “Run Through Sand” as he adds his harmonica to the mix and determines that “it takes more than soap and water to clean my doggone soul”.  “I’ve got no gas in the tank; I’ve got no cash in the pot. I go to the bank to check how much I haven’t got.”

He explains that “Fish Deep in the Ocean” is a collection of verses that are put together to form a cohesive narrative with the last verse “borrowed” from a 1928 Charlie Lincoln recording as he notes “In the winter you found you didn’t know me at all” and “The more I want you, the more I drive you away”.  The next song was written during the pandemic lockdown as he asks when “Love on Furlough” “what we are going to do” and “wants to find out what’s been going on”. “Be Ready When He Comes” is a gospel song written by D.O. Teasley in 1907 and recorded by Skip James in 1931. “Jesus is coming again to judge the soul of men.”

“Blues for Carole King” is included as a tribute to the singer, songwriter and states her music got him through his school years. “Black is the Colour” is a traditional folk song with lyrics from a Nina Simone record. He breaks out his slide guitar as he explains that is “the color of my true love’s hair” and “looks forward to the day she and I are one.” He brings out the harmonica again for “The Runaround” as he asks, “Who are you going to run to when you are done running over me?”

The names of all the singers and groups who played the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool are etched into bricks on the Cavern Wall of Fame. The harmonica again leads off “Name on the Wall” as he tells the tale of “an old rock and roller reliving his youth. He doesn’t care if he’s long in the tooth. He’ll ask you no questions, do you no harm….old man looking for his name on the wall”. Mike Rimmer again joins on bass as Raphael wonders “Can We Work It Out?” While not credited, I assume the female singing with him on the song is Christine. “Lean and Slow (For Skip James)” is a tribute to his favorite blues singer.

The cd shows the final two songs as bonus tracks. He notes that he used to perform Duke Ellington’s song “Do Nothing ’til You Hear from Me”. He wrote the response song “I’ll Do Nothing ’til I Hear from You”.  “I’ll do nothing ’til you say the word. I’ll do nothing ’til the day you dare to take the risk of a stolen kiss”. After moving from Liverpool to South Wales, he got a gig back in Liverpool that was billed as a return of the “Prodigal Son”, which prompted him to write a song with that title. he states, “Today I am the prodigal son you can see it in my face. Tomorrow I will be back on the run if I can only stand the pace” and he throws in a verse relating to the pandemic. “I thought I was immune to all the stuff that goes around. Lately I’ve changed my tune. Caught with my defenses down.”

Raphael offers soothing acoustic guitar with warm, comforting vocals and easily understood and relatable lyrics. However, the songs are more in tune with folk music than what I would consider the blues. Nothing wrong with that but just offered as an awareness of the music style presented on this album.

Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter.

Bruce Katz’s life has been a musical travelogue, an odyssey between instruments, bands, and continents. He has played on the biggest and smallest stages. He’s been an academic and a barroom blues banger. He is one of the finest blues piano players and organists of his generation, nominated eight times for the Blues Music Awards “Blues Piano Player of the Year”. He continues to put out excellent records, now on his own label, and tour the world. The Katz has had nine lives.

One: The Formative Years

Katz grew up in the musical melting pot of Brooklyn, playing classical piano since age five. It was a great musical foundation, but he would soon be bitten by the blues.

“I loved Big Maybelle and Dinah Washington, both her jazz and blues stuff,” Katz said. “Bessie Smith got me when I was about ten years old. I was a kid going ‘this is the most magnificent music I’ve ever heard.’ Of course, her band members Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson led me down into the early jazz which was something that I tried to play. I heard be bop one day and ‘I’ve got to figure out what those notes are’ and that’s what led me to go to Berklee. But I figured it out after a while.”

Two: Berklee College of Music

After beginning his professional music career in Baltimore as a pianist and bass player, Katz decided he wanted to concentrate on blues and jazz organ and piano playing at Berklee. It would lead to a long association with the famed institution.

“There’s just so much energy there. When I went there you either studied jazz, got a teaching certificate, or you were a composition major. Now there’s million industry-type degrees and music therapy, production, and engineering. I taught there for 14 years and started the Hammond organ lab there. I started a blues history class there. I had to really convince Berklee. They go ‘How can you have a blues history class to take up a whole semester.’ There’s an attitude, you know. Actually, it was really hard to fit blues history into a 15-week semester. I found myself racing through things and only getting up to 1960 or something. It was very rewarding. I was in the piano department. You really have a broad spectrum of musicians there.”

Some years later Katz would meet up with one of the most noted Americana artists of all-time, who had a Berklee connection, Levon Helm of The Band.

“When I first moved to Woodstock, I got absorbed into the ‘Levon World’ and I was playing a lot of Midnight Rambles. He told me about when he went to Berklee as Mark Helm, his real name. They had no idea who he was. He was in big bands playing drums and he couldn’t read music. He just pretended he was reading it and he listened, and he played it the way it was supposed to be played just listening to it a few times.”

Three: Big Mama Thornton

While in Boston, Katz got the opportunity of a lifetime to play with one of the inventors of rock ‘n roll and modern blues.

“That was pretty fantastic actually. It was a great band out of Boston. She was so soulful and so intensely beautiful. I’m playing ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘Ball and Chain’ with Big Mama Thornton, what can I say? She still had it. She was in a car accident a few years before that, but she sang great. There was one moment, and I think I have a recording of this. We played at Folk City in Greenwich Village and Odetta was in the audience. We were up there with Big Mama and they started singing to each other from the audience to the stage, back and forth, trading verses on something. It was just transfixing. I’m about to see if that recording hasn’t disintegrated, it was 40 years ago.”

Four: Barrence Whitfield and the Savages

After Thornton passed away, Katz joined Barrence Whitfield in 1986 to tour the United States and Europe for about five years. The bluesy garage rock outfit recorded three albums in that time. While it was fun rocking out, Katz was ready for a change.

Five: New England Conservatory

“I ended up 30 years ago getting a Master’s at the New England Conservatory in Jazz Studies. After I had been on the road with Barrence Whitfield and the Savages for a long time and I just wanted to get back to music. It was very striking. Berklee is like 4,000 kids going berserk. The jazz department at the Conservatory was 70 people and you have like George Russell, Cecil McBee, Paul Bley, Geri Allen, it was really cool. I’ve had my academic periods between being out in the world. I was sort of only the one that was out in the real world having toured a lot beforehand. My take on all the information was very different than these people that had gone to undergraduate school and now they’re in graduate school and they’re going to teach jazz. I was there just to gain knowledge to go back on the road. I had been in barrooms for years and these guys had been in classrooms for years. It was just a different perspective.”

Six: Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters

In 1992, he was invited to join blues ace Ronnie Earl’s band. He stayed for six albums and tours. Grateful Heart won Downbeat Magazine “Blues Album of the Year” in 1996. He left in 1997 to concentrate on his own band and was an in-demand session player and tour sideman, but the years with Earl left behind some excellent music and memories.

“Every gig was a highlight. Ronnie and I were very suited to play together in many ways and we played off of each other. I play with a lot of energy and he plays with a lot of energy. We used to just blow the roofs off of venues. We would challenge each other in musical ways. I learned a lot about slow blues and he learned a lot about jazz from me and he was wanting to go in that direction. It was a great partnership and that whole band with Per Hansen and Rod Carey, that was a pretty magical band. We toured the world and it was really fun. There is some video out there of us playing in Germany in ’96 and I look back and watch those and marvel at that music. It was great.”

Seven: The Allmans

Katz would play in several configurations with members of The Allman Brothers Band, including two bands with Butch Trucks and one with Jaimoe. He also had a notable stint in Gregg Allman and Friends for six years.

“I with him (Gregg) from 2007 to 2013. Somewhere in the middle there is where he got ill and needed a liver transplant, so there was one year he was having some problems. But for the most part, he sounded great. His singing was just incredible. He was like a regular guy. We all rode the bus together. We all hung out and played together. He was actually a pretty shy person. But he was a rock ‘n roll star, he had an aura. When he walked into the room, everyone knew that this guy with this aura was there. But man, he could sing. He sang “Many Rivers To Cross” by Jimmy Cliff and it was just unbelievable, but we only did it once. He didn’t want to do it, but boy he was fantastic. It was a real experience getting to play with him. I saw the original band with Duane, I go back that far. The Allman Brothers always had a very special place for me, so getting to play with Gregg was something else. I’ve had some of those moments. I’ve played ‘Johnny B. Goode’ with Chuck Berry and ‘Whipping Post’ with Gregg Allman. I’ve been lucky to be in the right place at the right time sometimes, you know?”

Eight: The Bruce Katz Band

Started in 1992, Katz’s own outfit has recorded 13 albums (including Solo Ride, a duo record, and two live albums). He continues to tour regularly, including a December stint through his home state of New York and then down South in late January. His most recent record, Back in Boston Live, is one of the best of his career.

“It was my usual band, Aaron Lieberman on guitar and singing, Liviu Pop on drums. On the organ tunes, I am playing bass, on the B3 going through a separate bass amplifier. Normally when we play live, even on the piano tunes, I’ll be doing one hand on the organ and one hand on the piano, but for that gig I got my old friend Jesse Williams to play bass. I was in Duke Robillard’s band with Jesse and he has a big career. He was with the North Mississippi All-Stars, he plays with Jimmy Vivino, with tons of people. So, on the piano tunes we had the luxury of a bass player which allowed me to play piano with two hands. That venue (The Fallout Shelter) is this beautiful 110-capacity, comfy, kind-of bohemian venue, but it’s set-up as a TV studio and a recording studio. So, when I heard about this place, I thought this might be a great place for a live album. We did two nights so we could play everything twice. The performances were really great and the sound quality was amazing. It sounds like a studio album and it’s a live album. That’s kind of rare. Sometimes live albums suffer on the audio quality. I’m really, really happy with that album. That’s definitely one of my favorite albums of mine. I got to put it out on Dancing Rooster Records, which is my own label that my manager and I co-own.”

One highlight from Back In Boston Live was a surprise cut honoring one of his heroes called “For Brother Ray”.

“That was 100% spontaneous, unplanned. I never did it before, I’ve never done it since. It was the end of the night, encore time. When I sit around my house, I play Ray Charles, my favorite musician. I just started doing it. Just a weird thing. I never thought I would do it, it just came out. He’s everything man. I met him briefly. I got to play with David “Fathead” Newman a lot. We would talk about Ray some. Everyone would go up to David and say, ‘Tell me about Ray’. I did play with David a lot in an organ (quartet) format. He would hire me to play when he wanted to do organ, guitar, sax, drums. The first time I met him was on the Ronnie Earl record Grateful Heart and he was a guest on that. Then I moved to Woodstock and he lived in Woodstock. So that’s the closest I got to Ray.”

Now in his 70s, Katz has no plans to slow down. He spreads the gospel at home and abroad.

“It’s amazing because I’ve been touring for 40 years, and I still love it. I’m going to go back to Lincoln, Nebraska and Des Moines. I just love the energy and feeling of playing for people and I even like driving around in the van. We tour a fair amount. We’ll do a number of U.S. tours. We’ve been to Europe, actually we just got back from Korea, my first trip to Asia. A jazz festival with 10,000 people there, sitting in the rain on the first night. Thousands of people there with slickers and umbrellas sitting there in the rain listening to the music. It’s fun. We’ve been to Poland a few times in the last few years and there’s also a hunger for jazz and blues. We’ve been to Romania and Latvia and they love that music. They really want to hear it. They don’t take it for granted at all.”

He also played a memorable gig this September in Las Vegas, one that stretched him out musically.

“I played the (Big Blues) Bender as an artist at large. I did four shows with the Jimmy Carpenter Brass Bender Band. Then we did a special piano show that was very cool, it was like their feature show of the week. It was a scripted history of blues piano. Victor (Wainwright) and Jimmy were the people organizing it. I foolishly said ‘Hey man, I’ll play Meade Lux Lewis’ ‘Honky Tonk Train Blues’ from beginning to end. That is a hard piece man! It’s like ten pages of music. I practiced so much for that I hurt my shoulder. But I memorized it, it went great. I also played ‘Cow Cow Blues’ by Cow Cow Davenport and then we had a boogie-woogie jam, but it was really fun. I also did a show with Kirk Fletcher, he and I fronting a back-up band, which was also fun. I love Kirk, he’s really one of the best out there, I think.”

Nine: The Future

Katz’s future musical life doesn’t seem very complicated. He just wants to keep playing the blues.

“It’s more satisfying for me to play, just more communication, more emotion. In my own band, we venture in some directions, but to me the core is always the emotional content of blues and the trappings of what blues is all about. So, even if we go off in a direction, I always feel like we’re still playing blues. Maybe stretching certain concepts, but not getting away from the vibe, the rhythm, and the feeling of it.”

Katz still has big ears and spotlighted a rising blues star for fans to be aware of.

“Yates (McKendree) is like 23 and he’s an amazing piano player, but a more amazing guitar player, which is what he’s doing. I consider him the finest blues guitar player I’ve heard in decades. He reminds me of Ronnie Earl back in the day. Yates McKendree, worth checking out. He’s young and he’s absorbing all the history. He’s virtuosic in the best kind of way, he’s not playing rock at all.”

So, what’s next?

“I have a new drummer named John Medeiros, Jr. and he was with Joe Louis Walker for the last five years, up through Joe’s untimely passing. I made that record with Joe and Giles Robson about five years ago, the acoustic blues record that was beautiful (the Blues Music Award-winning Journeys to the Heart of the Blues). Joe sounded so good on it. John’s a regular member of the band and we’re going to do some sort of recording in 2026, but I’m not sure what. I have more music coming.”

What motivates him to keep going?

“Things are so isolated these days and there’s a lot of strange stuff going on. Just to communicate, play music, and be with people of like-minded thoughts. To get that good feeling of they’re giving me love and I’m giving it back…and it’s the best thing I can think of doing. I’m just never going to ever stop playing. My idol is Pinetop (Perkins), he played until he was like 97. Bobby Rush is up there, his 90s. I don’t see a reason to ever stop. I’m confused when I hear about musicians not playing anymore. It’s not only the playing, but it’s going out and playing for people. I want to go out and feel that feeling. There’s nothing better to me that when they’re getting it and I’m getting them and something happens that never happened before and that’s the magic of the whole thing really.”

Visit Bruce’s website to find a live show near you: https://www.brucekatzband.com/

Writer Dave Popkin is a Music News Reporter for WBGO FM in Newark/New York. He is a regional judge for The Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge and is a singer in the NJ-based band, Porch Rockers.

Doc Bowling And His Blues Professors – Sing The American Songbag

Self-Release -2025

https://bluesprofessors.com/

11 tracks; 43 minutes

This is the band’s fourth album release since 2012. Taking its title from a 1927 book by Carl Sandberg, the music is country blues from the early twentieth century although many of the tunes date back far further, as is explained in excellent detail in the sleeve notes which are a treasure trove of information about the songs and the people with whom we associate them. The band is a large unit, led by Ben ‘Doc’ Bowling on vocals, acoustic guitar, resonator and harp, Donnie Burke guitar and resonator, Simon Minney acoustic bass, Roger Chapman drums, cajon and percussion, Johannes Bowling alto sax, Mlle. Chat Noir (Sophie Loyer) violin, Jens Skwirblies accordion, Kenny Bruno piano and Eamonn McKeever banjo; several of the band also add B/V’s. The album was recorded in London and the band plays in the UK, Ireland and Germany.

We start with Robert Johnson and an acoustic reading of “Me And The Devil Blues”, the violin reminding us that it was a very common blues instrument back in the day. Doc’s sleeve notes tell us that both Bo Diddley and Big Bill Broonzy were also violinists, a fact that this reviewer was not aware of. “Irene, Good Night” is best known from Lead Belly’s version and has been covered by many, including Johnny Cash, Ry Cooder and Eric Clapton. The song has its roots far earlier, originally written by Gussie Lord Davis and then reworked by Lead Belly whose version was recorded by the Lomaxes in 1933 when Lead Belly was in jail in Louisiana. The Professors’ version brings out the tragic dimension of the song in a quiet version with strong harmonies. Ben first heard “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad” on a Big Bill Broonzy EP in 1958, but, again, the song dates back to 1924; many readers may know it as a regular part of the Grateful Dead’s repertoire. The Professors’ uptempo version features harp and percussion and has been their opening number for many years in live performance. Violin and banjo drive “Cotton-Eyed Joe”, a jaunty country tune which, as Ben notes, was an unlikely hit for Swedish Eurodance band Rednex in 1994. The song goes back as far as the 1880’s, even probably back to the Civil War, based on a traditional Irish folk song with lyrics rooted in the slave plantations and the band’s hoedown approach must be a great success in concert.

The next two songs take us into gospel territory. “Keep On The Sunny Side” was a Christian hymn written in 1889, the words inspired by the writer’s disabled nephew who always asked for his wheelchair to be pushed down the sunny side of the street. With banjo and great harmonies, it is impossible not to join in on the chorus. Originally a prison song from the 1920’s “I’ll Fly Away” was featured in O Brother, Where Art Thou? And The Professors’ uplifting version rattles along with fine harmonies, violin and banjo. Described by Ben as “the ultimate genre-fluid song”, “St James Infirmary” is said to date back to a British eighteenth century folk song entitled ‘The Unfortunate Rake’ and has, of course, been widely recorded, notably in jazz by the likes of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, in blues by Bobby Bland and in rock by The Animals and Joe Cocker. The Professors’ extended version strikes a lugubrious tone as sax and violin play mournfully behind Ben’s reading of the familiar lyrics before the band builds up the tempo towards the end, perhaps emulating the traditional New Orleans funerals?

A second song associated with Lead Belly is “Midnight Special”, the “ever-loving light” being the light on the front of the train from Houston to the Sugar Land prison. Influenced by the version that Lead Belly recorded with the Golden Gate Quartet, this version is strong on harmonies, harp and violin behind the guitar work, making it a gentle take on a song recorded so many times over the years. Less familiar is “I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground”, a warm song that searches for solace and dates back to 1929; Ben first heard this done by Eric Bibb. Also less familiar is “My Creole Belle” which goes back to 1902, this version adding accordion to give it something of a Louisiana feel. Ben notes that what started out as a music hall tune became a jazz standard and was adapted by Mississippi John Hurt in 1963, then covered by Arlo Guthrie and Taj Mahal. We close with “Trouble In Mind” which we will all associate with Big Bill Broonzy. However, Ben’s informative notes tell us that it is an adaptation of a nineteenth century spiritual, a song of hope in hard times. Transcribed in the 1920’s by Richard M Jones, it has become one of the most recorded songs, including versions by Big Bill, BB King, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Reed and Muddy Waters. The Professors give the song a very positive reading with sax, piano and some scat singing!

As the title suggests, a second volume is in the works and will concentrate on the move to the cities, Chicago blues and post-war music in the band’s spotlight. If it is anywhere near as enjoyable as their run through the pre-war stuff it will be another excellent listen!

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’.

Fred Hostetler – Blues Back Pages

Mukthiland Records

www.fredsheartradio.com

11 Tracks – 46 minutes

Fred’s career started in the 60’s. In 1974, he did backing vocals for Johnny Winter on his Jonathon Dawson Winters album. In 1977, he provided percussion for Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic. In that same year, Fred refused to sign a contract with Max’s Kansas City Records. He continued session work as a backing vocalist for many artists including The Knack and for Graham Parker on his debut album Another Grey Area where Eric Troyer also performed with him on backing vocals. In addition, he wrote songs for Billy Squier (“Who Knows What Love Can Do?”), Jeff Beck (“Back on the Street”) and others.

In the early 2000’s, Fred moved to India where he joined an ashram and provided voluntary services. He returned to the US and his musical career in 2017 and now has released eight consecutive years of releases. he felt that some of his earlier work, particularly his blues songs, had been lost. Those songs became the framework for this album. Fred performs all lead vocals on the album with his friend Eric Troyer providing keyboards and vocals on five tracks and Robbie Cribbs doing the same on the remaining tracks.

He opens with “Hey Corporate Vandals” asking companies to “give a working man some room to breathe” and asks, “why do you have to have it all”. A cover of Mose Allison’s 1967 “Your Mind is on Vacation” also identifies “your mouth is working overtime”. “Taming the Wolf” is an autobiographical tale featuring the sound of Howlin’ Wolf echoing in his background. He cites “he grew up in a small town in Indiana…listening to the blues” “I played the blues in an all-white town. The elders spoke out. Son, you let us down. I said wait a minute now, don’t go so fast. You folks is living somewhere in the past. Can’t you see I’m taming the wolf inside of me and I am that I am and on my way to blues heaven.”

Fred’s slide guitar leads on the next three songs. He declares that he has “been drinking the water from a “Deep Deep Well” and notes he is walkin’ down the road “destination unknown”. Next, he sings about a personal loss. “At 3 AM in the morning I sat straight up in bed. I heard the telephone ringing, ringing in my head. When the phone rings after midnight, you know the news ain’t good. Well, something happening somewhere you better knock-on wood.” “I picked up the phone and a voice told me your mother has passed on.” I got the “Orphan Blues”. He seeks “Shelter from the Storm” and cites “I hear the wind howlin’ whispering through the trees…I’m lucky I ain’t dead”.

A cover of Bill Wither’s 1971 “Ain’t No Sunshine” is next. He states, “I just can’t stop worrying about “What’s Ahead and What’s Behind”. ” I got troubles up and down my mind. Karen Lawrence who has been a collaborator with Fred over the years wrote “Rain on My Window Pane” which cites “the sky is so dark it looks like Judgment Day”, but “when my love comes back, the sun is going to shine”. “New Man” comes out rocking with electric guitar and horns, a stark change in the musical voyage to this point as he notes “I came back and picked up my good old Stratocaster” and “there is so much more to life”. He closes the album with a declaration that “You Found Me” “when I was lost in the world around me”.

Fred’s vocals are comfortable but somewhat weathered. His instrumentals are constantly intriguing. Both making for a very worthwhile listen.

Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter.