This is the season of the outdoor festival seasson, as you may have guessed. So some of the festivals will be mentioned in this column. Plus you can tune into blues radio programs that are online, read about the reopening of a famous blues club, hear about a theater production about the blues, or learn which musicians visited this area or about ones that have new cds out. So let’s check the scene out.
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.............................................................BY MARIA BAINER - 2003
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NEW BLUES FESTIVAL GUIDE RELEASED
The first printing of 100,000 copies of the Blues Festival Guide were released in May, 2003. This free annual publication listed blues festivals around the country and related websites to get updated information. It also had entertaining and educational editorial by top blues aficionados. This Guide is patterned after the successful Reggae Festival Guide. It was distributed in record and music stores, at blues clubs and festivals, and through blues societies. For further information, check their website:http://www.bluesfestivalguide.com or email them at: kaati@bluesfestivalguide.com .

FESTIVAL SEASON IN FULL SWING
The free, 23rd annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival opened the season as usual at San Jose State University in mid May. This year they featured: Bernard Allison (Luther’s son); Sista Monica; Corby Yates; Blue Monday, featuring Ron E. Beck, Chris Cain, Clifford Coulter, and Danny Hull; Rene Solis and The Persuaders, featuring harpist, Gary Smith, and special guest, Essra Mohawk; and The Shane Dwight Band. This is always a popular event.

The eleventh annual Santa Cruz Festival was held the end of May, during the Memorial Day weekend. Saturday’s lineup featured: Ray Charles; Howard Tate; Lucky Peterson with Rico McFarland; and Michael Burks. Performers on Sunday were: Jimmie Vaughan with LuAnn Barton; The Ford Brothers Blues Band with Robben Ford and Chris Cain who played a tribute to Michael Bloomfield; Coco Montoya; Tinsley Ellis; and Angela Strehli with guitarist, Mike Schermer.

The ninth annual California Blues Festival was held in the bandshell in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco the last Monday of May. The musicians who played were: Birdlegg; Shawn Dwight; Rene Solis and The Persuaders; J.C. Smith; Bobbie “Spider” Webb and Smooth Blues; Filmore Slim; and Emmett Powell and The Gospel Elites.

The eighth annual Russian River Blues Festival took place at Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville, about 2 hours north of San Francisco. It was the last weekend in June. Saturday’s lineup was: Etta James and the Roots Band; Susan Tedeschi; The Blind Boys of Alabama; Zigaboo Modeliste and Dr. Loco and The Rockin’ Jalapeno Band. On Sunday, The Robert Cray Band; Mavis Staples and her band; Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks; Lonnie Brooks Band and Mighty Mo Rodgers performed.

I went to Chicago to help celebrate the twentieth anniversary of The Chicago Blues Festival, May 29 - June 1, 2003. It was a fun experience to visit a heartland of the blues. If you are interested in my commentary, check out: http://www.bluesartstudio.at . Then click on Blues Art Studio Journal, the first link on the left. Then scroll down until you see my name and Chicago Blues Festival. Click on this link and voila, there you are. It is also online at: http://www.blues.co.nz/features/article.php?id=157 .

The San Francisco Blues Festival will be September 26-28, 2003. Check out their website: http://www.sfblues.com for details. Their lineup is already posted.


"THE LARGEST FEST OF ALL"
The Monterey Bay Blues Festival "MBBF"always has the most performers of all. This year’s eighteenth fest had fifty-six acts and was held also the last weekend of June at the Monterey Fairgrounds. The music is presented on three stages. There were four shows on the Main Stage. The Friday evening show featured The Average White Band and the vivacious and entertaining Temptations. Although there are three of these groups, this group featured the gracious Otis Williams, one of the original Temptations.

There were two shows on Saturday. Karen Tyler opened the afternoon show. She deserved to win the Grand Prize at the fest’s second annual Battle of the Bands last November. She packed a punch with her dynamic vocals and strong, singing guitar playing. Watch out, Bonnie Raitt!! Her husband, Fred Murray, added to the exciting show with his lap steel and bass playing. Karen’s new CD, “All Shades of Blue,” shows off some of her original songs and different blues styles. She is probably on the Rocket Cat Music label, her own independent label. Check out her website:http:// www.karentyler.com for more information. Next up was Ronnie Brooks, who was rippin’ it with his guitar playing and singing as he opened up for his dad, Lonnie Brooks. The audience loved Lonnie’s hard-driving blues show, which was a combination of Chicago blues, R&B, and country blues. Lou Rawls closed the show, and didn’t seem very soulful on cover songs.

The evening show started with blues and zydeco player, Harry Hypolite. Then Charlie Musselwhite sounded great with his harmonica playing and singing. He played a stunning blues lullaby as his closing number, and the audience was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Then came the big surprise. Martin Puentes, the Executive Manager of the Festival, presented Charlie with the prestigious Monterey Bay Blues Artist of the Year Award (MOBBAY Award). There were big crocodile tears of gratitude in Charlie’s eyes. Jazz-blues singer, Barbara Morrison was next on stage. Then the charismatic soul and R&B vocalist, Willie Clayton, performed to end the evening.

The Blind Boys of Alabama took us to church to start Sunday’s Main Stage show.

Chris Cain played some dynamic, wild blues.

Shemekia Copeland, daughter of the late Johnny Copeland, is now 24 and still comes across vocally as more mature than her age. Maybe her red hair also is a factor. She is still a fiesty, strong singer and shouter. She was almost more fun to watch on the excellent large screen on the main stage, than in person. Happiness is that the closed circuit television is now video quality which is a huge improvement!!!



Sean Costello, young and white, was an impressive act. He plays a powerful blues guitar and sings some hard-core blues numbers. He plays like a king and is definitely up and coming. It is amazing that this “bold, new, young, blueblood” is considered to be one of the most powerful blues singer/guitarists on the scene today. He has already realeased his third CD. He is already a seasoned artist with great chops, bandleading abilities, and songwriting abilities. Al Green, who seems more like a preacher these days, and actually is one, than a soul singer, was the final act on the main stage. He sang a lot of his oldies.

My closing comments about the main stage performers is that this fest tends to often bring in headliners who are well-known, but not that blues related. It would have be nice if they brought in more blues-related acts, especially
this year, when this is the official Congress- declared Year of the Blues. Also, it seemed that this year there were more R&B acts, than real blues acts, which is also disappointing. After all, it is a BLUES FESTIVAL.

When time allowed, there were more acts to check out on the smaller Garden and Presidents Stage. Of course it was impossible to check out all forty-two of them.Several new acts were impressive. The Reno Jones group, second place winners of the fest fall talent show, were a nine-piece band from Southern California. Their horn section, comprised of baritone and tenor saxes, a trumpet and trombone, added to their big band sound. Most everyone played a long solo and all of them sounded very professional. The gospel group, Endurance, was unique and highly emotional and dramatic. Their show was very entertaining and included some great vocalists from the audience.

It was also good to check on some artists that had been there in previous years. Sasha Smith, who had two CDs out when he was fifteen, sang and played his keyboards with more maturity and complexity and variety. He now has a trio with him. Tom Ball and Kenny Sultan were as enjoyable as ever with their unique blend of guitar and harmonica blues and other music. It was also neat to see Bay Area performers there, including The Bay Area Blues Society, Ella Pennewell, and Lady Bianca.


TUNE IN TO BLUES RADIO SHOWS ONLINE
This world of technology is always amazing. Now you can hear some blues radio shows online.The catch is that, in most cases, you have to tune in while the show is on. Times are all Pacific Time. San Francisco Blues Festival producer, Tom Mazzolini’s show is on KPFA, 94.1 FM, Noon ‘til two on Saturdays.
Check http:// www.kpfa.org . Click on “listen online.” Another blues producer, Mark Naftalin, still does his show in California even though he lives on the East Coast. In fact he has just celebrated his nineteenth anniversary on the air. He can be heard on KALW, 91.7 FM, on Monday nights from 9-10 pm. Tune into http://www.kalw.org and then click on “Listen.” Or you can hear his program also on his website: http://www.bluespower.com. Click on “Listen.” Bob Porter has an excellent show entitled, “Portraits in Blue,” which can also be heard on KALW on Monday nights from 11 pm-12 am.

Sax musician, Bobbie Webb, does his program on KPOO, 89.5 FM from 9 am to noon on Tuesday mornings. Check http://www.kpoo.com and click on “Hear Us.” There are also three other blues shows on KPOO. “Blues with Noel” is from 9 am-noon on Wednesday mornings. Big Bones is back from his European stay. His blues show is Thursday mornings from 9 am to 11 am. “Blues For Night Owls” on Sunday nights from 2 am to 7 am. JD Esquire and Angel Child do a “Front Porch Blues Show” on KDVS, 90.3 FM on Sunday nights from 7 pm to 10 pm. The first hour is acoustic, delta, and early Chicago blues. The second and third hours are a medly of contempory electric blues. Their website is: http://www.kdvs.org and then click on “Schedule/Archives” and then on the name of program. This is one of the few programs that is also archived for one week.


ELI’S MILE HIGH CLUB REOPENS
This historic West Oakland nightclub reopened in June of this year. A capacity crowd of nearly 450 people came for the grand reopening and were entertained by San Francisco- born Joe Louis Walker. In its twenty-eight years of operation, Eli’s had become known as “The Home of The West Coast Blues.” The jukebox and historic pool table are both gone, but many of the original pictures were cleaned, polished, and reframed. The club has been spiffed up a bit, but still retains the appearance of a funky juke joint. Frank Klein, managing partner of the award-winning nightclub, Biscuits and Blues, has left his association with this club to manage Eli’s. He will now focus on the continued restoration of the club. Eli’s will have live music, consisting of blues, r&b, soul, and funk, five nights a week. The club will also serve as a museum of sorts for West Coast blues memorabilia. There is a full bar and restaurant on the premises. For further information, check out their website: http://www.elisblues.com .

BLUES ARTISTS HONORED
Three blues artists were honored by the California Music Awards, formerly the Bammies, in May. This year the event was outside, free, and seven hours. New and established artists performed and awards were presented to musicians chosen by the public. Jimmy McCracklin, was one of the honorees. This prolific singer-songwriter has played the blues scene for more than forty years. He has written some classic songs that include “The Thrill is Gone,” B.B. King’s biggest hit, and “Think,” which helped Aretha Franklin to define her style. Jimmy has over thirty albums to his credit, and was a 1991 recipient of The Pioneer Award For Lifetime Achievement from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in Washington D.C. Sugar Pie DeSanto was also honored. Her first nationwide hit was “I Want To Know.” After many recordings in Chicago, she returned to her native San Francisco and recorded “Hello San Francisco.” She toured as part of James Brown Revue for two years and she has written songs for numerous artists. Lady Bo has been referred to as “The Queen Mother of Guitar.” She was Bo Diddley’s main guitarist, and never a backup musician in his band. She was the most important lady musician in Bo Diddley’s music career. She also has performed in other bands. She has been on the blues scene for almost fifty years.


BLUES-JAZZ SINGER STARS IN MUSICAL REVUE
Bay Area’s own Faye Carol played a leading role in the new musical revue, “Black and Blue,” which ran for a month this spring at a theater in San Francisco. This version was not the same show as the one that opened in 1989 and ran for two years on Broadway.That version had mainly songs of the 20s and 30s. This version had eighteen numbers, including five newer songs that weren’t in the Broadway show. This show had three powerhouse vocalists, including Faye Carol, a smooth, male backup trio, and six dynamic young dancers. One critic described Faye’s voice as “seductive as silk, as broad as a river, and as sweet, bracing and brassy as a Louis Armstrong solo.” This revue celebrated the extraordinary contribution of African Americans to the Blues - a uniquely American art form. The revue was billed as a “joint-jumping, toe-tapping, infectious celebration of the Blues.”

TRAVELING MUSICIANS
Blues musicians continue to tour California, which pleases audiences. This session our guests included: Phillip Walker; Dr. John; John Hammond; Debbie Davies; Joe Houston; Walter “Wolfman” Washington & Road-masters; Angila Witherspoon (the late Jimmy Witherspoon daughter); Gatemouth Brown; Sonny Rhodes; Shorty Brown; Leon Redbone; Johnny Rawls; Lara Price; Mark May; Jackie Greene; Susan Angeletti; Corby Yates; Kelly Joe Phelps; Dr. John; Ron Thompson; Jonny Lang; Junior Watson; Guy Davis, and Mofo Party Band, plus those on the festival circuits, who played gigs elsewhere.

CDS AND DVDS ARE RELEASED
Blind Pig Records released two CDs. One is by Papa Chubby entitled, “The Hungry Years,” and the other is “Kickin’ It” by Hamilton Loomis. Blues Express has one called, “A Woman Like Me,” by Bettye Lavette. Their DVD is by Joe Louis Walker entitled, “ Live At ‘On Broadway.’” The Blue Rock’It Record label issued The Ford Blues Band: “In Memory of Michael Bloomfield.” This CD is distributed by Blind Pig Records. Fantasy,Inc. put out “Soul Men,” by Booker T. and the MGS; “Issac Hayes At Watts Stax;” and “Stax Instrumentals” by Booker T. and the MGS and The Mar-Keys.

Robert Cray has a new CD, “Time Will Tell,” on the Sanctuary label.He will promote this CD on a four month tour of the U.S. Many dates will be coheadlined with John Hiatt and The Goners. Angela Strehli’s latest CD is: “Live at Rancho Nicasio” with no label listed. Blues, soul, and jazzman, Jackie Ivory, has one entitled: “Laying In The Cut,” on the Honeycomb Record label. Daniel Castro’s debut CD is called, “No Surrender.” Joe Louis Walker’s new CD is entitled, “She’s My Money Maker- The Slide Guitar Album”; It is on JSP records from England.

That is about it for now. Hope you hear some good blues soon!! As we know, many kinds of music are labeled “blues” these days. Keep in mind this quote from the late Willie Dixon. “The Blues are the roots of all American music, the rest are the fruits.” Happy bluing!!! Maria Bainer