Delmark has been very busy with live DVD/CD PROJECTS. We mentioned
the Ari Brown Quartet live at the Green Mill in the last issue. In July, we
videotaped Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble live at Fred Anderson's Velvet
Lounge and audio recorded them in our studio. Nicole was the subject of a recent
front page article in Chicago Reader headlined by : "An Improvised Life:
Her path has been anything but straightforward, but Nicole is on her way to
becoming the greatest living flutist in jazz!" - Peter Margasak.
For four nights in August we videotaped blues shows at Chicago establishments:
1) Aug 17 - BYTHER SMITH!! NATURAL RHYTHM private social club - 2000 W. 59th St, Byther's intense vocals and biting guitar were backed by Anthony Palmer on rhythm gtr, Greg McDaniel (Floyd's son) on bass, and James Carter (Willie Kent's nephew) on drums; this is Jimmy Burns' hot backing band.
2) Aug 18- LITTLE ARTHUR DUNCAN and the Back Scratchers with special guest vocalist LITTLE AL THOMAS at Rosa's Lounge, 3420 W. Armitage. Backscratchers are Illinois Slim (played w/ Eddie Taylor!) and Rick Kreher (played w/ Muddy Waters!, Johnny Burgin) on guitars, Greg McDaniel (Floyd's son) on bass, and Twist Turner (best blues storyteller) on drums. It was such a special treat to have singer Little Al ("Stranded in St. Louis") as special guest with the charismatic, down home voc/harp of Little Arthur!
3) Aug 20 - DAVE SPECTER with vocalist SHARON LEWIS, "Texas Fire" and Brother John Kattke (keys), Harlan Terson (bass) and Marty Binder (drums) at Rosa's Lounge.
4) Aug 21 - DAVE SPECTER with JIMMY JOHNSON and TAD ROBINSON and Brother John, Harlan, and Marty. - Buddy Guy's Legends.
If you haven't seen fantastic blues guitarist/vocalist Jimmy "The Bar Room Preacher" Johnson recently, it is unbelievable how young he looks and sounds ! This guy is in his late 70's!! Specter's been playing quite often with Jimmy recently, quite the dynamic duo!
If you're not familiar with vocalist/harpist Tad Robinson, he's got serious pipes, one of the best soul / blues singers around, and has great taste in song selection (which is one of my personal problems with Chicago Blues singers....) He has great timing, delivery, and can blow a mean blues harp as well.
Sharon Lewis was featured in David Whiteis' 2006 book , Chicago Blues: Portraits and Stories. He devotes a whole chapter to the Texas Fire! Tribune Critic Howard Reich raved about Sharon recently: "her pulsing alto remains one of the wonders of the world of blues!"
Dave Specter just performed a very well received unique show in the Millennium Park/Pritzker Pavilion, called "CHICAGO BLUES/JAZZ SUMMIT." This involved Specter with a 12- piece band, bringing together blues artists Sharon Lewis, Billy Branch & Jimmy Johnson with jazz players Ari Brown, Chris Foreman, John Brumbach, Steve Berry and Pete Benson. Specter's "deep in the groove" guitar along with a really nice mix of Chicago blues and jazz heavies, which seemingly has become more and more rare these days. Howard Reich wrote a glowing review, available at metromix.chicagotribune.com.
Check out the Delmark web site [www.delmark.com] for updated artists GIGS PAGE. FINALLY!! Includes detailed list (still being updated) of leading living jazz and blues artists who recorded for Delmark as leaders and sidemen/women.
DELMARK ON MYSPACE! Whatever that is. www.myspace.com/delmarkrecords.
We are extremely proud of the following Living Blues Critic/Reader awards just announced in the last issue:
Junior Wells - Live at Theresa's 1975 (Delmark 787) - 2006 Album of
the Year(Critics)
Lurrie Bell: most outstanding Musician - Guitar (Critic's and Reader's
Poll)
Carey Bell:most outstanding Musician - Harmonica (Critic's Poll)
Bob Stroger: Most outstanding Musician -Bass (Critic's poll)
In addition Carey and Lurrie Bell's new Delmark album Getting'Up(791) was #1 on the Living Blues Radio Chart for the month of August.
Over Labor Day weekend, Bob Koester will be very busy. He leads a panel on "The Future of Traditional Jazz New Orleans Style" at Chicago's Symphony Center and then on to the Detroit International Jazz Fest where he will be serving on two panels: "Blues Towns: Detroit/Chicago" and "Spin City: Record Biz." He is excited to be on these panels with such luminaries as Bob Porter, Ira Gitler, Larry Mc Cray, Robert Jones, Fred Rief and Dave Usher.
And on a personal note, Kevin Johnson, our all-around fabulous Director of Promotion, just got married on August 25th. We wish him and his new wife, Brianna, the best. They are a wonderful couple and, most importantly, Brianna likes the music!!