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DAY 2
Reeling in the Year of the Blues, Plus One: Was it all smoke and mirrors?
'A Terrible year'
Chicago Sun Times
April 5, 2002
Jeff Johnson
THE YEAR OF THE BLUES has come and gone in America, and the lasting refrain might be found in Skip James' Depression-era lament "Hard Time Killing Floor": "Hard time here and everywhere you go, times is harder than ever been before."
This American folk art that was born of hard times in the Mississippi Delta and migrated North to Chicago in the postwar industrial boom may not be ready for the killing floor, but it is standing at a crossroads.
The impact of "Martin Scorsese's 'The Blues,' " the weeklong film series on PBS last fall, and accompanying projects does not seem to be carrying over in the Year After the Blues.
Financially, times are tough for almost everyone who earns a living by playing, recording, staging or promoting music. That's doubly true of the blues, which enjoys only a marginal share of the marketplace even in the best of circumstances and now can provide a comfortable lifestyle to only a relative handful of musicians.
Artistically, many of the biggest stars of the blues have either died or are too infirm to perform regularly, leaving the music in the hands of younger African-American artists who may be generations removed from its Southern agrarian roots and white artists who cut their teeth on rock and think of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Led Zeppelin and ZZ Top as the holy trinity.
Elder statesmen and up-and-comers make Chicago the live-blues capital
Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues. Branch, the most complete harmonica player in town and a tireless bandleader, is doing his best to keep the blues alive. Try to catch him this summer with guitarist Kenny Neal, his partner on a fine new acoustic Alligator album. Where to catch them: Mondays at Artis', Rosa's Lounge.
Lonnie Brooks, the patriarch of a blues family that also includes guitar-slinging sons Ronnie Baker Brooks and Wayne Baker Brooks, serves up a tasty brew of swamp rock, Chicago blues and R&B. Where to catch him: Buddy Guy's Legends, Naper Days, Bloomingdale Family Fest.
Lurrie Bell, who learned from his dad, harp great Carrie Bell, as well as a who's who of bluesmen with family ties, is a supremely talented guitarist who seems to have licked his inner demons. Where to catch him: Rosa's Lounge.
Jimmy Burns, a Mississippi native and veteran of the West Side club scene, combines the best of both worlds with his well-chosen covers and heartfelt originals. Where to catch him: Wednesdays at Kingston Mines, Buddy Guy's Legends (often hosts Monday jam).
Joanna Connor, a dynamic blues-rock guitarist, combines funked-up rhythms and a passion for the blues like no other ax-wielding female. Where to catch her: Tuesdays at Kingston Mines, House of Blues restaurant, Buddy Guy's Legends.
Shirley Johnson, one of Chicago's technically proficient blues singers, starting out singing gospel, which serves her well with her blues/R&B hybrid. Where to catch her: Blue Chicago.
Willie Kent and the Gents, one of the few bands to be fronted by a bassist, is among the city's most consistently good live acts. Where to catch them: Blue Chicago (often with vocalist Patricia Scott), Bill's Blues, Buddy Guy's Legends..
Magic Slim and the Teardrops, often considered Chicago's most authentic Delta-to-Chicago blues practitioners, make magic with their guitar-playing frontman and a well-drilled supporting crew. Where to catch him: Kingston Mines, Bill's Blues, B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted.
John Primer & the Real Deal Blues Band, fronted by a onetime guitarist for the great Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, plays uncompromising, traditional Delta blues like few others of their generations. Where to catch them: Kingston Mines, Blue Chicago, Buddy Guy's Legends.
Son Seals, a gruff-voiced bad-ax guitarist from Arkansas, looks like a bear but is gentle as a pussycat when you meet him. Where to catch him: B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted.
Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang, fronted by Howlin' Wolf's longtime saxophonist and bandleader, plays an inspired blend of Wolf covers and contemporary originals. Shaw's son Eddie Vaan Shaw Jr. is a mainstay on guitar. Where to catch them: Blue Chicago.
Koko Taylor, Chicago's queen of the blues, has overcome her recent health problems and is making a few selected appearances with her crackerjack Blues Machine. Where to catch her: Star Plaza Theatre on April 9-10.
Melvin Taylor & the Slack Band: The Evidence recording artist is perhaps Chicago's flashiest guitarist, playing his lightning-quick jazz scales with the gymnastic flare of Hendrix. Where to catch him: Rosa's Lounge.
Lil' Ed Williams, frontman for Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials, is a dazzling guitarist and enthusiastic live performer with his band or unplugged. Where to catch him: Buddy Guy's Legends, B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted, Monday acoustic shows at Bill's Blues.
Chicago's live blues scene may have shifted from the South and West sides to Yuppieville in recent years, but there are still plenty of suitable showcases for local talent. The following acts should offer you an authentic blues experience regardless of setting.
"Make note that you interviewed me in the final hours of the last day of the Year of the Blues," Dick Waterman pointed out in a Jan. 31 interview in Memphis, Tenn. Waterman, who managed the careers of Delta blues immortals such as Son House and Skip James as well as Chicago stars Buddy Guy and Junior Wells and a young Bonnie Raitt, said, "It was all smoke and mirrors. It was some arbitrary decision based on the fact that W.C. Handy got off a train in Mississippi in 1903, so they contacted some legislators and congressmen and pushed for a proclamation.
"But 2003 was a terrible year for the blues, economically. In 1999 and 2000, the money flowed freely as tech companies were eager to put their money into blues. Cell phone companies and airlines were sponsoring festivals. After 9/11, which was several months after the economic downturn started, corporate sponsorship of blues festivals was already declining, to the point where several music festivals vanished altogether in 2002 and 2003."
Buddy Guy, who along with B.B. King represents the only blues artists whose stardom transcends hard-core blues fans, said the biggest problem is lack of exposure. "Blues is not being played on mainstream radio stations like it used to be," said Chicago's Grammy-winning blues ambassador and proprietor of Buddy Guy's Legends in the South Loop. "When I first came here [in 1957], every radio station would play everybody's music. It was mostly AM stations. They played a spiritual record, a jazz record, country and Western ... then you would hear Muddy Waters. They gave all music a chance, like we need to do."
Many blues aficionados lament the lack of interest in the blues among younger African Americans, whose heads have been turned by hip-hop -- including Guy's daughter Shawanna, who records with rap star Ludacris. Guy points out that even his own children rarely have had a chance to hear him perform live because most blues venues are nightclubs where admission is denied to those under 21. And by that time, musical tastes have been fully formed.
Chicago harmonica ace and bandleader Billy Branch has actively tried to bring the music to youths through Blues in the Schools programs. The 50-year-old Branch was once mentioned as part of a new generation of local blues players, along with John Primer, Killer Ray Allison, Harmonica Hinds and Lurrie Bell.
"We were a vanguard of younger African-American musicians who kept the torch going," Branch said. "We've never really been recognized as such, but we're still here and playing and still creating music."
Even the best homegrown blues talent has failed to break out of the Windy City and enjoy widespread success in recent years. Their artistic growth may be stunted because Chicago's best-paying live venues seem to cater to patrons with limited knowledge of the blues and specific expectations for their club experience.
"Nobody's writing new songs. Everybody's doing the same old crap," says Steve Pasek, whose Blues University sponsors blues pub crawls that attract up to 900 club-hoppers. "There isn't any minor league feeding the real moneymaking, and the venues that cater to tourists and the average person who knows nothing about the blues are frequently taking over."
Pasek compares the blues with Latin -- the root of all languages, as blues is the root of all American music.
"Most of the people selling blues don't see that it's not just a museum piece and that there's a potential modern audience for it," he says. "And most bands don't write original music. That contributes to the myth that the blues is a dead language, like Latin."
Day 1
http://www.suntimes.com/special_sec...blues/day1.html
Day 2
http://www.suntimes.com/special_sec...blues/day2.html
[Edited by polksalad69] |
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