I’ve been gigging since 1992 and yet 2011 has been a real learning curve for me. After playing with various bands on the blues scene for the last twenty years I decided, with a helping hand from my mate Bob Swift, to go out solo playing the music from the city that’s at my heart, New Orleans. My biggest influences have always been Dr.John, James Booker, Allen Toussaint, Huey Smith, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino etc and in 1998 Bob booked me a solo gig in my home city of Sheffield. I played two hours of New Orleans piano instrumentals to a packed house and it went down a storm! Following that gig I decided to concentrate my efforts on my New Orleans show. 2009 saw me introduce vocals and also Ian Sanderson on trumpet. An EP, Qualified, followed recorded by the late great Kevin Thorpe and we ended up playing various festivals and gigs across the country.

During 2010 I wanted a band to deliver the New Orleans sound I had in my head. My long time friend Dave Raeburn was my first choice for drummers. On bass I initially used Jeremy Meek from the amazing Paul Carrack’s band and then later Chris Chapman. Joining Ian in the horn section was outstanding saxophonist Kim Mayhew, which really added to the sound I wanted. The band kind of defaulted onto the blues circuit and we played our first official band gig at Carlisle blues festival 2010. At the same time we brought out a band EP, Movin’ On.

New Orleans music is a diverse melting pot of different styles incorporating Blues, Jazz, Funk, Latin and even Classical whilst always underpinned with the New Orleans street beat, the Second Line. For musicians who are not used to the music of the Big Easy it can be a little disconcerting and difficult to get your head around. For me, the band went onto the scene without enough preparation and my main fear was that it would quickly turn into just another blues and rock ‘n’ roll band. As time has gone on the band has definitely improved and grown and members have tried hard to get to grips with the style.

However, it was still leaning towards more straight-ahead blues and I felt it was taking me away from the New Orleans piano shows I’d set out to do.

Consequently I’ve had to have a rethink on the band and coupled with other members commitments to other projects, I’ve decided to once again concentrate my efforts on my solo or duo show. I won’t be shelving the band altogether. At some point soon I’ll be looking at the line up and how we can create more of an authentic New Orleans sound. For the time being though and the immediate future, I’m booking out my duo which consists of myself on piano and vocals and my now fiancée Kim Mayhew on saxophone (we’re due to wed in 2012). Kim has a great understanding of New Orleans music and is into a lot of the same artists as I am. We went to see Allen Toussaint solo recently at Camden’s Jazz Café and it reconfirmed to me that I should be concentrating on the solo show. I‘ve always known that ‘solo showcases piano best’ and to be honest I get most musical satisfaction out of playing solo or as a duo. So all that said, what can you expect from us? Well, there is still plenty of blues in there, but New Orleans music for me is so diverse that playing solo enables us to throw in loads that people wouldn’t normally expect. I often start off a show with some old style Latin or Classically influenced tunes. That might be followed up with some 50’s R’n’B à la Fats Domino, Huey Smith, Lee Dorsey or Ernie K. Doe. There are boogie instrumentals like Swanee River as well as my own compositions. Other more famous tunes like The Godfather theme or A Taste Of Honey played in the style of James Booker are also really popular on the solo shows. Whatever the set is on the night, I always try to make it different and interesting to the listener usually by the end culminating in some up tempo Big Joe Turner or Robert Parker foot tappers. We are currently in the process of recording a full album, which may be released with a little luck before the year is out. It will be a mixture of covers and self-penned material but should really showcase what we do. So that’s it, Kim and I are on the road bringing a slice of authentic New Orleans Piano Blues with us. Hope to see y’all at a gig soon.

All the best!

Dale

Check out Dale’s web site for more info and tour dates.

JO HARMAN AND COMPANY

‘real deal’ BBC
‘outstanding’ Time Out
‘more talent in one strand of her blonde hair than most singers have in their entire being’ SQ
‘a throwback to the golden age of music’  31 days

Since leaving a lucrative production deal with a Grammy Winning producer, Jo Harman has made an immediate impact stepping out to make music she loves, under her own terms. Industry attention, international press acclaim, an increasingly impressive gig list (12 festival appearances scheduled in 2012), 3 separate BBC introducing sessions, touring with Average White Band, and selling out some of London’s most prestigious venues, have only added to Jo’s growing reputation as a roots, soul, blues, gospel and Southern Rock infused artist of exceptional promise. With a first class band in tow (with CVs to prove it.. Bob Dylan, BB King and more included), Jo announced herself with a much acclaimed ‘Live At Hideaway’ album which including the self penned eulogy ‘Sweet Man Moses’ nominated as best original composition for the 2012 British Blues Awards.

The track we have for you is a special re-working of ‘Sweet Man Moses’ featuring the noted ‘Watersign Horns’ from Atlanta, Georgia. The track will be available commercially as part of a four track debut studio EP, to be released later this year, again involving some truly heavyweight industry producers and musicians.

Download it here.

For more information on Jo, including details of her upcoming shows, visit her web site.

Photo by Alexis Maryon.

Why does BBC Radio 4’s Count Arthur Strong say he’s ready to take over from Paul Jones?

How did Southern songbird Lisa Mills first meet the blues in Alabama?

What made Sugar Pie Desanto say her 1964 tour of the UK was ‘horrible’?

Why does Ed Stephenson reckon his Gretsch White Falcon is falling to pieces?

All these questions are answered in Issue 125!

And there’s more:

Tom Rodwell tells us about the life of a peripatetic bluesman, Hokie Joint are in awe of a backstage toilet, J. J. Grey features in ‘Gig-of-the-Month , Tommy Allen continues to help you build your must-have album collection’ and Les Back picks the Fender Strat as a ‘guitar that made the blues’.

There are reviews of festivals in Scarborough and at Alvaston Hall, of gigs from Yorkshire to Dorset and of blues CDs & DVDs from around the world.

There’s even a review of a 2012 Orange Book Award short-listed novel!

Michael Ford

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How did the Matt Taylor and Motives end up marooned in the middle of a lake in Holland?

Why did Ry Cooder scream when he shook Hans Theessink’s hand?

Why are Hokie Joint definitely going by boat next time they play in Holland?

Which Howling Wolf track turned Marcus Bonfanti onto the Blues?

All these questions are answered in Issue 124!

And there’s more:

Tommy Allen helps you build your must-have album collection, Walter Trout features in ‘Gig-of-the-Month’, Les Back picks the Gibson ES-5 as a ‘guitar that made the blues’, there are reviews of festivals in Banbury and Shrewsbury, of gigs from North Wales to North London and of blues CDs from around the world.

You can even win a 1966 ‘Dennis the Menace’ Annual!

Michael Ford

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After nearly fifteen years as Reviews Editor and Editor of Blues In Britain, Jon Taylor and I are stepping down and handing the magazine on to Michael Ford and his team at Brontë Blues Club, in West Yorkshire. I will still contribute the occasional article and live review and I am looking forward to getting out to more gigs and festivals.

This issue celebrates fifty years of blues in Britain. On 17th March 1962, Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies started blues nights at The Ealing Jazz Club, a basement bar opposite Ealing Broadway station. It brought together musicians, singers and fans and was the catalyst that started British rhythm and blues. It was there that Brian Jones, who had hitched from Cheltenham, met Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Bob Salmons and Alastair Young, two Ealing based blues fans, have raised funds to have a commemorative blue plaque erected on the building which housed the club. They have contributed two articles; Bob, who is Director of the Ealing Blues Festival, has written an evaluation of how the legacy of the club affected the course of popular music and Alastair has created a time line outlining events in those early days. Bobby Korner, Alexis Korner’s widow, will unveil the plaque at 1p.m. on Saturday 17th March 2012. Then there will be music in the venue, now much improved and called The Red Room.

Having lived through the sixties in the UK, I have always wondered what it was like for Americans to experience the British Invasion, as they called it. Who better to ask than the Professor of Pop, Paul Gambaccini, the American DJ and UK resident? I went to see him and he was wonderfully informative.

Our cover artist Oli Brown is not much older than Mick Jagger was in 1962. He is about to release his third album Here I Am, on Ruf Records. I called Oli to hear about the making of the album, most of which is original material.

We have another in the occasional series of Blues In Britain CDs. This time it is a unique collection of live tracks recorded at Shakedown Blues in Castor. It will be distributed free to all subscribers to Blues In Britain.

To all our contributors and readers, thank you for your support over the years! Keep on reading the magazine and supporting the blues.

Fran Leslie

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Your new album Sticks And Stones is the second outing under the Big Motor name: are you sticking with that trio going forward and for touring this year?

Yes. I want to acknowledge the energy of the band; it’s something that I want to bring to the forefront of the sound, to have the guys be the contributing cradle that holds the new songs. Even though there’s been a changing of the guard on drums [Chris Frazier taking over from Patrick Caccia] that’s still that expectation that I have: it’s the powerhouse. I believe in the family!

I understand you’re with a new label too?

I was with Steve Vai’s Favored Nations for the last album, but I’m with Mascot Records group now. It’s all good: everybody’s on the same page and feeling good about the music. I’m excited about the way the album came out personally. My concern about the songs was about the way the energy was going to be captured; that energy being captured was the focal point of what we were doing and I think that we got lucky. I think the mission was accomplished as far as capturing that. The way we approach things in the studio is always live tracking, that can get lost if you break it up; if you break it up the first thing to go is the magic.

Where did you record the album?

In Los Angeles: we laid down the tracks at The Steakhouse in Burbank, finished it at the Wyman studios also in Burbank and did the mastering in Hollywood at Stephen Marsh: I call it the Bermuda Triangle!

There’s an interesting mix of the roots of blues with a more rock feel on the album.

We played a little bit with the tonality of each song. I didn’t want to have a uniform sound throughout the whole record, so we kinda played with it a little bit, to have some different sounds instead of having that guitar wide open through the whole thing. But the essence was there, I just wanted the songs to be captured.

I was hearing influences of bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Stones, Blackfoot?

Ha! Blackfoot, nice, where’d you pull that out from? Love that!

And the album shows you have a powerful front-man’s voice, quite Dave Lee Roth in places.

Thanks, it’s considered singing by some people and it’s the best I got! I sing from the heart, I know there ain’t no wrong way to sing, I do my best. I definitely have something to say when I write a song. There’s no tricks; for anyone who knows what we do, I’ve never tried to be anything I’m not, but I do try to reach a different place and go further than the last record, both song writing-wise and energy-wise and I hope that I accomplish that goal. I was pretty stoked on moving forward from the last album.

A good example of that roots / rock blend you have is the segue of the almost acoustic “Ratchet Blues” to “Behind The 8” a fast, SRV-like instrumental.

When you bring Stevie up that’s something that makes me real proud! To write an instrumental in the blues spectrum and it having something to say without words is pretty tough. That’s something I always reach for, that kind of energy; whether its Scuttlebutting or Little Wing, every instrumental is kind of a challenge for me, being free of vocals.

Tell us a bit about what got you started out in music.

There was a lot of music in our house, my mom always had music on. My first concert was Elvis when I was six years old; second one though was the Osmonds, so that screwed it up, kinda. One step forward, two steps back!

So was it the Elvis concert that inspired you to start playing?

To be honest way before that I was shaking my diapers to Ray Charles and Tom Jones and Wild Cherry; whatever else kind of funk, soul and blues was playing in my house. I had this thing with Elvis, always had that little leg shake thing and my diapers would fall off. So it started like that. I think my diapers still fall off. [laughter]

You’ve had some fairly stellar guests on earlier records: Hubert Sumlin, Johnny Winter, Honeyboy Edwards..

Everything I’ve ever done has been a gift; as far as being able to have those musical experiences, unexpected, backstage, or onstage, those are incredible things. Being able to befriend people, some of whom are now no longer are with us, I’ve been lucky. There’s a lot of doors that are closing as far as the legends are concerned, some are still living, but a lot have gone even in my time so I hold all those experiences very dear. It’s an honour for me to have worked with anyone of that nature: Honeyboy is like the last of that first generation, you can’t say anything about him other than ‘He was there, he was there for real!’ I recorded with Homesick James, but I haven’t put it out on wax because he passed before we could finish it.

I understand you are actually left handed but taught yourself to play right handed?

The thing was, I was given a regular guitar, and although I didn’t take any lessons I was always being corrected on the way to hold it so I just had to figure it out. It ended up working out in a way; because I didn’t have the speed in my right wrist as a fly picker that really pushed me into getting the speed as a finger picker, and because I’m faster with my left the attack with the slide is a little bit different too. Its that organic stuff that you cant really explain.

That’s a lovely guitar, do you only ever play on resonator guitars?

Yeah, just electrified dobros, with different tunings: I’ve always used resonators. I love hollow bodies and I have a bunch of different guitars but my love of the blues and of playing acoustic slide made me want to take this instrument out of context. Electrifying an acoustic isn’t anything new but taking it out of the box is really something I wanted to do. To keep the integrity intact, but push it. So I don’t feel limited by it at all.

You certainly wouldn’t think the solo on “Behind The 8” was on the same guitar as “County Line”. I see rather than use glass or steel that you use a brass slide, why is that?

Ah, the ‘preaching pipe’? Glass breaks on me; I appreciate a nice, old-school wine or whisky bottle glass slide, there’s nothing wrong with a glass slide, but they break and they chip. I had a piece of brass pipe and, being soft as it is, it got really shaped and worn down through the heat and the friction to the point where it got tapered up. The thing about brass is that when it gets chipped up thats what gives you the sauce, gives you the romance on the strings [demonstrates by running slide over strings]. So every little divot gives you more inflection. Glass has got such a different approach, certain people can make that slide sound good; me, I can tell its not my vehicle, I need something a little more rustic! And the brass warms up to my hand and feels like an extension of me.

From what I’ve seen of your very intense live performances I can see how you might break a glass slide! Are you still setting fire to your guitar or is that a rare event?

It happens when it happens; it’s really not a gimmick. If it happens it’ll happen spontaneously, no pun intended!

You have some pretty intensive touring in Europe in the autumn, although no UK dates announced yet?

Yeah, we start in Spain, go to Italy and then we got quite a run through Germany, it’s almost a month’s worth of dates there. I think we might have some UK shows, which would be great; it can’t be soon enough to come back here. I understand the Astoria’s gone now? That’s such a bummer, it’s like losing the Fillmore for you guys. And the Mean Fiddler, I’ve played there too, low ceilings, that was great. I loved that place, and they put a station on top! A lot of history gone, I’m just glad I got to play there.

And the new record is out in August?

End of the month I think. We worked hard on it; it’s been a while since the last release and we’ve been through a lot of changes and we’ve taken a lot of hits, which is why I entitled the album Sticks And Stones. I’m proud of the songs and I think the band is rising from the ashes and I know we’re ready to go. As soon as we get out on the road we’re gone, like a diesel engine baby, you can’t shut it off!

Find the UK and European tour dates on Eric’s web site.

The guitarist and singer Steve Ajao, a Birmingham native, was interviewed by Juanita McGowen for Blues In Britain, to celebrate his debut album Pure Evil. It has been a long time coming, considering his talent and the high regard in which he is held by his peers and his audiences.

We have two e-letters this month. One is from energetic guitar virtuoso Steve Morrison from South London, often to be seen at Brooks Blues Bar. The other is from Stan Cockeram, leader of Riverside Blues Band, who also hosts several blues jam in the Bournemouth area.

Tim Porter, who puts on regular gigs at The Cherington Arms, in Warwickshire, has written a Blues Venue piece. This also includes other events he programmes and promotes, in particular the Banbury Blues and Roots Festival, on Saturday 3rd March.

We also have the usual reviews of live events, plus a preview of the New Orleans JazzFest, which is coming up this month. The Festivals for this year are already making a good showing in Blues News.

The March issue will feature The 50th Anniversary of the British Blues Boom. The site of the Ealing Club will be marked by a commemorative blue plaque on Saturday 17th March, fifty years after Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies started the first club date there.

Fran Leslie

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London soul and funk collective The Coalminers are building a fine reputation on the capital’s live music scene. Their six piece line up, oft augmented by brass and percussion, delivers an unparalleled swampy New Orleans funk groove. Drummer Pat Levett tipped me off about a free album giveaway, and it’s a doozy! Exchange your email address over at The Coalminers web site for Who’s Ready! – ten tracks of fine and funky goodness including originals Dad, You Better Start Drinking (penned by vocalist Ben Somers) and Soft Shoe (by the aforementioned Mr. Levett) featuring some nifty accordion from Dan Teper.

Grab it quickly, while it’s hot.

Upcoming Shows:

Thursday 9th Feb – Charlie Wright’s, Pitfield Street, Hoxton, London N1
Thursday 23rd Feb – The Blues Kitchen, Camden High Street, London NW1

For more, see their web site.

- by Keith Shackleton

Alan Glen has played with too many bands to mention and pops up all over the UK blues scene. Alan plays harmonica, guitar and sings on at least fifty separate albums. He was only talking about three of them when he came to Blues In Britain, namely The Barcodes: Be Cool The Very Best of the Barcodes, Little Axe: If You Want Loyalty Buy A Dog and Nine Below Zero: Live In Europe 1992. He is also one of the main players, with John O’Leary, in a series of tribute concerts, which highlight the music of Junior Wells and Cyril Davies.

We have an e-letter from yet another young UK guitarist and singer Nat Martin. His band’s debut album is called Don’t Lose Your Cool and has ten original tracks. Nat lists Albert Collins as a major influence.

We have reports of The King Biscuit Festival, The Torquay Festival and The Carlisle Festival. King Biscuit was probably the last gig Hubert Sumlin played before he died aged eighty.

Coming up in 2012 is the anniversary of the start of the British Blues Boom. If you have any memories or photographs and memorabilia from that time, please let us know. Issue 123, for March 2012, will be celebrating it On 17th March 2012, a plaque will be unveiled on the building, which housed The Ealing Club, in the basement, back in 1962.

Fran Leslie

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