I began this project to consider the differences between the West Coast Blues Music in the cities of San Francisco and San Jose with two other cities New Orleans in the South and Chicago representing the North and the Midwest . I wasn’t able to get to Chicago so I continued here in the North with small town singers in Richmond , Maine and ended with the Grate BB King in Augusta , Maine . The experience was exhilarating and enlightening. Having no previous experience of Blues Music or the culture of Blues singers, the bands and the followers I found provided me with a new culture teaming with friendliness and spirituality. It broke me out of the classical and has given me a new appreciation of the music.

When exploring the music I was drawn to the similarity of the lyrics and soul fullness of literature like W. E. B.  DU Bois and his “ The Souls of Black Folk”. [1] In his book he illustrates the Sorrow Songs that have grown up with the black community. Many lyrics also reminded me of Harriett Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Toms Cabin and Life among the Lowly. In the Play the song "Oh, I' se So Wicked" reminded me of the lyrics of the Blues Songs I have listen to these many months. The lyrics speak of brutality and conditions among the slaves in the deep south which I believe still lives on in the music today. On the right is a time line of Blues artist from 1900 to 2000.

Click here to connect to the I' se So Wicked Music Score

This project and changed my whole appreciation of the music the blues culture and the blues musicians and of the subtle and not so subtle differences in the different genres. Annie Sampson of San Francisco was a delight and had the soft and graceful tones of a nurturing kind of blues singer. To identify her and the other music styles I will be using the Blues Styles as outlined in Appendix “C” of Urban Blues by Charles Keil.[3] It took me almost two months to travel to the various cities and experience the different flavors of Blues Music. Some times it was easy to find places where Blues was played other places it was much more difficult. Unexpectedly I found the Blues more prevalent in the West than in New Orleans where it has been repressed by Jazz. In New Orleans I had to come out at night late at night for the traditional Blues Bars to even open. New Orleans hasn’t recovered yet from the storm but Blues is alive and well at the Blues Bar ob Bourbon Street , after Ten at Night.

The performers I observed are reflected in the following Biographies and I have included comments about their styles and the bands as best I can describe them using the format listed above. This project was more of a love of music and enjoyment rather than work but I know it is necessary to put a form of work for the report. So here are my experiences and analysis of the differences between the West, the South and the Northeast.  

Annie Sampson from the Lou’s Pier 47 in San Francisco .

Annie’s music as you will hear does not have the deep blue is soulful kind of sound that you would find in the deep south it seems to be more commercialized, lighter and more attuned to a younger and more white audience. Her lyrics are light and airy and she sings of love and lost of down and out. But first a little background on Annie. The youngest of 12 children, her early years were spent in the fertile musical climate of rural Louisiana surrounded by a family of teachers and ministers who sang together as a way of life. Her special gifts were first recognized at age five when she won a church talent show. Annie has continued to electrify, move and delight audiences ever since.

“Annie Sampson's unique approach to song - whether a blues, a rock tune, a country & western ballad or a modem folk classic, was honed in her youth by singing in Bay Area church and school choirs. She then landed a principal part in the hit musical Hair at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco . When the popular rock group Stoneground recruited her to become lead singer, she left the show and joined the group for a series of national and international tours. Buoyed by the popularity of their four Warner Brothers albums, Annie and Stoneground played the gamut of venues - from the Fillmore West and Winterland to Oxford University and the Olympia Theatre in Paris with stops at every major American and European city and campus in between. A big talent like Annie's did not go unnoticed by her peers. She has recorded with Elvin Bishop, Taj Mahal, Buddy Miles, Maria Muldaur, Eddie Money and Country Joe MacDonald, as well as performed with Bonnie Raitt, Boz Scaggs, Otis Clay, Sammy Hagar, Commander Cody, Steve Miller, Nick Gravenites, Clarence Clemmons, Elvis Costello and the late Jerry Garcia - among others.

Samples of Annie's Music click the links to the right. Under The Moon Black Nights  It's All Over Now Baby Blue

            I enjoyed Annie’s Music at the Pier 47 in San Francisco and Annie was the first Blues singer I’ve  heard live. So I had to return to her later to really listen to her style and music.

“Since the mid-1980s, Annie has been leading her own band which performs regularly at Bay Area nightclubs such as Sweetwater in Mill Valley, Slim's and Lou's Pier 47 in San Francisco as well as making special appearances at the San Francisco Symphony's Black & White Ball, the Domaine Chandon Music Festival and the Oakland and Novato Art Festivals.” [4]

            “JOHN LEE HOOKER JR, Born in Detroit , is the son and prodigy of blues legend John Lee Hooker. The family blues pedigree took hold early, and Hooker was performing live on Detroit 's WJBK radio station when he was only eight years old. By his teens he was touring with his father. Calling his music "2 parts R&B, 1 part jazz and down home blues," Hooker is capable of reproducing his father's rough Delta blues style, but tends to gravitate to a smoother, more urban approach. His debut album, Blues with a Vengeance, was released in 2004 by Kent Records to heavy acclaim and ended up winning Hooker a Grammy. Hooker's follow-up album, Cold as Ice, was released last year on TELARC Records.”[1]

            I met John Lee Hooker Jr. in San Jose California at J J’s Blues Bar and he was the nicest and most polite musician I had ever met. The place was a little slice of a bar with all the ambiance of a true Southern Club. I arrived early because I wanted to be sure and get a copy of the CD Albums he had for sale. When I went to purchase the CDs John Lee Jr. walked in the door and without even a suggestion from me he asked for my two disks and autographed each disk. We stood there talking for about five minutes me absorbing all I could and he being the true gentleman. It wasn’t long before the admirers overwhelmed us and I had to retreat from his fans. The experience was so warming that it heightened my whole nights experience at the club. The music was great deep rhythm twelve bar and soulful urban south urban blues. Songs of woe and misery, of love and women doing men wrong of taking their money and going astray of blues being nothing but a pimp leading him astray.

            John’s music was wonderful urban blues with all the trappings of the city life and women trouble and the system. He was accompanied by brass, guitar, electric piano, drums, and base guitar and he played an amplified guitar as well. All the instruments were amplified enough to vibrate the bar and generate autonomic responsive vibrations in our souls, just a wonderful experience. With John Lee’s music I found a completely different and more soulful urban beat that was less an appeal to the white audience as it was more of the traditional blues style. His music was a deeper and more mystical rhythm and culture than Annie’s and seemed to bring the South and the culture to his songs.

These are some of the images I have from the night. This is JJ Blues Bar with John Lee Hooker Jr. In the next few images you will see what I experienced. The atmosphere and mood was wonderful and all created by the sounds of the band vibrating their message to the audience. John Lee Hooker Jr.’s song of about blues being nothing but a pimp leading him astray was very reminiscent of John Seniors song of never getting out of these blues alive.  

Music of John Lee JR.

 Suspicious Check Yourself Ain't Nothin' But a Pimp  Wait Until My Change Comes  Cold As Ice  Trapped

Born in Detroit , John Lee Hooker, Jr., is the son of blues legend John Lee Hooker. The family blues pedigree took hold early, and Hooker was performing live on Detroit 's WJBK radio station when he was only eight years old. By his teens he was touring with his father. Calling his music "2 parts R&B, 1 part jazz and down home blues," Hooker is capable of reproducing his father's rough Delta blues style, but tends to gravitate to a smoother, more urban approach. His debut album, Blues with a Vengeance, was released in 2004 by Kent Records to heavy acclaim and ended up winning Hooker a Grammy. Hooker's follow-up album, Cold as Ice, was released last year on Telarc Records.  

Click on the links for samples of John Lee Hooker Jr. Music Suspicious Check Yourself Blues Ain't Nothin' But a Pimp

Video John Lee Hooker Playing at JJ’s Blues

The next group I have a video of called the Board of Directors. They were a very great and entertaining band of blues artist composed of IT Guys that had been or are on the board of directors of one of these high profile companies in the silicon valley. The band was  composed of a singer with electric amplified guitar, who also played a great harmonica, a keyboard player, a brass section that also performed with a wash board and drums. This group played a great ensemble of music and songs that electrified the audience. The brass player when he came into the audience with the wash board was engaging. Their music was light and a more civilized tone that reflected the audience of white upper class. They have a real mixture of music with some almost Southern Cajun and others a real southern blues music. There is the Monkeys Lament, Fete Dieu and Choke Chain Blues a spread of tunes to please everyone. Their performances were marvelous and exceptionally ambulatory.

SNOOKS EAGLIN and NEW ORLEANS

Snooks Eaglin is the Crescent City 's secret weapon, a blind, eccentric virtuoso of the electric guitar who at 64, plays with more intensity, taste, mastery, and musical command than most anyone you can think of. Snooks was born Fird Eaglin Jr. January 21, 1936, in New Orleans . At 19 months he lost his sight following an operation for a brain tumor that required a two-and-a-half year stay in the hospital. Eaglin's father, a harmonica player, gave him a guitar at the age of five, and young Snooks taught himself to play by replicating songs off the radio and phonograph. His guitar playing developed rapidly and he was singing and playing in area Baptist churches by the time he was ten. Four years later he dropped out of the school for the blind to become a full-time musician, often playing on the streets as well as the clubs of New Orleans . Eaglin's first regular gig was with the Flamingoes in 1952, a seven-piece horn combo started by 13-year-old Allen Toussaint on piano. It was also Toussaint's first band. As much as his blindness may have made his life difficult in other ways, the younger Eaglin used it to his advantage to invent an original playing style that no one yet has deciphered. With a voice that is an extraordinary blend of hoarseness and velvet subtlety, roughness and wistfulness; and a dazzling guitar technique marked by jagged, staccato leads, fast intricate swingy runs and rhythmic chord clusters, Eaglin's solo playing almost sounds like a complete orchestra. In fact, there are few guitarists in his class. "He's one of the most naturally talented people I've ever met," says keyboardist/producer Ron Levy. "He can play any song just off the top of his head. If he can think about it and hear it in his head, he can play it perfectly," Levy enthuses. A one-of-a-kind performer, they broke the mold when Snooks was born.

Now Snooks has his own page that can be accesses from the navigation bars or by clicking here: 

Country Boy Down In New Orleans  Mama Don't You Tear My Clothes  Rock Me Mama

JOHN LEE HOOKER SENIOR

“JLH: "The Boogie Man" - "Po´ Slim" - "The Hook" - "The Blues Giant"
Guitarist and modern urbanized country blues singer, with roots in the rich Delta tradition

Born in Mississippi , raised up in Tennessee
Born August 22, 1917 on a sharecropper farm south of Clarksdale , Coahoma County , Mississippi close to Highway 49 (Hooker himself has given other dates of birth, - often 1920 and other files say anything between 1912 and 1923). After his death - in his home in Los Altos , California on June 21, 2001 - the Hooker family confirmed his birth date as August 22, 1917. Recent findings by Bob Eagle suggest Hooker was born already in 1912 (information found in the 1920 and 1930 Census / Routledge enumerations outside and in Tutwiler town, Tallahatchie County ). John Lee´s mother was Minnie Ramsey (born in Glendora , Miss 1875 or possibly 1880), married to his father (sharecropper and spare-time preacher) William (indexed Wildred) Hooker, who was born in North Carolina around 1871 (or possibly 1865). John had six brothers and four sisters - of which not all survived. Only religious music was allowed in the Hooker family. The family moved to a new farm (the Fewell plantation) at Vance, Miss (again not far from Clarksdale ) in circa 1920 (where John said he met Snooky Pryor and Jimmy Lane - later known as Jimmy Rogers). The parents separated in circa 1926 (or according to the Bob Eagle findings much earlier since John´s father was re-married to Anna from Louisiana already in circa 1922). Johnnie, who was the only child leaving with his mother, got a stepfather - William Moore (from Shreveport , Louisiana , no recordings, but a local Clarksdale blues musician). From Moore Johnnie learned tunes like "Pea Vine special", "Rather drink muddy water", "My starter won´t start", "Don´t turn me from your door" and "When my first wife quit me". Hooker claimed Blind Lemon Jefferson came to visit Moore , and he also remembered Blind Blake and Charlie Patton. Around 1928-30 Hooker had started playing the guitar, which he said was given to him by blues singer Tony Hollins, who had courted his sister - and later he got his second from William Moore. Hooker was also influenced by Tommy McClennan and much of Hooker´s greatness may be due to his natural youth mix of gospel and blues

Hobo Blues - Drifting from door to door
Hooker left Mississippi and moved to Memphis in circa 1933 (vissiting the town the first time in 1931) - staying at an aunt´s and working at the cinema "New Daisy" (and possibly also the W.C. Handy Theater) on Beale Street. Johnnie claimed that he during his Memphis stay worked with Robert Nighthawk, Eddie Love (brother of pianist Willie) and the pianist Joe Willard. He soon "hoboed" again - this time he spent a period in Knoxville , Tennessee and arrived in Cincinnati , Ohio in circa 1935, singing the blues and working with gospel groups like the Big Six, the Delta Big Four, and the Fairfield Four in the evenings - and in factories, theatres-cinemas and warehouses during daytime. The years between 1939 and 1943 are unaccounted for (except for a short spell in the army - stationed near Detroit ; Hooker even may have traveled to the South)”.[1]

Starting out - Boogie Chillen´

My examination of the live of John Lee Hooker Senior revealed that he
started his career around 1943 in Detroit Michigan .  “He eventually became known as the worlds foremost "traditional blues" singer. His arrival in Detroit in circa 1943, first working at a receiving hospital and later at Dodge and Comco Steel (possibly also as a janitor at the Chrysler car plant). He first married Alma Hopes - one daughter, Francis (or Frances) - but they soon parted and he later married Sarah Jones. In late 1944 he met Maude Mathis, married her and had two sons and four daughters (after his separation with Maude in 1970 Hooker has been married to Millie Strom). In the evenings of the mid 1940s John got small jobs at the clubs around Hastings Street (like Forest Inn and Club Basin ). Legend has it: T-Bone Walker handed Johnny Lee the first electric guitar, as John became T-Bone's "kid" when T-Bone was working in Detroit during 1946-48. "Johnny Lee" (as most of his friends called him) invented his own "unique" style (non-rhyming, sometimes out-of-rhythm) and was introduced in 1948 to Bernie Besman (of Sensation Records at Woodward Avenue; and co-owner with John Kaplan of the Pan American Record Co.) by Elmer Barbee, Hooker´s original "manager", who "discovered" Hooker playing with his trio at the "Apex" bar on Monroe Street (although "legend" says Besman "discovered" Hooker at Lee Sensation´s bar "Russell & Orange" - or at the "Monte Carlo"). Barbee continued to promote Johnnie, after the Besman introduction, for other record labels, mostly recording in Barbee´s record shop at 609 Lafayette Street, but the main records of Hooker´s up into 1952 were recorded by Bernie Besman at United Sound Studios Inc. at 5840 2nd Blvd. Besman leased several tracks to the Bihari brothers (Modern - of Hollywood) and soon issued others on the Detroit label Sensation. A total of eight Besman-recorded Modern singles were issued from November 1948 - November 1950 and seven on Sensation (and Regal) from November 1949 - October 1950, plus a further seven on Modern from 1951 - October 1952. Almost a hundred alternates and variations were "kept in the can" and later issued on album compilations”.[2]

            Listening to John Lee you can hear the undertones in John Lee Jr. singing especially when John Lee Jr. sings his deep blues of his urban sour repertoire. One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer sounds just like John Lee Jr. music and rhythm. Decoration day has the slow beat and sensual sound of a romance with the music and with a wonderful woman and the loss of that woman. “Back Biters and Syndicators” the band the music is a beat of the south and “Doin’ The shout” are great representations of the porch singing of the rural southern music repeating the same verse over and over again with just the beat keeping the piece together with the guitar response and transition from singing to instrumental.

CHAMPION JACK DUPREE

A formidable contender in the ring before he shifted his focus to pounding the piano instead, Champion Jack Dupree often injected his lyrics with a rowdy sense of down-home humor. But there was nothing lighthearted about his rock-solid way with a boogie; when he shouted "Shake Baby Shake," the entire room had no choice but to acquiesce.

Dupree was notoriously vague about his beginnings, claiming in some interviews that his parents died in a fire set by the Ku Klux Klan, at other times saying that the blaze was accidental. Whatever the circumstances of the tragic conflagration, Dupree grew up in New Orleans ' Colored Waifs' Home for Boys (Louis Armstrong also spent his formative years there). Learning his trade from barrelhouse 88s ace Willie "Drive 'em Down" Hall, Dupree left the Crescent City in 1930 for Chicago and then Detroit . By 1935, he was boxing professionally in Indianapolis , battling in an estimated 107 bouts.

In 1940, Dupree made his recording debut for Chicago A&R man extraordinaire Lester Melrose and OKeh Records. Dupree's 1940-1941 output for the Columbia subsidiary exhibited a strong New Orleans tinge despite the Chicago surroundings; his driving "Junker's Blues" was later cleaned up as Fats Domino's 1949 debut, "The Fat Man." After a stretch in the Navy during World War II (he was a Japanese P.O.W. for two years), Dupree decided tickling the 88s beat pugilism any old day. He spent most of his time in New York and quickly became a prolific recording artist, cutting for Continental, Joe Davis, Alert, Apollo, and Red Robin (where he cut a blasting "Shim Sham Shimmy" in 1953), often in the company of Brownie McGhee. Contracts meant little; Dupree masqueraded as Brother Blues on Abbey, Lightnin' Jr. on Empire, and the truly imaginative Meat Head Johnson for Gotham and Apex.

King Records corralled Dupree in 1953 and held onto him through 1955 (the year he enjoyed his only R&B chart hit, the relaxed "Walking the Blues.") Dupree's King output rates with his very best; the romping "Mail Order Woman," "Let the Doorbell Ring," and "Big Leg Emma's" contrasting with the rural "Me and My Mule" (Dupree's vocal on the latter emphasizing a harelip speech impediment for politically incorrect pseudo-comic effect).

After a year on RCA's Groove and Vik subsidiaries, Dupree made a masterpiece LP for Atlantic . 1958's Blues From the Gutter is a magnificent testament to Dupree's barrelhouse background, boasting marvelous readings of "Stack-O-Lee," "Junker's Blues," and "Frankie & Johnny" beside the risqué "Nasty Boogie." Dupree was one of the first bluesmen to leave his native country for a less racially polarized European existence in 1959. He lived in a variety of countries overseas, continuing to record prolifically for Storyville, British Decca (with John Mayall and Eric Clapton lending a hand at a 1966 date), and many other firms.

Perhaps sensing his own mortality, Dupree returned to New Orleans in 1990 for his first visit in 36 years. While there, he played the Jazz & Heritage Festival and laid down a zesty album for Bullseye Blues, Back Home in New Orleans . Two more albums of new material were captured by the company the next year prior to the pianist's death in January of 1992. Jack Dupree was a champ to the very end. ~ Bill Dahl, All Music Guide

Music of Jack Dupree

Blues Before Sunshine  Kansas City (Single Version)  Who Threw The Whiskey In The We

SONNY ROLLINS(http://www.geocities.com/bourbonstreet/delta/4733/bio.html)

From Blue Note Records:

Born in Harlem on September 9, 1930 Sonny Rollins began his career in music at an early age, studying piano and alto saxophone from age 11 and eventually taking up the tenor saxophone in 1946. Growing up in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem Rollins' teenage running mates included future jazz masters Jackie McLean, Arthur Taylor, and Kenny Drew with whom he had a band in high school. Situated in both the time and place where be-bop was being formulated, Rollins and his teenage cohorts were greatly intrigued and inspired by the innovations being made in the new jazz idiom. They grew up idolizing those musicians, only slightly older than themselves, at the helm of the new music like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell. Rollins was the first of his peers to reach a level where he could join some the older bop players and beginning in the late 1940s Rollins recorded and performed with Parker, Powell, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis among others. In fact, Rollins first appearance on Blue Note was on a Bud Powell date recorded on August 9, 1949 which also featured be-bop stalwarts Fats Navarro on trumpet, Tommy Potter on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums. Shortly thereafter, throughout the early 1950s, a frequent associate with whom Rollins worked as a sideman was Miles Davis and in 1955 he replaced Harold Land in the tenor chair of the Clifford Brown-Max Roach quintet. Rollins remained with the pioneering bop drummer after Brown's untimely death, playing in his group throughout 1957.
 

It was during his tenure with Max Roach that Rollins began to record as a leader, making albums for both Prestige and Blue Note. Thus, it is only fitting that Roach be behind the drum set on Rollins first album recorded for Blue Note. The December 16, 1956 date which eventually came to be title simply Sonny Rollins, Volume One also featured trumpeter Donald Byrd, pianist Wynton Kelly, and bassist Gene Ramey. While this is certainly a memorable date with Rollins' rich, husky timbre in good form, more notable is the session done a few months later. Recorded on April 14, 1957, Sonny Rollins, Volume Two is of special interest because of the presence of two of the most important- but drastically different stylistically - pianists in the history of modern jazz. While hard bop progenitor Horace Silver is at the piano chair for three of the selections, the very unique Thelonious Monk accompanies Rollins on a beautiful rendition of his ballad "Reflections". Moreover, on what could be considered Monk's most famous and important composition, the haunting blues line "Misterioso", Thelonious and Horace share the piano chair with Monk accompanying Sonny at the beginning and end of the song and Silver taking over in the middle. Here, in one song an intriguing contrast between two bebop innovators is witnessed. On the one hand there is Monk's jutting, discordant style in contrast with the bluesy, soulful styling of Silver. The piano presence notwithstanding let us not forget the performance of the session's leader as Rollins playing throughout is superb. One example is his extraordinary solo on "Misterioso" where his improvisatory ideas appear to be limitless.

Rollins final two sessions for Blue Note were recorded in close proximity to one another roughly five months later. The first was a studio date entitled Newk's Time recorded on September 22, 1957. This quartet date featured Wynton Kelly on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. A loosely constructed blowing session by nature, Newk's Time is notable for the strong performance by Rollins as well as the solidity of this rhythm section. Miles Davis' "Tune Up" for instance is given a whirlwind treatment with Rollins displaying in his ingenious solo what was dubbed by music historian Gunther Shuller as "thematic improvisation", a improvisatory style invented by Rollins which consists of the spontaneous reworking of an initially stated theme or motif. Newk's Time is also representative of Rollins aesthetic code in that it exemplifies his penchant for giving jazz treatment to hackneyed popular material. On this record Rollins turns to the popular show tunes "Wonderful!Wonderful!" and "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top".
While Newk's Time is an important record on these counts, Rollins next and final recording for Blue Note proved to be his most significant output for the label. Moreover, this recording is considered by many one of Rollins finest recordings of his career. A Night At The Village Vanguard (Volumes 1 and 2) is significant first because it was Rollins only live record done for Blue Note and; furthermore, because it has come to epitomize and define live jazz recordings at their very finest. Recorded during the afternoon and evening sets on November 3, 1957 at New York's famed Village Vanguard, this record captures the essence of jazz conveyed upon hearing the music live in its spontaneity, intellect, energy and feeling. The live session is also notable because Rollins mastery of improvisation is at its highest level given the extended format of the club date. Here Rollins is not confined to the time restrictions of the studio and; thus, truly stretches out producing lengthy and brilliantly constructed improvisations. Lastly, A Night At The Village Vanguard is a landmark record because it captured Rollins' pioneering idea of the jazz unit in the piano less tenor saxophone trio. This minimalist approach gave the rhythm section a emptier, freer feel as accompaniment for Sonny's blazing tenor. Lastly, the date is interesting because it includes Rollins with two different trios. The afternoon session featured bassist and Donald Bailey and drummer Pete La Roca while in the evening Sonny was accompanied by Wilbur Ware on bass and Elvin Jones on drums.
Rollins output for Blue Note is notable because it was during this period that he became widely regarded as the most talented and innovative tenor saxophonist in jazz. At this time Sonny became the most influential and widely-imitated jazz saxophonist, establishing himself as the most outstanding saxophonist since Charlie Parker (and later superseded by John Coltrane). However, a year and a half after the Village Vanguard session he withdrew from public life as a result of personal and musical frustrations. A little over two years later, however, Rollins re-emerged out of seclusion with an expansion of his already fortuitous technique. Throughout the 1960s, Rollins also began to experiment with avant-garde jazz movement of the period, free jazz. From 1969 to 1971 Rollins took another public hiatus, but in 1972 he resumed playing once more, leading groups of various young musicians but this time performing in a more commercial vein. Nonetheless, Rollins allegiance to the hard bop tradition has endured throughout the 1980s and 90s as he continues to perform and record his own personal interpretation of the idiom he both mastered and helped define blues music in the South.

Music by Sonny Rollins St. Thomas  You Don't Know What Love Is  Strode Rode

 Steve Rudolf

Steve Rudolph was born in Evansville , Indiana in 1949, and spent his formative years in Warrick County , Southern Indiana , graduating from Boonville high School. His musical training began as a trumpet student, receiving first place for trumpet performance at the Indiana State Solo & Ensemble contest five years in a row, '63 - '67. At Butler University , ‘67-’70, he studied with Delbert Dale, John Colbert, and Jackson Wiley.  The rich jazz tradition in Indianapolis (Montgomery Brothers, Floyd Smith, Ann Chamberlain, Jimmy Coe, Claude Sifferlin, Steve Allee, Carroll DeCamp, John Von Ohlen, Pookie Johnson) fed his interest and at age 22 (1971), he changed his main instrumental focus from the trumpet to the piano.  In '77 he was hired by Buddy Morrow to perform with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra where he backed up Helen O'Connell and the Mills Brothers. Steve left the Dorsey tour after one year and moved to Harrisburg , PA to lead a trio six nights a week at the Holiday Inn Town 's Dauphin Lounge.  Guest artists Johnny Coles, Jr. Cook, Ira Sullivan, Al Grey, Bob Mintzer, Joe Lovano, Eric Kloss, Sal Nistico, John Von Ohlen, Terry Silverlight, Roger Rosenberg and others appeared with Steve's trio.  By the time the job at the Holiday ended in '80, Steve's reputation in Central PA had grown and he was very much in demand.  He stayed in Harrisburg , performing regularly and serving as an advocate for his art form, organizing a jazz society (the Central PA Friends of Jazz), hosting jazz radio programs, teaching, and booking jazz artists in area clubs and concert venues.

LOUISIANA BLUES  

LITTLE FREDDIE KING

Little Freddie's real name is Fread E. Martin and he was born in McComb, Mississippi, July 19, 1940 down the road from Bo Diddley's place. His father, Jessie James Martin (named by a plantation owner after the outlaw), was a blues guitarist that worked the weekend black southern circuit in the Delta. His father would bring him out on the town when he was out there playing. "I would go out there and sit around on the outside around the juke joints and listening." He's be playing and drinking and everyone was having' fun. Freddie eventually taught himself how to play guitar and develop his country-style blues or as he calls it "Gut Bucket Blues".

At the age of 14, Freddie "hobbed" a train from the sharecropper farm to New Orleans to stay with his sister. There he met such upcoming musicians as Buddy Guy and close friend, Slim Harpo. However, adapting to life in the big city wasn't easy as Freddie explains. "I got lost all the time." he said. "All the houses looked the same. I had to get the police to take me home or else they's arrest me. Finally one of the policeman told me to look at the street sign and the number on the houses. It got easy to get around after that".

It was in the early 1960's that Freddie was hung with the "Little Freddie King" appellation as he's been using his real name on gigs up to that point. "Freddy King was really hot then with songs like Hideaway and San-Ho-Zay" said Freddie. People kept telling me I sounded just like Freddy King, because I new all his songs, so they started calling me "Little Freddie King". Big Freddy use to visit New Orleans a lot in those days. He use to hang out at a bar in my neighborhood. One day a friend of his asked if he would play in Marrero (across the river from the city) and Freddy asked me to play bass. After that, I played a couple of jobs around N.O. with him. He wanted me to go to Texas with him but I counld't because of my job. Generally the 60's were busy years for Freddie, as he played with the likes of Babe Stoval, Polka Dot Slim, Guitar Grady, Guitar Ray, Snooks Eaglin, Billy Tate, Harmonica Williams (from Jackson, Miss.) Boogie Bill Webb, Rev Charles Jacobs (his cousin), Harmonica Slim and Eddie Lang.

"I pretty much stayed lit up all the time back then," said Freddie. I played a lot around N.O. area with Harmonica Williams, and then after the job we'd go to Logtown or Bayou Liberty and play in juke joints. Then we'd come back to N.O. around one or two in the morning and play the Dew Drop Inn. where Guitar Shorty had the house band. I'd go get a pint of corn liquor. Then I'd wake up and we'd do it all over again."

Little Freddie King became a charter member an annual attraction at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and toured Europe with Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker in 1976 in support of his first LP. His most amazing gig though occurred in 1981, when he embarked on a six month tour of the Western States when he hosted college workshops on the Blues. His 1970 recording titled "Harmonica Williams and Little Freddie King" is believed to be the first electric blues album recorded in New Orleans . His "Born Died in Mississippi " became a regional hit. Since the new millennium 2000, Freddie has performed at the N.O. Jazz Festival and French Quarter Festival (USA), Montreal Jazz Festival and Ottawa Blues Festival (Canada), Blues to Bop Festival (Switzerland), Nancy Jazz Pulsation Festival, JVC Festival and Festival de Lille (France), Blues Estafette (Holland), Burnley Blues Festival (England), Debrecen Jazz Festival (Hungary) Portsmouth Blues Festival, Savannah Music Festival, King Biscuit Blues Festival (USA). Terra Blues Club ( New York ), Chesterfields and New Morning Cafe' ( Paris ).

JEFF HANNUSCH author of "I Hear You Knockin" The Sound of New Orleans R&B

Crack Head Joe  Walking With Freddie  Chicken Dance

BRYAN LEE  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Lee)

DAVE MELO 

Dave Mello

Dave Mello has been performing professionally for over forty years including tours in the 1970's with Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, and the Staples Singers. His unique style of acoustic blues is marked by meticulous guitar work matched with spot-on passionate vocals Music from Dave Mellow:

Little Red Rooster Dust My Broom and Fishin Blues

 http://www.mainebluesfestival.com and from Jacket

[2.] Courtesy of Houghton Library Harvard University

[3.] Urban Blues Charles Kiel University of Chicago Press 1991 pp217 - 224

[4.]Annie Sampson Bio. Pier 47 san Francisco Ibid.