KANAL BLUES, Top 10 Countries by Listener (past 30 days)

1. Germany		(39.3%)
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3. France		(9.0%)
4. Poland		(5.1%)
5. Spain		(4.7%)
6. Switzerland		(4.5%)
7. Australia		(2.9%)
8. Hungary		(2.6%)
9. United Kingdom		(2.6%)
10. Other		(11.9%)

Bob Corritore Blues Newsletter - Memphis Recap, Dave & Bob this weekend, Art Tipaldi, Big Walter, Muddy, Willie Dixon, C

January 29, 2010

• Dave Riley & Bob Corritore to appear Saturday at the Rhythm Room! The Dave Riley / Bob Corritore Juke Joint Blues Band bring their rowdy fun-loving show to the Rhythm Room this Saturday for a 9pm show (doors at 8pm). This will be their first show after a well received appearance at the Blind Raccoon Showcase in Memphis last Friday. The Rhythm Room is located at 1019 E. Indian School Road in Phoenix, Arizona.
• Art Tipaldi New Editor Of Blues Revue! Art Tipaldi is known throughout the blues as a writer, reviewer, educator, emcee, photographer, and an active Blues Foundation participant. He now adds editor of Blues Revue magazine to his long list of credentials! Art succeeds editor Ken Bays as the next in the grand tradition of this noble magazine. We congratulate and welcome our friend Art Tipaldi as he takes on another great service to the blues.
• Grammy's to recognize Honeyboy Edwards with a Special Merit Award tomorrow! The Recording Academy will present David "Honeyboy" Edwards with a Special Merit Award at a ceremony happening on Saturday, January 30th, in conjunction with Sunday's Grammy Awards ceremony. The 94 year old blues man has recorded since the 1940s, and is one of the last living practitioners of classic delta blues. Other Special Merit Award recipients this year include Leonard Cohen, Bobby Darin, Michael Jackson, Loretta Lynn, André Previn, and Clark Terry. We congratulate the amazing Honeyboy Edwards and are happy that he could see this honor in his lifetime. To see an in depth article on Honeyboy, click here. To see a photo page devoted to Honeyboy, click here.
• Eddie Taylor honored with Mississippi blues Trail Marker! The late Eddie Taylor was a spectacular blues guitarist, best known for his sensitive accompaniment on the Vee Jay recordings of Jimmy Reed and John Lee Hooker. Eddie was also a great singer and his recordings such as "Bad Boy", "Big Town Playboy", and "Stroll Out West", show him to be a star in his own right. Though Eddie Taylor's work has helped to define Chicago blues, he always brought forth the feel of his native Mississippi. Clifford Antone, of Antone's records, once referred to Eddie as "the greatest guitar player in the world". Eddie will be honored with a Mississippi Blues Trail Marker in his hometown of Benoit, Mississippi. The unveiling ceremony will take place on Monday, February 1st, 2pm, at the intersection of Highways 1 and 448 in Benoit. Thanks to Leigh Portwood and everyone involved in recognizing this legendary artist. For more information on the Mississippi Trail Marker program click here.
• Contemporary Blues Harmonica Podcast! Special thanks to Tess Coleman, host of Tess's Bluesgroove from Adelaide, Australia, for her recently posted podcast titled "Contemporary Blues Harp Players - Part 1", which features (in order of airplay sequence) Rod Piazza, Mitch Kashmar, Steve Guyger, Dennis Gruenling, Rick Estrin, Bob Corritore, Sandy Mack, Harpdog Brown, Harmonica Shah, and Kim Wilson. To hear this podcast click here and press Episode 34. Thanks Tess!
• More Big Walter information. In the last newsletter, we reported that a new Big Walter Horton reissue had come out called King Of The Harmonica Players. Since then, we have been notified by Clas Ahlstrand of the Scandinavian Blues Association, who recorded some of these wonderful sides on a portable recorder while visiting Chicago, that this is not a licenced release. Clas also reports that eight of these sides are available as free downloads on the Jefferson Magazine site (Click here to see). Along with the downloads are the story and photos of the journey to Chicago and the home recording sessions with Big Walter. Thank you Clas for this additional information, and for recording these great sides for the world to enjoy.
• Wolfgang's Vault releases Muddy Waters solo appearance at Newport in 1969, and Willie Dixon with Big Walter Horton from 1972! Wolfgang's Vault is a website devoted to Rock & Roll Memorabilia and downloadable concerts. Along with their featured rock music offerings are numerous blues nuggets, of which the latest two are very exciting. In July of 1969, both Muddy Waters and his mentor, Son House were scheduled to perform at the Newport Folk Festival. When word came that Son would not be able to make his appearance, Muddy Waters graciously stepped in to cover for his friend, and he performed an impromptu solo acoustic set. six songs from this set are now available by clicking here. In 1972, Willie Dixon brought his Chicago Blues All-Stars to the Ash Grove in California. The band on that show included Big Walter Horton, Buster Benton, Lafeyette Leake, and Frank Swann. Seven songs from this concert are now available by clicking here. To check out more of the many concerts available at Wolfgang's Vault and to learn more about this organization click here. Special thanks to Jim Themelis for the tip.
• Rhythm Room to host Nick Curran Benefit on February 15th. The Rhythm Room has put together a benefit for Nick Curran to take place on Monday 15th, 8pm. Nick Curran, 31, was recently diagnosed with tongue cancer and is not working while he undergoes radiation treatments. Nick has a long history at the Rhythm Room having played the venue with Ronnie Dawson, Kim Lenz, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and of course his own band, Nick Curran & The Nitelifes. Nick recently reactive his solo career after a long stint with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and he has a new CD out called Reform School Girl on the EclectoGroove Label. Appearing at the Rhythm Room Benefit will be The Rocket 88's, The Jump Back Brothers, The Dave Riley /  Bob Corritore Juke Joint Blues Band, Jim Robertson, Nina Curri, and the Mike Eldred Trio, and more! Special thanks to Jim Robertson for putting this event together. Prayers to Nick for a speedy and full recovery.
• Memphis Recap. Last week I headed to Memphis for events happening around the International Blues Challenge (AKA IBC, where scores of bands and solo/duo acts from all over the world come to compete. This event is meticulously organized by the Blues Foundation, and it encompasses and unities blues societies from all over the globe who, prior to this event set up local competitions to determine the candidate who will represent the blues of their community. It is well known that whoever wins this event will have the opportunity of a lifetime, as their career will be fast forwarded to one of record deals, festival inclusion, and great notoriety. This collective energy is coupled with the annual Keeping The Blues Alive (AKA KBA) presentation, seminars, showcases, after hours jams, and lots of blues networking. Blues fans come from all over to support their hometown bands. Also labels, booking agents, non competing blues artists, blues societies, festivals, writers, photographers, publicists, educators, and managers come to be part of this grand gathering.

I was there primarily to perform with Dave Riley at Betsie Brown's Blind Raccoon Roots and Blues Showcase (a non competitive presentation), but also to enjoy this blues gathering. I arrived in Memphis late on Thursday so I completely missed the first day of competition. Dave had driven to Memphis and was able to meet me at the airport and get me checked in to the Memphis Marriott where we were staying. The next day we went early to the showcase to see some of the other acts performing at the showcase. Beale Street was closed to through traffic and it was a "meet and greet" as we slowly made our way to the club, being stopped every few feet by our many friends and blues associates. The showcase took place at Kings Palace, where I frequently go to enjoy their famous gumbo when I am in Memphis. We really enjoyed the set by Steve Howell, which was right before ours. Dave and I performed a well received show.to both our close friends and fans, and many new faces. Thanks to Betsie Brown for her great publicity work, Billy Gibson for lending me his great sounding, vintage Surpo amp, and Dale Baich of Blue Witch Records for his great support of Dave Riley and myself. Since we were the final act of the Showcase, the event segued right into the second night of the semi-finals. The way the IBCs work is that around 10 bands play each venue for two nights, and are graded by a panel of judges which differ each night. At the end of night number two, each venue will produce one winner who will be in the finals the next day. So each set is a heartfelt representation of that bands best effort. While starting out my night, I was delighted to get a surprise call from my friend Bharath Rajakumar, who I had no idea would be in Memphis. Bharath is a great harmonica player based in Montreal who is beginning to get some great industry recognition. Bharath was on his way to California to make a record with Junior Watson, and planned a stop in Memphis to cheer on his good friend Karl Cabbage, from San Diego, who was competing. So Bharath, Karl, and I spent lots of time together hanging out. We stopped by to see a fine set by fellow harmonica slinger Ryan Hartt and his band, the Blue Hearts, who were representing Connecticut, we ate some gumbo at Kings Palace, and we stopped in to numerous venues along Beale, before landing at Bob Margolin's after-party jam at the Rum Boogie (an IBC tradition). We all performed as did Zac Harmon (a former IBC winner), Candye Kane, Steve Marriner (of the band Monkey Junk), and others. Bob Margolin has a magical way of bringing people together, and making us all feel welcome. Since I had plans for an early morning I left early while the after-party was still in full throttle.

The next day was the KBA brunch, which I greatly enjoy each year. I received a Keeping The Blues Alive award three years ago for my radio show, so it is wonderful to see others accepting their awards, and to hear the many heartfelt speeches. It was great to see David Fricke of Rolling Stone Magazine humbly telling of the magazine's commitment to blues. It was gratifying to see old friends Rien and Marion Wisse of the Dutch publication Block Magazine, accept the award for Blues Print Media. How great it was to see Pat Morgan, who I have had the privilege of working closely with over the years, receiving a KBA for Best Manager / Agent for her amazing work with Pinetop Perkins and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. Jay Sieleman was presented with a surprise award for his great work in advancing the Blues Foundation as it's Executive Director. Each speech was individually spectacular and heartfelt, and showed the depth and commitment of those people who organize, promote, and encourage the blues behind the scenes. The Blues Foundation does a great service by recognizing these unsung heroes of the blues. To see a list of this year's KBA recipients click here.

After the late night I caught an afternoon nap while the Solo / Duo Finals were taking place but I was able to make the band finals. This took place at the beautiful Orpheum Theater, a luxuriously ornate facility that used to be the venue for the Handy Awards (now called the Blues Music Awards) before the awards expanded, and therefore needed to move to the Cook Convention Center. I caught most of the acts while alternately spending time in the lobby which was the place to hang and socialize. When Grady Champion of Mississippi was announced the winner, the event was likely moving into after-party mode with Beale Street just a few steps away. I opted to get my rest since I had an early flight back to Phoenix the next day, and a radio show to host the next night. I left Memphis with a warm, invigorated feeling after being around so many of my blues friends, and receiving so much goodwill and reaffirmation. The blues is a great family to be a part of. Congratulations to all the participants and to the Blues Foundation for a highly successful event.

- Bob Corritore

• Lightnin' Hopkins on YouTube! Please enjoy these wonderful film clips of Lightnin' Hopkins, a true icon of Texas country blues. A clip from the Les Blank documentary The Blues According To Lightnin' Hopkins. Lightnin performs. "That Woman Named Mary" from 1967. Click here to see. "Mojo Hand" from 1962. Click here to see. The Blues According To Lightnin' Hopkins (Documentary opening scene) with Mance Lipscomb and Billy Bizor from 1967. Click here to see.

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GRAMMYS AWARDS VINNERS 2010

http://www.grammy.com/nominees