February 25, 2010
- Mud Morganfield to perform with the Rhythm Room All-Stars for Blues Blast pre-party this Friday at the Rhythm Room. It is uncanny how Mud Morganfield can summon up the sound and presence of his late father, Muddy Waters. A chilling singer and bandleader, Mud's powerhouse performance at the 2009 Lucerne Blues Festival swept the audience off their feet. Mud comes to Phoenix to join with the Rhythm Room All-Stars (Bob Corritore, Chris James, Patrick Rynn, Brian Fahey, and Johnny Rapp) on Friday, February 26th, for an evening of no nonsense blues in the true spirit of Muddy Waters. This night also serves as the preparty for the Blues Blast Festival 2010!
- Blues Blast 2010, Phoenix's Blues Festival! Each February the Phoenix Blues Society hosts its annual blues festival, called "Blues Blast" (not to be confused with the online magazine of the same name), at the Mesa Amphitheater, with an interesting program of national and home grown talent. Blues Blast 2010 happens on Saturday, February 26th and features Big James & The Chicago Playboys, Candye Kane, The Insomniacs, The Sugar Thieves, The Jump Back Brothers, and Tom Walbank and Arthur Migliazza. Gates open at 10am with music from 11am til around 7pm. Later that night the Rhythm Room will host a Blues Blast After-party and Celebrity Jam with the Rhythm Room All-Stars and many special guests. To read more about Blues Blast 2010 click here.
- Wilroy Sanders RIP - Birthdate unkown - February 16, 2010 Beloved Memphis blues guitarist and singer Wilroy Sanders passed away on Tuesday after a battle with lung cancer. He was 76, Wilroy played in the Binghampton Blues Boys, formed and led The Fieldstones, and owned the Memphis blues bar, Green’s Lounge. though a wonderful down home singer and guitarist, Wilroy would never achieve great fame. He did make some very memorable records which appeared on the XL, High Water, HighTone, and Shangri-La labels. To read more about Wilroy's passing click here. For the Blues World article about Wilroy lick here.
- Blues Foundation announces 2010 Hall of Fame Inductees. Each year the Blues Foundation honors past and present artists, recordings, authors, books, and other notable achievements in the blues. These honors are presented in a private special awards dinner in Memphis, on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010, the night before the Blues Music Awards. This year's recipients have recently been announced and include Charlie Musselwhite, Lonnie Brooks, Bonnie Raitt, W.C. Handy,Gus Cannon, Sonny Payne, Amos Milburn, and many others. For a full list of inductees click here. Congratulations to all of the 2010 Blues Hall Of Fame inductees!
- New Live William Clarke CD now available! Jeanette Lodovici, the widow of the late West Coast harmonica master William Clarke, has lovingly been releasing her late husband's recorded work in a series of collectors CDs. The latest installment is called William Clarke / Live Bootleg Cassette Anthology, and features surprisingly good sounding board tapes of live shows from 1991 and 1996. The 1996 shows were recorded on his last tour just weeks before William's untimely passing at the age of 45, with a band consisting of Paul Bryant, Rick Reed and Brian Fahey. This CD is a wonderful reminder of the powerful talent of this harmonica great. To read more about this release click here.
- The Flamingos rock on YouTube! The Flamingos were one of the greatest harmony groups of the 1950s and their stage show, complete with choreography, was just wonderful. Please enjoy this example of their work as they perform the jump blues song "Jump Children" (click here to see). Though poorly lip synced, this film clip has some of the best stage energy ever!
