Blues in Asia

2011 International Blues Challenge Winners

2011-02-06T20:39:00.001-08:00

The Blues Foundation

MEDIA ALERT

BLUES FOUNDATION AWARDS GERMANY'S

GEORG SCHROETER & MARC BREITFELDER & COLORADO'S LIONEL YOUNG BAND WITH TOP HONORS AT 27^TH INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE

[Memphis, Tenn.] The Blues Foundation's 27th International Blues Challenge ended on Saturday February 5^th, 2011 with two packed shows at the Orpheum Theatre. Out of 220 acts from 40 states and 13 countries that competed for top honors throughout the weekend only two can be called winner in the solo/duo and band competition.

For the second consecutive year a non-American act won the solo/duo category thus solidifying the global scope of the event. The solo/duo winner was Germany's Georg Schroeter & Marc Breitfelder, sponsored by the Baltic Blues Society in Eutin, Germany. The second place honors went to Canadian Harrison Kennedy from the Canal Bank Shuffle in Thorold, Ontario, Canada.

For the first time in event history, the top prize in the band competition goes to a former solo/duo category winner. 2008 IBC solo/duo winner Lionel Young returned with The Lionel Young Band to win on behalf of the Colorado Blues Society. Second place honors were earned by Mary Bridget Davies of the Kansas City Blues Society, and the third spot went to Rob Blaine's Big Otis Blues hailing from the Windy City Blues Society.

Another event first was the bestowing of IBC's Best Harmonica Player. Yet another international participant, Stephane Bertolino from the French band AWEK, won for Blues Sur Seine.

The Best Guitarist Award was given to Rob Blaine of Rob Blaine's Big Otis Blues. He walks away with beautiful blue custom Gibson guitar featuring The Blues Foundation's logo and a Category 5 amp.

In the Best Self-Produced CD contest, the judges crowned 'Get Inside This House'by Joe McMurrian of the Cascade Blues Association in Portland, OR.

The finalists in the solo/duo category were: Back Porch Stomp -(Washington Blues Society, WA), Izzy & Chris (West Virginia Blues Society), The Juke Joint Devils (Massachusetts Blues Society), The Mighty Orq (Houston Blues Society, TX), Big Jim Adam & John Stilwagen (Colorado Blues Society) and JT Blues (Billtown Blues Association, PA).

The finalists in the band competition were: Randy Oxford Band (South Sound Blues Association, WA), Stevie J & the Blues Eruption (Central Mississippi Blues Society, MS), Grand Marquis (Topeka Blues Society, KS), Alex Wilson (Grafton Blues Association, WI), The Sugar Prophets (Illinois Central Blues Club),

Blues societies all over the world will soon be starting all over again as they begin their own competitions to determine who they will send to the 28th International Blues Challenge, the finals of which will be staged January 31 - February 4, 2012.

For more info visit www.blues.org.

BoPoMoFo Releases Debut Album

2010-02-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

The members of BoPoMoFo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ樂團) are proud to announce the release of their debut CD, ‘Hell Froze Over’. As the title may indicate, the album has been a long time coming. While not exactly ‘Chinese Democracy’, the long awaited, recording sessions at the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee by Taiwan’s foremost proponent of hard rockin’ Chicago Blues, BoPoMoFo in February of 2007 were becoming a near legend themselves.
After much delay (included the deportation of their ace mixing engineer, Max), the CD is available for streaming and for down-load at ">iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon.com, Napster and other sites. The ‘ready date’ marked the third anniversary of BoPoMoFo’s pilgrimage to Memphis and the birth-place of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Sun Studio.
The home of the famous Sun Records sound is a long way from Taipei, Taiwan, the adopted home of all the members of BoPoMoFo. The decision to go so far afield to record their first album was founded on the desire to capture that distinctive Sun Records sound heard on the early vinyl of Howlin’ Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and the King, Hims-elvis.
All of the basic tracks for the album were recorded ‘Live’ on February 4th & 5th, 2007. This means that BoPoMoFo eschewed the slick, modern production technique of recording each instrument alone and then patching all of them back together again, in favor of documenting the collective, synergistic energy of a tight, contemporary Blues band.
All 11 songs feature the ‘Live’, in-your-face performance that you’d hope to hear at a top-drawer Blues club. Drums, bass guitar, and rhythm guitars, lead guitar, slide guitar and sax were all recorded simultaneously. Even the lead vocal on the one surprising cover song was recorded without over-dubs, punch-ins or do-overs. The results of long hours of rehearsal and lots of club gigs resulted in a ‘Hell Froze Over’ being much more than just another ‘good enough for Blues’ CD.
There ain’t no re-hash here of Blues club standards, either. Of the 11 songs on the album, 10 are original compositions which run the gamut from Jump Blues to Blues-rock, contemporary Blues and even a West-side Blues rumba. We hope that folks will like our music as much as we love making it.

">Here's the link again for buying 'Hell Froze Over' at iTunes.

Blues Bash 6 - The Best Blues Music Party in Asia

2009-11-09T02:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.infine-art.com/bluesbash/englishindex.html

Koko Taylor, Queen of the Chicago Blues Dies at 80

2009-06-04T05:21:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO (AP) ‹ Koko Taylor, a sharecropper’s daughter whose regal bearing
and powerful voice earned her the sobriquet “Queen of the Blues,” has died
after complications from surgery. She was 80.
Taylor died Wednesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about two weeks
after having surgery for a gastrointestinal bleed, said Marc Lipkin,
director of publicity for her record label, Alligator Records, which made
the announcement.
“The passion that she brought and the fire and the growl in her voice when
she sang was the truth,” blues singer and musician Ronnie Baker Brooks said
Wednesday. “The music will live on, but it’s much better because of Koko.
It’s a huge loss.”
Taylor’s career stretched more than five decades. While she did not have
widespread mainstream success, she was revered and beloved by blues
aficionados, and earned worldwide acclaim for her work, which including the
best-selling song “Wang Dang Doodle” and tunes such as “What Kind of Man is
This” and “I Got What It Takes.”
Taylor appeared on national television numerous times, and was the subject
of a PBS documentary and had a small part in director David Lynch’s “Wild at
Heart.”
“What a loss to the blues world,” said Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy. “She
was one of the last of the greats of Chicago and really did what she could
to keep the blues alive here, like I’m trying to do now.”
In the course of her career, Taylor was nominated seven times for Grammy
awards and won in 1984.
Taylor last performed on May 7 in Memphis, Tennessee, at the Blues Music
Awards.
“She was still the best female blues singer in the world a month ago,” said
Jay Sieleman, executive director of The Blues Foundation based in Memphis.
“In 1950s Chicago she was the woman singing the blues. At 80 years old she
was still the queen of the blues.”
Born Cora Walton just outside Memphis, Taylor said her dream to become a
blues singer was nurtured in the cotton fields outside her family’s
sharecropper shack.
“I used to listen to the radio, and when I was about 18 years old, B.B. King
was a disc jockey and he had a radio program, 15 minutes a day, over in West
Memphis, Arkansas and he would play the blues,” she said in a 1990
interview. “I would hear different records and things by Muddy Waters,
Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Sonny boy Williamson and all these people, you
know, which I just loved.”
Although her father encouraged her to sing only gospel music, Cora and her
siblings would sneak out back with their homemade instruments and play the
blues. With one brother accompanying on a guitar made out of bailing wire
and nails and one brother on a fife made out of a corncob, she began on the
path to blues woman.
Orphaned at 11, Koko (a nickname she earned because of an early love of
chocolate) at age 18 moved to Chicago with her soon-to-be-husband, the late
Robert “Pops” Taylor, in search for work.
“I was so glad to get out of the cotton patch and stop pickin’ cotton, I
wouldn’t of cared who come by and said, ’I’ll take you to Chicago,”’ Taylor
recalled in a 2004 interview with The Associated Press.
When she first entered the city, she thought, “Good God, this must be
heaven,” Taylor said.
Setting up house on the South Side, Koko found work as a cleaning woman for
a wealthy family living in the city’s northern suburbs. At night and on
weekends, she and her husband, who would later become her manager,
frequented Chicago’s clubs, where many the artists heard on the radio
performed.
“I started going to these local clubs, me and my husband, and everybody got
to know us,” Taylor said. “And then the guys would start letting me sit in,
you know, come up on the bandstand and do a tune.”
The break for Tennessee-born Taylor came in 1962, when arranger/composer
Willie Dixon, impressed by her voice, got her a Chess recording contract and
produced several singles (and two albums) for her, including the
million-selling 1965 hit, “Wang Dang Doodle,” which she called silly, but
which launched her recording career.
From Chicago blues clubs, Taylor took her raucous, gritty, good-time blues
on the road to blues and jazz festivals around the nation, and into Europe.
After the Chess label folded, she signed with Alligator Records.
In most years, she performed at least 100 concerts a year.
“Blues is my life,” Taylor once said. “It’s a true feeling that comes from
the heart, not something that just comes out of my mouth. Blues is what I
love, and blues is what I always do.”
In addition to performing, she operated a Chicago nightclub, which closed in
November 2001 because her daughter, club manager Joyce Threatt, developed
severe asthma and could no longer manage a smoky nightclub.
Survivors include her daughter; husband Hays Harris; grandchildren and
great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements will be announced, the label said.
Taylor was a mentor and inspiration to the next generation of female blues
singers, said 30-year-old blues singer Shemekia Copeland, who first met
Taylor when she was 15 at a club in New York.
“When I saw her, I couldn’t speak,” said Copeland, the daughter of late
blues artist Johnny Copeland. “You can’t ask a woman who sings blues right
now who influenced them and not say, ’Koko Taylor.’ If she didn’t pave the
way for us we couldn’t do this.”

Jus' Blues Music Foundation - Sync Live!

2009-05-31T21:13:00.000-07:00

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Watch this show and more at SyncLive.com

Blues Quotes from 'Democracy Matters'

2009-04-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

As Ralph Ellison wrote in “Richard Wright’s Blues,” “The blues is an impulse to keep the painful details and episodes of a brutal experience in alive in one’s aching consciousness, to finger its jagged grain, and to transcend it, not by the consolation of philosophy but by squeezing from it a near-tragic, near-comic lyricism.” This powerful blues sensibility – a black interpretation of tragicomic hope open to people of all colors – expresses righteous indignation with a smile and deep inner pain without bitterness or revenge.
As taken from ‘Democracy Matters’ by Cornel West.

Claiming Our Oyster - BoPoMoFo's Tour of Japan

2008-12-12T00:04:00.000-08:00

The time has come the Walrus said…
Not to talk of sealing wax but rather to wax on about BoPoMoFo’s ‘Claiming Our Oyster’ tour of Japan.

The tour title might at first blush appear to over-state the case a bit but as this was BoPoMoFo’s first sojourn to the Land of the Rising Shun to preach the gospel of the Blues, it could be said that this trip was an historic one and so deserves a grandiose title. We’re talking personal history, here, naturally but every little story is a part of the larger cosmic epic. Om Shanti Om. Cosmic consequences aside for the moment, the trip was an opportunity for the band to play for a tried and true, Blues-knowledgeable audience in Japan and a chance for our resident sons of the Chrysanthemum Throne, Aki and Dafu to strut their stuff before the home crowd.

We headed to Nagoya, Dafu’s home turf on Oct 30 where we played a great little juke-joint called ‘Slow Blues’. http://www.slowblues.com/ The gig was set up by Dafu and had been where Dafu got called to the stage by our good buddy, Shogun of the Blues Guitar, Shun Kikuta, to sit in on a couple of tunes. This immediately established some serious cred for our boy with his homies, as you can imagine. Now, here we were putting his cred on the line. As the place started to fill up on this Thursday evening, we could see our own expectations mirrored in the demeanor of the Slow Blues staff and clientele.

No brag, but we did not disappoint.

The opener was a sweet duo called ‘Red Dirt Boogie Sisters’ who picked some very tasty country Blues and sang tantalizing duets in clear young voices. They’ve really got it going on and are as charming in their innocence as they are dedicated to their craft. Check ‘em out if you get the chance.

BoPoMoFo took the stage and broke forth with our trusted opener, Jimmy Reed’s ‘Baby, What You Want Me to Do?’- our guaranteed good ju-ju tune. It never fails to set the tone and the tempo for a night of fun. Without going song by song, the energy generated in Slow Blues that night could have blown out the walls of Bob’s Country Bunker. Walking in, we’d been an unknown commodity; hired on the strength of Dafu’s credibility with Shun. Walking out after the second set, we had made ourselves known as an electric Blues band of passion and quality.

This was no time to get cocky, though. We had a jazz festival and two more club dates to play in front of audiences that Aki and Dafu had confided and warned would be much more critical of our performances than the folks at Slow Blues.
On All Hallows E’en, we bullet-trained our way from Nagoya to Aki’s old stomping grounds, Utsunomiya, a city of over half a million, about 100 miles from Tokyo. Utsunomiya is also the hometown of the Bluesman who has become our patron saint in Japan, Shunsuke-san. We were to meet up with Shun later that day at the BeatClub, a live-house that also served as a recording studio.

That evening Shun performed with some traditional Japanese musicians playing the Shamisen (三味線) – a three-string banjo, the shakuhachi (尺八) - vertical bamboo flute used for Zen meditation, various percussion instruments and a vocalist. The performance was, in a phrase, transcendently ethereal. Costumed in formal traditional court dress, the trio of classical performers was stunning in appearance and mesmerizing in their performance. (The shamisen is an exquisitely hand-crafted instrument that is played with a plectrum that looks like a windshield ice-scraper made from tortoise shell. It would be best, for the sake of feline-lovers, to forgo disclosure of the composition of the resonating head of the shamisen’s frame. Poor kitty.)

Adding a modern, solid-body electric guitar to this ensemble was an anomalous marvel unto itself for it worked beautifully. Shun and each of the brilliant performers that evening flawlessly integrated the sound of the pentatonic Blues scale, bent notes and all, in to a wonderful musical mélange.

Our cross-cultural experiences continued the next day when Aki’s mom opened her home most hospitably to us, setting a very delicious spread of sushi, sashimi and assorted other traditional Japanese comestibles. This was a delightful experience for all of us; most especially for those of us who had never before had the honor and pleasure of visiting a Japanese home. We ate and drank and drank and ate for hours, enjoying every minute.

Sunday, Nov 2nd was our center-piece gig; the one around which our tour had been built by Aki and Dafu. The Miya Jazz Inn, a long well-established festival hosted by the city of Utsunomiya that features great players from all over Japan. http://www.utsunomiyamusic.jp/jazz/index.html Aki had finagled this gig as a hometown boy and we were truly psyched to show the folks what we had to offer in the way of tried and true Chicago-style Blues. Although we weren’t on the main stage, the energy of our music drew a very substantial crowd of young and old music fans dancing, clapping and feeling the good times roll. (We were told later that we drew the largest crowd ever for that venue. )

One venerable senior patiently waited until we’d stowed our gear to greet us with deep respectful bows of gratitude, touching his heart with tears in his eyes. When presented with a BoPoMoFo name card, he held it as if it were a temple offering and repeated his deep bows. Here was a moment to treasure; one that epitomized the universal language of music and the power of the Blues.

After reflecting briefly on the emotionally moving scene, we headed over to the main stage to hear Shun, who entranced the capacity crowd with his most exquisitely artistic guitar-work, mixing jazz, Blues and rock. Shun shows himself as a master whenever he picks up a guitar, not only as a soloist but also as an accompanist. Then, his skills as a rhythm guitarist serve to elevate and enhance the performance of the soloist whoever that may be. Possessing this tandem of talents, brought to full fruit by discipline and dedication, is what make Shun such a remarkable guitarist.

Since the BeatClub is a working recording studio, we took the opportunity to book a couple of hours to lay down some basic tracks on Monday, the 3rd of November. We chose two original numbers; first was ‘Her Name Was Ruth’ penned by Klaus ‘Mr Fixer’ Tseng – a song that is always requested at our club gigs in Taipei. We also laid down a tune written by DCR, ‘Late Night Drive’, the first instrumental we’ve ever recorded, and Junior Wells’ ‘Messing with the Kid’. ‘Messing’ is very special to us as it was taught to us by Shun who had learned it himself from the late, great master of Blues harp, the man who wrote the song. To us, this was another instance of the Blues torch being passed along; from Junior to Shun to us. To make it even more poignant, Shun sat in on the session and ripped off a beautiful solo.

That night was our turn to take the stage as performers at BeatClub. http://www.beatclub.jp/ We were the opening band for Shun and he would do us the honor of joining us for a couple of tunes at the end of our set. As good as all this was for us, our portion of good luck was enhanced by the fact that Shun had arranged for a professional video crew to tape his shows at the BeatClub with 5 remote-control cameras. As a result, they also taped our set from start to finish. This thrilled us to no end, because we’d also have a choice digital document of our gig at BeatClub. (We’ll get that posted online soon.)

The house was packed once again with Shun fans and fellow musicians curious about hearing a Blues band from Taiwan. Also in attendance were members of Aki’s family including his lovely mom, who had never seen him perform before. They were in for a treat as Aki, our ‘Flame’, burned a bright acetylene blue all night, inspired. Our set was a mix of standard Blues and originals, showcasing all the styles of Blues in our repertoire. The SRO crowd moved and grooved and ate it up with gusto. Aki’s mom continued in her most gracious efforts to make us feel at home in her country by presenting us with flowers and gifts after our set, making us really feel like VIPs.
Tuesday was a scheduled day off and most of us chose to chill while Aki and Dafu took a sight-seeing trip to Nikko National Park, site of Japan's most lavishly decorated shrine complex, the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate as well as beautiful autumn foliage. As sorry as we were to miss the gorgeous sights, the gaijin members of the band felt the need to rest up for the last leg of our expedition – Tokyo.

How Aki was able to get BoPoMoFo booked at Jirokichi, Tokyo’s oldest and most respected Blues club is a bit of a mystery. http://www.jirokichi.net/ Certainly, our long association with Shun was a feather in our cap but Jirokichi is a place where some of the greats of modern Blues have played; Sugar Blue, Eddy Clearwater, Big Time Sarah, Billy Branch and Lonnie Brooks to mention but a few of the autographs seen on the walls of the club.

The disconcerting query, ‘Were we out of our league, here?’ undoubtedly ran through all of our minds, though it was thankfully never given voice. Jirokichi was a place where we’d better bring our ‘A’ game, mos’ def’. With the pressure on and the room filling up with Tokyo’s Blues cognoscenti, we fired up ‘Baby, What You Want Me to Do?’ and proceeded to put the place into over-drive. The dragon was charmed by our music and the owners and patrons of the club warmed to us as a bona fide Blues band worthy of being asked for a return engagement. Hoo-Hah!

The year before, BoPoMoFo had played BB King’s Blues Club on Beale Street in Memphis as part of the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge. We’d held our own amongst the hi-caliber competition there, finishing respectably in the middle of the pack. Eighteen months later, we knew we’d truly come into our own as a Blues band, judging from the response of the very discerning, very knowledgeable and highly critical audiences in Japan. There’s always more to learn, playing music; it’s a never-ending quest. BoPoMoFo’s brief experience in Japan showed us that we had come a long way from our Memphis shows. We had arrived at a new standard of professional performance. As Dafu so succinctly put it, ‘We exceeded all expectations.’

Amen to that, brother. BoPoMoFo had claimed our oyster, pried it open and found a pearl – the spirited appreciation of our brand of the Blues by the fans in Japan. That is a precious gift, indeed.

Arigato-gozaimas.

Blues Bash 5: One for the Books

2008-11-23T03:00:00.000-08:00

Who’d have thunk it? The fifth installment of the Blues Bash series of international music festivals on Taiwan, the Blues Bash 5, has entered the history books as a rousing, joyous success.
We'd like to thank everybody who made it to the Taipei suburb of Xizhi (Shijhih) for the Blues Society on Taiwan’s Blues Bash 5, Taiwan's Only True Blues Festival. Special thanks goes to the dedicated (and slightly crazy) Dream Community staff for creating a fantastic atmosphere for the rest of us music lovers to revel in. Those of you like Doug 'Man o’ Steel' Thiele, Torch, Shinchu Dik, Wheelman LEW and hundreds of others, pitched in to help make BB5, the best and longest Bash to date.
From just after 3pm to well after 2:30am, the house (and the neighborhood) was rockin' and the good times were rollin'! Like they say, "It ain't a party until the cops come trying to shut it down." Well, that is a tradition we are proud to have maintained for four years running! No harm, no foul and no tickets were issued. Whew!
Next year's Blues Bash 6, will be even better and probably bigger. (They might have to call the SWAT team.)
For the better part of 12 hours, we were all treated to great music from Blues luminaries Shun Kikuta, Nacomi, Musashino Minnie & Small Package, and Jamsbee from Japan and the Lance Reegan-Diehl Band coming from Seoul to join the fun and make the Dream Community move to the music.
Taiwan Blues stalwarts, David Chen & the Muddy Basin Ramblers (my personal inspiration), BoPoMoFo, Black Sheep and the Blues Vibrations passionately performed a wide range of Blues styles at the highest level of quality.
Rising Hedons’ blend of Blues and World music, the funk-meisters Money Shot Horns, and the soulful socio-political songs of the Dana Wylie Band showed that the Blues are the foundation and the under-pinning of a wide spectrum of musical genres.
A particularly gratifying treat for yours truly was the addition of Celluloid. Not only are they a smoking hot band but it was the first time a band comprised solely of Taiwanese players have performed at a Blues Bash since Chicken Rice psycho-billy’d the Blues & Bar-B-Q Bash on that frigid, windy day at the Tiger City Mall in Taichung in March, 2005.
Thanks to all of the Blues artists for making Blues Bash 5 the very best festival the Blues Society on Taiwan has hosted yet. We've heard wonderful comments of support and appreciation from many folks and you all made it happen. As photos, videos and audio recordings of BB5 are processed and edited, they will be posted here at the Blues Bash site www.bsot-bluesbash.com and the website of Blues Society on Taiwan www.bsot.org as well as YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Reverbnation and alivenotdead.
(ed. note: the Money Shot Horns have a story of their own to tell about their 'Hard Day’s Night' itinerary on Nov 15th; after playing an early set at the BB5, they high-speed-railed it to Kaoshiung to play a raucous late show for an SRO crowd. After which, Dooley high-tailed it to CKS for a flight to Vietnam. Now, that’s what I call ‘being on the road’, bro’!)

The Rising Hedons - Download the Album & Pay What You Can!

2008-09-14T01:57:00.000-07:00

The album Head Full of Rain is now available on a Pay What You Can! basis @ www.therisinghedons.com. Come on by and learn about Taiwan's most original band. Mixed/Mastered by Bruce Miller (White Stripes, Miles Davis)

Blues Bash 5 Announcement

2008-08-09T22:41:00.000-07:00

It’s been a quiet couple of months for the Blues in Asia blog but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing happening on the Asian Blues scene.

For one thing, the Blues Society on Taiwan (BSoT) has teamed up once again with the Dream Community and is in the midst of planning Blues Bash 5, the BSoT’s fifth international Blues music festival.

Blues Bash 5 will take place on Saturday, November 15^th at the Dream Community in Shijhih, a suburb of Taipei, Taiwan. BB5 will feature Blues players based in Asia and the BSoT has invited players from Japan, Korea and Hong Kong.

A partial list of Blues artists who have agreed to perform are:

Shun Kikuta – Japanese guitarist for Blues legends, Koko Taylor and James Cotton

Jamsbee – Japanese Blues band recording artists

Tommy Chung – Slide-guitar master and recording artist from Hong Kong

Fumi Wataribe & Naoto - Japanese acoustic blues duo (mother & son)

Nacomi - Japanese singer, female Blues guitarist and recording artist.

Lance Reegan-Diehl Band – Blues/Rock from Korea

BB5 will also feature some of the aspiring Blues performers based in Taiwan including 2007 IBC semi-finalists, BoPoMoFo, David Chen and the Muddy Basin Ramblers, Black Sheep and Three-Day Bender.

For more information, contact DC Rapier at dcr.bsot@gmail.com .

Blues on!

A Night of Blues

2008-05-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

This isn’t strictly speaking an Asian Blues event but I traveled from Taiwan to participate in the music and share the stage with lots of truly wonderful Blues players including Japanese Blues Guitar Guru, Shun Kikuta. So, in that way, Asia Blues went to the States.

On April 25^th, the event, the Night of the Blues was held at the Capital City Bar & Grill in Springfield, Illinois, USA. The event was the kick off of the Rutledge Youth Foundation's Annual Harley Raffle to raise funds for their assistance to battered and abused youths.

It was also the premiere performance of Tombstone Bullet, Central Illinois’ newest kick-ass Blues band formed and lead by my brother, Big Michael E, who also was the organizer of this memorable event. http://www.tombstonebullet.net/bullet.html

The evening's performances featured the brilliant Japanese recording artist, Shun Kikuta, guitarist for Koko Taylor's Blues Machine playing with Tombstone Bullet. http://www.shunkikuta.com/ I got the chance to join the band and blow some harp on ‘Messing with the Kid’, the Junior Wells tune. (A little side note: Junior had taught Shun the song when they played together in Chicago and Shun, in turn, taught the tune to my band, BoPoMoFo. It feels very good to be passed the torch in that way.)

Italian guitarist, Luca Giordano, director of the Blues festival, Abruzzo nel Blues in central Italy, tore it up with his old friend and Blues Guitar Summit chum, Big Michael E, leader of Tombstone Bullet. Luca splits his time between his hometown and Chicago, where he learns the Blues from the masters and sits in with his idols. Luca and Shun shared the ride from Chi-town to play the Night of the Blues. I’d be surprised if Shun wasn’t invited to play in Abruzzo. http://www.abruzzonelblues.com/HomePage.html http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=151582675

Also featured was American Idol contestant, Elizabeth Eckart, in her first ever performance as a Blues singer. She took to the Blues like a duck to water and has decided that Tombstone Bullet will be her back-up band as she expands her Blues repertoire. Another convert to the Gospel of the Blues. Halleluiah!

Lending a sense of some Central Illinois musical history were the presence of and performances by former members of the Tonguesnatcher Revue and Hurricane Ruth, playing as ‘Brother Ray & the Blades’. (Brother Ray is the name Big Michael and I used to record our sides at Sun Studio in Memphis in 2006. http://blues-n-blades.us/ )

John Sluzalis, Ruth LaMaster, Dick Garretson, Bill Janssen, DC Rapier, Rich Denhart, Christy Bley, Pat Greenan and Jim ‘Tooter’ Troxell all took the stage together for the first time in 30 some years. (Oy-vey!) Many of the players came from as far away as Florida, Missouri, Wisconsin, Colorado and Chicago to join in the music and the fun. I got the prize for being the one who came from farthest away.

All in all, it was an incredible night of Blues but don't take my word for it. You can read a little blurb about it at IllinoisBlues.com! http://www.illinoisblues.com/Archive/BluesBlasts/2008/BluesBlast4_29_08.htm

The Rising Hedons :: CD Release Party

2008-04-29T01:38:00.000-07:00

THE RISING HEDONS CD RELEASE PARTY
Live @ Party Animal Taichung
With special guests: Noise Pollution (Taiwan) and Dirt Star (China)
Saturday, May 3rd 2008
First band at 9:30pm

http://www.therisinghedons.com/ for more information [official site]
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rising-Hedons/11502406215 [fan network]

The Rising Hedons are preparing to release their full-length album entitled "Head Full of Rain." The album was mixed and mastered by Bruce A Miller (White Stripes, Miles Davis, Dave Matthews) and will be available at www.therisinghedons.com, iTunes and through CDBaby.com. The CD release party will be at Party Animal in Taichung City on May 3rd. There will also be a full-length interview with Bradley and Pete from the band, in the May issue of the Taichung Voice magazine. Check www.therisinghedons.com for more details.

Upcoming Shows:
05/03 Party Animal - Taichung with Noise Pollution and Dirt Star
05/04 May Jam - Tainan
05/10 The Armory - Tainan
05/17 Bliss - Taipei
05/24 Taichung Food Festival - Taichung
05/24 Peacefest Fundraiser @ BLISS - Taipei
05/30 The Lighthouse - Kaohsiung
05/31 Basic Aid Music Festival - Puli Township
05/14 Peacefest 2008 - Kunlun Gardens

How to Sing the Blues - a Primer

2008-04-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

by Lame Mango Washington (attributed to Memphis Earlene Gray with help from Uncle Plunky, revisions by Little Blind Patti D, Dr. Stevie Franklin and DC ’the deacon’ Rapier )

1. Most Blues begin, "Woke up this morning."

2."I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, 'less you stick something nasty in the next line, like "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."

3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes ... sort of: "Got a good woman--with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher - and she weigh 500 pound."

4. The Blues are not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch; ain't no way out.

5. Blues cars: Chevys and Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft an' state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues,"adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.

7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in St. Paul or Tucson is just depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain.

8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg cuz you skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg cuz an alligator be chomping on it is.

9. You can't have no Blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.

10. Good places for the Blues:

a. highway
b. jailhouse
c. empty bed
d. bottom of a whiskey glass

Bad places:

a. Ashrams
b. gallery openings
c. Ivy League institutions
d. golf courses

11. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be very old, and you slept in it.

12. Do you have the right to sing the Blues?

Yes, if:

a. you're older than dirt
b. you're blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis
d. you can't be satisfied

No, if:

a. you have all your teeth
b. you were once blind but now can see
c. the man in Memphis lived.
d. you have a retirement plan or trust fund.

13. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Gary Coleman could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.

14. If you ask for water and Baby give you gasoline, it's the Blues.
Other acceptable Blues beverages are:

a. wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. muddy water
d. black coffee

The following are NOT Blues beverages:

a. mixed drinks
b. kosher wine
c. Snapple
d. sparkling water

15. If it occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse, and dying lonely on a broken down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or getting liposuction.

16. Some Blues names for women:

a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Lucille

17. Some Blues names for men:

a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie

18. Persons with names like Sierra, Sequoia, Auburn, and Rainbow can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

19. Here’s a starter kit to make your own Blues name:

a. name a physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi,etc.)
c. last name of US President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)
For example, ‘Blind Lime Jefferson’, or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")

20. I don't care how tragic your life: you own a computer, you cannot sing the blues. You best destroy it. Set it on fire, spill bottle of Mad Dog on it, or get out your shotgun. Maybe your big woman just done sat on it.

But hang on. The would-be bluesman, Martin Mull, playing a bottleneck ukulele using a baby bottle for a slide, sings this near legendary verse:

Well, I woke up this mornin'... and I saw both cars was gone.
Oh yes, I woke up this mornin' .... and saw both cars was gone.
I felt so low-down-deep disheartened,
I threw my drink across the lawn.

Oh, yeah. Who says suburbanites can’t get the Blues?

Bass Solos Explained

2008-03-25T04:11:00.000-07:00

This is what we've all been waiting for: insight to the mysteries of the bass solo.

John Hoffman passed this along from Guam. The insight comes from a bass player in San Fran, Mike Billo. He's pretty well nailed it, IMHO.

Jazz band w/upright

Everybody stops but the piano player vamping lightly, the bassist goes way up the neck with a lot of badly intonated poopity poop poop formless twiddling, with optional grimacing & grunting. Bar chatter goes up.

Hybrid blues-rock w/Rickenbacker

Bassist going off on extended noodling (also in the high register and sounding like pop-pop poopity poopity poop, only much louder, maybe with EFX). Guitar player can't count to 12 and steps in to attempt drunken riff-based call & response pissing match. Drummer rises to the challenge. Organist goes to the bar.

Funk w/exotic wood plank

Band drops out except for drums, bass solo sounds like small-screen version of Normandy Invasion, lots of chattering machine gun poppitypoppitypoppitypoppity SLAP. Not as prone to high register noodling though. Mid-neck assault and slightly back-bent posture, right and/thumb to appear as a flailing blur. Don't attempt to look serene and spiritual doing this unless you are Vic Wooten. Can sound like angry chattering squirrels throwing nuts at a tin roof..... unless you are Vic Wooten.

Classic Blues w/ Fender P

There are no bass solos. Don't. Exception: One real slow showpiece grinder at the end of the set...keep the sludgy bottom groove while the rest of the band backs way off so people can marvel at the thick pelvis pushing thump AND the absolute lack of definition in those 30-yr-old BBQ sauce & nicotine - crusted flatwounds. The audience loves to cheer for the quiet kid on the non-flashy instrument.

Once.

Trad. Bluegrass w/ Kay upright

(say "string bass" or "doghouse")

Only once per night, and the rest of the band just plays lightly the downbeat chords for each section, the bass player keeps playing the same 1-5 pattern finishing up with a slightly flashy and attention-getting three note ascending run back to one. Pentatonic minor is a hanging offense, eighth notes are edgy.

Country w/Peavey

No solos. Ever. Bluegrass is the country version of jazz (chops-focused), if you want a solo go there. Roots are deep, keep them there. Fifths always work in country. Maybe if it's a loose night you can play a solo in "mama don't allow", but it better be the normal boogie-woogie arpeggio. Extended chords invite flying bottles. Keep it Dorian.

Nu-punk-grass

hippie guys with fiddles and mandolins and kilts and dobros and dreadlocks and overalls with no shirts and the bass player is a young college symphony guy who met the banjo player at a party and they shared a hand-rolled cigarette and the most amazing tri-tone arco ragas entered the cosmic flow, maaaaaan.......

Coffee-house w/fretless boutique bass

Sensitive Singer-Songwriter takes break from introspective lyrical navel-gazing and gives bassist an entire spaciously empty verse in a landscape of pastel wanderey DADGAD-tuned acoustic guitar. Bassist - rip thru some pseudo Jaco Manring cliches – furious Phyrgian fretless smeary honks, growls and noodles, sliding chords with pointlessly overdone clusters of harmonics. Sounds like angry cows in a rainstorm.

Himalayan Blues Festival 2008

2008-03-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

The Himalayan Blues Festival 2008 will be held from 29th October to 4th November. We will be gathering artists from all around the world to make it an international event. The 2007 festival pictures and live recordings can be downloaded from www.rockmandu.com

For more infor mation please feel free to contact us.

Blues in ...Asia compilation CD

2008-03-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

"Blues in ... Asia" contains 19 tracks from all over the region - from Japan to Indonesia, from Singapore to China, from Vietnam to India, and most countries and territories in between! Of course, you'll hear traditional American blues in English, like "Sweet Home Chicago" and "Walking the Dog", but also be ready for some cool Asian interpretations of the Blues, sung in Indonesian ("Ilusi"), Mandarin ("Spring Weather" and "Tianmi Beijing"), and even Japanese ("Yakitori Boogie"). Also, you're sure to be captivated by the sounds of some unique Asian instruments interpreting the blues! Enjoy!!

http://cdbaby.com/cd/bluesinasia

Here’s what some have said about the album.

* CHECK IT OUT!!!! author: rebecca gregory

Really cool CD!! Features really talented blues musicians!! check it out!!

*author: Angela Chen

Awesome Awesome Awesome!! A incredible varity of blues musicians!! its time to see more asian artists being exposed to the world! let the east influence and inspire the west!! Check this CD Out!!

*What a fantastic CD! author: Stormy Masayuki

I'm so happy to joyning this CD. I'm a gutarist of Santa Band from Japan. Each song are so so exciting and bluesy!I want to have The world blues festival with these Asian blues men. Anyway, our song is Yakitori boogie, not Yakatori boogie,

*Kudos for putting together such a great CD - wow! author: Paul Hammerstein

I've been travelling around Asia for 20 years, and have heard plenty of great blues bands that are as good as those that I've heard in the US and Europe. What a surprise to see that someone has made a compilation CD - high quality sound, killer tunes. Fun to listen to the Blues in Mandarin and other languages as well!! Well done!!

An Unfortunate Appellation

2008-03-07T05:22:00.000-08:00

The Blues.

What an unfortunate appellation.

Why not the ‘Reds’ as in ‘Got Tamales and They’re Red Hot’?

To most people mention of ‘the Blues’ conjures up an image of an old Black man slumped on a stool, groaning regretfully about a life of mis-treatment and abuse to a sparse guitar accompaniment. The Blues of that stereotype represents just one rather uncomfortable emotional state. But the music which is regretfully called ‘the Blues’ covers the whole spectrum of emotions and life situations.

One of its particular strengths is that the Blues conveys a wide range of human emotions by telling a compelling story. While most pop songs attempt to evoke an emotional response with the music, the lyrics play a secondary role. The lyrics of the Blues, on the other hand, often offer a vignette or a series of narrated scenes that are joined by a common theme. The emotions which the music elicits are put into the context of a descriptive narrative. The most cursory of investigations will bear this out.

The third-person narrative of Billy’s fatal encounter with Stagger-Lee or the first-person visit to the St James Infirmary are well-known examples of the story-telling aspect of Blues lyrics. The topic of Blues lyrics is not restricted to affairs of the heart but deal with many areas of the human experience; biographical, socio-political, philosophical, satirical, spiritual and meta-physical. And when taken all together, the corpus of Blues lyrics relates the story of human society from a most personal perspective.

‘The Blues’ is the name that stuck, however. So it goes. No matter the name, one can hear the broad spectrum of emotions and observations on the human condition conveyed on nearly every Blues recording and in every masterful Blues performance.

Phuket International Blues Rock Festival

2008-02-18T02:38:00.000-08:00

February 22-23, 2008

No less than twelve acts will take to the stage during the two nights. Thailand’s finest - Cannonball, Georgia, Full House and Soi Dogs from Bangkok; The Blues Machine featuring Ken ‘the Snowman’ Minahan from Pattaya; The Fabulous Hepcats from Koh Samui; Boy Blues Band from Chiang Mai as well as Phuket’s Groove Doctors w/Jimmy Fame and Bonnie Anderson - together with one of Australia’s top blues bands, Salty Dog, will rock the stage until Rich Harper closes the show Friday night and Shari Puorto on Saturday.

The internationally renowned Rich Harper Band from Los Angeles which has gathered strong following in Thailand over the past two years will return in 2008, to headline Friday night with their usual fiery style, helping to make this year’s festival a blues/rock extravaganza

Please see Schedules page for details and get ready for some smokin, hot Blues, R&B and Rock AND Roll!

For more info : http://www.phuketbluesfestival.com/

Kuala Lumpur International Blues Festival

2008-02-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

The Blues is coming to Kuala Lumpur.

August 28 – 30, 2008 will mark the debut of the Kuala Lumpur International Blues Festival. Blues Gang featuring Joe Wings, Purple Haze, Serious Trouble, Kool Sweat, Blues House Session (Ipoh Blues), The Boneshakers, The Gypsy, Sharin Band, The Electrics Blues Band, Trigger Finger, Zubiral, The Travellers, and Bluestreats of Malaysia, as well as Alex Terry (Australia), Alan Lewis (Scotland), The Blues Bug (Indonesia), Curtis King (Vietnam), U-Blues (Singapore) and The Van Boys (Thailand), The Sunshine Blues Band (U.K) and a few more foreigns blues band will share the same stage in this first ever Blues festival in the country.

Apart from the range of great Blues musicians from around the world, the 3-day event will witness the historic reunion of Malaysia’s first Blues Band, Blues Gang. Frontman Ito, together with his mates Julian, Jim, Karim and the rest of the gang will get back on stage and strut their stuff, just like old times.

We will keep you updated via KLBlues.com

Gigs on Guam

2008-02-17T14:14:00.000-08:00

The Micronesia Blues Society presents Deep Pacific Blues every Thursday, 9pm, at Bully's, Pleasure Island, Tumon Village, Guam and every Friday, 7pm, at Mermaid Tavern, Guam's only Brewpub, in Olde Hagatna... We have backed up hundreds of visiting Blues musicians in the past eighteen years if you are visiting Guam please contact John Hoffman; jhblues@guam.net

Shun Kikuta "RISING SHUN" JAPAN TOUR '08

2008-02-16T01:15:00.000-08:00

Shun Kikuta "RISING SHUN" JAPAN TOUR '08

http://cvnweb.bai.ne.jp/~eric-c/shun/SHUN_KIKUTA_JAPAN_TOUR.html

■2/16(Sat) 東京　“JIROKICHI” http://www.jirokichi.net/ 18：30 open 19：30 start 前売り￥3200　当日￥3500 共演バンド：Shun Kikuta Band w/Jamsbee and Voices

■2/17(Sun) 札幌　“MOTOWN CLUB TEMPS” http://www.temps-soul.com/top.html open 18：00　start 19：00 前売り￥3000　当日￥3500 共演バンド：マサ長棟ブルースバンド&PATTI

■2/18(Mon) 仙台　“HEAVEN” http://www.blues-heaven.com/photo/photo.htm open 19:00 starts 20:00 ￥2500 共演バンド：BLUES CRUISER

■2/19(Tue) 福島　“なまず亭”　 http://fireomichi.at.infoseek.co.jp/namazu/namazu.html open 19:00 starts 20:00　￥2500 共演バンド：共演バンド：BLUES CRUISER＆華

■2/22(Fri) 宇都宮 “Beat Club” http://www.beatclub.jp/pc/pcindex.html open 19:00 start 20:00 前売り￥2500　当日￥3000 共演バンド：Shun Kikuta Trio w/WARAKU x T.C.Groove

■2/24(Sun) 名古屋 “Slow Blues” http://www.slowblues.com/ open 19:00　 start 20：00 　前売り￥2000　当日￥2500 共演バンド：チャビー小林バンド& Rosebud RIE

■2/26(Tue) 神戸 “WYNTERLAND” http://www.kobewynterland.info/ open18:30 start 19:30 　前売り￥3000　当日￥3500 共演バンド：Apes＆Nacomi /対バンド：momo and RODEO

■2/27(Wed) 大阪 “Knave” http://www.knave.co.jp/ open18:30 start 19:30　前売り￥3000　当日￥3500 共演バンド：Bluez-it/対バンド：TATOO

■2/28(Thu) 京都 “MOJO WEST” http://www.mojowest.com/index.php open18:30 start19:30　前売り￥3000　当日￥3500 共演バンド：Nacomi and friends featuring 塩次伸二

■2/29(Fri) 福岡 “Gate’s 7” http://www.gates7.com/guide/ 前売り￥3000　当日￥3500 共演バンド：博多BLUES FELLOWS

■3/1(Sat) 佐賀 “B-Shuffle” http://b-shuffle.seesaa.net/ open：18:00 start：19:00 前売り￥2000 当日￥2500 共演バンド：博多BLUES FELLOWS

■3/2(Sun) 鹿児島　天文館コロネット http://www.tenmonkan.com/shopdb/shopdb.php?shopid=1066 open 18:30　 start 19:00　￥2500 共演バンド：サクラジマブルースバンド

Welcome to the Blues in Asia Blog

2008-02-09T20:27:00.000-08:00

The Blues might rightly be considered the first 'World Music'. Long before that term was coined, the Blues originated in the southern USA when African and European music forms were melded together. Since then, the Blues has travelled the world.

The Blues in Asia Blog is for all of the Blues fans and musicians here in east Asia use. Its purpose is to form an on-line community where we can share news, views and files. Invitations to join this on-line community were sent to Blues folks in Hong Kong, Korea, Guam, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Shanghai and Taiwan. With just a little cooperation, we can assist each other in promoting an appreciation of the Blues in our respective countries.

Promote a festival. Promote your CD. Find gigs. Find players. Share recordings, links and resources. We may be miles apart but we're together in the heart of the Blues.

Please share this blog address with all of the Blues folks you know.

Blues on,
DC Rapier
the Blues Society on Taiwan