28
Jun
2005
Deacon Burton & the Victory Travelers - 2 p.m.
Starting in 1991 with the Blind Boys of Alabama, top-notch gospel choirs have been featured at Mississippi Valley Blues Festivals. The Mississippi Valley Blues Society learned about the Victory Travelers thanks to Otis Clay. After hearing about the financial disaster of the 1993 Mississippi Valley Blues Festival caused by a flooded Mississippi River and rain, Otis Clay brought his band and The Victory Travelers for a fundraiser at what used to be The Taste of New Orleans club in Davenport. So impressive were the Victory Travelers they were selected to perform at the 1994 Mississippi Valley Blues Festival.
Founded by Deacon Reuben Burton, The Victory Travelers began their singing career in Chicago more than 30 years ago. They have shared the stage with such great gospel groups as The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Willie Neal Johnson & the Keynotes, The Canton Spirituals, Vicki Winan, Otis Clay, Shirley Ceasor, Dr. Albertina Walker, and Al Green. Among the venues at which they have performed are the Gospel Tent Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Festival International De Jazz in Montreal, The Chicago Gospel Festival, and the Gospel Stage in Copeland, Kentucky.
Among the honors The Victory Travelers have received were awards for the Best Male Gospel Quartet of the Year in 1998, 1999, and 2000 by the African American Religious Connection. The Victory Travelers have released eight albums on Cumberland Valley Sound Records, their latest being He Is God.
- Jimmie Jones
Arthur Williams & Jesse Hoggard - 3:30 p.m.
Arthur Williams was born in Tunica, Mississippi, in 1937, was raised in Chicago, and made his recording debut backing Frank Frost on Jewel Records in 1966. In 1972, he moved to his current home in St. Louis. He still performed, but his recording career was dormant as he concentrated on a day job. In the '90s, he appeared on a few records and put out a few of his own.
Arthur Williams is now looked up to as one of the last of the great juke-joint harp blowers. Arthur's music represents the last generation of that true down-home blues of the Delta. The sounds of Sonny Boy II and Little Walter can be heard in Arthur's playing, along with a heavy dose of rugged individualism.
Harmonica master Arthur Williams and his acoustic-guitar-playing partner Jesse Hoggard really nail the front-porch feeling that the best acoustic blues was born from. Arthur is as genuine as they come. No pretense, no BS, just pure, good-timin' blues laid down as it was meant to be.
Arthur's acoustic harp work and Jesse's perfectly steady guitar work, with simple, tasteful fills, are show-stoppers you should not miss! These gentlemen have lived it, and now they pass it on to you in an undiluted, straight-ahead fashion that's bound to please everyone.
- Phil Koehlhoeffer
Willie King & the Liberators - 5:30 p.m.
Blues guitarist, singer, composer, and educator Willie King had to wait more than 50 years to get any kind of recognition as a blues artist. His three recent CDs with his Liberators band helped him win awards for Best Blues Artist, Best Song ("Terrorized"), and Best Album Art from Living Blues magazine.
Willie King was born on a Mississippi plantation on March 18, 1943. His parents separated when he was two years old, after which he and his mother moved in with her parents eight miles east on an Alabama plantation. When growing up, Willie was inspired by his grandfather, who provided guidance for his major life decisions, including standing up to the boss man, refusing to work in the fields, becoming an instructor in cultural heritage to the youth in his area, and applying civil rights to his blues compositions.
Two local musicians helped get Willie interested in blues music. Willie acquired a guitar by the time he reached 13 years and at the age of 20 he began playing professionally at house parties and juke joints. In 1967 he spent eight months in Chicago hoping to perform in the blues world but worked day gigs instead. Back in Pickens County and Freedom Creek in Alabama, Willie formed his own band with bassist Kenyata "Kenny" Smith and drummer Willie James Williams, who have been working with Willie ever since.
Willie got involved in civil rights in the 1960s and '70s and began including civil rights in his songs. He spent time with Pete Seeger performing political songs in Tennessee and Massachusetts. In the early '80s Willie decided to do something about what his grandfathers had put in his mind, and that was to educate the local youth about their African-American heritage. He therefore organized "The Rural Members Association."
Willie King can also be heard with the Alabama Blues Project at BlueSKool on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and at a free workshop Saturday at 4 p.m.
- Jimmie Jones
The Jelly Roll All-Stars - 7:30 p.m.
The Jelly Roll All-Stars is a unique blend of some of the top blues session men from the golden age of the blues. Drummer Sam Carr, the son of the legendary Robert Nighthawk and one of the founding members of the Jelly Roll Kings in the '70s, brings a raw and unpolished sound to the front of the blues genre. Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, along with multiple W.C. Handy award winner Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, composed the rhythm section of the legendary Muddy Waters band for almost two decades. Add to the mix some harmonica wizardry by another Muddy alumnus Arthur Williams, who shared his Delta harp expertise with legends Elmore James and Junior Wells. Jesse Hoggard brings straight-ahead acoustic guitar into the mix, and along with Bob Lohr on piano, will bring you some good old 12-bar blues. If you ever wondered what the blues was really like in the golden age of smoky clubs and late-night sessions, join the legends that lived it who are still playing the blues the way they were meant to be.
The Jelly Roll All-Stars are masters that can make the simplest note or rhythm a profound expression of the soul. They can teach you how to live and will show you how to have the best time of your life any side of the Mason-Dixon Line!
- Karl Allemeier
Magic Slim & the Teardrops with John Primer - 9:30 p.m.
John Primer performed with Guitar Slim & the Teardrops from 1982 through 1995, so it will be a real treat hearing these two master blues guitarists together again.
Magic Slim was born August 7, 1937, in Torrence, Mississippi and was named Morris Holt. He first began playing the piano, but after losing a finger in an accident he found it difficult so he switched to guitar. At the age of eleven he moved to Grenada, Mississippi, and soon met and became friends with Magic Sam. In 1955 at the age of 18, Morris Holt moved to Chicago and got a job with Magic Sam, who gave him the name Magic Slim. (He is no longer slim!) He also performed with the Robert Perkins band, which was called "Mr. Pitiful & the Teardrops." Eventually, Magic Slim found it difficult making it in the big city and moved back to Mississippi. In 1965 Magic Slim returned to Chicago and with his brothers Nick on bass and Lee Baby formed a band utilizing the Teardrop name. The Teardrops career took an upward swing in 1979 when four tunes on Alligator became hits. Since then the Teardrops have recorded albums on Blind Pig, Rooster Blues, Alligator, and Austrian Wolf.
John Primer was born March 3, 1946, in Camden, Mississippi, and began playing guitar at age eight. He moved to Chicago in 1963 as an 18-year-old and formed a band called the Mountaineers. In the '70s, he joined the house band at the Teresa Lounge. John joined Willie Dixon's Chicago All Stars in 1979 and after a year he got a call to work for Muddy Waters. John stayed with Muddy until his death in 1983. After Muddy, John went with Magic Slim & the Teardrops. In 1995, with the successful release of his album The Real Deal, John began leading his own band, "John Primer and the Real Deal Blues Band."
Jimmie Jones
Founded by Deacon Reuben Burton, The Victory Travelers began their singing career in Chicago more than 30 years ago. They have shared the stage with such great gospel groups as The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Willie Neal Johnson & the Keynotes, The Canton Spirituals, Vicki Winan, Otis Clay, Shirley Ceasor, Dr. Albertina Walker, and Al Green. Among the venues at which they have performed are the Gospel Tent Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Festival International De Jazz in Montreal, The Chicago Gospel Festival, and the Gospel Stage in Copeland, Kentucky.
Among the honors The Victory Travelers have received were awards for the Best Male Gospel Quartet of the Year in 1998, 1999, and 2000 by the African American Religious Connection. The Victory Travelers have released eight albums on Cumberland Valley Sound Records, their latest being He Is God.
- Jimmie Jones
Arthur Williams & Jesse Hoggard - 3:30 p.m.
Arthur Williams was born in Tunica, Mississippi, in 1937, was raised in Chicago, and made his recording debut backing Frank Frost on Jewel Records in 1966. In 1972, he moved to his current home in St. Louis. He still performed, but his recording career was dormant as he concentrated on a day job. In the '90s, he appeared on a few records and put out a few of his own.
Arthur Williams is now looked up to as one of the last of the great juke-joint harp blowers. Arthur's music represents the last generation of that true down-home blues of the Delta. The sounds of Sonny Boy II and Little Walter can be heard in Arthur's playing, along with a heavy dose of rugged individualism.
Harmonica master Arthur Williams and his acoustic-guitar-playing partner Jesse Hoggard really nail the front-porch feeling that the best acoustic blues was born from. Arthur is as genuine as they come. No pretense, no BS, just pure, good-timin' blues laid down as it was meant to be.
Arthur's acoustic harp work and Jesse's perfectly steady guitar work, with simple, tasteful fills, are show-stoppers you should not miss! These gentlemen have lived it, and now they pass it on to you in an undiluted, straight-ahead fashion that's bound to please everyone.
- Phil Koehlhoeffer
Willie King & the Liberators - 5:30 p.m.
Blues guitarist, singer, composer, and educator Willie King had to wait more than 50 years to get any kind of recognition as a blues artist. His three recent CDs with his Liberators band helped him win awards for Best Blues Artist, Best Song ("Terrorized"), and Best Album Art from Living Blues magazine.
Willie King was born on a Mississippi plantation on March 18, 1943. His parents separated when he was two years old, after which he and his mother moved in with her parents eight miles east on an Alabama plantation. When growing up, Willie was inspired by his grandfather, who provided guidance for his major life decisions, including standing up to the boss man, refusing to work in the fields, becoming an instructor in cultural heritage to the youth in his area, and applying civil rights to his blues compositions.
Two local musicians helped get Willie interested in blues music. Willie acquired a guitar by the time he reached 13 years and at the age of 20 he began playing professionally at house parties and juke joints. In 1967 he spent eight months in Chicago hoping to perform in the blues world but worked day gigs instead. Back in Pickens County and Freedom Creek in Alabama, Willie formed his own band with bassist Kenyata "Kenny" Smith and drummer Willie James Williams, who have been working with Willie ever since.
Willie got involved in civil rights in the 1960s and '70s and began including civil rights in his songs. He spent time with Pete Seeger performing political songs in Tennessee and Massachusetts. In the early '80s Willie decided to do something about what his grandfathers had put in his mind, and that was to educate the local youth about their African-American heritage. He therefore organized "The Rural Members Association."
Willie King can also be heard with the Alabama Blues Project at BlueSKool on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and at a free workshop Saturday at 4 p.m.
- Jimmie Jones
The Jelly Roll All-Stars - 7:30 p.m.
The Jelly Roll All-Stars is a unique blend of some of the top blues session men from the golden age of the blues. Drummer Sam Carr, the son of the legendary Robert Nighthawk and one of the founding members of the Jelly Roll Kings in the '70s, brings a raw and unpolished sound to the front of the blues genre. Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, along with multiple W.C. Handy award winner Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, composed the rhythm section of the legendary Muddy Waters band for almost two decades. Add to the mix some harmonica wizardry by another Muddy alumnus Arthur Williams, who shared his Delta harp expertise with legends Elmore James and Junior Wells. Jesse Hoggard brings straight-ahead acoustic guitar into the mix, and along with Bob Lohr on piano, will bring you some good old 12-bar blues. If you ever wondered what the blues was really like in the golden age of smoky clubs and late-night sessions, join the legends that lived it who are still playing the blues the way they were meant to be.
The Jelly Roll All-Stars are masters that can make the simplest note or rhythm a profound expression of the soul. They can teach you how to live and will show you how to have the best time of your life any side of the Mason-Dixon Line!
- Karl Allemeier
Magic Slim & the Teardrops with John Primer - 9:30 p.m.
John Primer performed with Guitar Slim & the Teardrops from 1982 through 1995, so it will be a real treat hearing these two master blues guitarists together again.
Magic Slim was born August 7, 1937, in Torrence, Mississippi and was named Morris Holt. He first began playing the piano, but after losing a finger in an accident he found it difficult so he switched to guitar. At the age of eleven he moved to Grenada, Mississippi, and soon met and became friends with Magic Sam. In 1955 at the age of 18, Morris Holt moved to Chicago and got a job with Magic Sam, who gave him the name Magic Slim. (He is no longer slim!) He also performed with the Robert Perkins band, which was called "Mr. Pitiful & the Teardrops." Eventually, Magic Slim found it difficult making it in the big city and moved back to Mississippi. In 1965 Magic Slim returned to Chicago and with his brothers Nick on bass and Lee Baby formed a band utilizing the Teardrop name. The Teardrops career took an upward swing in 1979 when four tunes on Alligator became hits. Since then the Teardrops have recorded albums on Blind Pig, Rooster Blues, Alligator, and Austrian Wolf.
John Primer was born March 3, 1946, in Camden, Mississippi, and began playing guitar at age eight. He moved to Chicago in 1963 as an 18-year-old and formed a band called the Mountaineers. In the '70s, he joined the house band at the Teresa Lounge. John joined Willie Dixon's Chicago All Stars in 1979 and after a year he got a call to work for Muddy Waters. John stayed with Muddy until his death in 1983. After Muddy, John went with Magic Slim & the Teardrops. In 1995, with the successful release of his album The Real Deal, John began leading his own band, "John Primer and the Real Deal Blues Band."
Jimmie Jones
