The Westbrook Singers, 3 p.m.
The Westbrook Singers are an extraordinary family group that is committed to spreading God's message through music - in a style that is both contemporary and traditional. The origin of this seasoned group dates back to the mid-'70s, when 11 siblings came together to complement a ministry that began with their father some 20 years earlier. Thus, the children of Bishop Charles B. and Barbara Westbrook came to be known as The Original Westbrook Singers.
Over the years, the group has changed in its makeup but not in its focus. Today, only four of the siblings continue in performance roles, though appearances by other siblings are not rare. They are Brenda Westbrook-Lee, Delores Westbrook-Tingle, Gary Westbrook, and Cynthia Westbrook-Bryson.
The Westbrook Singers are a magnetic ensemble with an indelible sound that reaches into your innermost being. At the same time, each member's individual vocal ability allows for the variety that results in their unique sound and uncanny harmonies.
Though the group continues to travel and record, the primary focus of their ministry is effecting change in people's lives. While stressing family unity, the group's desire is to fill a spiritual void amid the turmoil and confusion in the world today. They have a message filled with hope, and it is delivered with amazing grace! No doubt, all who hear them come away with a new appreciation of gospel music.
(For a 2014 interview with The Westbrook Singers' Delores Westbrook-Tingle, click here.)
- from TheWestbrookSingers.com
Terry "Harmonica" Bean & Jimmy Duck Holmes, 4:30 p.m.
Terry hails from Pontotoc in the Mississippi Hill Country west of Tupelo, and Jimmy comes from Bentonia in the Delta. Although these two are relatively young, they have decades of experience with the blues.
Terry began playing guitar and harmonica as a child, and eventually his father began featuring him at home gatherings and taking him along to other house parties. Although Terry was a "natural," he stopped playing around the time he was 12 because several of his brothers were jealous of the attention he received. Terry decided to get serious about the blues in 1988 after visiting the Delta Blues Festival in Greenville. He went there to see Robert Lockwood Jr., who had played with Terry's idol, harmonica legend Little Walter, but inadvertently fell in with the Greenville blues scene. Terry is consciously dedicated to "keeping alive" older styles of blues. "What's stimulating to me," he says, "is people hearing the blues played like they used to hear it."
Jimmy "Duck" Holmes is the proprietor of one of the oldest juke joints in Mississippi, the Blue Front Café in Bentonia. In the mid-2000s, he began performing blues actively after many years of performing casually. He is a practitioner and conscious advocate of a distinctive blues style from his hometown, whose most famous proponent was blues pioneer Skip James.
Musical performances at the café have historically been mostly informal, and notable out-of-towners who played there included James "Son" Thomas and Sonny Boy Williamson II. It also hosted musicians who played in what has been called the "Bentonia School" of the blues, which is characterized by distinctive guitar tunings (E-minor and open D-minor), the use of falsetto, dark lyrical themes, and an overall eerie quality.
Jimmy took over the Blue Front in 1970 after the death of his father, and beginning in the '80s the café became a popular destination for blues tourists, including annual visits by busloads of Japanese fans. Various blues researchers including Alan Lomax recorded Jimmy beginning in the '70s. Jimmy, who normally works as an educator, has traditionally been a somewhat reluctant performer, but has enjoyed the opportunity to share his music and talk about the Bentonia tradition. Jimmy also received national publicity in August 2007 when a Mississippi Blues Trail historic marker was dedicated in honor of the Blue Front Café.
(Terry "Harmonica" Bean and Jimmy Duck Holmes will also present a workshop at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.)
- Karen McFarland
Jarekus Singleton, 6 p.m.
"Jarekus Singleton is making some serious blues noise, blending modern-day blues and emotionally intense soul with melodic, hot-toned lead guitar, funk-seasoned rhythms, and hip-hop flavored lyrics." - Living Blues
From Jackson, Mississippi, Jarekus Singleton was a basketball sensation in college (the NAIA 2006-7 Player of the Year led the athletic association in scoring, and he was fifth in assists); he discovered the blues in his teens after having fallen in love with rap and hip hop while playing gospel in church as a boy. Later, Jarekus was mentored by the late Michael Burks, the great Albert King protégé. I first heard of Jarekus Singleton two years ago, but it wasn't until I saw him at a jam after the International Blues Challenge this year that I realized what all the buzz was about.
The UK magazine Blues & Rhythm describes Jarekus this way: "At just 29 years old, Jarekus Singleton is a musical trailblazer with a bold vision for the future of the blues. Springing from the same Mississippi soil as Charley Patton, Muddy Waters, and B.B. King, Singleton's cutting-edge sound - equally rooted in rap, rock, and blues traditions - is all his own. He melds hip-hop wordplay, rock energy, and R&B grooves with contemporary and traditional blues, turning audiences of all ages into devoted fans. With his untamed guitar licks and strong, soulful voice effortlessly moving from ferocious and funky to slow and steamy to smoking hot, Singleton is a fresh, electrifying bluesman bursting at the seams with talent."
In fact, Alligator Records' Bruce Iglauer also recognized Singleton's talent, and this May the label released his Refuse to Lose. In reviewing the album, David Whiteis of the Chicago Reader said, "Singleton plays searing guitar solos that soar in ascending arcs, and his vocal parts and band arrangements are complex and challenging; he'll segue from hard-edged testifying to melancholy meditation and back again in a verse or two."
(For a 2014 interview with Jarekus Singleton, click here.)
- Karen McFarland
Eddie Shaw & the Wolfgang, 8 p.m.
In 2014, Eddie Shaw was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame, and he will receive the Mississippi Valley Blues Society's RiverRoad Lifetime Achievement award at the 2014 Mississippi Valley Blues Festival. Born in Mississippi, Eddie is now known as a Chicago blues tenor saxophonist. In his teenage years, he played saxophone with local blues musicians such as Little Milton. In 1957, at a gig in Itta Bena, Mississippi, the then-20-year-old Eddie was invited by Muddy Waters to join his Chicago-based band.
Once in Chicago, Eddie divided the tenor saxophone duties with A.C. Reed. In 1972 he joined Howlin' Wolf, leading his band the Wolf Gang, and writing half the songs on The Back Door Wolf (1973). After Wolf's death in 1976, Eddie took over the band and its residency at the 1815 Club, renamed Eddie's Place. By the late 1970s, Eddie's own recording career started with appearances on Alligator Records' Living Chicago Blues anthologies.
Eddie's many contributions to the blues include arranging tracks for The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions (which featured Eric Clapton, Bill Wyman, Ringo Starr, and others) and performing with a list of blues notables that includes Hound Dog Taylor, Freddie King, Otis Rush, Jimmy Reed, Willie Dixon, and Magic Sam (on his Black Magic album).
One of his sons, Eddie "Vaan" Shaw Jr. (born 1955), joined the Wolfgang playing on some of his father's recordings. A disciple of Wolf protégé Hubert Sumlin, Vaan has recorded two albums of his own. His travels have taken him around the world and back again firmly anchored in the blues. Much like his dad, Vaan has written, produced, and sung his way through the blues and is widely known as one of the best guitarists performing on the blues circuit.
(Eddie Shaw and Eddie "Vaan" Shaw will also present a workshop Saturday at 5:30 p.m.)
- Karen McFarland
Deanna Bogart, 10 p.m.
Deanna Bogart is a singer, songwriter, and piano-playing and sax-blowing musician. She has been recognized with several awards, including Blues Music Awards three years in a row for her horn playing. Also, in 2013 she was nominated for the Blues Foundation's Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year award. She has toured the world for more than 20 years, bringing her music to people everywhere.
But if you have a chance to meet Deanna (and you probably will) at this year's Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, you will see that she loves and enjoys playing music for people. It shows in her smile and her body. You can see she is at home with any instrument she uses, which includes her voice. She can play a mean boogie-woogie on those 88 keys or drift seamlessly onto the edge of other genres.
Deanna is very comfortable in her music, and it is a wonderful thing to experience with her. And when I say with her, that's what you will get. When she brings it up to you and your feet start a-goin' and your hands get a-movin' and all of a sudden, bam - you're up on your feet a-dancin' and a-hootin' and a-hollerin'. Then the party will begin and won't end until the last note is played.
Deanna has many CDs to her credit, with her 2012 Pianoland getting rightfully excellent reviews and Just a Wish Away ... released on June 24.
(Deanna Bogart will also present a workshop at 7 p.m. Saturday. For a 2005 River Cities' Reader interview with Deanna Bogart, visit RCReader.com/y/bogart.)
- Michael Livermore
