Articles by Ed Kopp

Blues Starter Kit

by Ed Kopp
August 16, 2005

If you're just beginning to explore the blues, here's a list of 70 suggested artists and recordings, some old and some new. These picks should get anybody's mojo workin' overtime, but purists will note some flagrant omissions. Unfortunately, many deserving artists had to be excluded for brevity's sake. For a more thorough guide to blues artists and recordings, check out the All Music Guide to the Blues. As to the dates listed after each recording, the CD release date appears ...

A Brief History of the Blues

by Ed Kopp
August 16, 2005

When you think of the blues, you think about misfortune, betrayal and regret. You lose your job, you get the blues. Your mate falls out of love with you, you get the blues. Your dog dies, you get the blues. While blues lyrics often deal with personal adversity, the music itself goes far beyond self-pity. The blues is also about overcoming hard luck, saying what you feel, ridding yourself of frustration, letting your hair down, and simply having ...

Blues

by Ed Kopp
August 16, 2005

The blues is the progenitor of most popular music in America, but it hasn't always gotten the respect it deserves. The recorded history of the blues proves the point. Prior to World War II, very few white people had ever heard any authentic blues music. Up until the late 1950s, blues labels could only afford to record and market singles, never albums. Even today the blues is widely regarded as the old-fashioned cousin of jazz, rock and rap, when it ...

Great Northeast Blues Festival

by Ed Kopp
March 8, 2004

James Cotton and Elvin Bishop heated up a cool, cloudy night in downtown Syracuse, N.Y., during the final two performances of the Great Northeast Blues Festival on Saturday, August 14, 1999.Performing on a stage set up in the middle of Erie Blvd. in Syracuse's Clinton Square, Cotton and Bishop played to a subdued but varied crowd of bikers, families, social butterflies, beer drinkers, and genuine blues fans. Saturday's crowd at the free two-day festival was estimated at 7,000, a ...

Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks: Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks Vol. 1/Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks Vol. 2

by Ed Kopp
April 12, 2002

If you like jazz vocalese, doo-wop, old-time soul, gospel, South African township music, or any combination of the aforementioned, you will probably love these two CDs by Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks. Together these separate releases provide a comprehensive overview of the group's recorded legacy. Makeba and the Skylarks were one of the most successful South African vocal groups to blend American influences (Mills Brothers-style pop, gospel, and jazz) with South African tribal rhythms and vocal styles ...

Sheer All Stars: Indibano/Live @ the Blues Room

by Ed Kopp
April 12, 2002

The Sheer All Stars belong on that short list of contemporary jazz bands (along with the Pat Metheny Group, the Yellowjackets, and Bela Fleck and Flecktones) whose music is both accessible and sophisticated, a rare combination in pop-jazz. The All Stars are a jazz supergroup comprised of musicians who record for Sheer Sound, a prominent South African label. Its members are five of South Africa's most popular jazzmen: pianist Paul Hanmer, saxophonist McCoy Mrubata, guitarist Errol Dyers, ...

West Nkosi: Sixteen Original Sax Jive Hits

by Ed Kopp
April 12, 2002

Before he died from injuries sustained in a car crash in 1998, West Nkosi produced hit records for renowned South African bands Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. A household name in South Africa, Nkosi was best known as a producer, but he also achieved popularity as an alto saxophonist and pennywhistler. In the '60s and ‘70s, Nkosi was one of the chief practitioners of sax jive, a simple but danceable form of township ...

Robert Bradley's Backwater Surprise: Time To Discover

by Ed Kopp
January 1, 2001

Robert Bradley is a 50-year-old blind blues singer from Detroit who's become an unlikely crossover success. Bradley's latest album Time To Discover has made a lot of pop critic's top 10 “Best of" lists for 2000, and deservedly so. This is a funky release that's part blues, part '70s-style soul, part classic rock. The album is elevated by Bradley's smoky voice, which is a bit like Richie Havens', but with greater range.

Bradley's life story is more incredible than fiction. ...

Johnny Moeller: Johnny's Blues Aggregation

by Ed Kopp
January 1, 2001

In 2000, many young blues artists issued retro-sounding recordings featuring analog production techniques and '50s-style instrumentation. For instance, CDs from Sean Costello, Kid Ramos and Rusty Zinn all sounded very pre-1960s. Now Texas guitar-slinger Johnny Moeller (Darrell Nulisch, Lou Ann Barton) also mines the past on his new release Johnny's Blues Aggregation, a soulful collection of groove-heavy roadhouse blues and rootsy R&B done up with a decidedly '50s feel.Moeller is one of a handful of Texas guitarists often ...

Johnny Adams: There is Always One More Time

by Ed Kopp
December 1, 2000

The late Johnny Adams sang with as much soul as Bobby “Blue" Bland and as much cool sophistication as Nat King Cole. Unfortunately the New Orleans native never achieved the same level of fame as either of those great artists. Adams scored a couple of regional soul hits in his younger days ("I Won't Cry," “Reconsider Me") but didn't realize his full potential until he hooked up with Rounder Records producer Scott Billington in 1983. This CD is an overview ...