Results for "Little Walter"

Little Walter

Little Walter could make his harp sound like a tenor sax; he was instrumental in defining the sound that is now known as Chicago blues harp. Singer, composer, bandleader and peerless harmonica virtuoso, Little Walters music in virtually all its significant details was forged in the crucible of the emerging and maturing postwar Chicago Blues. It was as a member of, and a vital contributor to the Muddy Waters band that Walter was given full rein to stretch his wings, and it is a tribute to Muddy's foresight and generosity of spirit that he early recognized Walter's great talent and allowed him every opportunity and encouragement to develop it. Little Walter, born Walter Marion Jacobs on May 1, 1930 in Marksville, Louisiana, taught himself harmonica age at the age of 8

Cotton Pickin' Blues

By MARTIN MCFIE

Blues began with enslaved African peoples' work songs in the cotton fields of the Deep South of America. The Slave Narrative of Mr. Sam Polite, given at 93 years of age, chronicles that life. It was written on St. Helena, a cotton producing Sea Island in the Carolinas, where Mr. Polite was born into slavery. The ...

Various Artists: Confessin' The Blues

By DOUG COLLETTE

If it weren't so scrupulously annotated (at least up to a point) or attractively designed, this title might be flippantly described as “The Greatest Hits of the Blues." As is, it is the third in a roots revival series of sorts. Confessin' The Blues follows Chicago Plays the Stones (Raisin' Music, 2018), where a Windy city ...

Kim Wilson: Blues and Boogie Vol. 1

By DOUG COLLETTE

Spearheaded by this long-time linchpin of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, on Blues and Boogie Vol. 1, a group of musicians as versatile as they are empathetic tackles classics from Little Walter, Elmore James and others. Kim Wilson and the ensemble not only display innate knowledge of its roots, but that elusive joy derived from actively honoring same. ...

The Rolling Stones: Blue And Lonesome

By DOUG COLLETTE

Originally begun as an impromptu respite from the recording of new original material, the Rolling Stones' Blue and Lonesome quickly turned into a rediscovery of the group's blues roots. And along the way toward completing the three days of sessions, the iconic rockers rediscovered themselves as a band with as much purpose and passion.

Bonefish Johnny: Sings the Blues

By JAMES NADAL

The blues comes in many shades and modes, and is ingrained into the character of those who follow its calling. South Florida may not come readily to mind when one thinks of the blues, but singer/guitarist Bonefish Johnny (John Stacey) has been playing his brand of sugarcane soul in the regions bars and juke-joints for over ...

Bob Margolin: My Road

By JAMES NADAL

The term blues guitarist has been so abused and misused, that when the real player comes along, it sounds like a jaded cliché to utilize it. Bob Margolin is a blues guitarist. His tenure in the Muddy Waters band from 1973 to 1980 netted him that distinctive title, and My Road, is his story. On this ...

CocoRosie, Dastan Ensemble, Arto Lindsay, Chick Corea, Béla Fleck, John Hammond, G.Love & Trio 3

By MARTIN LONGLEY

CocoRosie Webster Hall September 25, 2015 The Casady sisters are one of the quirkiest teamings in... what? Rock, folk, hip-hop, reggae, electronica, performance art? All of these, and more, are present in their wildly gambolling songs, discernible as trace elements, but none fully emerging as what could be deemed ...

Live From Chicago: Matthew Skoller, Dengue Fever & Christian Scott

By MARTIN LONGLEY

Matthew Skoller Buddy Guy's Legends September 6, 2015 Perhaps the B.B. King Blues Club in NYC was modelled on Buddy Guy's Chicago joint, which opened way back in 1989. It certainly has a similar feel and concept, although Buddy's is more intimate than B.B.'s and noticeably more devoted to ...

Muddy Waters 100: Muddy Waters 100

By JAMES NADAL

When a local guitarist and blues singer in Clarksdale, Mississippi named McKinley Morganfield made his first field recording at the Stovall plantation, on August 31, 1941, he had no idea where this music would take him. By the time he plugged his guitar into an amplifier on Chicago's Southside in 1943, he had become Muddy Waters, ...