50 Nominees to Attend Blues Music Awards

2006 Tampa Bay Blues Festival
May 5,6,7

Hot weather and hot music went hand in hand at the Tampa Bay Blues Festival this year. It seems every year I don’t know how festival director Chuck Ross can out do himself, but this year as with every year he’s proven me wrong. The lineup this year was one that combined the rockin’ blues of Jonny Lang to the traditional Chicago sound of the Siegal-Schwall band. It was an exceptional lineup that pleased everybody there no matter what shade of blues is your choice.

Friday started with 30 year old Belgrade born guitar sensation Ana Popovic and she set the bar high for the following acts. Pulling music from her first release Hush to her current Live! In Amsterdam, Ana seems to get stronger and more confident every time I see her. She is striving to improve her guitar work and it shows. Never one to turn away a fan, Ana signed everything and anything after her performance concluded.

Curtis Salgado is the original Blues Brother. John Belushi modeled Joliet Jake Blues after seeing Curtis in concert. If you look at the Blues Brothers record Briefcase Full of Blues, it’s dedicated to Salgado. Salgado has played with Robert Cray, Santanta and fronted Room Full of Blues, not to mention the body of work done with his own band. An impressive set of credentials for any musician. Unfortunately I wasn’t sure how his performance would be having found out he’s been suffering from a chronic liver condition that was just recently diagnosed as liver cancer. Talking to him before his show, he seemed to have any health problems on ignore and was absolutely stunning while on the stage. With crystal clear vocals and soaring harp work, Curtis took the bar clear over the top and in my opinion was the best act of the festival. Back by an extremely tight band consisting of Jacob Wolf (guitar), Micah Kassell (drums), and Freddy Trujillo (bass). Salgado garnered a standing ovation afterwards and helped cement his place in the blues history annals as both a gifted harpist and phenomenal vocalist.

If the young and upcoming blues bands want to emulate somebody then look no farther that the Siegal-Schwall Band. These gentlemen have been a staple of Chicago style blues for many years and have backed and shared the stage with all the greats from Paul Butterfield to Muddy Waters. The lethal combination of Corky Siegal’s searing harp and rolling piano work, Jim Schwall’s guitar and lyrics, to the distinct bottom line of Rollo Radford and the Chicago shuffle drumming of Sam Lay and you’ve got the best of the best. Just think about combining Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter Jacobs and you’ll get a taste of what this band brought to Tampa.

Like Father, like Son. John Lee Hooker Jr. is just now stepping into the spotlight vacated by his late father, but not for the pared down brand of blues his father was known for, but a whole new genre of R&B/Blues that excited the senses. At 54, Hooker Jr. is taking giant strides at becoming a legend in his own right. John Jr. started in Detroit and at 18 collaborated with his father on Live at Soledad Prison. He toured with Jimmy Reed, and has shared the stage with Charlie Musselwhite, BB King, Bo Diddley, Luther Tucker, Johnny Johnson, Deacon Jones, Elvin Bishop, Canned Heat, and of course, his father. Armed with Jeff Horan (guitar), Mike Rogers (drums), Mike “Spiderman” Robinson (keyboard), and Craig Robinson (bass), Hooker Jr. took command of the stage and the audience for a rollicking 90 minutes show.

It’s been at least 6 years since I’ve seen Johnny Winter and I’ll admit I was under-whelmed at seeing him again. After 40 years of the rock star lifestyle, what was left was a pile of bleached out human bones, glued together and propped in a chair for display. But I’m here to testify that’s no longer the true. You have to remember that Johnny is 62 years old and yes he still looks frail, and he still sits during his performance, but after cleaning up his life, and having hip replacement surgery he now walks on the stage without help and his guitar playing is more aggressive than I’ve heard in many years and he has the old growl back in his vocals. His much anticipated performance drew the largest Friday crowd I’ve seen. Combine the new and improved Johnny with the harp and vocals of James Montgomery, the rock solid bass line of Scott Spray and cement them all together with the drumming of Wayne June and you’ve got a trip down memory lane of all the classic Johnny Winter hits. It’s good to have him back!

Texas native Wendy Rich, a Tampa resident since 1990, released the first Wendy and the Soulshakers CD, Feels Like I’m Drowning, in 1998. This marks their first appearance at the Tampa Bay Blues Festival and I hope not her last. With guitarist Steve “Red” Lasner, bassist Stevie “Backbone”, and drummer Duane Plikunas, Wendy put the band through it’s paces with a 90 minute set of original tunes just made for getting up and dancing. Wendy’s vocals reminded me of Janis Joplin on some songs and Susan Tedeschi on others and on some like the two combined with Koko Taylor, which was pretty damn good. An outstanding way to start off Saturday festivities.

Omar & the Howlers Omar Dykes considers himself a Texan, but he was actually born in Mississippi and if you listen closely, you can hear the influences of the Delta. Omar’s first exposure to the blues was outside a juke joint in Macomb County at the tender age of 12. By 13 he was the only white member of a band playing in the same joints. Omar’s unique vocals and nimble fretwork have left an indelible mark on countless festival and club crowds thoughout the U.S and Europe. Joined on this tour by bassist Barry Bihm and drummer Kevin Hall, Omar blazed though hits from Courts of Lulu to the current hit CD Boogie Man. It’s always amazed me how he can play with such finesse when he has such small hands for a guitarist. No matter, he can do it and the crowd gave him the first standing ovation of the day. Finally, after a five year hiatus the Native American power house of Indigenous was back at Tampa. No longer a quartet, but a stripped down power trio lead by the pyrotechnics of guitarist Mato Nanji, brother Pte on bass and (conspicuously absent was sister Wandbi) a drummer whose name I missed. I never had a chance to catch up to Mato to find out what had happened with his sister. Never the less, the trio wove their way through the set ending with crowd favorite Red House. When I first saw them I was impressed with not only the guitar skills of Mato, but his vocals too. Times have changes and so has the band, but one constant is the talent that lies within this trio. As each matures, their talent only increases. A great show!

To totally switch gears, soul and gospel legend Mavis Staples brought a touch of Chicago to the stage with her deep baritone vocals and story telling style of entertaining. Crowd interaction is what Mavis thrives on and this crowd only encouraged her even when her set was over. With years of songs to draw on, Mavis enticed the crowd to sing along and “get up and dance”. To me the most touching song was the title track from her 2004 Alligator release, Have a Little Faith. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. After 40 plus years, this Hall of Fame Inductee shows no signs of slowing down. If you want to hitch a ride on the Mavis train you’re going to have to run to catch up.

Trying to put into words Robben Ford’s performance is a struggle for me. I can find lots of words to use, like phenomenal, unparalleled, controlled frenzy, etc. But he is without a doubt one of the most gifted guitar players currently recording. With a varied past in the music industry, playing with people from Charlie Musselwhite to Miles Davis, Ford’s interpretation of the notes sets him apart for the rest. Add in Hillary Jones on drums and monster bassist Roscoe Beck and you better find something strong to hang on to. 90 minutes just wasn’t long enough for me or the rest of the crowd. Reaching back to his Talk to Your Daughter CD through his most recent release Keep on Running, nobody was sitting down from the time he hit the stage until they brought him back for an encore.

Jonny Lang has gone through some changes. After last year’s acoustic tour, Lang was back at Tampa armed with songs off his new CD Long Time Coming. Always a crowd favorite, Lang was back in the saddle of being the young gun guitar player with the voice that sounds like a veteran of a 20 year smoking habit. Backed by a four piece band, Lang took the stage amid the cheers of fans that had waited all day just to see him. A fitting end to a day filled with bright sunshine, great music and promises of more tomorrow. Sunday dawned brightly as I had mixed feelings of this being the last day festival already. I had already been pushed to overload by the two previous days of music and today promised to stretch the limits of my capacity. But that the heck, it only comes once a year and you have to take advantage of it.

Bluestrain is an ever evolving band with core members John Rack (guitar), wife Michelle (keyboards) and singer Chris Johnson. However, the ranks of this band swells to anywhere from 9-12 members depending on the size of the venue. The band charts all of their music so they can add local musicians wherever they go. Their appearance at Tampa this year brought an additional local horn section of three and two background singers. It may sound like a disaster waiting to happen, but the band sent ahead tapes of all the songs they’d be playing and by the time it was their turn on stage you’d swear they’d been together forever. Some mighty fat sounding R&B tunes were the order of the day. Even Festival Director and harpist Chuck Ross joined them for a couple songs.

Just the rich history of Duwayne Burnside is enough to verify his love of the blues. In many ways it was the most authentic blues music heard that weekend. While not satisfied to just be “another blues player”, Burnside has taken the old sounds and given them a new age twist. Loud at any level, Burnside’s guitar work fits the groove of today’s music while retaining its classic country roots. The band often pays homage to Burnside’s father R.L, Junior Kimbrough, B.B. King and Albert King while maintaining the integrity of today’s mainstream blues/rock genre.

No matter where he plays, women flock to the stage to hear the blue-eyed soul of Tommy Castro. I’ve seen Tommy so many times I actually wasn’t looking forward to it. In my opinion he’d become complacent in his music and his set list never varied from gig to gig. I was pleasantly surprised to hear him play much more guitar than he had in the last three years. Playing extended solos on nearly every song. Go Tommy! Backed by one of the tightest bands around, Castro had me hook, line and sinker. The always entertaining saxophonist Keith Crossen was joined by Tom Poole on trumpet and flugel horn giving the band a much fatter sound. Always rock solid, the bottom line of bassist Randy McDonald and drummer Chris Sandoval rounded out the driving force behind Castro. With just these couple of changes it gave a whole new dimension to the already driven soul sound that Tommy has made his signature.

Another band I was curious about was Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers. After the departure of 30 year veteran, bassist Bill Stuve, and Honey Piazza (keyboards) taking over the bass lines with her left hand, I wanted to see if the over all sound had changed. While the basic sound is intact, by covering the bass parts on the keyboards, it limits the fills and piano riffs that Honey has become famous for. Trust me, they are still one of the most innovative jump bands around and Rod’s harp and vocal work is untouchable. As he’s become known for, Rod left the stage and stood in front of the crowd while playing a scorching harp solo. Always a treat, he and Honey did their dueling piano/harp session and that alone was worth the price of admission.

I’ve seen Taj Mahal in just about every configuration of a band as any one person can have. From a solo piano/vocal performance to the rollicking Phantom Blues Band, Taj Mahal is one of the consummate performers on the music scene today. In my humble opinion, this man was the perfect festival closer. Never one to rest on his laurels, Mahal is constantly combining genres of music with the blues and is one of the few that has succeeded in doing so. Touring as a trio now, with Kester Smith on drums and Bill Rich on bass, Mahal’s music will always stand alone as the Britney’s and Christina’s of the world fade away into oblivion.

As I catch my breath and reflect on this year’s festival, I can honestly say it’s one of the best around and thanks to the many people involved will continue to improve year after year. If you can only make it to one festival, make the Tampa Bay Blues Festival.

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