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Oscar Peterson & Count Basie – Slow Jazz Blues

August 3rd, 2010 | Author:

Pull up a chair, open a cold one, or pour your favourite glass of wine, light up that _ _ _ _ _ , and listen to the COOL Smooth, Jazz Blues of Oscar Peterson & Count Basie from 2000 .  Jazz in Koh Samui, Thailand OK they did not play here but we can dream.

Where’s all those kool kats with some $ash that can open a nice Jazz Blues Bar here in Koh Samui?

Come on down and make this place an International Entertainment Samui with some Samui Blues and Samui Jazz

Posted in Blues, Jazz, Koh Samui Jazz | Tags: , , , , , , , | 23 Comments »

Blues Guitar Tips – How to Perform Left Hand Techniques

April 18th, 2010 | Author:
Blues

If you have a hankerin’ to be a blues guitar player but don’t know how to start, there is no better way than to immerse yourself in the recordings of the blues guitar players of the twentieth century. You can use the licks of famous blues guitarists as building blocks that will eventually be the fragments of your own blues guitar solos. There is wide agreement amongst blues fans about who are the greatest blues guitarists, who is the best to learn from, but once you get talking to people you will realize that each person’s reaction to the works of the blues masters is personal and unique. So your starting point to being a blues guitar player is to take your own personal take on the blues you hear and expand on it.

If you are a new guitar player you might not be familiar with the various techniques that blues guitar players use to make their guitars sing. There is no special blues “magic” that you learn from the blues legends, the guitar techniques for one style are pretty much the same as for another, but you will find your own personal way of making established guitar techniques your own.

There’s a whole world of communication in the techniques that guitar players use to play notes with the left hand instead of picking using the right hand. The techniques are called hammer-ons and pull-offs. A pull-off is the art of picking a note and taking your left hand finger away in a kind of pulling action so that the note below your original note sounds. For example, you could place you first finger on the first fret of the first string and the second finger on the second fret of the first string. With both fingers in place, you pick the first string sounding the F# note and pull your second finger away so that the F note at the first fret sounds.

The “opposite” to the pull-off is the hammer-on which, if you follow up on the pull-off you just executed, you “hammer” the second finger back to where it was at the second fret so that the F# note sounds again. Another technique for the guitar player’s left hand is String Bending. If you look at your finger placed at a fret, you move the finger by pushing up and down. This makes your guitar string give a warbling sound.

As you are an aspiring blues guitarist of the twenty-first century, you will probably prefer to listen to electric guitar players. B. B. King is the coolest of the black blues guitarists, closely followed by a white English boy named Eric Clapton. You could also give a listen to Chuck Berry who is practically a one-man guitar style.

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Mastering Blues Keyboard Riffs

March 26th, 2010 | Author:
blues

In popular music, blues keyboard riffs are universal. From Billy Preston jamming with the Rolling Stones to Ray Charles kicking into “What I’d Say,” blues progressions and scales serve as the basis for legendary songs and amazing keyboard solos. One of the greatest aspects of blues keyboard riffs is the musical theory behind them, which is simple enough for beginners, yet still challenges virtuosos.

An important musical tool to understand when playing blues keyboard riffs is the pentatonic scale. The minor pentatonic scale is the basis for most blues solos. Its cousin, the blues scale, adds a flatted fifth in between the fourth and fifth of the minor pentatonic. The major pentatonic is also used in blues keyboard riffs.

If you’re not familiar with these scales, here are some examples. We’ll use the key of E. The minor pentatonic consists of the tones 1, b3, 4, 5 and 7. So in the key of E we would have E, G, A, B and D. To change this to the blues scale, add the flatted fifth, which is bB. This gives you the notes E, G, A, Bb, B and D. The major pentatonic consists of the 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. In the key of E, this gives us E, F#, G#, B and C#. By learning these scales up and down the keyboard, you will have a base on which to build some awesome blues keyboard riffs.

So how do you make these scales mourn and wail like only the blues can? By knowing them inside and out, you can make musical theory sing. Running up and down scales will just make your blues keyboard riffs sound like finger exercises, but knowing how to blend major and minor pentatonic together will leave your listeners astounded. The key is to understand how blues keyboard riffs incorporate each scale over different chords.

For a basic twelve-bar blues progression, the choice of scale is open, with a few basic rules thrown in for good measure. One of the basic rules to keep in mind is that there are two easy scales to use over any one chord. If you’re playing over an E or E7 chord, you can choose to use the E minor pentatonic or the E major pentatonic. By alternating between the notes of these two scales, you’ll find a variety of notes from which to choose when playing blues keyboard riffs.

You can change any of the minor pentatonic to the blues scale for some added flavor. To do this in the major pentatonic, it may be easier to visualize the scale differently. Take the root of the chord and drop it a minor third. For example, if A is the root, then you would go down to F#. Now play a minor pentatonic in this key. You’re using the same notes as the A major pentatonic, just starting on a different root. Change it to a blues scale and you’ll have the notes F#, A, B, C, C# and E. Now you’ve got another blues scale to play over an A chord! It’s that simple, and it works for any key.

By mastering the use of these scales, you can play any blues keyboard riffs that come your way. The trick is to practice them until you no longer have to think about the notes; you just feel them under your fingertips. Then you’ll wail and mourn like only the greatest blues players can.

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Blues Music: Reflecting the Atrocities

March 5th, 2010 | Author:
blues
Blues music has its inclination to African-American community of the USA. It is a kind of vocal or instrumental music which is generally based on blues notes. The concept aroused from the spirituality, chants, work songs and ballads. The African influence is greatly felled in the notes and call-and-response patterns of music and lyrics. The American and Western music is more inclined to this music genre. It became the foundation stone for the different music forms namely jazz, rhythm and blues, heavy metal, bluegrass and hip-hop. The blues mainly reflect the mood of the singer i.e. depression, down hearted feeling or sadness. The Blues word was used for the first time in George Colman’s farce’s ‘Blue Devils’. It was in the 1912 that Hart Wand’s ‘Dallas Blues’ came and it was the first Blues Music to describe the depressing mood. There is common distinctiveness in the music genre. Showing the individual peculiar habits, the music elements were earlier call-and-response shouts. They were just individual’s performance with no harmony or formal music structure. These pre-blues were simply a solo song with emotional touch. They were often heard in shouts and hollers. The present day music form has harmonic base and call-and-response format of African and European communities which gave new structure to the Blues. The voice and guitar were incorporated in the songs. The elements reflected the songs of Africa. The most common instruments, Diddley bow and Banjo were used in the early music. The Diddley bow belonged to South America whereas the Banjo was mostly used in Africa to increase the instrumental vocabulary. With each passing days it adopted Ethiopian airs, Negro spirituality and minstrel shows together with instruments and rhythmic supplements. The blues are rewarded for preserving the melodic patterns of African music. The songs from this genre have distinct musical structure. The songs recorded by Lead Belly’s and Henry Thomas reflected twelve- and sixteen-bar structure with tonic, sub-dominant and dominant chords. The modern form has 12-bar structure with influence of sheet music. The lyrics of the blues were based on repetition. Each line was repeated four times. Currently, the lines are repeated once with a standard single line conclusion. They are sung in the form of rhythmic talk than a melody. The Blues music has given great artists like Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker and Bessie Smith. The credit can be given to the hollers and calls without which this genre would not have evolved. It is based on the changing lives of the post slavery era of African-Americans. The music is quite popular amongst blacks and generally reflects on the atrocities faced by the community. More popularly considered as secular songs, the Blues lyrics highlighted singer’s inner shelf. Thus it was not an innovative approach but simply a presentation of oneself. It describes the condition of African Americans communities. It has descriptions related to slaves’ freedom, Booker T. Washington’s teachings, and the famous Horatio Alger model, who once said that man is the creator of his/her destiny. Lawrence Levine stresses on the fact that national ideologies affect the individual’s behaviour and the blues music reflect this relationship. Blacks were badly treated during the slavery era and were socially and economically exploited. The secular songs reflect this psychological oppression. The music was earlier treated as folk blues and was sung during leisurely periods. These songs were mostly sung in shows and carnivals. Due to close contact with country singers, the blacks learned to sing professional Blues which are often called classic blues. In the 20th century, African Americans migrated and played the songs in Texas, Chicago, Louisiana, New York, Arkansas and Detroit. Later the classic blues singers introduced this genre to clubs, vaudeville halls, and theaters with the help of New Orleans and Fast Western musicians. It was in 1895 when George W. Johnson recorded the first blues song called “Laughing Song”. The genre gained popularity in 1920 with Mamie Smith’s evergreen songs namely “Crazy Blues” and “It’s Right Here for You”. Online music shop have varied array of latest blues music for the fans. Keep the blues alive says Samuiblues !
Posted in Art And Entertainment, Blues, Guitar, Music | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Phuket Blues Festival 2010 Harp Legend Charlie Musselwhite

February 5th, 2010 | Author:

AsiaRooms.com has declared that legendary blues musician Charlie Musselwhite will be heading to Anual Blues Festival in Phuket one of the biggest events in Thailand.

On February 26th and 27th, music devotees from everywhere in the  the world will be heading to the Hilton Phuket Arcadia near Karon Beach for the Phuket International Blues Rock Festival.

A total of 12 bands have been confirmed for this year’s event, with Musselwhite and his band joined by artists such as Australian singer-songwriter Richard Clapton and US bluesman Rich Harper.
The rest of the line-up also has an internationalist flavor, with Latino blues performer Andy Gonzales featuring alongside the Prodigal Sons, a blues rock group from Norway.

People staying in Phuket hotels can buy tickets for the festival 2 weeks before the opening night.
Promote Live Music in Thailand  livemusicthailand.com

A number of VIP entrees, which offer admission to a backstage area with free beer and wine, are available.
There will also be a festival warm-up event taking place at the Tai Pan nightclub in Patong on February 25th, giving people staying in Thailand hotels an chance to get the party started early on.

Thanks for visiting Samui Blues samuiblues.com

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Robert Johnson- Crossroad Blues

December 26th, 2009 | Author:

delta blues music … Robert Johnson Crossroad Blues Delta girl models ar

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Posted in Blues, Guitar, Music | Tags: , , , , | 22 Comments »

Coco Blues Club Closed it’s doors, Long Ago

December 18th, 2009 | Author:

In 2004 they opened a great BLUES club called Coco Blues in Koh Samui, Thailand

It was great!

They had a real good house band and also started to book and bring great bands in from the U.S. Blues circuit, bands like Jackie Pane who brought his own backup band.
They also put on some great music festivals each year around the Island.
The second year bringing in such great acts as UB40, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Blues Brothers, Ike Turner, Lonnie Brooks, John Lee Hookers daughter a

No More Coco Blues

No More Coco Blues

nd her awesome band, as well as new acts like Chris King, it was great.
But like all good things it must come to end.
I heard there was a lot of mis-management with funds etc. and all the other rock & roll things that happen to suck money.
It grew and grew and all local expats were happy to go to a decent place that actually built a club with a stage for live blues bands.
Great while it was there but now
we are all left with the BLUES!!
Hopefully someone else will pick up the slack as the place use to be pack and sold out for many years.

We only hope someone else will bring in great blues band, blues guitar, harp, sax music here in Koh Samui and replace the COCO BLUES Bar as Samui needs much more places like this once was!

Keep on playing those Samui Blues!

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Buddy Guy – First Time I Met The Blues

November 29th, 2009 | Author:

Buddy Guy performing First Time I Met The Blues, with David Myers, bass, from the movie Chicago Blues, in 1970.

Posted in Entertainment, Music | Tags: , , , , , | 23 Comments »

B.B. King – Blues Boys Tune

November 25th, 2009 | Author:


BB King plays live guitar solo. This came from the extras on the DVD The Road to Memphis: www.pbs.org And the only other complete performance by BB on the extras is Key to the Highway, which doesn’t have this incredibly searing guitar and is in fact pretty “lite”.

Posted in Guitar | Tags: , , , , , | 21 Comments »

Billy Gibbons – Gives us a ‘Blues’ Guitar Lesson

November 19th, 2009 | Author:

Billy gives us a private lesson.

Posted in Art And Entertainment, Blues | Tags: , , , , | 22 Comments »

Cool Fool: Blues Rockin’ the Hammer recollection’s of playing with the blues, rock & soul bands of Hamilton, Ontario CANADA from the early 1960′s thru the 70′s & beyond

November 4th, 2009 | Author:

Hear the songs at

Hamilton Canada Blues Blog Cool Fool: Blues Rockin’ the Hammer! (thanks Brother)

December 08, 2006

Gettin’ The Blues In 1963

Book_the_chessmen Gettin’ The Blues In 1963: Something’s Gotta’ Hold On Me! I’d been thinking about it for awhile the early days of blues rock and early electric bands in general in Hamilton starting with my own experience growing up in Hamilton in love with black rock ‘n roll & rockabilly & electric blues & then playing with Son Richard (Richard Newell aka King Biscuit Boy) & the Chessmen from 1963 to 1965…and then I went to the Canal Bank Shuffle blues festival in Thorold, Ontario back in October and ended up seeing Harrison Kennedy backed by an old friend, Keith Lindsay on various keyboards who put me in touch with Russ Carter, the guitar player for The Bishops with which Harry had been front man at one time…and Russ has pictures & stories…& I was in band back then to & one thing leads to another so here I go… If anyone reads this & has access to or know where there are photos, documents & especially music, tapes, 8mm or super* film or better etc. (at the moment I’m looking for material from the late ’50s to the mid-60′s, pre-psychedelia but that will be another chapter & then the next era & so forth…) I’d love to get in touch and talk about adding the material to a “history of Hamilton bands” aspect of this blog…some bands contemporary with The Bishops and the Chessmen I remember: Freddy & the Goldtones, Doug Holland, The Prophets, The Bucks (I have vinyl by the Bucks! they practiced in a basement on East 26th Street a couple of blocks over from my house ), Frank Rondell, Nicky Moore & The Sceptres…but there were lots more… To give you an idea where I’m comin’ from here are some early band photos I somehow still have…and a couple of the tunes from a tape Richard made in 1963 at the Sportsmen’s Bowling Alley & lounge on the side of the escarpment in central Hamilton off Wentworth Street south…Richard, vocals & harp, Ron Copple, steel guitar, Rick Golka, lead guitar, Russell Carter guitar (understudying Rick on lead to take over at the next gig as Rick was leaving to play full time on the Ontario bar circuit with Frank Rondell with whom he eventually cut a few 45′s), Richie Hodgson, drums, Paul Cronkwright piano and myself on bass…playin’ the blues for me starts in 1963. We played all over the city, there were dances everywhere…we rehearsed in a Fish ‘n Chip Shop run by Ron Copple’s parents at Brucedale & East 13th right to next to a fav teen hangout, The Rocket, a combo variety store soda shop with a great juke box…let the joint jump, let the good times roll! The_chessmen_east_25th_street The_chessmen_1 Jackets_by_jerrys_mans_wear Rick_golka_1

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13th ANNUAL MAPLE BLUES AWARDS NOMINEES ANNOUNCED!

November 1st, 2009 | Author: 
13th ANNUAL MAPLE BLUES AWARDS NOMINEES ANNOUNCED!
VOTING OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30TH

Nominees from across Canada have been announced for the 13th Annual Maple
Blues Awards!

The Maple Blues Awards is Canada’s national blues awards program. Its
goal is to promote blues music across Canada, and to recognize outstanding
achievement in the field. 

Voting opens Friday, October 30th at noon (DST) and is open to Sunday,
December 13th at noon (EDT). Blues fans cast their votes online, at
www.mapleblues.ca.

This year's winners will be announced at the 13th Annual Maple Blues Awards
Gala in Toronto, on January 18, 2010 at Koerner Hall. This very special
evening is Canada's national annual celebration of homegrown blues talent.
It's also a night of great music by the Maple Blues Band, comprised entirely
of Maple Blues Awards winners and nominees.

Koerner Hall is the newest addition to Toronto’s fine list of cultural
centres and theatres. The intimate and elegant hall opened in September 2009
with 1,140 seats and features state-of-the-art acoustic treatment.  

Danny Marks, Host of BLUZ FM and David Gogo, Cordova Bay Recording Artist,
will be hosting the Maple Blues Awards.

13th ANNUAL MAPLE BLUES NOMINEES

Entertainer Of The Year
Downchild
Jack de Keyzer
Little Miss Higgins
Monkey Junk
Shakura S’Aida

Electric Act Of The Year
David Gogo
Garrett Mason
Jack de Keyzer
Monkey Junk
The Twisters

Acoustic Act Of The Year
Big Dave McLean
Braithwaite & Whiteley
Harrison Kennedy
Harry Manx
Julian Fauth

Male Vocalist Of The Year
Harrison Kennedy
Jim Byrnes
John Mays (Fathead, Maple Blues Revue)
Paul Reddick
Steve Marriner (Monkey Junk)

Female Vocalist Of The Year
Jolene “Little Miss” Higgins
Roxanne Potvin
Shakura S’Aida
Suzie Vinnick
Treasa Levasseur

New Artist/Group Of The Year
Blackburn
Blues Delight
Clio & The Blues Highway
Ross Neilsen
Scott McCord & The Bonafide Truth

Recording Of The Year
Come Out Swingin' (NorthernBlues)
The Twisters
Producers: Chris & Brandon Isaak

One Dog Barkin’ (Electro-Fi)
Harrison Kennedy
Producer: Harrison Kennedy

Songs From The Road (Stony Plain)
Jeff Healey
Producer: Alec Fraser

SugarBird (NorthernBlues)
Paul Reddick
Producer: Colin Linden

Tiger In Your Tank (Beefy)
Monkey Junk
Producers: Steve Marriner and Monkey Junk

Blues With A Feeling Award
(Lifetime Achievement)
 Alec Fraser
Chris Whiteley
Danny Brooks
Ellen McIlwaine
Joe Murphy
Ken Whiteley
Michael Fonfara
Paul James
Terry Wilkins
Tom Lavin

BB King International Artist Of The Year
John Mayall
Maria Muldaur
Taj Mahal
Tommy Castro
Watermelon Slim

Guitarist Of The Year
Garrett Mason
Jack De Keyzer
Steve Dawson (Jim Byrnes)
Steve Strongman
Tony D (Monkey Junk)

Harmonica Player Of The Year
Carlos del Junco
David Hoerl (The Twisters)
David Rotundo
Jerome Godboo
Steve Marriner (Monkey Junk)

Piano/Keyboard Player Of The Year
Bill Stevenson (Easley Stevenson Arsenault)
Julian Fauth
Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne
Lance Anderson
Michael Fonfara (Downchild, Maple Blues Revue)

Horn Player Of The Year
Al Lerman (Fathead, Maple Blues Revue)
Chris Murphy (Maple Blues Revue)
Chris Whiteley (Maple Blues Revue)
Johnny Ferreira
Pat Carey (Downchild, Maple Blues Revue)

Drummer Of The Year
Al Cross
Bucky Berger (Fathead)
Chris Nordquist
Geoff Arsenault (Easley Stevenson Arsenault)
Tom Bona (Raoul & The Big Time, Maple Blues Revue)

Bassist Of The Year
Alan Duffy (Jack De Keyzer)
Alec Fraser (Broken Joe, Jeff Healey)
Gary Kendall (Downchild, Maple Blues Revue, Gary Kendall Band)
Keith Picot (The Twisters)
Tom Easley (Easley Stevenson Arsenault)

Songwriter Of The Year
Brandon Isaak (The Twisters)
Chris Whiteley & Diana Braithwaite
Harrison Kennedy
Paul Reddick
Treasa Levasseur

The Maple Blues Awards are supported by FACTOR and the Government of Canada
through the Canadian Music Fund, the SOCAN Foundation, SOCAN, the Ontario Arts
Council, Ontario Trillium Foundation, the City of Toronto through the Toronto
Arts Council, the Ontario Ministry of Culture, KMP Designs Inc., Long &
McQuade Musical Instruments, DAWG FM, Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, Stony Plain,
Saturday Night Blues, and Lee Oskar. 

For more information, photos, interviews, please contact:
Tim Des Islets
Toronto Blues Society
416-538-3885
info@torontobluessociety.com

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