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Showing posts with label Alligator Records. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alligator Records. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

INCOMING: Elvin Bishop At Chicago's City Winery Wednesday, April 6, 2022

 ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

BLUES LEGEND ELVIN BISHOP AND HIS BIG FUN TRIO TO PERFORM IN CHICAGO!


 
“Deceptively loose but always tight…the raspy chuckle in Bishop’s singing and the sharp sting of his guitar are forceful and fresh, enduring and fun.”--Fresh Air, NPR


Rock & Roll and Blues Hall of Famer Elvin Bishop will bring his Big Fun Trio -- Bob Welsh on piano and guitar and Willy Jordan on cajón (a hand-played Peruvian drumbox) and vocals -- to City Winery in Chicago on Wednesday, April 6, 2022. The Big Fun Trio’s Grammy-nominated Alligator Records release, Something Smells Funky 'Round Here, is rootsy, spirited, humorous and soulful, performed by serious musicians hell-bent on having a good time. Bishop, a natural storyteller, is as slyly good-humored and instantly crowd-pleasing as he was when he was scoring Southern rock-styled hits during the 1970s or cutting award-winning blues albums over the last 30 years. His most recent award-winning Alligator Records release, 100 Years Of Blues , was recorded with Bishop’s friend, Grammy-winning harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite. 100 Years Of Blues, was recently nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Concert information is as follows: 

Date: Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Venue: City Winery

Address: 1200 W. Randolph St.

City: Chicago, IL

Phone: 312-733-9463

Showtime: 8:00pm

Ticket price: $35-$58

Website: www.citywinery.com

*See website for complete performance information

Ever since Elvin Bishop first hit the scene with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band back in 1965, he’s blazed his own musical trail. Whether he was playing raw, eye-popping blues, or penning the evergreen radio hit Fooled Around And Fell In Love, or touring the world for decades delivering his original, good-time countrified blues, Bishop has always inspired his fans with his rowdy guitar playing and witty, slice-of-life songs. Rolling Stone calls Bishop “a legendary guitarist” whose playing is “impeccable and spirited…a distinguished American player.”

Something Smells Funky 'Round Here was produced by Bishop and recording engineer Steve Savage and recorded at Bishop’s Hog Heaven Studio in Lagunitas, California. Bishop wrote or co-wrote five songs (including two by the entire trio). The album mixes rousing new originals, reinventions of three Bishop classics and some unexpected, soul-shaking covers. The potent title track -- a tongue-in-cheek State Of The Union address as only Elvin can deliver -- kicks the album off with Bishop aiming his lyrical truths at those in power. The humorous but piercingly direct lyrics take aim at the current political scene while Bishop’s deep blues guitar playing drives the point home. Jordan sings lead on four songs, including blistering reinventions of Jackie Wilson’s Higher And Higher and Ann Peebles’ I Can’t Stand The Rain . Welsh, whose guitar or piano playing highlight every song, pounds the ivories on his own Bob’s Boogie. “This album fell together easily,” says Bishop. “Everything I visualized about the songs – from Bob’s playing to Willy’s singing, came true. Bob and Willy are great musicians.”

Elvin Bishop formed The Big Fun Trio in late 2015 with his friends Bob Welsh and Willy Jordan. After playing just a handful of live dates, the group’s instantly crowd-pleasing music and undeniable chemistry took the blues world by storm. With the release of their self-titled CD in 2017, media and fan response was immediate and overwhelming. DownBeat celebrated Bishop’s “verbal hijinks, outstanding guitar work and country boy friendliness.” OffBeat said The Big Fun Trio was “intricate, funky and uplifting,” declaring them, “consistently great.” With its top-shelf musicianship and front-porch vibe, the album earned a Grammy Award nomination.

The Big Fun Trio quickly discovered the more they played live, the more fun they had making music together. So a follow-up recording was an easy decision. The new album, Something Smells Funky 'Round Here , finds the group fearlessly laying it all on the line. According to Elvin, “With a trio there’s no place to hide­—you’ve got to be pourin’ everything you got right out front. You need to be totally into it all the time. It’s really cool to see how people react to the goin’-for-it feel of the music.”

With Something Smells Funky 'Round Here, Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio are clearly having a very good time. Having spent almost three years performing, these three tremendously talented musicians continue to inspire each other to new heights. As Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio take their music back on the road, fans will once again have a chance to experience the big fun first hand. According to Living Blues , “Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio has wonderful chemistry and are a joy to hear.”

 


Monday, October 7, 2013

INCOMING: LIL' ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS TO PERFORM IN CHICAGO!

"Full of fire, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials hit the floor running and accelerate from there.
High-octane, expressive, fiercely articulated, harrowing intensity, raucous slide." --Living Blues

Alligator recording artists Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, touring in support of their latest Alligator CD, JUMP START, will perform in Chicago on November 8, November 9, November 29 and November 30, 2013. Mixing smoking slide guitar boogies and raw-boned Chicago shuffles with the deepest slow-burners, Lil' Ed Williams and his rip-roaring Blues Imperials -- bassist James "Pookie" Young, guitarist Mike Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton -- deliver gloriously riotous, rollicking and intensely emotional blues. Currently celebrating 25 history-making years together, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials ply their musical talents with skills that have been honed to a razor's edge. Recently, they were awarded the 2013 Living Blues Critics' and Readers' Awards for Best Live Performer. The band won that same distinction in the 2012 and 2011 Living Blues Critics' Poll. The group won the coveted 2009
Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year, the same honor they received in 2007. Concert information is as follows:




Date: Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9, 2013
Venue: B.L.U.E.S.
Address: 2519 North Halsted Street
City: Chicago, IL
Phone: 773-528-1012
Showtime: 9:30pm
Ticket price: TBA

Date: Friday, November 29 and Saturday, November 30, 2013
Venue: Rosa's Lounge
Address: 3420 West Armitage Avenue
City: Chicago, IL
Phone: 773-342-0452
Showtimes: 9:30pm (Friday, November 29) / 10:00pm (Saturday, November 30)
Ticket price: $12 advance / $15 day of show

The band's wildly energetic and seriously soulful new CD JUMP START is jam-packed with Lil' Ed's incendiary slide playing and rough, passionate singing, as the ragged-but-right Blues Imperials cook like mad alongside him. Produced by Williams and Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, it is a tour-de-force of untamed slide guitar, rock solid rhythms, heartrending ballads and authentic deep blues vocals. Williams wrote or co-wrote 13 of the album's 14 songs, which all overflow with the band's full throttle drive and serious sense of fun. JUMP START reveals a band firing on all cylinders and ready to spread the genuine houserockin' fever to their biggest audience yet. "It's all blues, really," says Lil' Ed. "Some of it will make you dance, some will ease your soul."

Lil' Ed boasts a direct bloodline to blues history -- his uncle and musical mentor was the great Chicago slide guitarist, songwriter and recording artist J.B. Hutto. Live, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials simply can't be beat as Ed breaks out the deepest back-bends, the highest toe-walks, and the most authentic electric slide-guitar blues being played today. Garrett's risk-taking rhythm guitar work and Littleton's conversational, old school drumming perfectly complement Lil' Ed's and Pookie's rambunctious playing.

Adding to the legend is Ed's storybook rise, taking him from working in a car wash to entertaining thousands of fans all over the world. He's made multiple appearances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, and has brought his music to fans from Japan to Poland. According to The Chicago Tribune, "Williams represents one of the few remaining authentic links to pure Chicago blues."

Now, with JUMP START, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials will continue bringing their seriously inspired and wildly fun Chicago blues to "Ed Heads" new and old, wherever they may be. After almost a quarter century together, Lil' Ed, Pookie, Mike and Kelly have played thousands of gigs, logged tens of thousands of miles and have no plans to slow down anytime soon. According to Littleton, "The journey has been amazing. We melded right away and have kept growing." Garrett agrees, saying, "It's a perfect fit. And we keep getting better." Young adds, "We are way stronger now, and we're still having fun. My dreams have all come true."


"Long ago," recalls Lil' Ed, "Uncle J.B. told me, 'When you get the right guys in your band, you'll know.' When Mike and then Kelly joined up with me and Pookie, we just clicked. I knew. We are a family," says Lil' Ed, summing it all up. "And families stay together."


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

AWARD WINNING PIANIST/VOCALIST MARCIA BALL TO PERFORM AT OLD TOWN 9/30! #blues


Chi, IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

Texas-born, Louisiana-raised pianist/vocalist/songwriter Marcia Ball, touring in support of her Grammy-nominated Alligator Records CD, ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS, will give two performances on Sunday, September 30, 2012 at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Ball's groove-laden New Orleans R&B, heart-wrenching ballads and driving Gulf Coast blues have made her a one-of-a-kind favorite of music fans everywhere. 

Her music mixes equal parts simmering soul fervor and rollicking Crescent City piano. Over the course of her career, Ball's infectious, intelligent and deeply emotional songs have won her a loud and loyal international fan base. 

ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS is her fifth release for Alligator, and the fourth to receive a Grammy nomination. 

Ball received the 2012 Blues Music Award (BMA) for the Pinetop Perkins Piano Player Of The Year. She has now won a total of nine BMAs. She also won three 2012 Living Blues Readers' Awards: Blues Artist Of The Year--Female, Most Outstanding Musician--Keyboard and Best Blues Album Of 2011 for ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS. She was inducted into the Gulf Coast Hall of Fame in 2010 and into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2012. 

"Based in Austin and steeped in New Orleans, Marcia Ball plumbs the richness of both musical meccas. From rootsy swamp pop and blues-drenched boogie woogie to languid ballads, Ball is equally comfortable with brash roadhouse romps and caressing love songs."                                             -USA Today

Concert information is as follows:

Date: Sunday, September 30, 2012
Venue: Old Town School of Folk Music
Address: 4544 North Lincoln Ave.
City: Chicago, IL
Phone: 773-728-6000
Showtimes: 5:00pm and 8:00pm
Ticket price: $19-$23
Website: www.oldtownschool.org
*See website for detailed ticket information



Produced by famed songwriter, musician and producer Gary Nicholson (Delbert McClinton, Wynonna Judd, T. Graham Brown), ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS finds Marcia Ball at a creative peak. Ball wrote or co-wrote every song-something she had never done over the course of her forty-year career. Throughout the proceedings, her stellar musicians add power and nuance to the music, perfectly complementing Ball's expert piano playing, slice-of-life lyrics and melodic, storytelling vocals.

Born in Orange, Texas in 1949 to a family whose female members all played piano, Ball grew up in the small town of Vinton, Louisiana, right across the border from Texas. She began taking piano lessons at age five, playing old Tin Pan Alley tunes from her grandmother's collection. From her aunt, Marcia heard more modern and popular music. But it wasn't until she was 13 that Marcia discovered the power of soul music. One day in 1962, she sat amazed while Irma Thomas delivered the most spirited performance the young teenager had ever seen.

In 1970, Ball set out for San Francisco. Her car broke down in Austin, and while waiting for repairs she fell in love with the city and decided to stay. It wasn't long before she was performing in the city's clubs with a progressive country band called Freda And The Firedogs, while beginning to hone her songwriting skills. It was around this time that she delved deeply into the music of the great New Orleans piano players, especially Professor Longhair. "Once I found out about Professor Longhair," recalls Ball, "I knew I had found my direction."

When the band broke up in 1974, Marcia launched her solo career, signing to Capitol Records and debuting with the country-rock album Circuit Queen in 1978. Discovering and honing her own sound, she released six critically acclaimed titles on the Rounder label during the 1980s and 1990s. Her recordings and perfor-
mances received glowing reviews in major music publications, and Marcia was featured on leading television and radio programs, including Austin City Limits and NPR's Fresh Air and Piano Jazz.

Since the release of her Alligator debut Presumed Innocent in 2001, Ball has received more popular and critical acclaim than ever before. 2003's So Many Rivers continued the push forward, with Billboard declaring, "Ball is a consummate pro-a killer pianist, a great singer and songwriter. Powerful. Righteous." 2005's Live! Down The Road received equally impressive praise. The New Orleans Times-Picayune said simply, "Bayou boogie has a queen and her name is Marcia Ball." Billboard said, "Peace, Love & BBQ is a welcome ray of sunshine. This is a potent batch of tunes, highlighted by Ball's keyboard mastery."

Living the life she loves, Marcia has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. "Forty years of roadside attractions and the life of roaming 'round has never worn thin," she proudly says. "I love it when the wheels start rolling, when the band starts playing, when the crowds start dancing." 

Now, with ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS and a long list of high profile tour dates, Ball will bring her blend of Texas roadhouse boogie and Louisiana swamp blues to fans around the globe. 

"What's not to like about Marcia Ball?" asked The Austin Chronicle. "Scrumptious, Southern-fried boogies, blues, and ballads with the infectious street beat of New Orleans at the core." 

Clearly, in whatever city she performs or wherever her songs play, there is no better roadside attraction than the foot-stomping, soul-stirring music of the great Marcia Ball.

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