Congo Square
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Congo Square
Location:	Jct. of Rampart and St. Peter Sts., New Orleans, Louisiana
Coordinates:	29°57′39″N 90°4′6″W / 29.96083°N 90.06833°W / 29.96083; -90.06833Coordinates: 29°57′39″N 90°4′6″W / 29.96083°N 90.06833°W / 29.96083; -90.06833
Area:	2.7 acres (1.1 ha)
Governing body:	Local
NRHP Reference#:	92001763[1]
Added to NRHP:	January 28, 1993

Dance in Congo Square in the late 1700s, artist's conception by E. W. Kemble from a century later.

Congo Square is an open space within Louis Armstrong Park, which is located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street north of the French Quarter. The Tremé neighborhood is famous for its history of African American music.

In Louisiana's French and Spanish colonial era of the 18th century, slaves were commonly allowed Sundays off from their work. They were allowed to gather in the "Place de Negres", "Place Publique", later "Circus Square" or informally "Place Congo" ^[2] at the "back of town" (across Rampart Street from the French Quarter), where the slaves would set up a market, sing, dance, and play music.

The tradition continued after the city became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase. As African music had been suppressed in the Protestant colonies and states, the weekly gatherings at Congo Square became a famous site for visitors from elsewhere in the U.S. In addition, because of the immigration of refugees (some bringing slaves) from the Haitian Revolution, New Orleans received thousands of additional Africans and Creoles in the early years of 19th century. They reinforced African traditions in the city, in music as in other areas. Many visitors were amazed at the African-style dancing and music. Observers heard the beat of the bamboulas and wail of the banzas, and saw the multitude of African dances that had survived through the years.

Townsfolk would gather around the square on Sunday afternoons to watch the dancing. In 1819, the architect Benjamin Latrobe, a visitor to the city, wrote about the celebrations in his journal. Although he found them "savage"^[2], he was amazed at the sight of 500-600 unsupervised slaves who assembled for dancing. He described them as ornamented with a number of tails of the smaller wild beasts, with fringes, ribbons, little bells, and shells and balls, jingling and flirting about the performers' legs and arms. The women, one onlooker reported, wore, each according to her means, the newest fashions in silk, gauze, muslin, and percale dresses. The males covered themselves in oriental and Indian dress and covered themselves only with a sash of the same sort wrapped around the body. Except for that, they went naked.

One witness noted that clusters of onlookers, musicians, and dancers represented tribal groupings, with each nation taking their place in different parts of the square. The musicians used a range of instruments from available cultures: drums, gourds, banjo-like instruments, and quillpipes made from reeds strung together like pan flutes, as well as marimbas and European instruments such as the violin, tambourines, and triangles.

White Creole composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk incorporated rhythms and tunes he heard in Congo Square into some of his compositions, like his famous "Bamboula".

As harsher United States practices of slavery replaced the more lenient French colonial style, the slave gatherings declined. Although no recorded date of the last slave dances in the square exists, the practice seems to have stopped more than a decade before the end of slavery with the American Civil War.

In the late 19th century, the square again became a famous musical venue, this time for a series of brass band concerts by orchestras of the area's "Creole of color" community. Toward the end of the century, the city of New Orleans officially renamed the square as "Beauregard Square" in honor of Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard. While this name appeared on some maps, most locals continued to call it "Congo Square". In 2011, the New Orleans City Council officially voted to restore the traditional name Congo Square. ^[3]

In the 1920s New Orleans Municipal Auditorium was built in an area just in back of the Square, displacing and disrupting some of the Tremé community.

In the 1960s a controversial urban renewal project leveled a substantial portion of the Tremé neighborhood around the Square. After a decade of debate over the land, the City turned it into Louis Armstrong Park, which incorporates old Congo Square.

Starting in 1970, the City organized the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and held events annually at Congo Square. As attendance grew, the city moved the festival to the much larger New Orleans Fairgrounds. In the late 20th century and early 21st century , Congo Square has continued to be an important venue for music festivals and a community gathering place for brass band parades, protest marches, and drum circles.

In music[link]

The history of Congo Square inspired later generations of New Orleanians. Johnny Wiggs wrote and recorded a piece called "Congo Square" early in the New Orleans jazz revival, which became the theme song for the New Orleans Jazz Club radio show.

"Congo Square" Jazz Saxophonist Donald Harrison is the Big Chief of The Congo Nation Afro-New Orleans Cultural group which represents Congo Square in New Orleans culture. His father, Donald Harrison, Sr. was the Big Chief of four tribes and passed down the secret rituals and drum patterns of Congo Square to him. Harrison says, "That our culture is different than African culture but it has direct links to it. You have to start in New Orleans to understand it." His CD's, "Spirits of Congo Square," recorded in 2002 and, "Indian Blues," recorded in 1991 incorporate his concept of the swing beat merged with the Afro-New Orleans rhythms of Congo Square have influenced many jazz musicians.

Congo Square is also the title of an African-themed jazz score by Wynton Marsalis and Yacub Addy. It consists of swing arrangements for big band as well as traditional African drum and vocal ensemble from Ghana. Another famous version is that of Louisiana slide guitarist Sonny Landreth on the 1985 album Down in Louisiana. The American hard rock act Great White released a song called "Congo Square" on their 1991 release Hooked.

Younger generation neo soul artist Amel Larrieux also wrote a song based on the Congo Square called "Congo" on her 2004 album Bravebird.

R&B songstress Teena Marie's new album is entitled Congo Square, released on June 9, 2009.

References[link]

• Thomas L Morgan (2000). "Congo Square - Keeping the African Beat Alive". http://www.jass.com/congo.html. Retrieved April 8, 2006. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Congo Square, New Orleans

• Article about Congo Square by the U.S. National Park Service
• Powell, Lawrence N. "Unhappy Trails in the Big Easy: Public Spaces and a Square Called Congo", Southern Spaces, 17 January 2012.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)

Sonny Landreth
Background information
Born	(1951-02-01) February 1, 1951 (age 61)
Genres	Blues
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1973–present
Associated acts	Jimmy Buffett, John Hiatt, The Goners
Website	sonnylandreth.com

Sonny Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, but soon after, his family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, before settling in Lafayette, Louisiana. When he is not touring and performing, he resides in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.

Technique[link]

Landreth is best known for his slide playing, having developed a technique where he also frets notes and plays chords and chord fragments behind the slide while he plays. Landreth plays with the slide on his little finger, so that his other fingers have more room to fret behind the slide. He's also known for his right-hand technique, which involves tapping, slapping, and picking strings, using all of the fingers on his right hand.

Landreth has recorded with Jimmy Buffett, and accompanied him on his 2006, 2007 and 2010 summer tours.^{[citation needed]}

Landreth performed at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival^[1] in 2004, 2007, and 2010.

Discography[link]

Solo[link]

Landreth has released at least eleven albums:

• Blues Attack (1981; re-released 1996)
• Down in Louisiana (1986; re-released 1993)
• Outward Bound (1992)
• South of I-10 (1995)
• Crazy Cajun Recordings (1999) - source material from 1973 and 1977
• Prodigal Son: The Collection (2000) - source material from 1973 and 1977
• Levee Town (2000; re-released 2009 with 5 bonus tracks)
• The Road We're On (2003)
• Grant Street (2005) - live recording
• Sonny Landreth - Live At Jazz Fest 2007 (2007) - live recording
• From the Reach (2008)
• Elemental Journey (2012)

Guest appearances[link]

with Jimmy Buffett:

• "USS Zydecosmobile" and "Mademoiselle (Voulez-Vous Danser)" on Far Side Of The World (2002)
• License To Chill (2004)
• Live at Fenway Park (2005)
• Jimmy Buffett's appearances on the Hoot movie soundtrack (2006)
• Take The Weather With You (2006)

with John Hiatt:

• Slow Turning (1988)
• The Tiki Bar is Open (2001)
• Beneath This Gruff Exterior (2003)

with Eric Johnson:

• On Eric's Up Close album (2010) track "Your Book"

with others:

• "When The Levee Breaks" and "The Wrong Side" on Lay Your Burden Down by Buckwheat Zydeco
• "Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007"
• "Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010"
• "Mark Knopfler's Golden Heart 1996"
• "Mark Knopfler's A Night In London 1996"
• "Gov't Mule's 32/20 Blues
• "Little Feat Join The Band 2008" On several tracks of the album.

Honors and awards[link]

• Americana Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year: 2005^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Sonny Landreth's Official Facebook page
• Sonny Landreth Interview with Jarrod Dicker (2009)
• "The Road He's On", interview with Sonny Landreth
• PREVIEW: Sonny Landreth
• Sonny Landreth: The USS Zydecoldsmobile
• Sonny Landreth's Ghost Notes

John Mayall
Mayall performing in 2004
Background information
Born	(1933-11-29) 29 November 1933 (age 78) Macclesfield, England
Genres	Blues rock, harmonica blues, British blues, electric blues
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, organ
Years active	1956–present
Labels	Decca, DJM, ABC, Eagle, Snapper, One-Way Records, Polydor, Silvertone, GNP Crescendo
Associated acts	John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Canned Heat, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, Keef Hartley Band, Mark-Almond, Pure Food and Drug Act
Website	johnmayall.com

John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band which has included Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Green, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Taylor, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Harvey Mandel, Larry Taylor, Aynsley Dunbar, Hughie Flint, Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Andy Fraser, Johnny Almond, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya and Buddy Whittington.

Biography[link]

Mayall's father was Murray Mayall, a guitarist and jazz music enthusiast. From an early age, John was drawn to the sounds of American blues players such as Leadbelly, Albert Ammons, Pinetop Smith, and Eddie Lang, and taught himself to play the piano, guitars, and harmonica.^[1]

Mayall spent three years in Korea for national service and, during a period of leave, he bought his first electric guitar. Back in Manchester, he enrolled at Manchester College of Art (now part of Manchester Metropolitan University) and started playing with semi-professional bands. After graduation, he obtained a job as an art designer but continued to play with local musicians. In 1963, he opted for a full time musical career and moved to London. His previous craft would be put to good use in the designing of covers for many of his coming albums.

Since the end of the 1960s Mayall has been living in the U.S. A brush fire destroyed his house in Laurel Canyon in 1979, seriously damaging his musical collections and archives.

Mayall married twice and has six grand-children. Maggie Mayall is an American blues performer and has, since the early 1980s, taken an active part in the management of her husband's career. Maggie and John divorced in the 2011 summer.

In 2005 Mayall was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Honours List.

The early years[link]

In 1956, with college fellow Peter Ward, Mayall had formed the Powerhouse Four, which consisted of both men plus other local musicians, with whom they played at local dances. In 1962, Mayall became a member of the Blues Syndicate. The band was formed by trumpeter John Rowlands and alto saxophonist Jack Massarik, who had seen the Alexis Korner band at a Manchester club and wanted to try a similar blend of Jazz and Blues. It also included rhythm guitarist Ray Cummings and drummer Hughie Flint, whom Mayall already knew. It was Alexis Korner who persuaded Mayall to opt for a full time musical career and move to London. There, Korner introduced him to many other musicians and helped them to find gigs. In late 1963, with his band which was now called the Bluesbreakers, Mayall started playing at the Marquee Club. The lineup was Mayall, Ward, John McVie on bass and guitarist Bernie Watson, formerly of Cyril Davies and the R&B All-Stars. The next spring Mayall, obtained his first recording date with producer Ian Samwell. The band, with Martin Hart at the drums, recorded two tracks : "Crawling Up a Hill" as well as "Mr. James."^[2] Shortly after, Hughie Flint replaced Hart, and Roger Dean took the guitar from Bernie Watson. This lineup backed John Lee Hooker on his British tour in 1964.

Mayall was offered a recording contract by Decca and, on 7 December 1964, a live performance of the band was recorded at the Klooks Kleek. A single, "Crocodile Walk", was recorded later in studio and released along with the album, but both failed to achieve any success and the contract was terminated.

In April 1965, former Yardbirds guitarist Eric Clapton replaced Roger Dean and John Mayall's career entered a decisive phase.^[3]

Mid-1960s through 1971[link]

Eric Clapton as guitarist, 1965-66[link]

With Eric as their new guitar player, the Bluesbreakers started to attract considerable attention. That summer the band cut a couple tracks for a single, "I'm Your Witch Doctor" b/w "Telephone Blues" (released in October).^[4] In August, however, Clapton left for a jaunt to Greece with a bunch of relative musical amateurs as the Glands. John Weider, John Slaughter, and Geoff Krivit attempted to fill in as Bluesbreaker guitarist, but finally, Peter Green took charge. John McVie was dismissed, and during the next few months, Jack Bruce, from the Graham Bond Organisation, held the bass.

In November 1965 Clapton returned, and Green had to depart, Mayall having guaranteed Clapton his spot back in the Bluesbreakers whenever he tired of the Glands fiasco.^[5] McVie was allowed back, and Bruce left. Later in the month the band entered the studio to record a single, "On Top of the World". Mayall and Clapton cut a couple tracks without the others (although some sources give this as occurring back in the summer): "Lonely Years" b/w "Bernard Jenkins" was released as a single the next August on producer Mike Vernon's Purdah Records label (both tracks appeared again two decades later in Clapton's Crossroads box set). In a February 1966 session, blues pianist-singer Champion Jack Dupree (originally from New Orleans but in the 1960s living in Europe) got Mayall and Clapton to play on a few tracks. A live date by the whole Bluesbreakers outfit—again with Jack Bruce temporarily on bass—was recorded on Mayall's two-track tape recorder at the Flamingo on 17 March. The rough recording provided tracks that later appeared on the 1969 compilation Looking Back and the 1977 Primal Solos.^[6]

In April 1966 the Bluesbreakers returned to Decca Studios to record a second LP with producer Vernon. The sessions, with horn arrangements for some tracks (John Almond on baritone sax, Alan Skidmore on tenor sax, and Dennis Healey on trumpet), lasted just three days. Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton was released in the UK on 22 July 1966. Several of the 12 tracks were covers of pure Chicago blues (side 1 kicking off strong with Otis Rush's "All Your Love" and Freddy King's hit instrumental "Hide Away" [here spelled without a space as “Hideaway”]); Mayall wrote or arranged 5 (such as "Double Crossing Time", a slow blues with a scorching solo by cowriter Clapton); and Eric debuted as lead vocalist, and began his practice of paying tribute to Robert Johnson, with "Ramblin' on My Mind". The album was Mayall's commercial breakthrough, rising to #6 on the British chart, and has since gained classic status, largely for the audacious aggressiveness and molten fluidity of Clapton's guitar playing. “It’s Eric Clapton who steals the limelight,” reports music mag Beat Instrumental, adding with unintended understatement, “and no doubt several copies of the album will be sold on the strength of his name.”^[7]

In the meantime, on 11 June the formation of the Cream--Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker--had been revealed in the music press, much to the embarrassment of Clapton, who had not said anything about this to Mayall. (After a May Bluesbreakers gig at which Baker had sat in, he and Clapton had first discussed forming their own band, and surreptitious rehearsal jams with Bruce soon commenced.) Eric's last gig with the Bluesbreakers was 25 June at the Flamingo; the Cream made a warmup club debut 29 July in Manchester and its "official" live debut two days later at the Sixth National Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor.

Peter Green as guitarist, 1966-67[link]

Mayall had to replace Clapton, and he succeeded in persuading Peter Green to come back. During the following year, with Green on guitar and various other sidemen, some 40 tracks were recorded. The album A Hard Road was released in February 1967. Today its expanded versions include most of this material, and the album itself also stands as a classic.

But Peter Green gave notice and soon started his own project, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, which eventually was to include all three of Mayall's Bluesbreakers at this time: Green, McVie, and drummer Mick Fleetwood.

Mick Taylor as guitarist, 1967-69[link]

Mayall's first choice to replace Green was 18-year-old David O'List, guitarist from the Attack. O'List declined, however, and went on to form the Nice with organist Keith Emerson. Through both a "musicians wanted" ad in Melody Maker on 10 June and his own search, Mayall found three other potential guitarists for his Bluesbreakers, a black musician named Terry Edmonds, John Moorshead, and 18-year-old Mick Taylor. The latter made the band quickly, but Mayall, curiously, also decided to hire Edmonds as a rhythm guitarist for a few days.^[8]

In the meantime, on a single day in May 1967, Mayall had put together a studio album to showcase his own abilities as a multi-instrumentalist. Former Artwoods drummer Keef Hartley appeared on only half of the tracks, and everything else was played by Mayall. The album was released in November with the apt title The Blues Alone.

A six-piece lineup—consisting of Mayall, Mick Taylor on lead guitar, John McVie still on bass, Hughie Flint or Hartley on drums, and Rip Kant and Chris Mercer on saxophones—recorded the album Crusade on 11 and 12 July 1967. These Bluesbreakers spent most of the year touring abroad, and Mayall taped the shows on a portable recorder. At the end of the tour, he had over sixty hours of tapes, which he edited into an album in two volumes: Diary of a Band, Vols. 1 & 2, released in February 1968. Meanwhile, a few lineup changes had occurred: McVie had departed and was replaced by Paul Williams, who himself soon quit to join Alan Price and was replaced by Keith Tillman; Dick Heckstall-Smith had taken the sax spot.

Following a U.S. tour, there were more lineup changes, starting with the troublesome bass position. First Mayall replaced bassist Tillman with 15-year-old Andy Fraser. Within six weeks, though, Fraser left to join Free and was replaced by Tony Reeves, previously a member of the New Jazz Orchestra. Hartley was required to leave, and he was replaced by New Jazz Orchestra drummer Jon Hiseman (who had also played with the Graham Bond Organisation). Henry Lowther, who played violin and cornet, joined in February 1968. Two months later the Bluesbreakers recorded Bare Wires, co-produced by Mayall and Mike Vernon, which came up to #6.

Hiseman, Reeves, and Heckstall-Smith then moved on to form Colosseum. The Mayall lineup retained Mick Taylor and added drummer Colin Allen (formerly of Zoot Money's Big Roll Band / Dantalian's Chariot, and Georgie Fame) and a young bassist named Stephen Thompson. In August 1968 the new quartet recorded Blues from Laurel Canyon.

On 13 June 1969, after nearly two years with Mayall, Taylor left and officially joined the Rolling Stones.

Mark-Almond period, 1969-70[link]

Chas Crane filled in briefly on guitar.^{[citation needed]} Drummer Allen departed to join Stone the Crows. This left as the only holdover bassist Thompson (who would also eventually join Stone the Crows).

Mayall tried a new format with lower volume, acoustic instruments, and no drummer. He recruited acoustic fingerstyle guitarist Jon Mark and flautist-saxophonist John Almond. Mark was best known as Marianne Faithfull's accompanist for three years and for having been a member of the band Sweet Thursday (which included pianist Nicky Hopkins and future Cat Stevens collaborator Alun Davies, also a guitarist). Almond had played with Zoot Money and Alan Price and was no stranger to Mayall's music—he had played baritone sax on 4 cuts of Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton and some of A Hard Road. This new band was markedly different from previous Mayall projects, and its making is well documented both on the 1999 double CD The Masters and on the 2004 DVD The Godfather of British Blues: The Turning Point.

Along with the big change in sound, Mayall decided on a big change in scenery: a move to Los Angeles. The new band made its U.S. debut at the Newport Jazz Festival on 5 July,^[8] whilst the 12 July performance at the Fillmore East provided the tracks for the live album The Turning Point. A studio album, Empty Rooms, was recorded with the same personnel, with Mayall's next bassist, former Canned Heat member Larry Taylor, playing bass in a duet with Thompson on "To a Princess."

Harvey Mandel as guitarist, 1970-71[link]

Mayall continued the experiment of formations without drummers on two more albums, although he took on a new electric blues-rock-R&B band in guitarist Harvey Mandel and bassist Larry Taylor, both plucked from Canned Heat, and wailing violinist Don "Sugarcane" Harris, lately of the Johnny Otis Show. On USA Union (recorded in Los Angeles, 27-28 July 1970), though, Mandel was compelled to make do without his remarkable sustain and usage of feedback as musical, even melodic, technique; and on Memories the band was stripped down to a trio.

Mick Taylor, in 1972

In November 1970 Mayall launched a recording project involving many of the most notable musicians with whom he had played during the previous several years. The double album Back to the Roots features Clapton, Mick Taylor, and Mandel on guitar; Sugarcane Harris on violin; Almond on woodwinds; Thompson and Larry Taylor on bass; and Hartley on drums. Ventures guitarist Jerry McGee came along with Larry Taylor to the L.A. sessions and appears on a couple tracks; Paul Lagos was with Sugarcane and ended up drumming on five. Mayall wrote all the songs and sang all the vocals, as usual by now, plus played harmonica, guitar, keyboards, drums, and percussion. The London sessions took place in January 1971 and as such represent some of Clapton's last work before Derek and the Dominos' attempted Layla follow-up sessions and band disintegration that spring.

Back to the Roots did not promote new names, and USA Union and Memories had been recorded with American musicians. Mayall had exhausted his catalytic role on the British blues-rock scene and was living in L.A. Yet, the list of musicians who benefited from association with him, starting with ruling the London blues scene, remains impressive.^[9]

1970s-1990s[link]

Mayall reunited for a brief tour in the early 1980s

By the start of the 1970s Mayall had relocated in the USA where he spent most of the next 15 years, recording with local musicians for various labels. In August 1971, Mayall produced a jazz- oriented session for bluesman Albert King^[10] and a few months later took on tour the musicians present in the studio.

A live album Jazz Blues Fusion was released in the following year, with Mayall on harmonica, guitar and piano, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Clifford Solomon and Ernie Watts on saxophones, Larry Taylor on bass, Ron Selico on drums and Freddy Robinson on guitar. A few personnel changes are noted at the release of a similar album in 1973, the live Moving On.

During the next decade Mayall continued shifting musicians and switching labels and released a score of albums. Tom Wilson, Don Nix and Allen Toussaint occasionally served as producers. At this stage of his career most of Mayall's music was rather different from electric blues played by rock musicians, incorporating jazz, funk or pop elements and adding even female vocals. A notable exception is The Last Of the British Blues (1978), a live album excused apparently by its title for the brief return to this type of music.^[11]

The return of the Bluesbreakers[link]

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers at the Liri Blues Festival, Italy, in 2001

In 1982 Mayall was reunited with Mick Taylor, John McVie and Colin Allen, three musicians of his sixties lineups, for a two year world tour from which a live album would emerge a decade later.

In 1984 Mayall restored the name Bluesbreakers for a lineup comprising the two lead guitars of Walter Trout and Coco Montoya, bassist Bobby Haynes and drummer Joe Yuele. The mythic name did perhaps something to enhance the interest in a band which by all standards was already remarkable.

A successful world tour and live recordings achieved the rest. In the early 1990s most of the excitement was already spent and Buddy Whittington became the sole lead guitarist in a formation which included then organist Tom Canning.

On the occasion of the 40th year of his career Mayall received carte blanche to invite fellow musicians for the recording of a celebratory album. Along for the Ride appeared in 2001, credited to John Mayall and Friends with twenty names listed on the cover, including some Bluesbreakers, old and new, and also Gary Moore, Jonny Lang, Steve Cropper, Steve Miller, Otis Rush, Billy Gibbons, Chris Rea, Jeff Healey, Shannon Curfman and a few others.

Mayall's "Pistoia Blues", Pistoia, Italy
Photo: Federico Maria Giammusso

To celebrate his 70th birthday Mayall reunited with special guests Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and Chris Barber during a fundraiser show. This "Unite for Unicef" concert took place on 19 July 2003 at the Kings Dock Arena in Liverpool and was captured on film for a DVD release. In 2005, Mayall was awarded an OBE in the Honours List. "It's the only major award I've ever received. I've never had a hit record or a Grammy or been in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." commented Mayall.^[12]

In November 2008, Mayall announced on his website he was disbanding the Bluesbreakers, to cut back on his heavy workload and give himself freedom to work with other musicians. Three months later a solo world tour was announced, with: Rocky Athas on guitar, Greg Rzab on bass, and Jay Davenport on drums. Tom Canning, on organ, joined the band for the tour which started in March 2009. An album was released in September 2009. Since then, Mayall has continued to tour with the same backing band, minus Canning, who left due to other priorities.^[13]

Discography[link]

Original John Mayall albums[link]

• 2012: Smokin' Blues (Live recording from Frankfurt 1972/1973) (Secret Records)

Unofficial, limited editions and bootlegs[link]

• 1990: Crocodile Walk
• 1984: Blues Alive (RCA/Columbia)
• 198?: Back to the Roots (Gaha 02)[same as Blues Alive]
• 198?: Dal vivo a Milano (bootleg)[live 26 Nov. 1982]
• 1996: Bulldogs For Sale (bootleg)[same as Crocodile Walk]
• 199?: Beano's Boys (bootleg)
• 199?: The First 5 Years (Pontiac)[Crocodile Walk+BBC Sessions +unreleased]
• 199?: Simply Outstanding, live at the Fillmore West '68 (Vintage Masters VMCDR 107) [same as Wolfgang's Vault]
• 1999: Horny Blues (Massive Attack) [live '72]
• 1999: Mayallapolis Blues (Blues Tune BT09)[live in Minneapolis 3 March 1993]
• 2000: Time Capsule (Private Stash) Limited release (J.Mayall's private archive 57-62)
• 2001: UK Tour 2K (Private Stash) Limited release
• 2001: Boogie Woogie Man (Private Stash) Limited release
• 2001: Archive:live (Rialto)
• 2003: No Days Off (Private Stash) Limited release

DVDs[link]

• 2003: 70th Birthday Concert (Eagle) live '03 CD & DVD
• 2004: Live at Iowa State University DVD live'87
• 2004: Cookin' Down Under DVD (Private Stash) Limited release
• 2004: The Godfather of British Blues/Turning Point DVD (Eagle)
• 2005: Rolling with the Blues (Recall) live'72-82 2CD+DVD
• 2007: Live at the Bottom Line, New York 1992
• 2008: Live At Iowa State University

Singles[link]

• 1964: "Crawling Up The Hill / Mr. James" (Decca F11900)
• 1965: "Crocodile Walk / Blues City Shakedown" (Decca F12120)
• October 1965:^[15] "I'm Your Witchdoctor / Telephone Blues" (Immediate IM012)
• August 1966: "Lonely Years / Bernard Jenkins" (Purdah 453502)
• September 1966: "Parchman Farm / Key To Love" (Decca F12490)
• 1966: "Looking Back / So Many Roads" (Decca F12506)
• 1967: "Sitting In The Rain / Out Of Reach" (Decca F12545)
• 1967: "Curly / Rubber Duck" (Decca F12588)
• 1967: "I'm Your Witchdoctor/ Telephone Blues" (Immediate IM051)
• 1967: "Double Trouble / It Hurts Me Too" (Decca F12621)
• 1967: "Suspicions Pt.1 / Suspicions Pt.2" (Decca F12684)
• 1968: "Picture On The Wall / Jenny" (Decca F12732)
• 1968: "No Reply / She's Too Young" (Decca F12792)
• 1968: "The Bear / 2401" (Decca F12846)^[16]

John Mayall's sidemen[link]

A comprehensive list of musicians who have recorded and/or toured with John Mayall.

A few notable names

• Guitar: Eric Clapton, Roger Dean, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Harvey Mandel, Freddy Robinson, Jimmy McCulloch, Kal David, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya, Randy Resnick, Sonny Landreth, Buddy Whittington, Eric Steckel, Robben Ford
• Bass: Jack Bruce, John McVie, Steven Thompson, Larry Taylor, Tony Reeves, Hank Van Sickle
• Drums: Hughie Flint, Keef Hartley, Aynsley Dunbar, Soko Richardson, Jon Hiseman, Colin Allen, Mick Fleetwood.

• Keyboards: Dr. John
• Vocals/Harmonica: Paul Butterfield

See also[link]

• John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
• British blues
• Eric Clapton
• Peter Green
• Mick Taylor

References[link]

External links[link]

• John Mayall's website
• Mayall: sessions,concerts
• Concerts in Wolfgang's Vault: Fillmore West '68 [2]; Bottom Line '77 [3]
• ABC Records Press Release
• John Mayall Interview 2007 - by Brian D. Holland
• John Mayall Interview with Jarrod Dicker (2009)
• John Mayall at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about John Mayall in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2010)

Bryan Lee
Bryan Lee at the New Orleans Jazz Festival on May 1, 2010.
Background information
Born	(1943-03-16)March 16, 1943
Origin	Two Rivers, Wisconsin
Genres	Blues
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Guitar, Vocals
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Justin Time
Website	Braillebluesdaddy.com

Bryan Lee (born March 16, 1943, Two Rivers, Wisconsin)^[1] is an American blues guitarist and singer based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also known by the nickname braille blues daddy and has been a fixture on Bourbon Street scene since the 1980s.

History[link]

Lee completely lost his eyesight by the age of eight. His avid interest in early rock and blues was fostered through the 1950s by late night listening sessions via the Nashville-based radio station WLAC-AM, where he first encountered the sounds of Elmore James, Albert King and Albert Collins.

By his late teens, Lee was playing rhythm guitar in a regional band called The Glaciers that covered Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Chuck Berry material. Through the 1960s, Lee's interest turned to Chicago blues and he soon found himself immersed on that scene, opening for some of his boyhood heroes. In 1979 he released his first album named Beauty Isn't Always Visual.

In January 1982, Lee moved to New Orleans, eventually landing a steady gig at the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street becoming a favorite of tourists in the city's French Quarter. For the next 14 years, Lee and his Jump Street Five played five nights a week at that popular bar, developing a huge following and a solid reputation.

Today Lee continues to perform in New Orleans. He also tours several times a year in the Midwest, Eastern Seaboard, Rocky Mountain States and recently Europe. Lee appeared with Kenny Wayne Shepherd as the musical guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on February 14, 2007.

Discography[link]

• 1979 Beauty Isn't Always Visual
• 1991 The Blues Is... (Justin Time)
• 1993 Memphis Bound (Justin Time)
• 1995 Braille Blues Daddy (Justin Time)
• 1995 Heat Seeking Missile (Justin Time)
• 1997 Live at the Old Absinthe House Bar: Friday Night (Justin Time)
• 1998 Live at the Old Absinthe House Bar, Vol. 2: Saturday (Justin Time)
• 2000 Crawfish Lady (Justin Time)
• 2002 Six String Therapy (Justin Time)
• 2005 Live and Dangerous (Justin Time)
• 2007 Katrina Was Her Name (Justin Time)
• 2009 My Lady Don't Love My Lady (Justin Time)
• 2010 Old School Blues
• 2011 Live from Sao Paulo

Compilation albums[link]

• 2003 Bryan Lee's Greatest Hits (Justin Time)

DVDs[link]

• 2006 Live and Dangerous (Justin Time)

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Bryan Lee Blues Band: Home of the Braille Blues Daddy (official site)
• Biography on Allmusic
• Biography on Justin Time Records website

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2009)

Colin Linden performing with Emmylou Harris - 2008

Colin Linden (born 16 April 1960) is a Canadian musician, songwriter and record producer. He has worked with a wide variety of artists including Bruce Cockburn, Lucinda Williams, T-Bone Burnett, Colin James, Leon Redbone, Rita Chiarelli, Chris Thomas King and The Band.

Linden is primarily a electric blues guitarist,^[1] although he frequently collaborates with country and folk performers. He is also a member, with Stephen Fearing and Tom Wilson, of the group Blackie and the Rodeo Kings.

Career[link]

Early years[link]

Linden was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. When he was still an infant, his family moved to White Plains, New York. The ten-year old Linden heard rock performers in New York venues, such as Van Morrison, the Flying Burrito Brothers, James Taylor, John Mayall, Johnny Winter and Taj Mahal.

1970s[link]

When the family moved back to Toronto, Linden became interested in performers such as Taj Mahal, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Howlin’ Wolf. When Howlin’ Wolf played at Toronto’s Colonial Tavern, the then-11-year old Linden spent three hours talking with the elder bluesman. A young Linden began performing at a local coffee house, the Fiddler’s Green Coffee House, singing and strumming a guitar. By 1973, Linden began learning how to finger pick. When Linden met David Wilcox, Linden decided to learn how to play slide guitar. Wilcox gave 140 blues albums to young Linden, to help Linden to learn about blues styles.

Paul Mills, the producer of Sylvia Tyson’s Touch the Earth show, at the Winnipeg Folk Festival and an outlet on CBC Radio for acoustic roots music, booked Linden in 1975 . At the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Colin met Mississippi bluesman Sam Chatmon, and later that year made a pilgrimage to US to meet South Detroit's Sippie Wallace. North Carolina's Peg Leg Sam, and Mississippi's Son House.

In 1976 Wilcox had asked Linden to join his band, the Teddy Bears, which meant that Linden had to learn to play the electric guitar. In 1977, he played solo gigs and did his first western Canadian tour, which was booked by Holger Petersen. In Edmonton he met then 13-year old Colin James, also a budding blues performer. In the late 1970s, Linden formed his own group, the Group du Jour, which played a mix of covers and a few Linden originals. In 1979, Linden recorded the Sam Chatmon album.

1980s[link]

In 1981, Linden recorded his album Colin Linden Live!. As well, he played as a sideman for Joe Mendelson, Willie P. Bennett, Gwen Swick and Amos Garrett. Linden's second album, Colin Linden and the Immortals was released by the Stony Plain Records label in 1986. Linden has acknowledged the influence of The Band. In the early 1980s, Linden met three of the original members, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Levon Helm. Members of The Band contributed to Linden's recordings, and songs like "When the Spirit Comes" got radio airplay and "Miles Away from You" made the rock charts. When the Spirit Comes was released by A & M in 1987. Linden signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell and did producing for Mendelson Joe, Morgan Davis, Jackson Delta and Hans Thessink.

1990s[link]

In 1991, Bruce Cockburn recruited Linden as a sideman, and for three-and-a-half years, Linden playing guitar. Subsequently, Linden became Cockburn's co-producer. Linden's blues album of 1993 titled South at Eight, North at Nine was distributed by Sony Music in Canada, and won a Juno Award in the Blues and Gospel category. Guests on the album included Bruce Cockburn as well as Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Levon Helm of the Band.

As Linden got more interested in gospel records, he began taking vocal lessons from Bourbon Tabernacle Choir singer Dave Wall, such as breathing and warm-up exercises. In 1996, Linden won a Juno in the Blues/Gospel category for his producing Lennie Gallant's The Open Window. Linden co-wrote Colin James' hit song "Real Stuff". As well, and, Linden joined with Tom Wilson of Junkhouse and Stephen Fearing to form Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. This band was a tribute to Canadian singer songwriter Willie P. Bennett. After the album High or Hurtin’ on True North Records, the second album Kings of Love won a Juno.

In February 1998 Linden shared the Maple Blues Producer of the Year award with Colin James. A Tribute to Howlin’ Wolf was released by Telarc Records in 1998. In 1999, A Tribute to Howlin’ Wolf was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Traditional Blues Album. In 1999, Linden received the Toronto Arts Award.

2000s[link]

In 2000 Linden won three Juno awards, of which the "Blues" category award was as the producer of Ray Bonneville's Gust of Wind. In the Roots and Traditional: Solo Artist category, Linden won as the producer of Bruce Cockburn's Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu. Finally,in the Roots and Traditional: Group category, Linden won as a member of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. In 2000, Linden produced Sue Foley's Love Comin' Down and Paul Reddick and the Sidemen's Rattle Bag.

For the album Big Mouth, a more acoustic recording, Linden recruited Keb' Mo', Bruce Cockburn, and other musicians. In 2002 Big Mouth won a Juno for Best Blues Album. In 2002, an album Linden worked on, Timeless, won the Grammy for Country Album of the Year. In 2002, he co-produced Stephen Fearing's That's How I Walk and Bruce Cockburn's You've Never Seen Everything. In 2003, a third Blackie and the Rodeo Kings album, BARK, was released, and in 2006 they released Let's Frolic and Let's Frolic Again.

Discography[link]

Solo[link]

• Colin Linden Live (1980)
• The Immortals (1986)
• When the Spirit Comes (1988)
• South at Eight, North at Nine (1993)
• Through the Storm, Through the Night (1995)
• Raised by Wolves (1997)
• Sad and Beautiful World (1999, greatest hits)
• Big Mouth (2001)
• Southern Jumbo (2005)
• Easin' Back To Tennessee (2006)
• From The Water (2009)

Compilation inclusions[link]

• Orphans of God, A Tribute To Mark Heard (Fingerprint, 1996)^[2]
• Johnny's Blues: A Tribute To Johnny Cash (Northern Blues, 2003)^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Colin Linden
• Blackie and the Rodeo Kings