This Week In Blues

Last week was a very busy week and I need to take a break. Here's the dealio.

Friday, February 24, 2006





Charlie Musselwhite Blues Band

I went to Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz to see the Charlie Musselwhite Band. It was a really great show. Not much more to say about it, other than it was fantastic. Great band in a great venue with great sound.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

I stopped off at Brandon's for a bit to check out The Pleasure Kings.

It had been several years since my last excursion to Brandon's. I had forgotten what a nice place it is. The bar has a number of tables with nicely upholstered chairs. The bar staff and waitresses were really friendly and attentive. Dinner service from the finest restaurant in Milpitas is available in the bar. One sentence: It's a really nice and comfortable room.

The band was excellent. Johnny Cat, Mike Phillips, Dennis Dove and Robert Welsh have worked together for years. They were tight. They played a variety of nicely selected material covering Tyrone Davis, The Meters, BB King, Freddie King, Snooks Eaglin and many more. It was all blues with a little of R&B mixed in. They had few guests perform.

The sound was very good. The volume was very good. It was loud enough to be a good listening volume, but not enough to cause hearing damage.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

It was a fun night at the Little Fox Theater. Kenny "Blue" Ray and his band of merry men provided an evening filled with fun and excitement. The evening was filled with great music performed by a group of familiar faces like:

Phil Berkowitz, Scott Miller, Don Yonders (who informed me that there is no "s" in Don Yonders), Vince Caminiti, Ray Figeroa, Artie Chavez and Kenny "Blue" Ray. There were also a bunch of faces that were new to me. One guy that really impressed me was a harp player and singer named Ron Lowes.

It was a good time, once again and it's always a treat to perform with Kenny "Blue" Ray and his Orchestra.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

It was a stellar night at RJ Mischo's World Famous Tuesday Night Blues Jam at the Mojo Lounge. The place was packed with performers and people just hanging out having a good time.

RJ, Kid Andersen, Kadar Roy and June Core started the evening with a number of tunes from the Junior Wells, Snooky Pryor and Hound Dog Taylor songbooks before RJ dipped into the local talent pool.

Performing on the newly remodeled stage during the course of the evening was the infamous Harmonica Hutch, Don Yonders, Artie Chavez, Phil Berkowitz, Chris Brown, Russell Barber, Johnny Cat, Eddie B, Matt Lawley and me.