DEEP BLUES: December 2011

30 December 2011

R.L. BURNSiDE video! - Live at Junior's Juke - Early 1990s

JUNiOR KiMBROUGH - Live at Junior's Juke - Early 1990s

24 December 2011

The Art of JOE SACCO

Joe Sacco, artist of the award-winning graphic novel Palestine was sent on tour with R.L. Burnside by Details Magazine in 2000. The work below was published in the magazine and included in the Fat Possum Records book Darker Blues.

23 December 2011

The Sensational Golden Age Gospel Goodness of JUBiLEE SHOWCASE

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Starting out humbly by broadcasting from a Chicago car dealership in 1963 and for the next twenty-one years of Sunday mornings, Sid Ordower presented the Emmy award winning Jubilee Showcase, a powerful half-hour of the finest Gospel music America had to offer.

Many artists now considered legendary performers from Gospel music's golden age got their start on Ordower's show or made their first televised appearance there. Names like Thomas A. Dorsey renowned as the father of gospel music , The Barrett Sisters, The Soul Stirrers, Andrae Crouch, Albertina Walker and The Caravans, Jessy Dixon, Edwin Hawkins, Sallie Martin, The Staple Singers, Inez Andrews, The Dixie Hummingbirds, The Reverend James Cleveland, Otis Clay, Shirley Caesar, and many more. The ultimate Who's Who of Gospel music. As Mr. Ordower told the Chicago Tribune in 1982,

"I always used to pride myself on getting the best soloists, the greatest groups, the finest accompanists in gospel," "The idea was to get variety. . . . We didn't want to feature just quartets or just soloists. We wanted everything that was out there, so long as it was the best."

Featuring three to four acts per show, over the course of the shows run Ordower presented over 430 acts. In a an interview with Steven Ordower, Sid's son, I asked how his father became interested in Gospel music,

"My father became interested in Gospel Music out of his work and commitment to the Civil Rights movement. African-American churches were a main part of the organizational apparatus of the Civil Rights movement, so my father was around a lot of Gospel Music at the time." Steven Ordower went on to tell the Chicago Tribune that, "I think a lot of his views got shaped when he was in World War II," "I have a feeling that seeing the atrocities of war first- hand – and he would never talk about it with me – scarred him mentally on many levels, and I think it inspired him in a lot of ways, too…."I think that really launched his whole desire to do something about the injustices he saw. He got really involved in the labor movement and in the civil rights movement. And the churches were a real organizing part of the civil rights movement, so he got to know a lot of those people. … He could really cross cultural and racial boundaries pretty naturally – he was accepted in these different worlds."

The senior Ordower's experience in America's Civil Rights struggle included a trip to Jackson, Mississippi in 1951 where he was beaten by racist thugs when they learned of his plan to appeal to the state supreme court for a stay of execution "to allow new evidence to be presented in the case of Willie McGee, who had been unjustly convicted of raping a white woman." As a result of the vicious beating Ordower recieved, a U.S. Supreme Court Justice intervened and granted a stay of execution.

When asked what kind of relationship he had with the artists who performed on his show Steven Ordower replied,

"My father had a relationship with a lot of the artists outside the show. He used to take me to the Barrett Sisters' house for meals when I was very young, and he is remembered very affectionately for helping guide the careers of many of the artists that went on to become well known. He was also regularly referred to as "Brother Sid" in the black church, and recruited some talent directly from the churches."

Sid Ordower would be the first to admit that the Jubilee Showcase was not about him. Rather, he took pride in limiting his face time, "You see, I wasn't the star of the program, and I didn't pretend to be," he said in the Tribune interview. "I wasn't the one who sang and danced. All I did onscreen was introduce the groups, and I had a rule that I made myself and followed religiously: Never talk for more than 2 1/2 minutes."

Thanks to Sid Ordower and his family, America now possesses what Chicago's Rev. Lucius Hall calls, ``the most comprehensive gospel video collection in the world today.`` As Ms. Albertina Walker states, "Sid opened the door and made it possible for the people at home to see it, because it wasn't show before he started it."

I don't think it's possible to state strongly enough that if you are a fan of serious Gospel music, if like me you have the documentary Say Amen, Somebody and The Gospel At Colonus in your DVD collection, then you must add Jubilee Showcase. It is a powerful set that we are so blessed to have had preserved. It's an amazing collection and I can't wait to see what else is in the Jubilee Showcase vaults.

18 December 2011

THE ART of CHRiSTOPH MUELLER

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Mr. Mueller hails from Aachen, Germany. He was tapped by Chris Johnson to do the artwork for the 2008-2010 Deep Blues Festivals. Mr. Mueller is responsible for the striking album art for Willem Maker's newest album and his work has graced the covers of albums by Chip Hanna, Peter Murphy, and others. He has also done artwork for Muddy Roots Festival and for Rambler Magazine, Daddy Mojo Cigar Box Guitars, and Wayne "The Train" Hancock.

I am curious about your artistic influences. R. Crumb and Joe Coleman I can see. Who else inspires you?

Another major influence was Chris Ware, I was drawn to his work for the first time when I was about 14, especially by his stunning lettering style. After reading Jimmy Corrigan I was amazed how a "comic" is able to move you emotionally.

I have always been fascinated by how drawing could be used to make visible all those invisible things we deal with every day, things that are pretty much the very nature of the human experience. That's also what impressed my about R. Crumb's and Joe Coleman's work. Especially seeing Crumb's sketchbooks when I was in my early teens opened a whole world of possibilities to me, it showed me how drawing could help you cope with life better. It's a very good tool to reflect on things, once you put them on paper you are not in the middle of them anymore, you have a chance to observe them from the outside. This process has been very important to me again and again, I think it helped me somewhat understand the chaos around me.

I met Crumb in 2003 briefly, he took a look at my sketchbook from that period and encouraged me to keep at it, "keep on drawing!" he told me. That was a very important moment, a very encouraging one. I think my sails where set by that point, but getting that support from my big hero was the wind that kept me going. After that Joe Coleman encouraged me to look and dig deeper inside myself, find out more about myself. Another important day when I met him at home in Brooklyn. Not sure why I elaborate on this, I think it was very important to me to actually meet the people that had been such a great influence on me. Being acknowleged and supported by them was and still is the fuel that keeps me going on the draftman's path.

There are many obstacles and uncertainties, many people that don't really understand what you do and why, getting approval by your mentors lets you know you are on the right track.

When I write about music I always listen to whoever it is i'm writing about or I enjoy the silence. I wonder what you listen to when you work on a piece?

Music is very important. It used to be the key to get in touch with myself whenever I sat down to make a personal drawing. I liked to get carried away by songs that fit my mood, doing very little thinking, a lot of feeling and just let things happen on the paper. For some reason I have stepped a bit away from that approach recently, could be due to my analytical period I am in at the moment. But it still happens. I still don't consider myself to be the best thinker there ever was. I feel like being too much a slave to my own feelings at times. Something prevents me from thinking every now and again. Probably a good thing for my drawings, not sure yet.

Another thing about the kind of music that appeals to me is that there seems to be a somber tone to it. Wether it's the blues, country, irish folk music or Mahler, I am somehow drawn to that melancholy tone. Probably because it is anchored very deeply inside myself. It feel like home to me. And wether you channel your sorrows into sounds or lines -- it isn't that much of a difference I think.

Your font choices and often the style or layout you use in your work looks like it comes from turn of the century (or earlier, actually) American newpapers. Do you agree? If so, what can you tell me about the origin of those style choices for you?

Visually I am very much influenced by the lettering of the late 18th century. I am just blown away by the craftsmanship of those people, overall there seemed to have been much more appreciation for a craft well executed. I can spend hours just looking at old stock certificates, maps, paper money, and books from that period. I can also really relate to the spirit of the Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris or Louis Sullivan for instance, to whom's work Chris Ware introduced me a year ago. I have spend a lot of time studying ornament recently. Seems like I have turned a bit more analytical and less impulsive. I didn't really think a lot about what I was drawing in the past, that however has changed these days and I am pretty sure it shows in my work.

Artist Statement:

Christoph Mueller:
“I came to the solution in the last years of studying that you can try any style or whatever . . . the thing that makes your artwork interesting is when you find out what’s inside of you. Who you are. What gets you going. All that kind of stuff. That’s where it becomes real art. Or at least something that I think is worthy of doing.”

Joe Coleman:
“Yeah, and the process of doing that Christoph, is painful.”

Christoph Mueller:
“Yeah.”

Joe Coleman:
“But that’s the prize. It should be painful. Most things that are worth while in life are painful. And life, even though you might try to avoid it, which is understandable, anyone would try to avoid the fucked-up things in life, but that’s what life is about. Life is about pain. Everybody’s going to suffer, so why don’t you face the suffering that’s important to you. You’re going to suffer all the other things too. Everybody . . . No-one gets out of this world alive.”

Enable the little CC (closed caption) button for the Germanicly challenged:

17 December 2011

OTHAR TURNER - Gravel Springs Fife and Drum (1971) A short film by Bill Ferris and David Evans

It's a SOUL OF JOHN BLACK Christmas!

The Soul of John Black has a new Christmas ep out now.

You can download it from his label Yellow Dog Records
for a measly four bucks. Get it HERE.

<a href="http://thesoulofjohnblack.bandcamp.com/album/the-soul-of-christmas">The Soul of Christmas by The Soul of John Black</a>

Here's JB with the great Nikka Costa:

15 December 2011

The Retro Future Blues of Hungary's MiSSiSSiPPi BiG BEAT

Gal Csaba Boogie from Budapest, Hungary, has always made interesting blues-based music. His new group Mississippi Big Beat is no exception. Consisting of Harmonica, guitar, and turntables/drum machine it's an exciting step to the future. Check out his Soundcloud page for more info.

Here's a taste:

Mississippi Big Beat at 2011 Sziget Festival on the Blues Stage from Maco on Vimeo.

Want Somebody (short sample) by Mississippi Big Beat

14 December 2011

SENSATiONAL FRiENDLY BROTHERS

The Sensational Friendly Brothers of Tallulah, Louisiana, perform "Heaven Is My Goal" at the St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Canton, Mississippi. Shot by Alan Lomax, John Bishop, and Worth Long, August 11, 1978. For more information about the American Patchwork filmwork, Alan Lomax, and his collections, visit http://culturalequity.org.