BIG THANKSGIVING BLUES SHOW: BOBBY RUSH FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27^TH, AT STUDIO HITZ--- 
 
OH YES, it is quite possible that, after Turkey Day, you might need a release from Family and caloric intake, and if the greatest living practitioner of LIVE BLUES strikes your fancy, then realize you are in the right city at the right moment to experience the amazing BOBBY RUSH perform with his Blues Review the night after Thanksgiving, at the Studio Hitz Nightclub, along with St. Louis’ own David Dee And The Hot Tracks Band as well as singer Charlie Vaughan. 
 
According to Vintage Vinyl’s blues authority (and 22 year vet on 88.1FM KDHX) Tom ‘Papa’ Ray, ‘Bobby Rush put on the very best blues show I saw in 2008, period!’ And it just so happened that show was Studio Hitz: ‘He was breathing fire, just unstoppable, the crowd was under his command, and when curfew time came he just didn’t want to leave the stage.  Believe me, at this point no one alive playing blues wants to follow this guy on stage, not even B.B. King.’
 
Direct from Jackson Mississippi; see the man up-front and personal, as he carries his Blues Revue and dancers to 8927 Riverview, in North Baden. Rush has been the perennial winner of the Memphis Handy Award for Best Live Performance, as well as having the same distinction in the Readers & Critic’s Poll for Living Blues Magazine. He has distinguished himself as a performer in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing as well as thrilling blues audiences for decades with his genius for outrageous show-stopping Concerts.
 
Welcomed by Foxy 95.5 radio, and MC’ed by one of the legends of St. Louis R&B radio, Gentleman Jim Gates, this promises to be a great evening; it is no exaggeration to say the best blues performance on Planet Earth  11/27, 2009, will quite possibly be at Studio Hitz, 8927 Riverview in St. Louis, Starring Bobby Rush. 
 
Think about that.

OUT OF NORTH ST. LOUIS, THE BLUES STILL RULE, AND THE CROWN PRINCE IS MARQUISE KNOX
by Tom ‘Papa’ Ray

	1. Marquise Knox - Love Making Machine 2. Marquise Knox - You Put Me Down 3. Marquise Knox - She's The One
	MARQUISE KNOX MAN CHILD
	CD $14.99

In 2009, there’s abundant signs of younger musicians taking up the various forms of American blues, and some of them certainly show promise, but for our money, the hands-down player to watch on planet Earth who has yet to reach a 21^st birthday is St. Louis singer/guitarist/harpist/songwriter Marquise Knox.  
 
Raised in a city known for blues as long as blues have been known, Knox is presented here in his first national release, the aptly titled Man Child.  Released by the quality-conscious folks at Acoustic Sounds on their APO label in June of this year, the listener will soon understand why he has won the enthusiastic nodding approval of such blues figures as Bobby Rush (who has played two shows here in the past 18 months with the younger man, where Knox confidently stood opposite the most formidable showman in the blues world today). Not only Rush has expressed his admiration; other elders of the scene (up to and including B.B. King) acknowledge him as a full-fledged member of the academy. In other words, this is not the music one would expect from someone of such young years (especially in a genre where, more than others, power and authority usually is gained over the decades)---the normal reaction by seasoned blues lovers is ‘HE’S HOW OLD?!?’, when faced by the evidence.  This is straight up modern blues, with no concessions to rock histrionics.  Performers such as Kenny Wayne Shepherd and others may have more years, but with this release it’s clear indeed who is The Old Soul in the body of a teenager. His vocal authority pretty much puts to shame the field of hopefuls, and he’s just getting started.        
 
This eleven-song release shows Knox comfortable in the conventions of Delta blues patterns, backed by the fine Alligator recording artist Michael Burkes and band. On guitar Marquise spans both the sonic lessons taken from the late Henry Townsend (who mentored him in the last few years of his life), as well as echoing both Albert King and Lightnin’ Hopkins.  The material sounds strong but relaxed, almost off-hand in assurance---you don’t hear the straining-for-authority often shown by the last highly touted young blues discovery who’s probably recording before the musical fruit is right.  No, Mr. Knox shows no lack of control or mastery of the form, and when you reflect this set was cut at the age of sixteen, the prospects he will be the most notable blues artist of his generation seems a Done Deal.
 
That’s our take----as always there’s a lot of flashy and loud players claiming to wear The Raiment Of The Blues-Man, but our bet is Marquise Knox is right now the finest blues artist of his generation, and will be the blues figure to beat for years to come. 

VINTAGE VINYL IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE OF MUSIC BY TWO GREAT ARTISTS, OLIVER SAIN and U-ROY: St. Louis Breakdown: The Best Of Oliver Sain on Sain Sound Records, and Foundation Skank: Rare Sides By The DJ Originator, on Sound System Records.
 
Both are available on CD and 180-gram vinyl presses, and from the time we announced plans for their release in 2008 there were inquiries and expressions of interest both here in our hometown as well as from friends nationally and around the world.  This is fitting, for both men have created a body of work that over time only grows in reputation around the globe. 

	1. Oliver Sain - Soul Serenade 2. Oliver Sain - St. Louis Breakdown 3. Oliver Sain - Bus Stop
	OLIVER SAIN ST. LOUIS BREAKDOWN-BEST OF OLIVER SAIN
	LP $14.99	CD $12.99

OLIVER SAIN was the single most influential musician in the St. Louis area from 1960 to his death in 2003; no one had as great an impact as this bandleader/songwriter/producer/studio owner in nearly a half-century of dominance.  But beyond his hometown, Sain gained international respect and admiration for his distinctive sound as an alto saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist.
 
Yes, he wrote material for which others (Fontella Bass, Ann Peebles) achieved chart hits, with a telling gift for crafting songs for female vocalists (blues singer Tracy Nelson has been quoted as saying his song “Walk Away” being as fine a lyric ever written for a woman), and always had the best working band St. Louis could boast, but as a soloist in the blues/soul/funk realm, only Maceo Parker is comparable as having such a signature sound and original tone.  His influence on no less than St. Louis native David Sanborn is obvious, and the recordings on St. Louis Breakdown show a master of the studio world framing his great playing over original compositions as well as songs by others that became so transformed by Oliver, his versions are arguably definitive.  Specifically, his stirring, strutting version of ‘Soul Serenade’ was a rallying cry for his fans in our city----his four-note introduction to this King Curtis number would evoke standing ovations and cheers at the shows and club appearances he made throughout his career.
 
We are so proud of making available again the music of Oliver Sain, a man we admired and loved as one does your best of friends.  PERHAPS one day, our city will posthumously recognize this cultural icon; in the meantime, listen to his music, and be amazed and gladdened. Give a listen, and you will understand. 

	1. U Roy - Foundation Skank 2. U Roy - Rhytm Train 3. U Roy - Creation Rebel
	U ROY FOUNDATION SKANK-1971-75 RARE SIDES BY THE DJ ORIGINATOR
	LP $14.99	CD $12.99

“YOU CAN BEAT ME, BUT YOU JUST CAN’T BEAT THE WORD”
   
At this point, U-ROY inhabits a status similar in reggae as Louis Armstrong did in his later years: The unchallenged innovator, so responsible and influential on those who followed his ground-breaking achievements, it’s impossible to imagine how the music of their respective nations would exist without them. Still in full possession of his musical skills and in demand on stages around the world, Jamaica’s greatest DJ has received his nation’s highest cultural award, The Order Of Distinction, in the rank of Officer. As one of the most enduring of Jamaican artists, his influence extends to non-reggae forms; as Leroy Pierson noted in the liner notes for Foundation Skank: 1971-1975 Rare Sides by the DJ Originator, 
 
“To the extent that Hip Hop owes a debt to Jamaican music, that debt is owed equally to U Roy.”
 
This is our second release by U Roy on our label devoted to Jamaican music, Sound System (the first, The Lost Album: Right Time Rockers  being rated as ‘essential’ in ‘The Rough Guide To Reggae’), and it gathers the very rarest of his recorded music, almost entirely from releases on his various labels in Jamaica between the years 1971-75.  These include Roy’s personal choices of hits by producers such as Lee Perry, Bunny Lee, and others, transformed by him into dialogues with the top vocalists of that time: Ken Booth, Delroy Wilson, Slim Smith, Dennis Brown, Linval Thompson, and Johnnie Clarke. Top producers were so desirous of having the #1 DJ record for them they readily allowed him use of their best sides, and today these records stand as the equal to Roy’s best work in the 1970s. Anyone who wishes to hear one of the greatest of reggae’s founders in full-flight of his talents should give Foundation Skank a listen; we anticipate there will not be as impressive an example of 70s reggae made available in 2009, and a Grammy Nomination would not be out of place. 
 
Yes, it’s that good----Who Feels It Knows It.

Rick Wood's Concert Diary - Vol. 84

6/26/09 Bill Kirchen, Webster Groves Gazebo.  I showed up about a half hour before show time.  There was a decent crowd out, considering the 90+ degree heat.  I got a chance to say “Hi” to Bill and band (Jack O'Dell on drums and Mac Cridlin on bass) before they started up…nice to finally meet after several rounds of emails and phone calls.  After Darren Snow’s introduction, the band opened with “Too Much Fun”, one of the good-time party anthems from back in Bill’s days as lead guitar player in Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen.  From there, they went into a string of several songs from Bill’s solo career, mostly in that honky tonk/rockabilly/dieselbilly vein allowing for lots of big, bold Telecaster leads.  A couple of Bob Dylan covers stood out: “The Times They Are A Changing” (this one rang espe

[ more ]