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	<title>Chicago blues Archives - Traveling Archive</title>
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	<title>Chicago blues Archives - Traveling Archive</title>
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		<title>When the Blues Come to Town! Lurrie Bell and Jason Ricci with Rena Beavers and Paul Loranger</title>
		<link>https://travelingboy.com/travel/when-the-blues-come-to-town-lurrie-bell-and-jason-ricci-with-rena-beavers-and-paul-loranger/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[T. E. Mattox]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Jul 2023 21:46:22 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blues guitar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chicago blues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[harmonica]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home_page]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Ricci]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lurrie Bell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Loranger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rena Beavers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sam Lay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[West Coast Swing]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://travelingboy.com/travel/?p=35877</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Earlier this year, I had the distinct pleasure of witnessing the West Coast swing of the Lurrie Bell and Jason Ricci tour. With the celebrated rhythm section of Rena Beavers on drums and Paul Loranger on bass, the bands cruise through the Southwest was both fast and furious. With stops in San Diego, Los Angeles and Arizona this All-Star lineup provided a blues experience unlike any other.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://travelingboy.com/travel/when-the-blues-come-to-town-lurrie-bell-and-jason-ricci-with-rena-beavers-and-paul-loranger/">When the Blues Come to Town! Lurrie Bell and Jason Ricci with Rena Beavers and Paul Loranger</a> appeared first on <a href="https://travelingboy.com/travel">Traveling Archive</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="731" height="338" src="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/theBAND.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-35881" srcset="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/theBAND.jpg 731w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/theBAND-300x139.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 731px) 100vw, 731px" /><figcaption>LtoR: Lurrie Bell, Jason Ricci, Rena Beavers and Paul Loranger in San Diego. Photo by Yachiyo Mattox.</figcaption></figure></div><p class="has-drop-cap">Earlier this year, I had the distinct pleasure of witnessing the West Coast swing of the Lurrie Bell and Jason Ricci tour. With the celebrated rhythm section of Rena Beavers on drums and Paul Loranger on bass, the bands cruise through the Southwest was both fast and furious. With stops in San Diego, Los Angeles and Arizona this All-Star lineup provided a blues experience unlike any other.</p><p>I don&#8217;t use the term All-Star lightly; Lurrie grew up in a family of blues players and has played guitar with everybody from Billy Branch and Willie Dixon to Charlie Musselwhite and Koko Taylor. Jason Ricci has lived and worked with some of the legendary Mississippi hill country players including the Burnside and Kimbrough families and he now fronts his own band; the Bad Kind. Rena Beavers who is just as comfortable in the jazz realm as he is with the blues, has now drummed his way around the globe with Coco Montoya, Johnny Burgin and Debbie Davies. Bassist Paul Loranger has been laying down the bottom end for decades with players like Eric Sardinas, Popa Chubby and Southern California&#8217;s own; Candye Kane.</p><p>When we sat down to talk, I was curious just how a young harp player (Ricci) from the Northeast ends up touring with a guitar player (Bell) from a legendary Chicago blues family. So we started by looking back. &#8220;I grew up in Maine and I got into harmonica at a young age, about four or something.&#8221; Ricci says. &#8220;And around 13 or 14 I got serious so my mother took me to see Cotton and Musselwhite and that stuff had an effect on me. When I was about 15 or 16, 17 there was a lot of problems at home so I was on my own. I&#8217;m staying with friends, homeless shelters and all that kind of stuff. But my mother and father had a divorce agreement that he had to pay for college and he had the money, right? I ended up going off to Boise, Idaho to study wildlife management. I found a blues club out there and fell under the tutelage of Ken Harris, the Hammond B3 organ player from Boston from Paulie&#8217;s (Loranger) neck o&#8217; the woods. He knew a lot of the people in Maine that I had been playing with; Per Hanson who was with Ronnie Earl and D.W. Gill and a lot of the players in Maine that had been around Boston. So I started playing in that club and that&#8217;s how I got interested in playing blues for money.&#8221;</p><p class="has-drop-cap">Definitely advanced level musicianship classes, that had to create other opportunities? &#8220;I did get offered a job with Sam Lay.&#8221; Jason recalls. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t take the job and the reason being the harmonica player in Sam Lay&#8217;s band was a tremendous influence on me and they were going to fire him and replace him with me. Even at 17 years old I knew that wasn&#8217;t cool and plus, my mother would have been pissed if I had quit college, even though she knew who Sam Lay was. But that put the bug in my head that this could happen for me. So I moved to Memphis to be around another harmonica player named Pat Ramsey and I got a job at an Italian restaurant, not thinking I was going to be a big blues star or superstar, but thinking that might happen. From there I met David Kimbrough and Kenny Kimbrough and Dwayne Burnside. I was playing on the street in Memphis and already had a pretty bad drug problem which had me on the street. They took me down and brought me to the country where I was kind of safe from that. So I played with Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside and their kids for a little over a year in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Senatobia, Potts Camp all these little juke joints out in the middle of nowhere. I was not only the only white boy in the band or in the club, but the only white boy for miles most of the time.&#8221; (laughing) &#8220;They didn&#8217;t even call me Jason; they just called me…white!&#8221; (laughing) &#8220;I was just white! Anyway, I found another gig in Jackson, and I started playing under my own name and playing with other bands, too. From there I found New Orleans and went on a tour down there, I ended up getting a job and then I went to jail for a year down in Florida, got out and played in Florida a little while and moved to Nashville, Tennessee to take a job with a New Orleans band that was living, touring and operating out of Nashville.&#8221;</p><p class="has-drop-cap">Lurrie, your father Carey Bell blew harmonica for a host of Chicago blues legends; Robert Nighthawk, Honeyboy Edwards, Muddy, Lovie Lee…looking back do you remember the first time you picked up a guitar? &#8220;I was at my dad&#8217;s house,&#8221; Lurrie says. &#8220;In the basement of his house and he&#8217;d have all these damn blues musicians from the South rehearsing and they was playing the blues, man. I was a little youngster, you know? And they had a guitar layin&#8217; down in the basement and I think it was my father&#8217;s guitar. And while they was rehearsing, I picked the guitar up and I tried to play along with the band and I found that it came natural to me. I had an ear for it and I got it in my head that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to learn how to play well enough that I can play with my dad. And I did.&#8221;</p><div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" width="741" height="987" src="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Lurrie-Jason-on-stage.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-35879" srcset="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Lurrie-Jason-on-stage.jpg 741w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Lurrie-Jason-on-stage-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="(max-width: 741px) 100vw, 741px" /><figcaption>Lurrie and Jason at Humphreys Backstage in San Diego. Photo by Yachiyo Mattox.</figcaption></figure></div><p>Jason, do you remember the first time you played with or heard Lurrie play?</p><p>&#8220;I spent 10 years in Nashville and started my own band in the early 2000s. It was during that time I did my first show with Lurrie, he won&#8217;t remember this but it was in San Jose. We had a festival in San Jose, I was like skinny and 130-some pounds…I had been 12 years sober but was on the decline, a relapse. I was trying to keep it together, but I couldn&#8217;t. But I met Lurrie and we had a great gig that day…he was one of the most emotional players I&#8217;ve ever played with and I fell in love with this man&#8217;s guitar playing that day. I didn&#8217;t think we&#8217;d ever do anything because I was sort of a modern cat and he was a traditional cat and I had my own thing going. But all these years later, I got a call from Amberley and she said would you be interested in doing a couple of gigs with Lurrie. So we did a duo thing at the Prairie Dog Blues Festival in Wisconsin, and I had two gigs at that festival. I had just finished a record with Altered Five which is a great band and then Lurrie and I did a duo thing and it felt good. I really relate to Lurrie as a person, not just as an artist but somebody that&#8217;s overcome a lot, like we all are really. But just to play with him again was beautiful. That turned into a tour. Pauly called me up and suggested me to Amberley and she said, yeah we had him on a couple of dates…and here I am.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you one thing,&#8221; Lurrie adds. &#8220;when I met you and we played, I was with my lady friend, Claudia Harris. I want you to check this dude out, she liked you. I said you ain&#8217;t bullshittin&#8217; he can blow his ass off. I didn&#8217;t know we were going to work together. I didn&#8217;t know that at first, but I&#8217;m glad that happened.&#8221;</p><p>Let&#8217;s talk a little about this tour on the West Coast. You&#8217;ve got Rena Beavers on drums and bassist Paul Loranger which is a monster rhythm section.</p><p>&#8220;Like Jason&#8221; Paul says, &#8220;I&#8217;ve always had a deep respect for Lurrie. I&#8217;ve spent most of my life playing traditional blues or blues rock and I was actually out with Candye Kane at a festival and I saw him there…and Jason and I have been friends forever. We&#8217;ve known each other probably over 20 years.&#8221;<br>Jason smiles and nods &#8220;He&#8217;s been here for me through thick and thin. Pauly&#8217;s always been a friend and this is actually, weirdly enough the first time we&#8217;ve worked together.&#8221;</p><p>Paul adds. &#8220;I&#8217;m working with Anthony Geraci right now but I started with Eric Sardinas and I was with him a long time, I toured with Candye Kane and Popa Chubby and also worked with Paul Nelson, who helped get Johnny (Winter) back on his feet. But currently I&#8217;m working with Anthony Geraci. We were at a festival in Transylvania, believe it or not and it was Anthony and Lurrie together and afterwards, Amberley his manager, asked to join him on some tours and I&#8217;m really happy about it.&#8221;</p><p class="has-drop-cap">Rena, I saw you playing with Coco Montoya a year or so ago. &#8220;I&#8217;ve worked with Coco Montoya going on eleven years but as far as the blues realm, I started when I moved to Nashville in the mid-90s, I played double bass enough to be dangerous to myself and other people.&#8221; (laughing) &#8220;Then I landed a gig playing with Little Milton the last two years he was alive.&#8221;</p><p>Lurrie looks surprised. &#8220;…with Little Milton? I didn&#8217;t know that. I went down South with Little Milton for awhile, played rhythm guitar with him. It was my job to open up the show and call Milton up. That was a long time ago.&#8221;</p><p>Lurrie if you would, talk a little about playing with Koko Taylor… &#8220;Man, it was incredible because when it comes to female blues singers Koko got me! When she and her husband asked me would I want to work with her, they came down to Junior Wells&#8217; club in the basement (Theresa&#8217;s) in Chicago, Illinois. I started working with Koko and we went to Europe and Africa together. I had some great times with Koko Taylor as her second rhythm guitar player. We played together about seven years.&#8221;</p><div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" width="609" height="806" src="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Lurrie-solo.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-35880" srcset="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Lurrie-solo.jpg 609w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Lurrie-solo-227x300.jpg 227w" sizes="(max-width: 609px) 100vw, 609px" /><figcaption>Lurrie in the moment. Photo by Yachiyo Mattox.</figcaption></figure></div><p>You also played with Willie Dixon. &#8220;Willie Dixon, you know Willie Dixon don&#8217;t bring too many people to his gigs and call &#8217;em up on stage unless they&#8217;re blues entertainers from the same neck of the woods. My father was playing with Willie Dixon at the time blowing harmonica and I went to one of the shows and before I know it the old man called me up on stage. And I said oh shit, he wants me to play!&#8221; (laughing) &#8220;With Willie Dixon!!! Buster Benton was Willie Dixon&#8217;s lead guitar player called me up and said you can use my guitar. I said I&#8217;ve got to play some blues now &#8217;cause the old man is watching. It went alright, I played a couple of numbers and that was that. When they called me up to play guitar with Willie Dixon, I haven&#8217;t quit playing since then!&#8221; (laughing)</p><p>On this limited tour with just the four of you, talk a little about your musical collaboration. It&#8217;s not just straight blues; you all seem to contribute your own unique skills and talents during the set. &#8220;This was our first gig with Rena.&#8221; Jason says. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t even have a rehearsal!&#8221; Rena just smiles. &#8220;I told Pauly last night, basically I know enough of the vocabulary and I&#8217;m constantly learning but with these guys you sit back, call the tune, know what it&#8217;s supposed to be…then hang on!&#8221; (laughing) &#8220;Just hang on and help propel them.&#8221;</p><p>Lurrie says, &#8220;When it comes time to play my music when I&#8217;m playing lead guitar and singing, these guys know how to follow me, you know? This guy here&#8221; (he nods toward Rena) &#8220;he&#8217;s got a solid rhythm on the kit back there and my main man here on the bass guitar.&#8221; (grins at Paul) &#8220;We go way back!&#8221; (laughing) &#8220;And of course Mr. Jason Ricci, he&#8217;s one of the baddest cats I&#8217;ve ever heard play harmonica. You know I was taught by ear, I didn&#8217;t go to school to read chords and stuff like that.&#8221;</p><p class="has-drop-cap">Lurrie, if you had to name someone who had the most influence on your style of guitar playing? &#8220;B.B. King!&#8221; he says without hesitating. &#8220;When it comes down to the blues…that&#8217;s right!&#8221; Did the church have any influence on your direction? &#8220;I used to live in Macon, Mississippi with some of my dad&#8217;s people and also in Alabama; I had an older sister down there. We used to go to church all the time and listen to gospel music, quartets and choirs and before I knew it I had joined the church and started playing guitar and they used to pay me for that. They&#8217;d raise a collection for me, but eventually I moved back up North.&#8221;</p><p>After this quicky tour, will you guys all go back to your regular bands and projects? Jason, what&#8217;s the latest on the Bad Kind? &#8220;Well, we&#8217;ve got a new guitar player that we hired last year. Brent Johnson. I&#8217;ve been after Brent forever, for a long time I had two guitar players because I like that sound. I like when a guitar player can play and has chords behind him. Brent was behind Bryan Lee for 15 some odd years, the only person to never be fired from Bryan Lee&#8217;s band. It made him very insecure because he&#8217;s the only one who never got fired. It&#8217;s like a badge of honor in New Orleans if you&#8217;ve been fired from Bryan Lee&#8217;s band.&#8221; (laughing) &#8220;He did 15 years and never got the badge, you know?&#8221; (laughing) &#8220;And like Lurrie, he&#8217;s a very emotional player. He&#8217;s in-the-moment with no pre-conceived notions about what should be and that reinvigorated me. I did a record with New Orleans pianist Joe Krown who was with Gatemouth Brown for 14 years and with Walter &#8216;Wolfman&#8217; Washington. Walter loved Lurrie and Lurrie was one of the few people that Walter lent his guitar to during Jazz Fest. I played Jazz Fest with Walter just last year and just recently we christened the Walter &#8216;Wolfman&#8217; Washington Memorial Park. There will never be another one like him. Joe Krown was the pianist for him and many other people too. One of the most famous pianists in New Orleans who can play all the Professor Longhair stuff plus, he&#8217;s also a Hammond B-3 organ player. We put together an organ trio and we recorded the very first ever organ trio with harmonica as lead. We&#8217;re doing all Grant Green numbers, Jimmy Smith, Crusaders…stuff like that. That&#8217;s what I did throughout most of the pandemic. I just stuck around town playing soul jazz and jazz funk and a little bit of blues with Joe Krown and Walter. The Bad Kind was ready to go and Mike Zito called me up and asked if I would be interested in doing a record with him. We just finished it at Dockside Studios, Joe Krown is on it, Joanna Connor is on the record and we definitely want to get Lurrie on the next one.&#8221;</p><p>Lurrie says, &#8220;I&#8217;ll be around!&#8221; (laughing)</p><p class="has-drop-cap">Jason, I can&#8217;t let you go without asking you about playing with Big Bad Smitty. &#8220;Big Bad Smitty was a blues singer and guitar player originally from Mississippi but made his name in Saint Louis. I met him in Mississippi, I didn&#8217;t know who he was and he wanted to sit in and I said no, and he came back with a Living Blues magazine cover from 1981with him on it! And I said okay.&#8221; (laughing) &#8220;He got up and he sang Muddy Waters and Howlin&#8217; Wolf and he sounded just like both of them. I found out he had a HighTone release with Hubert Sumlin on it (Cold Blood) so we put together a band and backed him up. He lived with me for a little while and then decided to go back to Saint Louis and that was that. He passed just a short while later. When I met Smitty, he had no legs. He had lost his legs to diabetes. He was a gruff, abrasive, rough and vulgar person.&#8221; (laughing)</p><p>Jason, you also teach music online. &#8220;I&#8217;m trying to educate cats, especially harmonica players…so they can play music, not just blues but music in general.&#8221; Lurrie adds &#8220;without music there&#8217;d be nothing to look forward to everyday you get up in the morning, see the sunrise. What&#8217;s you gonna&#8217; look forward to if you can&#8217;t hear no music? Something&#8217;s gonna&#8217; go wrong somewhere.&#8221;</p><p class="has-drop-cap">Paul, could you share a story or two about working with Popa Chubby. &#8220;Popa and I have known each other for a long time, almost like Jason who I&#8217;ve known for almost twenty years. We came up together, dating back to my time with Eric Sardinas; we played a lot of shows together and got to be friends. And working with Candye Kane, because they were dear friends and both Popa and Candye were on the peripheral of the mainstream blues players and they were both okay with that. I&#8217;ve been living out here in the Long Beach area for almost 30 years. But Popa Chubby, he&#8217;s one of those guys that plays with a lot of heart, man. I mean he gets up there, he has his own style and he&#8217;s a really good songwriter. He&#8217;s got some very pertinent songs and I really enjoy my time with him. I learned from him.&#8221;</p><p>Rena, tell me about working with Coco Montoya. &#8220;Oh, he can take that guitar from a gentle whisper to one of the biggest roars and even though he&#8217;s blues-based he draws inspiration from all types of music.&#8221;</p><p>It seems this band does the same thing. I&#8217;ve got to say Thank you to Amberley Stokes for making this interview happen. And a special thanks to my good friend, Rosalea Schiavone of Wicked Harem Booking &amp; Productions for the opportunity. And a special Thank You to the band, you keep the music and especially blues music alive for all of us.</p><figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="884" height="337" src="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Rena-Tim-Lurrie-Jason-Rosa.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-35878" srcset="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Rena-Tim-Lurrie-Jason-Rosa.jpg 884w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Rena-Tim-Lurrie-Jason-Rosa-300x114.jpg 300w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Rena-Tim-Lurrie-Jason-Rosa-768x293.jpg 768w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Rena-Tim-Lurrie-Jason-Rosa-850x324.jpg 850w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 884px) 100vw, 884px" /><figcaption>Rena, me, Lurrie, Jason, Rosalea and Paul.Photo by Yachiyo Mattox.</figcaption></figure><p>The post <a href="https://travelingboy.com/travel/when-the-blues-come-to-town-lurrie-bell-and-jason-ricci-with-rena-beavers-and-paul-loranger/">When the Blues Come to Town! Lurrie Bell and Jason Ricci with Rena Beavers and Paul Loranger</a> appeared first on <a href="https://travelingboy.com/travel">Traveling Archive</a>.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>A Tale of Two Cities: St. Louis &#038; Kansas City</title>
		<link>https://travelingboy.com/travel/a-tale-of-two-cities-st-louis-kansas-city/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ed Boitano]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Mar 2023 21:20:04 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Travel USA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American Jazz Museum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charlie Parker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chicago blues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS: Experience the Saint Louis Art Museum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fox Theater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gateway arch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heartland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home_page]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[I-70]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joan Crawford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Midwest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mississippi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Missouri]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Negro Leagues Baseball Museum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oregon Trail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Altman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saint Louis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Santa Fe Trail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Missouri Botanical Gardens and the Saint Louis Zoological Park. See a stage show at the famous Fox Theater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[THE MOST WESTERN CITY OF THE EAST]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tom Pendergrast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tour the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and visit the Lewis & Clark exhibit at the Gateway Arch Riverfront.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Walt Disney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Walter Cronkite]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://travelingboy.com/travel/?p=34895</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>The Gateway Arch towers over the mighty Mississippi. Built in 1963, it is today the symbol of St. Louis. Blues music fills the night, and St. Louisans sit at sidewalk cafes in the historic Soulard neighborhood in front of tables of toasted ravioli, paper-thin square-cut pizza, and frosted mugs of Bud, the beer here that is still king.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://travelingboy.com/travel/a-tale-of-two-cities-st-louis-kansas-city/">A Tale of Two Cities: St. Louis &#038; Kansas City</a> appeared first on <a href="https://travelingboy.com/travel">Traveling Archive</a>.</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h5 class="wp-block-heading">By Ed Boitano, Photography by Deb Roskamp</h5><div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="256" height="384" src="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-34897" srcset="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image.jpeg 256w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image-200x300.jpeg 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px" /><figcaption>The Gateway Arch is tallest monument in the National Park system.  Photograph courtesy of Deb Roskamp.</figcaption></figure></div><p class="has-drop-cap">The Gateway Arch towers over the mighty Mississippi. Built in 1963, it is today the symbol of St. Louis. Blues music fills the night, and St. Louisans sit at sidewalk cafes in the historic Soulard neighborhood in front of tables of toasted ravioli, paper-thin square-cut pizza, and frosted mugs of Bud, the beer here that is still king.</p><p>Four hours west down the road, a fountain glistens in the Kansas City twilight. The city has 200 of them, more than any city outside of Rome. From the Blue Room, a club in the iconic 18th &amp; Vine Historic Jazz District, a jazz quartet is warming up for their evening set, while the fragrance of hickory smoked barbecue is still in the air.</p><p>Greetings from the heart of the Heartland. Throw a dart at the dead center of a map of the Continental US and you will hit a highway in Missouri called I-70. This highway links two world-class cities, St. Louis and Kansas City, each situated on opposite ends of Missouri.</p><p>I am happy to report that many of the stereotypes that I had of the Midwest are true: the people are warm and hospitably; fiercely proud about their cities, but not pretentious about it. The food is good and the portions are huge. But this is only where the accolades begin. Linked by the 250-miles of pavement, the cities have much in common, but still are very different from one another, each offering their own unique charms.</p><div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://travelingboy.com/ed/saintlousarch2.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The shadow of the Gateway Arch overlooking downtown St. Louis.  Photograph courtesy of Deb Roskamp.</figcaption></figure></div><div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow"></div></div><ul class="wp-block-list"><li><strong>ST. LOUIS:</strong> THE MOST WESTERN CITY OF THE EAST</li><li><strong>POPULATION: </strong>293,310</li><li><strong>MONIKERS:</strong> &#8220;Gateway to the West&#8221; | &#8220;Mound City&#8221;</li><li><strong>ICONIC SYMBOL: </strong>At 630 ft., The Gateway Arch is the nation&#8217;s tallest man-made monument, twice the size of the Statue of Liberty. Take the tram ride to the top for stunning views of downtown St. Louis and the muddy Mississippi.</li><li><strong>FAMOUS ST. LOUISANS:</strong> Chuck Berry, T. S. Eliot, William Burroughs, Miles Davis, Tennessee Williams, Yogi Berra.</li></ul><p><strong>BACK STORY: </strong>Located on the western banks of the Mississippi River, St. Louis&#8217; first inhabitants were the Mississippians, Indian mound builders. As many as 40,000 people lived in what was then the largest city north of Mexico. By 1300 AD, the civilization mysteriously disappeared, and the French arrived in 1698, establishing a mission and a thriving trading port. The US flag was raised in 1803 when Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon I, making it part of his plan for a Continental United States. The 1904 St. Louis World&#8217;s Fair gave the city international recognition. It is known today for manufacturing, medicine, biotechnology, and other sciences.</p><p><strong>THE VIBE:</strong> St. Louis is renowned for its historic neighborhoods of red brick and expansive parks. Like most eastern cities, it is a pedestrian town with a great transit system. Soulard is a former French neighborhood, lined with bars and pubs, while the chic Central West End offers sidewalk cafes, boutiques and antique stores. Forest Park, home of the World&#8217;s Fair, features 1,300 acres of lakes, walking paths and an array of free cultural institutions. The Hill is the Italian neighborhood, while the The Loop is the hot spot for concerts. For the adventurous, swing over to East Louis, and you&#8217;ll seed why its moniker is East Boogie.</p><p><strong>CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS:</strong> Experience the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Missouri Botanical Gardens and the Saint Louis Zoological Park. See a stage show at the famous Fox Theater, tour the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and visit the Museum at the Gateways Arch for an indepth look at St. Louis&#8217;s role in United States history.</p><p><strong>EATS:</strong> Thanks to the Hill, there&#8217;s toasted ravioli and St. Louis-style pizza, super-thin crusted, made with Provel process cheese often via Elmo&#8217;s Pizza. Other delights include Gooey Butter Cake and shoulder-cut St. Louis Pork Steak. With a large German population, beer has always been essential and Budweiser dominates the market, but micro-brews like Alpha Brewing Company and Side Project Brewing are gaining well-deserved attention.</p><p><strong>BLUES: </strong>Due to its location the on banks of the Mississippi, St. Louis blues music is a tantalizing hybrid of Mississippi Delta and Chicago blues. The city boasts more working blues musicians than any other city in the world.</p><div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="547" height="365" src="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Kansas-City.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-34896" srcset="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Kansas-City.jpg 547w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Kansas-City-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 547px) 100vw, 547px" /><figcaption>The fountain has long been the symbol of Kansas City.
Photograph courtesy of Deb Roskamp.</figcaption></figure></div><ul class="wp-block-list"><li><strong>KANSAS CITY: </strong>THE MOST EASTERN CITY OF THE WEST</li><li><strong>POPULATION: </strong>508,394.</li><li><strong>MONIKERS:</strong> &#8220;The Fountain City&#8221; | &#8220;Paris on the Plains&#8221;</li><li><strong>ICONIC SYMBOL:</strong> With respect to the 200 fountains, the National World War I Museum gets my vote. It is the only national museum in the US dedicated to The Great War, and an experience that will touch your soul.</li><li><strong>NOTABLE KANSAS CITIANS: </strong>Charlie Parker, Robert Altman, Joan Crawford, Walter Cronkite, Wallace Beery, Walt Disney.</li></ul><p><strong>BACK STORY:</strong> Originally a homestead settlement, Kansas City is located at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers. It became an important site for America&#8217;s westward expansion, with the Santa Fe, California and Oregon Trails all originating in the area. The location of a number of Civil War battles, Kansas City was incorporated in its present form in 1850. It gained national attention when the stockyards were established in 1871, the second largest in the country. This is where Kansas Citian&#8217;s love affair with beef began, and it became acclaimed for its barbecue. Today Kansas City is headquarters to nine Fortune 500 companies and numerous agriculture companies.</p><div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://travelingboy.com/ed/kc-ww1-museum.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Kansas City&#8217;s National World War I Museum is the only national museum in the US dedicated to The Great War. Photograph courtesy of Deb Roskamp.</figcaption></figure></div><p><strong>THE VIBE: </strong>Kansas City is distinguished for its spacious boulevards, numerous parks and over 200 fountains. This is a western-style town and a car is required to get around. Designed in 1922, The Country Club Plaza is 14-square-block outdoor shopping and entertainment district with Spanish-Moorish architecture. The 18th &amp; Vine Historic Jazz District is a swinging hot spot and the place to learn about Kansas City jazz. The Crossroads Arts District is a growing arts community, while the downtown River Market features the Midwest&#8217;s largest farmer&#8217;s market.</p><p><strong>CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS: </strong>Visit the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the architectural wonder, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. The American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum both share the same building, and the Arabia Steamboat Museum is located in the River Market.</p><p><strong>EATS: </strong>Barbecue is synonymous with Kansas City and today over 100 establishments feature hickory or pecan smoked ribs, brisket and burnt-end ribs. Each restaurant seems to offer its own secret sauce. Other delicacies include Kansas City Strip Steak and Chicken Spiedini. For beer you can do little better than the micro-brews, Casual Animal Brewing Company and Torn Label Brewing.</p><p><strong>JAZZ</strong>: Kansas City became celebrated for its jazz clubs when political boss Tom Pendergrast ignored prohibition and allowed alcohol to flow into the 12th District. Displaced musicians poured in just as fast, inventing swing jazz and new late-night sensation called the jam session.</p><p>For further information, visit <a href="https://www.explorestlouis.com/outdoor/adventures▼">Explore St. Louis</a> and Visit <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.visitkc.com/" target="_blank">KC</a>. </p><p>The post <a href="https://travelingboy.com/travel/a-tale-of-two-cities-st-louis-kansas-city/">A Tale of Two Cities: St. Louis &#038; Kansas City</a> appeared first on <a href="https://travelingboy.com/travel">Traveling Archive</a>.</p>
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		<title>The Chris Fast Band Light it Up!!!</title>
		<link>https://travelingboy.com/travel/the-chris-fast-band-light-it-up/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[T. E. Mattox]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Aug 2018 00:45:10 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[band]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chicago blues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Fast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[harmonica player]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Little Walter Jacobs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moz Live]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rod Piazza]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://travelingboy.com/travel/?p=7705</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>‘MOZ LIVE’ is the title of a new compact disc from the Chris Fast Band. As the name suggests, the project was captured ‘in the moment’ at the Mozambique Steakhouse in Laguna Beach. The end result; Fast has produced ten tracks that exemplify a night out with his band along with a couple hundred of his new best friends.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://travelingboy.com/travel/the-chris-fast-band-light-it-up/">The Chris Fast Band Light it Up!!!</a> appeared first on <a href="https://travelingboy.com/travel">Traveling Archive</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-7701" src="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Moz-Live.jpg" alt="cover of the Christ Fast Band's 'Moz Live' CD" width="520" height="520" srcset="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Moz-Live.jpg 520w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Moz-Live-300x300.jpg 300w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Moz-Live-100x100.jpg 100w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Moz-Live-150x150.jpg 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px" />‘MOZ LIVE’</strong> is the title of a new compact disc from the Chris Fast Band. As the name suggests, the project was captured ‘in the moment’ at the Mozambique Steakhouse in <a href="http://travelingboy.com/archive-travel-ed-laguna_beach.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Laguna Beach</a>. The end result; Fast has produced ten tracks that exemplify a night out with his band along with a couple hundred of his new best friends. <strong>“‘Moz Live’ is simply that.” </strong>Chris says, <strong>“Recordings taken from several nights with a variety of line-ups over several months. Recorded live and just as it really happened with no retakes, punch-ins, or overdubs.” </strong>So if you’ve never heard or seen the Chris Fast Band live, this CD gives you a heaping harp full of what you’ve been missing.</p>
<p>The lineup is a veritable who’s who in the Southern California blues community. <strong>“The musicians,” </strong>Fast says.<strong> “Include Steve Wilcox and Dana Duplan on guitar; Don Skelton and Troy Sandow on bass; drummers Al Schneider and Marcus Bashore and Jonny Viau on saxophone.” </strong>And of course, Chris Fast on harp and vocals.</p>
<p>Although the band is widely known for their live shows, when we spoke about the project, I was curious if releasing something ‘live’ made the recording more…or less stressful? <strong>“What was especially nice,” </strong>Chris told me.<strong> “Was that we paid no attention to the fact that we were ‘recording’, we played with our total focus on the performances and connecting with the audience. In that way, the songs on ‘Moz Live’ are a completely honest representation of, and a clear snapshot of what the Chris Fast Band was doing at this particular point in time…complete with the mistakes and audience chatter that you hear at a gig. The music is allowed to breathe, and I find it refreshing! You don’t get that when you do a studio album.”</strong></p>
<p>And of course it’s a Chicago style blues <strong>“…real Chicago Blues.”</strong> Chris says. <strong>“The songs are all covers with the exception of “Seven Steps to Heaven.”</strong></p>
<p><figure id="attachment_7702" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7702" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-7702" src="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-1.jpg" alt="Chris Fast and his band performing" width="850" height="575" srcset="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-1.jpg 850w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-1-600x406.jpg 600w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-1-300x203.jpg 300w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-1-768x520.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-7702" class="wp-caption-text">Photo: Yachiyo Mattox</figcaption></figure></p>
<p>A couple of <a href="http://travelingboy.com/archive-travel-tim-little_walter.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Little Walter Jacobs</a> tracks stand out…<strong> “Chicago blues has always been a love of mine. We’re playing a lot of Little Walter material just because it’s challenging. When I was younger, everybody was playing Little Walter stuff and it doesn’t seem to be that way now. People my age started playing music in the ‘60s when the blues invasion rolled through. When I was in high school we heard the Stones playing some blues and then we started investigating and found out about the guys that originated the music. There was a huge wave of people that were blues enthusiasts at that time.” </strong></p>
<p>Social media has changed some of that…<strong> “It’s all over YouTube.” </strong>Chris agrees.<strong> “Back in the day when I was starting, I had to borrow records. Rod </strong>(Piazza)<strong> gave me my first Little Walter record and said, ‘Hey, Listen to this!’ And I listened to it and it was weird to me, because it was a whole different style of playing. Of course, Rod was totally off into it and then I started learning it.”</strong></p>
<p>Growing up near and getting to know <a href="http://travelingboy.com/archive-travel-tim-rodpiazza.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rod Piazza</a> was a very fortunate happenstance in your musical direction, was it not?<strong> “Yeah, I was lucky he lived in town and talk about a great model to have, you know, as an aspiring harmonica player. Rod has always welcomed guest players; if he thinks you’re halfway decent he doesn’t have a problem getting you up there. In fact, he welcomes it because for one thing, he can take a break. And then when you’re done he can say, ‘Okay, I’ll show you how it’s really done.’” </strong>(laughing) <strong>“It’s a good little foil for him. Rod, of course has played with everybody. He played with the <u>real</u> guys. We’re just trying to get a good sound and all that stuff, but he was really there with all the guys that were out in L.A.”</strong></p>
<p><figure id="attachment_7703" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7703" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-7703" src="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-2.jpg" alt="the Chris Fast Band performing" width="850" height="599" srcset="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-2.jpg 850w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-2-600x423.jpg 600w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-2-300x211.jpg 300w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-2-768x541.jpg 768w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-2-104x74.jpg 104w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-7703" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-size: small;">The Chris Fast Band ripping it up… tearing it up.</span> Photo: Yachiyo Mattox</figcaption></figure></p>
<p>Where did your love of blues originate? <strong>“My father gave me a harmonica when I was a young boy. I was a little kid and I’d walk around playing this silly harmonica so I was always oriented toward the harmonica. In Junior High school I think the folk music thing was going pretty good and some of my friends decided to put together a little band and I was going to play the harmonica, we had a couple of folk guitars and we played at a talent assembly and that’s where it kind of started. </strong></p>
<p><strong>I got into some rock bands early on, but we’d play some blues tunes as well and it just sort of evolved from there. I remember we had some jam sessions in the summertime and Rod Piazza was involved in those and there was a core group of musicians that would meet every week and I would go down there and play. I started hearing what he was doing and we developed a friendship and as I got older I was playing in blues bands around town. I used to play in a band with Bob Newham and Willie Brinlee and the guys that went on to back Bill Clarke and growing up in Riverside we were always playing Chicago blues. Later, because I knew all the harmonica songs, Rod needed a guitar player and I could play some guitar, I never considered myself a very good guitar player…and I proved it every night.” </strong>Chris laughs. <strong>“I could play okay, just enough to back him. I learned a lot, night after night sitting there behind Rod. He would pick me up at my house and take me into L.A. where he was playing in these black clubs. It was a great education for me.”</strong></p>
<p>Who were some of the people you saw and played with in those early days?<strong> “We backed up Big Joe Turner and Pee Wee Crayton was playing with us at one time. We opened shows for John Lee Hooker and later on I was able to work with Percy Mayfield and Big Mama Thornton.”</strong></p>
<p>Talk a little about Percy Mayfield? <strong>“He was just a real sweet guy. Talk about a songwriter, he was the best. Nobody wrote a song like Percy Mayfield. I don’t think anybody was better. Nobody!”</strong></p>
<p><figure id="attachment_7704" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7704" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-7704" src="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-3.jpg" alt="the Chris Fast Band at Gator By the Bay" width="850" height="638" srcset="https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-3.jpg 850w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-3-600x450.jpg 600w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-3-300x225.jpg 300w, https://travelingboy.com/travel/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chris-Fast-Band-3-768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-7704" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-size: small;">L to R: Don Skelton, Steve Wilcox, Al Schneider, Chris Fast and Jonny Viau at Gator By the Bay.</span> Photo: Yachiyo Mattox</figcaption></figure></p>
<p>What is it about harp players? Not to frighten you, but most seem to have a very short life span? (laughing) <strong>“Little Walter was crazy.” </strong>Chris laughs.<strong> “Rod told me Walter would seek out the worst people he could find, and that’s who he would hang with. You’ve probably known people like that. They just can’t resist and that’s the people they seek, the lowest common denominator and that’s what they enjoy. I don’t know, there’s a physical quality to the playing, it takes strength to play the harp, it takes a little energy, I think.”</strong></p>
<p>Outside of the Chicago sound, or blues in general what other music appeals to you? <strong>“I listen to a lot of jazz. If I’m listening to music, I’ll be listening to jazz. I appreciate that, I imagine if I was a better musician or more educated in music, maybe I would be a jazz musician perhaps, I don’t know. I like the sax players like Coltrane and all those guys.”</strong></p>
<p>I’ve heard people make the comparison with Walter’s amplified harp and saxophone lines. <strong>“Right, to get the instrument to sound bigger, to sound like a saxophone, Walter was playing…of course swing music was big at that time in the early ‘50s, Louis Jordan was having a lot of hits as an alto player and people would learn his lines and play it in their music. It really had more of a swing to it.”</strong></p>
<p>Now that the new album is out, what’s next for the Chris Fast band? <strong>“Since they recorded every night that we played </strong>(at the Mozambique)<strong>, there’s a lot more material in the can. Can you say, ‘Son of Moz Live’?”</strong></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://travelingboy.com/travel/the-chris-fast-band-light-it-up/">The Chris Fast Band Light it Up!!!</a> appeared first on <a href="https://travelingboy.com/travel">Traveling Archive</a>.</p>
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