Kirk Tuttle Update

I dropped by our friend (and drummer) Kirk "KT" Tuttle's place today to check in and to pick up some stuff that I left there last week.  He was doing OK today, but said that the last two days were pretty bad due to stomach problems and lack of sleep.

After his wife Jimi Jean died last year KT has living in a small apartment in Seattle's north end, very close  to the Ballard locks.  His liver disease is still progressing, and, being an Air Force  veteran (flight controller), he is getting medical treatment from the VA.  He can't work or play music any more, so he is living off of a small monthly social security check.

The liver disease symptoms include bouts of dizziness, sever cramps, back and leg pain, nausea, and disorientation.  During a bout of dizziness about a month  ago, KT fell in his bathroom and  fractured one of his hips.  He spent about a week in the hospital after that, and is getting around now with the help of a walker.  He is scheduled to begin rehabilitation therapy at the end of this month.

I asked KT about the FaceBook page that has been set up for him, but he didn't know anything about it.  If any readers here know anything about that page, please let us know what's going on so that we can enlighten KT.  He also said to say thanks to the friends that have been visiting and bringing the occasional dinner for him and/or running a few errands.

The 15th Annual Portland Blues Harmonica Summit

Here is information on the forthcoming Portland Annual Blues Harmonical Summit  produced by Bill Rhodes:

WOW! I’ve sure had a lot of folks asking me “When is the Harmonica Summit”? That’s a good sign and here’s the lowdown. On Saturday March 6th at the Melody Ballroom, we will be holding the 15th Annual Blues Harmonica Summit.


The featured Harp players will be:
■ Johnny Ward—Hands down the man who has been playing the Harp longer than anyone here in the Northwest! A veteran of many groups including the Jokers, and numerous jug bands, Johnny brings one of the most original styles out there today.

■ Mike Moothart—Another Northwest vet, who has served time in the Switchmasters and the Jim Mesi Band. A hard blowing, no nonsense player, who specializes in Chicago and Southern style harp.

■ Little Ronnie Sirota—Originally from the big city (NYC), Ronnie will be playing the Summit for the first time. Whether playing solo or with a group, Ronnie displays an excellent sense for playing the Real Blues.

■ Tim O’Hare—Another first time addition to the Summit will be another of our great local Northwest harp blowers. Tim has listened and learned all these years and now we all get to hear the fine result.

■ Bill Rhoades—Your host and MC of the show will be another Northwest harpman. Bill has won the “Muddy” six times for “Best Harmonica Player” and recently contributed a solo harp part to the movie “Our City Dreams”.

Backing all of the featured artists will be an All-Star House band fronted by world renowned Bluesman Paris Slim on guitar and vocals.

Join us Saturday March 6th at the Melody Ballroom (downstairs) 615 SE Alder, Portland, OR. The show starts at 8 pm and should run until about midnight (Sorry—21 & over). Admission $10 at the door. CBA, Washington Blues Society, and Rainy Day Blues Society members will receive $1 off with membership card.

For more info call 503-253-1265 or 503-232-2759. Hope to see you there!
 
Note: This article originally appeared on the Cascade Blues Association web site.

This just in from our Portland, OR correspondent, "Uncle" Ray Varner:

“REMEMBER ME” 2010
3rd Annual Paul deLay Scholarship Benefit Concert

Featuring:

The Charlie Musselwhite Band, the Curtis Salgado / Alan Hager Duo, Lloyd Jones, D.K. Stewart, Linda Hornbuckle, Rick Welter, former members of the Paul deLay Band, …and more

Sunday, April 25, 2010


6 - 10 p.m. / doors at 5:30 p.m.


ALADDIN THEATER


3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. • Portland OR • 503.233.1994

A sampling of Portland musical talent joins veteran blues artist and harmonica ace, Charlie Musselwhite and his band, in a benefit concert at the Aladdin Theater, on Sunday, April 25th. All proceeds from “Remember Me” 2010 will go toward the scholarship that has been established in memory of Portland 's late harmonica maestro, Paul deLay , at Ethos Music Center , a nonprofit dedicated to music education for youth in underserved communities. A committee of members from the Portland music community has again organized this annual benefit for music education. Last year’s event filled the Aladdin Theater and increased the growing scholarship fund by several thousand dollars.

Headlining this year’s celebration is a well-known friend of the blues and of Paul deLay – the award-winning bluesman, Charlie Musselwhite. As Rolling Stone Magazine puts it, "With unabashed excellence, Charlie Musselwhite and his tight band set the standard for blues bands everywhere." The Blues Foundation recently released their list of inductees into the Blues Hall of Fame for this year. The list includes this highly esteemed vocalist and harpist. More on Musselwhite follows below.

The concert also features a stellar lineup of local blues talent, including D.K. Stewart, Lloyd Jones, Jim Mesi, Linda Hornbuckle, Jimi Bott, Tahoe Jackson, Rick Welter and Franck "Paris Slim" Goldwasser, Arthur Moore and Tim O'Hare. They will be joined by former members of the Paul deLay Band: organists Louis Pain, and Dover Weinberg; drummer Jeff Minnick; bassists Don Campbell and Dave Kahl; and guitarist Peter Dammann . Curtis Salgado and Alan Hager will also perform together as a duo, which was a highlight of last year’s event. The celebration will be hosted by former tv sports personality and blues fan Ed Whelan.

Paul deLay's friendship with Charlie Musselwhite goes back to the early 1970s, when deLay's band was the backing unit for many of Musselwhite's Northwest tours. Paul and Charlie remained close friends over the years, and performed on many all-star "Harmonica Blow-offs" together, and led a harmonica workshop together, pictured below, at Portland 's Waterfront Blues Festival in 1999. Two of the featured performers in the "Remember Me" concert, Franck Paris Slim" Goldwasser and Rick Welter, who both relocated to Portland in recent years, played in Musselwhite's early bands.

Charles Lewis founded Ethos Music Center in 1998 in response to budget cuts that severely limited arts education in Oregon ’s largest public school district. Located in Northeast Portland , the organization’s name comes from the ancient Greek “Doctrine of Ethos,” which held that music can change your thoughts, moods and actions. Ethos believes every child should have the opportunity to make music. Contributions can be made at any time at www.ethos.org or sending a donation to Ethos Music Center , 10 N. Killingsworth Street , Portland , OR 97217 .

Tickets for this event are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Those under 21 and accompanied by an adult are welcome to attend. Advance tickets are available at the Aladdin Theater Box Office (503.233.1994) or online at www.aladdin-theater.com

Paul deLay wrote the haunting lament “Remember Me,” after his mother and the mothers of three band members passed away in a two-year period in the late 1990s. It was released on the Paul deLay Band’s Heavy Rotation CD (Evidence Music) in 2001. Paul deLay passed away on March 7, 2007 from complications of late-stage leukemia.

Doug Royce is dead

I received a call from Seattle guitarist Jack Cook recently, who told me that Northwest native and bassist Doug Royce died in January 2009 in Fort Pierce, Florida.  Doug had been suffering from prostate cancer, and was 74 years old at the time of his death.

Veterans of the Seattle blues scene will remember that Doug, a trained jazz musician, played with the Hokum Blues Band, the Brian Butler Band, the Tom McFarland Band, and Nitelife.  Before moving to Seattle, he played jazz for years in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, including a period with the Ray Anthony Band.

I played with Doug in the Tom McFarland Band.  He used an unusual bass rig - a semi-hollow body ES-335 style Gibson bass that he played with a pick, plugged into a solid-state GK amp powering 2 x 15 Fender cabinet.  He told me that this setup sounded the most like the acoustic basses that he played for years.  I always wondered what happened to Doug after we quit playing with Tom.  He apparently moved to Florida to be near his daughter after his wife died in 2004.

The late Ric Howell (left) and Doug  Royce - Ketchikan, AK (early '80s)

RIP

Thanks to Jack Cook and Mike Dumovich for their help in providing background information for this blog.  Unfortunately, this is the only photo that I have of Doug Royce.  If anyone has a better one, please let me know!

Foster Williams Memorial

As mentioned in the previous blog, Greg Roberts and I played at the recent memorial for Foster Williams held at the new Orleans Creole Restaurant.  There was a pretty good turnout, and owner Gaye Anderson provided a nice spread of food for the guests.

A sizable group of the jazz musicians that have played at the New Orleans over the years played most of the afternoon, mostly New Orleans style jazz music.  I was thinking that those musicians and their fans wouldn't care too much for the Chicago style blues that Greg and I were going to play, but I was wrong!

Greg and I played a couple of tunes, then blues harpist Jeff Herzog and singer Charles White did a couple of tunes with Greg and a piano player and double bass player.  Jeff played a cool version of "Amazing Grace" that got the crowd worked up pretty good!  Here's a couple of photos from the gig:

Greg Roberts and Mike Lynch.  Photo by Pamela Eaton-Ford.

Left to right: Greg Roberts, Jeff Herzog, Charles White, Dave on bass.

Foster Williams memorial at the New Orleans Creole Restaurant

The photo shown in this blog was created by Pamela Eaton-Ford. 

If you are a musician that played at Seattle's New Orleans Creole Restaurant over the past 25 years, you probably saw longtime employee Foster Williams there.  Foster died of cancer on November 9, 2009.  He was 74 years old.

I used to hang out with Foster occasionally and tip a few in the bar at the New Orleans.  He was quite the music fan and a Korean War veteran.

A memorial for Foster will be held at the New Orleans on Sunday, January 17th, from 2:00 to 6:00 PM.  Owner Gaye Anderson tells me that the jazz bands that play the regular Monday through Thursday night gigs at the club will be performing.  Greg Roberts and I are planning on playing a few tunes at the gathering also.

Foster Williams - RIP

Blues Eye Photos

Here are some photos that David Brewer sent to me some time ago of his Seattle band Blues Eye.  From the clothes and hair styles, I'm guessing that these photos were created sometime in the '70s.  I recall seeing Blues Eye at the old Pipeline Tavern, and believe that they used to back up Albert Collins when he came to town.

Sunburn City!  Hey Dave, where was the band playing this summer day?

This looks like an "Images by Edy" photo to me.  Edy and her little poodle dog ran a studio in Seattle's University District.  Many Seattle bands had promo photos created by Edy.  I wonder what happened to her photo stash after she passed away?

I believe that our drummer friend Les Hutchinson (second from left here) is in all of these photos.  He lives in Portland now. Maybe Dave can identfy the other players for us.

Jet City Blues CD Review

By Mark Dalton

Decade of Soul – From the Soul by Star Drums and Lady Keys

Surely the longest running continuous gig that fits under the big tent of the Pacific Northwest Blues scene is that of New Orleans native Leslie “Stardrums” Milton and Gael “Lady Keys” Kurath at Everett’s Alligator Soul Creole restaurant. Leslie and Gael have had a regular Saturday night gig at this venue for over a decade – a “house band” gig of the kind that has almost completely vanished from the national horizon in this era of big street television and downloadable, disposable music.

I had the good fortune of growing up in an era when longer term engagements were much more common – when setting up equipment for at least two nights, and often four or five was the rule, rather than the succession of one-nighters scattered around the area, which is the nearly invariable situation today. Longer engagements allowed a band to settle in and get to know their audience, and vice versa. I once played a five-night-a-week job with Tom McFarland that lasted eight months, and during that time we got to feel like part of the family at the Boulder Café on First Avenue… a very strange, intriguing, and sometimes scary family – but an experience I’ll never forget!

This live CD captures the warm relationship that has developed between this duo and their audience very well. Stardrums and Lady Keys sound relaxed and happy here, confident of their acceptance by the enthusiastic crowd. The material covers quite a range; from Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World” to the country standard “Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You” to the New Orleans classic “Junko Partner.” Standout tunes for me include Leslie’s sly version of “Little Red Rooster,” and the Guitar Slim classic “The Things That I Used to Do” (with stinging guest guitar by Walter Young), and Gael’s rollicking takes on “I Want to Be Loved” and “Madam Kicks,” and the scolding “Don’t Lie to Me” (with Mike Lynch taking a great harp solo). Other good tunes here include Marcia Ball’s “Red Beans,” Larry Davis’ “Texas Flood” (made popular by Stevie Ray Vaughan), Willie Dixon’s classic “I’m Ready,” and Leslie’s unique reading of “Tennessee Waltz.”

This is a pair of consummate entertainers. Leslie Milton is one of the finest drummers ever to hit a Northwest stage, and Lady Keys’ two-fisted piano playing shines throughout. I’m thinking you should head out to Alligator Soul some Saturday night soon; get yourself some good Cajun food, settle back and get into this joyful show! And if you like what you hear (and I guarantee you will), pick up a copy of this CD and take them home with you.

Originally from Nebraska, Mark Dalton moved to Seattle in the early '70s. He is an accomplished bassist and stalwart bluesman. He currently plays with Chris Stevens' Surf Monkeys. Photo by Ronda Lee.

New Years Eve, Seattle - 2009/2010

I drove to downtown Seattle this last New Years eve to check out a couple of my friends' bands. Becki Sue & Her Big Rockin' Daddies! were playing an early gig (7-10 PM) at the Frontier Room in the Belltown neighborhood. I didn't know this, but this joint has live music a couple of nights a week, but there's no dedicated spot for bands - just a spot on the floor next to the hallway leading to the bathrooms. So what else is new?!

The crowd was pretty light during BS&TBRD's set, but you wouldn't know it from watching the band. They put on a couple of their usual high energy sets, although there was no room for bassist Les White to play his acoustic bass behind his head as usual.

At the end of the band's show, the long table in front of the band was removed and a dance floor magically appeared. The house DJ was getting ready to perform, of course, and the Army of Young Women Wearing High Heels and Tiny Dresses began to assemble in the club. I would have liked to stay and admire the scenery, but I had to move on to Pioneer Square.

Becki Sue & Her Big Rockin' Daddies!

Tom Boyle and Jim King

Eric Manegolden and Les White

Becki Sue

Next stop, the New Orleans Creole Restaurant in Pioneer Square where the Blues Orbiters were holding court. The Square wasn't as busy as Belltown, but the band had a decent crowd to entertain. I dig this version of the Orbiters - they do a great job of backing up band leader/vocalist/guitarist/harp blower Brian Lee on tunes ranging from Elmore James to James Brown.

I hung around long enough to have a glass of champagne at midnight, then split to have a hot dog across the street before heading home. I played at the New Orleans the following Saturday, and even though we had a pretty decent crowd, the Square was a ghost town. I've never seen it like that before!

Here's a wish that everyone has a better year in 2010!

The Blues Orbiters

Conrad Ormsby and Hank Yanda

Brian Lee

Tim Sherman

Jet City Blues CD Reviews

By Mark Dalton

Black Diamonds by Kim Field and the Mighty Titans of Tone

Hey Now! By Eric Daw

There are several good reasons to review these two CDs together – they were recorded at about the same time, by two men who were playing together in a band at the time (although the personnel on the two CDs are different on most tunes). The two CDs even share a song (Eric Daw’s “You’re the One”) in versions that offer a good comparison of these top-flight Northwest musicians.

The two CDs were also recorded in the same studio (Seattle’s Orbit Audio), both with an emphasis on an uncomplicated, live-in-the-studio, rootsy sound. Both these artists are comfortable as bluesmen, but both have a wider musical view. Influences from classic country music, 60’s soul music, and from the rise of rock and roll are evident here.

Of the two, Kim Field is the experienced master; possessed of a long and rich career as a performer, song writer, recording artist and graphic designer – and an internationally known music historian who literally “wrote the book” on the development and history of the harmonica. In his book "Harmonicas, Harps and Heavy Breathers," Kim traces his chosen instrument from its humble origins as a pocket instrument for cowboys and hoboes, to the highly amplified, soaring electric instrument launched by the likes of Little Walter and George “Harmonica” Smith into the front lines of modern improvisational music.

The younger man, Eric Daw arrived on the Seattle music scene less than a decade ago, and his rapid development as a guitarist; first as a dedicated sideman, seemingly popping up everywhere you looked, to a smoking instrumentalist and increasingly dazzling soloist, to a confident vocalist and a competent songwriter – this development has been a joy to watch and a pleasure to hear.

Kim Field’s album, Black Diamonds, represents a solid return to form by Kim as a songwriter. Kim has always pushed himself well beyond the clichés that so many roots music songwriters fall into. “Endless boogie” crowd pleasers are notably absent here, although the Titans can rock with the best of them. What you get from Kim are finely crafted songs – both musically and lyrically – songs that often plunge deep into the heart of human relationships. In addition to calling up the spirits of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and their delta predecessors, Kim’s influences by later R&B and country music geniuses like Sam Cooke, Arthur Alexander, and Merle Haggard have added a richness and complexity to his work that sets this CD apart form any other area artist currently on the scene.

Kim’s CD opens up with one of the highlights of the set, “My Heart is Still My Own,” a rocking statement of survival in the face of romantic turmoil, followed by “The Language of Love” with the great line “don’t look to the Good Book, or the customs of Japan, if you want my touch, you got to put it in my hand.” “So Dark in Here” follows, a fine soul ballad reminiscent of the classic work of Dan Penn, followed by another of Kim’s rockin’ Cajun tunes (this one written with Henry Cooper), “Dis Pas Ca.” Other highlights of this excellent set include Kim’s signature harp instrumental, “Heavy Breathing,” his rollicking take on Eric Daw’s “You’re the One,” mentioned earlier, and the very dark “She’ll Bury You (In the Hole She Dug For Me)” here with Kim on delta style guitar. A reworking of the Slamhound Hunters' “The Snake Sheds it’s Skin” might make your skin crawl, and the title tune, “Black Diamonds,” is a minor blues coming straight out that desperate 3 am hour, with Kim’s huge harmonica tone flowing out of the speakers like black, bitter honey.

The musicians on this CD are all top-flight, with a special mention of Billy Spaulding’s rock-solid drumming throughout. As James Ellroy would say, DIG IT.

Eric Daw’s CD opens with the title tune, “Hey Now!” a Jimmie Vaughan-style instrumental shuffle which let’s you know right away that you are in for some treats with this collection! The personnel on this cut and several others make up another band that Daw stands out in during appearances around the area – The Satellite Four, a Booker T. and the MG's style instrumentals-only band featuring the amazing Jeff Conlin, who has quickly become my favorite area organist, as well as a solid rhythm section in Johnny Horn and David Hudson on bass and drums. If you like what you hear on this track, “Ricky’s Revenge,” and “Under Control,” you need to get out and see The Satellite Four live! They will blow you away, guaranteed.

There’s plenty of great guitar scattered all over this set – Daw is an imaginative player who covers a lot of territory, all done with true feeling and a lot of style.

Eric has a lighter touch with his singing, but again, this man is growing by leaps and bounds before our eyes and ears, and he carries this initial solo CD very well as a frontman. His vocal touch on “You’re the One” calls up the classic Hollywood rock-a-billy of Ricky Nelson, and had my wife dancing around the room singing along. Expect more great things from Eric Daw – ‘cause we’re gonna get ‘em!

The best idea, of course, is to get out and see these cats live and pick up these CDs direct from the source, but if need be, you can get either one or both from http://www.cdbaby.com/. You WILL be glad you did!

Originally from Nebraska, Mark Dalton moved to Seattle in the early '70s. He is an accomplished bassist and stalwart bluesman. He currently plays with Chris Stevens' Surf Monkeys. Photo by Ronda Lee.