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SOULFUL BLUESMAN
TEAMS WITH
PRODUCER DUKE
ROBILLARD
FOR NEW STONY
PLAIN ALBUM DUE
SEPT. 30
WITNESS TO THE
BLUES
REDEFINES MODERN
BLUES FOR THE
21ST CENTURY.
TOUGH,
HARD-EDGED AND
READY TO BRING A
POWERFUL ARTIST
TO AN EVEN WIDER
INTERNATIONAL
AUDIENCE
Introduction:
One of the most
surprising
things about Joe
Louis Walker —
apart from his
skills as a
singer,
guitarist,
songwriter and
producer — is
the impact he
has had as a
performer who
proves to
international
audiences that
the blues are
alive and very
well indeed.
Only B.B. King
has taken the
blues further,
and to more
destinations,
than Walker.
Now, with a new
internationally-released
album on the
Canadian roots
music label
Stony Plain,
he’s ready to
pack his
suitcase once
again.
Witness to
the Blues
is a tour de
force — a
varied, smart,
funny,
hard-edged
collection of
blues that
ranges from
acoustic to
rockin’
horn-laden
material that
reminds you of
Stax in its
heyday. Walker
handles the
vocals
(including a
duet with young
blues diva
Shemekia
Copeland), plays
acoustic,
electric and
slide guitar,
and adds some
harmonica solos
as well.
In fact, Joe
Louis Walker,
helped by
guitar-master
Duke Robillard
(who produced
the CD and
played on many
of the tracks),
makes a major
contribution to
the much-needed
campaign to
bring the blues
into the 21st
century.
Background:
In many
ways, Walker’s
story is
unusual. Born in
San Francisco
(on Christmas
Day 1949) and
now based in
Westchester, New
York, he was
part of the Bay
Area blues scene
in his early
teens, and by
the time he was
16 he had soaked
up the sounds of
the likes of
T-Bone Walker,
Amos Milburn,
and boogie
woogie pioneers
Meade Lux Lewis
and Pete
Johnson. As he
grew up, he
found himself on
stage with such
disparate tutors
as John Lee
Hooker,
Thelonius Monk,
the Soul
Stirrers, Steve
Miller and Jimi
Hendrix. And by
the time he was
19 he had built
a close
friendship —
they were
roommates for
many years —
with Mike
Bloomfield.
Bloomfield’s
tragic early
death persuaded
the young Walker
to change his
life. He
enrolled at San
Francisco State
University,
earning music
and English
degrees — and
performing
regularly with a
gospel group,
The Spiritual
Corinthians.
In 1985, he came
back to the
blues, fronting
a new band he
called The
Bosstalkers, and
making the first
of five albums
for the HighTone
label, before
signing to
PolyGram’s
Verve/Gitanes
label, for whom
he recorded
another six
albums.
These records
served as an
entrée into the
European market.
Sterling
appearances at
major festivals
throughout
Europe (North
Sea Jazz,
Glastonbury,
Nottoden and
Montreux among
them) led to
further tours
and festivals in
Japan,
Australia,
Taiwan, Ireland,
Turkey and
Brazil.
Along the way he
played President
George Bush’s
inauguration,
helped President
Bill Clinton
induct B.B. King
into the Kennedy
Center Awards,
and performed on
America’s
most-watched
late-night
television
shows.
Foreground:
Joe Louis Walker
is a walking
encyclopaedia of
blues history,
and blues vocal
and guitar
styles. In fact,
one of the very
few who can
match his
eclectic tastes
in music is Duke
Robillard, the
veteran
guitarist who
founded Roomful
of Blues when he
was a teenager,
and who has made
a dozen albums
for Stony Plain.
Holger Petersen,
who heads the
Canadian-based
roots label, was
delighted by the
choice of
Robillard as
producer for
Witness to
the Blues.
And for
Robillard, the
sessions were a
joy. “There’s a
lot of diversity
on this CD, yet
it hangs
together really
well.”
The material —
more than half
the 11 tracks
were written by
Walker —
includes two
traditional
blues pieces
(“Sugar Mama”
and “Rollin’ and
Tumblin’”) which
he completely
transforms. A
highlight of the
CD is a killer
duet with
Shemekia
Copeland on the
Peggy Scott & Jo
Jo Benson
classic,
“Lover’s
Holiday.”
The back up
players are all
musicians with
long experience
with Robillard,
including horn
players Doug
James and Scott
Aruda, Bruce
Katz on keys,
Jon Ross on bass
and Mark
Teixeira on
drums. Robillard
himself adds
guitar parts on
five cuts.
Both vocally and
instrumentally,
Joe Louis Walker
is indeed a
“witness to the
blues,” and the
creative,
sometimes
startling
approach to
America’s most
significant
music holds a
bright lantern
for others to
follow.
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