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JOE LOUIS WALKER
FINDS THE
VIBRANT PLACE
BETWEEN A ROCK
AND THE
BLUES ON HIS
SECOND STONY
PLAIN RELEASE
This bluesman’s
ambition is to
follow in the
footsteps of two
American heroes,
Louis Armstrong
and B.B. King
“Play
everywhere, all
the time, as
often as I
possibly can.
Travel anywhere
there’s an
audience for my
music, take
every
opportunity, and
keep playing and
singing as well
as I know I can.
“My dream was
always to play
my music in as
many different
places as I can;
that’s why I
admired Louis
Armstrong and
why B.B. King
and Buddy Guy
are heroes for
me — they always
kept their
music fresh by
reaching out to
new audiences
all the time.”
It’s Joe Louis
Walker talking,
a man who
travels so much
his passport has
been used to
cross more
borders than 99
per cent of all
Americans, and a
man who does
everything he
can to refresh
his powerful,
timeless music.
Music at the
crossroads
Now, with his 20th
album — and his
second for
Edmonton-based
Stony Plain
Records — he has
put a spotlight
on the powerful
crossroads where
the blues and
rock meet on
common ground.
Between a
Rock and the
Blues is
a breakthrough;
a testament to
the truth of
Muddy Waters’
assertion than
the blues had a
baby and they
called it rock
and roll.
Walker’s own
originals on
this album
re-affirm the
depth of his
song writing
that has been
amply displayed
over the course
of his career.
The opening
track, “I’m
Tide,” reflects
an attitude that
seems prevalent
in Walker’s
generation,
dealing with the
superficiality
of the modern
age. In
contrast, “Black
Widow Spider”
and “Prisoner of
Misery” are
autobiographical
pieces stemming
from the
emotions he’s
experienced in
some of his
relationships.
As always,
Walker manages
to do this with
a healthy
combination of
poignancy, wit
and sharp humor.
Ten of the
album’s dozen
tracks were
produced by
Stony Plain
label-mate Duke
Robillard (who
additionally
guests on one
track), and
feature a core
band of Walker
on guitars,
Bruce Katz on
keyboards, Jesse
Williams on
bass, Mark
Teixeira on
drums, Doug
James on sax,
Carl Querfurth
on trombone and
Sugar Ray Norcia
on harmonica.
Kevin Eubanks,
former music
director of
The Tonight
Show,
plays on two of
the tracks, both
produced by
Walker at
Eubanks’ studio
in Los Angeles.
They feature Joe
and Kevin
Eubanks on
guitar, Henry
Oden on bass,
Jeff
Minieweather on
drums and Ellis
Blacknell, Jr.
on keyboards.
Minieweather has
played in
Walker’s touring
band at
different times
over a dozen
years, and Oden
has been a
stalwart bassist
at various
periods since
the first JLW
release on
HighTone back in
1986. Eubanks
also co-wrote
the two tracks
with Walker,
Blacknell and
Joe Russo— “If
There’s a
Heaven” (which
manages to
combine both
blues and gospel
in one amazing
brew) and “I’ve
Been Down.”
Several of the
other songs on
Between a
Rock and the
Blues
were written by
friends of the
artist, who then
gives his own
personal touch
to contemporary
blues songs
written by Duke
Robillard (“Tell
Me Why”) and
Murali Coryell,
(son of
jazz/rock fusion
guitar great
Larry Coryell),
adding pepper to
the mix.
Coryell’s song,
“Way Too
Expensive,” is a
pertinent
comment on the
current economic
situation. Songs
from other
Walker favorites
— Ray Charles’
“Blackjack,” Roy
Gaines’ “Big
Fine Woman” and
Travis Phillips’
“Eyes Like a Cat
— round out the
CD.
As the album’s
title implies,
Walker pushes
the boundaries
of the blues
further than he
has in the past,
creating an
exhilarating
sound that has
an electrifying
energy, while
remaining firmly
rooted in his
foundation of
blues, soul,
gospel and R&B.
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,
Thelonious Monk,
the Soul
Stirrers, Steve
Miller and Jimi
Hendrix.
“I was hanging
in Haight-Asbury
long before it
became
gentrified; the
old Fillmore
Auditorium was
the place I saw
James Brown and
Little Richard
and Bobby Bland
and the
Temptations,” he
remembers now.
“I went to
school a short
block away — but
I guess that the
Fillmore was, in
a way, my real
school.”
By the time he
was 19, he had
built a close
friendship with
guitarist Mike
Bloomfield —
they were
roommates for
many years. It
was Bloomfield’s
tragic early
death that
persuaded 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
returned to the
blues, fronting
a new band he
called “The
Bosstalkers”,
and making the
first of five
albums for
HighTone, before
signing to
PolyGram’s
Verve/Gitanes
label, for whom
he recorded
another six
albums. In
addition to
releases on
several other
labels, Walker
has also
performed on
countless albums
as a guest with
artists ranging
from B. B. King
to Peter Green.
These early
records served
as an entrée
into the
European market.
Sterling
appearances at
major festivals
throughout
Europe (North
Sea Jazz
Festival,
Glastonbury,
Nice, Notodden
and Montreux
among them) led
to further tours
and festivals in
Japan,
Australia,
Taiwan, Ireland,
Turkey and
Brazil— a
foreign touring
schedule he
continues to
match, year
after year,
while continuing
to compile an
impressive list
of awards
throughout
Europe.
In 1988 Joe
Louis Walker
performed for
President George
H. W. Bush at a
non partisan
roots musical
presentation
called “The
Celebration for
Young America,
alongside such
artists as
Stevie Ray and
Jimmie Vaughan,
Joe Cocker, Ron
Wood, Willie
Dixon and Koko
Taylor, among
others. He was
also an integral
part of the
musical
presentation to
induct B. B.
King into the
Kennedy Center
Honors in 1995
— a command
performance for
President
Clinton by Etta
James, Steve
Cropper, Bonnie
Raitt and
others.
Witness to the
Blues,
Joe Louis
Walker’s debut
for Stony Plain
(also produced
by Duke
Robillard),
generated
enormous
critical acclaim
and hit #1 on
the Living
Blues
magazine radio
chart; it was
recently voted
as one of the
top best blues
albums of the
year in the
annual
Down Beat
Critics’
Poll
Foreground:
Joe Louis Walker
is a walking
encyclopedia of
blues history as
well as blues
vocal and guitar
styles. “I think
this new CD is
self-explanatory,”
Walker says. “It
was also a
challenge. At
times musicians
get jaded, and I
try to guard
against that.
Like my heroes,
my dream was
always to play
my music in as
many different
places as I can.
That keeps you
fresh. For sure.
And the future
of the blues?
Echoing a song
by Muddy Water’s
piano man Otis
Spann recorded
30 years ago,
Walker says the
blues will never
die. “Every new
generation of
kids coming up
keeps it alive.
I’ve heard young
blues players in
Turkey, the UK,
Europe and the
United States.
Blues music is
at the root of
rock and roll —
the blues is the
building block
that almost all
popular music
rests on."
Quotes:
“His fretwork
nods to
influences as
varied as Albert
King and Steve
Cropper, but
it’s indelibly
stamped with his
own trademark
blend of
emotional heat
and impeccable
precision – even
at his most
flamboyant,
Walker sounds as
if he’s playing
ideas, not just
notes.” —
David Whiteis,
Living Blues
“One of
contemporary
blues’ most
dynamic and
innovative
musicians ...
releasing
consistently
exciting music.
No matter what
he’s singing,
Walker’s churchy
approach is
soulful,
heartfelt and
spellbinding.”
— Hal
Horowitz,
Blues Revue
“Joe Louis
Walker has
established
himself as one
of the
pre-eminent
bluesmen of his
generation, an
artist who has
invariably
manages to keep
the music fresh.”
— Nick
Cristiano,
Philadelphia
Inquirer
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