Tonight I chatted with  Bluuze Mama Juanita Dixon.  She is a sensational entertainer, that certainly livened up my night when I met her at Heidi's Jazz Club.  This blend of Jazz and Hot Blues is unforgettable. Dixon has toured Europe with her music and Ft. Lauderdale is very lucky to have her as a resident. Enjoy the interview and I will see you in the nightlife on the next Stormy Monday Show. 

Brought to you in conjunction with The Practical Cafe. 

I met Juanita Dixon at Heidi's Jazz Club headlining on a Saturday night. She's a fierce down and dirty blues singer and a passionate jazz stylist. Born in Nassau Bahamas, Dixon  has been living in the South Florida area since 1950. She started performing when she was nine years old after her mother noted her gift and nurtured it by having her sing in the church choir. When Juanita was in her teens she heard R&B for the first time and made the decision to be a professional Rhythm and Blues singer. Her mother entered her in talent shows in the South Florida area at the now defunct Cafe Society where she won more than a few of them. 

Dixon attended University of Toronto for a little over a year, but the good times began to roll and she packed up her books and traded them in for road experience as a singer. She met the Jackson 5 in Indiana, lived and performed in New York for 3 years and then settled down in South Florida when a DJ friend pushed her to sing jazz at Sweets Lounge in Dania Beach. She almost didn't go after the gig, thinking she couldn't sing jazz, but she was hired and found she loved singing jazz, and ended up staying for 3 years.

Ms Dixon is inspired by Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and Lou Rawls. You can often hear her performing her spicy blues with the Jeff Prine Group in South Florida. Miss Dixon's mixture of sauce and sass shouldn't be missed. She tells it like it is, staking her claim, putting her money where her mouth is, and flashing that grin that says "ain't I just somethin'". You can't help but love her. I do and you will too. 

You can see Juanita Dixon perform live at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood Florida; The Village Pump in Lauderdale By The Sea, and  she is bluesin it at Village Grill in Lauderdale By the Sea. Her CD is called Bluuze Mama and you can pick it up at her live shows~ autographed.

OOOhhh what a night on the Stormy Monday Show. We're back from a month's absence. I've been touring in New York, headlined at the spectacular New Smyrna Jazz Fest, and then a technical glitch that left us without a podcast for last week's show. 

So we made it up to you. This week we had an hour and a half solid blues and powerhouse Divas. And when I say Divas, I mean ones who truly deserve the title; those women that have been out there, been successful and  delved into other aspects of their talents aside from music. They have survived waning appeal, fickle audiences, public failures, and then rose up again and are still going strong. They're real people behind the music, real women, and that's why they're called Divas.

Listen, and believe!

Beginners need not apply.  This was heavyweight night on the Stormy Monday Show, packed with musical jazz, blues and soul genius; one legend after another. From Carla Bley to Jon Hendricks  to  Nina Simone.  The Stormy Monday energy was everywhere, with people checking in from Rio to Cincinnati; tuning in and grooving in. And that's just how I like it. 


Roy Ayers "Running Away" was the soul surprise, making me reminisce about more carefree times, after all "Everybody loves the Sunshine".  James Booker took us out with a most stunning piano on "I'll Be Seeing You".  


Check it out, and let me know what you  think. One hour is much too short, so we make it so you can find much more music, info and commentary on the Stormy Monday Facebook, Twitter and Youtube pages. 


I'll be seeing you next time on the Stormy Monday Show. And if your in NYC, don't forget to catch me at The Delancy on September 11th. 


See you in the nightlife...

A prolific composer, arranger, band leader and musician, Carla Bley has a lot of irons in the fire. She moved to New York from California at the age of 17, became a cigarette girl at Birdland where she met and married Paul Bley....for a time.  In her career she has formed her own record label, collaborated with musicians from many genres. Bley's instruments are piano and organ. "Appearing Nightly" is a live album  recorded in Paris in 2006 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 2008.  It is one of her recent gifts to us, as well a Christmas CD featuring the most common Christmas songs done in the Carla Bley way.

See you in the nightlife and again next week for another soulful hour of The Stormy Monday Show. 

Stormy Monday Show 8-21-10

We received word during the show that Abbey Lincoln passed Sybil promptly dedicated  a couple of songs to her; from the gospel tent of the Jazz and Heritage Festival, Aaron Neville singing "Mary Don't You Weep" was a touching acknowledgement,  and" Stand By Me". 

Look for a tribute to Abbey Lincoln next week on the Stormy Monday Show.

You've got to expect the totally unexpected when you talk with  Jerry Williams AKA Swamp Dogg.   His answering machine message says" If you are calling, you must have one hell of an important message, so why don't you leave it". 

 Swamp has been doing this thing called music, in the form of singing, songwriting, and producing other acts for almost 50 years. He produced Patti La belle and the Bluebells, The Commodores, Irma Thomas...and he still is doing it. Nothing short of brilliant, he is alright with being relatively unknown. Figure that, 30 albums, packs them in overseas and still there's a "Who dat?" when you say Swamp Dogg in the States. 

Wanna know him? You should, he's one of the musical and legendary greats you need to see. I caught up with Swamp Dogg just as he returned from Rotterdam, performing the North Seas Jazz Festival. Listen  in to our live interview on Sybil Gage's Stormy Monday Show, and get you a taste of this living legend. You'll be glad you did. 

  

The Stormy Monday Show started with blazing blues from Muddy Waters , James Cotton and Johnny Winter and prevailed with Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. We had to get some blues women in on this so Debbie Davies was just the right spice. Sybil's opening for Rosie Ledet in February, so she couldn't help but throw in some Zydeco before finishing the hour out with Trombone Shorty. 

Was it lit? We think so, but listen on in and see what you think.