It's easy to assume that when a musical sensation suddenly bursts on the scene that they are going to be an instant success.  After all you never head of them and yet, the next day, there they are. 

Marcia Ball been doing this Blues thing for some 30 years now. A great piano player and singer from New Orleans but born in Texas. I just love the spirit in her song.  Think that ain't true? I bet you get up and dance and laugh when you hear " That's Enough Of That Stuff".  


 A 4 time Grammy nominee and winner of  8 Blues music awards, you'll see her with  the likes of the Neville Brothers and Eddie Bo just jammin on  stage.  It's a performance you don't want to miss. 

Saturday was the first anniversary of The Stormy Monday Show. Yup, we've been  going strong for a year now and are being followed and heard in over 18 countries. We have podcasts going out around the world, the blog to keep you a little more updated; Twitter to let you know what's happening right now, and we just started our Stormy Monday Facebook  page. The fans keep coming and we keep that great jazz, blues and soul jamming up the airwaves.

Since tonight was such a special evening we pulled out the stops and went a little buck wild with Bobby Marchan, slid in  Lil Queenie and brought back the Carolina Chocolate Drops to keep it funky.

Calls came in from around the country and we had people checking in on Facebook and Twitter from all over the world, and I just want to thank each of you for your support. Now kick back, Miss Sybil's about to let loose with some funky jams.

The story of Bettye LaVette is full of ups and downs, unfulfilled promises, highs and lows.

I'll have .... Jazz - Avant Garde, please. 


You just ordered Charley Mingus. Bassist , Composer, Pianist, bandleader. 


Genius? Yes.


 He shook it in the East and shook it in the West.  He shook it with some cool cat's that we love best. Red Norvo, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Max Roach Joni Mitchell.


Check him out. 

The first Jazz Vibraphone player Lionel Hampton, ("Hamp") worked with a host of musicians too numerous to mention. He played early on with Benny Goodman's Orchestra , making it one of the first interracial bands, and eventually started his own "Lionel Hampton Orchestra." In 1985 the University of Idaho Jazz Festival changed to become the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival,  making it the first and only Jazz fest named for an African American Jazz artist, and it is still growing today.

If you don't yet know this enduring legend, here's a little taste of his lengthy Jazz career; a career which turned him into one of the foundations of Jazz music.

A pretty lady. A classy lady. A strong lady. A down to earth person. A superb entertainer.


This is how we should remember Lena Horne.


She came to prominence in a difficult time for black people , but also at a wonderful time for Jazz music. She had beautiful friendships with such luminaries as Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.


She was hip. She stood her ground against Hollywood; challenging the way black people were portrayed. And when she had an opportunity to "pass" for Latino, she turned it down flat.


She enjoyed 60 years of entertaining us in films, in clubs, on television. (I just watched a special two days ago, and you've heard her many times on my show.)


May you rest in peace for a job well done Lady. We are forever blessed to have witnessed you.














  

Buddy Guy is a master bluesman.

Imagine being an inspiration to legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Page, Eric Clapton and I'm sure countless others. He has been called the bridge between the blues and rock and roll, so much so that Jimi Hendrix said that Heaven was lying at Buddy Guy's feet listening to him play guitar.

But Buddy Guy is also a flamboyant entertainer. I remember a quote by Jeff Beck saying that he once saw Guy throw the guitar up in the air and catch it in the same chord, and he was playing the guitar behind his back and picking it with his teeth almost 10 years before Hendrix adopted the moves. When Hendrix got really big Buddy Guy was accused of imitating him, but in reality Hendrix used to cancel his own engagements to go see Buddy Guy!

Guy was born in Leftsworth, Louisiana and is still performing at the age of 73 (See the video below from 2009). But what I love about Guy is his showmanship, his sincere smile and his interaction with the audience. I haven't ever seen a blues singer smile so much. He loves it when you sing along with him, and will often invite you on stage to help out with a tune. He can, and does, hold one note on the guitar for, oh… I counted at least 20 seconds, and that one note is a knockout punch just waiting for your ears to arrive.

Chicago Blues, that's Buddy Guy. He learned to play guitar on a two string diddley bow that he made from scratch. For 10 years one of his labels, Chess, refused to record him because they didn't understand his style and basically used Guy as a session man for recordings on albums for Koko Taylor, Muddy Waters, and Howlin Wolf. His career slumped in the late 1960's while the people he inspired rose to success, but it was revived when Clapton asked him to be in the 24 Nights blues lineup at London's Royal Albert Hall, in the late 80's. Now, Guy is a 5 time Grammy Award winner and has received 23 W.C Handy Awards ( more than any other artist) . He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and his acceptance speech was simple, sweet and short “If you don't think you have the blues, just keep living". That’s blues, (and life) Buddy Guy style, and the reason why he is still such an inspiration in the world of music.

I want to introduce you to a name you may not have heard before, or at least, not heard in a while. Bonnie Bramlett has a powerhouse voice and a knock out performance that has propelled her career since the age of 14. But I'm going let her music speak for itself, and let her voice hypnotize those languid ears. Click on her name to learn more about this great lady of music, and of course, let me know what you think.