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Dan Forte
The Blues Will Set You Free
We’ve all heard of blues in bars, but what about blues behind bars? That’s what Paul Oscher had in mind in the late ’80s, when he brought a world-class blues band to play for inmates at the Manhattan House of Detention. Oscher, who was 74 when he died of complications from Covid in 2021, began
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Dan Forte
Nat King Cole
Live at the Blue Note Chicago
Many Nat Cole fans, even diehards, are unaware that, in addition to his beautiful singing voice, he was among the greatest jazz pianists. Fewer still are aware of the world-class guitarists who played in his small combos. First was the great Oscar Moore, followed by Irving Ashby. But from 1951 until Cole’s death in ’65,
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Dan Forte
Rocky Athas
Livin’ My Best Life
Hailing from the Dallas neighborhood of Oak Cliff, home of T-Bone Walker and the Vaughan brothers, Athas falls closest to Stevie Ray’s maximalist attitude. However, the title track on his new album aims farther south, namely Houston and sharp-dressed Billy Gibbons territory, in terms of groove and fat tone. After a stint playing and writing
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Dan Forte
Hilary Gardner
On The Trail with The Lonesome Pines
Vocalist Gardner explores the association between jazz and country, the Great American Songbook, and cowboy movie stars. Similar territory was mined by Asleep At The Wheel and Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, but it goes back decades earlier. “Cow Cow Boogie” dates to the 1942 recording by pianist Freddie Slack with singer Ella Mae
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Dan Forte
Check This Action: Walking In Memphis
I first visited Memphis in 1990, and it struck me that radio stations played loads of music from the area. Soul, rockabilly, blues, gospel, country, and jazz – if there was a Memphis kinship, it was in heavy rotation. Granted, I haven’t been everywhere, but the only other place I’ve had a similar experience is
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Dan Forte
Kid Andersen/Lisa and “Little Baby” Andersen
Spirits/Soul
You’ve got to love a couple that sings Little Milton’s “We’re Gonna Make It” at their wedding (check out the home movie online). Their two CDs, joined in this double-CD package, were cut at the pair’s Greaseland recording studio in San Jose, California. At 44, Kid Andersen is one of the best blues guitarists anywhere.
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Dan Forte
Marc Silber
From The Heart Of Greenwich Village
Why would Bob Dylan and Country Joe McDonald lend glowing testimonials, and David Grisman offer his studio and production skills to Marc Silber? It’s because Silber has been around some 60 years in both the Greenwich Village and Berkeley folk scenes as instrument dealer, collector builder/repairman, player, and songwriter. He was also an expert at
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Dan Forte
Check This Action: Duane Eddy, My Hero
On December 3, 1983, I approached Eric Clapton backstage at the star-stuffed Action into Research for Multiple Sclerosis (ARMS) concert in San Francisco. The tour was heading to Los Angeles with an off night between. I informed E.C. that on the fourth, Duane Eddy was playing the Baked Potato nightclub, with his sometime bandmate Albert
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Dan Forte
Duane Eddy: 1938-2024
The Twang Heard ’Round the World
George Harrison leaned forward, his eyes getting bigger. “You know, when Duane hits that low E, it’s still only an E,” he emphasized. “But it sounds like it’s got to be an octave lower.” Yes, even Beatles have heroes, and when Harrison was asked about Duane Eddy in 1987, it was like a Little Leaguer
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Dan Forte
David Hamburger
Parisian Blues
Showcasing his solo instrumental side, the Austin-based singer/songwriter stakes a claim as one of the most impressive acoustic fingerpickers on the scene. Originals mix with swinging covers of the standards “After You’ve Gone,” “Back Home In Indiana,” and a smoothly paced “Slow Boat To China”; think “jazz in a bluesier setting.” “Mueslissippi Ibis” reprises the
