Joe Louis Walker
HET RABOT 23.30-00.30 UUR
(Foto: Al Perreira)
Joe Louis Walker is een van de meest belangrijke blues grootheden van deze tijd. Hij is een succesvolle gitarist, zanger, liedjesschrijver en producer. In de loop der jaren heeft hij een geheel eigen stijl van gitaarspelen ontwikkeld, waardoor je gelijk hoort dat het om Walker gaat.
Hij is geboren in San Francisco. Zijn ouders waren bluesliefhebbers. (T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Meade Lux Lewis, Amos Milburn, Pete Johnson) Dan is het niet zo verwonderlijk dat hij op zijn veertiende begon met gitaarspelen. Twee jaar later verliet hij school om zich geheel aan de muziek te wijden. Hij werd goede vrienden met Mike Bloomfield (Butterfield Blues Band), die Walker introduceerde in de Bay Area scene, waar ook Santana met zijn bluesband, deel van uitmaakte. Walker opende voor vele bluesgrootheden zoals Earl Hooker, Freddy King, Mississippi Fred McDowell en Lowell Fulson. Een groot misverstand is, dat Joe Louis pas in de jaren 80 met blues begon, terwijl het al 20 jaar eerder was.
Zijn zang is beïnvloed door Wilson Pickett, James Brown, Bobby Womack and Otis Redding.
Ergens in 1975 kwam er verandering in zijn leven. Hij werd voor 10 jaar lid van het gospel kwartet "The Spiritual Corinthians", waarmee hij een album 'God Will Provide' mee opnam.
Daarna richtte hij de de groep The Bosstalkers op in San Francisco. Een jaar later lag zijn eerste album "Cold Is The Night." in de winkels. Daarna volgden nog vier albums voor het label Hightone Records, voordat Joe Louis overstapt naar Verve/Gitanes. Dat leverde hem o.a. op W.C. Handy Award voor Contemporary Male Artist of the Year (1988 and 1991) en Band of the Year (1996) met zijn groep.
Daarna volgden in hoog tempo cd's., zowel met elektrisch, als akoestisch, als slide materiaal op even zoveel verschilllende labels. Daarna werd het twee jaar stil en brengt ie in september 2008 Witness To The Blues""uit
Dit album is geproduceerd door niemand minder dan Duke Robillard, die zelf ook op vijf nummers meespeelt.
Een van de hoogtepunten van deze cd is het duet met Shemekia Copeland, de dochter van Johnny 'Clyde' Copeland, die op de derde Evening een geweldig optreden gaf.
De andere musici hebben op dit album, hebben ook een grote staat van dienst: Doug James, uit de band van Duke Robillard en Scott Aruda bemannen de blazerssectie, Bruce Katz op orgel en piano, Jon Ross op basgitaar en Mark Teixeira achter de drumkit. Met deze cd laat Walker horen, dat hij nog steeds tot de top van de blues hoort.
Line-up.
Joe Louis Walker, zang, gitaar
Henry Oden, basgitaar.
Linwood Taylor, gitaar
Steve Eldridge, drums.
Selectieve Discografie:
Cold Is The Night
The Gift
Blue Soul
Blues Survivor
In The Morning
Witness To The Blues
DVD.
Live "On Broadway"
Live Ohne Filter
Website
www.joelouiswalker.com
Download MP3
Joe Louis Walker - I didn't know
Aankondiger: Peter de Wit
Stagemanagers: Willem v.d. Meulen & Walter Post
Geluid: Atlantic Productions
HET RABOT 23.30-00.30 UUR
Joe Louis Walker is one of the most important blues stars. He is a very successful guitarist, singer and producer. Over the years Joe Louis Walker managed to come up with an outstanding guitar style. One just needs to hear his guitar and knows it's Joe Louis Walker. Another strength of Joe Louis Walker is his own original material. He is a talented songwriter and his blues and gospel-influenced lyrics belong to the best. Joe Louis Walker was born in 1949 in San Francisco.
His father and mother were really into the blues (T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Meade Lux Lewis, Amos Milburn, Pete Johnson) and under this influence 14 year old Joe started to play guitar. When he was 16 he left home and started answering guitar player ads in the paper. He became good friends with guitarist Mike Bloomfield (Butterfiel Blues Band) who introduced Joe to the Bay Area blues scene. Joe soon was opening for many blues acts - musicians like Earl Hooker, Freddy King, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Lowell Fulson, who also influenced his guitar style. A lot of people think that Joe started playing the blues in the mid ‘80s, but he was already gigging in the ‘60s! Other influencial musicans were R&B vocalists Wilson Pickett, James Brown, Bobby Womack and Otis Redding.
Around 1975 Joe felt that his lifestyle would lead him into serious trouble sooner or later. He decided to change his life. Music once again became his saviour and for the next 10 years he was singing with a gospel quartet, "The Spiritual Corinthians". The gospel helped Joe to get his life back on track and became a valuable musical experience. This influence can still be heard in Joe's music today. He also recorded one album with the Spiritual Corinthians in 1980 called 'God Will Provide'.
In 1985 at a performance at the New Orleans' Jazz and Heritage Festival with the Spiritual Corinthians, Joe finally decided to get back into the blues again. He returned to San Francisco and formed his group the Bosstalkers. In 1986 he released his first album, "Cold Is The Night." He would record four more albums with Hightone Records before changing to the Verve/Gitanes label (Polydor/PolyGram). With Verve he recorded several very well received albums, featuring many of the finest musicians around. Subsequently he won several W.C. Handy Awards for Contemporary Male Artist of the Year (1988 and 1991) and Band of the Year (1996) with his group Joe Louis Walker & the Bosstalkers. He also won the 1995 Bammy (Bay Area Music Award) for Blues Musician of the Year.
In addition to his solo albums Joe Louis Walker can also be heard on several other albums - supporting well known artists like B.B. King or James Cotton. Or he gives us his interpretation of songs by the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton or Nick Lowe (tribute albums). Sometimes he also produces albums for other artists.
Recently Joe Louis Walker has become very active again. Although his seven year deal with Verve Records ended, Joe managed to release four albums (!) within little over a year for several labels. No matter if he plays electric, acoustic or slide guitar, Joe is always keeping the high standards everyone expects of him. The year 2003 - being the Year of the Blues in the U.S. - shows Joe Louis Walker at his best. One of the hottest and most-respected names in blues.
"New Direction" has been released in 2004 on the Provogue label and Joe Louis Walker continues his musical journey. The album itself sounds fresh and Walker easily keeps his high standards. Joe Louis Walker again produced the album and has written all of the songs (co-writers include Jojo Russo, Ellis Blacknell Jr. and Robert Watson).
Joe Louis Walker's CD "Playin' Dirty" (2006) was once again released by JSP Records. This time Joe Louis recorded the album with only two other musicians in a studio in Paris (a few overdubs added later). The
Joe Louis Walker is a walking encyclopedia 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.
Line-up.
Joe Louis Walker, vocals, guitar
Henry Oden, basguitar.
Linwood Taylor, guitar
Steve Eldridge, drums.
Selective Discography:
Cold Is The Night
The Gift
Blue Soul
Blues Survivor
In The Morning
Witness To The Blues
DVD.
Live "On Broadway"
Live Ohne Filter
Website
www.joelouiswalker.com
Download MP3
Joe Louis Walker - I didn't know
Announcer: Peter de Wit
Stagemanagers: Wim v.d. Meulen & Walter Post
Sound: Atlantic Productions
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