Tuesday, June 25, 2013

What Did You Miss This Week? (Week 317 #361)

Cha Cha Cha!!!

Next up in the category of cool grooves you should know so you can feel empowered to launch tunes via the groove and key only is the Cha Cha Cha! Also remember that incorporating alternative grooves like this will add spice to your set list.

Here are cha cha cha groove tunes to check out, some from Joe's groove transcription and some that Shoji and others mentioned in class:
  • Cha Cha Cha In Blues, by Junior Wells (if you're feeling ambitious, here's the full song transcription)
  • Buzzin, by Slim Harpo
  • Walking Through the Park, by Muddy Waters with Paul Butterfield on harp; note that this song switches from a cha cha cha opening to a shuffle
  • Slam Hammer, Johnny Young with James Cotton
  • What'd I Say, Ray Charles
Correction: Our newsletter last week contained a broken link to the rumba bassline transcription. Our apologies. You can find the rumba here.

Chicago Blues Harp Bash #6!!!

Announcing the lineup for the sixth annual Chicago Blues Harp Bash!

September 22, 2013 in Szold Hall at the Old Town School of Folk Music

Johnny Sansone from New Orleans will headline! Sansone is a powerful singer, low-down blues harp player and a well-respected songwriter. As a matter of fact, his song The Lord Is Waiting and the Devil Is Too was a Blues Music Award Song of the Year winner. He isn't often in Chicago and we're proud to be bringing him here for you!

Our terrific local harp players are Zoe Savage, Tall Paul Sabel, Scott Dirks and Grant Kessler.

The bandleader this year is Shoji Naito and he's lined up Mike Scharf on bass and Mark Fornek on drums.

Mark your calendars - it's going to be a hot show!

SPAH!!!

You should be getting your act together to travel to St. Louis in August for the 50th Anniversary of the SPAH Convention. Dates are August 13-17; the lineup is terrific and for those of you in Chicago, we have a hot tip there are Big Bus roundtrip tickets going for as little as $28 right now! Plan your transportation, get your hotel room and don't miss this amazing event - learning, camaraderie and insanely late night blues jams - what more could you ask for?!

Class Notes
  • Joe will be out of town July 15 and 29. Private lessons those days are cancelled, but group classes proceed as usual. Shoji will lead Level IV and Zoe will take care of Level III classes. Those in Level III should be sure to bring both their transcriptions as well as a play along track to class as there will not be an accompaniment guitar these two weeks - Grant's also away.

Party for Carlos!!!
 

Hey, our good buddy Carlos Orellana has landed a post-doc job in Atlanta and is leaving us before long. We're sad to see this killer harp player go, but we're happy to have an excuse to throw a party!

Linda and Leo Gordon have graciously agreed to host at their home in Winnetka: pot-luck-blues-jam-going-away-party!

Sunday, June 30
4:00 pm
RSVP to: Linda Gordon




- Grant Kessler, B1 Blues Crew