Koko Taylor

"Queen of the Blues"

Koko Taylor got her nickname "Koko" for her love of chocolate.
Born in Tennessee in a sharecropper family, she started as a Gospel singer then soon came to the Blues.
She headed for Chicago in the 1950s where she met Willie Dixon.

She was signed by Chess records, performing songs such as "Wang Dang Doodle", "I Got what it takes" or "Love me to Death".

Listen to: Wang Dang Doodle

Jazz Interlude

 

Louis Armstrong

oil

20X20

Fats Navarro

 oil

20X20

 Miles Davis

oil

20X20

Sonny Stitt

 oil

20X20

Chet Baker

oil

20X20

 Lester Young

oil

20X20

Johnny winter

Winter's own musical legacy began as a five-year-old playing clarinet in Beaumont, Texas. He continued on the instrument for four years but had to quit when an orthodontist informed the youth that he had a serious overbite.
So thank you Mr Orthodontist cause Johnny started playing ukulele and then guitar !!!

Here's a groovy rock song, no amazing guitar solo here, just good fun ...

Listen to: Ain't That Kindness

Prez

.. to get along with Billie there had to be Lester... relaxed, cool tone and sophisticated harmonies.


Listen to: Sunny Side

Billie Holiday

.. Just a try on pastel to post the sweetiest voice with the bitterest words: Strange Fruit...

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

More Hooker and socks

 

.. Still crazy 'bout his socks... and the opportunity to post one more chilling song... with mean mean voice announcing I'm in the mood for LOVE baby... oooohhh !!!

Mississippi John Hurt

Mississippi John Hurt
The sweetiest man alive but...
No musician ever applied a gentler touch to songs of murder, sex, and salvation than Mississippi John Hurt

Born July 3, 1893, Hurt lived a quiet life as a farmer and laborer, playing occasional parties and fish fries until 1963. He was rediscovered in Avalon, a consequence of having named it as his hometown in a record made thirty-five years before. Hurt enjoyed great popularity during the blues revival of the 1960s, making television appearances, playing folk festivals, and recording albums. Exceptionally well liked by all who came in contact with him, he became the most famous of all the rediscovered 1920s bluesmen, eclipsing in his fame the celebrated Son House and Skip James.

Richland Woman Blues

Big Bill

Big Bill Broonzy (June 26, 1893 – August 15, 1958) was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played country blues to mostly African-American audiences. Through the ‘30s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound.

Listen to: Long Tall Mama