Willie the Lion Smith

 

Willie the Lion Smith

William Henry Joseph Berthol Bonaparte Bertholoff AKA Willie the Lion Smith...
A founding father of Harlem Stride piano who combined elements of ragtime, barrelhouse, and classical concert piano technique and had some influence on future jazz pianists including Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Thelonious Monk.
Had some sessions with Mamie Smith and worked as a sideman with Sydney Bechet, Johnny Hodges  or Benny Carter.
That picture left me a funny feeling, the man at the piano in an empty barroom...just playing for himself or is the audience gone?
Looking at it the song Echoes of Spring sounds a bit nostalgic... isn't it?

 

Listen to: Echoes of Spring

Stavin' Chain

 

.. Obscure folk blues but a few pictures full of soul... Wilson Jones aka Stavin' Chain... don't know much about him... some recordings for the Library of Congress but really low quality... Only for curious cats...
Scratch your ears !!!

Sonny Boy Williamson II

Aleck Ford Miller aka Rice Miller aka Sonny Boy Williamson II (he "stole" this name from Sonny Boy Williamson I who was one of the best known harmonica players at the time... sounds kinda crazy but maybe he was!!!)

Charismatic showman with great humour and one of the primary influences on modern blues harmonica...
Great figure of the King Biscuit radio show, he played with many blues artists and toured in Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival and English bands like the Yardbirds.
Some think of him as one of the most original and colorful poets of the blues and as one of the greatest harmonica players.
He wasn't the real bad guy but with serious booze problems... a dangerous man carrying weapons, with explosive temper and who could be nice and tender then burst into anger without warning...
Not someone you could really trust but "At least he didn't kill anybody!"(Nor I guess...)