What’s on Tap for September 2011’s General Membership Meeting
Melody Ballroom, 615 SE Alder St., Portland
Wednesday, September 7th, 7:00 pm
Members always Free – non-members $3.00
Opening Acoustic Set – NoPoMoJo
Second Electric Set – The Sportin’ Lifers
Make a point to come out to the Cascade Blues Association’s general meeting in September for a truly unique musical experience. Not that all of our meetings do not offer great performances, but this month both acts are quite diverse in their delivery and will certainly prove to make for an exceptionally fun night.
Opening the night for our acoustic set you’re going to notice right off a difference. Not the usual 1-3 piece outfits you’re used to, but a full band. NoPoMoJo hails from the streets of North Portland, blending an eclectic brew of blues, folk, old-timey and country music with a hint of Gypsy added that is truly Americana at its best. Presenting catchy original music with thought-provoking lyrical content, the band was formed in 2004 and currently includes musicians Randy Yearout, Alan Ames, Jim Toussaint, Kevin Eastes, Johnnie Corrie and Wayne Waits. NoPoMoJo knows no musical boundaries. The mojo comes from Randy Yearoutʼs creative songwriting that is a bottomless well of diversity which dives deep into the human story of pain, suffering, and elusive happiness, providing the listener with the not-so clear choices that must be made throughout their lives and within their soul. The devil you say! When itʼs all said and done, NoPoMoJo is a magical musical experience that will enlighten your spirits on a dark, rainy Portland night, giving you the powers to get through the next day.
NoPoMoJo explains the magical spell they are under, “We perform an energetic blend of acoustic/electric music of which the driving force is taken from the music and stories of simple lives and hard times. Our tunes have been coerced out of our minds by various substances, only to be etched with ink (or blood) onto sheets of paper (or the occasional nightclub napkin), then mysteriously transformed into wildly gyrating actions of human appendages onto the fretboard of various stringed instruments, and the percussive surfaces of sheet metal and skins, only then to be spewed out upon the unsuspecting audience in an emotionally charged discharge of vocality, electronic emissions and sound waves, through a smoky grid of uncertainty.”
Sound intriguing? Make sure to check them out.
For the second set we’ll be taking yet a wholly different course with The Sportin’ Lifers making their first appearance for the CBA. The Sportin’ Lifers hearken back to the era when names such as Johnny Otis, Louis Jordan, Cab Calloway, Etta James, and Slim Gaillard were heard up and down the West Coast, while Paul Gayten, Professor Longhair, and scores of others held forth in The Crescent City. Rhythm, jive, swing, reefer tunes, jump blues, and boogie woogie are all here. Featuring dynamic vocalist Erin Wallace, the Sportin’ Lifers delight dancers and music lovers alike with Steve “Thousand Dollar” Cleveland on piano, Whit Draper on guitar, Fred Ingram on drums, Brad Ulrich on clarinet and saxophone, and Steve Morelli on upright bass.
With urbane lyrics and tasteful musicianship The Sportin’ Lifers play timeless songs from Dinah Washington and Louis Armstrong to Ray Charles and Ruth Brown as well as a growing group of original tunes that falls right in the same pocket. The sound is uptown but with just enough juke joint grease and smoke to make everyone happy. The band has been delighting crowds and filling dance floors at Tony Starlight’s Night Club and at the East Portland Eagles Lodge. Come see what all the fun is about, and please check you razor at the door!
During the break, we’ll let you know all the exciting happenings that will be taking place in September and will also hold our popular give-aways. So make sure to get a ticket as you enter the room for your chance to win a variety of prizes such as CDs and show tickets. We’ll also have the $1 raffle tickets for a winner-take-all multiple CD package. It’s all a lot of fun happening at these meetings, so come out and join your blues friends for one of the best nights of blues each month. See you there.
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If you’re a true-blooded fan of authentic Chicago blues, this new release by Tail Dragger and Bob Corritore is right up your alley. Especially if it’s a dark, gritty to the bone alley that you can only find in inner city streets that a blues soundtrack would be most appropriately fitting. This is that soundtrack. With greasy vocals supplied by Tail Dragger that harkens back to your favorite Chicago singers like Howlin’ Wolf or Muddy Waters, they’re frightening and just oozing full of a lifetime of hardships that makes them so real. Backed by his longtime friend (as the title refers) harmonica master Bob Corritore, who may live nowadays in Phoenix, but has never lost that feel for the Windy City’s sound, this is one of the finest Chicago blues recordings to hit the market in years. And since this is a Delta Groove CD, you know that the label has thrown together a fine mesh of sidemen to compliment them every step of the way. And what sidemen! You just would be hard-pressed to find any finer than Kirk Fletcher and Chris James on guitar, Patrick Rynn on bass, Brian Fahey on drums and special guest Henry Gray throwing down fantastic keys and vocals on one track.
