Joanne Shaw Taylor

From across the pond comes a young lady with the licks, credentials  and the savvy to play and sing the blues with the big boys.. I first listened to Joanne Shaw Taylor's debut release: "White Sugar", and was very impressed with what my ears told me. When I heard she was touring and was headed straight towards my Florida location, I made my mind up to go to the show. So a few months back I caught up to her at McWell's here south of downtown Orlando. I had my doubts about this blonde, petite young lady, I must admit. However, with the first few blistering notes of the set I was convinced. She covered the material from the first album and added a few covers and new material to boot. Joanne is extremely talented with her vintage telecaster and hit all the notes, even busting a string or two along the way. The verdict is in: This Lady can play the blues!.

Capturing the Emotion of the Blues

The essence of the Blues is raw emotion. Good Blues comes from the heart where all of our deep-seated emotions are. It is important in photographing blues musicians that you capture that emotion digitally or on film. The onlooker can observe the energy in your photographs and that is key. I suggest taking a burst of pictures in a continuous mode to get that desired effect. Or if you are patient and observant enough  you can anticipate the second in time that does that. . Here are a few examples:

More Mike Zito!

The Blues is alive and well as long as we have guys like Mike Zito. Although his music is roots based, he borrows from lots of musical genres. Only a guy like Zito could take a Prince classic and make it his own. "Little Red Corvette" is a great song to begin with, but Mike's version off of his "Today" album is stellar. However, he can turn things around on a dime and do a Muddy Waters classic; "She's Nineteen Years Old" next song down. Enjoy a few more photographs from last Saturday night.

Texas Blues

You do not necessarily have to be from the great state of Texas to play Texas Blues. Although the cities of Austin, Dallas / Fort Worth, Huston and the many musicians in them have pioneered the profound sound of the Texas Blues for years now, we have gladly accepted this style as one of the best. No doubt, modern Texas Blues players are some of the finest musicians in the world. -Anson Funderburgh, Doyle Bramhall Sr., Jimmy Vaughan & the Fabulous Thunderbird's, of course Stevie Ray Vaughan and the subject of our photo blog: Smokin' Joe Kubek, featuring Bnois King. These two guys are a wonder and amazement. They have been the core of this Texas based blues band for over 20 years. Bnois with his smooth vocals and unique guitar style compliment the tenacous guitar licks of Smokin' Joe perfectly. I have seen them several times through the years and encourage you to listen to their downloadable recordings or check them out in a town or festival near you. Enjoy the photos.

Louisiana Bluesmen

It seems every state in the union is represented with a blues musician or two. However, four states top the list. Texas. Mississippi, Illinois and Louisiana. It makes you wonder; is something in the water? Or is some sort of a strange phenomenon occurring we are just not aware of ? The spotlight shines on the great state of  Louisiana this time. I have had the pleasure of seeing with my own eyes and hearing with my own ears the following wonderful musicians from that state. They are ( in no particular order); Tab Benoit from New Orleans, Brian Lee, a blind bluesman also from New Orleans  and Bnois King who shares the stage with Smokin' Joe Kubeck and supplies tremendous vocals and guitar work that makes that group sizzle. All three share something in common. I call it "spicing up the blues" Like a good crayfish and gumbo dinner. Leaves you with a good taste in your mouth. Go see and taste Louisiana blues when you get the chance.
Two other great Louisiana bluesmen to note are: the late Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and of course. the living legend, Buddy Guy.