Tag: Joe Louis Walker

Saturday Matinee – The True Loves, Joe Louis Walker & The Blues Rebels, and Brass Against

The True Loves are an Afro-beat funk and soul group out of Seattle. Formed in 2014 by Jabrille “Jimmy James” Williams / guitar, Bryant Moore / bass) and David McGraw / drums, they’re backed by Iván Galvez / congas, aux percussion, Gordon Brown / tenor sax, Greg Kramer / trombone, and Skerik / baritone sax. [h/t Chuck S.]

Supergroup Joe Louis Walker & The Blues Rebels, live at Zappa Tel Aviv (2013) featured Blues Hall of Fame member Joe Louis Walker / guitar & vocals, Andy Watts / guitar, Dov Hammer / harp, Ilan Hillel / bass and Alon Hillel / drums. Walker passed away in April 2025, age 75.

An amazing version of Motörhead’s classic by Brass Against, a collective led  by guitarist Brad Hammonds for purposes of protesting everything you can imagine with song covers. (Fun Fact: They are banned from playing at NASCAR events and Daytona Speedway’s Rockville Festivals because of an “incident” in 2021.)

I see that the winter storm isn’t done messing with you folks east of the Mississippi and south of everything. I don’t envy you – I did my time long ago. Remember to steer in the direction of the skid, and we’ll see you on the other side. For the rest of us, heavy porchtime is expected to blow in by noon o’clock tomorrow. See you then.

Saturday Matinee – Clarence Gatemouth Brown w/ Canned Heat, Joe Louis Walker, and Kim Simmonds / Savoy Brown

Clarence Gatemouth Brown, backed by Canned Heat, one of the greatest blues revival bands ever.  Gatemouth Brown was a rare talent, played multiple styles, and if you told him a 10 penny nail was a musical instrument, he could play it.

Joe Louis Walker has recorded with Ike Turner, Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, and Steve Cropper. Per Billboard, his style “blows all over the map…gutbucket blues, joyous gospel, Rolling Stones-style rock crunch, and aching R&B. Walker’s guitar playing is fine and fierce.”

Welsh guitarist Kim Simmonds (1947-2022) was the founder, primary songwriter and sole constant member of the British blues rock band Savoy Brown. Very underrated band.

Fires are still burning in the west, Arctic temperatures in the east, and we’ve got a whip-cracker in DC. Very interesting year so far, and if this keeps up 2025 is going to be in rehab by March. Keep your eyes open, your heads down, and we’ll see you tomorrow for porchtime.

Saturday Matinee – Béla Fleck & the Flecktones, BIG DEZ, Joe Louis Walker, and Jackie Venson

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, featuring Victor Wooten on fretless bass, his brother Roy “Futureman” Wooten on Drumitar. Alto saxman  Jeff Coffin joined the trio in 1996.

Nice laid back groove. BIG DEZ was formed in 1996 by Phil “Big Dez” Fernandez (guitar) and Bala Pradal (keyboards). They spent most of their time rehearsing in a cabin in the suburbs of Paris, and after adding Lamine Guerfi (bass) Archibald Ligonnière (drums), graduated to the bar scene, then moved on to the big time. [More here.]

Joe Louis Walker, a Blues Hall of Fame inductee and six-time Blues Music Award winner, NPR described him as “a legendary boundary-pushing icon of modern blues.”

Jackie Venson: “Singer-songwriter Jackie Venson’s version of the blues – with its R&B, psychedelic rock – has invigorated Austin’s music scene with its refreshingly electric sound.” — Rolling Stone

Dang. It’s almost December already. Porch time has been scheduled for whenenever you get here. See you tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Tom Waits, Joe Louis Walker & Kid Anderson (with Tommy Harkenrider, Brent Harding & Derrick D’Mar Martin)

Tom Waits‘ Telephone Call From Istanbul was released on his album Frank’s Wild Years (1987) and was featured in the movie Big Time (1988).

Joe Louis Walker at Broadway Studios, San Francisco, December 1999. Walker has recorded with Ike Turner, Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, and Steve Cropper, opened for Muddy Waters and Thelonious Monk, hung out with Jimi Hendrix, Freddie King, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and was a close friend and roommate of Mike Bloomfield, and that’s some serious cred.

Kid Anderson / lead guitar, Tommy Harkenrider / rhythm guitar, Brent Harding / bass and Derrick D’Mar Martin / drums at the Beatnik Bandito Emporium, Santa Ana, California, February 2020.

Nice set for St. Medarus Day. Celebrations will commence on the front porch whenever you get here. If I’m not out you’ll need to holler at the door because the doorbell doesn’t work.

Saturday Matinee – Tab Benoit, Jonny Lang & Joe Louis Walker w/ Nasta Súper

Cajun party fun with Tab Benoit, Corey Duplechin on bass, Doug Gay on drums. Ain’t nobody sittin’ down at that show.

Straight outta Fargo: Jonny Lang had an early start in the blues business, earning a platinum record by the time he was 15 years old. To date, Lang has scored five albums in the top 50 of Billboard’s Top 200.

Blues Hall of Fame inductee and six-time Blues Music Award winner Joe Louis Walker teamed up with Nasta Súper, an Argentinian blues band lead by guitarist Rafael “Rafa” Nasta.

Seems it was just Halloween a few days ago and yesterday was Monday…  I gotta to find a way to slow down the calendar. See you tomorrow (unless it’s Christmas).