Saturday Matinee – Hermeto Pascoal, Sugaray Rayford & The Rhythm Shakers

Known as o Bruxo (the Sorcerer), Pascoal often makes music with unconventional objects such as teapots, children’s toys, and animals, as well as keyboards, button accordions, melodica, saxophones, guitars, flutes, voices, various brass and folkloric instruments. [Wiki]

Brazilian improvisational avant-garde musician Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo play with water in Música da Lagoa, a scene from the 1985 movie Sinfonia do Alto Ribeira by Ricardo Lua.

Texas born Caron “Sugaray” Rayford grew up in starvation-level poverty. His mother struggled to raise three boys alone while battling cancer; when she died, the siblings were relieved. “She suffered and we suffered. Then, we moved in with my grandmother and our lives were a lot better. We ate every day and we were in church every day, which I loved. I grew up in gospel and soul.”

From The Rhythm Shakers‘ website:

As red hair is flailing and double bass pounding, Marlene Perez of the Rhythm Shakers closes out another show in Los Angeles. Ripping wails and howling vocals are rocketed from her torso more reminiscent of Tina Turner and Amy Winehouse than the echo dripped hiccups of the 1950’s rock and roll genre the band exists within.

Happy weekend to all, and tomorrow porch time shall commence promptly at whenever. See you then.

Saturday Matinee – Fatboy Slim, Lucky Chops, Tom Mansi & the Icebreakers, and Big Monti Amundson

Not my favorite musical style, but the video amused me.
Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, specializes in big beat / techno / dj rock. In 2008 he reportedly held the Guinness World Record for most top-40 hits under different names.

Formed in 2016, Lucky Chops began as a group of subway buskers from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, New York City, and now they perform world-wide. Reminds me of New Orleans second line parades.

Tom Mansi & the Icebreakers kick rockabilly in the UK. Can’t find details about the group other than their own description: “Rock n roll blues alternative originals 3piece fronted by howling doublebass player with drums and guitar.

Big Monti Amundson backed by Bart Kamp / bass and Henk Punter / drums. Amundson definitely has the Texas blues sound down. I hear Jimmy Vaughan / Fabulous Thunderbirds, others compare him to SRV.
(More about Amundson on WikiP, but be careful with his website – Malwarebytes flagged a trojan.)

Wrapping up what for many is a four-day weekend what with the 4th landing on a Thursday and all. Hope you still have all the fingers you started out with, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow whenever the porch wakes up.

Saturday Matinee – JP Soars & The Red Hots, The Bruce Katz Band, and Eric Slim Zahl & The South West Swingers

JP Soars & The Red Hots go on a roadtrip. There are exactly two Red Hots: drummer Chris Peet and Cleveland Frederick on standup bass.

The Bruce Katz Band: Bruce Katz on keyboards, Aaron Lieberman on guitar and drummer Ray Hangen.

Award winning rockers Eric Slim Zahl & The South West Swingers hail from Stavanger, Norway.  Other than a brief discography, I could find scant info about this group, and that’s a damn shame.

We’re barely past the Summer Solstice and the days are getting shorter already, but it doesn’t matter to me because my watch is set to porch time. See you tomorrow when the big hand points at something.

Saturday Matinee – Don Bryant & The Bo-Keys, Caffeinated Rock&Roll, and The Guy Forsyth Blues Band

Don BryantThe Bo-Keys. In 1998, bassist Scott Bomar wanted to preserve the Memphis Sound and formed the Bo-Keys. The group’s name is a hat-tip to the session groups The Bar-Kays and The Mar-Keys.

Caffeinated Rock&Roll is a one-man band and  skateboarder from Buchs, Switzerland, with very little info available online aside from his Utoobage channel.

The Guy Forsyth Blues Band out of Austin, Texas, sounds a bit like early Fabulous Thunderbirds to me, and I like it. Forsyth’s earlier collaborations include The Asylum Street Spankers and The Hot Nut Riveters.

Not sure where all the days are going, and I’m about to rip up my calendar for lying. Have a great weekend, see you back here tomorrow for some uncomplicated porch time.

Saturday Matinee – Hans Theessink & Terry Evans, JJ Grey & Mofro, and Mad Guz & the Mojos

Hans Theessink & Terry Evans (with Arnold McCuller and Willie Greene Jr. provide backing vocals) doing some gospel-style Delta blues. Ry Cooder is lurking somewhere in the background.

JJ Grey describes his music as funkified rock and front porch Southern soul music, a style he calls Mofro, hence the band name JJ Grey and Mofro. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Grey writes, produces, sings and plays all instruments for demo tracks before bringing the band into the studio.

Mad Guz & the Mojos is a heavy rockabilly-influenced blues band from somewhere in Germany, and consists of Mad Guz (vocals, sax, guitar), Isi Mojo (double bass), Tim Mojo (drums, vocals) and Spike Mojo (lead guitar, vocals).

Yep. Another busy week is out of the way,  and after Tet, Superbowl Sunday, Lincoln’s Birthday, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday and a couple other holidays I don’t remember, I’m declaring tomorrow to be National Porch Day. Be there or be somewhere else.

Saturday Matinee – Luther ‘Snakeboy’ Johnson, Big Guitars From Memphis & The Radiacs

Luther Snakeboy Johnson (aka Snake, Georgia Boy, Little Luther & Luther King) was born in 1941 in Davisboro, GA, and taught himself guitar while still in grade school. He served in the US Army, and after discharge performed with a gospel group before heading to Chicago. In the late 50s, he played regularly with Otis Spann and Elmore James before joining Muddy Waters’ band in 1967. This video is from a 1973 French television show; three years later he succumbed to cancer at the age of 34.

Big Guitars From Memphis show their chops in this video, recorded for Mugz, an indi film that was scheduled for 2010 but never released. (They don’t sound like Memphis because they aren’t from Memphis).

Doing 90 on the 90, The Radiacs are/were a psychobilly quartet formed in 1987 in Sheffield, UK. Can’t find much about them, but it appears they were active through 2011.

Got a lot to think about these days, and I think sitting out on the porch with a couple of dogs is a damn fine idea. See you there tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – The Young@Heart Chorus, The Linda Krieg Trio, The Hacklers & La Perra Blanca

What started out in 1982 at a Western Massachusetts elderly housing project to joyfully pass the time instead of passing before your time has developed into the stereotype-defying, generation-crossing musical extravaganza better known as The Young@Heart Chorus

Linda Krieg is one of the few prominent blues harp players in Germany and a fixture in the Rhine-Main blues scene. Her trio includes Dominik Krauss (guitar) and Klaas Wendling (bass); she also tours with her guitarist husband Oliver Hell as Mrs. Krieg & Mr. Hell.

The Hacklers are an Irish Ska band based in Kildare. They formed in 2014 and “developed their own distinguished sound, a mix of Ska and Reggae blended with their own unique ‘Extra Stout’ Irish flavour.”

Alba Blanco, aka La Perra Blanco, is a blues/rockabilly guitarist from Cádiz, Spain, and has been performing since the age of 14. This video highlights her stage act, kind of over the top with the mugging, but her talent shines.

Another long week gone in no time, and it’s already the weekend. We have big plans for tomorrow, or maybe we don’t. See you on the porch noonish.

Saturday Matinee – The Flying Sailor, Swamp Ratz & Lonnie Brooks

The Flying Sailor (2022) is a short film by Amanda Forbis & Wendy Tilby:
“In 1917 two ships collided in the Halifax Harbour, causing the largest accidental explosion in history. Among the tragic stories of the disaster is the remarkable account of a sailor who, blown skyward from the docks, flew a distance of 2 kilometres before landing uphill, naked and unharmed. The Flying Sailor is a contemplation of his journey.”

Watch in full screen, sound up. [h/t Mme. Jujujive]

From Tokyo, these Swamp Ratz got the triple slap back style.
Frantic Pickin’ Guitar, Backing Vocals – Yu Fukuhar
Rockin’ Piratez Drum, Backing Vocals
Yoshimasa Ohishi
Slap Back Bass, Lead Vocals
Daisuke Ohishi

Lee Baker Jr., aka Lonnie Brooks, did Chicago blues right.

Have a great weekend, see you in the early hours of the late afternoon.

Saturday Matinee – Fred Schneider, Cordell Jackson & Ghost Hounds

Once upon a time, Fred Schneider, lead singer of The B-52s, stole Harry Nilsson’s Coconut and took it for a joy ride. [h/t Madame Jujujive].

Sam Phillips / Sun Records shunned early rocker Cordell Jackson because “girls didn’t play guitar,”  so in 1956, with the assistance of Chet Atkins, she founded Moon Records (now defunct).

Ghost Hounds are a classic rock ‘n’ blues band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, fronted by singer, songwriter (and motivational speaker) Tré Nation.

Lotta stuff went down last week – I got some good news, got rid of a burden, picked up another and so far I’m happy with the trade. Have a great weekend, batten down the hatches if you’re in the southwestern states, and we’ll watch the clouds roll in tomorrow.

Bombylious Hot Links

Number 9 Train, Tarheel Slim (1958) Allen Rathel Bunn (1923-1977) recorded under various names but was best known as Tarheel Slim. Bunn enjoyed a successful recording career playing an eclectic variety of styles including gospel, R&B, blues, rockabilly, pop & soul. In 1963 he dropped out of the music business , but was “rediscovered” a decade later and resumed recording and performing on acoustic guitar until his death at the age of 53.

Lunchtime.

Pets & glasses.

3 hours of goop.

Objectified musicians.

Waiting for someone to notice.

It’s basically a hotdog of the sea.

Just found a new ringtone. [h/t Suz H.]

The Temperature of Doom [via Bunkerville].

Ink-powered leaf boats [via Memo Of The Air].

It’s 5 minutes compressed into 3, but so what.

[Top image courtesy Serafina D.]


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