The 11th annual Greeley’s Blue Jam at Island Groove Regional Park Arena featuring The Burroughs, Elvin Bishop, Delbert McCinton, Jimmy Hall With My Blue Sky and more.
Continue readingThe 11th Annual Greeley Blues Jam
Category: Features
Barenaked Ladies with Violent Femmes at Red Rocks Amphitheater
Red Rocks Amphitheater was alive this weekend as Colin Hay opened up the Barenaked Ladies show who’s acoustic set consisted of mostly classics from his days back with Men at Work. He ended his set with a beautiful cover of the Beatles song, “Here Comes the Sun.” Violent Femmes took the stage for a 45 minute set that included the first new song that the band has performed in 15 years.
Continue readingFooling Around and Falling in Love With Elvin Bishop
Elvin Bishop has had a long and prolific career as a blues guitarist. A teenager in Chicago during the ‘60s, he had the privilege of both witnessing and taking an active role in blues in it’s heyday. Under the tutlage of several blues greats such as Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and John Lee Hooker he honed his skills in the best way possible before launching into an incredible career that included a song that peaked at #3 on the US Billboards in 1975 with the song “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” which featured Mickey Thomas and Donny Baldwin of Jefferson Starship (and for you younger kids was on the Gardians of the Galaxy soundtrack with last summer). Gearing up for the Greeley Blues Jam, we had a chance to sit down with Bishop to talk about the blues and his amazing career.
Continue readingMaking Breakfast With Twin Peaks
If there is one thing you can say about the music industry it’s there are a lot of people really working their asses off. From the countless promoters, managers, photographers, press outlets, sound guys, door guys, bartenders, and not to mention all the artists putting everything out there every night just to scrape out a living, everything is a grind to have a seat at the table. But then there are those people who walk in, step on stage and are just so talented that everything fits perfectly together before our eyes.
Continue readingHis Own Self: J-Live Juggles It All
New York City native Justice Allah Cadet, better known as J-Live, has a laundry list of collaborations, albums and EPs he’s done since emerging in the mid-90s. He’s worked with everyone from Handsome Boy Modeling School and DJ Rob Swift to DJ Nu-Mark of Jurassic 5 and Oddisse. Prince Paul, who had his hands in De La Soul, Stetsasonic, Gravediggaz and, of course, Handsome Boy Modeling School, really took J-Live under his wing. Being from Long Island, Prince Paul was easily accessible to J-Live at an early age. Their first collaboration was on Rawkus Records’ now infamous compilation album, Soundbombing II. From there, they did J-Live’s album 2001’s The Best Part and formed a tight-knit friendship along the way. Eventually, J-Live popped up on a Handsome Boy Modeling School album and ended up contributing vocals to one of the strongest tracks on the record, “The Truth.”
Continue readingThe Historic Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
If it’s not already evident, maintaining a band presidency for forty-nine years is a pretty impressive feat, especially when the band is a 16 member jazz ensemble that came about during a racially tense America in the ‘60s. The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra has welcomed several top named professionals in the industry and undergone a succession of directors, but they’ve consistently produced lively, intricate jazz performances throughout their existence. They currently post up in New York City performing the historically reputable Village Vanguard, where they’ve been a weekly headline for decades. The VJO have successively preserved the initiative of big band music against all popularity odds allowing their talent to transcend listeners back and forth through time.
Continue readingThe Amazing Deborah Brown
From Kansas City, Missouri to the farthest borders of Indonesia, renowned jazz soul singer Deborah Brown has been establishing footholds in contemporary jazz for over thirty years. Her discography expands 26 albums and as jazz is inevitably a list of collaborations, Brown’s book includes legends such as pianist Monty Alexander, trombonist Slide Hampton, double-bassist Red Mitchell and trumpeter Clark Terry among others. All big names aside, Brown has made her own path in jazz and although her music isn’t as prevalent on American radio, with good reason she doesn’t mind that her talent has a greater influence on the international jazz community.
Continue readingSpiritual Fitness: Tribal Seeds Works It Out With Reggae
Growing up in San Diego, California made it easy to fall in love with reggae. The sound of the ocean, the inevitable “chill” vibe and countless music festivals around southern California painted the perfect picture for reggae music to thrive. Brothers Steven Rene and Tony-Ray Jacobo were immersed in the music early on. Consequently, it comes as no surprise they are the co-founders of the San Diego-based reggae band, Tribal Seeds. Founded in 2005, it was the Jacobo brothers’ way of finding a spiritual connection through reggae music. Much like their predecessors, which include Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Steel Pulse, among others, reggae gives them a sense of peace unparalleled by other musical genres.
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