CHICAGO BLUES REUNION-2005-BURIED ALIVE IN THE BLUES

Chicago Blues Reunion Member Barry Goldberg

Along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield and Harvey Mandel, Barry was one of the young white Chicago blues players that came up in the wake of Gravenites. Primarily an organ player, he played in twist bands, rival band to Butterfield and Bloomfield’s, formed the Goldberg Miller (Steve) Blues Band in 1965 and was part of Charlie Musselwhites’s South Side Sound System debut “Stand Back.” His funky organ is heard on Mitch Ryder’s “Devil with a Blue Dress” and with Dylan at Newport, the day he went electric, in 1965. He helped Bloomfield form the Electric Flag in 1967 with Gravenites and an unknown Buddy Miles. Over the year Goldberg has recorded a ton of sessions with everyone from Duane Allman and Phil Spector to Neil Young and Bob Dylan.

His 1974 Atlantic Records solo, cut in Muscle Shoals, was proved by Jerry Wexler and Bob Dylan. Wrote classics “I’ve Got to Use my Imagination” for Gladys Knight and the Pips and “It’s Not the Spotlight” for Rod Stewart (with Gerry Goffin) and produced the soundtracks for numerous films including “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “Forest Gump.” In 1998 he produced the music for “The Kennedy Center Presents: A Tribute to Muddy Waters,” in 2002 soul singer Percy Sledge, and also the music for the hit Showtime drama, “Street Time.”

Chicago Blues Reunion Member Corky Siegel

Corky Siegel has earned an international reputation as one of the world’s great blues harmonica masters. He is a composer, blues pianist, singer / songwriter, and recent winner of the Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest/Meet the Composer’s national award for chamber music composition and the Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award for Music Composition.

Corky Siegel’s career began with a fortunate break when he formed the legendary Siegel-Schwall Band that toured the major rock palaces and clubs in the 60’s and 70’s. He was introduced to the blues through his very first steady engagement at Peppers the internationally renowned blues club where his job included performances with the blues masters themselves, such as Willie Dixon, Little Walter, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf. “For groups like the Rolling Stones … names like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf were exotic inspirations. For Siegel-Schwall they were the guys that played with them on 43rd Street.” - Lin Brehmer - Music Director for WXRT radio.

Corky Siegel has 18 recordings and over 35 reissues on: Vanguard, RCA, Alligator (the exclusively Blues label) and Gadfly Records, and two album projects for the prestigious classical label Deutsche Grammophon (DG). The DG release of William Russo’s Three Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra featuring Corky’s blues band, Siegel-Schwall (for whom the work was written) with Seiji Ozawa and the San Francisco Symphony, was a block-buster in sales and had “an unprecedented inter-generational impact on the American music scene. ” - Music Critic - David Sckolnik. In fact, one movement of “Three Pieces” became a successful “single” which scored very high on the Billboard Pop and Classical charts.

Mr. Siegel’s solo recorded performance of William Russo’s Street Music with Seiji Ozawa and the San Francisco Symphony (the 2nd recording for DG) won the French Government’s Grand Prix du Disque, and received the Recording of Special Merit in Stereo Review for the LP and again in 1988 for the re-released compact disc.

Corky Siegel has written and performed works for Arthur Fiedler and the San Francisco Symphony, the Grant Park Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra - for a Kennedy Center performance where the Washington Post proclaimed that “Siegel is a Phenomenon”. His latest symphonic work Blues for a Green Planet - Opus 10 was commissioned and performed with the Grant Park Symphony in Chicago. This was his second commission from that orchestra. He also composed “Continuum” with Alwin Nikolias (father of modern dance) and Murray Louis. His music has been choreographed by 5 different international ballet companies and has been used for many national TV specials and motion pictures as well as the 1988 Olympic men’s figure skating competition, the 1997 World Championship skating competition with Olympic Gold Medalists, Torvill and Dean, and a recent ABC-TV series including two works for three PBS programs - one of which won an Emmy Award for 2002.

Mr. Siegel’s partnership in the renowned Siegel-Schwall Band, his performances as soloist with orchestras world-wide, and his collaborations with conductor Seiji Ozawa in bringing a ground-breaking blues-classical sound to national attention are all a reflection of Mr. Siegel’s prodigious talent. Mr. Siegel continues to perform as guest soloist with symphony orchestras world-wide, which have included the New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Metropolitana De Lisboa in Portugal, and most recently the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, the NHK Symphony in Japan, and the Philadelphia Orchestra with Maestro Charles Dutoit. In addition to ongoing tours with Maestro Dutoit, Corky has continued to perform numerous symphonic collaborations through the years with Doc Severinsen. Corky has also recorded on Sony International by touring globally from time to time through the invitation of Dr. Subramaniam, India’s greatest Eastern classical violin virtuoso.

Corky Siegel’s newest project Chamber Blues, with the West End String Quartet, and Frank Donaldson on world percussion, blends classical and blues styles in a chamber music setting. This ground breaking innovative sound (now on Alligator Records and Gadfly Records) has earned tremendous acclaim throughout the country and continues to open new doors for classical and blues/jazz listeners alike. Chamber Blues won Billboard’s Editor’s and Writer’s top 10 Picks of the Year (1998) and Stereophile Magazine says; “… fantastic … I’ve never heard anyone play harp with this much body and harmonic delicacy … I guarantee you’ve never heard anything quite like it.” The 2005 Alligator Records release of “Traveling Chamber Blues Show” is “A Crowning Achievement” - raves the Chicago Tribune. “Watching them perform is nearly as much fun as hearing them play.”

Chicago Blues Reunion Member Harvey Mandel

The term “musician’s musician” is all too frequently applied merely to artists lacking in popular notoriety rather than being reserved for those who truly earn the title – those few who eschew popularity and marketable pigeonholing to follow the dictates of genuine genius, ability and technique, forging a path of musical integrity. Musicians love them even if the pablum-buying public (or more accurately the major-label corporate cookie-cutters) can’t quite figure them out.  Harvey Mandel has indeed both earned the title. As solo artist and member of various groups over the past four plus decades, he has proved his mettle as one of the finest guitar players and musical innovators in modern history.

Mandel, AKA “The Snake” and considered by many critics to be one of the best electric guitarists in the country, came out of the black blues scene of South Side Chicago, where he earned his stripes and calluses playing alongside such greats as Buddy Guy, Howlin’ Wolf. B.B. King and Little Walter. He was part of a society of sorts of mostly white artists (like Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield, Barry Goldberg, Nick Gravenites, Corky Siegel, Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite) which gave birth to the Chicago electric blues sound in the mid/late ’60s, which migrated with them to the San Francisco and Los Angeles psychedelic scene. As a soloist and band member, Mandel’s musical pedigree is legend. He’s recorded with the Rolling Stones, toured and recorded with British blues icon John Mayall as part of the Bluesbreakers, was a member of Canned Heat, with whom he played Woodstock, and was the original guitarist with Musselwhite’sSouth Side Band. His collaborative discography reads like a “Who’s Who” of Blues, Rock and any number of related hybrid musical forms, and includes such seminal recordings as Stand Back! (Charlie Musselwhite’s South Side Band), Future Blues (Canned Heat), USA Union and Back to the Roots (John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers), Black and Blue (Rolling Stones), Rock and Roll Forever (The Ventures), and Choice Cuts (Pure Food and Drug Act). Mandel’s solo recordings include the 1970’s classics, Baby Batter, The Snake, and Shangrenade, the ground-breaking record on which he employed two-handed fretboard tapping. Mandel was one of the first rock guitarists to use this technique, years before Eddie Van Halen and Stanley Jordan came along. Harvey Mandel, “The King Of Sustain,” has been cited as a major influence by many of today’s music superstars. The critics call him “a hugely influential but almost forgotten giant of instrumental rock” and “the best known unknown in pop guitar.”

Never one to rest on his laurels, Mandel continues to write, play, record and produce incredible music.  His prowess as an arranger and engineer as well as innovative recording artist has been revealed through work at his own digital studio in San Francisco, where his work runs the gamut from producing digital loop libraries for Sony/Sonic Foundry, to recording, mixing and mastering numerous and varied solo recordings (e.g., Emerald Triangle, Lick This and West Coast Killaz) and collaborative efforts with a host of artists. Mandel is also enjoying touring and recording with the Chicago Blues Reunion band, an all-star collaboration of Chicago music legends who defined the sound of their generation in the 1960s, bringing him full circle back to his roots.

Chicago Blues Reunion Member Nick Gravenites

Born in Chicago, but not in 1941, as the first lines of his classic blues manifesto, “Born in Chicago,” punch out in the legendary Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s signature song. The original white blues man of the rock era, he was hanging out in south side blues clubs in 1957. Singer and songwriter of other classics such as “East West” (with Michael Bloomfield), “You’re Killing My Love’ (Oits Rush), “Groovin’ is Easy” (Electric Flag), “Work Me Lord” and “Buried Alive in the Blues” (Janis Joplin). Sang lead in Bloomfield’s ill-fated super band, Electric Flag, an American Music Band, which made it much-hyped debut at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival.

His Columbia Records debut of 1969, “My Labors,” exhibits a batch of his best songs (“Killing My Love,” “Holy Moly,” and “Gypsy Good Time”) and some of Bloomfield’s most lyrical playing. With Bloomfield, he produced Otis Rush’s “Mouring in the Morning” in Muscle Shoals in 1968, James Cotton, and assembled Janis Joplin’s solo debut, The Kozmic Blues Band. He produced the debut Quicksilver Messenger Service album and Brewer and Shipley’s “One Toke Over the Line.” He replaced Joplin for a short stint in Big Brother and the Holding Company. Has recorded seven solo albums including, “Animal Mind” and “Live in Athens” with Quicksilver guitar god John Cipollina. Gravenites is as deep and as personal a blues songwriter and performer as there is, shouting the blues with the best of them.

Chicago Blues Reunion Member Sam Lay

Sam Lay, Drummer, vocalist - is one of the most celebrated virtuoso drummers in blues history, and a mainstay since the late 1950’s. He began his auspicious career in 1957 as drummer for the Original Thunderbirds and soon after became the drummer for the legendary harp genius, Little Walter.

In the early 1960’s Mr. Lay began recording and performing with the founding fathers of blues,Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters. The recordings Lay made during this time, (including Muddy Waters’ Fathers and Sons album recorded in the 70’s), are considered to be among the definitive works from the careers of Waters and Wolf.

In the mid 60’s Mr. Lay was persuaded to join with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and recorded and toured extensively with this important blues group. Bob Dylan (with Sam Lay as his drummer) was the first performer to introduce electric-rock at the Newport Folk Festival. Lay also recorded with Dylan - most notably on the Highway 61 album.

Mr. Lay’s unique style of drumming can be heard on over 40 recordings for the famed Chess Records label with the most prominent names in the world of blues. He has recently toured the major Blues festivals around the US and Europe with the Chess Records All-Stars.

In the late 1980’s Sam Lay was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis. He was recently inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame in Los Angeles, and the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. He was nominated eight times for the coveted W. C. Handy Award for “Best Instrumentalist” including a recent 2005 nomination.

Mr. Lay has two very recent recordings with his own band on Appaloosa Records, Evidence Records, and a recording on Alligator Records with the Siegel-Schwall Band and was nominated in 2000 for a Grammy Award for his performances on the “Howlin’ Wolf Tribute” CD and was honored by the Recording Academy January 2002 for the ” Legends and Hero’s Award” for his significant musical contributions.

Mr. Lay was prominently featured on a PBS-TV broadcast of 7 episodes on the “History of the Blues” produced by Academy Award winning director, Martin Scorsese.

The Chicago Blues Reunion is an all-star collaboration of Chicago music legends who defined the sound of their generation in the 1960’s.

The iconic players, who comprise CBR are a who’s who of blues lover’s household names; Barry Goldberg (Hammond B-3 organ), Nick “The Greek” Gravenites (vocals/guitar), Harvey “The Snake” Mandel (guitar), Tracy Nelson (vocals), Sam Lay (drums/vocals) and Corky Siegel (harmonica/vocals). In their various earlier musical incarnations, they catalyzed the historic transition in popular music from acoustic folk to electric blues-influenced rock. Over the course of time, they have continued to be an inspiration to younger generations that followed the trail they blazed.

The people involved didn’t realize it at the time, but they were laying the groundwork for a revolution. Chicago still ran a for-real blues scene in the early 60’s when this handful of young white musicians gravitated to the black South side gin mills where blues existed outside the purview. These young whites were breaking all kinds of barriers simply by playing the music of their heroes that they idolized and had the good fortune of performing and learning from blues legends like Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Little Walter, and Willie Dixon. Individually, each musician went on to bring the blues to the rest of the country and they exploded on the music scene like giants leaving the west coast groups goggle-eyed and breathless. All their paths zigzagged from the major rock palaces like the Fillmore, and festivals like Woodstock, Monterey, and Newport, they ran parallel, then crossed again.

But the spark they struck all those years ago always stayed lit, whatever they did, wherever they went. Chicago was the cauldron that turned the world on events they set in motion.

Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Little Walter are all gone. Now Barry, Harvey, Nick, Corky, Sam, and Tracy who once learned lessons at the feet of the blues masters, are now the tribal elders. Now they are the ones with years of experience, stories to tell, and wisdom to impart. These are the musicians on whose shoulders today’s blues stands - the traditions are firmly safely in their hands.