We finally got the “cold and gray November days,” as grandma always called them, but inside our cozy venues, the music keeps us warm and dry, hopping and hopeful.
Our first order of the day, sadly, is to pay our respects to a lost comrade. Mark Vincent, an excellent jazz and otherwise pianist, entertainer, educator, friend and keeper of the music flame passed on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the age of 61, after a battle with lung cancer. Mark graced the stage with lots of folks during his many years of playing, including Don Smith and Gus Pflugmacher just this past August at the Illinois State Fair. He hosted his Old Time Piano Show and Swing Street Jazz Ensemble at many senior centers and other spots during the past several years. We will miss his sense of humor, touch on the keys and his spirit of making music as a way of life to enhance his being and those around him. Play on, Mark.
Next week on Friday, Nov. 27 (the day after Thanksgiving), a very wonderful blast from the past takes place as a present day happening when Ruth LaMaster, known to you all as Hurricane Ruth, reunites with tenpiece, 90s band the Big Bad Blues Machine at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Meadowbrook and Iles, the home of Casey’s Pub. The show starts at 8 and includes Mary Jo Curry and Tombstone Bullet plus Becky Watts in The Little Big Band.
Ruth debuts her newest release, an EP entitled Winds of Change, with four of her favorite cover songs, giving them the bigband blues twist. As she explained, her mom liked the down and dirty blues and her dad was a fan of the big band sound. Ruth logically ended up with a love for both styles, calling this latest project, “a homecoming of sorts, to a sound I grew up listening to” while praising her cohorts in music as her biggest influences. The recording, engineered by Ric “Skippy” Major at his Middle Option Studio, features the big band arrangements and performances of Dick Garretson, vocals by Ruth and an all-star cast of area musicians including Gary Davis, Frank Huston, Brian Curtis, Mike Gillette, Doug Wilcox and Sandy Hackel.
During my visit with Ruth, she filled me in on current goings on, including learning blues harmonica to add to the show, working on playing guitar and writing new songs for an upcoming all-original album to kick out the raw blues again. She expressed “feeling blessed to be able to do this full time” in the wonderfully upbeat way and positive path of the Ruth. Just in case you were wondering, Willie Dixon, one of the most famous and influential blues artists ever, gave her the nickname of “Hurricane,” so she comes by it all most honestly and genuinely, an attribute always present in her performance and demeanor.
Thursday (tonight for you intrepid readers, too late for the rest of you), for whatever reason, features several cool shows. Sound Edge Records artist and blues guitarist Jason Wells brings his band to the Walnut Street Winery with a rock-ish sound that slides right into the long standing and popular genre of the blues. A touring band from Fort Worth, Texas, called Quaker City Night Hawks teams up with local drumand-guitar duo Yogi Beara to tear up the stage at Bar None. Boondocks brings an incredible double bill of Jason Boland and The Stragglers with Mike and the Moonpies to properly rock your country the right and correct way.
Next week is chock-filled with live entertainment as only Thanksgiving-time can deliver.
Contact Tom Irwin at [email protected].
