Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Concert News: “Blues Legends Four Times,” Arlington, Massachusetts.

Blues Legends X 4

Solo Delta and Chicago-style blues guitarist Mark T. Small, whose new CD, Blacks, Whites & the Blues, which we reviewed here the other day, will join Shorty Billups, Elmore James, Jr., and Shirley Lewis for a special concert, “Blues Legends Four Times,” on Friday, September 30, at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, Massachusetts. For more information on the show, visit www.regenttheatre.com.

Part of the “Keeping The Blues Alive” series, these four legends will take you down South to the delta, through Chicago and back with their "gut bucket" Blues performances.

Shor'ty Billups(pronounced Shor-tay), started at an early age singing and playing the piano . Mr. Billups, has had an illustrious and captivating career( still going strong),writing, singing, and performing all over the world. He plays and sings his heart out , whether it was on the "chit'ling circuit" or at Carneige Hall with Johnny "rockhouse" Green and even the Apollo Theatre.

Earnest Johnson, aka Elmore James, Jr., is indeed the son of one of the most legendary of all bluesmen: slide guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Elmore James. He plays the slide guitar and sings like his father, proving the adage that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

Shirley Lewis, the Regal Queen of the Blues, is a Singer, with a capital "S." That's understood when she puts down the microphone during a chorus of "You Can Have My Husband (But Please Don't Mess with My Man)" and her voice still cuts through the bar-room chatter and clank, over her musicians. Such projection does not come easily. Neither does the gritty Žlan with which she fronts a band, her charming repartee, or the generosity she projects.

Mark T Small

And last, but not least, Mark T. Small who is on tour in support of Blacks, Whites & the Blues, and splits his time between homes in Somerset, Massachusetts and Scottsdale, Arizona is the solo guitar wizard who will take you from the hills to the cities, from the rural backwaters to the urban alleys,and immerse you in the blues. He has studied it, got lost in it, and at times seems to fall down on his knees and prayed to it.

This is a show you won’t want to miss if you are anywhere near Arlington, Massachusetts on the 30th. 

 

The Dirty Lowdown

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