Author: Ric Stewart

Community Partnership

Thanks once again to the New Orleans Jazz Festival & Foundation, Inc for a community partnership grant that will help build the archives of oral histories. These archives are part of the budding exclusive content collection serviced by Save the Blues and the Blues Center, a future interactive museum in downtown New Orleans.
Catch glimpses of the Blues Center in the interview series with founder Ric Stewart at bluescenters.com.

Remembering Otis Rush (1935-2018)

Otis Rush performing at Notodden bluesfestival, Norway, in 1997

Otis Rush, one of Chicago blues’ leading lights, passed away on September 29th this year. His playing lives on in landmark recordings such as “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)”  and “I Can’t Quit You Baby” impressed Eric Clapton, John Mayall and Jimmy Page – meaning that his sound became part of the tool box for blues rock heroes to come.

In the late 50s and early 60s he was one of Chicago’s brightest rising stars, tagged with Magic Sam and Buddy Guy as a creator of the spiky new West Side sound, but after his first record label, Cobra, went out of business he was signed by Chess, which did little for him, and Duke, which did less. “I started lagging with recordings,” he said later, “and it seemed like all I was meeting up with was crooks.”

Read the Guardian’s full story here:

John Oates – BCI #12

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Oates talks and plays the blues in this recap of his Arkansas album and his dedication to roots music. Find out how the riff for “Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” came together at Electric Lady Studios in NYC. John plays “Stack O’ Lee” (Mississippi John Hut) and “That’ll Never Happen No More” (Blind Blake) showing off the bumble bee pick. John gives a shout out to Arif Mardin for inspiring his producing style. Subscribe to catch the series.

 

Will Bernard – BCI #11

Will Bernard in BCI #11 details his collaborations with Charlie Hunter, Stanton Moore, John Medeski and Peter Apfelbaum in this jazzy, funky story with a few twists. Indian guitarist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt provided a stimulus for Will’s singular slide guitar sound.

Will has played guitar on 43 albums as a guest artist! Compelling clips from Raw Music and Ric’s 1998 interview provide an exclusive 3 decade window into the work of a string master. Country Funk gets a mention, it’s Ric’s weekly radio show 10-noon fridays on WTUL 91.5 FM.