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WEEK AT A GLANCE: June 28- July
4
WED. July 1- Ricky with Bekah Williams @ CHEZ NORA
THURS. 2- Ricky @ CHEZ NORA
FRI. 3- Ricky with Bekah Williams @ THE CELESTIAL
for more details, click HERE...
The 11th Annual BLUES & BOOGIE PIANO SUMMIT
will occur SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7th- make
plans now & tell your friends! Appearing will be: LLUIS
COLOMA (Barcelona, Spain); LISA
OTEY (Tucson, AZ) and BARRELHOUSE
CHUCK (Chicago, IL)
Thanks to all who attended the milestone
TENTH ANNIVERSARY
BLUES & BOOGIE PIANO SUMMIT-
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 8th, 2008
at the
Historic
SOUTHGATE HOUSE
in
Newport, KY
click HERE
for the video advertisement
courtesy of Russ Withington-
www.imagginc.com
Click HERE
for an article from CityBeat
Magazine written by Brian Baker
Featuring:
CARL SONNY LEYLAND
FABRICE EULRY
CHASE GARRETT
RICKY NYE
plus:
STEVE PERAKIS (upright bass)
BRIAN AYLOR (drums)
GEORGE BEDARD (guitar)
big THANKS to our sponsors who made this all possible:
Seta Music, York Vision, Chez Nora, Destiny Yacht Charters,
Heater Meals, Huff Realty, MMP Printing, Marsh Inc., CityBeat &
Eat Well
VERY well attended- a truly MAGICAL evening!
Look for CD release in the spring...
And here's some great video from the
NINTH BOOGIE SUMMIT,
courtesy of Russ Withington and IMAGG, Inc.- enjoy!
CHRISTOPH
ROIS: "Central Avenue Breakdown"
BEKAH
WILLIAMS: "As Long As I'm Moving"
RICKY NYE:
"Arkansas Blues"
MARTIJN
SCHOK & RICKY NYE: "Ricardo y Martijno"
GRETA HOLTROP & MARTIJN SCHOK: "Alright OK You Win"
NEWS:
I was selected once again to represent
the Cincy Blues Society in
the solo/duo category @ the International Blues Competition (IBC),
held January 21-23, 2010 in Memphis, TN
Was in Barcelona to perform for
Lluis Coloma's Fifth
Annual Blues & Boogie Reunion January 5th & 6th, 2009 along
with Fabrice Eulry & Chris
Conz. Lluis performed in Cincinnati in the summer of 2007at the
Arches Boogie Piano Stage, part of the Cincy Blues Fest, and Fabrice
Eulry was just here for the Tenth Anniversary Blues & Boogie
Piano Summit...a first time meeting with Chris Conz, a brilliant young boogie man from
Switzerland- thanks to Lluis for producing such an outstanding
affair, and thanks to his excellent rhythm section of Manolo
Germaine (upright bass) & Marc Ruiz (drums)...there is good
footage on YouTube from these
shows thanks to my friend from Wales, Andrew Elias- his website is www.travelchampion.com
TWO new CD releases: Highlights from the NINTH ANNUAL BLUES & BOOGIE PIANO
SUMMIT, and a disc recorded with the most outa-sight
blues players in Paris, entitled VILLE DU
BOIS- available NOW @ CD
BABY, all
live shows and @ Everybody's
Records & Shake
It Records
:
A TRIBUTE to BIG
JOE DUSKIN (1921-2007) by Ricky Nye
I first met Big Joe Duskin
in ’82, before I ever started to mess around with boogie woogie-
that didn’t matter to Joe, he just knew I played piano, and that
made us friends. Through the time I’ve known him he has always
been very supportive of me, and of so many musicians. His playing
and singing was loved by blues enthusiasts and fellow piano players
all over the world- I can’t tell you how many times, upon
encountering the European leaders in blues & boogie in my
travels, their first words to me were “how’s Big Joe?”
I treasure the times we played together, the many phone calls,
running errands and especially meaningful were the times visiting
Joe during his last year, when he was bedridden- I’d come in, turn
on his keyboard and go at it, and Joe would lay in bed and sing his
head off, improvising blues I’d never heard from him before.
Because I loved Joe, it was inevitable that aspects of his style
made their way into my playing- his album “Cincinnati Stomp” was
a template for me to study boogie woogie, and I learned the title
track to perform as homage to him. When he played a blues, he was on
“Joe time”- the lazy tremolos, the space in his playing all
added up to me. The message in his style also came as words of
advice he gave one day- he said “Rick, take it from an old pro:
don’t work so hard! Take your time, talk to the people- they like
that.” I knew exactly what he was talking about, but I said
“Joe, you have a commanding presence, a big booming voice,
you’re a great storyteller...I’m just a little white guy- what
am I supposed to do? If I start talking away, they’d just tell me
to shut up & play!” And he laughed, which is something I
really miss- his chuckling, and the sound of his laughter will
always resound in my mind.
Big Joe’s love of food is legendary- it mattered as much to him
how you were fed at a gig as any other aspect of the show. If I
called to relate tales of my travels, he’d always ask “how’d
they feed you?” After Joe played a prestigious concert at Music
Hall in Cincinnati, I called to see how things went- he said
“Rick, it was so nice- they had fried chicken, mashed potatoes,
peas...”-nothing was said of the performance! Once when visiting
Joe in the hospital, he asked if I would go downstairs to the Burger
King and get him a cheeseburger & french fries. When I asked if
didn’t they have him on a particular diet, he said “hell with
them- I’m going home tomorrow”. So I indulged him, and you would
have thought he was eating the finest meal of his life...food was a
big pleasure for Big Joe.
His compromised health in the last years of his life did nothing to
dampen his hope and spirit. Joe’s performance at his 84th birthday
party was a perfect example of the transference of love from his
fans right back at them- it was the last time he was truly on fire,
playing and singing until he had nothing left to give. To see him
hold court at the Arches Stage at the annual Cincy Blues Fest was
always beautiful- his appreciation for the other pianists and their
appreciation for him always resulted in a truly inspired and joyous
set.
I feel truly blessed to have had Joe as a friend and inspiration to
me. Years ago, after he was in the hospital on a regular basis, I
wondered when the day would come that Joe would leave this earth,
and that day arrived- May 6th, 2007. Yet his spirit is alive and
strong, in myself and every other musician he’s played with and
encouraged. Whenever I play, especially now, I offer it up for
him...
God bless Big Joe Duskin.
R.I.P. H-BOMB FERGUSON
(1929-2006)
Historical information about H-Bomb Ferguson can be found @ www.cdbaby.com/cd/hbombf
Video footage & photo montage from documentary filmmaker
John
Parker
the NEWEST- "VILLE
du BOIS" recorded with the finest blues musicians in
Paris, France,
and "Highlights from the NINTH
ANNUAL BLUES & BOOGIE PIANO
SUMMIT"-
plus the
solo disc "SNAPSHOT",
"QUICK 'N'
DIRTY" & "Highlights from the THIRD,
FOURTH, FIFTH, SIXTH,
SEVENTH
& EIGHTH
BLUES &
BOOGIE PIANO SUMMITS" ("PIANO IS
FUN!" & Highlights from the SECOND
SUMMIT are currently out of print, but a few copies remain at some
of the shops listed below...) are available worldwide through
www.cdbaby.com, and if you're in
Cincinnati, they are available NOW @ Shake It Records,
Phil's Records (Latonia, Kentucky ), Everybody's
Records, Mole's and Joseph
Beth Booksellers (check out the CD
reviews of the Second Summit & Third Summit from the Cincinnati
Enquirer)...
and here's a review of "Quick 'N' Dirty" from CityBeat Magazine
(12-24-03):
The title of Ricky Nye and the Swingin'
Mudbugs' sophomore release (the follow-up to 1998's Piano is
Fun!) is a play on the recording philosophy behind the album.
Nye likes to record in as few takes as possible, and Quick
was done with little overdubbing or other fixes (just like
Fun!). But if you've seen Nye's trio perform live, you know
that the local prince of boogie-woogie-styled piano probably doesn't
require many "do-overs." There are certainly no holes in Quick
'N' Dirty. The energy and spontaneity exhibited makes listeners
feel like they are dancing the night away in some sweaty bayou
speakeasy. That intimacy translates superbly as Nye and Mudbugs Tony
Franklin (drums) and Nick Lloyd (upright bass) rip effortlessly
through a plethora of blues stylings on songs written by a variety
of composers (save "Oh Yes," the sole Nye original). From the
down-low blues of Muddy Waters' "What Is That She Got?" and the more
up-tempo R&B of "Grits Ain't Groceries" (made famous by Little
Milton) to the yearning, soulful balladry of "Please Send Me Someone
To Love" and Nye's trademark barrelhouse rolls on "Downtown Boogie"
and "Dixie Lullaby," you can take Quick 'N' Dirty as a
musical history lesson or, more appropriately, as a joyous escapade
through the repertoire of one of Cincinnati's most talented
musicians. Nye obviously has the deepest respect for the New
Orleans-spawned art form, but he doesn't treat the material too
preciously, raucously banging out the tunes with skill and grace,
but also with a genuine sense of glee, something that permeates from
nearly every note. Between quality releases like Quick 'N'
Dirty, Nye's organization of regular blues and boogie piano
summits, featuring like-minded artists from around the world, and
steady European touring, his place as one of the preeminent masters
of the style is secure. -- MIKE BREEN
("QUICK 'N' DIRTY" also made CityBeat's
TopTwenty Local Releases of 2003)
Pick up a copy of BEKAH
WILLIAMS excellent debut CD @
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bekahwilliams
Produced by Ricky & Bekah, featuring The Swingin' Mudbugs with
special guests (Dave Haley & Sonny Moorman on guitars, and local
tenor sax icon Ray Heckman), and recorded by Erwin Musper @
his Bamboo Room Studio- it's a mighty fine
songbook...get yours today!
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