Welcome to the March edition of BLUES JUNCTION. I would like to pass on our condolences to the family and friends of Morris Holt better known as Magic Slim. Magic Slim is an artist whose career served as a bridge from the Chicago’s celebrated blues days of the 1960’s to the present. He played down home, gut bucket blues in that tradition. Read an appreciation of the late great Magic Slim by Bob Corritore.

Something occurred a day before Holt died that shook me up quite a bit. People were reporting his passing on Facebook. His management and Living Blues magazine got the story right and reported that he was in grave condition,  but still alive. I know we all sacrifice accuracy for speed in the internet age, but when it comes to the life of a human being maybe we should slow down a little. I know it’s hard especially when the normal reliable channels of information let us down. 

For instance, out here in Southern California last December the Los Angeles Times did not make one single mention of the passing of Jimmy McCracklin.  McCracklin was pianist, singer and band leader who wrote and recorded literally hundreds of blues songs right here in L.A. Many of these tunes were hits on the rhythm and blues charts. He had a career that lasted for seven decades and was likely the oldest living blues man at the time of his death, yet not one mention of his passing in the Times.

I respect the L.A. Times a great deal, but the mainstream media has all but given up on the blues. Maybe it’s because we have our own journalists who write like publicists and have publicists who pass themselves off as journalists. All of this got me to thinking about the relationship between blues music and the mainstream media in an article entitled, My Historical Marker.

In writing that piece, my stroll down memory lane took me to a place on the bayou. Actually that place has lots of bayous. They are not the ones we might think of in rural southern Louisiana, but they are on the other side of the Sabine River in the nation’s fourth largest city, Houston. In the shadow of post modern skyscrapers lies a somewhat forgotten blues city. I share with our readers a Texas sized piece entitled Big Blues in the Big H.

While writing this piece I loaded up the Jukebox at the JUNCTON with a bunch of recordings from Houston’s terrific blues scene. Enjoy some recommended listening from twenty different songs that appear on twenty different CDs from twenty different artists all closely associated with the bayou city.

In the past few months I have done two interviews with musicians from Brazil. Last summer I caught up with Igor Prado and last month with Joe Marhofer of The Headcutters. Both Igor and Joe record for a company called Chico Blues Records out of Brazil. The founder and president of Chico Blues Records, the man known as Chico Blues and I had a conversation about his background in music and his company. It is an interesting story. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Chico Blues.

March 16^th of this month marks the return of the World Class Blues in the O.C. concert series. It will take place In Costa Mesa, California, at the world famous Tiki Bar. This month’s show is called, Tres Trios. It features The Rick Holmstrom Band, Nathan James and The Rhythm Scratchers and a band a lot of folks may not be familiar with, Black Cat Bone. Black Cat Bone is a new band made up of veteran Southern California based musicians guitarist/vocalist Stephen Webber, bassist Tyler Pedersen and vocalist/harmonica player Roger Baldwin. With an event of this size, the show has been moved from its traditional Sunday afternoon time slot to prime time, Saturday night at 7:00pm PDT. This concert will be the last U.S. appearance for a while by The Rick Holmstrom Band as he, along with bandmates Jeff Turmes and Stephen Hodges, is heading off to Australia.  They are reuniting with Mavis Staples who they have been backing in concert for many years. This is going to be VERY special concert and as always there will be a few surprises. For details see the tab that reads World Class Blues in the O.C. - Coming Attractions.

One of the elements of these shows that help to give the performances a special flavor (pun most definitely intended) is the food served up by Velinda the Taco Girl. She has another recipe for you and a preview of what she will be serving before, during and after the Tres Trios Concert.

Last October several months before The Rick Holmstrom Band was booked at the Tiki Bar I reviewed the brand new album, Cruel Sunrise by Rick Holmstrom on M.C. Records. I pulled this from our ever expanding Archive section of the site. Check the tab that reads Cruel Sunrise.

The focus of BLUES JUNCTION Productions will always be on the words you read here in this feature driven, monthly ezine. That will never change. However, it is no secret that lots of exciting things are happening as it relates to some very special concerts which we are helping to facilitate.  We will keep you posted on those as the spring and summer festival season nears.

Finally I would like to take moment and pass on my condolences to Mavis Staples who lost a member of her family last month, sister Cleotha.  Cleotha Staples was the oldest sibling in the famed gospel group the Staples Singers. She was a velvety smooth singer in a group that included sisters Yvonne and Mavis. They were led by their father Roebuck “Pops” Staples who formed the ensemble in the 1940’s. The Staple Singers moved seamlessly from gospel music to the secular market and strung together a string of hits for Stax Records in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Mavis has described her sister Cleotha as being the backbone of the Staple Singers. She was 78 years old.

Thanks always to all the folks who have sent letters, comments and story ideas. I truly enjoy the interaction with our readers. Your kind words are appreciated. Be well and be in touch.

-  David Mac