Welcome to the March edition of BLUES JUNCTION. February was an interesting month around here as it represented the 50^th anniversary of the death of rhythm and blues or as some people call it the 50^th anniversary of the Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. I have, as you might suspect, some thoughts on this watershed event in American cultural history.

One of the victims of this seismic shift in popular tastes was the saxophone. It can only be a coincidence that the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis announced that three of its most recent inductees are saxophone players. Tenors Big Jay McNeely and Eddie Shaw as well as alto player Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson are the recipients of this honor. For point of clarification I, in no way, give a rat’s behind what the Blues Foundation does and their Blues Hall of Fame is one of the endeavors in which I have very mixed emotions. Maybe that is a discussion for another day in the meantime congratulations to these three musical giants.

I thought it might be time to catch up with one of the giants of the tenor sax for my generation. He is Greg Piccolo. Our March Monthly Spotlight shines on this multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist. Enjoy a conversation I had with one of my musical heroes, Greg Piccolo.

I also was able to spend some time with bassist Scott Bomar of the Bo-Keys. Scott has had a pretty incredible career in music. His most recent project is backing John Nemeth on his March 25^th release entitled Memphis Grease. Scott has had a far reaching and eclectic career that includes extensive work in film.

Speaking of film, I watched the Academy Awards last night. You can read my thoughts on this very rare occurrence in a piece entitled, David Mac Loses His Mind.

As always we have some recommended listening. In March this feature comes courtesy of Charlie Lange of Bluebeat Music. He has some great stuff to share with our readers in Charlie’s Reissue Rodeo.

It is a real treat to interact with our readers and with this in mind remember to check out our Letters to the Editor feature. Thanks always to all of our readers out there for their support, encouragement, thoughts, ideas and safety tips. As they say, March is in like a lion and out like a baseball season. Before someone says play ball, remember to stay warm and stay in touch.  

- David Mac