My hometown of Los Angeles, California, has been accused of being a trendy place. I have never cared much about that one way or the other. I am sure, to a large extent, this is true and if so, I hope it applies to blues music as well.

Southern California has seen a modest blues revival in the past year, as several exciting developments indicate blues may be on an upswing and an end to a decade old decline in the blues business is taking place. The man who said, “No news is good news,” hadn’t heard The Mighty Mojo Prophets, The 44s, Lil A & the Allnighters or Red Lotus Revue. I have news for you. Things are looking up around here and I sincerely hope it is a trend that continues and spreads throughout the world. These are my ten best blues stories from Southern California in 2011. 

10) Blues on the Bay

2011 marked the return of the San Diego Blues Festival (SDBF).  After an eight year hiatus, the SDBF came back to the same idyllic San Diego Bay location. This event , held on September 17^th, featured James Cotton, Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, Tracy Nelson and California based acts Café R&B, Robin Henkel, The Mercedes Moore Band, Tommy Castro and, one of my favorite bands on the rise, San Diego’s own Red Lotus Revue. The entire festival is a fund raiser for the San Diego Food Bank. An afternoon in a yacht harbor at the south end of Shoreline Village and across the bay from Coronado Island is a very nice place to be on any day of the week. During a blues festival it is heaven.

9) Teach Your Children

Omega Events, the producer of the Doheny Blues Festival, has already started to announce the line- up for the 2012 event. They appear to be booking blues acts. This is a welcome trend.  2010 marked the all-time low point for this great annual event, that has emerged as the premier blues festival in Southern California, as that year’s headliners were the Black Crowes and Crosby, Stills and Nash. It is high time we teach our children that that is not blues. Over the past few weeks it has been announced that Tab Beniot will make his Doheny debut. Also on the bill will be Johnny Winter, Trombone Shorty and Buddy Guy among others. This is a step in the right direction and hopefully will mark a return of more blues music at this blues festival. I like blues music at blues festivals. I am kind of quirky this way. Also, a yet to be announced headliner will not disappoint blues fans either as it will be the first time this artist has played at the festival held on the third weekend of May in Dana Point, CA.

8) The Blues Samaritan

This past fall, three separate events took place to raise money for local blues musicians who had fallen ill and needed financial assistance with their medical expenses. Two benefits in two locations in Long Beach and one in Costa Mesa raised thousands of dollars toward helping our fellow men. These grass roots affairs showed the true spirit of camaraderie and benevolence that is needed more by our society. In almost all cases, the same people reached into their hearts and into their pockets. In some cases, they shared their considerable talents to make these affairs financial and artistic success stories. These three events also pointed to the massive dichotomy between the two blues societies in our region. The president of the Southern California Blues Society, Cadillac Zack, attended all three benefits, played guitar at one of them and contributed $250 on behalf of the organization he represents at another.  He remains a vital presence on the blues scene. The Los Angeles Blues Society however remains literally adrift at sea, which is another interesting story, as the president of the Los Angeles Blues Society, didn’t participate in any of these benefits.   

7) BLUSD

Members of San Diego’s blues society, called Blues Lovers United of San Diego (BLUSD), were able to open their hearts and help out at these charitable events as well. Many folks associated with this fine organization made the long trip up the coast to lend a hand and contribute to the cause. This group also has a wonderful Blues in the Schools program and puts on a summer blues camp. This past August, that camp culminated in a concert in which the student campers got a chance to play with Texas blues guitar legend Anson Funderburgh. Anson also participated in another San Diego event the previous month, where he gave a tutorial and answered questions for about 30 young guitar protégés. Anson was joined by one of the truly great blues pianists that afternoon, Carl “Sonny” Leland at the event held in the home of Scottie Blinn, the founder of the San Diego Rock Academy. As Anson told me a few days after the event, “This is a beautiful thing.” Amen Brother!

6) Orange and Blues

Behind the Orange Curtain their seems to be a mild roots music revival on two fronts that looks like it is more than just a Mickey Mouse operation. First, Karling Applegate is turning an old Moose Lodge into a swinging, rockin’, retro hip night spot on multiple nights a week. She has worked with, and will continue to work with Mark Torch, the front man for the very talented Hollywood Combo, who have opened for and backed up some of the biggest names on the Southern California blues scene at Big’s Grill in Fullerton. It wasn’t that many years ago the blues world and the rockabilly scene were intertwined and both genres benefited from the cross pollination of fans and ideas.

Since last summer, an enterprise headed up by John Reilly aka J.R. that calls itself World Class Blues in the O. C. has brought just that to the Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa. So far this monthly concert series has put Kim Wilson, The 44’s, Junior Watson, James Harman, Nathan James, Billy Flynn, Barrelhouse Chuck and others in interesting musical settings that have already become the talk of the Southern California blues scene.  Shows at Big’s Grill and at the Tiki Bar have been produced in association with BLUES JUNCTION Productions. Please indulge this Orange County resident a little regional bias as it applies to these ongoing enterprises.

5) The Return of Jamey Wood

The swinging chanteuse of hip returned to the blues scene here in Southern California after living for several years in Toronto. With so few good female vocalists here in California or anywhere else, it is great to see the big smile and hear the confident delivery of a singer who understands how to sing the blues and has the talent to deliver. She reminds us there is a very big difference between a true professional and the self aggrandizing, flat, seemingly tone deaf, cater walling, blues posers and their lot who have to pay to stand on a stage. Welcome home Jamey.  

4) The Long Beach Blues Revival

The Eldorado (Eldo for short), in Long Beach’s El Dorado neighborhood, really hit its stride in 2011. They have had consistent bookings in a part of town that is not terribly far from the campus of California State University at Long Beach, where the Long Beach Blues Festival was once held and where the memories of this great event are entombed next to the giant pyramid on that campus. On the other end of the city lies the regentrified downtown area. For many years the Promenade at Broadway was home to the world famous Blue Café. National touring blues acts could be found playing in the club, which had class and character, as well as some world class characters. Right next door and down one flight of stairs from the old Blue Café, is the second location of the blues nightclub Harvelle’s. The Santa Monica version of Harvelle’s has been a funky musical institution in that part of the Southland for years. They have brought that same spirit to their new location in Long Beach.  The much anticipated Long Beach Blues Revival seems to be gaining momentum.  

3) Let it Rip

In 2011, Scott Abeyta’s Rip Cat Records became the little label that could. The label put out fine CD’s by Barry Levenson (The Late Show), White Boy James (Extreme Makeover) and others. They also re-issued the 2010 self- released album by The 44’s who have become one of Southern California’s most popular exports to the blues world. The 44’s were in the studio a few weeks ago, recording their sophomore release which will be coming out later this year. Rip Cat has also signed Gino Matteo who has recorded a new album which will be out later this year. Most recently the Blasters signed on with the Long Beach based label. The best news coming from Rip Cat Records may be that the label’s first release, the self-titled CD by The Mighty Mojo Prophets propelled that band to receive a Blues Music Award nomination for Best New Artist. Congratulations to the Prophets and the rest of the Rip Cat family as 2012 promises to be an exciting year.

2) Keeping it in the Groove

The San Fernando Valley based Delta Groove Records served notice to labels across the world that they are still the big boy on the block out here in Southern California and don’t take a back seat to anyone, anywhere else on the blues highway.  Between the label’s prolific output this year and their remarkably high batting average they have become, for the moment anyway, the preeminent blues labels in the world. Delta Groove and its sister label, Eclecto Groove, received no less than 14 Blues Music Award nominations. In 2011, fine albums by Terry Hanck, Rod Piazza, Shawn Pittman, Los Fabulocos, Big Pete, Candye Kane, Elvin Bishop and others poured out of the valley at an astonishing clip. The label puts out a fine newsletter, has great sales on their back catalogue and, for the second year in a row, hosted the blues stage over the Memorial Day weekend at the Cajon and Creole Music Festival in nearby Simi Valley. There are some very exciting new artist signings and new releases slated for 2012. Stay tuned.

 1) Tarzana and Jam

Against all odds, the president of the Southern California Blues Society is making something out of a normally nothing night and making it work in a big way. Each and every Monday night for the past 14 months, Cadillac Zack has put up on the stage blues acts who are “nationals” and others who should be.  

The venue is a small room (150 person capacity), has a lousy stage set up, a sometimes downright surly wait staff, food that comes from the joint next door and ambience that resembles a 1980’s era Bennigan’s tavern. Who the hell cares when you put this kind of talent on the stage? The bar, which appears to be a notch above a neighborhood dive, is in a pretty darn hip neighborhood by any measurable standard, if that standard wasn’t L.A. Zack has turned this Hawaiian themed gin mill into a Monday Mecca of blues. The Maui Sugar Mill is located in a strip shopping center that would be easy to dismiss if that center was not just a few miles from film and recording studios and at the foot of the Hollywood Hills, where famous musicians and other celebrity types live, who just might drop in to slum it and maybe play with the help. That help is often professional musicians who get film and television work. This means while these cats back up the marquee talent they don’t miss changes, play right through bridges and aren’t interested in cutting heads. Clearly this is not your run of the mill blues jam.

Zack has the common sense to put the marquee talent on early so folks who happen to be employed can still check out what very often are rare appearances by the best blues musicians on the planet and still get a decent night’s sleep. Just some of the names that have passed through on Monday night this past year are John Nemeth, Terry Hanck, Kim Wilson, Al Blake, James Harman, Sonny Rhodes, Shawn Pittman, Fred Kaplan, Kirk Fletcher, Janiva Magness, Steve Fruend, Chris Cain, Kenny Neal  and a plethora of others.

Zack is a guitar player and a blues musicologist of the first order. Being able to operate this gig independent of his blues society is paramount to the success of the operation. He can wrangle talent, get them paid and hopefully pay for his own time and expense which as far as I’m concerned is well deserved. He also has to take on the sometimes awkward task of having to pass the hat to get this done. The bar won’t let him charge a cover. Zack has the decency and foresight to let prospective patrons know in advance, how much of a suggested donation they are expected to contribute, to what I consider a very worthwhile cause. That cause of course is the blues musicians themselves who are my heroes and should be compensated for their great contribution to our culture. Kudos Zack!

- David Mac