Houston’s Trudy Lynn (October 24, 2002) at Houston’s Photofest — Image by kenne
Archive for the ‘Houston’ Category
Houston’s Trudy Lynn Leave a comment
The Great Chris Duarte 1 comment
Chris Duarte at the Cactus Moon, Humble, Texas (January 2003) — Images by kenne
When it comes to Blues/Rock guitar players, Texas has produced some of the best.
I saw Chris live several times in the late ’90s and early ’00s, and each time his
performance drained me. He is very intense and emotional — literally mindblowing.
— kenne
Share this:
1972 Houston Skyline Leave a comment
1972 Houston Skyline (Signed Print In My Office) — by Norman Baxter
The forgetting of the history of marginalized groups
is both a cause and effect of their marginalization.
Share this:
A Dream Deferred Leave a comment
Texas Johnny Brown (11/15/09) Image by kenne
A Dream Deferred
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
— Langston Hughes
Share this:
Time To Rest The Feet 1 comment
Time To Rest The Feet (FotoFest 10/24/02) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
The female is fertile, and discipline
(contra naturam) only confuses her
Who has, head held sideways
Arm out softly, touching,
A difficult dance to do, but not in mind.
Hand on sleeve: she holds leaf turning
In sunlight on spiderweb;
Makes him flick like trout through shallows
Builds into ducks and cold marshes
Sucks out the quiet: bone rushes in
Behind the cool pupil a knot grows
Sudden roots sod him and solid him
Rain falls from skull-roof mouth is awash with small creeks
Hair grows, tongue tenses out – and she
Quick turn of the head: back glancing, one hand
Fingers smoothing the thigh, and he sees.
— from Praise for Sick Women by Gary Snyder
Share this:
COVID-19 Is Killing Live Music Venues 2 comments
Until COVID-19, gentrification was the big enemy of live music venues.
Now many these of these venues have closed forever because of the pandemic.
Maybe it’s time to bring back the old fashion bandstand in public parks.
People getting together to experience live music is a necessary
part of developing and maintaining a sense of community.
— kenne
Blue Door Texas Ice House On A Sunday Afternoon In East Texas (10/26/01) — Photo-Essay by kenne
Gene Kelton at the Blue Door Texas Ice House
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Sunday at The Blue Door
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Gene Kelton at the Blue Door
Dancing to the Music of Gene Kelton and the Die Hards
(Gentrification Killed the Blue Door Years Ago.)
Share this:
Looking At Community Service Days (04-27-01) Leave a comment
Joy & Kenne at a Fund-raiser for the Harris County Sheriff (04/27/01)
Share this:
Gary Clark Jr. (09/21/01) 1 comment
Gary Clark Jr. (09/21/01) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
We first saw Gary Clark Jr. in Humble, Texas at the Cactus Moon at age sixteen (November 2000).
The original image for the above art was taken the following September
at the Miller Outdoor Theater in Houston where he appeared with Diunna Greenleaf.
— kenne
Share this:
Texas Johnny Brown at The Shakespeare Pub 2 comments
Texas Johnny Brown at The Shakespeare Pub In Houston (11/15/09) Photo-Artistry by kenne
“We used to have guitars sessions,
guitar battles on Sunday out there at Club Matinee.
And there’d be about four or five of us there,
and man, guitars would be ringing like everything!
It was wild!”
— Texas Johnny Brown (Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues)
Share this:
Mr. Gino’s Lounge Leave a comment
Dancing to the Blues at Houston’s, Mr. Gino’s Lounge (03/09/08) — Image by kenne
The Blues
“The fundamental form in all of American music —
that’s what the blues is. It’s in every folk song,
The sound of the banjo and the sound of the guitar.
It’s in the sound of ragtime, it’s in the sound of
John Philip Sousa’s marches. It’s hard to get the
blues out of your sound. Blues is also call and
response, which is democratic form. It generally
has lyrics that described something tragic or sad.
But many times it reverses that and gives you
something that’s hopeful.”
— Wynton Marsalis (NY Times, June 28, 2020)
Share this:
Houston Blues Legends 1 comment
Pee Wee Stephens, Pete Mayes, Grady Gaines, Calvin Owens, Joe “Guitar” Hughes,
and I don’t know the gentleman playing bass on the stage at Billy Blues (1999)
— Image by kenne
During our time living in the Houston area, Joy and I were very much into live music, especially the blues. Although there are still plenty of blues venues, many have passed with time. One such place was Billy Blues, on Richmond Avenue on Houston’s trendy westside. Regional and nationally known blues musicians played there for about seven years. Known for its 63-foot-tall saxophone made of Volkswagen Beetle parts and beer kegs, the venue never seemed to capture the same blues feeling of clubs in Houston’s working-class 3rd and 5th Ward communities. “I love the blues. It’s a feeling,” Martha Turner said to Roger Wood in his book Down In Houston: Bayou City Blues. “You got to feel a song, you know. When a person comes into a club to see you, they enjoy your expression, not so much as what you’re singing. They watch your face.”
“You watch this person sing a song,
and it’s almost like you’re doing it yourself.
Know what I’m talking about?
You enjoy that blues.
The Blues is something you can identify with.”
(Martha Turner)
During these trying times, what better way of coming together than with The Blues, and Buddy Guy reminds us,
“. . . you treat everybody just the way you want them to treat you.”
— kenne
Lyrics
I've been around a while I know wrong from right And since a long time ago Things been always black and white Just like you can't judge a book by the cover We all gotta be careful How we treat one another I say Skin deep, skin deep Underneath we all look same Skin deep, skin deep Underneath, don't we all look the same? A man in Louisiana He never called me by my name He said "boy do this and boy do that" But I never once complained I knew he had a good heart But he just didn't understand That I needed to be treated Just like any other man Skin deep, skin deep Underneath, don't we all look the same? Skin deep, skin deep Underneath we all look the same I sat my little child down When he was old enough to know I said "I fear in this big wide world You're gonna meet all kinda folks" I said "Son it all comes down to just one simple rule That you treat everybody just the way You want them to treat you" Skin deep, skin deep Underneath, don't we all look the same? Skin deep, skin deep Underneath we all look the same Skin deep, skin deep Underneath, don't we all look the same? Yeah Skin deep, skin deep Underneath we just all look the same (the same, yeah) Skin deep (treat everybody), skin deep Skin deep, skin deep All look, all look the same Skin deep, skin deep Don't we all look the same?
Share this:
Looking Back — Sonny-Boy Terry and Joe ‘Guitar’ Hughes Leave a comment
Sonny-Boy Terry and Joe ‘Guitar’ Hughes at Houston’s ‘Big Easy‘ (02/23/03) — Image by kenne
Share this:
Katelyn 1 comment
Katelyn Turner (04/01/05)– Image by kenne
Every time I see this picture
I wonder what she was thinking —
I can imagine but never know.
— kenne
Share this:
All I Have Is A Voice Leave a comment
Sherman Robertson (Houston, TX, 05-11-04)– Image by kenne
All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.
Defenseless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
— from September 1, 1939, by W. H. Auden
Share this:
Feeling Good 1 comment
Texas Johnny Brown & Diunna Greenleaf (12-02-06) at Houston’s Big Easy — Image by kenneFeeling Good
Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Breeze driftin’ on by
You know how I feel
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me
And I’m feeling good
I’m feeling good
Fish in the sea
You know how I feel
River running free
You know how I feel
Blossom on a tree
You know how I feel
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me
And I’m feeling good
Dragonfly out in the sun, you know what I mean, don’t you know
Butterflies all havin’ fun, you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done, that’s what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me
For me
Stars when you shine
You know how I feel
Scent of the pine
You know how I feel
Oh, freedom is mine
And I know how I feel
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
It’s a new life
For me
And I’m feeling good
I’m feeling good
I’m feeling so good
I feel so good
— Michael Bublé
