Double Bayou Dance Hall (May 25, 2005) — Image by kenne
Archive for the ‘Blues Music’ Tag
Flashback — Double Bayou Dance Hall Leave a comment
Opened in 1941
Music lovers from
Born in Double Bayou
Still standing
A Christmas Day matinee
Down In Houston Blues Leave a comment
Houston’s Little Joe Washington (April, 2008) — Image by kenne
“Personal inconvenience, experience, and environmental impact notwithstanding, a willingness to drive all over
and beyond Harris County has its rewards for the Houston blues aficionado wanting to make the rounds.
Not only is that travel necessary to access the various widely separated business establishments featuring live
performances on a weekly basis, but for those in the know, it’s also the key to experiencing some unique
presentations of the music — both of which evoke an earlier era.”
— Roger Wood (Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues, 2003)
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The Musician Leave a comment
The Musician — Photo-Artistry by kenne
The musician talks to you with
rhythm, and words that find their way
into the secret places of your soul
turning on the truth of being human.
— kenne
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Houston’s Shakespeare Pub Leave a comment
Texas Johnny Brown at Houston’s Shakespeare Pub — Photo-Artistry by kenne
(Click on Texas Johnny Brown to see archived blog posting on TJB)
Texas Johnny Brown is a major talent who simmered on the blues scene longer than all the beef stew cooked in the ’40s, the decade when he first began playing and recording. Like pianist Johnny Johnson of St. Louis, Brown is an artist who did not get a chance to record a full album as a leader until he had been in the music business more than half-a-century. Also like Johnson, the results of coming in so late in the game have been a pair of highly acclaimed, prize-winning albums including the righteous Blues Defender. Brown can take plenty of the credit, since he has taken over almost complete control of his ow arranging, production, and mixing, as well as the string bending and blues moaning. He began his career as a sideman for the Duke and Peacock outfits in the ’50s about which discographers make comments such as “… the record keeping at that time was less than desirable.” As a result, some of Brown’s playing on releases by artists such as Lightnin’ Hopkins and Joe Hinton remains uncredited. The guitarist, singer, and songwriter began his professional career as an original member of the great Amos Milburn band known as the Aladdin Chickenshackers. Brown’s picking is killer on early Aladdin recordings by both Milburn, and on Ruth Brown’s first Atlantic sides. Atlantic allowed Brown to make a few recordings of his own in 1949, buoyed by the enthusiasm the label had for Milburn, who played behind his sideman on these sessions along with the rest of the Aladdin Chickenshackers. T-Bone Walker is the dominating force in Brown’s stylistic palette, an influence that was considered something of a driving permit for any guitarist venturing out of Houston during this period. Before finally getting the biggie recording opportunities in the late ’90s, Brown did an ARC session in Houston in the early ’50s that was never released. He also performed regularly with Junior Parker during that decade, remaining based out of Houston. As a songwriter, Brown’s most famous work is “Two Steps from the Blues,” a big hit for Bobby “Blue” Bland, with whom he also toured as a lead guitarist in the ’50s and ’60s. By the ’80s, he was considered only sporadically active on the blues scene, but this turned out to be only a temporary brown-out, so to speak.
— Eugene Chadbourne Source: allmusic.com
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Jamming In East Texas Leave a comment
Blues Musicians Jamming In East Texas — Image by kenne
Texas musicians
downhome in the piney woods
living out the blues
— kenne
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Houston’s Trudy Lynn Leave a comment
Houston’s Trudy Lynn (October 24, 2002) at Houston’s Photofest — Image by kenne
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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
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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.)
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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
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Diunna Greenleaf and Bob Corritore — The Rhythm Room Leave a comment
The Rhythm Room, Phoenix, Arizona (February 28,2020) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
It’s been several years since we have seen our good friend Diunna Greenleaf live.
So, when we learned that she was going to appear at The Rhythm Room in Phoenix,
On February 28th, we made plans.
Charley Parker, A.J. Murphy, Diunna Greenleaf, Kenne Turner, Dale Armet
We have known and loved her music since she worked with us to form
The Friends of The Blues — Montgomery County in the north Houston area in 2000.
Bob Corritore and Diunna Greenleaf — Photos and Video by kenne
Since we first met Diunna, she has won many Blues Music Awards,
including the ‘Koko Taylor Award’ twice.
— kenne
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You Do What You Have To Do Leave a comment
Bryan Lee — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Blues musician Bryan (Braille Blues Daddy) Lee has been a fixture on Bourbon Steet for
four decades. He was frequently a live music stop for us during our many trips to New Orleans
during our time living in the Houston area. We first saw him at the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street.
When Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, like a lot of New Orleans musicians he began
touring more through Texas and up into the mid-west. In 2006 we saw him and his
band at a live music bar in Conroe, Texas north of Houston. The above photo artistry
image was created from a photo taken during one of his stops in Conroe.
— kenne
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Blues On The Move Leave a comment
Blues On The Move (June 2007) — Image by kenne
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Blues Legend Jimmy “T99” Nelson Leave a comment
Blues Legend 
Gone, But Not Forgotten Leave a comment
Mean Gene Kelton at The Rhythm Room On Washington in Houston, June 14, 2003 — Image by kenne
gone
Smokin’ Joe’s Roadhouse, gone
The Rhythm Room, gone
Mean Gene Kelton, gone
gone, yes, but not forgotten —
the blues will never die.
— kenne
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The Blues Always Tells A Story! Leave a comment
The Blues Always Tells a Story!
At a February of 2009 fundraiser
for Diunna Greenleaf, Mean Gene Kelton
was one of several musicians playing for the cause.
In addition to being a great musician,
Mean Gene is a master storyteller
in the oral tradition of what I refer to as
“Rural Mississippi Backporch” style — I love it!
In this video, Mean Gene shares a Dallas Texas gig experience
he and his band had traveled with Diunna, before going into
playing, “I Play the Blues for a Livin’.”
kenne
Video at the Big Easy in Houston, Texas
Becoming is Superior to Being 