Last year in September we were at the Bisbee Blues Festival where one of the groups was Bob Corritore’s Rhythm Room All Stars. This year, we miss the Bisbee Blues Festival so we could be at the Rhythm Room’s 20th Anniversary in Phoenix, where one of the performers was our good friend from Houston, Diunna Greenleaf. The anniversary event was Friday through Sunday, with Diunna appearing Saturday night. So, Joy and I were there for some great Blues and to see Diunna. On the stage with Diunna was Bob Corritore,Bob Margolin, Mookie Brill and Brain Fahey. As one might expect, the room was SRO, making it more challenging to get some good photos and video. Here’s some of what I was able to get. Enjoy!
Joe Montes of “Smokin’ Joe’s Roadhouse” and Mean Gene Kelton at Houston’s Rhythm Room, 2003 — Image by kenne
Throughout a good part of the last decade, the Saturday KPFT programing included Smokin’ Joe’s Roadhouse, which appropriately Joe would take on the road to the Rhythm Room, later Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar, once a month. In June 2003 Mean Gene Kelton was live from the Rhythm Room on Joe’s show. Sadly, Smokin’ Joe’s Roadhouse, the Rhythm Room and Mean Gene Kelton are no longer with us.
Today the Rhythm Room has been replaced by condos, Smokin’ Joe’s Roadhouse replaced by the program, “Deadbeat” and Gene, well you can’t replace Mean Gene Kelton. However, he will always be in the hearts of the “Die Hards.”
Today while looking for some of my Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club, I ran across some of my 2003 Rhythm Room photos, each causing a trip back in time. I thought about writing a new poem, then recalled my 2005 “Stardust Memories” poem, which I share again.
Stardust Memories
The past,
is not for replay,
only for the stardust of yesterdays
Yesterdays,
in a time and place,
gently massaging forgotten dreams
Dreams,
giving clues to
our stardust memories
Memories,
fading for now,
only reborn to our imagination
Imagination,
directing the soul to
reconstruct old moments
Moments,
experiencing rapture
in the joy of our love
Love,
is the stardust of yesterday,
the music of the years to come
May these words and images gently sprinkle down on our collective stardust memories.
Trudy Lynn with Duke-Peacock veteran I.J. Gosey at Mr. Geno’s In Houston, Texas, 2004 — Image by kenne
When I talk to blues people in Tucson about the Houston blues scene, I often mention two of my favorite blues clubs, Mr. Geno’s Lounge and the Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club.
Recently, the Houston Press published an article, “Old School: Musicians in their 70s and 80s are keeping Houston’s traditional blues scene real,” with a series of photos taken behind the scenes at the Big Easy.
“Midnight, The Big Easy Social & Pleasure Club, cover charge is five bucks. A blast of heat from the gaggle of horns onstage rushes out of the momentarily open door of the Kirby Drive nightclub, as a writing mass of sweaty Friday-night humanity works it out on the dance floor. Dressed to the nines, saxophonist Grady Gaines and his band the Texas Upsetters are cooking up some nasty, big-beat blues,” begins the article. . . . read on.
The article and photos reminded me of photos I took (2005) at the Big Easy with some of the musicians in the Houston Press publication, which I share in this posting — enjoy and share.
kenne
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
2005 Photos at The Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club by kenne
Sonny Boy Terry & Michael Durbin at Conroe’s Corner Pub — Image by kenne
I wasn’t doing video on the night Sonny Boy and Michael appeared at the Corner Pub, but I had the camera going when they were at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project, October 28, 2008, with the Moe Hansum Band and Rich Del Grosso.
I love the music of all these guys, especially when they are part of the great jams at Ken & Mary’s house concerts. (See video below.)
We are planning on being in Houston in October when Rich Del Grosso and Jonn Del Toro Richardson will be at Ken & Mary’s. Rich and Jonn have a new CD out and are nominated the Blues Blast Magazine Traditional Blues Recording of the Year. You can vote for them by clicking here. You can learn more about Rich & Jonn, and listen to their music by clicking here.
Rhythm Room All-Stars at the 2010 Bisbee Blues Festival – Image by kenne
Last year, after being in Tucson for a couple of months, we looked for some good live Blues music and found it at the Bisbee Blues Festival. One of the groups at the festival was Bob Corritore and the Rhythm Room All-Stars.
We had planned on attending again this year, but instead, we will be at the 20th Anniversary of the Rhythm Room in Phoenix (Bob Corritore is the owner), which is on the same weekend. There is another reason for our being there — Diunna Greenleaf. Diunna is a super Blues singer from Houston and a dear friend.
The anniversary event will be three days with many great Blues acts. Click here for more information on the occasion.
Image produced by kenne turner from a photo by R.R. Rodriguez
This is the most viewed video I have produced with now over 3,500 views. It’s a montage of clips covering several of the songs Carolyn Wonderland performed at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston, a warm June evening, two years ago. It would be great if Carolyn would include Tucson in one of her tours, or Phoenix would be good too!
Cy Twombly at Cy Twombly Gallery in Houston in front of the gallery’s largest painting, “Say Goodbye, Catullus, to the Shores of Asia Minor.” — Source: NY Times
One of my favorite art museums is the Menil Collection, in Houston and home of the Cy Twombly Gallery. “A collaboration between the Menil Collection, the Dia Foundation, and the artist himself, the Cy Twombly Gallery reflects not only the de Menil family’s commitment to working with key contemporary artists, but also to a standard of presentation that provides visitors an intimate, unmediated experience of an artist’s work. The works on view in the Cy Twombly Gallery comprise a veritable retrospective of the artist’s career that includes a number of large canvases, sculptural works, and suites of paintings and drawings.” Cy Twombly, dead at 83 in Rome. . . read more.
Any talk of The Blues being dead needs to check out the scene down in Houston. Live Blues music in Houston has been the star of Texas for some time and now with the help of the Houston Blues Society and the continued support of KPFT Blues programmers, healthier than ever. . . . more at Houston Press.
The Houston Press article doesn’t mentioned it, but I would suggest the that growth of social media is playing a big role in the live music market in Houston. One of my most viewed videos is that of Sonny Boy Terry IBC @ Dan Electro’s, October, 2009. (1,200 views)
Sonny Boy Terry, Rich DelGrosso & The Moe Hansum Band, October 2008 @ Ken & Mary’s Blues Project House Concert — Images by kenne
One of the best house concerts anywhere, Ken & Mary’s Blues Project, will be celebrating its 19th year with special guests Jonn Del Toro Richardson and Rich DelGrosso, October 15, 2011. As pictured above, Rich has made many appearances since moving to Houston, but from my recollection, this will be Houstonian Jonn Del Toro Richardson’s first time at the Blues Project. If I’m wrong on that, I’m sure Ken & Mary will let me know — what I do know is this will be their first time together in the woods of east Montgomery County.
Joy and I have been privilege to see Jonn and Rich perform many times, with many of Houston’s best blues musicians. Because of the following each of these guys have in their own right, this should be the biggest Ken & Mary’s Blues Project ever — get ready to camp out! You can get more information on this fall event and get on Ken & Mary’s email list by emailing to marken3@earthlink.net
Now that we have move to Tucson, the thing I try to do is keep some of my blues folks, because they are a part of who I am, or want to be, or might have been; people who came my way, by accident or incident, and got me going, kept me going — oh yes,caused me to now cross new readers paths. So, I keep an eye on all my traveling companions and do well to dream of down the road, since someone might show up who brings a fresh breath of air and makes our trip a bit more exciting. Sometimes we need to knock the tiredness out, letting some new energy in as we continue down the road.
The people who have passed through Ken & Mary’s Blues Project are a validation of keeping an eye on one’s traveling companions so we are able to meet at the crossroads where with our imagination, like viewing an Edward Hopper canvass through which we see life’s affection and frustration and occasionally, subservience.
Whether a blues musician or not, we are all singing about life’s passersby. Some are blessed with the skills to interpret the experience better than others, even so, “. . . my righthand itches” — see you on down the road.
