CHICAGO BLUES & SOUL SHOWDOWN in TOKYO!

TOKYO . . . WICHITA . . . BILOXI

CHICAGO BLUES & SOUL SHOWDOWN! In Tokyo
For any of you who happen to be in or want to go to Tokyo for a special series of concerts, how’s this for a show:

The FLAMINGOS (featuring original vocalist Terry Johnson)
MITTY COLLIER (former Chicago soul singer now a gospel singer and pastor)
BYTHER SMITH (Chicago blues guitar man)
THE JOHNNY RAWLS SOUL BLUES REVUE featuring CARL GREEN on sax

Shows every night, January 21 through January 25, at the Yoshimoto Prince Theater in Shinagawa, Tokyo

Yasufumi Higurashi, founder of Blues Interactions/P-Vine Special Records, put this package together with the promoter, Yoshimoto Creative Agency. I helped coordinate the U.S. end of the booking with the artists. For further details on the concerts, contact Yoko Yamabe at
dogtailpro@ybb.ne.pp

BLUES MASTERS OF WICHITA
I won’t be able to be in Tokyo for the shows, but here’s what I’m looking forward to in January, as a rare opportunity to see a gathering of musicians who represent Wichita’s little-known but deep history of blues, jazz and R&B. As veteran guitarist Berry Harris says, if Alan Lomax had come to do field work in Wichita, people would know about the talent there. But Lomax didn’t. So I hope some of the interviews I’ve been doing can help fill in that informational gap. (Thanks to Berry, Rudy Love and the Love family, and Wichita Blues Society president Randy Crump, Rcrump7744@aol.com.)

The Wichita Blues Society presents its 12th Annual Blues Ball on Saturday, January 16, at the Cotillion Ballroom in Wichita. The event honors Blues Masters of Wichita featuring Berry Harris, Ray Drew, Henry Walker, Rudy Love, D.D. Dunn and Mr. Lee. Big Clyde Sheely and Rib Bone are backing them up. For further information call 316-722-4201 or log on to thecotillion.com.


BILOXI BLUES

I’ll also be on the radio for a telephone interview (and wishing I could be down on the coast in person) about the Mississippi Blues Trail on Friday, Jan. 15, 2010, at 7:35 a.m. on The Morning Show on WTNI, 1640 AM, from Biloxi.