Alligator Records
Tinsley Ellis brings his band to the Honolulu Rhythm
and Blues Mele tomorrow. The mele continues with another
lineup of blues stars Saturday, and goes to the Big Island Sunday.
Musicians
paint Hawaii blue
'The realness of the music is
By Burl Burlingame
what people relate to ... it's a way of life'
Star-BulletinThings aren't that bad, are they? We're hearing the blues more and more these days. Blues artists seem to be visiting Hawaii more so lately. This weekend it's the Honolulu Rhythm and Blues Mele, featuring Muddy Waters' Chicago All-Stars (Pinetop Perkins, Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin and Carey Bell), and Tracy "Mother Earth" Nelson tomorrow and the Savoy Brown Blues Band, the Tinsley Ellis Band and Al Rapone & His Zydeco Express on Saturday. All of these acts team up for the Big Island Blues Mele on Sunday.
And on June 13, passionate bluester Kim Wilson, singer and harmonica player for the Fabulous Thunderbirds, will do a solo show with a "Revue" starring blues tradesmen guitarist Rusty Zinns, Fred Kaplan, drummer Richard Innes and bass player Larry "The Mole" Taylor.
Is this a plateful of the blues or what?
"It is kind of an oversaturation," said promoter Kevin Scott, whose Mudman Productions is bringing in Wilson. "But the blues are doing well for Honolulu, so who's complaining? Hawaii is a little behind the mainland in this regard -- after a big push the last few years, the blues are abating a bit over there."
Big Islander Les Hershhorn, whose Blue Rooster Productions has been largely responsible for the spate of blues artists lately, brings the blues to Hawaii simply because he likes the music, and thinks it should be shared. Generally, he books artists for a "circuit" of the islands.
"The blues is American roots music" said Hershhorn. "It's about everyday things and relationships, things the average person can relate to, and in a format that's accessible. The realness of the music is what people relate to. It's not only part of your life, it's a way of life."
Meanwhile, Kim Wilson was in North Carolina, sweating out a weekend filled with stock-car racing and concert gigs. Wilson, a purist who was anointed by the legendary Muddy Waters back in the faraway '70s, feels that much of what is called "the blues" these days is just a convenient marketing label.
Publicity
Kim Wilson, lead singer for "The Fabulous Thunderbirds,"
plays solo here at Gussie L'Amour's.
"The blues are being completely misrepresented," mused Wilson long distance. "It's basically a bunch of old rock guys who feel it's now safe to swim in the blues water. Actually, you have to treat the blues almost like a classic form of music, with traditions and styles all its own. The blues doesn't need enhancements. The only exception is when it's mixed with soul, like with the stuff Albert King and James Cotten were doing. Otherwise, it's just small record labels' feeble attempts at commercializing the product."Fact is, you've got to get some miles on you to play the blues. Not to say young folks can't do it. Some can. Some are brilliant. But the real blues artists just got better the older they got, because they were artists and turned their life experience into art.
"That was really inspiring. Muddy Waters was almost a second father to me. He treated me like an equal, and that was a great honor. So I dedicate my life to playing the blues right.
"I'm just not going to acknowledge about 98 percent of the people who say they are playing the 'blues.' It's all about writing your own page in tradition. You don't enhance it with anything except your own talent."
It turns out that Wilson, like Phil Spector, believes that mono sound is the only proper way to record music. The stereo-effects spectaculars just tend to separate the music instead of clarifying it.
Wilson also doesn't use amplifiers built past 1962; that juicy, warm sound provided by heated electronic tubes is just the thing. Luckily, since the breakup of the former Soviet Union, there are plenty of Soviet-built tubes on the market. He keeps modifying his amplifiers. "Yeah, I Frankenstein 'em!" he laughs.
Despite the emphasis on sound quality, he believes in moderation.
"You've got to have dynamics; you can't play everything flat-out. People today keep adding gadgets instead of musicianship, and play it at levels that will make you go sterile. Not for me. No thanks. Where are the Little Richards of today, the Chuck Berrys, the Jerry Lee Lewises? They never had a bunch of gadgets, and they made great, classic music. Call me a snob, I suppose, but these guys were the greatest players, ever. And they certainly weren't . . . technicians."
Kim Wilson Revue
When: 8 p.m. June 13
Honolulu Rhythm & Blues Mele
Big Island Rhythm & Blues Mele
