Dark Streets

Set in 1930s noir-like Gotham City (I guess of Batman fame?), Dark Streets follows the life of Chaz Davenport (Mann) a big town playboy with the city’s hottest blues, jazz, swing nightclub. Davenport’s father, a wealthy power company owner, mysteriously commits suicide and leaves Chaz disillusioned, broke, and in financial trouble as he gets written out of his father’s will. About that time a mysterious chanteuse named Madelaine (Miko) and a creepy lieutenant (Koteas) offer their services to help save Davenport and his club. Chaz’s worldly subsequently continues to deteriorate, as his relationship with his old friend Crystal (Phillips) diffuses and he continues to question the circumstances surrounding his father’s death. As Chaz becomes more and more aware, the appearance of the characters reveal themselves. Underneath all of this dissolution, dissolve, and noir-drama is the blues.
Read the whole review at Juke Joint Soul

Incursions Ostentatoires – FAB – Fabsound

FAB - Incursions Ostentatoires
FAB - Incursions Ostentatoires
If the guys from Portishead were smokin’ weed in the alley with Captain Beefheart and “wordjazz” master Ken Nordine outside of a Jimmy Smith show, and then decided to corral Smith for a jam at Nordine’s home studio, this is what I imagine the resulting recording would sound like.
Belgian-born Fabien Van der Steppen has been brewng an unusual blend of trippy, blues-influenced music for a number of years, experimenting by weaving familiar blues elements like slide guitar and harmonica into mixes that use classic hip-hop and trance as a base. The results here are a bit uneven, but never boring, and the recording has the spontaneous, improvised feel of a jam session, with all the good and band elements that entails. Some of the lyrical ideas could benefit from further fleshing out, as some of the vocal mantras border on Nordine’s “word jazz” abstractions both in content and in treatment. A few more Beefheart-like howls, wails, and growls would spice things up.
Incursions Ostentatoires is worth repeated spins, so spark one up, kick back and chill out with FAB. There is a planned Belgian tour, and have been a number of live performances as well in the Chicago area, so keep an eye out.
BUY the CD or download songs: CDBaby.com
website: http://www.fabblues.com/

"Queen of the Blues" Koko Taylor passes at age 80

Koko Taylor, the powerful vocalist who was one of the top draws on the blues circuit for years, and arguably the most popular artist on the Alligator Records roster, died after complications from recent surgery. During her career, she had won more Blues Music Awards than any other artist, and had been nominated for 9 Grammy Awards, winning 1. She ran two different Chicago blues lounges during the 80s and 90s, and she was a mentor to many on the Chicago blues circuit, in addition to quietly assisting in the creation of a foundation which helped performers overcome substance-abuse problems.
A full review of her career was posted on the Alligator website shortly after the announcement of her death:
http://alligator.com/index.cfm?section=news&newsID=397