Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis: Two Men With The Blues – Wynton Marsalis official web site

Interesting collaboration touted on Wynton Marsalis’ web site: a collaboration of the neo-traditional jazzman and outlaw country hero Willie Nelson. Yet another proof of the theorem that blues is the Latin of modern music, the basis that all genres draw from and all songwriters can come home to.
Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis: Two Men With The Blues – Wynton Marsalis official web site

News Dal Mondo: Dani Wilde – Heal My Blues

Blues Dal Mondo blog features a brief profile of British label Ruf Records’ latest addition, female singer Dani Wilde, who to my ears seems to mine the same turf as many of the latest crop of female guitarist/singers (for my money I’d prefer the work of Dona Oxford, which is grittier than what’s showcased in the video on this page). Nonetheless, it’s good to see blues video of young performers that doesn’t insist on cliched imagery:
News Dal Mondo: Dani Wilde – Heal My Blues

Beale Street Music Festival Lineup Announced

The Beale Street Music Festival has announced its 2008 lineup. Blues acts include 2008 Blues Music Award nominees Lurrie Bell, Bettye LaVette, Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins with the Billy Gibson Band, Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials, Magic Slim & the Teardrops, Nick Moss & the Fliptops, Watermelon Slim, as well as Charlie Musselwhite, Keb’ Mo, Buddy Guy, Doyle Bramhall, Kenny Neal. A new stage has been added, the Blues Shack, which will feature Robert Belfour among others. Big-name blues-related acts include Santana, The Black Crowes. Complete information is available at the festival’s host-organization website, www.memphisinmay.org

The Blue Shoe Times: Sitting in with Jeff and Mike

The Blue Shoe Times intereviews Jefferey and Michael Dyson, who produced the Grammy Award winning CD, “Last of the Great Mississippi Bluesmen Live in Dallas“. The CD includes performances by the still-spry Pinetop Perkins, as well as my old friend Honeyboy Edwards and the late Robert Junior Lockwood. They seem to have an interesting perspective, and one of which BluesWire approves, seeing these old bluesmen as a source of philosophical, not just musical, wisdom:

Since we didn’t come from the music business, our attention was focused as much on them as people in addition to them being iconic musicians. What unfolded before our eyes was a compelling story that had not been told. They really appreciated what we were trying to do for kids and this unlocked a part of their lives that focused on life lessons rather than musical ones.

The Blue Shoe Times: Sitting in with Jeff and Mike