STARS ON STAGE

Le Stars della 26 Edizione

Bobby Rush Soul Revue
Paul Brown & His Allstar Band “Heart And Soul”
Paul Brown-keys/Vocals/Music Director
Sofia Goodman drums/Vocals
Walter "Hinkie" Hamilton -Bass/Vocals
Lou Rodriguez-Guitar/Vocals
Michael Vance guitar/Vocals
Sax Gordon – Tenor Sax
Kenny Anderson – Baritone Sax
Steve Herrman – Trumpet
Mizz Low & Keena - DancersAt a time when most of his contemporaries are resting on their laurels, Bobby Rush—a 50-year veteran of the stage—remains one of the most exciting and creative artists in the R&B/blues arena. Rush’s live shows are without parallel, replete with costume changes and comedic sketches acted out with the assistance of his lovely female dancers. In addressing a broad range of matters of the heart, Rush adopts various onstage persona-the adoring lover, the cuckold, the boastful stud-delivering all with a knowing wink that assures the audience that he’s in on the joke.
In the context of today’s all too predictable and sanitized blues market, it’s easy to understand why audiences new to Rush’s performances often find them novel or even bewildering. Unique they are, but Rush’s signifying, jesting, and double entendré jiving are at the heart of the blues, as exemplified by forbears such as Bessie Smith,Louis Jordan, and Howlin’ Wolf.
Bobby Rush—it’s pronounced as one three-syllable name—calls his music “folk funk,” an apt description for a blend that’s both decidedly modern and deeply rooted in tradition. Over the decades he has consistently updated his music by incorporating new styles-- Chicago blues, soul, funk, reggae, and hip-hop—into a fresh mix. At the same time, his original compositions often stem from his dipping into the well of folk wisdom, as exemplified by songs like “What’s Good For the Goose is Good for the Gander Too.”
The son of a preacher man, Bobby Rush was born Emmet Ellis, Jr.,in the north Louisiana town of Haynesville; he later adopted his stage name out of respect for his father. He built his first instrument, a primitive guitar or “diddley bow,” and by his early teens he was donning a fake mustache and appearing at Deep South juke joints. In the mid-’50s he moved to Chicago, where his bands included Freddie King, Earl Hooker, and Luther Allison, and on jaunts back to his family home in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, he performed with artists including Elmore James.
Rush began working as a bandleader already as a teenager once he realized that he could control his own destiny if he owned all the equipment. His entrepreneurial flair is legendary among fellow musicians, who fondly recall his earing double pay by working in disguise as the emcee on his own gigs, and his shuffling between three gigs a night at West Side nightclubs.
Rush’s popularity as a live performer in Chicago set back the development of his recording career, but he began to achieve national acclaim in 1971 following the success of his hit “Chicken Heads” on Galaxy Records. Over the next decade he recorded for labels including Jewel, Philadelphia International, Warner Brothers, and toured widely on the “chitlin circuit,” the decades old network of clubs that stretches in a rough triangle between east Texas, north Florida, and Chicago.
In the early ‘80s Rush moved to his current home of Jackson, Mississippi, where he recorded a series of albums for the LeJam, Ichiban, and Malaco labels, and gained the title of “king of the chitlin circuit” in the wake of hits including “Sue,” “Wearin’ It Out,” “Ain’t Studdin’ You,” and “Hoochie Man.”
In 2003 Rush fulfilled his longtime dream of forming his own label, Deep Rush, recording the CD “Undercover Lover” and capturing the magic of his live show on DVD at the club Ground Zero in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The same year his showmanship was featured in Richard Pearce’s documentary film “The Road To Memphis,” part of Martin Scorsese’s film series “The Blues.”Rush has also demonstrated his deep blues roots in the last several years through several special recording projects on Deep Rush On 2004’s “Folk Funk” he revisited the funk era on a live studio outing with guitarist Alvin Youngblood Hart, and on his most recent CD “Raw” he strips his sound down to the basics, appearing only with his guitar and harmonica. Although he still maintains a busy schedule with his band, these sessions have inspired him to make occasional solo performances, which have been wonderfully received.
In the last decade Rush has gained new audiences through performances at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and on festival stages in Europe and Japan. But catch him on an average weekend and he’s just as likely to be playing to packed houses in chitlin circuit clubs in places like Nesbit, Mississippi, and Smackover, Arkansas, before mostly black, working class audiences that conventional blues wisdom suggests no longer exist.
Success in the music business often entails leaving behind the people who sustained you during your early years, but that’s not a price Bobby Rush is willing to pay. As his career takes off in new directions, he’s determined to keep it real, presenting the same unadulterated show as he moves from Tokyo to Smackover. Or as he explains in what has become somewhat a mantra of late, “I want to cross over, not cross out.”
--Scott BarrettaBobby Rush
Autentica leggenda della black music da più di mezzo secolo, Bobby Rush racchiude nel suo stile elementi di soul, blues rurale, pop “nero”, soap opera, rock e disco. Si chiama folk-funk, un genere di cui è l’unico interprete al mondo. Unendo a una gagliarda presenza scenica la vocalità ipnotica e insinuante, un talento compositivo decisamente “roots” e un esperto uso della chitarra elettrica e dell’armonica, Rush deve un po’ al malavitoso di periferia, un po’ al cantastorie di campagna o addirittura al bandido da spaghetti western. E completa i suoi show gloriosi circondandosi di una fila di coriste e ballerine compiacenti, fascinose e di taglia abbondante, quanto basta per mettere in imbarazzo gli organizzatori dei festival europei (solo il Porretta Soul Festival ha preteso la versione integrale) e riempire i locali del divertimento per l’America nera. 
Edoardo “Catfish “ FassioBobby Rush: il creativo cantastorie del folk-funk sudista. Dotato di un baritono ferrigno e risonante, dalle frasi brevi e feroci, dalle pennellate acri e dal respiro ritmico tutto colloquiale, Rush crea degli straordinari monologhi drammatici (cuciti su tappeti funky, su marcati riff di chitarra, su melodie variamente riciclate) sintetizzando crudezze e invenzioni della lingua quotidiana nera, le sue immagini e i suoi aforismi, e saccheggiando senza pudore anche i testi standard del blues, da Louis Jordan a Howlin'
Wolf. Maestro, sul palcoscenico, di sceneggiate che coinvolgono le sue discinte e carnose coriste, Bobby diventa via via lo spaccone erotico di "Buttermilk Kid" (attraverso un'abile trama di metafore alimentari), il raconteur in prima persona delle piccanti vicende di "Sue" e di "Bertha Jean", l'ideologo dei rapporti tra i sessi in "Wearing It Out", il censore della malvagità umana in "Evil": il tutto con un suo ghignante e coinvolgente umorismo.
Luciano Federighi
Latimore
Tastierista, arrangiatore e superbo interprete dalla voce profonda e sensuale, Latimore è emerso dalla galassia legata a Henry Stone, il produttore di Miami che ha lanciato James Brown e Sam & Dave. La sua sofisticata sintesi tra blues urbano, jazz e deep soul ha prodotto capolavori come "Let's Straighten It Out," una delle più canzoni più seducenti di tutti i tempi. A lungo legato come solista alla Malaco records, Latimore ha mantenuto un costante impegno di pianista e session man, dando un contributo decisivo all’esordio di Joss Stone, che lo ha voluto negli album “The Soul Sessions” e “Mind, Body & Soul”. Il suo ultimo cd, una sontuosa rilettura del repertorio di Ray Charles, ha partorito l’ennesimo successo, "Hit The Road Jack," a fianco di Gwen McCrae e della figlia Leah McCrae.
Edoardo Fassio
David Hudson
David Hudson has always been held in very high regard for the excellent southern soul releases which he recorded for the Alston and Waylo labels respectively.
It was during his time with Waylo that David was placed under the auspicious of producer Willie “Pops” Mitchell at his Royal Sound Studios In Memphis. Under Willie’s guidance, David recorded his excellent 1987 album “Nite And Day” of which 3 tracks would later gain a 45 release.
A further album project was planned but before it could be completed the Waylo label had decided to pull out of the Royal Sound Studios, thus leaving the project uncompleted.
A total of eight tracks (with a long and short version of one of the songs) had been laid down but were left to gather dust in the vaults. That is until now, so after over 20 years of anonymity you finally have before you David Hudson’s forgotten “Royal Sound Sessions”.
David Hudson’s reputation as a highly respected exponent of the Southern Soul genre came from his excellent recordings for the Alston and Waylo Labels. A follow up to his “Nite And Day” Waylo album had been planned, but for what ever reason was never actually released. Again under the guidance of Willie Mitchell, David had laid down a total of eight tracks which sadly remained in the can gathering dust at The Royal Sound Studios. That is until now, finally, 20 odd years on from their initial conception you have before you David Hudson’s forgotten “Royal Sound Sessions”.
“A tribute to Willie Mitchell”
One can debate for ever what the true sound of Memphis really is. You can argue for and against the sounds created by W.C Handy, B.B King, Booker T and the MG’s, Otis Clay, Rufus & Carla Thomas, Isaac Hayes, The Barkays, The Temprees, The Rev Al Green or even Elvis and you would be right on all counts. The infinite list of recording artists and musicians that have come from, or passed through this great southern music Mecca have all contributed to its unparalleled musical legacy. But it would be a mistake of historical proportions to leave out the name of Willie “Pops” Mitchell who ran one of the most famous recording studios in the entire world, The Royal Recording studio on Lauderdale St. Willie had his hands on some of the most famous records of our time and shaped the sound of some of the most well known artists in the history of music.
Artists such as Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson and Al Green whose biggest records were on Hi Records under the production skills of Mr. Mitchell.
A Musician first and foremost Willie played Trumpet and is responsible for such soul classics, as “Soul Serenade” and “That Driving Beat” amongst many others. But even with all the records he made and played on and the fact that he co-owned Hi Records at one time. He is probably most well known as the man who gave us Al Green. Al who Willie persuaded to leave his native Michigan for Memphis and once there transformed him into one of the leading exponents of the Southern Soul sound. Willie continued to work even through serious illness. As he produced some of his last works on artists Rod Stewart and Solomon Burke with Ms Toni Green being the last artist he held out a guiding hand to before his untimely death. That same guiding hand that commanded, the attention and respect of everyone at the Royal Recording studio because after all he was Pops, the man behind The Hi Rhythm Section and their portion of the Memphis sound.
The most wonderfully enduring thing about missing a recording artist is that to remember them, all you have to do is too push play.Memorable appearances by David Hudson at Porretta Soul Festival 1993, 1995 and 2012.
Toni Green
Acclamata dal pubblico del Porretta Soul Festival come regina della  ventesima edizione nel 2007 Toni Green torna a grande richiesta. E’  una soul singer classica , con grande presenza scenica e ci si chiede perché non abbia avuto il successo commerciale che invece hanno avuto cantanti  molto più scarse di lei.  Nasce e cresce a Memphis in un periodo in cui la Stax Records entusiasmava i fans di tutto il mondo .
Toni fa presto parte del “Isaac Hayes Entourage” e della “Luther Ingram Band”, in veste di corista per entrambe le band.
Negli anni ‘70 il suo incontro con il band leader  Gene “Bowlegs” Miller, il quale la chiama sotto la sua ala ed in seguito diviene il suo manager. Toni canta con la “Gene “Bowlegs” Miller Band” assicurandosi una notorietà nazionale. Dopo un periodo di lavoro a Louisville, Kentucky, dove riceve per due volte il premio “Miglior Voce Femminile” nel 1995 Toni ritorna a Memphis e nel 1997 pubblica il CD “Mixed Emotions ” seguito da “Beauty And The Beast Compilation”; che includeva tre singoli che hanno decisamente dato una svolta alla carriera di Toni, “Sweet Thang”, “Precious To Me” e “How Can I Sing This Song Without You”. Successivo a questi tre  successi il CD “Strong Enough”, pubblicato nel 2001.Nel 2002 esce “. “Southern Soul Music” con gli hit singles “Just Ain’t Working Out” e “Single Mothers”.
Poco prima della morte del grande produttore  Willie Mitchell ha registrato alcuni brani del suo nuovo CD di prossima uscita. L’ultima sua esibizione a Porretta nel 2011.
Falisa JaNaye’
The Southern Soul New  Diva! Falisa is a Vocalist, Writer, Entertainer, Actress & Model
FaLisa JaNaye’ the New Face of Tomorrow’s Music Today.This recording artist is best described as Soulful and Original with a heavy Hip-Hop influence. Resting on the soothing power of her sultry voice FaLisa JaNaye brings an electrifying stage performance to her audiences. FaLisa JaNaye’s musical talents were inspired by watching the power of Shirley Cesar, the grace of Whitney Houston and the showmanship of Michael Jackson.
By combining pure elegance with a powerful voice, FaLisa JaNaye’ has quickly gained notoriety from audiences across the world with both live and televised appearances. FaLisa JaNaye’s range in music has allowed her to travel the U.S. and Europe sharing the stage with many of the top acts in both the Gospel and Southern Soul markets. She has been billed with such greats as Gospel Award Winner Keith “Wonder Boy” Johnson and Blues notables Bobby Rush, Willie Clayton. Her love for fashion has allowed FaLisa JaNaye to model extensively in the U.S. and Europe.  She is currently spreading her wings and venturing into the film industry with a role in the Independent film entitled “The Governor’s Daughter” directed by Lawyer Henderson of Atlanta, GA.
With the recent release of her debut CD under MiLaJa Records entitled ”Sweet Love”, a 2010 Jus Blues Foundation “Most Popular Southern Soul Artist (Female)” award nomination.
brooklyn soul stew
Brooklyn Soul Stew is a nine-piece band formed in the beginning of 2010, and their home is in Gävle, Sweden. Before this fortunate constellation all the members had played in a wide variety of musical styles and settings: rock, reggae, punk, blues, jazz, etc. Brooklyn Soul Stew embodies the best traditions of soul music from the 60s and 70s. Performing with passion and integrity they set a goal to win the hearts and souls of soul fans.Founding members:
Pär Grell: lead vocals
Annsofi Wigert: lead & backing vocals
Micke ”One Take” Andersson: drums
Pär Lindblom: electric bass
Anders Lyck: electric guitar
Sven-Inge Sjöberg: hammond organ
Christofer Schultz: tenor saxophone
Andreas Olofsson-Tuisku: trombone
Christer ”Sippe” Simonsson: trumpetBrooklyn Soul Stew carries on a legacy as one of the most recognizable and credible bands in soul music. The influences range from the likes of Sam Cooke and Wilson Pickett to Clarence Carter, Etta James, STAX, and Motown bands, all blending into a sound that ignores the lines between soul, blues, and rock’n’roll.
Fronted by vocalist Pär Grell, they follow through with spontaneity, power, and grit that make a live performance an experience not to be missed.
Homepage: www.brooklynsoulstew.com
Sax Gordon's International Soul Caravan.PDF
Sax Gordon 
Raphael Wressnig 
Igor Prado
More Stars:
Mitty Collier 
Osaka Monaurail
Charles Walker & The Dynamites
Charlie Wood
Brooklyn Soul Stew

 








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