Jazz & Blues Lounge

I went to Webster University which is located in Webster Groves, which is a suburb just west of St. Louis. It is a quaint little place, Webster Groves, with quiet tree-lined streets and lots of suburbanites. Of course, most of St. Louis is suburbanites, but this is a very picturesque kind of place. It has a section known as “Old Webster” which is the downtown area. This is the even-more quaint original part of the town. It has streets that actually are still cobblestone.
This is also the location of the “Old Webster Jazz Festival” and …read more

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The twin cities of Bloomington and Normal sit about two hours to the south of Chicago. They are maybe three hours north of St. Louis. Bloomington is the international headquarters for State Farm Insurance and is also a big college town. It is also the LONGEST part of the drive either to and from Chicago and St. Louis. If you are driving from Chicago to St. Louis, the longest part of the journey (at least perception-wise) is that stretch between Chicago and Bloomington. The same holds true when you are driving back.
Well, they are the …read more

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I would love to have a picture of Cassie pointing straight out like the old Uncle Sam recruitment poster. Got a message from Cassie and I am putting out a call to all of you, my wonderful and faithful readers. You are the folks who helped me get the band the Sad Salamanders onto the playlist of WDCB by your sheer numbers and by reading here as often as you do. I could not do this without you. You leave great comments and you have taught me as much as I hope I have helped teach …read more

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Continuing the theme of festival week (or month or whatever) I thought you might want to know about the Illinois Blues Festival which is right downtown in beautiful (ahem) Peoria Illinois. Yes, the same Peoria people used to use when they would say, “Yeah, but will it play in Peoria?” The home of Catepillar tractors and construction equipment.
These days Peoria is experiencing a bit of a comeback. They have a casino now and they have begun to build up their riverfront which goes right through the heart of the downtown area. I hear it’s …read more

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Well, I spent time on Friday looking up jazz and blues festival within the 100 mile radius of Chicago. Of course, there are blues and jazz festivals all over the country. I am only one man, however, so I am sticking close to home. I often get to places like St. Louis and Milwaukee, so I included those in my search.
I had originally planned to go through this list and then try to present them to you in order of their dates. Yeah, well, that seems like it will take a lot of time, so I …read more

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OK, sorry about this one being so late. Heck, if you are in Chicago, you are probably already out and about doing things and seeing shows on a Saturday night. I do apologize. Between Father’s Day and it being my birthday, I just got caught up doing family things.
I also did some research on Friday looking for jazz and blues festivals within easy driving distance from Chicago. I found a ton. The thing is, I now have to try and put them in order and tell you about them. This may take longer than …read more

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OK, ok, ok, I admit, this is my most recent obsession. I raved about Cassie Taylor last week along with my raves about her father and his band. The fact is, all of that is true. I simply cannot stress enough how much you should run out and see Otis Taylor performing live and do it soon.
Of course, at this point, I might be drifting into stalker territory. I can’t help it. I would love to tell you that I contacted Cassie via her MySpace page and she has agreed to be interviewed …read more

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Well, the big event this weekend in Chicago is the TOTALLY FREE Blues on the Fox blues festival located in nearby Aurora Illinois. It is right on the Fox River and the big headliner is Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Sadly, I will not be able to attend as this weekend is also my birthday and my family went and made plans for Saturday night that did not include seeing Kenny Wayne Shepherd. From that website linked above, here, again, is the schedule for this awesome event:
Friday, June 13
Time …read more

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Sorry blues fans that I am a little late on this one. Another sad day and another sad report because another light has been snuffed out and snuffed out way too soon. A very popular and talented blues guitarist, out of Atlanta, named Sean Costello, was found dead on Tuesday.
Not much in the way of details seems to be available at this time. Wednesday would have been his 29th birthday. There was a musical tribute given by his friends and family at The Howell Mill Road Blues Bar where Costello practically set up a second home …read more

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At the “Blues on the Fox” festival this weekend the featured artist is a remarkable musician named KennY Wayne Shepherd. If you do not know of him, you really should. In my opinion he is one of the greatest living guitar players around. He first burts onto the scene back in the late 90s as a nineteen-year-old with amazing guitar licks and apparently channeling the spirit of Stevie Ray Vaughan. His first big album that got lots of radio play was “Trouble Is” and it contained what is still one of my all-time favorite songs “Blue …read more

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