The best in blues each week. Here's your place to listen to the latest edition of The Blue Note, hosted by Ellen Rocco, anytime you want. The 7/27/10 edition is the lead segment of this stream. (This archive will only be available until next week's show is posted.)
Two thirds of the Upper Jay-based alternative trio Monsterbuck were Ellen Rocco's live guests in the NCPR production studio. Chris Kowanko and Byron Renderer play a sampling of their original compositions, which earned them Esquire magazine accolades as "one of the top five unsigned bands on MySpace.
In a special live remote edition of The Blue Note, host Ellen Rocco welcomes Russ Bailey and Crow Party to The Recovery Lounge in Upper Jay, NY. They deliver some some raw, no-nonsense blues.
I
grew up in Manhattan (and, for a while, in Queens). Went to City College, in Harlem.
Highlights of my college years: poetry seminar with Paul Blackburn, the City College
cafeteria--a political gulag with tables invisibly marked for the Young Conservatives,
SDS, the Maoists, Communist Party, Socialist Party, Young Republicans, druggies,
etc--and Wednesdays at The Apollo Theater for amateur hour or the Moulin Rouge
Cafe for the world's best juke box, where I was introduced to the blues, thanks
to Big George, my guide through the alleys and backdoors of uptown New York. Here
I am, years later in northern New York, still totally hooked on blues, jazz, R&B
and, more recently, world beat.
Finding
Music
You
can find or special order any of the music heard on this program from local music
stores, including:
If you're listening for
someone or something in particular on The Blue Note--and don't hear it--let
me know. I prefer blues and blues-related music that's direct and gutsy. You won't
hear the overproduced stuff--those tracks with excessive horns and guitars, or
the songs where the individual voice is muddied. Muddy Waters you will hear. Along
with all the greats from the '30s to the '60s--Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Johnson,
Bessie Smith, Howlin' Wolf, BB King, Albert King, Jimmy King, Koko Taylor--plus
the best of the voices and groups of the past two or three decades, like Johnny
Winter, Taj Mahal, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Keb Mo', Dave Hole, Coco Montoya, Corey
Harris, Rory Block, Maria Muldaur...and so on.
Stay in touch. Tell me what
I'm missing or hitting right...or just let me know you're tuning in. Thanks for
listening.
Music
Maker Relief Foundation
Dedicated to helping the true pioneers and forgotten
heroes of the blues gain recognitiuon and meet their day-to-day needs.
The
Blue Note’s
Very Casual List of Recommendations
for Gift-Giving
For the Blue Note Listeners’ BEST OF THE CENTURY LIST,
click here! And, if you're looking
for the more perfect musical gifts, click here for
some Ellen's gift list from 2000.
July 23, 2010 | WVPB · The gritty Southern rock and blues band has its roots firmly planted in the Mississippi traditions of Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside. On Mountain Stage, it plays songs written by Burnside's son, Gary.
July 22, 2010 | NPR · Jones has been a pop star since 1965, when he released his first hit single, "It's Not Unusual." Since that time, he's remained a star overseas, while resurfacing periodically on the American pop charts. Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews his latest album, a collection of gospel, blues and soul covers called Praise and Blame.
July 21, 2010 | WXPN · This Los Angeles blues-rock band is led by Reeve Carney, the future star of U2's Broadway interpretation of Spider-Man. Yes, you read that correctly. Before hitting the theater district, his band stopped by the WXPN studios.
July 19, 2010 | WVPB · A specialist in the jump blues, boogie-woogie and swamp funk of her native gulf region, the Louisiana-raised Marcia Ball makes her eighth visit to the program. She performs songs from her 2008 album, Peace, Love & BBQ.
The
Blue Note
The
Blue Note’s 
Blues
