'Miles Davis Way' Officially Named in NYC

New York City's 312 West 77th Street has been officially named 'Miles Davis Way' by Mayor Bloomberg, after intense campaigning from Shirley Zafirau, his old neighbor.

Legendary trumpeter and jazz leader Miles Davis lived on that street for almost 25 years. 

Read the whole story [here].

John Coltrane's 'Afro Blue Impressions' Re-Mastered & Expanded

One of John Coltrane's best live albums, 'Afro Blue Impressions', has been re-released as a double-disc with a new remastering and three extra bonus tracks.

Released originally in 1963, this was in the Classic Quartet's tour of Europe. With Elvin Jones on drums, McCoy Turner on piano, and Jimmy Garrison on bass, you knew this was gonna be an amazing performance. This was when Coltrane's music shifted to more modal and avant-garde jazz, from his old hard bop sound.

Featuring some of Coltrane's best songs, like Naima, Impressions, and a stunning 21 minute performance of My Favorite Things, the new album features 3 unreleased tracks from a Stockholm performance: Naima, My Favorite Things, and I Want To Talk About You.

It's also been nominated for a Grammy award for Best Album Notes.

Hear the supreme (pun intended) version of 'My Favorite Things' below, which features Coltrane on the unusual soprano saxophone, with a hypnotic performance: 

Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones Set for UAE

The UAE train just keeps on going.

Mega rock (and blues) stars Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones are set to perform in Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively, in 2014.

Marking their first performances in the Middle East, it's sure to draw huge crowds and it will be great for those of us who don't live in the UAE, since it's very close to everyone.

Eric Clapton plays on the 6th of March at the Dubai Media City Amphitheater ; tickets [here]
The Rolling Stones play on the 21st of February , Du Arena, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi ; tickets [here]

The Blues Returns to Africa - Songhoy Blues

The blues has it's origins planted in West Africa, and it was transported to the United States with the slaves, who then brought their music and influences to create the blues (this is the brief version of the story).

While I was exploring new blues music, I stumbled upon a blues band from Mali called Songhoy Blues. They started playing by trying to uplift the refugees of the war-torn country, especially after last year's Timbuktu taking by armed jihadists (it has since been liberated), who were being oppressed by severe Islamic laws.

After playing a few local bars, the band was then introduced to Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who recorded a song with them called 'Soubour' which means 'patience', a song referencing the refugees of Mali.

And with that, the song has been released on a compilation album by Africa Express called  Maison Des Jeunes, and now have been invited to play a gig in the UK.

Blues music is truly universal and I am very happy I stumbled on this music. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

New Johnny Winter CD Box Set To Be Released

[SOURCE] Sony Music has announced that they will released a 4-disc box set commemorating bluesman Johnnie Winter's 70th birthday. It will be released two days after his birthday on the 25th of February, 2014.

It will feature 56 tracks spanning all his recordings with Columbia Records, from 1969 (starting with his first album Johnny Winter until the 2011 album Roots.)

Johnny Winter is recognized as one of the best guitarists of all time ranked at number 63 by Rolling Stone magazine, and was instrumental in bringing Muddy Waters back to the spotlight after leaving Chess Records (he would release 3 studio albums and one live one with Winter, and 3 of those won Grammy awards).

Here's an old video from 1970 called "Be Careful with a Fool".

35th Blues Music Awards Nominees Announced

As every year, The Blues Foundation has announced the nominees for the 35th Blues Music Awards, which will be held (again, as usual) in Memphis, Tennessee on May 8, 2014.

The full list is below:

2013 Jazz Holiday Gift Guide

Last week I told you about the 2013 Blues Holiday Gift Guide, this time I'm sending you a Jazz gift guide!

JazzTimes has listed their guide for this holiday season, so I've embedded it here for you.

I accept gifts by the way :)

'Little Angel Child' - Pinetop Perkins

Pinetop Perkins was a legendary blues pianist, closely associated with Muddy Waters (he played with his band from the late 60's until Muddy's death in 1983). Pinetop was also a highly succussful solo artist who played the blues until his death at the age of 97 in 2011, just a month after receiving a Grammy award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Here's a rare tune called "Little Angel Child" from 1978:

2014 Blues Grammy Award Nominations Announced

The 56th Grammy Award Nominations have been announced for all categories, but what we care about is the blues, so below are the nominees for Best Blues Album, with a video for each nominee. You can see the full list [here].

Honestly, I'm very surprised that Buddy Guys' excellent album "Rhythm & Blues" is not nominated!


1- Remembering Little Walter - Billy Boy Arnold, Charlie Musselwhite, Mark Hummel, Sugar Ray Norcia & James Harman

2- Cotton Mouth Man - James Cotton

3- Get Up! - Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite

4- Seesaw - Beth Hard & Joe Bonnamassa

5- Down in Louisiana - Bobby Rush

Blues Pianist Aaron Moore Dead at 95

Blues pianist Aaron Moore, the last Mississippi born pianist in Chicago, is dead at 95.

He was a well-known session player in the heyday of Chicago's blues, backing many of the famous players for 36 years. However he didn't achieve star status like his compatriots, rather retiring in the early 80's to be with his family.

However, in the 90's he went back to music and released two albums, one in 1996 and another in 1999 under the Delmark label with success.

Rest in peace Aaron, hope you are having fun with all the other bluesmen up in heaven.

Here's the title track from his 1996 debut album "Hello World":