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Portland is fortunate in the respect that it is loaded not only with musical talent in general but has a fantastic blues scene as well. The artists played on Saturday's show were diverse in their styles but still embodied the same tone and feel that the blues is known for.

The primary differences between the style of Chicago Blues and Texas Blues is that Chicago incorporates more extended notes off of the standard 6 note blues scale. It also uses more amplified instruments such as the electric and the bass guitars. Texas Blues on the other hand, incorporates the heavy use of the acoustic guitar and this allows for more of a swing feel to it which resonates the sound of Big Band era Jazz.

Portland's blues scene is in good hands knowing that bands like the Reverb Brothers and the Blue Prints are making their rounds in the circuit. Listening to the CD "For the Festival" was like taking a trip back into New Orleans about 60 years ago. It combines traditional blues and playfully adds an unexpected contemporary twist. Check out Dave Duffield's cornet playing. April 12th is the release party for this EP at the Green Dragon at 8:00. They are also headlining our blues portion of this years pledge drive on April 15th at the Mock Crest Tavern.

The artists on last nites show epitomize the genre of Chicago Blues-the change that ultimately took place from Delta to Chicago blues was the use of electric guitars and amplifiers and the use of the piano to maintain the back beat-Muddy Waters has been credited with being the father of Chicago Blues.

Saturday's show highlighted the above mentioned blues artists.
Koko Taylor was born in Tennessee. In the late 1950s she began singing in Chicago blues clubs. She was spotted by Willie Dixon in 1962, which apparently lead to her first music contract.
Taylor is a staple on this show, performed at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland last year and has influenced musicians such as Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland, Janis Joplin, Shannon Curfman, and Susan Tedeschi. She currently performs over 100 concerts a year, is signed with Alligator Records and resides in Chicago.

Robben Ford (b.December16, 1951) is a Californian who started off his musical journey by playing the sax when he was ten, he picked up the guitar at the age of thirteen. He and his brothers formed the Charles Ford Band which backed the great Charlie Musselwhite.
He has been nominated for four Grammys and a fifth nomination came up recently in 2007 for his CD "Truth" which was nominated for Best Contemporary Blues CD.

The following artists were played on Saturdays show, in order:Matt Schofeild Trio-"Troublemaker",Duke Robillard- "Jump the Blues For You", John Logan-"Tend to My Bidness",The Mare Edstrom Blues Band-"Breakfast in Bed", Kara Maguire-"He Knows How To Do it Right", Delta Moon-"Cool Your Jets"-Haans Theessink-"Cry, Cry Cry", Paul Yates-"Trouble in Mind", Tas Crus-"Tired of Bluesmen Cryin", Charlie Wood and the New Memphis Underground-"Don't Let the Money Get Funny, Honey", Micheal Bram and the Alternators-"Watch Out", J.Hill and Hartling-"One of these Days", Alvin Jetts and the Phat Noiz Blues Ban

Bonnie Raitt was born 11/8/1949 in Burbank to two musically gifted parents. She was given her first guitar at the age of eight and though she felt passionate about playing music chose to follow her dream of becoming an activist instead. She entered Harvard's Radcliff College majoring in Social Relations and African Studies. But it was during this time that she would meet blues promoter Dick Waterman. The two became pals.

(the condensed version)

From Buddy Guy and Carey Bell to Dave Hole and Shemekia Copeland, Chicago blues artists have paved a road for music that not only is electric in it's instrumentation but electricfying to listen to also. The form started through a transitory migration of poorer black workers from the south into more populated cities up north such as Chicago. Traditional Delta Blues music became incorporated with the electric guitar, piano, drums and bass, with the most prominent feature being the heavy bass sound.