WBF : News : News Release

'It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives its most distinctive characteristics.'
-- James Weldon Johnson

PORTLAND , Ore. (June 14, 2005) -- Grammy Award-winning bluesman Buddy Guy, legendary Chicago harmonica ace Charlie Musselwhite, Afro-pop superstar Oliver Mtukudzi, New Orleans acoustic roots-rockers the subdues, and blues divas Mavis Staples and Shemekia Copeland will highlight the 2005 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, presented by First Tech Credit Union.

World-renowned blues artists will perform at the 18th annual Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, Friday, July 1, to Monday, July 4, at Tom McCall Waterfront Park on the banks of the beautiful Willamette River in downtown Portland.

The festival is the largest blues festival West of the Mississippi and annually attracts more than 120,000 blues fans, who travel from throughout the world to hear performances by more than 100 blues artists on four stages.

The 2005 festival will spotlight Women in Blues, Gospel Blues, and the blues-based music of the Gulf Coast states of Texas and Louisiana. The festival will also feature a special tribute to Ray Charles, presented by KOIN TV6; films, presented by Northwest Film Center; workshops; July 4th fireworks, presented by CO-OP Network; and more Blues Cruises than ever before.

Admission is $5 per person per day plus two cans of nonperishable food. All festival donations benefit Oregon Food Bank’s work to eliminate hunger and its root causes.

Friday, July 1, noon to 10 p.m.

Friday's high-wattage line-up features headliner Buddy Guy, presented by CO-OP Network. Guy, five-time Grammy Award winner, was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame this spring. Considered a peerless showman, he's also earned 19 W.C. Handy Awards. Eric Clapton calls Guy the greatest living guitar player and claims Guy's playing reduced him to a "helplessly estatic teenager."

Chicago blues harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite, presented by First Tech Credit Union, will share the spotlight on opening night. Musselwhite swept the W.C. Handy Awards this year, winning for harmonica, contemporary blues artist and contemporary blues album for his recent release, “Sanctuary.” The Chicago Tribune calls him “a venerated blues harmonica elder at his creative peak.”

Austin guitar virtuoso Eric Johnson, named “one of the 100 greatest guitarists of the 20 th Century” by “Musician” magazine, will join the main stage to help make what could be the festival’s most powerful opening night ever.

Other main stage action includes the hard-rocking Big Monti Amundson and the organ-basted, barbecued blues of King Louie & Baby James. Ben Rice & Youth of the Blues , a teenage blues group from Newberg opening the main stage on Friday, will play a number of major festivals across the Northwest this summer.

But there’s more. On the A&E Front Porch Stage, Baton Rouge bluesman Kenny Neal will team up with Chicago harmonica ace Billy Branch for a down home, unplugged set of acoustic blues. The duo’s recent Alligator release, “Double Take,” won the W.C. Handy Award for Acoustic Blues Album of 2005. Other Friday highlights on the A&E Front Porch include Portland ’s young, hill-blues duo, Hillstomp, and Salem ’s Handy Award nominee, guitarist Mark Lemhouse. Lemhouse leaves the next day for a summer-long European tour.

The A&E Front Porch will close opening night with an extended-hours dance, featuring Louisiana Zydeco master, Geno Delafose, and Eugene ’s Étouffee.

Friday night, the Portland Spirit will sail the Willamette River on the first of the festival’s expanded series of six blues cruises. Friday’s Hoodoo Moon Cruise— featuring Charlie Musselwhite , the Kenny Neal Band, Mark Lemhouse and Hillstomp —is sure to sell out.

..............Saturday, July 2, noon to 10 p.m....................

The spotlight falls on blues from the Gulf Coast bayous of Louisiana and Texas on day two of the festival. Featured artists include Baton Rouge ’s Kenny Neal Band with special guest Billy Branch, presented by Karolyn H. March, attorney. Neal “lays into the blues like nothing can stop him or tame him,” says Musician magazine. Neal’s individual brand of blues, featuring a combination of Louisiana swamp blues, funky rhythms and soulful vocals, powered by his slashing guitar and loping harmonica, puts him at the forefront of contemporary blues players. Chicago harp man, Billy Branch, cut his teeth with Willie Dixon’s Chicago Blues Allstars and has since appeared on more than 50 recordings.

Louisiana-born guitar slinger Sherman Robertson , who now makes Houston , Texas , his home, spent his early years playing in the band of late Zydeco King Clifton Chenier. Carrying on in the tradition pioneered by such Gulf Coast bluesmen as T-Bone Walker, Gatemouth Brown, Guitar Slim and Lightnin' Hopkins, Robertson delivers, in the words of “Living Blues” magazine, “Some of the best Texas soul-blues anyone could hope for.” Robertson will be backed by Portland ’s DK4.

Funky, bluesified Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen hail from New Orleans. Bonnie Raitt calls keyboard virtuoso Cleary “the ninth wonder of the world” and made him a featured member of her band.

New Orleans ’ roots-blues-acoustic-rockers, the subdudes, swept “Offbeat” magazine’s Best of the Beat awards this year, winning Best Band, Best Overall Performer and Best Album by a Louisiana Artist for its recent “Miracle Mule.” Good Neighbor Pharmacy will present the subdudes.

New Orleans expatriate saxophonist Reggie Houston , who relocated to Portland last fall after spending three decades leading bands for such New Orleans legends as Charmaine Neville, Fats Domino and Irma Thomas, will be joined by his new Portland Earth Island Band to deliver a set that stretches musically from New Orleans to Chicago and from Memphis to Houston . Further feeding Saturday’s main stage Mardi Gras voodoo melee will be Portland ’s colorful, Fellini-esque MarchFourth Marching Band.

Saturday’s line-up will also present a special Tribute to Ray Charles, featuring Portland ’s finest blues, soul and R&B performers. KOIN TV-6 will present the tribute. With a full horn section and backup singers orchestrated by Patrick Lamb and Thara Memory, the tribute will present classic Ray Charles hits delivered by Curtis Salgado, Linda Hornbuckle, Duffy Bishop, Norman Sylvester, Reggie Houston, Janice Scroggins, DK Stewart, “Sweet Baby” James Benton and more.

Other main stage highlights include Portland ’s Lloyd Jones Struggle and Curtis Salgado, whose seamless grooves will be reinforced by Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff and the Texas Horns. The Texas Horns, who have toured and recorded with such artists as Delbert McClinton, Dr. John and Buddy Guy, will serve for the third year as the festival’s resident horn section, lending firepower to a number of main stage sets.

For the fourth year, the A&E Front Porch stage will host its popular Zydeco Swamp Romp, featuring three of Louisiana 's finest touring zydeco acts. Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie, from Eunice, La., “is one of those cultural guardians with the courage to inject modern influences and themes into traditional zydeco without sacrificing its integrity,” notes the San Diego Tribune. The Cascade Zydeco Association will present their performance. Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, from Lafayette , La. , will serve up “exhilarating dance-floor zydeco.” "Spirited party-music, the band dashes, sprints and zips through crowd-pleasing boogies,” notes “CD Review.” Chris Ardoin , from Lake Charles , La. , is a third generation product of southwest Louisiana ’s most famed musical dynasty. At age five, Chris backed his legendary grandfather, Alphonse “Bois Sec” Ardoin, at Carnegie Hall. Portland ’s Too Loose Cajun Band kicks off the Zydeco Swamp Romp at noon, followed by a “sultry blues and zydeco” dance lesson-demonstration on a dance floor brought in for the event.

Saturday afternoon, the Portland Spirit will head downriver on its “Sail On Sister!” Women in Blues Cruise , featuring Chicago blues-belter Zora Young, backed by piano ace Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne; the Duffy Bishop Band; and gospel-blues pianist Janice Scroggins with vocalist Patrick Minner.

After hours, Reel Blues, presented by the Northwest FilmCenter, will screen “Make it Funky!,” a new documentary on New Orleans’ contributions to rock, blues, soul and funk, featuring interviews and performances by Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, the Neville Brothers, Allan Toussaint and many other Crescent City legends.

The “Portland Spirit,” meanwhile, heads up river on its Midnight Mambo Cruise, sure to sell out as it did last year, with another stellar line-up of Louisiana voodoo blues and R&B, featuring Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, and the DK4 with special guests Reggie Houston and Sherman Robertson, and the Ron Rogers Band.

Sunday, July 4, noon to 10 p.m.

On Sunday the festival will pay tribute to both Women in Blues and Gospel Blues. Sunday’s headliner will be Mavis Staples , a true expert on both subjects. First Tech Credit Union will present Staples, who powered such R&B hits with the Staples Singers as “I'll Take You There” and “Respect Yourself,” swept the W.C. Handy Awards this year, winning more awards than any other artist. Mavis, with help from her critically-acclaimed Alligator release, “Have A Little Faith,” won for Blues Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Soul-Blues Album of the Year and Soul-Blues Female Artist of the Year. In addition, Staple’s “Have a Little Faith” won top Blues Song for writers Jim Tullio and Jim Weider.

Co-headlining Sunday’s line-up is blues-belter Shemekia Copeland , winner of this year’s W.C. Handy Award for Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year. Shemekia, presented by iQ Credit Union, will appear on the same stage headlined 12 years ago by her legendary father, the late Texas bluesman Johnny Clyde Copeland.

Other blues women featured in this year’s line-up include Chicago blues-belter Zora Young , Seattle’s Alice Stuart , Portland’s Lauren Sheehan and Mary Flower , the Northwest Women in Rhythm & Blues Revue , blues chanteuse Linda Michelet and Rose City soul diva Linda Hornbuckle in an Old Time Gospel Revue featuring Janice Scroggins.

In addition to rousing sets by Staples and Hornbuckle, Sunday’s gospel offerings will include the “sacred steel” champions, the Campbell Brothers . From Oakland , Calif. , Roy Tyler & New Directions , led by former Gospel Hummingbirds lead vocalist, are fast becoming one of the premier new gospel-blues groups on the international festival circuit. The “Portland Spirit” will sail Sunday afternoon on its “Gospel Ship” cruise, featuring the Campbell Brothers and Roy Tyler & New Directions.

On Sunday, the A&E Front Porch Stage will provide an antidote to these uplifting messages and inspirational blues women with a testosterone-fueled guitar slam, featuring Too Slim & The Taildraggers , Terry Robb Band , San Francisco ’s Kenny Blue Ray (backed by Portland ’s Walter Guy Band) and New Orleans ’ multi-instrumentalist Spencer Bohren.

Late night, the Moonlight Shanghai Cruise will feature Guitar Shorty and his guitar pyrotechnics, Stephen Bruton , a showdown between Too Slim and Big Monti , and an upper-deck solo set by Australian guitarist Jimi Hocking.

On the A&E Front Porch Stage, Reel Blues will continue Women in Blues with “Nina Simone: Love Sorceress” a film about the brilliant, late, “high priestess of soul.” The film is “a priceless tribute and one of the most sensational cinematic musical performances of our lifetime.”

Monday, July 4, noon to 10 p.m.

The festival will celebrate the African roots of the blues when Afro-pop superstar Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirits hits the stage on July 4. ‘Tuku’ is the best-selling artist in his home country of Zimbabwe . Bonnie Raitt, who used his music as inspiration for the song “One Belief Away” on her album “Fundamental,” hails “Tuku” as “a treasure.” Mtukudsi “further confirms the essential place African music has in contemporary culture,” lauds CN WorldBeat.

Independence Day also includes a formidable crop of young guitar slingers balanced by a host of seasoned blues men and women who honed their chops in years of gigs in Texas roadhouses.

Acclaimed Austin , Texas , guitarist and songwriter, Stephen Bruton, boasts an impressive résumé that includes a 17-year on-and-off stint as Kris Kristofferson’s lead guitarist, two multi-platinum recordings and world tours as a member of Bonnie Raitt’s band in the 1990s. Bruton is “a guitar player’s guitar player, a songwriter’s singer and the producer of some of the finest alternative country and R&B recordings I have heard in years,” raves Jackson Brown.

Another Texan, Doyle Bramhall, will make his waterfront debut on Monday. This legendary vocalist-drummer has been at the heart of the Texas blues scene since the 1960s and wrote several of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s signature hits. Special guest Gary Clark, Jr., a young guitarist hailed as the biggest news out of Austin since Stevie Ray Vaughan, will join Bramhall and his band. Clark will also appear in solo and workshop settings.

The day will also feature guitar slinger, Sacramento ’s Jackie Greene, 22. Greene “has more old-soul in him than most musicians twice his age. He’s been tagged as a blues phenom, but he reveals an effortless flair for Texas-and-Greenwich Village-style folk, hillbilly stomp, bar-band boogie-woogie, or just about any roots-related genre he cares to try on for size. He’s a songwriter, plain and simple, and a superb one at that,” writes the San Francisco Chronicle.

Kelley Hunt will return from Kansas for a set of piano boogie-woogie. “Surprises don’t often crop up on the well-trodden blues circuit. So welcome Kelley Hunt. This Kansan is a full-blown phenomenon: Powerhouse singer, hard-boogieing pianist, polished songwriter,” raves the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Monday highlights include Tony Coleman , a veteran drummer, who powered bands for B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bland, Ike Turner and more; San Francisco area soul-blues guitarist J.C. Smith ; Southern California harmonica virtuoso Chris “Hammer” Smith (whose session work can be heard on recordings by such diverse artists as Paul McCartney, Sammy Hagar, Smokey Robinson, John Tesh, The Winans, and Michael Jackson); and a collaboration featuring Portland harmonica ace Paul deLay Band with special guest Duffy Bishop , a tag-team first assembled last fall to headline Bumbershoot’s Mural Stage when Bo Diddley cancelled on short notice.

On the A&E Front Porch Stage, the festival will team up with the Memphis-based Blues Foundation to present this year’s winners of the International Blues Challenge: Houston ’s Diunna Greenleaf & the Blue Mercy Band , who won Best Band honors, and Australian guitar phenom, Jimi Hocking . The Cascade Blues Association will present this year’s Journey to Memphis finals. Four regional acts will compete to determine the CBA’s IBC entry in 2006: Randy Oxford Band, Ralph Bassinger, Bill Rhoades & the Party Kings, and Ward Stroud Band. Also featured will be last year’s regional Journey to Memphis winners, the popular Rose City Kings. Seattle’s Crossroads Band, winner of the Washington Blues Society’s Best Band award, will feature harmonica wizard Steve Bailey and former Rose City guitarist Dan Newton.

Monday evening, the A&E Front Porch will also host Bill Rhoades’ annual Harmonica Blow-off , featuring Portland ’s Bill Rhoades and Paul deLay, Seattle ’s Steve Bailey, California ’s Chris “Hammer” Smith and others to be announced. The all-star backing band will include John Lee Hooker’s longtime guitarist, Michael Osborne.

The afternoon “Blue Bayou” Cruise on the Portland Spirit will highlight blues from the Lone Star State with the Doyle Bramhall Band, Gary Clark, Jr., Papa Mali and the Original Vipers, featuring expatriate Texan, slide-guitarist the Original Snakeboy with drummer Corey Burdon.

Texas-born bluesman, Guitar Shorty will close the festival on the main stage. His blazing guitar and incredible stage antics influenced the likes of Jimi Hendrix (his nephew by marriage) and Buddy Guy. A favorite of Rose City blues fans, Shorty will make his first Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival appearance in eight years. He’ll get back-up from the Texas Horns, who punch-up several of Shorty’s recent recordings.Expect Shorty to end with his late nephew’s rendition of the Star Spangled Banner

............................More about blues cruises............................

Festival blues cruises give music fans an opportunity to catch main stage artists in an intimate, more informal setting. Last year, several cruises sold out well in advance of the festival’s opening day, and all cruises sailed at capacity. This year, the festival expanded the schedule to offer six cruises—three afternoon and three late-night cruises.

Afternoon cruises: Board at 2 p.m. Sail from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Open to all ages. Tickets are available in advance from TicketsWest for $15 for adults and $10 for children, plus a convenience fee. After July 1, tickets go up to $20 for adults and $15 for children.

Late-night cruises: Board at 10:15 p.m. Sail from 10:45 p.m. to 1:15 a.m. For blues fans 21 and older. Tickets are available in advance from TicketsWest for $25 plus a convenience fee. After July 1, tickets go up to $30.

Purchase tickets in advance through June 30 from TicketsWest, 503-224-8499, 1-800-992-8499 or visit www.ticketswest.com . TicketsWest will charge an additional convenience fee.

No-host hors d’oeuvres and bar are available on all cruises. Cruises board from the seawall in front of McCall Fountain, just north of the A&E Front Porch Stage, S.W. Salmon and Naito Parkway. Photo identification is required for everyone over 1

TicketsWest is selling four-day festival passes for $15 plus convenience fee. Without a four-day pass, daily admission is a donation of $5 and two cans of food per person per day. All donations benefit Oregon Food Bank’s work to eliminate hunger in Oregon and southwest Washington.

....Educational Workshops and Activities for Children........

Look for in-depth educational workshops on the HSBC Workshop Stage and for children’s activities at the Ethos Blues Lab. Learn slide guitar by Mark Lemhouse; delta blues guitar with Mary Flower and Steve Cheseborough; blues photography with blues historian and photographer Dick Waterman; electric blues guitar with Guitar Shorty, Kenny Neal, Sherman Robertson and Kenny Blue Ray; the role of the rhythm section in blues with Tony Coleman, B.B. King’s former drummer; New Oreleans rhythm wtih Reggie Houston's Box of Chocolates; and the role of brass in the blues with the Texas Horns. Hear unplugged performances and interviews with Stephen Bruton, Alice Stuart and Spencer Bohren. Children have fun learning to play blues harmonica and blues piano and how to construct and play a one-string Diddley Bow and more.

"The workshops give the festival a cultural depth that doesn't exist at most other festivals," says Lisa Wiebe, director of development at Oregon Food Bank.

.......................................Empty Bowl.........................................

Don't miss the Empty Bowls booth. The Oregon Potters Association coordinates Empty Bowls, a fund-raiser to benefit Oregon Food Bank. The association collects pottery donations from its members throughout the year and sells them — most for just $10 — at the blues festival.

Oregon Food Bank is a nonprofit, charitable organization. It is the hub of a statewide network of more than 870 hunger-relief agencies serving Oregon and Clark County, Wash. Oregon Food Bank recovers food from farmers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers individuals and government sources. It then distributes that food to 20 regional food banks across Oregon . Eighteen are independent charitable organizations. OFB directly operates the two regional food banks serving the Portland metro area. Those two centers distribute food weekly to more than 300 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other programs helping low-income individuals in Multnomah, Clackamas, Clark and Washington counties.

The 2005 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is presented by First Tech Credit Union with major sponsorship by CO-OP Network, HSBC, KINK fm102, The Oregonian A&E, JetBlue Airways, Good Neighbor Pharmacy and Chipotle.

Supporting Sponsorship is provided by iQ Credit Union, Miller Genuine Draft, Pepsi, Snapple, Beringer Wine, Frito Lay Snacks, Dreyer's Ice Cream, Yoshida Sauce, Brown Cow Yogurt, Portland Oregon Visitors Association, Riverplace Hotel, Marriott Portland Downtown Waterfront, KBOO, KOIN TV6, OregonLive.com, Green Mountain Energy, NW Natural, Music Millennium, Guitar Center, Pearl Pharmacy, Beard’s Framing, Sprint PCS, Ethos, Inc., Cascade Zydeco Association, Cascade Blues Association, Oregon Potters Association, Northwest Film Center, Edge Design, Gary Houston Design and Pacific Northwest College of Art.

News Release

Buddy Guy, Charlie Musselwhite, Oliver Mtukudzi, Mavis Staples, Shemekia Copeland, the subdudes to highlight 2005 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, July 1-4, 2005

Friday, July 1, noon to 10 p.m.

..............Saturday, July 2, noon to 10 p.m....................

Sunday, July 4, noon to 10 p.m.

Monday, July 4, noon to 10 p.m.

....Educational Workshops and Activities for Children........

Buddy Guy, Charlie Musselwhite, Oliver Mtukudzi, Mavis Staples, Shemekia Copeland, the subdudes to highlight
2005 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival,
July 1-4, 2005