This week we have another good line up of blues jams and bands around town.
In addition… at the House of Blues, Lafayette Blues Band will be playing Thursday night 7-11 and the weekly Wednesday night jam is also happening there from 7-11. Hope to see you there!
After HOB jam ended, I headed over to the Gaslamp SpeakEasy to catch the Lance Dieckmann Band, which is always there on Wednesday nights until 1am.
I got so caught up in dancing, I almost forgot to get some video of them until they did this nice slow song. Lance Dieckmann on harmonica and vocals, Phil Diiorio on guitar and Larry Morgan on bass.
I got to the jam late and heard that I’d missed some incredible blues singers, who had just gotten off the stage. That happens at this jam, where talented musicians and singers often show up and if you aren’t there to catch them….
But I wasn’t disappointed for long. Rich Giglio, a local San Diego guitarist and vocalist, went up with Ron Ordon on bass guitar, Jaz Jaszewski on guitar and Kevin Cooper (who usually plays bass) on drums. Here they are doing a Stevie Ray Vaughn cover song, Flood Down in Texas.
This week there is a good line up of blues all around the downtown area, and most of it is in the Gaslamp. Tiffany Jane is new to me, and I’m not really sure how to peg her blues sound, so I’m going with her blues/pop listing. She sounds more like Amy Winehouse or Norah Jones to me, so not quite sure that is really blues. Let me know what you think.
There is also a full week of jams to check out. Monday at SpeakEasy, Tuesday at Patrick’s, Wednesday at House of Blues free stage 7-11 (not on schedule since don’t offer discount), Thursday at Spaguetteria, and Saturday afternoon at SpeakEasy with young adults who are really talented and great blues musicians.
This week there is more blues happening at Kona Kai and at House of Blues, which isn’t on the schedule since they don’t offer the drink discount. There is the weekly BLUSD jam (Blues Lovers United of San Diego – go to www.blusd.org to support our local blues society!) on Wednesday nights from 7-11pm and this week Lafayette and his blues band will also be on the HOB free stage on Friday night starting at 7pm.
Jams are also happening Monday night at the SpeakEasy, Tuesday at Patrick’s and Thursday at Spaguetteria in Little Italy. And up at Croce’s Park West in Banker’s Hill, Fuzzy Rankins Blues Band will be playing Friday night starting at 8pm.
I have missed hearing Annette’s incredible voice and the way she sings the blues, mixing it in with her jazz roots when she plays with her jazz band at the Gaslamp Speakeasy every Thursday night. She is fun, personable and wonderful to listen to. I will definitely be back more often!
Here she is singing that great cover song, Got My Mojo Workin’, with band members Doc Holiday on keys, Tony Peterson on drums and Doug Brunelle on bass guitar.
Here’s another clip of them doing the cover song Hard to Handle.
If you haven’t heard Annette’s group in person, you are missing a special evening and a real treat. They also play at Magnolia Tap & Kitchen about once a month. Check my calendar to see when they will play there next.
The JammingOut/BLUSD jam on Wednesday nights brings in new faces every week, and last night was no exception. Bryan Whelan (on guitar) and Mellie Frances (vocals) showed up and they performed cover song, Thrill is Gone, with Irakli Aladash on bass and Steve Douglas on drums.
It is another lite week for blues around downtown, but there is still blues every night. There is also the House of Blues jam on Wednesday from 7-11pm, which isn’t on the calendar.
As I mentioned last week, Jimmy Love’s is closed until the spring and will reopen under a new name. We won’t know until they reopen if blues bands will playing there again or not.
Croce’s moved to Bankers Hill (now Croce’s Park West at 5th and Olive), and this week Fuzzy Rankins’ band will be playing there on Wednesday (7-11) and Lady Dottie & the Diamonds will be there on Friday (8-midnight). I should be able to get them on the calendar next month, but for right now Croce’s is holding off on the calendar drink discount as they get re-established.
I’m out in Memphis, getting to hear some of the best blues bands from all over the world down on Beale Street, in the heart of the blues. Our own Fuzzy Rankins Blues Band, representing the Blues Lovers United of San Diego, raised the bar early in the International Blues Competition.
People were commenting on how good they were, and that is saying something. There were some incredibly good bands competing to win the title. While Fuzzy’s band didn’t win, which is a disappointment, they stood out among the hundreds of bands who came to perform.
Here they are playing at the Rum Boogie Café on Beale Street. Bruce Hutcherson was explosive on drums, Tom Mylett was keeping the bottom nice and strong on bass, Hindy Bare was rounding it out on the organ, and Fuzzy was ripping it up and doing his thing.
In addition to what is on the calendar here, there is always the BLUSD jam at House of Blues on Wednesdays from 7-11pm.
I will be away this week in Memphis (cold weather here I come) at the International Blues Challenge, cheering for our San Diego blues society’s (BLUSD) IBC champion, Fuzzy Rankins Blues Band. We all leave tomorrow, so you can catch Fuzzy tonight at the SpeakEasy before he goes. I will keep you posted on how they are doing during the week!