Tag Archives: downtown San Diego

San Diego Blues Calendar: June 16th – 22nd

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Blues Calendar - Jun 16
I’m happy to say that Patrick’s Pub in the Gaslamp has a full week of San Diego blues, and most of it straight up blues. Unfortunately I’m not in town to enjoy it, although I did go to a great bl…ues gig last night in Newburyport, Massachusetts hosted by Parker Wheeler with his friends (this week it was SuperChief Trio).

There are a few highlights this week to check out… Whitney Shay and Robin Henkel will be at 98 Bottles doing a tribute to Little Richard, and Tyler Ray Davidson (a super talented young guitarist who often plays at the Youth Blues Jam) will have his own blues band performing at Hennessey’s on Saturday afternoon. I’m sorry to miss both of these, so I hope you get to catch one of them.

 

Good Night at JammingOut at HOB

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I got to the blues jam late, but I still caught a few sets with musicians who have become regulars at the jam.

Here is Rich Giglio performing cover song Jump Jive An’ Wail, supported by Junya Isogawa on guitar, Victor Franklin on bass, David Lewis on harmonica and local newcomer to the jam, Jonathon Bachelor on drums, who says he’ll be back!

Next up on stage was Nicholas Butterfield playing guitar and singing cover song Fire, with Judd Austin on guitar, Lisa Viegas on drums, Kevin Cooper on bass.

And then they did cover song Freight Train.

San Diego Blues

 

 

 

San Diego Blues Calendar: June 9th – 15th

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Blues Calendar - Jun 9This is a light week for San Diego blues, but you will still find some good live blues every single night in the Gaslamp.  There is also Saturday afternoons at Hennessey’s!

I’m sad to see that Patrick’s Pub is shifting to more rock and Humphrey’s Backstage has less blues, but Kona Kai’s lounge will be re-opening in July.

Terry Hanck Band Comes to San Diego

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Years ago, blues sax player Terry Hanck played in San Diego with Elvin Bishop when he was on tour out of San Francisco.  He was back in town on Sunday with his band at Patrick’s Pub.  Joining them on stage was Johnny Vernazza, who  used to play with both Elvin and Terry.

Patrick’s isn’t an easy place to get good quality video, but for the Terry Hanck fans, it will be fun to watch.

San Diego Blues

San Diego Blues Calendar: June 2nd – 8th

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Blues Calendar - Jun 2

It is a pretty typical week for downtown San Diego blues, with most of it happening at the SpeakEasy and Patrick’s in the Gaslamp.

Hopefully Kona Kai’s renovations will wrap up soon on Shelter Island, and they will resume their schedule of blues a few times a week. It is a nice complement to Humphrey’s Backstage schedule (which is now a mix of blues on Mondays & R&B on many Thursdays and Sundays – along with their predominantly jazz calendar).

We seem to have more R&B bands getting booked this spring, which suggests the venues are getting more people out for that. I’m hoping we will see a trend back to more blues in the summer.

One other trend, that is drawing a nice crowd, is the 2-5pm blues at Hennessey’s/SpeakEasy. This past weekend was the Youth Blues Jam, which is always impressive, and this coming Saturday we will have John January & The Rare Creed!

Walter’s Chicken Wings Jam Night

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It was a slow (always that way after a holiday weekend) but good jam night at Patrick’s Pub.  Here is a clip of newcomer to the jam, Fred Lawson, on bass and singing You Better Pray.  Great song and some great solos from Johnny Vernazza on guitar, Chuck Arcilla on sax, and Walter Gentry on sax – our beloved jam host, along with Matthew Burgher on drums.

Note: Video is a bit grainy and a few times out of focus, which happens when the lighting isn’t that good where the sax players stand.  But still very worth watching.

San Diego Blues

Soul Organization Mixes It Up at SpeakEasy

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I have wanted to hear this band for a while, and I finally saw them the other night at the Gaslamp SpeakEasy.  They will be back there again at the end of June.  This is Doc Holiday’s organ-influenced and soul-infused sound that runs the gamut of jazz, blues, rock and soul – with John Hunt (a fabulous guitarist) and Billy Wear on drums.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy them.

There was a wide mix of tune genres, and these 2 videos just give you a taste of what these guys play.

This first video highlights Doc on the organ in the song A Real Good ‘Un.

And in this video, John Hunt does a fabulous medley of cover songs Susie Q and Born on the Bayou.

San Diego Blues

San Diego Blues Calendar: May 19th – 25th

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Blues Calendar - May 19 This week we have a nice mix of blues – from straight up blues to blues mixed in with zydeco, swing, jazz, R&B and soul.  Silky Sol is new in town – from St. Louis, and she has an amazing soul voice (think Aretha Franklin).  You can catch her Saturday afternoon at the SpeakEasy from 2-5pm.

Jams are happening as usual on Monday (Gaslamp SpeakEasy), Tuesday (Patrick’s Pub) and Wednesday (JammingOut at House of Blues AND also at Humphrey’s), so there are two jams now happening regularly on Wednesday nights.

NOTE: JammingOut at HOB on Wednesday will start at 9pm, not 7pm – this week only.

Blues Jam Rocking with Lots of Brass

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Last night at Walter Gentry’s Chicken Wings blues jam at Patrick’s, we had a house full of brass (sax, trumpet and trombone).

In this video, visiting Australian Somerset Barnard is playing guitar and singing a Mojo Webb (another Australian bluesman) tune called Hands Like Mine.  The vocal sound quality isn’t that great, but the rest is really good and catches solos from everyone on stage.  Along with Somerset is Leonard Lee on guitar, Bert Hammer (visiting from Canada) on drums, Gary Stutts on bass, Steve Lang on harmonica, Chuck Arcilla on sax, Carlos Serrano on trumpet, Phil Lozano on trombone, and also on sax – a 21 year old I’m waiting to get the name of, who was amazing.

San Diego Blues

San Diego Blues Calendar: May 12th– 18th

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Blues Calendar - May 12

This is an interesting blues week.  Most of the bands that are scheduled are not fully blues, but more soul, R&B, zydeco, country and pop.  The jams will have the most straight up blues, with the exception of Christian Hastings (Mon), Lafayette (Tues) and Bill Magee’s band (Thurs) – they are all blues!

Wednesday is becoming jam night, with open mic at House of Blues, Humphrey’s and out at Proud Mary’s (in Kearney Mesa).  And of course there is Walter’s jam on Tuesday and Fuzzy’s jam on Monday.

The JammingOut/BLUSD jam at House of Blues will be held downstairs this week in the Delta Room to celebrate their 1st year anniversary.  I’ll be there for sure!