MUSICIAN’S CORNER - Find out about the local bands
The BSWPA will resume doing a bio on a local band(s) quarterly. Our original effort was the interview with Gil Snyder in one of our earlier issues. Special note: Bands and fans…Please be patient. We will not play favorites. Our space is limited. There are a lot of local bands. We will try to feature every band in turn.
Blues Orphans - circa 1974… Thirty years and still going strong
The band members include: Bob Gabig on guitar and vocals, Andy Gabig on harmonica, Mark Custer on trumpet, Nelson Harrison, PH.D. on trombone and trombetto, Dave Yoho on drums and Joe Briggs on upright bass. This very cohesive group recently suffered the loss their long time bass player and friend, Roy Fitzpatrick due to illness. Dave Erny sits in when Joe Briggs is unavailable.
Harmonica player, Andy Gabig, has described the Blues Orphans as “straight-up American music.” Theirs is a complex and very diverse mix of music that goes from traditional old-school blues, bluegrass and country and western to hip hop, rap and urban honky-tonk. This fun loving and very musically inclined band “plays in the jam-band vein.” They have had many sit in with them: Chizmo Charles, Sugar Blue and Big Wheeler plus many, many others. They deliver a fun filled and musically charged performance. They are known for their wit and superbly self-crafted songs. They have been listed in The Jazz and Blues Lover’s Guide to the U.S. The Blues Orphans have four CDs out. Their last CD, Root Rot, was released in 2007 to much acclaim. They have also been voted #1 in the City Paper’s reader’s poll four times in the last seven years. When not in first place, they have placed 2nd behind Jill West as a copy cover band.
‘You can never be sure what you’re going to get at a Blues Orphans Show. The group calls itself a blue band but it jumps from genre to genre without apology.” (J.E. Rosenfeld, City Paper)
You can find their gigs listed on the calendar at bswpa.org or pghlivemusic.ning.com
Angel Blue and the Prophets
The band members are: Angel Blue on lead vocals, Mojo Mike on guitar, Scottie-2-hottie on drums and Guapo on bass.
Angel Blue and the Prophets have a style that includes blues, blues and more blues. Their music is a representation of Electric, Chicago Blues, Texas Swing, Boogie, Rock, R&B and at times “every funky groove in between.” Several reviews have stated: “It moves you, it grooves you” and “…hard driving rocking blues that cuts through you.” They have opened for legends Dick Dale, James Cotton and Indigenous. Their style and unique sound is attributed to the influences of greats that include: Eric Johnson, BB King, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Bottom of the Bottle Blues is still being requested. Their last CD, Bottom of the Bottle Blues, secured their place among blues fans with its rave reviews. Their newest CD, Crazy Ass Blues, will be out in early 2010.
“Chizmo Charles”
Julie Toye of the Herald-Standard once said that “Chizmo” Charles Anderson had earned the title: “Pittsburgh’s Senior Statesman of the Blues.” With over fifty plus years in the music world, the first song that he sang in public was, “Everyday I have the Blues.” He stumbled into music as a career; he wanted to be a dancer. Laughingly, Chizmo once remembered that in his early days in music he did not know what his fellow players meant when they asked “what key” that he wanted a song played in. The musical jargon and the charisma came with time. Jim Hamel, a local musician and BSWPA board member, commented that Chizmo has a “wonderful way of interacting with the audience. Chizmo can make just about any situation work on stage. He is a walking musical history lesson. Every day there is something new to learn from him. He lived and worked through so many important periods in our musical culture.” Hamel added, “He is the most fun singer that a band could want.”
Chizmo’s fans can feel his love of the music as he mingles, sings and commands the attention of an entire room during his performances…and always with a smile. Billy Price once said: “Chizmo is a great blues singer, a great entertainer and most importantly, a nice man. He brings a smile to my face every time I see him…” With the talent that Chizmo Charles possesses to do heavy hitting songs like “Love Won’t Let Me Leave,” fellow musician Norm Nardini once commented: “Chiz is a Pittsburgh treasure. He is a fantastic, high-level singer.”
Chizmo has sat in with just about every player in town. Jill West once said that she admired Anderson’s smooth ability to transition from one musical genre to another without missing a beat. She also praised him for jamming with everyone ‘from the pros, the rookies and to the wannabees.’ She also was thankful for his guidance early in her career. In 2003, his previously released CD, “Up All Night,” was reissued on Decade records. The resurgence of that CD took Chizmo on the road during the year of his 75th birthday. He even opened for BB King. Back in the Burg, Chizmo was the opening artist on the BSWPA’s CD, “Blues from the Burg.” Chizmo’s rendition of “Bed Bug Boogie” received noteworthy accolades from Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records and Blues Revue magazine.
