Enough Is Enough (feat. James Armstrong)

I'm writing this two weeks after the murder of George Floyd. We all know that this shit goes on all the time and that being Black in America is dangerous, to say the least. I pick the order of releases like a DJ picking records on a show. It's a playlist. And hopefully if you listen in chronological order by release date it flows. So, Oz Noy was last and I thought okay, let's bring it back to the roots, seeing this is a blues series...so I cull through the 135 unreleased mastered tracks that we currently have and I come to James Armstrong and it speaks to me. It hits me not just because it is a more traditional blues number, it's soulful, understated, classic, it is all of the above...but it also strikes a strong but melancholy chord, without words it says that thing that we all know, that life as a Black person in America is and has always been dangerous and systematically unfair. Then, coincidentally, I see James has posted a video on Facebook telling his Truth in response to George Floyd's murder sharing just a few of the countless injustices that he (James) has experienced at the hands of law enforcement. And I just keep hearing the words "enough is enough" in my head. No explanation necessary, right? So, after checking in with James to make sure that he was cool with me titling the track Enough Is Enough (considering the context I wanted to err on the side of thoughtfulness and consideration), here it is.

There are a lot of organizations that need financial support right now as well as "thoughts and prayers" and social media post. Please put your money where your good intentions are:



I normally take this space for a little blurb / bio about our featured soloist but, today I would just like to share a link to that video of James' and a link to James' bio page because his story is really a story of survival in its most literal sense. I am also including a link to a resource page from Black Lives Matter on how you can help support the ongoing struggle. We must not let up.

https://www.facebook.com/1326987983/videos/10217296159579138/?id=1326987983

http://jarmblues.com/james-armstrong-biography/

https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

The backing band on this track is Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker 1984-2001) on rhythm guitar, Alvino Bennett (Dave Mason, Stevie Wonder) on drums and myself on bass. The track was recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA. Mixed by the Grammy winning Godfather of Grunge, Jack Endino (Nirvana, Nando Reis) and as always, masterfully mastered by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering. 

Revolution Blues (feat. Oz Noy)

#65 in The Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series, Revolution Blues, features the wonderfully irreverent guitar playing of Oz Noy. By his mid twenties Oz was the king of guitars in his home country of Israel so, with little left to prove there, he headed to NYC. Gaining almost immediate notoriety for his rule breaking approach to Jazz, Oz enlisted the heaviest of heavies to accompany him. Will Lee, Reggie Washington, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl are just some of the "cats" that have been Oz's regular sidemen for 10 albums over the last 25 years. He continues to dominate reader's polls and critic's choice lists and the list of artists that he has played with is truly insane! I couldn't decide who to list so, here is a link to his bio: http://www.oznoy.com/biography/ Enjoy! And just a note: I titled and uploaded this track several months ago...I had no idea just how relevant it would be.

There are a lot of organizations that need financial support right now as well as "thoughts and prayers" and social media post. Please put your money where your good intentions are:

The backing band on this track is Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker 1984-2001) on rhythm guitar, Deszon Claiborne (Robben Ford) on drums and myself on bass. The track was recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA. Mixed by the Grammy winning Godfather of Grunge, Jack Endino (Nirvana, Nando Reis) and as always, masterfully mastered by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering.