Somethin' Somethin' (feat. Jim Oblon)

The last installment for 2023, #155 in the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series, Somethin' Somethin', features the musical wunderkind, Jim Oblon. This track sat for a long time waiting for the tape fairies to present a soloist. I've been aware of Jim for more than ten years. When he first came on the Nashville scene he had a weekly gig at the FooBar and all my friends would tell me that I should go check him out or I should jam with him but, regrettably, I never got around to it. Fast forward to earlier this year and I hear I Wanna Be Loved, a really great record Jim made featuring just himself and long-time collaborator Jim Keltner and I knew that he was the man for the job. Speaking of jobs, Jim's "day gig" for the last decade has been playing drums for Paul Simon. He's one of those cats. Anyway, I absolutely love Jim's playing and where he took this track, it's exactly what I expected and a total surprise at the same time. The tape fairies never lie. Enjoy!
 

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 basics were recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA with overdubs at Jim's home studio in Nashville TN. Mellifluously mixed and mastered by the infamous F-Bomb.

Walkin' The Bar (feat. Terry Hanck)

#154 in the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series, Walkin' The Bar, features East Bay Tenor Man, Terry Hanck.
For Jazzers of old, walkin' the bar was a necessary task of showmanship that some felt was below them but for the R&B honkers, scronkers, and yakety yak'ers of the day that was just part of the gig. There's a legend about saxophonist Benny Golson dropping in on a gig where John Coltrane (at a low point in his career) was walking the bar while playing with a local Philly R&B band and when Coltrane spotted Golson in the audience he walked straight off and out of the bar not to return. Of course in Blues, Rock, and R&B, putting on a show is as important as the music so, all the cats would walk the bar, stroll through the audience, or even take the show out onto the street. We've all seen it and we love it!
By the 1970s, Terry was already a master of the R&B Saxophone tradition. With Chicago in his blood and Northern California on his mind, after several declined invitations, he eventually joined Elvin Bishop at the pinnacle of Bishop's career where he stayed for a decade before leaving to front his own band. I haven't seen Terry live and I didn't ask him, but this track is certainly evidence of his mastery and if we close our eyes we can certainly imagine the smoke-filled bar and Terry walkin' it. Enjoy!
 

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 basics were recorded at Skunkworks in Capitola CA. Mellifluously mixed and mastered by the infamous F-Bomb.