BOB CORRITORE "HARMONIICA BLUES"

# OF TRACKS: 15 / RELEASE DATE: 08/17/10 / CATALOG #: DGPCD139

MUSICIANS
Bob Corritore: harmonica
Koko Taylor: vocals
Little Milton: vocals & guitar
Robert Lockwood, Jr.: vocals & guitar
Pinetop Perkins: vocals & piano
Honeyboy Edwards: vocals & guitar
Henry Gray: vocals & piano
Nappy Brown: vocals
Eddy Clearwater: vocals & guitar
Louisiana Red: vocals & guitar
Carol Fran: vocals
and many others!!!

DESCRIPTION

“An incredible harmonica player.”
– Hohner Harmonica’s Easy Reeding Magazine

“Corritore’s taste in studio partners is matched by his musical execution.”
– Living Blues Magazine

“…from party-time boogies to melancholy after-hours serenades, Corritore's got the Blues for you.” – Omaha Reader

HARMONICA BLUES celebrates forty years since Bob Corritore first picked up a harp. He maximized his early proximity to the 1970s Chicago Blues scene, befriending and learning from masters Louis Myers, Eddie Taylor, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Little Willie Anderson, Big Leon Brooks, Lester Davenport, Big Smokey Smothers, Little Mack Simmons, and others. Since relocating to Phoenix, Arizona in 1981, Bob has been prolific as a player, producer, radio personality since ‘84, and owner of the renowned Rhythm Room with which he’s been associated for nineteen years now. In 1999 his debut CD ALL-STAR BLUES SESSIONS was issued, an impressive selection of his productions and his own playing. Two years later the anthology RHYTHM ROOM BLUES confirmed his taste and the quality of his associates. Since the release of ALL-STAR BLUES SESSIONS, Bob has built on that illustrious foundation, contributing his authoritative harp to about forty releases, he has partnered with Mississippi native Dave Riley for two highly praised CDs, TRAVELIN’ THE DIRT ROAD and LUCKY TO BE LIVING, and it is now routine to find him on European stages or profiled in Blues magazines worldwide.

Now the hard work, dedication, love and talent through which Bob has built a remarkable life and career in the Blues are brought to bear on HARMONICA BLUES, fifteen diverse but uniformly rewarding tracks featuring his harp and production, and a virtual Who’s Who of traditional Blues recorded between 1989 and 2009. A listen, or just a glance at the credits, makes it clear how well Bob is able to recruit stellar Blues players, then combine and accompany them in ways that bring the best out of the featured artist. Lockwood’s emphatic and only recording of “That’s All Right,” the Blues classic which he reputedly wrote, is a historic and musical highlight. Koko Taylor, Eddie Shaw, Eddy Clearwater, Henry Gray, Pinetop Perkins, Honeyboy Edwards and Little Milton are other leaders with deep Chicago roots, while Eddie Taylor Jr., Bob Stroger, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Chico Chism, Chris James, Patrick Rynn, Bob Riedy and Jon Hiller contribute as sidemen. But HARMONICA BLUES encompasses far more than Bob’s Chicago background, thanks to the likes of Louisiana Red, Dave Riley, Nappy Brown, Big Pete Pearson, Tomcat Courtney, Chief Schiabutte Gilliame and Carol Fran, and accompanists including Bob Margolin, Kid Ramos, Buddy Reed, David Maxwell and others including some Rhythm Room stalwarts.

Bob Corritore has shown over the past four decades that he is about teamwork and that he is seemingly out to help every Blues artist blessed to know him. His own name and career have not been the priority. But HARMONICA BLUES is one more in a growing list of monuments to a legacy which should bring as much pride to Bob, as it does joy to the listener.

CREDITS
Produced by Bob Corritore • Executive Producer: Randy Chortkoff • Recording, mixes, and much friendship: Clarke Rigsby • All tracks recorded at Tempest Recording, Tempe, AZ, except Track 1 which was recorded at Rax Trax Studios, Chicago, Illinois. • Post Production and Editing: John Wroble and Jeff Harris, Porcupine Productions, Chandler, AZ • Mastered by Dave Shirk, Sonorous Mastering, Tempe, AZ • Artwork & Design by Joshua Temkin (www.joshuatemkin.com) • Photography Dave Blake (cover, Big Pete, Dave Riley), Dusty Scott (back cover performance shot) Dick Rice (Little Milton in studio, Robert Lockwood,Jr. in studio, Chico Chism in studio, Nappy Brown in studio), Bob Kieser (inside tray), Cookie Taylor (Koko Taylor), Timm Martin (Honeyboy Edwards), Kim Danielson (Little Milton, Eddie Clearwater, Kid Ramos), Drew Verbis (Chico Chism with hat), Dale Baich (group photo of Tomcat Courtney with Rhythm Room All-Stars), Patrick Rynn (Louisiana Red), Bob Corritore (Pinetop Perkins and Henry Gray, Pinetop Perkins in Studio, Henry Gray) • Liner Notes by Dick Shurman • Radio by Frank Roszak • Retail by Jeff Fleenor • Delta Groove Legal Affairs: Malcolm Wiseman