Blues band The Mannish Boys will be playing tomorrow at Café Boogaloo. This could easily be the blues event of the year for Southern California.

I just heard the 2004 Blues Groove CD That Represent Man by The Mannish Boys and it knocked me out. The band, which has been described as a “West Coast super-group” and as “a blues project”, derives its name from the classic Muddy Waters tune of the mid ’50s. It is the labor-of-love brainchild of Blues Groove label owner Randy Chortkoff. The personnel consist of a loosely shifting amalgam of the West Coast’s best blues players.

The members of this project have performed with a pantheon of blues greats and are a sought after collective. Consequently, the lineups for the CD and for the band now on tour differ slightly because of the professional obligations of some of the players.

Their music is a mix of post–war Chicago blues, early R&B, big-city lounge review, up-tempo jump blues, and the cry of a lonesome 3 a.m. morning. The intent seems to be a tribute to classic electronic blues but this is in no way just a retro reproduction of the past. The monster musical chops and emotional involvement of the players ensure a modern and personal perspective on the classic repertoire.

The CD featured exceptional lead singer Finis Tasby, wunderkind Kirk Fletcher (of The Fabulous Thunderbirds) on guitar, Frank “Paris Slim” on guitar, pianist (and occasional vocalist) Leon Blue, Ronnie Weber (of The Fabulous Thunderbirds) on bass, and June Core on drums. The musical guests included Roy Gaines, Johnny Dyer, Mickey Champion, Paul Oscher, and the producer/harp player Randy Chortkoff. The group that is currently touring Hermosa Beach’s Café Boogaloo tomorrow, as well as USA and Europe, is at last count Fanis Tasby, Johnny Dyer, Frank Goldwasser, Kid Ramos (formerly with the Fabulous Thunderbirds), Leon Blue, Randy Chortkoff with Tom Leavey on bass and Richard Innes on drums. Other special guests like Al Blake (the ex-front man of the Hollywood Fats Band) and Mitch Kashmar are expected to show.

There’s not enough room to list all of the credentials of these players. Here is a very small taste. Kid Ramos is a remarkable guitar player. He spent a formative decade with James “Thank You, Baby” Harmon. He’s been the lead guitar for Roomful of Blues, Lynwood Slim, and Kim Wilson’s Fabulous Thunderbirds. Finis Tasby has a unique voice – sensitive, powerful, soulful, full of life’s education gained in forty years of touring. Johnny Dyer is an elder statesman of the blues harp with direct roots to George Harmonica Smith and Jimmy Reed. The list goes on…

Both the concert and the CD are highly recommended! ER