Seven old-school Sugar Pie DeSanto songs, three Filipino folk songs and a lot of traditional blues. Out of Delano, Calif., youth mariachi band Mariachi Mestizo, led by Juan Morales, will release “Te Doy La Libertad.” Sixteen boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 18 sing and play their hearts out for a vintage [...]
One of my favorite new albums is Oakland folk singer Aireene Espiritu’s “Back Where I Belong,” a project focusing on songs by or associated with Bay Area R&B great Sugar Pie DeSanto. It’s one of four new roots-music-with-a-twist projects released by the pianist Jim Pugh’s Little Village Foundation. The CD that’s gotten the lion’s share [...]
3 1/2 STARS Aki Kumar, a smart Chicago-style harmonica player born in Mumbai but long based in San Jose, dovetails Indian pop songs from Bollywood with the rhythms and spirit of the blues. He whets his imagi-nation on hear-it-to-believe-it “Eena Meena Deeka” and 10 other tunes recorded with help from friends like guitarist (and sitar [...]
Like the subject of “Bag Woman,” a song she wrote and recorded in 2014, Aireene Espiritu has no house or apartment of her own. She does have a car — a 2005 Prius — that she uses to travel from gig to gig along a route that includes Northern and Southern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho [...]
Meet San Jose musician Aki Kumar today, and he'll proudly introduce himself as “The Only Bombay Blues Man.” But there was a time when Kumar, while making a name for himself on the Bay Area blues scene more than a decade ago, would intentionally downplay his Indian heritage. He wasn't so forthright about immigrating from [...]
There are critics out there made so uncomfortable by how foreign music is marketed to Western listeners, especially Europeans, that they’ve sworn off any sort of foreign style — charming music, maybe, but to like it would contribute to imperialism, colonialism, fetishization of the Other, and such. One shouldn’t blame the music for its marketing, [...]
Mississippi-born musician John "Blues" Boyd is The Real Deal when it comes to blues music. The soulful septuagenarian, now based in California, just released a new album staked on this swaggering attestation of showmanship. Boyd plays the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest this month to back up his artistically audacious claim. The Real Deal, recorded [...]
Though the official start of the final day of the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival doesn't happen until noon, bands and fans were there very early. The Mariachi Mestizo group arrived early and showed their style and support. It also isn't hard to find people who regularly attend all 4 days of the Safeway Waterfront Blues [...]