Singer-songwriter Jeff Brown returning to Chicago area with new album in tow

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

With a new album in tow, former Chicago musician Jeff Brown will be returning to the area for a couple of shows in mid-August.

Brown will perform at 8 p.m. Aug. 9 at Ranger Recording Studio, 450 Dominic Court, Franklin Park. 94 Proof and Phil Circle also are part of the bill.

He will return to Ranger Recording Studio at 8 p.m. Aug. 10 to play with his band the New Black The Hannah Frank Trio also is on the bill.

I had the chance to talk to Brown about his latest musical endeavors.

Q – Great talking to you again. Your second album was called "Cutting Ties" and you did just that, moving from your longtime home of Chicago to the Shenandoah Valley area of Northern Virginia.

I saw what you did there.

Q – The title of your latest album, "1000 Ways,” is inspired by the saying that, ''when you are at your most lost, there are always at least 1,000 ways to come home again." Do you feel like you are at home these days?

It's certainly been an adjustment – I spent the last 22 years in Chicago, and to go from a metropolis to the country took some getting used to. I was a little reluctant to the change at first, but now after almost a year in Virginia, I feel like it's starting to feel more like home.

Chicago will always be the city that made me who I am, but it gets harder to call it home anymore.  I still miss a lot about it – mostly people, food, and ease of accessibility of basically everything.  

Virginia has been sneaking its way into my heart pretty steadily.

Q – How did you go about choosing the musicians on the album? I see you share vocals with Chicago musician Liz Chidester on three songs. What do you think she brings to the album? Is it just a coincidence that she is originally from Virginia and now lives in Chicago?

Ha, I'd like to think it was all part of my master plan, but the truth is, I wanted Liz on my album before I knew I would be moving, so it was more of a pleasant coincidence.

I was fortunate enough that of everyone I asked to join me on the album, only one person wasn't able to, and even that ask was a bit of a long shot.  The only thing I really knew was that I wanted a bit of separation between this project and my band, so none of them were a part of this particular recording. 

As the recording process began, I typically have pretty solid notions of arrangement and how I wanted the songs to sound – so from there, it's a matter of filling in the spaces and reaching out to people whose work I love and respect.

Liz is certainly one of those people that everything she touches becomes even more beautiful.  It's always a pleasure to work with her.  Her level of vocal control is maddening.

The lines she added to "Weather These Storms" were delicate and other worldly and completely perfect. And it's not just her: Laura Glyda's vocals are heart-wrenchingly emotional in all the right places.

I've been blessed to be surrounded by so much talent in my friends that it seems like a tremendous error to not try to include as many as I can in my own art.

Q – In sitting down to make the album, what were your goals and do you think you accomplished them?

I remember sitting at Schuba's with Rick Riggs (who recorded the album), and he asked me the same question as we were getting set to start work on the album.  Ultimately, I think that every musician sets out to make an album that they're proud to have their name on.

Something that they can hand to someone else and say, "I made this, and I love it."  I absolutely accomplished that. 

I'm proud of my first two albums, but this is definitely the best that I've done to date.  And I expect that I'll be able to say that about future albums.

I knew that at some point, I wanted to release music of mine on vinyl, and the more this album started to take shape, the more I felt that this would be the right project for that. A good album isn't just a collection of songs, but an experience that you can go on – and that's one of the things I love about vinyl. 

You start at the beginning, and then you see it through until the end.  I'm glad that these songs felt able to do that.

On a slightly more selfish note, I'd be lying if there wasn't the hope that this album could serve as "my break" – the album that gets people's attention and moves me up to the next level in this industry.  I remember as I was starting to record this, I went and saw Damien Rice at an outdoor amphitheater.

I had second row seats, and at one point, I turned around and saw a sea of thousands of faces, and thought to myself, "Every one of them would probably like my music." That moment has constantly been at the back of my head, and I would have loved for this album to be the one that would show all of them why.

Q – How are you settling into the music scene in Northern Virginia? How would you say the music scene there compares to the Chicago music scene?

It's taken a while, but I think I'm starting to figure out the music scene here. When I started in Chicago, I really didn't feel like I knew what I was doing, and didn't know who I really was. 

Now, I have all of that experience and history that I can hit the ground running in a new place.  The big thing with everything here is that Chicago is more compact.

There's opportunity everywhere because it's a major city and everything is everywhere. Things are much more spread out over here. Washington, D.C. is an hour and a half away, and it's the closest big city to where I'm at, so I have to work a little harder to find things out here.

There are a lot of places to make music close to where I'm at, but a lot of them are wineries that are looking for three or four hours of music on a Sunday afternoon, which can get exhausting alone. 

I think the biggest difference between the music scene in Chicago and the scene out here is that everything in Chicago was centralized because it's a city. Out here, I'm basically dealing with the music scene of an entire region, which gets tricky and requires a lot of driving. 

The town I'm living in doesn't have a music scene.  It doesn't even have enough people to fit in the Metro.

I have started working with another Virginia singer-songwriter, though. I'm super excited to see where that goes, and it's been nice to start making friends out here and creating the network of musicians that I felt like I was missing since I left Chicago.

Q – You reached your goal in your crowdfunding campaign to fund "1000 Ways." Does it make you feel good that so many people contributed to the campaign to ensure the album's release?

It's one thing to make a Facebook post and get a bunch of likes and whatever, but quite another to have people make an effort to support me and what I love. Every time somebody ordered a copy of my album felt like them saying, "Dude. I believe in you."

There are days when I barely believe in myself, so having someone tell you that they do is basically magic.  There isn't a way to fully express how good a feeling that is.

That said, I have to give it to my fans, friends, and family – they sure know how to make a guy sweat. The campaign wasn't fully funded until the evening of the last day.

I'll be honest, my self-esteem can be woefully inadequate on good days, so I spent at least 90% of that month trying to figure out how I was going to make everything work without the funding.  All of that made reaching the goal that much sweeter when it did happen.  

Q – Along with your new solo album, I understand your band The New Black is working on a new album. Has a release date been set? What should people expect from the new album?

It's true!  Although it's a bit of a more disjointed process since I don't live in Chicago anymore. 

As it stands, the drum tracking is completed, so it'll be a little while yet. I'm looking forward to more work on the band project.

Being in a rock band is a blast, and it'll be nice to work on a full on rock project after two albums of acoustic folk.  Expect a lot of big guitars, and more uptempo songs.

This will be the album to play in your car on an awesome road trip somewhere for sure.

Chicago blues legends come together to celebrate the power of music

Chicago blues guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks, left, and Chicago blues harmonica player Billy Branch, right, perform together Aug. 1 as part of the Chicago Plays the Stones show at McAninch Arts Center's Lakeside Pavilion at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

It's rare to have so many Chicago blues legends performing together on the same stage. But that indeed happened when John Primer, Jimmy Burns, Billy Branch, Ronnie Baker Brooks and Omar Coleman came together on Aug. 1 at McAninch Arts Center's Lakeside Pavilion in Glen Ellyn as part of Chicago Plays the Stones. The show put the force of these musicians on display along with the power of the blues.

Chicago blues musician John Primer performs The Rolling Stones' song "Let It Bleed" on Aug. 1, 2019, at the McAninch Arts Center's Lakeside Pavilion at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. Joining him are Chicago blues harmonica player Billy Branch and Chicago blues guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks.

 Chicago blues musician Jimmy Burns performs The Rolling Stones' song "Dead Flowers" on Aug. 1, 2019, at the McAninch Arts Center's Lakeside Pavilion at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.

Chicago harmonica player Billy Branch performs The Rolling Stones' song "Out of Control" on Aug. 1, 2019, at the McAninch Arts Center's Lakeside Pavilion at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. 

Chicago blues guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks performs The Rolling Stones song "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" on Aug. 1, 2019, at the McAninch Arts Center's Lakeside Pavilion at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. Joining him is Chicago blues harmonica player Billy Branch.

Chicago blues harmonica player Omar Coleman performs The Rolling Stones' song "I Go Wild" on Aug. 1, 2019, at the McAninch Arts Center's Lakeside Pavilion at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. Joining him are Chicago blues harmonica player Billy Branch and Chicago blues guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks.

Chicago blues musician Jimmy Burns performs with fellow musicians John Primer, Billy Branch and Ronnie Baker Brooks as part of the Chicago Plays the Stones show on Aug. 1, 2019, at the McAninch Arts Center's Lakeside Pavilion at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.

Harmonica player Billy Branch to perform at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn as part of "Chicago Plays the Stones" show

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

Billy Branch not only learned how to be a better harmonica player while he was touring with Chicago blues legend Willie Dixon, he also learned more about how blues music has shaped our culture.

Branch will perform with Ronnie Baker Brooks, John Primer, Jimmy Burns and Omar Coleman at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 1 at McAninch Arts Center's Lakeside Pavilion as part of "Chicago Plays the Stones," a project that celebrates the deep relationship between world’s biggest rock band and the electric blues of Chicago. A full 50% of all profits from sales of the CD go to Generation Next, a music education and youth mentoring program under the aegis of the Chicago Blues Experience Foundation and supporting the next generation of Chicago blues artists.

The show is being presented by WDCB as part of the Lakeside Pavilion Free Outdoor Summer Series. Lakeside Pavilion is located on the College of DuPage campus, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn. 

Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Outside alcohol, as well as coolers, kegs, umbrellas, tents and skateboards, is not permitted onto the property. More information is available by going to atthemac.org.

I had the chance to talk to Branch about the upcoming show:

Q – As far as wanting to be part of this project, "Chicago Plays the Stones, what made you want to be part of it?

It was produced by Larry Skoller and I've been part of several of his other projects that he did, notably, "Chicago Blues: A Living History."

This project was a novel idea. As far as I know, I don't think anybody else has taken on such a project. It was kind of like full circle, since The Rolling Stones started out with the blues, emulating their blues musician heroes.

Q – But in turn do you think people will kind of get a history lesson and realize that The Rolling Stones – if they didn't know already – were heavily influenced by Chicago blues artists?

Yeah, you could definitely look at it from that perspective. 

Q – As far as the songs that you're featured on, like "Sympathy for the Devil,"for instance, how did you try to change it up?

Again, you're always challenged when you are embarking on re-recording iconic or classic tunes associated with a famous group like The Rolling Stones. I had nothing to do with the arrangement, but my challenge was giving it a suitable and hopefully dynamic interpretation of it.

While evoking the sentiment of the original, you still have to find a way to kind of make it your own. 

Q – You've been touring as part of this project since late 2018. Have the crowds all responded well?

Yes. We've heard comments that they like some songs better than the original.

Now that I was able to absorb all of the actual lyrics, I discovered more depth to their writing. For example, "Sympathy for the Devil" is essentially a history lesson.

In learning all of these lyrics, I have newfound respect for Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as songwriters. I was surprised at how deep that song is and the historical references they make in "Sympathy for the Devil." There's a lot of specific historical references.

Q – At the College of DuPage show, you're also going to be playing songs from your album on Alligator Records, "Roots And Branches – The Songs Of Little Walter." Was that an album that you always wanted to do? 

Last year, we produced a tribute show on the main stage at the Chicago Blues Fest marking the 50th anniversary of Little Walter's passing. Between my wife and Little Walter's daughter, this became a natural segue in terms of recording an album.

Q – As far as paying tribute to Little Walter on this album, what were you looking for this album to do?

We wanted to adequately capture the spirit and stylings of Little Walter and at the same time, bring a freshness and put our own stamp on it as a group, as the Sons of Blues, which was challenging in its own right. Because Little Walter was truly the greatest blues harmonica player and one of the greatest harmonica players in any genre.

And he's the most influential. Traveling around the world, even in China and in the Andes Mountains, I've encountered people trying to play like Little Walter. So we were challenged to present some of his time-worn classics and present them in a fresh way, if you well, without sacrificing or diminishing the integrity of his artistry.

Q – You just talked about Little Walter being one of the greatest harmonica players ever. Did you feel a little intimidated to even try to tackle something like this?

 I've been playing Little Walter's songs for many decades. But there was a challenge because you don't want to do anything that comes off as inferior or that you are just copying him.

So the challenge was to make this fresh and vibrant and original, but yet, capture the stylistic feeling of the old songs. So it was challenging.

Q – How have you tried to set yourself apart from other harmonica players?

Over the years, I've developed my own style, although I closely followed and practiced and learned the styles of many harmonica players, including Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter. And I learned first hand from Junior Wells and James Cotton, Carey Bell and Big Walter Horton, who were Little Walter's peers.

And so though I missed Little Walter (he died in 1968), I did get to learn from the greatest living artists at that time. My style is a reflection of my musical influences.

Q – You've been leading your group, Sons of Blues, for more than 40 years. You celebrated your 40th anniversary a couple of years ago. I was reading a story from a couple of years ago saying that you've been playing tribute to elder statesmen of the blues for so long that you've actually become one. Do you see yourself as an elder statesmen of the blues?

Well, whether I see myself as an elder statesmen or not, apparently, that's how others see me. The sad part about that is that of course, so many of those great, great, original artists have passed on.

The fortunate part was that I got play and record with so many of them. I was in Willie Dixon's band for about six years. And then I played with Koko Taylor, Lonnie Brooks, Son Seals, Magic Slim, David "Honeyboy" Edwards and Otis Rush.

During those learning years, I took it very seriously. I was very humbled by their musical prowess and I was very serious about trying to learn this music to the best of my ability.

So now that they have passed on, this is how I am being characterized in some circles.

Q – When you started touring with Willie Dixon's Chicago Blues All Stars, how old were you?

Oh, I was probably about 24 or 25 years old.

Q – You've done a lot for only being 67 years old. You're a young elder statesman.

Well, that's one way of looking at it.

Q – What were the biggest things that you learned when you started touring with Willie Dixon?

The main things I learned from Willie was about the immense scope of the blues and I acquired a deeper love and respect for the music. Willie was a guy who was a philosopher as well as a great poet and writer.

He realized and was constantly preaching about the importance and significance of the blues in an historical, social and political context. I'll give you an example. Even before officially joining the band, he shared with me a letter that he sent to the FCC and every member of Congress.

This letter stated that there was a conspiracy to keep the blues off the radio. He drew a correlation between marginalizing the blues and racial discrimination.

The blues, of course, is first and foremost African-American folk music. And the culture is embedded in it. It's like the soundtrack of this African-American existence in this culture.

By exposing more people to the blues, his reasoning was that then you expose them to their history. And then when you start investigating their history, you start really realizing the many contributions and accomplishments that they have made. And that decreases your ability to discriminate against them.

And then musically I learned so much, of course. I became a much better player. I thought I was good when I joined the band and I quickly discovered how much I did not know.

But Willie had a lot of faith in me. He just kind of nurtured me until I really got up to speed. 

Jazz Up Glen Ellyn serves up many tasty musical treats

 The Geof Bradfield Quartet was one of several acts that performed at Jazz Up Glen Ellyn on July 13.

 

Those who braved Saturday's heat were treated to several top notch band performing a vibrant blend of musical styles during the fourth annual Jazz Up Glen Ellyn festival in downtown Glen Ellyn.

 

High-Hat Second Line parades through downtown Glen Ellyn on Saturday.

 Chicago artist Lewis Achenbach interpreted the music and atmosphere of Jazz Up Glen Ellyn during his Jazz Occurrence.

 

 

 

 

 

                               High-Hat Second Line performs Saturday at Jazz Up Glen Ellyn.

 Geof Bradfield Quartet performs Saturday at Jazz Up Glen Ellyn.

Ernest Dawkins New Horizons Ensemble performs Saturday at Jazz Up Glen Ellyn.