Last summer we had Doug Deming and the Jewel Tones, along with New Jersey harmonica star Dennis Gruenling, in the Side Door Cabaret. The music was so much fun we decided to expand the show. Working with Tom Carter at the Suncoast Blues Society, and the blues guitarist and singer Steve Arvey, we decided to produce night of blues harmonica and call it “A Tribute To Little Walter.”
Little Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs in 1930, brought a revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix. He is the harmonica player on the great Chess recordings of Muddy Waters.
Our Little Walter tribute arrives at the Palladium on Saturday night, Nov. 19 at 8. And our Hough Hall stage will be packed with blues musicians and top harp players.
Backtrack Blues Band opens the show, with Chuck Ross on harmonica.
Doug Deming and the Jeweltones follow, with some guitar help from Arvey. They’ll back up a cadre of Florida harp stars, including Ernie Locke, formerly of Nervous Turkey, along with Tony Smith, Kevin McInerney and Steve Scott.
The band returns for a second set – this time with two of the best harp players on the national blues circuit – Gruenling and Philadelphia harmonica legend – Steve Guyger.
Deming is a recent arrival in Florida and he and the band are impressive. They earned a standing ovation in our Side door cabaret. As Deming says – “We have no gimmicks. We play pure traditional music from the heart, with an image that conveys a deep respect for the genre.”
The style is swinging jump blues, built around Deming’s stinging guitar licks. The band tours regularly and has backed up a who’s who of todays top blues performers, including Chicago’s A.C. Reed, Louisiana Red, Chicago Pete, Cannonball vocalist Alberta Adams, Black Tops Johnnie Dyer, WC Handy Award winner Johnny Yard Dog Jones and the legendary Lazy Lester.
I’ll be in New Orleans this weekend for my niece’s wedding – her rehearsal dinner is at the House of Blues so I should be having fun too – but please come check out this show and let me know if you liked it. I’m sure you will!
Tickets are available on-line at www.mypalladium.org or by calling the box office at 727 822-3590, or by visiting the box office the night of the show.
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