Monday, December 22, 2014

Johnny Beaudine and Deep Blue -------- The Chi-Town Hustlers

I recently reconnected with JW Williams, one of the founding members of the Chi-Town Hustlers

The Chi-Town Hustlers was/is (versions of the band are still active) a Chicago based blues/R&B band that I played and toured with. At the time I was with band, the members of the group came from the bands of BB King, James Cotton and Bobby Bland among others. One of the vocalists in the band is the great J.W. Williams who is still active in the Chicago blues scene. I checked the Chicago Reader music listings recently and you still see J.W. Williams and the Chi-Town Hustlers at clubs like the Kingston Mines.

One of my favorite Chi-Town Hustler tracks is a jazz/funk version of the War classic "The World is a Ghetto. This track has one of the best tenor sax solos I ever played that actually got recorded.  Check it out!

In addition to the Chi-Town Hustlers cover of the Meters classic, "Cissy Strut", I also posted
a great cover version by the Hustlers of the Sam Cook classic "Bring it on Home to Me." This track gets quite a bit of play on Soundcloud.

During my interview on CKUT radio and with Rick Kenne, several tracks by the Chi-Town Hustlers were played, during the course of the interview. They were, "Everyday I Have the Blues", "Rock Me Baby" and "Cissy Strut".

You can check out these and other Chi-Town Hustler tracks
at:
http://soundcloud.com/deep-blue- 1 


Thursday, September 18, 2014

Johnny Beaudine and Deep Blue - House of Jazz (Laval) - Sept. 20


Deep Blue keeps the spirit alive with hard driving Chicago style jazz and blues with touches of New Orleans. 

The Deep Blue gang played at the new House of Jazz (Laval) we were joined by one of our favorites Leanna White, a great soul and jazz singer.

The new club has a larger stage and a very nice lighting system. The band was greeted happily by the Laval audience even though we're new to the club.

They broke into applause when Leanna started Etta James classic "At Last" The band was very well received.



Sunday, June 29, 2014

Johnny Beaudine and Deep Blue - Montreal Jazz Festival

Deep Blue does the Jazz Fest.

Don't miss this one! The band is geared up, fired up and ready. We'll be joined by Jeff Simons on drums and vocals. With Peter Mika on piano, and Ben Comeau on bass. We'll be putting some extra fire into our "Real Deal" Chicago style jazz and blues with our touch of funky New Orleans.

"We come to play" is our motto and we'll be playing hard and fast. Make sure to come down to "The House" for a memorable night. You won't regret it.


We're known as the "Real Deal" because we play hard every night. We'll be kicking it especially hard this Monday.


Come on down and have fun with us.


House of Jazz - 2060 Aylmer 7:30-11PM.  - 514-842-8656

Friday, March 14, 2014

Rock Me Johnny

I'm amazed about this, on my SoundClould page I posted one of the
Chi Town Hustler tracks, Rock Me Baby. I alway liked this
version but I just put it there and didn't really hype it or
anything. I've been surprised at the response It got played often
in the US but also in Lithuania and Venezuela, Columbia, Switzerland,
Brazil, Germany and the UK.

Click here for Rock Me Baby

Friday, February 21, 2014

Johnny Beaudine - Paul Butterfield

Paul Butterfield was one of my heroes.  He was a great harp player and led some of the greatest bands of the era.
For a time we were both living in the Hyde Park area of Chicago's south side. I'd see Paul at the corner of 55th and Cornell. Paul was a mythic figure in Chicago. "Butter's" harp playing has heavily influenced my own harp playing over the years. "Butter" was such a hero to us that my friends and I went to the locations where the "East West" album cover photos were taken and did our own versions of the photos.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Fifty Years Of 'Chicago Blues'

Here's the link to an interesting article on some of the guys who blazed the trail that I later followed.     Barry Goldberg Fifty Years of "Chicago Blues"

New Directions

It's not easy to find something different in the wake of not being able to do what I do, perform. I've decided to revert back to my...