Chico Banks


The Blues, Jazz & Folk Music Society of the Mid-Ohio Valley
presents their

“Second Annual Chicago Blues Party”
featuring
Chico Banks
with special guest
Toronzo Cannon


Friday Night, November 21 at 8:30 PM
Hotel Lafayette, 101 Front Street, Marietta, Ohio
Tickets $15/$20 m/nm available at the door at 7:30 PM.
The Hotel Lafayette has a large dance floor and cash b
ar.

The Blues, Jazz & Folk Music Society, Inc. will present an evening of new generation Chicago Blues music, rarely available to Mid-Ohio Blues fans, when Chico Banks and special guest Toronzo Cannon perform at their “Second Annual Chicago Blues Party” on Friday, November 21, 2008

Chico Banks
Along with Bernard Allison, Melvin Taylor and a handful of others, guitarist, singer and songwriter Chico Banks is part of the new generation of Chicago blues players who are expanding the boundaries of this often maligned, misunderstood music. Like Allison and Taylor, and even older Southern musicians like Larry Garner and Sherman Robertson, Banks focuses on good-time, upbeat blues.

Banks freely mixes in elements of soul, funk and rock. He credits influences from a mixed bag of artists from the 1960s and '70s: "Magic Sam" Maghett, Buddy Guy, Albert King, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Clay, George Benson and Tyrone Davis. But his playing also reflects the contribution of jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, and the funk of Prince, the Isley Brothers, the Ohio Players and Parliament/Funkadelic. Also not to be overlooked is his father, Jesse Banks, who played with the gospel group the Mighty Clouds of Joy.

Since joining his first band, a Top 40 cover group, at 14, Banks has performed with Johnny Christian, Evidence labelmate Melvin Taylor, Buddy Guy, Otis Clay, James Cotton, Artie "Blues Boy" White, Little Milton, Magic Slim, Big Time Sarah, Chick Rogers and most recently, Mavis Staples. Banks' sessionography includes albums by Willie Kent, Freddie Roulette and Pops Staples.

On his 1997 debut, Candy Lickin' Man, Banks is joined by the great gospel singer Mavis Staples, who also contributes liner notes. Although only in his 20s, Banks is already a veteran song interpreter; he covers classics like "Groove Me," "Got to Be Some Changes Made" and "The Sky Is Crying," putting his own individual stamp on each tune.

Toronzo Cannon

Toronzo Cannon

Modern and funky blues...one of the striking new talents on the Chicago blues scene...Cannon dazzles with his guitar playing." - Blues & Rhythm (UK)

"No matter how wild he gets, he's always saying something in his solos, not just slinging notes around for the sake of it. His vocals are equally expressive, whether he's testifying on a soul-tinged number or braying a blues anthem." - Chicago Reader

Growing up in the shadow of the blues mecca, Theresa's Lounge, had a lasting effect on Toronzo Cannon. As a kid, Toronzo would listen to the raw, soulful sounds of legends like Jr. Wells, Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters. "It wasn't just the music that got me, but the effect it had on the people. I knew right then, that was what I was gonna do."

Along with the three blues Kings (Freddie, B.B. & Albert), a little Hendrix and Marley, and some '70's R&B/Soul, Toronzo soon developed his own sound and became an in demand guitarist on Chicago's booming North Side blues circuit.

After several road trips with the like of Wayne Baker Brooks and Joanna Conner, and countless jam sessions with Blues icons like Buddy Guy, Lonnie Brooks and Otis Rush, Toronzo broke out on his own and since them has released 2 CD's. The songs on Toronzo's latest release, MY WOMAN, highlight the energy, soulfulness, humor and diversity that are the hallmark of his live shows. Enland's Blues & Rhythm magazine calls it "a...first class release from a young blueblood on the Chicago blues scene." All 12 songs are originals and range from the hard charging soulful funk of My Woman and She's Gone, to more traditional shuffles Earnestine and Ain't No Stranger. The wide stylistic range on MY WOMAN merely hints at the unpredictable, electric nature of his live shows.

Since the relese of MY WOMAN Toronzo has been tearing up stages and exciting crowds from Chicgo to the Balkins. "it doen't matter what language they speak, I can still make 'em dance". If he doesn't leave his audience sweatin' and smilin', he feels he hasn't done his job.

 

 

 

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Page last updated September 2008
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