top of page

Joe Jammer's R&B Express!    Formally known as:

 The All-Star Chicago Rhythm & Blues Revue

Joe Jammer breathes fresh life into classic Chicago blues with such passion, conviction, commitment and fun that every person in the room leaves with a spring in their step. It’s the healing power of the blues in front of your very eyes, Joe Jammer style! - Pete Feenstra

Excellent evening seeing           exceptional skill.

I went to this event with my wife. We both had an exceptionally enjoyable evening. The event was not that well attended, but based on the skill of the musicians it's hard to know why. Great value for money. Joe doesn't need to name drop as much as he's better than the more famous names he quotes!

Favourite moment? 

It was all good.

Describe your experience at this gig overall 

Exceptional

piers1.jpg

                     HIGHLY ENTERTAINING!

                      THE BLUES BROTHERS

                 GOT  NUTTIN' ON THIS GUY

v.jpg
IMG_5552.JPG
george1.jpg
joejammer-6.jpg

LAMB LAMONT

RUSSELL

   GILLS

JOHN SCOTT

TOM BRUNDAGE

 

Gig review: JOE JAMMER’S ALL-STAR CHICAGO BLUES REVUE – London Jazz Festival, Bulls Head, London,16 November 2015  GET READY TO ROCK.....Review by Pete Feenstra

 

 

Joe Jammer’s All-Star Chicago Blues Revue appears in Barnes as part of the London Jazz Festival. And whatever the debate about whether jazz or blues came first, Joe Jammer makes sure that his blues show is both essential and fun!

Joe is a man who makes every minute of his stage time count. He’s a born performer with an unbridled confidence that befits a career nurtured at the dawn of rock with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Who, and crossover funk band The Olympic Runners.

 

Now after a few decades absence, he’s back on the European scene with a new record deal and a killer blues review that rocks the house.

His modus operandi is to make a connection with his audience before he’s even hit the stage, making sure his entry is a triumphant one.

Once on the stand, he mixes wit, repartee and a bluesman’s slight of hand that makes you think that what you have just witnessed is the greatest thing since sliced bread. And there are many such moments when both the band solos and Joe’s Telecaster skills draws warm applause from the crowd.

 

Put simply, Joe re-energizes the kind of old school blues-soul review that has recently made heroes of bands like Vintage Trouble.  The difference is that he has lived the life, played with the best and still garners critical acclaim from the likes of Aeromith’s Joe Perry.

It’s not difficult to see why, as his raw gut passion and real fervour is backed by a huge tenor voice coupled with judiciously stolen licks that are the basic tenets of a Chicago blues review.

His band is a mix of American expats – John Scott on rock solid bass and Tom Brundage on big toned harp – counter-weighted by emerging British blues talent such as young drummer Russell Gills, whose lightness of touch ensures a fluidity of style, while Joe introduces vocalist Ken Morland as having the Daltry looks that Roger still dreams about!

 

The band is encouraged, cajoled and frequently applauded by their guitar toting leader. The material is very familiar, but you can’t have a Chicago review without the basic ingredients. Joe gels things together with an array of interesting links, ad-libs and audience participation and his band gradually overcomes collective introspection with a new belief in their own abilities.

They blow away the cobwebs on ‘Rock Me, Baby’ and launch into a raucous ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ on which Joe becomes the personification of the song title. He dips into the Stones B-side repertoire for the underrated ‘Under Assistant, West Coast Promo Man’, complete with kind of a histo-cultural intro so beloved by American music fans when they reflect on the British invasion. There’s also the Stones version of Bobby Womack’s ‘It’s All Over Now’ with faux power chords from Joe.

Working on the bluesman’s principal of ‘keep ‘em dancing keep ‘em singing’, Joe encourages a sing-along time on Dylan’s ‘Rainy Day Women’. He then strips things down to a power trio for a blistering version of ‘Red House’, before guest vocalist Lamb Lamont joins Annie Wright for a celebratory ‘Good Rockin’ Daddy’. Lamb is even better on a cover of Robert Cray’s ‘Smokin’ Gun’, on which the band grooves mellifluously.

 

Both ‘Red House’ and the Bramhall/Vaughan favourite ‘House Is Rockin’ finds Joe shooting from the hip with incendiary solos that remind us that his professional career was shaped by the likes of Page and Hendrix.

Lamb returns for a trio of canine related songs, of which ‘No More Doggin’ features some deep tone harp from Tom Brundage, before the full ensemble joyfully power their way through the show stopping ‘Sweet Home Chicago’.

 

Joe Jammer breathes fresh life into classic Chicago blues with such passion, conviction, commitment and fun that every person in the room leaves with a spring in their step. It’s the healing power of the blues in front of your very eyes, Joe Jammer style!

Review by Pete Feenstra
Photos by Jennifer Noble

 

JOE JAMMER’S ALL-STAR CHICAGO BLUES REVUE, JUNE 2015, HALF MOON PUTNEY, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

 

 Glenn Sargeant

 

 July 5, 2015

 

 Live Reviews

 

 

 

Joe Jammer’s All-Star Chicago Blues Revue

Sunday 21st June 2015

Half Moon, Putney, London, United Kingdom

On the evening of Father’s Day in the UK, Sargeant Senior and I went to see his friend Joe Jammer perform a collection of blues songs with a live band and guest vocalists. Not that long ago the world lost the legend that is B.B. King and Joe decided to ask the audience to ‘wear blue for B.B.’ which was a very kind gesture.

The band lineup included Canadian bass player John Scott, trumpet and harmonica player Tommy Brunden and nineteen year old Russell Gill on the drums who is an incredible player. They started with an instrumental  as Joe played his Tortoise Shell Fender Telecaster. He joked about when he met B.B. King and asked him ‘How long’s the tour?’ B.B.’s reply was ‘Oh about twenty seven years now!’ One thing Joe explained to me after the show was although the blues is sad, it doesn’t have to be all the time.

They made sure that as much of the blues was covered with songs by B.B. King, Muddy Waters, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Dylan, Roscoe Gordon, Jimi Hendrix, Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland, Robert Cray, Albert Collins, Otis Rush, Bobby Womack (a stunning performer and I was fortunate enough to see one of his last UK shows. An absolute musical legend) and Robert Johnson to name a few.

In addition to the live band, Joe Jammer had a group of guest vocalists and musicians who took turns onstage to accompany him. The first guest Kenny Morgan was the spitting image of a young Roger Daltrey and his voice blended really well as Joe gave space to all of his guests and musicians. (Interestingly Joe Jammer used to be a roadie/guitar tech for The Who when he was younger along with Led Zeppelin and others. His musical history and knowledge is fascinating.)

Joe played guitar behind his head, with his teeth and you could tell this guy had spent years honing his craft to get to this multi-talented stage in his career. Vocalist Lamb Lamont was stunning especially on ‘Smoking Gun’ and ‘No More Dogging’ which was knowingly dedicated to those who had travelled up to the gig from Surrey! One of the guests was slide trombonist Peter Lamont who was especially effective ‘Rainy Day Women’ which also had svelte singer Emily aboard.

This is a fast moving show with plenty of humour from a most generous bandleader whose dynamic guitar and slide playing sparkled throughout the set.

Glenn Sargeant

Joe Jammer will be returning to The Half Moon Putney on 27th September for a special birthday show.

For more information visit: www.joejammer.com

 

Chicken Shack

Smoking Gun

Today I Started Loving You Again

bottom of page