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PUERTO BLUES 2006

SOME YEARS AGO, a longtime winter resident of Puerto Escondido, a guy who loves music, invited a couple of his Canadian musician friends down for a vacation. One of them was Jack de Keyzer. the "King of Canadian Blues." Playing a few informal gigs around town, Jack and his friends succumbed to the charms of Paradise and more extraordinarily talented musicians began to show up during the winter months to gig a little and to play a lot.

These shows certainly enlivened the Puerto music scene, but then last year, the friendly Canadian Blues invasion morphed into "Puerto Blues, 2005" a full-fledged music festival that positively electrified the town.

So the return of "Puerto Blues, 2006" has generated huge excitement in the community. We are happy to report that, through amazing dedication on the part of our Canadian friends and broad support from local businesses, "PB'06" promises to be bigger and better than ever.

A labor of love - - the love of music and of Puerto Escondido - - will bring us six weeks of blues, r&b, roots music and good ol' down-home rock 'n roll. And any profits generated will be donated to Puerto's School for Kids with Special Needs, CAM 20, located in Fracc. Agua Marina.

[paul james] Back by popular demand and opening this year's concert series, Paul James is a Canadian cultural icon. Paul's roots-rock and blues vocals and guitar style have won him numerous national music awards. The consummate entertainer, Paul has shared the stage with Bob Dylan, Bo Diddley and Lightning' Hopkins to name but a few.

[jimmy] Next up is Jimmy Bowskill. Just 15 years of age and already an internationally recognized guitarist/singer/songwriter, Jimmy has recently toured the Ukraine and represented Canada performing in Japan. Puerto Blues is extremely fortunate to have this rising star on this year's roster.

Jerome Godboo, singer/songwriter and harmonica great, performs his own special brand of funky, rockin' blues. Jerome's credits include tours with Prince, Jose Feliciano, and many other world renowned musicians. Jimmy Bowskill will be backing his friend, Jerome, on guitar. Jerome will back up Jimmy Boskill during his performances and Jimmy will return the favor.

[rick] Rick Steeves is another consummate pro with 30 years of entertaining to his credit. Rick really rocks and will have everyone on their feet with his blues influenced rock and roll show. Rick Steeves also plays at Bar Rockaway on Zicatela, Thursday Feb. 16.

Back to close this year's event, is perennial favorite Jack de Keyzer, the guy who started it all. A national award winner and internationally acclaimed guitarist/singer/songwriter, Jack has become a legend. Canadian sax great, Chris Murphy will grace the stage with Jack and the gang, and you can expect a super jam session on the closing night.

The musicians backing all the concerts are: Mike Facen (bass), Paul Lye (drums), Gene Stewart (sax), David Rangel (percussion). Opening bands include Pampa, a perfect fusion of funk, reggae and solid latin rock rhythms and Los Tlacuaches (the opossums), a staple on the local music scene.

So put on those dancing shoes, this is going to be good! Our thanks and congratulations to our Canadian friend. You put the Ram in the Rama Dama Ding Dong! [JdK] [JdK]

PAUL JAMES
Tuesday 10 January
Thursday 12 January
Saturday 14 January

JIMMY BOWSKILL
Tuesday 24 January
Thursday 26 January
Saturday 28 January

JEROME GODBOO
Tuesday 31 January
Saturday 4 February

RICK STEEVES
Tuesday 14 February
Thursday 16 February
Saturday 18 February

JACK DE KEYZER
Tuesday 28 February
Thursday 2 March
Saturday 4 March

All Shows at 8 p.m. Belmar Beach Club, Zicatela

Tickets: $50.ºº per show. Season Package: $1,000 pesos for two people, all shows
Available at: Hotel Buena Vista, Villa Belmar. Proceeds to benefit School for Handicapped Kids.

THE BIRTH OF THE BLUES

THE BLUES WAS BORN the day the West African shoreline fell from the horizon, as the first slave ship sailed to North American. It spent its infancy on the slave plantations and the Jim Crow chain gangs of the Deep South and came of age in the dark heart of America's industrial cities. The blues became the anthem for a race, an expression of collective victimization, of suffering, injustice, and troubles: troubles of life, troubles in mind.

The use of the word in this context in English goes back to the Elizabethan era. But, it is the American writer, Washington Irving, who is credited with coining the term "the blues" in 1807.

The blues, which purists would tell you is a melody based an a 12-bar, bent or blue-note, was first popularized in the 1910s by the black composer W.C. Handy. By the twenties, the blues had become a national craze. It strongly influenced the emerging jazz and ragtime music and later gave birth to rock 'n roll.

In the early 1960s, urban blues was "discovered" by young white American and English musicians and blues-based bands. such as the the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Stones, the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Eric Burden and the Animals, the Cream created the rock-blues hybrid: rhythm and blues. The spirit of the blues through its evolution has remained the same: pain, suffering, misfortune and loneliness; "I miss my woman, though she done me wrong. I got the blues!"

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