* Arts & Entertainment 3v!^E^Sl
‘Big Daddy9 Kinsey promises blues treat
Courtesy ot Blind Pig
Big Daddy Kinsey
By Julie Naughton
Senior Reporter
The Blind Pig Blues Revue tour
began in January, with blues legends
Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin and
Snooky Pryor making up the bill.
At the end of January, Pryor was
replaced by Lester “Big Daddy”
Kinsey on the tour. Since Kinsey’s
addition, the band has traveled to
New York City, Boston, Canada,
Upstate New York, New England and
Cleveland.
Now the show is coming to Lin
coln, and they are bringing Big Daddy
with them.
Kinsey joined the tour, he said,
after Pryor became ill. Kinsey origi
nally had hoped to be with the show,
but due to booking conflicts, it was
impossible. When Pryor became sick,
Kinsey was contacted and joined the
tour. Kinsey said he was excited at
the way things had turned out.
Kinsey, patriarch of the Kinsey
Report group, is well-known for his
deep-chested baritone and his incom
parable slide guitar delivery. He de
scribes his blues as traditional blues
that “I sharpen up a little bit.”
Kinsey’s style of blues, which he
calls “Gary Blues” after his home
town of Gary, Ind., includes influ
ences from musicians Muddy Waters
and Jimmy Reed.
The release of Kinsey’s “Bad Situ
ation” (Rooster Records) in 1986
helped to propel Kinsey and his group,
the Kinsey Report, from a regional
act to a sought-after national band.
Kinsey said that he worked a day
job (at U .S. Steel in Gary) for 27 years
while also pursuing a music career,
but his career “really took off” when
he began working at his music full
time.
“My wife encouraged me to give
up my day job for a year to do music
100 percent,” Kinsey said. “That’s
when it really started to lake off for
us. I owe it to her.
“I haven’t regretted it (his deci
sion to pursue music full time) one
day.
“We’re not rich by any means, but
I’m making a decent living doing
what I love to do.”
coru'prt
Kinsey’s latest release is “Can’t
Let Go,” which features Kinsey and
his sons. Kinsey began performing in
Gary with his three sons, Albert, Don
and Kenneth, before the boys were 10
years old.
“The boys have been performing
with me ever since I’ve been working
commercially,” Kinsey said. “We
would tour in the summer and on the
weekends, when they weren’t in
school.”
He was nicknamed “Big Daddy”
about that time. He explains.
“I’m a big man, and I was on stage
in my hometown with a group of kids
that the audience knew belonged to
me. Somebody yelled ‘Hey, Big
Daddy! ’ and it kind of stuck. I liked it,
and then I began to use it profession
ally.”
Kinsey and his sons originally
performed as Big Daddy Kinsey and
Soul Satisfaction. After local perform
ances and an appearance on TV’s
“Soul Train,” the group broke up
because of Kinsey’s poor health.
In 1983, Kinsey had recovered and
he and his sons regrouped as Big
Daddy Kinsey and The Kinsey Re
port. This was alter Kinsey’s son,
Don, had come off associations and
lours with musical luminaries such as
the Rolling Stones and had finished
recording with artists such as reggae
legends Peter Tosh and Bob Marley.
Kinsey has appeared once before
in Lincoln, at the Zoo Bar, 136 N.
14th St.
However, once the band started to
grow and play bigger markets, smaller
bars like the Zoo Bar couldn’t afford
to pay what Kinsey’s group was charg
ing.
The Blind Pig Blues Revue, fea
turing artists off the Blind Pig Rec
ords label, will continue through mid
March, with appearances in the Mid
west, the Rocky Mountain slates,
Washington and California.
According to Blind Pig Records,
each performance of the Blind Pig
Blues Revue will showcase the per
formers individually before the grand
finale. The veterans will share the
stage with “one of the most promis
ing young blues bands around,’’ Little
Mike and the Tornadoes.
Perkins, Sumlin and Kinsey will
appear tonight at Bourbon Street, 200
N. 70th St. Cover is S10.
Kinsey believes that Lincolmtes
will enjoy his show.
“I’m looking forward to meeting
the people of Lincoln,’’ Kinsey said,
“and I hope that they’ll come out and
see the show. If not, they’ll miss a
treat. For blues lovers, this show will
be a definite treat.
“This last leg of the lour should be
dynamite.”
Violinist Stem gives captivating performance
By Lisa Stankus
Staff Reporter
Violinist Isaac Stem has been called
‘‘the best known classical violinist in
the world,” “the world’s greatest
violinist” arid ‘‘one of the most dis
tinguished musicians in the world.”
And with good reason, as he demon
strated in Wednesday evening’s per
formance at the Lied Center for Per
forming Arts.
Playing to a sold-out crowd, Stem
and pianist Robert McDonald brought
a level of world-class excellence and
artistry to the stage. And considering
that the evening’s performance was
the first visiting artist to play at the
Lied, who could have asked for a
finer christening?
At 70, Stem’s credentials include
Originating Member of the National
Endowment of the Arts, the 1987
Grammy Lifetime Achievement
Award, literally hundreds of classical
recordings, a performance career that
has lasted more than 50 years and
other dubious distinctions given only
to the elite. Stem is the proverbial big
fish in a little pond.
Stem and McDonald presented a
performance of varied classical pieces.
Compositions by Bach, Dvorak, Faurc,
Janacck, Krcislcr and S/.ymanowski
provided an eclectic appeal of the
distinctive classical standards to a
variation on the Viennese wall/. Se
lection choice allowed the audience
—
to experience the range that Stem
commands as well as hearing a veri
table progression in the time line of
classical composers.
The program could have been
divided into two halves; the first being
the serene eloquence of Bach and
Faurc and the second a combination
of frenzied bravado and quickened
tempos.
The folk flavor of Janicck’s Mo
ravian peasant music had a marvel
ously uplifting nature, as was demon
strated in Sonata for Violin and Pi
ano. Stem’s violin-turncd-fiddlc had
a down-home appeal, as did
McDonald’s piano play ing.
But perhaps the best received
compositions were the collaborations
by Krcisler and Dvorak. Slavonic
Dance No. 1 inG Minor and Slavonic
Dance No. 2 in E Minor featured a
combination and alteration of tem
pos. Both performers exhibited a
preciseness in following the fluclual
ing tempo, all the while maintaining a
grace and verve of presence. Stem
and McDonald were as captivating to
watch as they were to listen to.
McDonald, a masterful and world
renowned pianist by his own efforts,
matched musical emotion with Stem’s
control. This marriage of violin and
piano sounded, as perhaps, the origi
nal composers would have done it
themselves.
What the audience heard was an
evening of exciting and intriguing
musicianship from what there arc so
few of these days: true musicians
with an unfailing dedication to the
arts and its sustenance.
Musical groups galore fill bars this week
By Mick Dyer
Senior Editor
Zydcco, reggae, blues, pop, alter
native, R&B — except for country,
there’s a little bit of every musical
style in Lincoln this week.
Alternative:
Sunday, Victim Nation and Saw
horse will play at Duffy’s, 1412 O St.
Victim Nation, a local psycho
industrial band influenced by bands
such as Chrome, Ministry and Mctal
lica, will make its stage debut.
Sawhorse is one of Lincoln’s fin
est alternative-core bands, featuring
loud noises, perversion and intimida
tion.
Wednesday, Trip Akimbo, an
Omaha-based, college, pop rock band,
will play at Duffy’s.
Jazz/Blues:
Tonight, Pine Top Perkins, Hubert
Sumlin and Big Daddy Kinsey will
perform with Little Mike and the
Tornadoes all together for the Blind
Pig Blues Revue at Bourbon Street,
200 N. 70th St.
Little Mike and the Tornadoes is a
New York City powerhouse blues band.
Pulling these three big names on
the same stage with a light, East Coast
blues band guarantees to be one of the
best blues shows of the year.
Tonight and Saturday, the Tony
Brown Band will perform at the Zoo
Bar, 136 N. 14th St.
Known for mixing a little funk and
soul into its jammin,’ jammin,’ jam
min’ reggae, the Tony Brown Band
has been intoxicating Lincoln audi
ences with its music for several years
now.
Tonight, Silent Partners will play
at 9th Street Blues, 421 S. 9th St.
Saturday, JoannaConnor will play
at Bourbon Street.
Monday, Zachary Richard will play
at the Zoo Bar.
Zachary Richard plays a rough and
tumble, grinning, accordion squeez
ing and guitar picking blend of zydcco
and rock. Good stuff.
Tuesday, Mr. Peabody will play at
the Zoo Bar.
Wednesday, The C Street Gyp
sies, one of Lincoln’s best ’60s-style
electric blues bands, will play at
Bourbon Street.
Wednesday, The Tablcrockers,
featuring Annette Murrell, will play
at the Zoo Bar.
Thursday, Too Smooth will play
at Bourbon Street.
Thursday, Preston Love will play
jazz at Julio’s, 132 S. 13th St.
i-______
Thursday, the Bcl-Airs will play at
the Zoo Bar.
The Bcl-Airs play slick, uptown
Kansas City R&B.
Rock:
Tonight and Saturday, Guerilla
Theater will play at Chesterfield’s,
Lower Level 245 N. 13th St.
Tonight and Saturday, Rocking and
Rolling will play at The Mountains,
311 S. 11th St.
Tonight and Saturday, Brass Kit
ten will play ai The Royal Grove, 340
W. Cornhusker.
Tonight and Saturday, the Sandy
Creek Band will play at Sweep Left
815 0 St.
Tonight through Sunday, Power
play will play at The Prospector, 640
W. Van Dorn.
Saturday and Sunday, Paul Phil
lips will play at Oscars, 800 O St.
Tuesday, Illustrator will play in
the Nebraska Union, 14th and R St.
Connor brings modern Chicago blues sound to Lincoln
uy June Naugmon
Seruof Reporter
In 1984, musician Joanna Con
nor packed everything she could fit
in a suitcase and boarded a bus
from Worcester, Mass., to Chicago.
She stepped off that Greyhound
bus in Chicago, ready to seek her
fortune in the highly competitive
Chicago blues scene.
And now, Connor, complete with
band and personal van, will be
performing in Lincoln on Satur
day.
Connor’s distinctive vocals and
peerless lead guitar work set her
apart from the many musicians
struggling to make a living in the
Chicago blues scene. She began to
work with slide guitarist Johnny
Littlejohn and playing the club
circuit.
In 1985, guitarist Dion Payton
invited Connor to join his 43rd
Street Blues Band. The band then
featured Connor and played lop
Chicago clubs such as the Check*
erboard Lounge and Kingston
Mines. Connor and the band also
played at the 1987 Chicago Blues
Festival.
By late 1987, Connor decided
she was ready to move out on her
own and began to put together her
own band. Connor’s band consists
of Brian "3J” Jones, who she
describes as a ‘ 'powerhouse drum
mer,” guitarist Anthony Palmer
and bassist Stan Mixon.
Connor describes her style ol
blues as a style that "combines
funk-rhythm blues with rock and
roll overtones. It’s a modem Chi
cago blues sound.”
Her debut album is "Believe
It!, and Connor is at work on a
new album, to be out next winter.
C on nor and the band will per
form Saturday night at Lincoln’s
Bourbon Street, 200 N. 70th Si
Cover is $4.
