Joe McMurrian Quartet, August 30

Below - photo and video from the club debut of the Joe McMurrian Quartet, a fine group from Portland with monster chops and a fresh, musically sophisticated, jazzy take on Delta blues. Great guys with a great sound.

Janiva Magness, 8/10/08

Our webmonkey has been on vacation for a couple weeks, so we don't have a bunch of notes and content at the moment. We do have some nice photos of the Janiva Magness show from August 10, courtesy of our main man, Jef Jaisun.

Jason Ricci, New Blood, Nathan, Ben, + the Devil Boy

What a fun week we just had! It jumpstarted in a rockin' way on Wednesday with the latest installment of the Dudley Taft Blues Overkill. Then we had the pleasure of hosting the Highway 99 debuts of two oustanding, internationally-touring, critically-acclaimed and highly-respected artists: Nathan James & Ben Hernandez, winners of the 2007 International Blues Challenge and a couple o' really nice guys. Friday marked the debut of Eddie "Devil Boy" Turner and holy crap can that guy PLAY.
(below, photos of Eddie on stage and at the bar with Highway 99 Blues Club proprietor Ed Maloney)

On Saturday, our old friend Jason Ricci was in town to play with his band, New Blood. We love these guys. Jason is from Maine, and as the Maloneys are from Boston, we became fast friends a couple years ago when he first played the club. Last weekend, Magic Dick asked us to call and let him know how Jason did, as Magic appreciates Jason's playing. Our report back to Boston is a knock-down, drag-out rave. Jason & Co. always blow the roof off the joint, and every show is the best one we've seen. He's such an engaging frontman, dazzling us with his harp and riveting us with his stories.
(Below: photos & videos from Jason's first set)