Susan Tedeschi
Mr. Mark A. Nelson
I got my first "live" look/listen to Susan last night at Fitzgerald's
in Berwyn, IL. I walk away impressed with several things. She sings
well, her band and herself play well, and she talkes time with the
fans. Judging by the line to purchase CDs, both her new Tone Cool
release and her own "Better Days", the people liked what they heard. I
had a chance to say hi, adn chat a few minutes. She was very
appreciative of her reception. Her playing and singing does cross
between Bonnie Raitt, and Janis Joplin. She played most all of her
current CD.
She will be at Legends in two weeks, and I will be back for more!
"Growing older but not up!"
Mark Nelson EZM...@PRODIGY.COM
UnoBlues
In a message dated 98-03-16 00:47:04 EST, EZM...@prodigy.com writes:
<< She (Susan Tedeschi) will be at Legends in two weeks, and I will be back
for more! >>
So will I, taking pictures, as usual. :-) Had to miss her show at
Fitzgerald's due to a shooting commitment in the city, but I've been looking
forward to hearing Susan Tedeschi live for quite a while. One of my "must
see" shows for March!
Chuck
USBLUE5
I caught the show at Fitzgerald's and was quite impressed. Susan is definitely
a top notch performer with a great voice and stage presence. I got to talk to
her after see took care of business with the fans who wanted CD's and
autographs. I really like the guitar exchange between her and Sean Costello,
especially when he broke a string and borrowed her guitar just in time to hit
the solo. Hope to see her again.
Rich Gordon
Sunday Night Blues
WXRX 104.9 FM
Rockford, IL
Cary Wolfson
For a contrary, dare I say Ocky-esque, point of view, here's Tim
Schuller's review from a Dallas weekly paper (that I've forgotten the
name of). I agree with some but hardly all of what he says, though I
must admit that my own natural contrary-ism raises its head whenever I
hear about the next "great white hope." Anyway it made me chuckle to see
in print the kind of strong opinions that are rarely expressed outside
of newsgroup flamebait.
And I QUOTE:
Since Sue Foley seems to have backed off her frontline presence, her
replacement niblet is pert singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi, whose *Just
Won't Burn* is terrible. Her voice is a flat, strident caw abrasive
enough to negate good material -- of which she has none -- and make poor
material sound atrocious.
"Found Someone New" and "Looking for Answers" play like bad Bob Seger
songs (blame Tedeschi's pen for both), and though "Little by Little" and
"Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean" are closer to the mark blueswise,
her grackle shrill singing renders both unlistenable.
If someone is telling this poor young lady her present vocal tack is
Joplin-esque, she needs to change advisers. END QUOTE
Just to further piss off the faithful, he then proceeds to rag on new
releases by the Radio Kings, Paul deLay and Honeyboy Edwards before
wrapping up with this zinger: "She and the others aforementioned are
likely nominees for this year's WC Handy, but for no good reason."
;-}>
--
Cary Wolfson
Publisher
BLUES ACCESS Magazine
Online at: http://www.bluesaccess.com
"Nothin' but the best and later for the garbage." -- John Lee Hooker
Subscribe now and beat our upcoming rate increase!
Call 1-800-211-2961 for credit card orders.
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80304-3153
bonnie kalmbach
Cary Wolfson wrote:
>For a contrary, dare I say Ocky-esque, point of view, here's Tim
>Schuller's review from a Dallas weekly paper (that I've forgotten the
>name of). I agree with some but hardly all of what he says, though I
>must admit that my own natural contrary-ism raises its head whenever I
>hear about the next "great white hope." Anyway it made me chuckle to see
>in print the kind of strong opinions that are rarely expressed outside
>of newsgroup flamebait.
>
>And I QUOTE:
> Since Sue Foley seems to have backed off her frontline presence, her
>replacement niblet is pert singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi, whose *Just
>Won't Burn* is terrible. Her voice is a flat, strident caw abrasive
>enough to negate good material -- of which she has none -- and make poor
>material sound atrocious.
>"Found Someone New" and "Looking for Answers" play like bad Bob Seger
>songs (blame Tedeschi's pen for both), and though "Little by Little" and
>"Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean" are closer to the mark blueswise,
>her grackle shrill singing renders both unlistenable.
>If someone is telling this poor young lady her present vocal tack is
>Joplin-esque, she needs to change advisers. END QUOTE
I'm afraid I'll have to agree. And I have to think that fans of the above
have never heard women blues singers with great big voices - such
Gloria Hardiman in her prime, Zora Young, Sista Monica, Sylvia Embry,
and then there are the "soul-blues" singers - Trudy Lynn, Shirley Brown
to name a few. I've heard Sue Foley - I think she'd do better with country
and western material.
To add a few more cents worth, in blues singing, loudness isn't all,
as some seem to think. Janis never did too much for me - too much
frenzy. I don't care for frenzy. I want to hear the voice used the way BB uses
his guitar - I want to hear subtle and soaring melisma. Well, let's just
say I like singers who were trained singing gospel in church, and that
leaves a lot of white performers out, unfortunately. Just my opinion.
Bonnie the K
Vincent Vialard
bonnie kalmbach wrote:
>
> To add a few more cents worth, in blues singing, loudness isn't all,
> as some seem to think. Janis never did too much for me - too much
> frenzy. I don't care for frenzy. I want to hear the voice used the way BB uses
> his guitar - I want to hear subtle and soaring melisma.
This assumes some kind of amplification... I also like whispering,
but that can't be done in a fully acoustic setting, and I like fully
acousting bands !
Vincent (II pfennig)
Zahrem
In a message dated 98-03-20 02:35:37 EST, you write:
<< > have never heard women blues singers with great big voices - such
> Gloria Hardiman in her prime, Zora Young, Sista Monica, Sylvia Embry,
> and then there are the "soul-blues" singers - Trudy Lynn, Shirley Brown
> to name a few. I've heard Sue Foley - I think she'd do better with country
> and western material.
> Well, let's just
> say I like singers who were trained singing gospel in church, and that
> leaves a lot of white performers out, unfortunately. Just my opinion.
I'm afraid I'm with the Rooster and the K on this one.
Pop/rock/country/"90's blues" just don't compete with Sista Monica, EC Scott,
Valerie Wellington and the MANY others out there.
>>
It is interesting when we here on blues-l discuss new talent. Instead of
celebrating the emergence of a new voice performing blues...the discussion
immediately turns to how low on the totem pole their talent ranks in
comparison to others.
Without returning to the standard discussions about paying dues, black/white,
marketing darlings, baldly showing influences, etc., why can't we enjoy the
presence of new talent? From a mercenary standpoint, isn't that a large part
of what sells magazines, radio programming and CD's? It's surely part of what
makes that wheel go 'round.
Lorri Cook
Bonnie Kalmbach
Lorrie Cook writes:
> Pop/rock/country/"90's blues" just don't compete with Sista Monica, EC Scott,
> Valerie Wellington and the MANY others out there.
> >>
>
>It is interesting when we here on blues-l discuss new talent. Instead of
>celebrating the emergence of a new voice performing blues...the discussion
>immediately turns to how low on the totem pole their talent ranks in
>comparison to others.
>
>Without returning to the standard discussions about paying dues, black/white,
>marketing darlings, baldly showing influences, etc., why can't we enjoy the
>presence of new talent? From a mercenary standpoint, isn't that a large part
>of what sells magazines, radio programming and CD's? It's surely part of what
>makes that wheel go 'round.
>
Bonnie sez:
Well, we do have to have standards, and "new" doesn't necessarily equate
with "good".
So far as "new" on the national scene, Sista Monica is "newer" than Sue
Foley, and maybe as "new" as Susan Tedeschi.
Tom Freeland
On 20 Mar 98 at 13:22, Zahrem wrote:
> It is interesting when we here on blues-l discuss new talent.
> Instead of celebrating the emergence of a new voice performing
> blues...the discussion immediately turns to how low on the totem
> pole their talent ranks in comparison to others.
>
> Without returning to the standard discussions about paying dues,
> black/white, marketing darlings, baldly showing influences, etc.,
> why can't we enjoy the presence of new talent? From a mercenary
> standpoint, isn't that a large part of what sells magazines, radio
> programming and CD's? It's surely part of what makes that wheel go
> 'round.
I think folks on this list *do* enjoy new talent. Bonnie, who noted
that she didn't much care for Susan Tedeschi, has repeatedly posted
very positively about Super Chikan, for instance.
What I find more puzzling is the more-or-less regularly made
complaints about negative comments. I sincerly hope that blues-l
posters excercise critical judgment when they post, are willing to
tell us when (& why) something is lousy & when it's great, *AND MOST
OF ALL* are tolerated--heck, even accepted--by other blues-l
subscribers as long as their posts are intelligent and in good faith.
I tend to discount (perhaps even to zero) posts from subscribers that
allways seem to rave about music all over the map. (A poster who
only posts positively but seems to be carefully picking and stating
reasons is different, somewhat).
Finally, another growing tolerance problem on this list is musicians
who seem incapable of hearing anything less than hugely positive
responses. Even indifference seems an afront (no, I'm not talking
about Mike Curtis. He does seem to take criticism good-naturedly).
Tom Freeland
LeaGil
In response to negative responses to music and such...
There is a line between constructive critcism and just someone blowing off
personal steam. What we all have to remember is that whatever the poster may
say is his/her *opinion* and not the blues gospel. I for one do not like to
read that someone "sucks" or "can't play sh**." That (IMHO) is not
constuctive and a waste of space. After reading several posts, you learn
whose opinion you trust, who is on some kinda "testosterone high" and when to
hit the "delete" key.
For every bit of music that is raved about, someone out there equally despises
it. The best thing to do is if you want to know what it is all about, find
out for yourself and listen to it. I have missed out on music I loved (after
catching it by chance on the radio) and bought music I hated because of
someone else's opinion. That's cool and it will happen again. We pay people
to do those things...
Critcism has it's place and is _very_useful to the artist. Mean-spirited
ranting is useful to no one...
Lea Gilmore
===================
Alan Lloyd
In message <6etpot$2tc6$2...@newssvr03-int.news.prodigy.com>, "Mr. Mark A.
Nelson" <EZM...@PRODIGY.COM> writes
>Is'nt it good we live in the good old USA so we can all voice our
>opinions.
You mean the rest of us aren't supposed to?
--
Alan Lloyd
London England
Marty Spaulding
In article <25b40def...@aol.com>,
Zahrem <Zah...@aol.com> wrote:
> I'm afraid I'm with the Rooster and the K on this one.
>
> Pop/rock/country/"90's blues" just don't compete with Sista Monica, EC
Scott,
> Valerie Wellington and the MANY others out there.
> >>
>
> It is interesting when we here on blues-l discuss new talent. Instead of
> celebrating the emergence of a new voice performing blues...the discussion
> immediately turns to how low on the totem pole their talent ranks in
> comparison to others.
>
> Without returning to the standard discussions about paying dues,
black/white,
> marketing darlings, baldly showing influences, etc., why can't we enjoy the
> presence of new talent?
Sista Monica and EC Scott are new talent too. They just get buried under the
pop/blues of people like Susan Tedeschi.
Every time a new "fad" pop blues artist shows up another hundred CURRENT
traditional artists get pushed aside in the mad rush to pay tribute to the
new "blues great".
Susan Tedeschi isn't really a blues artist. Too bad so many people will miss
so many other talented female blues artists going for the press hype and
mass-appeal of a pop-country-rock-blues show when there are SO MANY others
that deserve equal attention.
I'm not saying that she's not any good. What I AM SAYING is that she will
receive a disproportionate amount of attention.
I've seen WAY more Tedeschi posts here than all the others combined.
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
Zahrem
In a message dated 98-03-21 02:59:30 EST, martman writes:
<< Sista Monica and EC Scott are new talent too. They just get buried under
the
pop/blues of people like Susan Tedeschi.
>>
Well, Sista Monica is a Handy Awards winner this year, EC Scott's been around
awhile. Neither has the marketing behind them that Tedeschi has, but I think
that you're asking life to be fair.
>>Every time a new "fad" pop blues artist shows up another hundred CURRENT
traditional artists get pushed aside in the mad rush to pay tribute to the
new "blues great".
As far as I can tell, that is how the game is played. Please refer to any of
the posts on the music business made by PW Fenton, etc., the thread of last
month. But it is still my contention that it is how most non-musicians find
the blues, through other related sources. Every musician has influences, if
you like what they do, you follow it on back. If you see the Grammy Awards
as any indication, the fact that JLH won is a nod to a strong blues market,
as well as a timeless blues performer.
As for regret for those traditional artists who get pushed aside...well, I
believe they know that what they do is of limited appeal ( i.e.-they play one
type of music), and do what they do because they love it, luckily for all of
us. If you feel badly enough for those traditional artists, help them to get
booked in your area, join your blues society, drop their names/management with
your local blues venue, buy their stuff, write about them in your local
entertainment guides. If they don't have the machine behind them, become the
machine, on your level.
>>Susan Tedeschi isn't really a blues artist. Too bad so many people will miss
so many other talented female blues artists going for the press hype and
mass-appeal of a pop-country-rock-blues show when there are SO MANY others
that deserve equal attention.<<
I imagine the people going to see Susan Tedeschi are folks who don't mind some
rock and country mixed with their blues. If an artist wants a mainstream
career, they'll play a variety of music. I'm not sure that is a sin. I'll
keep checking, though.
There have always been blues and R&B artists who perform other styles of
music, so I'm not sure of the point you are making here. Yes, there are SO
MANY others that deserve equal attention...but it's the fairness thing again.
Somehow I managed to give the impression that I think she's the best thing
since Wonderbread by conveying my and the audience' reaction to one show that
I caught here in Pittsburgh. I like her voice, she has the kind of support
behind her that will probably result in a decent career. Anybody in that age
group who is dipping back to the blues is offering something of value. When I
reported that people watching the show were buzzed, that is the case. But I
have seen Koko Taylor destroy the audience in that same venue. I've seen the
local women blues singers do nearly the same thing on one occasion.
The only fairness guarantee I can offer is that, in all fairness, we are all
welcome to our opinions.
Lorri Cook
F. DABNEY
On Thu, 19 Mar 1998, John C. Ellis wrote:
> Glen,
>
> After a long period of word of mouth reports of her abilities - Susan does
> have a debut CD out - JUST WON'T BURN on the Tone-Cool label - which is
> distributed by Rounder Records. She's also the subject of the cover story
> in BLUES REVUE magazine (March 1998). I had just read that & figured to get
> her CD when the fireworks went off on Blues-L. Now I have to get it - just
> so I can make up my own mind.
My gawd! You'll be drummed out of the corps- or should that be harped on
until you quit?
I've got it, play a track or so each week, and while it isn't something
I'd choose to own, it's not as bad as most of the stuff that comes in the
door- and goes right back out again.
Damning with faint praise, to be sure, but for whatever reason, when I'm
playing it, my attention wanders so I really can't say if I think it's any
good or not.
Listen to something obscure from the world of early blues and jazz with
host Fred Dabney at 9 pm on Friday and Saturday nights on KRWG, 90.7 FM,
Las Cruces, NM. <fda...@nmsu.edu>
F. DABNEY
Dynamics are dynamics. Jelly Roll Morton pointed out that if you are
already playing full blast, you have no where to go. He used the analogy
of a glass of water. If it's half full, you can still add to it but if
it's full to start with you can't add anymore. And of course you can
always remove water from the glass as well...
I think it's Keri Leigh that did a cover of the old Charlie Patton song
"Green River" in which she uses a crescendo followed by a whisper that
reaches of the disk and grabs you by the eardrums. Would that more
artists knew how to do this. But of course would that more "fans"
understood the point of dynamics. Too many have had their taste rotted
out by rock radio where the whole point of it is to compress the sound
such that the VU meters never move off the peg, no matter what the program
material.
F. DABNEY
On Fri, 20 Mar 1998, Mr. Mark A. Nelson wrote:
> Is'nt it good we live in the good old USA so we can all voice our
> opinions. I like her, I have seen her, and have bought the CD. I
> think she had a great stage presence, adn enjoyed herself. The people
> in the audience liked it, and judging by the CD total she sold from the
> stage, 1 out of 10 in the house bought a CD. This was with her as an
> opening act. I do love the blues masters, but not many are left. I
> want to see and enjoy the music I like, that makes me feel good. This
> is different for all of us. I just saw Robert Jr. Lockwood a few weeks
> back, and was extremely disappointed. The band played "Georgia" and
> "Route 66" before he came out....real blues classics there...and the
etc....
Was the "Georgia" the song "Georgia on my Mind" that Ray Charles recorded
and that was adopted by the State of Georgia as their state song?
If so, it was written by a white man- Hoagy Carmichal- and if you listen
to the lyrics, it's a bit ambiguous. It could refer to the state, or a
girl of that name.
If the "Route 66" is "Get Your Kicks (On Route 66)" that was a killer hit
for Nat "King" Cole, hardly a blues specialist. Its composer I'd have to
look up.
You never know where these things will lead...