Showing posts with label S.E. Willis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label S.E. Willis. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

S.E.Willis & The Willing - Too Much Love

Size: 100.0 MB
Time: 43:21
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2019
Styles: Electric Blues, Piano Blues
Art: Front

01. Turn Back (4:00)
02. My Happy Home (5:15)
03. I Sure Don't Know Who Does (2:32)
04. Apocalypto (4:22)
05. Crawl Off And Die (3:44)
06. Let That Be The Reason (3:27)
07. Wake Up (5:09)
08. Too Much Love (3:24)
09. Honky Tonk Romance (3:43)
10. I Study The Room (3:20)
11. Honky Tonkin' Night And Day (4:20)

It was 2015 and we were standing on the stage at the Blues Foundation’s Awards show in Memphis, named as Band of the Year for our work with Elvin Bishop. When my turn came to speak all I could think was: “I love this band!” We aren’t the Elvin Bishop Band anymore, but we still love making music together.
There’s a lot of experience here. I’ve been a working musician for 50 years now, much of that time spent in bars in the Southwest, playing rock and roll, country and blues for the local folks. Bobby Cochran’s been at it longer than me, starting in marching bands, drum-line, and the Army band during the Vietnam years. It was the army that brought him from South Carolina to Oakland, CA to join Bobby Freeman backing Carol Doda, the original topless dancer, then the Edwin Hawkins Singers, Cold Blood, Tom Fogerty and many more. Ruth Davies is an Oakland native, born and raised, and an integral part of the Bay Area jazz scene since high school. She was in Charles Brown’s great band through the 80’s and has since worked with John Lee Hooker, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and too many others to name here.
That’s the core of the band. The others: Nancy Wright, sax and vocals; Danny Caron, guitar; Bob Welsh, guitar; Marina Crouse, vocal; Christoffer "Kid" Andersen, guitars, percussion; Lisa Leuschner, vocals.
I wrote all the songs here, with some help from Bobby and our friend Takezo Takeda. Some of the songs are a bit older, from an attempt to write a Honky Tonk musical set in Flagstaff, AZ (Tracks 2, 9,10, 11). The rest, beginning with Crawl Off and Die, are new, and are my attempt to deal with, mostly, love and death. It’s not beer and big-legged women, but it’s got a beat and you can dance to it. Too Much Love. As if there can ever be too much. ~Steve Willis

Too Much Love

Thursday, May 7, 2015

S.E.Willis - Taproot: Songs Of Robert Johnson And Hank Williams Performed By S.E. Willis

Size: 102,5 MB
Time: 43:41
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2008
Styles: Piano Blues
Art: Front

01. Lost Highway (3:51)
02. The Last Fair Deal Gone Down (3:19)
03. The Mansion On The Hill (3:02)
04. Preachin' Blues (Up Jumped The Devil) (3:26)
05. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (2:54)
06. Me And The Devil (4:28)
07. May You Never Be Alone (3:23)
08. Shreveport Farewell (3:34)
09. Love In Vain/Six More Miles (4:56)
10. Cold Cold Heart (4:02)
11. If I Had Possession (Over Judgement Day) (3:42)
12. Your Cheatin' Heart (2:59)

Original and heart-felt solo and small band (piano, bass, drums, saxophone, accordion and harmonica) interpretations of songs written by two major icons of American music.

S.E.Willis’s fourth CD is a moving musical tribute to two founding fathers of American music, Robert Johnson and Hank Williams. Thirty years in the making, Taproot goes to the heart of Country and Blues roots, delivering truly original and inspired interpretations of classics. From the rocking boogie of Johnson’s “Preachin’ Blues” and “Last Fair Deal” to the heartbreaking intimacy of Williams’ “Mansion On the Hill,” Willis, a veteran bluesman with incredible vocal range and stylistic maturity, makes an important and memorable contribution to Robert Johnson’s and Hank Williams’ songbooks.

“I’ve been listening to and studying these men all my musical life. There are no more important voices in American music: they are the twin hearts of my country.” ~S.E.Willis

“…one of the most sought-after blues pianists; he covers different styles with aplomb, comps like a master, and bangs out a mean solo.” ~Blues Revue #84

“S.E.Willis plays like he’s got twelve fingers. He can pound the 88’s but there’s a whole lot more to him than that. He rocks, he rolls, he swings, he sings. For a complete tour of piano styles performed by a master, get Steve’s new one. What’s on my iPod? Taproot.” ~Marcia Ball

..a commanding singer and keyboardist (piano, organ, and accordion) who delivers classic and original material with conviction and authenticity.” ~Lee Hildebrand, East Bay Express

“S.E.Willis is a helluva keyboard player!” ~Elvin Bishop

Taproot