MISSISSIPPI DELTA BLUES, INC.
Carol and Ron Marble are proud to be noted on the Hal & Mal's Blues Marker in front of Hal & Mal's in Jackson, MS - Noted as founders of the Central Mississippi Blues Society
MISSISSIPPI DELTA BLUES, INC & MISSISSIPPI DELTA RECORDS
MANAGEMENT & RECORD LABEL
"20 Plus Years in the Music Business
We work with Nationally and Internationally experienced musicians!
We present musicians steeped in blues tradition and heritage!
We offer management, promotion, booking, and record label services.
MISSISSIPPI DELTA RECORD LABEL (with Links to purchasing music)
Our YouTube Site has extensive Videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/deltabluesmama
Contact Us at deltablues@bellsouth.net
MEET THE MUSICIANS
CAT RHODES AND THE TRUTH * BRANDON GILES * jIMMI MAYES * MICKEY ROGERS * TROI ATKINSON * EDDIE COTTON, JR, JOHNNY DRUMMER * TERRY BIG T WILLIAMS * LEVAN LORTKIPANIDZE
* DENNIS JONES * JESSE ROBINSON
CAT RHODES and BRYAN MORRIS - Pensacola, Florida
Signed to Mississippi Delta Blues, Inc. and Mississippi Delta Records
Cat Rhodes and The Truth – Bryan Morris, Drummer and Band Leader. Cat Rhodes Vocalist. Bryan Morris began playing the drums when he was three years old. And at the age of five Bryan Morris started his performing career performing with a famous jazz show band that was directed and managed by his father, the late Joseph A. Morris. Bryan’s career has followed a path that embraces several aspects of the music business to include, Drummer, Band Leader, Producer, and Songwriter. In honor of his outstanding career Bryan Morris was honored with a declaration by the Mobile, Alabama City Council naming Sunday, November 2019 as being “Mr. Bryan Morris Day”. As a producer Bryan's music has reached number 18 on the Billboard charts.
Cat Rhodes comes from a strong Gospel background. Her mother was part of a gospel performing group. Cat’s unique voice led her to embrace several genres of music and excelling in many. Cat Rhodes’ performances and her unique talent led her to be noted on a Mississippi Blues Marker in Pensacola, Florida. Cat and Bryan have both performed and traveled internationally. Noted performances. Cat Rhodes has several albums featuring her original music. Her new music in 2024 features the legendary musicians Mickey Rogers and Jimmi Mayes as part of her recordings. She was an invited guest at the Big Blues Bender 2023 with the Kenny Neal Band. Other noted performances included the MAX (The Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience in Meridian, MS; the Budweiser Stage at the Mississippi State Fair – Opening act. And as a guest artist at The GRAND in Fitzgerald Georgia on stage with true legends Grammy nominated Kenney Neal, Little Ray Neal, Red Neal, Darnell Neal, and Bryan Morris.
CDs Released:
Slim Brown (2023)
Blues Sitting On My Doorstep (2021) Listen to Tracks
I Got It (Single) (2021)
Knee Deep In The Blues (2016)
Apple Music - Blues Sitting On My Doorstep
BRANDON GILES - Orange Beach, Alabama
Signed to Mississippi Delta Blues, Inc. and Mississippi Delta Records
Brandon Giles is "hell come to town" on piano.
“He’s the greatest piano showman I’ve ever seen.” – Mickey Gilley
Over the years, Brandon Giles has developed his own unique sound by taking the influences of rock 'n' roll artists such as Elvis, Rolling Stones, The Doors, Hank Williams, Jr., and Jerry Lee Lewis and combining that musical energy with a newer, hard rocking beat. "It's kind of like Little Richard meets AC/DC on steroids."
A self-taught pianist, Brandon Giles is "hell come to town" on piano. Over the years, he has developed his own unique sound by taking the influences of rock 'n' roll artists such as Elvis, Rolling Stones, The Doors, Hank Williams, Jr. and Jerry Lee Lewis combining that musical energy with a newer, hard rocking beat. "It's kind of like Little Richard meets AC/DC on steroids," says Giles. Brandon can showcase his style best when playing his original music. However, his live shows are infused with a mix of hard rocking honky-tonk classics, electrifying blues and boogie-woogie standards which will bring the audience to their feet and leave them wanting more.
Giles was born in Magnolia, Arkansas where he lived on a farm for 18 years. Working as a child in the fields of his uncle's watermelon and pea patches, he quickly realized that his real life's ambition was elsewhere. After high school he left for Jonesboro, Arkansas where he attended Arkansas State University to study Communications and Art. While at ASU, he earned his real education on the weekend visits to the clubs and honky-tonks in nearby Memphis. During this time, Brandon would make frequent appearances playing piano at Earnestene & Hazel's club. According to Giles, "I would play and sing in the saloons and the audiences would tip me. It took about three seconds after that first dollar hit my pocket to realize that my pea-picking and watermelon-vine-turning days were over."
Upon graduating from ASU, Giles made a leap of faith and moved his musical career to the true Music City, Nashville, Tennessee. Not long after hitting town, he landed a regular gig at Nashville's premier outlaw honky-tonk club, Laylas Bluegrass Inn, on historic Lower Broadway. At Layla’s, Brandon quickly honed his craft into what he likes to call a "crash course of honky-tonk chicken-wire, brick wall, shotgun nightclub entertaining.” Forget New York City, if you can make it (or survive) down there you can make it anywhere!
During his time in Nashville, Giles honed his songwriting skills, penning songs like “Natural Born Talent" which is an autobiographical tune. He has collaborated with Grammy-winning producer, Tom Hambridge, as well as Tre Twitty, grandson of the legendary Conway Twitty, Michael Buller, and Joe Denim. “Writing with such accomplished writers that understood the way I performed was a must for me. I will not sing anything I don’t like or wouldn't listen to myself. I never considered myself a songwriter until I realized that I was making up new songs onstage on nearly every show. For example, a woman was dancing in front of us one night in a mermaid costume and she immediately got a song written on the spot about her, which I won’t repeat the lyrics to here. I’d done that all my life. So I guess I am a songwriter,” Giles says. Giles has officially written or co-written tracks for all of his albums, including: “Some Sunny Day,” “Honky Tonk Hellraiser,” “Hell On Heels,” and “Devil On Both Shoulders.”
In the fall of 2020, Brandon relocated to the Gulf Coast and now relishes the beach life, residing in Orange Beach, Alabama. He can be found playing his heart out around the greater Pensacola and Orange Beach areas regularly at venues such as Flora-Bama, Hub Stacey’s, The Purple Parrot, The Front Porch, The Sports Bar, San Bar, Whiskey Joe’s and more, as well as touring the nation with his 5 piece band "The Stop Drop & Roll Band" featuring legendary New York saxophonist, Lars Espensen, formerly of the A-Bones and The Churchkeys and world renowned rockabilly stand-up bass player, “Doghouse” Dave Caluger.
Over the past several years, Brandon has played with many notable musicians on various projects. He has played with Les Paul in Time Square in New York City, appeared on Monday Night Football, and performed with Mickey Gilley at his theater in Branson, Missouri. Recently he has opened shows in arenas for Trent Tomlinson, Juice Newton, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Joe Diffie, Lee Brice, and Lee Greenwood. He has also played with the infamous Kid Rock and the legendary Ray Charles. He also played the role of Lewis in the musical live stage version. Giles has performed across Europe in Germany and Poland as well as most of the United States.
BRANDON GILES - https://www.brandongiles.com/home
JIMMI MAYES - Jackson, MS / A Mississippi Living Legend
Signed to Mississippi Delta Blues, Inc. and Mississippi Delta Records
Chicago Blues Hall of Fame and more honors! From Jackson, MS,
THE AMAZING JIMMI MAYES National & International Performing Artist / Vocalist - Drummer - Author - Recording Artist. Featured performer at the Pinetop Perkins Homecoming event 2024 and earlier. Featured speaker and performer at the BB King Symposium. Jimmi Mayes Started his career in Jackson, MS playing in Juke Joints. He continued his career by travelling internationally and performing with many of the greats of his time in New York and Chicago. They wanted the best of the best sideman on drums that they knew. Jimmi also had his own band during his career and he was the toast of Mexico City for a year. Jimmi Mayes played and toured with Little Walter, Jimmy Reed, Pinetop Perkins, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Robert Junior Lockwood, and more over the course of his career. He backed Marvin Gaye and later became the bandleader for Joey Dee & the Starliters who had a monster hit the “Peppermint Twist” during the time Jimmi was with them. He became good friends with Jimi Hendrix and eventually he was asked by Jimi Hendrix to record with him. Mayes is on four of Hendrix’s albums. He is an internationally know drummer. Apple Music
www.jimmimayes.com
MICKEY ROGERS - Greenville, MS / A Mississippi Living Legend
Signed Mississippi Delta Records
Mickey Rogers was born in the heart of the Mississippi Delta in Panther Bern, MS, (1943). “Rogers’ life straddled two worlds: the days of sharecropping in the segregated, rural South and the faster paced life in the cities of Chicago and Detroit” Margo Cooper, Living Blues Magazine #235.
Mickey played with Howlin’ Wolf when he was fifteen at Sylvio’s Lounge in Chicago. Howlin’ Wolf and Hubert Sumlin took Mickey to London, England with them when Mickey was around 18 years old. The Rolling Stones opened up for them. When the Stones came to America, Wolf, Hubert, and Mickey played with them in a little club called “Vegas Club” on the North Side of Chicago.
During his career Mickey has played with artists like Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, The Jackson 5, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Clay, Hubert Sumlin, Harold Burrage, The Dramatics, Gladys Knight & The Pips, the Temptations and the Chi-Lites. He spent many years on the road with Tyrone Davis and with Bobby Rush. Mickey has opened for B.B. King at Club Ebony in Indianola, MS many times.
Mickey is featured in International and National Blues Magazines such as Rhythm and Blues, UK, IL Blues, Italy, Big City Rhythm & Blues, and Living Blues. Mickey is honored with a stone Mississippi Walk of Fame in Greenville, Mississippi and is featured in the Hwy 61 Museum in Leland, MS. Mickey received the Jus' Blues Music Foundation Bobby Rush Lifetime Blues Entertainers Award 2019.
Mickey was named Blues Musician of the Year in 2013 by the Mississippi Blues Society of Indianola, Indianola, Mississippi. Mickey is one of the Mississippi Living Legends artists in the H.C. Porter exhibit.
Mickey Rogers performs with his band Mickey Rogers and The Soul Blues Band, and with The Way of Blues Revue 2024 (Cat Rhodes, Bryan Morris, Jimmi Mayes, and Mickey Rogers).
TROI ATKINSON - Mobile, Alabama
Singer, Songwriter, Recording Artist, Blues/Folk Blues/Gospel
Signed to Mississippi Delta Blues, Inc. and Mississippi Delta Records
Troi Atkinson was born in Arkansas and says that he “began his time on earth in the hills, fields & swamps of Arkansas.” Troi’s early childhood involved nightly camp meetings and front porch evening musical sessions. He grew up with music and songwriting as a primary means of communication. After leaving Arkansas Troi became a sailor and a soldier in the truest since of the word by becoming a Navy Seal and a world traveler.
As a singer and songwriter Troi’s travels found an expression in his unique rhythms and lyrics which are flavored with multicultural tones. Through his music he illuminates the Love that is seeded in all of humanity.
Troi Atkinson’s albums are available on music media sites for preview.
Shine a new album – To Be Released in the fall of 2024 on Mississippi Delta Records label.
Recent years led Troi to locate in the Florida/Mobile area where he performs in local music venues and festivals.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/troi.atkinson
Website: https://www.msdeltablues.com/troi-atkinson
YouTube: www.youtube.com/deltabluesmama
Management & Record Label:
Carol Marble, Mississippi Delta Blues, Inc.
Mississippi Delta Records
EDDIE COTTON, JR - Clinton, MS
Booking: Mississippi Delta Blues, Inc.
Eddie Cotton is a national and international Mississippi Musician who is also noted on multiple Mississippi Hwy Blues Markers, many album releases. 2023 Eddie Cotton Band performed for the Jus Blues Foundation Juke Joint party 2023. Eddie Cotton performed at the Chicago Blues Festival in 2022. Eddie Cotton, Jr performs at various venues in Jackson, MS. Cotton performs in many clubs such as Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, MS and Club Ebony in Indianola, MS and numerous festivals nationally and internationally.
Eddie Cotton was born in Clinton, Mississippi where he grew up singing and playing gospel music in his father’s church. He studied music theory at Jackson State University, all the while playing at local jukes and sitting in with local artists, including bluesman King Edward Antoine in the venue featured in “Last of The Mississippi Jukes.”
Cotton has shared line-ups with Honey Boy Edwards, Hubert Sumlin, Bobby Rush, King Edward, B.B. King, Little Milton Campbell, Ike Turner, Buddy Miles, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, John Mayall, Sony Rhodes, Grady Champion, Zac Harmon, Smokey Wilson, Cassandra Wilson, Mable Staples, Brandy, The William Brothers, Paul Overstreet, Charlie Pride, Marty Stewart, Dorothy Moore, Johnny Lang, Etta James, Gladys Knight, Pattie Labelle, Chaka Khan, Nannette Workman, Ohio Players, The Temptations and more.
TERRY BIG T WILLIAMS - Clarksdale, MS
Booking & Promotion
Terry “Big T” Williams was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He spent his early years on a plantation in Farrell, Mississippi, hearing stories about Muddy Waters attending Sunday picnics in his grandmother’s yard. These influences, as well as the music he was hearing on the radio by musicians such as B.B. King, had an impact on him. At nine, Big T’s father gave him a guitar.
Early on, Terry “Big T” Williams was tutored with blues guitar legend Johnnie Billington who taught Big T the basics and then he learned the rest on the road with blues bands like the Jelly Roll Kings, Welsey Jefferson Band, Little Jeno's All-Stars and the Stone Gas Band.
Through the years he has also sat in with or backed musicians like Albert King, Bobby "Blue" Bland, CeDell Davis, Robert Belfour, Big George Brock, Nora Jean Bruso and Jimbo Mathus.
Terry who is the Godson of famed bluesman Big Jack Johnson is the real deal. He has lived more blues than a dozen bluesmen. His biggest influence is probably Big Jack Johnson, who Big T played with for several years in the Delta and on tour.
His recorded legacy includes sessions with blues legends Big Jack Johnson and Lonnie Pitchford as well as albums under his own name, including Meet me in the Cotton Field (2007) which was featured on XM Satellite Radio's Bluesville. He has recorded six CDs.
Terry "Big T" Williams was named 2009 Blues Guitar Player of the Year by the West Coast Blues Society in California, which also enshrined him into their Hall of Fame.
Terry “Big T” Williams has performed at numerous blues festivals, including the Chicago Blues Festival, the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, Washington and the Russell City Blues Festival in Oakland, California and the Sunflower River Festival, Clarksdale, Mississippi and at the Pigtown Festival in Baltimore, Maryland.
He records, teaches blues education and performs at festivals, events, clubs and private parties. He is available to perform nationally and internationally.
DENNIS JONES - Los Angeles, California
Booking
*A Jus Blues Awards Inductee in 2023*
After opening for Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, and George Thorogood and Tinsley Ellis and touring the US, Canada, and Europe for years, Dennis Jones and his band are HEADLINING! Dennis Jones performs Sizzling hot guitar solos and Smooth and soulful vocals; a High-energy stage performance is Backed by a rhythm section that is second to none. Dennis Jones has developed a large following of fans who pack the house for his performances.
Dennis Jones writes songs that seamlessly blend the best of both worlds, presenting a unique and contemporary style of American rock and blues. Dennis has written songs for other notable artists as well. Guitar Shorty and others!
He also spent three years with The Bus Boys (Boys Are Back In Town) and was a member of The Zac Harmon Band, when they won first place in the 2004 Blues Music Awards Competition in Memphis TN.
CD/DVD RELEASES Since 2003, Dennis has released 7 successful CDs, and a DVD. All released on his own label, Blue Rock Records. Each and every release has met with rave reviews. His latest "Soft Hard & Loud" released in 2020 quickly rose to #1 and remained in the Top 10 for 12 weeks. Dennis is currently working on his new CD, with a projected early 2023 release. You can hear his music on blues & roots radio stations in the US and around the world.
RECENT PERFORMANCES, FESTIVALS, TOURS
ITALY - An Evening with the Blues, Bolzano, Italy, March10-11 2023
EUROPEAN TOUR - Poland, Germany, Austria
Jan 21 - March 4, 2023
Big Blues Bender, Las Vegas, NV 2019 - 2022
Alpine Blues Festival, 2019 - 2022
Supporting act for George Thorogood & The Destroyers 2021
Tucson Blues Festival (HEADLINER) 2021
Blues & Bones Festival (HEADLINER) 2017 - 2021
Gator By The Bay Festival, San Diego, CA, May 2017 - 2021
EARLIER PERFORMANCE, FESTIVALS, TOURS include European Tours and Australia Tour and more ...
European Tours - January - 2017 - 2018 – 2019 – -Germany, Poland, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Czech Republic
Dennis Jones – Official Website
https://dennisjonescentral.com/
(Dennis Jones) Videos – www.youtube.com/deltabluesmama
Booking & Promotion
Jesse Robinson is a national and international Mississippi Musician who is also noted on multiple Mississippi Hwy Blues Markers. Performed at Austin City Limits as lead singer in the BB King tribute band. 2023 Jesse Robinson performs monthly at Hal and Mals in Jackson, MS in the Red Room. A legendary musician. On stage many times with his good friend B.B. King. Jesse received the JUS’ BLUES TRIBUTE TO MUDDY WATERS FOR OUTSTANDING MUSIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BLUES in 2023. Jesse Robinson has toured nationally and internationally. He performs solo and with an outstanding band of top-rated musicians. During his career he has played and worked with many other blues musicians including Cassandra Wilson, Little Milton, Bobby Rush, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, B.B. King, and others. Jesse Robinson has performed internationally, and nationally throughout his career. He performed with Robertinho de Recife the great Brazilian guitarist and record producer in Brazil. Jesse Robinson is considered the bedrock of Jackson, MS blues. He has been instrumental in promoting many music venues and musicians by his special shows. His annual Birthday Party Celebration draws top rated musicians from the region and friends and fans from around the globe.
JOHNNY DRUMMER - Horn Lake, MS
Signed to Mississippi Delta Blues, Inc.
2023 Johnny Drummer performed at Chicago at The 79th Street Renaissance Festival. Johnny Drummer has a Blues Marker in Alligator, MS. Johnny Drummer was Twice inducted into the Chicago Hall of Fame. He has many album releases. Johnny is an International and national performer born in Alligator, MS. Johnny Drummer was Recognized by the City of Chicago for his contribution to Chicago music. He was Awarded the honor and title “Master Keyboardist, Drummer and Vocalist” in the Fraternal Order of Celestial Musicians sponsored by The Black American Blues Historical Society of Canada
Johnny Drummer won First Place In The International Songs Writers Competition (2016), for his song AIN'T NO SECRET IN A SMALL TOWN, released by Earwig Music on the cd BAD ATTITUDE.
LEVAN LORTKIPANIDZE - Oxford, MS
Management - Mississippi Delta Blues, Inc.
Levan is a Former member of The Electric Mudd. A history of performing Blues Music in the Mississippi Delta for many years.
LEVAN LORTKIPANIDZE is a multi-talented musician who is capable of performing world-class performances. He is a vocalist, and an expert performer on flute, harmonica, guitar, dobro, slide guitar, Hammond, and piano. He is capable of performing several genres of music. He has been welcomed on the stage by BB King and also other notable Legendary Blues Performers. He has been welcomed into the recording studio by musicians who have worldwide followings. He has performed in documentaries, on TV and in live theater performances. He has an exceptional and varied performance history. Levan Lortkipanidze was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. After graduation from Tbilisi Conservatory, he came to Nashville, TN on a recording contract with McFarland Brothers.
LEVAN LORTKIPANIDZE has performed on shows and in documentaries with many Legendary Performers in the United States and in Europe. He has been on stage with BB King, and several Mississippi Delta Blues musicians who have multiple honors.
More about Levan Lortkipanidze
BRYAN MORRIS/B Mo PRODUCTIONS LLC - Pensacola, Florida
Promotion - Mississippi Delta Blues, Inc.
Bryan Morris – Drummer, Band Leader, Producer, and Songwriter
Bryan began playing the drums when he was three years old. And at the age of five Bryan Morris started his performing career performing with a band that was directed and managed by his father, the late Joseph A. Morris. Bryan credits his father as the one who encouraged his musical career along with his mother Mary Morris. Bryan’s career has followed a path that embraces several aspects of the music business to include: Drummer, Band Leader, Producer, and Songwriter. In honor of his outstanding career Bryan Morris was honored with a declaration by the Mobile, Alabama City Council naming Sunday, November 2019 as being “Mr. Bryan Morris Day”.
Bryan Morris’s career as a Drummer is outstanding. During his career Bryan Morris has performed with the with an array of distinguished musicians, including Bobby Humphries, Artique Duke Payne–Bagpipes, and the E.B. Coleman Jazz Orchestra, and jazz trumpet Maestro Maynard Ferguson. In 1984, Bryan was hired as the drummer for the Surgeon General Band (Top 40) and remained with the group until it disbanded in 1987.
Bryan’s performance career continued with: The Michael Foster Project (jazz band) and Dojo Composure featured rapper Lavell Crump a.k.a. David Banner. He produced tracks for Doja Composure; performed with jazz trumpeter Eric Baskins; performed with jazz clarinetists Alvin Batiste; and toured with American Bluesman Kenny Neal. Bryan Morris toured for many years with Kenny Neal and during this time he recorded as drummer on many of Neal's award winning albums..
Bryan’s career also includes touring and recording with Flaminco and Smooth Jazz Guitarist Roman Street. During which time Roman Street recorded a song for Bryan’s dad, titled, “Mr. Morris”. The song rose to number 12 on the Billboard Jazz chart.
Bryan Morris – Producer and Songwriter
Bryan Morris has an arsenal of songs he has written throughout the years; Cat Rhodes and The Truth chose his song “I Got It” to release as a single. The single released on Mississippi Delta Records label in March 2021. Credits on the cover list Bryan Morris as the Producer and Arranger, Songwriter and Performer of all music on the tract. Bryan says he is “So proud and thankful to God (Thank You Jesus) to announce the first single to be released under my production company B Mo Productions. In 2021 a full album "Blues Sitting On My Doorstep" was released by Cat Rhodes and the Truth with Bryan Morris as Producer and songwriter for several tracts. Bryan serves in several roles regarding the album. The album "Blues On My Doorstep" is on the Mississippi Delta Record label. Bryan Morris is working as producer for several clients in the Pensacola, Florida area. Bryan Morris along with Fred Wesley produced a song for a living legend and an accomplished writer and composer Saxophonist Mr. Joe Lewis.
Bryan Morris – Band Leader
Bryan formed his own band, The Truth, featuring Cat Rhodes. The band released the album Knee Deep In The Blues in 2016 released their second album Blues Sitting On My Doorstep in 2021. December 2019 Mississippi Delta Blues, Inc. became the Management company for Cat Rhodes and the Truth offering them management, booking and promotion. Of special note, the band headlined the Mississippi State Fair in 2020 and was embraced by an enthusiastic audience.
As a bandleader Bryan runs a tight ship. The band has a tight, well-practiced style of their own featuring Cat Rhodes on vocals. Cat Rhodes and The Truth performed nightly to a packed house at Graffitti, and The Funky Blues Shack located in Destin, Florida until they closed in 2022. Now the band is performing nightly in Pensacola, Destin, and Mobile area. The band is also noted on a Mississippi Hwy Blues marker located in Pensacola, FL.
Of note Bryan along with Cat Rhodes are the producers of the television show Cat Traxx WFBD/Blab TV.
Contact/ Message at : Facebook
Endorsements
-Soultone Cymbals
-Agner Swiss made Drumsticks of Switzerland -Lauper Snare Drums of Switzerland
FRED WESLEY - USA AND EUROPE
Promotion USA - Mississippi Delta Blues, Inc.
FRED WESLEY - fred@funkyfredwesley.com
https://www.funkyfredwesley.com/
Mississippi Delta Records Promotions
A few of Fred Wesley’s career highlights:
Multi-instrumentalist, arranger, composer, bandleader, and longtime musical director for James Brown's renowned backing unit the J.B.'s. Fred Wesley is known for R&B, Funk, Soul, and Jazz-Funk. Wesley's contributions to classic funk include Black Caesar, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off, and The Payback. Alongside bandmates including Maceo Parker and Bootsy Collins, Fred Wesley spearheaded James Brown's groundbreaking transformation from soul to funk, establishing the template for the R&B of a new decade. Wesley even wrote a handful of Brown hits including "Doin' It to Death" and "Papa Don't Take No Mess," and headlined several Brown’s records including the classic Damn Right I Am Somebody and Breakin' Bread.
Wesley signed on with George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic in time for their seminal Mothership Connection LP. Clinton encouraged his collaborators to pursue their own projects, even co-writing most of the songs featured on the trombonist's 1977 official solo debut, A Blow for Me, a Toot for You, credited to Fred Wesley & the Horny Horns. After a second solo disc, 1979's Say Blow by Blow Backwards, Wesley joined the Count Basie Orchestra. After settling in Hollywood in 1981, Wesley assumed the role of hired gun, playing on studio sessions headlined by Earth, Wind & Fire, Barry White, and the Gap Band, and also arranged records by Curtis Mayfield and Terry Callier. He re-ignited his solo career with 1990's jazz date New Friends and continued recording straight-ahead jazz LPs throughout the decade to follow. As his unmistakable syncopated style became a crucial component of hip-hop via endless sampling of his vintage James Brown sides, Wesley also toured with fellow Brown alums Maceo Parker and Pee Wee Ellis as the JB Horns before forming his own Fred Wesley Group in 1996. In 2002 he published his memoirs, Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman. Wesley followed it with a new album, With a Little Help from My Friends, in 2010 from BHM Records. Other releases include James Brown featuring Fred Wesley & The JB’s, There It Is (Live) B/W Pass The Peas (Live) 2012, Blow Your Head, Get On Down, 2014, Fred Wesley’s body of work is extensive. Discography
.
Management for Fred Wesley
Contact
Wanna reach out and touch Fred? You can send an email to fred@funkyfredwesley.com Management - Joya Wesley
Music Promotion - Inquires about Radio Play - Carol Marble - deltablues@bellsouth.net
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MISSISSIPPI DELTA BLUES, iNC.