Some real quick takes:

Joe Deninzon's Stratospheerius at the Hunter Museum, Chattanooga. (Joe's unplugged in this.)

I'm servicing finally the Joe Deninzon Trio album, EXUBERANCE. It's a terrific jazz album and pays tribute to the late Bob Bowen. Jot me a note if you're interested. http://www.joedeninzon.com/

Tour dates for Grand Funk Railroad are at http://www.grandfunkrailroad.com/departures.htm

Strawbs will be here in September and October. Most of the dates will be with the Zombies, and that will include shows in Southern California (to be announced) for the first time in many, many years! Melani Rodgers is the publicist for the Zombies. Her e-mail is melanirogersny@aol.com So far, some dates are up at http://strawbsweb.co.uk/@f/f_1109mp.htm More will be announced soon.

Bruce Pilato (brucetune@aol.com) is handling Carl Palmer's tour this year.
http://carlpalmer.com/tourdates.php

I'll be working two Gentle Giant digital and CD re-releases this September: OCTOPUS and THREE FRIENDS. Fan site for the band: http://www.blazemonger.com/GG/Gentle_Giant_Home_Page

My poetry book, MY BRAIN, THE PARK, AND OTHER THINGS has been bumped to my birthday, October 15. Great way to celebrate. I plan to do a live performance in the Bronx as a celebration around that time. In 2012 I'm arranging shows in New York City and Lehigh Valley/Quakertown/Philadelphia area.

Bronx Music Fans: "Tell Paul McCartney to Have Jann Klose Open The Show at Yankee Stadium, July 15 and 16."

"And Your Jann Can Sing"

Jann Klose performing the Beatles' "Something" at BanglaDesh-revisited, BB Kings, Nov. 2009

Preeminent singer/songwriter Paul McCartney received an offer from the Bronx-based singer/songwriter Jann Klose to open for the legendary Beatles star in the Bronx at Sir Paul's upcoming shows July 15 and 16 at Yankees Stadium. Not for $3000, as the recurring 1970s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE "Reunite the Beatles" gag used to go, but because the prospect makes sense.

Paul McCartney is performing on Jann's home turf in the Bronx, where Jann has lived for the past 11 years. He has become an international representative of this borough, one of the most multi-cultural cities of the world. He has performed at Bronx Week and An Beal Bocht, and been profiled in Bronx media on TV, radio, internet, and print including a number of Daily News articles. Venues in his community around the Bronx, Manhattan, and Westchester County, include shows at the venerable Tarrytown Music Hall, The Concert Hall, Rockwood Music Hall, the Bitter End, and BB Kings. He's influenced countless residents to make better eating decisions as he appears on the GRAMMY-nominated album, HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT: GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT along with Julian Lennon, Sweet Honey In the Rock, Russell Simmons, Moby, and St. Louis, MO scenester Beatle Bob.

When he's not in the Bronx, Jann tours throughout North America, France, Germany, Georgia, and the UK--including having performed a number of shows in Liverpool, UK-- two at the Beatles former stomping ground, the Cavern Club. In March 2012, Jann returns to Liverpool, where he'll be teaching a Master Class on DIY touring and the importance of collaboration at the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (the college Sir Paul McCartney co-founded).

Like the Beatles, Jann started performing in Hamburg, Germany, where he spent his teenage years. Hamburg was also where Jann first heard music by Paul McCartney and the Beatles. Born in Germany, raised in Kenya, South Africa, and Germany, Jann first came to the States as an exchange student in Cleveland. After fulfilling his civil service in Hamburg, he returned to the States to start his career.

After a stint in touring companies of Broadway plays (JEKYLL & HYDE, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR) and portraying the Pinball Wizard in the NJPac production of TOMMY, Jann released BLACK BOX EP and the album REVERIE, both critically-acclaimed. In the past seven years, Jann's shared the stage with and opened for an array of artists, including Rusted Root, Renaissance, Marshall Crenshaw, Jonathan Edwards, Roger McGuinn, Pete Seeger, and the late Les Paul. He is now an eligible artist for the 2011 New York Music Awards, listed right between "Carole King" and "Lady Gaga." His music has been featured on MTV Cribs, the soundtrack to the Paul Sorvino film Dead Broke (Warner Bros), plus on compilations in France, Indonesia, and the UK. Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson found him representation in Germany.

Through the years Jann's praised Paul McCartney in his interviews. On the eve of Paul's 2009 tour, The Washington Examiner asked Jann about the former Beatle's impact and reason for longevity. Jann explained the singer's influence, "The melodies are so powerful and catching without being boring. You just don't forget them. I think more than anything that's what has staying power."

SCORE MUSIC's Paul Barile reviewed Jann's album, REVERIE, and wrote, "This sounds like what the Beatles would have made if they had grown old together." Some of the album's songs can be heard at http://www.myspace.com/jannklose .

Links to live music, including Jann's performance of "Something" from ABBEY ROAD at an annual BANGLADESH tribute and cancer benefit from New York City's BB Kings are at http://www.youtube.com/jannklose.

Paul McCartney and his staff have received invitations to any of Jann's upcoming shows. Come on out.

July 1: ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL w/ Tom Brislin, New York, NY
July 2: RECORD COLLECTOR w/ Tom Brislin, Bordentown, NJ
July 3: THE IRIDIUM, sitting in w/ Gary Lucas, New York, NY
July 9: HOUSE CONCERT, Trenton, NJ
August 11: MUSIKFEST 2011, Bethlehem, PA
September 10: STEPHEN TALKHOUSE w/ Jonathan Tiersten, Amagansett, NY
September 11: COFFEE WORKS w/ Jonathan Tiersten, Voorhees, NJ
October 26: IRON HORSE w/ Shawn Phillips, Northampton, MA
November 26: HIGHLINE BALLROOM, BanglaDesh revisited, New York, NY
March 2, 2012: MASTER CLASS, LIVERPOOL INSTITUTE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, Liverpool, UK

####

KJ DENHERT, AN INTRODUCTION

http://www.kjdenhert.com
KJ's video and story behind "Let It Go"
http://youtu.be/Ld851jNlSN4
KJ's music video of "Help" http://youtu.be/p-ktZ1jARKQ

This is KJ DENHERT, an urban folk singer/guitarist/songwriter, who performs quite a bit. If you're interested in getting her press kit with her current album, ALBUM No.9.  
 
"Album No.9 is about freedom.” says KJ Denhert. There also is a numerology connection as to how and when the album was recorded; production began on Sept. 9, 2009, continued over the course of nine months with nine musicians, and has nine songs. "My life-path number is 9," says KJ. In less than a year of its release on Sept. 9, 2010, KJ's music video of ALBUM No.9’s yearnful "Help" is becoming a minor hit on youtube. She interprets the Beatles' standard as a plea to the world, because of the many tragedies that were complicated due to man’s inhumanity and greed, most recently in Haiti, Louisiana, and Japan. Other classics on the album are "Alfie;" "Pennies From Heaven,” "The Shadow of Your Smile," and "Smoke on the Water."

The reggae anthem "Choose Your Weapon," which won the 2010 Independent Music Award for ”Sing Out for Social Action," "Let It Go," and her first song in French, "Chanson Baz Bar" are three of ALBUM No.9's originals that have become favorites of KJ's fans.

This November, KJ will be celebrating 15 years fronting her own band KJ Denhert and the New York Unit. But, her career dates back to the '60s when she first started playing guitar at age 10, listening to Sergio Mendes and John Hartford, “As I advanced, books by James Taylor and Joni Mitchell were my first official self-study as a guitarist.”

As a young woman in the ‘80s she played guitar and sang with an all-female band called, “Fire” touring throughout North America and Europe. She also spent time in Cleveland, founding and fronting the group, “Cyclone Sisters.” Upon moving back to NY City in 1997, she formed the “NY Unit.” Since then she’s recorded and toured non-stop, playing overseas as an eight-time artist in residence at Italy’s Umbria Jazz Festival, at prestigious events including The Rochester International Jazz Festival.

KJ is the founder of recording label, Mother Cyclone Records. She was named a winner of the Kerrville New Folk Song contest in June, 2006 for "Private Angel" and won the Mountain Stage New Song contest later that summer for her composition, "Little Mary." The Album, ANOTHER YEAR GONE BY, LIVE won the 2006 Independent Music Award for Best Live Performance.

   
KJ DENHERT ON THE ROAD
June 18: Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival, Croton on Hudson
June 24:12 Grapes Music and Wine Bar, Peekskill, NY
June 25: 55 Bar, New York, NY
July 7: Underground Wonderbar, Chicago, IL
July 8: Club La Salle, South Bend, IN
July 18: Woodsongs, Lexington, KY
July 23: 55 Bar, New York, NY
July 29: Belleayre Music Festival - Belleayre Mountain Ski Resort, Highmount, NY
July 30: Rams Head on Stage w/ Gregory Porter, Annapolis, MD
August 9: Cape Cod Jazz, Chatham, MA
August 11: New Paltz, NY (duo: KJ Denhert & Jennifer Vincent)
August 20: 55 Bar, New York, NY
August 21: Special Event @the Falcon, Marlboro, NY
August 23: Cornwall, NY
September 2: Union Chapel Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard, MA
September 3: 55 Bar, New York, NY
September 10: The Falcon,  Marlboro, NY
September 17: 55 Bar, New York, NY
October 8: Uncommon Ground, Dobbs Ferry (solo w/ Vance Gilbert)

####
  

Henry McCullough Bio

Henry McCullough will appear in Chicago at the FEST for Beatles Fans, Aug. 5-7. http://www.thefest.com 866-THE-FEST 8-4 PM CST


UNFINISHED BUSINESS is both the name of Henry McCullough's current album, and a motto for his career, which has cut through just about every conceivable facet of rock music and some of its most glorious moments. This UNFINISHED BUSINESS album with Henry's roots-inspired genre that combines folk, British blues rock, and party sounds is receiving a deserved boost in North America as Henry will be a special guest at the Fest For Beatles Fans, August 5-7, 2011, in Chicago, IL.

Growing up in the seaside resort of Portstewart, in Northern Ireland, Henry's first musical venture was as guitarist with Irish show band The Skyrockets and the years to follow found him playing the dance hall circuit with similar outfits, including the popular Gene and the Gents. "I don't strictly play in one area of music; I grew up, playing Jim Reeves, Elvis Presley--whatever was in the top charts then, and I was playing with people who were a generation older than me. The apprenticeship I had with music with show bands with people who were a generation older than me."

When the blues boom hit Ireland, Henry became involved with the rougher side of music through the outfit that became Eire Apparent. Managed for a time by Chas Chandler, Eire Apparent were one of the many bands to take part in package tours of Britain, alongside of The Move, Pink Floyd, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Amen Corner... After an untimely exit from the band, Henry nailed down some of the finest mix of traditional and rock with his work as part of the legendary Sweeney's Men in 1968; It is said that this line-up more or less invented the concept of Folk-Rock.

Within a year, he drifted to London where he became steeped in the blues scene, rubbing shoulders with some of the greats of the genre who were just coming to the attention of the British revivalists. An encounter with a young Sheffield singer led to a job and Henry's first brush with the realIy big time - as part of Joe Cocker's Grease Band. Tours and albums followed quickly, including an appearance at Woodstock and a lengthy period of work in the States.

Breaking with Cocker, Henry and The Grease Band grooved in its gritty blues music that made them a live favourite that has rarely been equalled. He found himself auditioning for a gig with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney. Henry, along with Denny Seiwell, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney were the first - and many say best incarnation of Wings. He embellished the single 'My Love' with a graceful solo that is one of the all-time guitar gems and shows once and for all the expressive power of the instrument. At one Wings session at Abbey Road, when Pink Floyd were in the studio next door, Henry made a spoken contribution to the end of the classic song "Money" on DARK SIDE OF THE MOON.

But musical differences with the headstrong Macca followed, and Henry made the decision to leave. Following his instinct for rock he ended up in some very good company, playing guitar and gigging with the Roy Harper, Marianne Faithfull, Ronnie Lane, Donovan, Frankie Miller, Eric Burdon, Viola Wills, Spooky Tooth...

During a visit back home to see his family in the early '80s, an accident with a knife almost cost Henry his livelihood, severing tendons in his playing hand. The enforced lay-off allowed Henry to re-evaluate his life and his career, and he took the decision to stay home in Ireland. The road to recovery was almost complete when Henry started sitting in with the Fleadh Cowboys for their now legendary Sunday afternoon residency in The Lower Deck in Dublin. It soon became apparent that Henry’s contribution was an attraction in itself, so he formed his own band and toured Ireland in 1988.

In the '90s Henry moved back to Portstewart and formed a new band with Percy Robinson on pedal steel and Roe Butcher on bass and Liam Bradley on drums. More recently the band has featured James Delaney on keys, Chrissy Stewart (Frankie Miller Band) on bass, Chris Probst on guitar and Tony Phillips on Drums.

In 1998 he went to Poland, where he rehearsed a band of Polish session musicians for a tour. At the end of the tour, they went into a studio and played ‘live’ for an afternoon. A resulting CD, BLUE SUNSET was released in Poland, and was followed up by a further successful Polish tour.

On returning home, Henry decided that it was time to do record a few studio tracks. With help and encouragement from his many friends, he released "Failed Christian," a harrowing self-penned song that has since been covered by Nick Lowe on his latest Demon album, DIG MY MOOD.

In addition to "Failed Christian," Henry included some originals and chose songs from other artists he'd worked with through the years--Paul McCartney and Frankie Miller. The Ronnie Lane song, "'Kuschty Rye' is something I played mandolin on the original version; I always liked the lyrics. The Grease Band supported the Faces in America." "I'd Rather Die Young" is a song from the '50s (Johnny Cash, Jean Shepard, George Jones), and I thought it was beautiful as a country song. This album is a tribute to the people I've worked with."

Background information of songs are in the UNFINISHED BUSINESS CD, itself. Below is the track listing and writers' credits.
1. "The Last of the Bluemen" (McCullough)
2 "Josie's In The Garden
"McCullough)
3. "Kuschty Rye"
(Ronnie Lane,Kit Lambert)
4) "Belfast To Boston"
McCullough
5) "I Couldn't Sleep For Thinking of Hank Williams"
(McCullough)
6) Ould Piece of Wood"
(McCullough)
7) Big Barn Bed
(Paul McCartney)
8) "Peacock's Waltz"
(McCullough)
9) "Hollis Brown"
(Bob Dylan)
10) "I'd Rather Die Young"
(Beasley Smith, Billy Vaughn & Randy Wood)
11) Let The Four Winds Blow
(Fats Domino/Dave Bartholmew)
12) "Drunken Nights In The City"
(Frankie Miller)
13) Tumble Dry
(McCullough)
14) Failed Christian
(McCullough)

**In the summer of ‘99 Henry was devastated when his beloved 1963 cherry red Gibson ES335 went missing from a British Midlands flight between Warsaw and Heathrow. (However, he still has his gold-top Les Paul that he played at Woodstock.)

###

Jethro Tull's '71 Red Rocks concert forged a place in rock history - The Denver Post

Ian Anderson remembers violence in Colorado, of all places.
Jethro Tull's '71 Red Rocks concert forged a place in rock history - The Denver Post

The Yardbirds' September 2011 tour dates

http://www.theyardbirds.com
http://www.yardbirds.us/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2207073529&ref=ts


THE YARDBIRDS TOUR THE STATES THIS SEPTEMBER
(Legendary rock/blues band available for interviews in advance of tour)

The Yardbirds will be touring the States this September, from Massachusetts to Hawaii, September 1 through the 23. Dates will be in the east and west coast, plus three days of fun, sun, tropical pleasure and rock and roll that influenced musicians from the 1960s to current day.

The Yardbirds is original members: rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja and drummer Jim McCarty, and a new generation of musicians: singer/acoustic guitarist/harpist Andy Mitchell (since 2009), bassist David Smale (since 2009), and lead guitarist Ben King (since 2005).

The Yardbirds innovated 1960s guitar, with fuzz tone, feedback, distortion, backwards echo, improved amplification….and using a bow to play guitar. The group paved the way for the careers of Eric Clapton (1963-'65) Jeff Beck ('65-'66), and Jimmy Page (66-'68, first as bassist, then guitarist when Beck left). The group drew some repertoire from the blues acts of the day, including Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf, and Bo Diddley, and the Yardbirds hits were some of the best songs of the British Invasion: “For Your Love,” “Heart Full of Soul,” "Shapes of Things," “I'm A Man,” and “Over Under Sideways Down,” “Train Kept A- Rolling,” “Dazed and Confused.” “I'm A Man,” and “Over Under Sideways Down,” and “Better Man Than I.”

The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Soon after the induction, Jim and Chris reformed the Yardbirds, first playing at London's Marquee club, on a bill with the newly reformed Animals.

In 2003, Steve Vai's Favored Nations label released their album BIRDLAND, an album of new songs that featured guest appearances from Vai, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Slash, Brian May, Steve Lukather, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, and John Rzeznik. In 2005 guitarist Ben King joined the group, who recorded LIVE AT B.B. KING BLUES CLUB on July 19, 2006. That came out in 2007, included a version of “I'm a Man” that played on the Simpsons that year.

The Yardbirds has continued to tour. An institution in popular music, blues, rock and roll, the group made an indelible mark on the music and culture of both the 1960s and future generations.

CONFIRMED DATES:

Sept. 1: Summer Music Series, Springfield, MA
Sept. 2: Infinity Hall, Norfolk, CT
Sept. 3: Tupelo Music Hall, White River Junction, VT
Sept. 4: Tupelo Music Hall, Londonerry, NH
Sept. 5 Wolf Den, Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, CT
Sept. 7 BB Kings, New York, NY
Sept. 8: Penn's Peak, Jim Thorpe, PA
Sept. 9: NYCB THEATRE at WESTBURY, Westbury, NY
Sept. 10: Parilla Center, Rockville, MD
Sept. 11: Rams Head, Annapolis, MD
Sept. 15: New Showroom, Hawaiian Brians, Honolulu, HI
Sept. 16: Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Maui, HI
Sept. 17: Horoka Peoples Theatre, Big Island, HI
Sept. 21 Key Club, Hollywood, CA
Sept. 22: Coachhouse, San Juan Capistrano, CA
Sept. 23: Canyon Club, Agoura Hills, CA


"I'm A Man" performed by The Yardbirds, Live at B.B. Kings, NYC. Recorded by Unsteady Freddie