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"KILLER" RAY ALLISON (GUITAR/VOCALS): First broke into the blues during the early
1970's. Now a regular on the
Chicago Blues scene for over four decades, "
Killer" Ray
has been an integral tour-de-force in bands by Muddy Waters,
James Cotton, Koko
Taylor,
Buddy Guy &
Junior Wells. With a reputation as the hardest hitting drummer in
the blues world, "
Killer" has turned down gig offers from Eric Clapton, John Mayall &
the late Gary Moore, so he could fully focus his energies toward leading a band. In
1998 and 2000, Ray was nominated for the W. C. Handy award as an instrumentalist.
SCOTT DIRKS (HARMONICA/VOCALS): Award winning blues historian, instrumentalist &
producer. Scott authored "Blues With A Feeling-The
Little Walter Story" and produced
Lurrie Bell's breakthrough "Mercurial Son" for Delmark Records. A walking compendium
of
Chicago Blues history and lore, Dirks is an accomplished harp player whose
minimalist approach keeps alive the memory of
Sonny Boy,
Little Walter & Big Walter.
DEITRA FARR (VOCALS): Deitra Farr is considered one of Chicago's top vocalists,
according to Living Blues Magazine (May 1997). Fiery, energetic, she has been
nominated for Traditional Female Blues artist of the year by the W.C. Handy Awards,
Female Blues Artist of the year by the Living Blues Critics Awards, the British Blues
Connection Awards, and the Les Trophees France Blues awards. Deitra is also a
published writer, poet, songwriter, and painter, who has written articles for the
Chicago Defender,
Chicago Blues Annual, and currently she has a column "Artist to
Artist" in Living Blues Magazine.
JOHNNY B. GAYDEN (BASS/VOCALS): Johnny B's music career as Chicago's first-call bass
player, is one that most musicians can only dream about. He recorded nine CDs and
numerous DVDs with Albert Collins. The band won a Grammy Award for the Alligator
recording "SHOWDOWN" with Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland and Robert Cray. After
Albert's death in 1993, Johnny focused on session work, and his career tally is close
to 100 recordings. Johnny is a nine-time W.C. Handy nominee for the Instrumentalist-
Bass category. He has been honored to record with Johnny Winter, Gary Moore, John
Primer, Son Seals, A.C. Reed,
Junior Wells and KoKo Taylor, just to name a few.
DR. DAN "D-ROCK" IVANKOVICH (GUITAR/VOCALS): is a
Chicago Music veteran of imposing
stature. He cut his teeth as a bluesman at the tender age of 18, as the musical
director for legendary bluesman Otis Rush. After spending nearly a decade touring with
a who's who of the blues, he's shared the stage with legends that include: Johnny
Winter, Stevie Ray & Jimmie Vaughan, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry,
Buddy Guy & Junior
Wells. When not performing, the Reverend is CEO of OnePatient-Global Health
Initiative, Medical
Director of The Bone Squad, and actively blogs about social &
political issues under ReverendDoctorD.
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ROOSEVELT "MAD HATTER" PURIFOY JR. (KEYBOARDS/VOCALS): Roosevelt has stunned and
thrilled audiences with his amazing ability to fuse deep grooves with brilliant melodic ideas.
Over the past two decades, he's remained Chicago's busiest session
musician with over 150 album credits. As musical director for the likes of Koko Taylor, Otis Rush,
Junior Wells and countless others, Roosevelt's fusion of traditional meets modern creates
a singular sound that is like no other in the
business.
PATRICIA WINTERS (VOCALS): As an accomplished vocalist, she spent years performing as
a jazz singer, but her career has been seasoned with R&B, Folk, and Gospel. She's
frequently performed in community stage productions and was cast in the starring role
of Betty-Mae in the Off-Broadway production of "Sweet Peas, House of Prayer". While in
Chicago, Winters displayed her vocal talents with pianist JoJo Brown, and the late
jazz great Oscar Brown Jr.
JERRY "BAM-BAM" PORTER (DRUMS): Throughout his lengthy career as a professional
drummer, Jerry Porter has worked with a wide variety of top-tier blues talents, such
as Johnnie Dollar, Magic Slim, Eddie Clearwater, Buster Benton, Son Seals, Ronnie
Baker Brooks and Big Mama Thornton. A highlight of Porter's career, and a testament to
his talent and reliability, is his tenure as a member of
Buddy Guy's band for over
fourteen years. Recently, Jerry's versatility and professionalism have established him
as one of Chicago's most in-demand drummers.
JOHNNY COTTON & THE ALL-STAR HORNS: This rotating line-up of Chicago's hottest horn
players is anchored by Blues/R&B veteran Johnny Cotton. He's played with and arranged
for a virtual Who's Who of
Chicago music. From legendary performers such as James
Cotton,
Junior Wells, Syl Johnson & the Ohio Players, to modern college rockers like
Lubraphonic, Johnny puts the 'unk in your funk.
