New Years Gigs for the Mystery Band!

Friday, January 5, 2007
The Mystery Band will be back at Bill's Blues Bar (1029 Davis, 847-424-9800, http://www.billsbluesbar.com/). Music starts at around 8:30 pm. This will be a night of Blues Harmonica Madness - we are splitting the gig with the great Little Arthur and his band, the Backscratchers. Little Arthur is a classic West Side blues harmonicist and vocalist - one of the the originals; he is over 70 years young - catch his act! The Mystery Band will be full of the killer electric blues folks that you know and love - Anthony Palmer on Guitar, E.G. McDaniels on Bass and Twist Turner on drums. We have added an additional player for this gig - Mike Finnerty on tenor saxophone! There will be a lot of honking sax and harp this Friday!! Be there, man!

(Quick Review: Little Arthur and the Backscratchers were up for the first and third sets; Mr. G and the Mystery Band covered the second and fourth set. The house was filled with a sizable group of blues fans, ranging in age from 18 to 80. Little Arthur put on a fabulous display of old-school, West Side blues. Steve Cushing, the creator and host of the nationally-syndicated radio program, "Blues Before Sunrise" was in the house and sat in with Arthur on drums. Russ Green, a fine young harmonica player and vocalist, also sat in. The Mystery Band fell into a deep funk groove in the last set, patching together a medley of James Brown tunes with the Junior Wells version of "Broke and Hungry. Mr. G grabbed the wireless mic and walked the bar while playing and singing his brains out. It was a gas!

Saturday, December 30, 2006
Duke's Bar, 6920 North Glenwood, Chicago IL, (772 764-2826). Music will start around 9:30 - NO COVER!! This version of the Mystery Band is the jazz gang - it includes Mike Finnerty on Tenor sax, Andy Meecham on guitar, Mike Linn on drums and Mike Azzi on bass. As always, Mr. G will toot the harmonica and howl at the moon. Come on out for an early New Year's party!

(Quick Review: It was a great night at Duke's; an intimate pre-New Year's Eve crowd turned up. We had a couple of special guests - Highway RickEY Trankle stopped by and sat in on drums for several tunes. And Big Alex Cuevas showed up towards the end of the evening. Mike Linn, the drummer on the gig, really laid down some awesome New Orleans "second line" rhythms on some of the tunes. Ya shoulda been there, man!)