MAY 26-29 | Blues Week
May 26, 2022
Joe Henderson Lab
PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production
Please visit our calendar for all upcoming SFJAZZ shows.
Original show description below.
The masterful young blues guitarist honors his mentor and friend, blues icon Taj Mahal, with music from the legend’s hugely influential 1968 Columbia album The Natch’l Blues, accompanied by his Family Jules Band.
A graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Leyhe is building a career as a modern blues great, having recorded six superb albums beginning with 2014’s lauded Monkey Finger, and working with blues saxophonist Nancy Wright, Buddy Guy, Huey Lewis, and Fantastic Negrito. Leyhe will release his seventh album, Your First Rodeo, in September 2021. He has been working with Taj Mahal regularly, and pays tribute in his SFJAZZ debut.
With its mix of Delta blues, gospel, and deep soul, The Natch’l Blues refined and expanded Mahal’s sound, with the electric additions of Al Kooper’s Hammond organ and the virtuoso electric bass of Gary Gilmore. The album introduced “Corinna,” Mahal’s version of William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water (‘Til Your Well Runs Dry)” and the classic original “She Caught the Katy (and Left Me a Mule to Ride),” which was a favorite of comedy genius John Belushi and whose cover version with The Blues Brothers was memorably used during the opening title sequence of the 1980 movie.
With its mix of Delta blues, gospel, and deep soul, The Natch’l Blues refined and expanded Mahal’s sound, with the electric additions of Al Kooper’s Hammond organ and the virtuoso electric bass of Gary Gilmore.
A bottleneck whiz
Guitar Player on Jules Leyhe
A bottleneck whiz
Guitar Player on Jules Leyhe
Listen
Taj Mahal
Corinna
Taj Mahal
She Caught the Katy (And Left Me A Mule To Ride)
Taj Mahal
Corinna
Taj Mahal
She Caught the Katy (And Left Me A Mule To Ride)