JUL 28-31 | Blues Week
Jul 28, 2022
Miner Auditorium
PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production
Please visit our calendar for all upcoming SFJAZZ shows.
Original show description below.
In a summit meeting of giants, two of the greatest living blues guitarists, each with deep Bay Area ties, share this double bill.
“A soulful singer and stinging guitarist…gritty, funky, and rocking” (Boston Globe), San Jose native Tommy Castro has captured the fiery heart of the blues over the course of 15 albums and innumerable treks around the globe. Starting his musical journey at 10, Castro absorbed the influence of John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Eric Clapton, and Taj Mahal among others, honing a distinctly searing guitar tone that set him apart from his peers on the Bay Area blues scene. He started the Tommy Castro Band in the early 90s and inked his first recording contract, forming the first incarnation of the Painkillers in 2012. He has won six Blues Music Awards as well as the prestigious B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year Award.
“A legendary, boundary-pushing icon of modern blues” (NPR), San Francisco native Joe Louis Walker became a force on the Bay Area’s blues scene at the age of 16. By the late 1960s, Walker had shared the stage with Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix, Willie Dixon, and John Mayall. Stepping back from the blues life to educate himself and immerse himself in the world of gospel, eventually coming back to the form in the mid-1980s, releasing his debut for HighTone, Cold Is the Night, in 1986. Walker was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2013, and performed and recorded with Branford Marsalis, James Cotton, Tower of Power, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Ike Turner and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown.
He is the heir to Blind Willie Johnson’s gospel blues.
No Depression on Joe Louis Walker
He is the heir to Blind Willie Johnson’s gospel blues.
No Depression on Joe Louis Walker
Personnel
TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAINKILLERS
Tommy Castro guitar & vocals
Mike Emerson keyboards
Randy McDonald bass
Bowen Brown drums
JOE LOUIS WALKER
Joe Louis Walker guitar & vocals
More TBA
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers showcase the power of the blues, soul and down-and-dirty rock ‘n’ roll…rousing and infectious.
Living Blues
Personnel
TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAINKILLERS
Tommy Castro guitar & vocals
Mike Emerson keyboards
Randy McDonald bass
Bowen Brown drums
JOE LOUIS WALKER
Joe Louis Walker guitar & vocals
More TBA
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers showcase the power of the blues, soul and down-and-dirty rock ‘n’ roll…rousing and infectious.
Living Blues
Watch & Listen
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers
Can't Keep a Good Man Down
Joe Louis Walker
Hornet's Nest
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers
Can't Keep a Good Man Down
Joe Louis Walker
Hornet's Nest
JUL 28–31 | Blues Week
JUL 28
Bollywood Blues
Aki KumarJUL 29
Double Bill
Marcia Ball / C.J. ChenierJUL 29
Blues Guitar King
Chris CainJUL 30
Blues Masters
Elvin Bishop & Charlie MusselwhiteJUL 30
Oakland Blues & Soul
Terrie OdabiJUL 31
Blues & Roots
Ruthie FosterJUL 31
An Acoustic Evening
Mimi Fox & Pamela Rose