Thanks to the national holiday on November 17, which this Friday falls, the organizers could extend the time for one full festival concert to be held on Thursday. In his final, American star guitarist Jonny Lang will play the biggest star this year . "We have been struggling for Lang's performance for many years until this year's European tour has been matched with the date of our festival," says Blues Alive director Vladimir Rybička.
Jonny Lang is only 36 years old but has been on the music scene since he was fourteen, when he was a "miracle child" who took the blues world with his debut Smokin' and the hopes he had put on him was confirmed by the world-famous "Lie To Me". The last of his seven albums, Fight For My Soul (2013), immediately fired at the first place between blues, and he also performed unbelievably well on Nadir's charts. Lang's position is supported by a number of collaborations with a number of other artists (Buddy Guy, Willie Nelson, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, etc.), participation in Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Summit, or performing in the Blues Brothers 2000 cult movie.
The blues songwriter Eric Bibb is also an outstanding personality of the contemporary scene. He excited the Blues Alive audience in 2012 in a pair with the young singer Habib Koithe. Now this brilliant guitarist and vocalist of many interests comes with his blues-like program, which we know from most of his albums. "Bibb's activity is immeasurable. While, for example, the Blues Music Award, for the Blues Music Award, for the album "The Happiest Man In The World," the fresh new Migration Blues is already greeted with one exquisite review after another, " says Blues Alive dramaturg Ondřej Bezr.
Blues music, of course, are not just guitars. The equally iconic tool of the genre is the blowing harmonica. In the Blues Harp Explosion project, three legendary representatives of the first US blues accordion league have met. Billy Branch founded a very popular Sons of Blues band, along with Lurri Belle ( principal star of Blues Alive 2009), but also starred as a guest star (Willie Dixon, Johnny Winter, Koko Taylor or Taj Mahal). In addition to solo recordings, Magic Dick has been associated with a long-time record in the band J. Geils Band. He has also met with Buddy Guy, Irmou Thomas or Tommy Castro in the legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue. And James Harman , from a rich solo career of two dozen recordings, often bounced on stages and studying to support the famous colleagues of John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Lowell Fulsom, or ZZ Top. "At Blues Alive, we are pleased to invite one-time projects, in which only musicians, in the short-term, often on a single tour, join music, which we usually do not have the chance to hear. This year's Blues Harp Explosion is a project of a similar type, " says Blues Alive director Vladimir Rybička.
The Blues Alive Festival has long been watching the young faces of the world blues scene. One of these new names is Jane Lee Hooker , a five-member girl band from New York who made her debut album No B! Last year. "This band first got me a funny name. Then I listened to their album and I was excited. I think that somehow blues would play raw rock bands like L7, Hole or Babes In Toyland - if they could, " says playwright Ondřej Bezr.
The traditional Saturday thematic afternoon will be dedicated to "family" bands this year. Therefore, a number of blood-related musicians will meet the ensembles in either a stable band or exceptionally for the Blues Alive. Undoubtedly, Vladimir Mišík, with his wife Eva and his children, Martin, Bára and Adam , attracts the greatest attention. It will be the first time that this musically gifted family will perform in one place. "There has been something we have never hoped for, because of the workload of all the participants," comments Mišík Vladimír Rybička.
Source: tz, edited editorially
