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Bob HALL (Angleterre)

From the North Sea Jazz Festival to the San Francisco Blues Festival, Bob Hall has taken his unique brand of blues and boogie woogie all over the world for more than thirty five years. Born in London in 1942 into a musical family, his powerful left hand gave him a natural aptitude for boogie woogie, and by his early teens he was leading his first band. The popularity of rhythm'n'blues in the 1960s first brought him to public attention, and gave him an unrivalled opportunity to play and study with many of the giants of blues and boogie. A list of Bob's musical colleagues reads like a who's who of British Blues. He partnered the late Alexis Korner over many years and performed regularly with the sadly-missed slide guitarist and singer Jo Ann Kelly. He was a founder member of several seminal British blues bands including Tramp, The Sunflower Blues Band and The De Luxe Blues Band and still found time to work and record with legendary artists such as Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood, of the super-group Fleetwood Mac. Bob was also a long serving member of the highly influential British blues band Savoy Brown, which had chart success in the USA. He is still a frequent guest with the finest British blues ensemble The Blues Band, featuring Paul Jones, Dave Kelly and Tom McGuinness. Away from the blues-rock field, Bob developed his confident grasp of the tradition and his authentic style by working as a sideman accompanying such blues originals as John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Jimmy Witherspoon, Chuck Berry, Homesick James, Lightnin' Slim, Lowell Fulsom, Charlie Musselwhite, Snooky Prior, J B Hutto, Lazy Lester, Baby Boy Warren, Eddie Burns, Big John Wrencher, Mickey Baker, Eddie Clearwater and many, many more. Over the ensuing years Bob's own boogie woogie big band, Rocket 88, included Hal Singer, Don Weller and Dick Morrissey among many leading jazzmen, together with Charlie Watts and Ian Stewart of the Rolling Stones, Alexis Korner, and Jack Bruce from Cream. In all Bob has recorded over a hundred albums, with some of the world's greatest blues artists. A very high proportion of these are still in catalogue. His solo albums include two classic boogie woogie piano collections and many others featuring his wry, down-home vocals and original compositions. For the past few years Bob has toured with his partner Hilary Blythe, a scintillating blues and gospel singer who also plays rock-steady bass guitar. Together they have visited continental Europe, America and Australasia, as well as keeping up a punishing schedule of UK concert dates. The year 2000 saw the release of Bob's fourth solo album Don't Play Boogie on Indigo Records, which features Hilary on bass and vocals and a band including some of Britain's finest blues musicians. Sample tracks can be heard on the Bob Hall web-site http://www.boogie.demon.co.uk In 2001 Bob appeared at the prestigious Wendelstein Jazz Festival, Germany, Notodden Blues Festival, Norway and Marlborough International Jazz Festival, Great Britain among many others.