Bootlegger's Blues
Product no.: RUF 1068
Description
"bootleggers blues" is over 60 minutes of "good time" music and was recorded and mixed at Frog Studio, Kristansund, Norway in January/February - May 2001. Produced by Jolly Jumper & Big Moe and Co-Produced by Jan Erik Birkeland.
Release date
1/2001
Release Notes
Europe's most exciting acoustic blues duo:
Jolly Jumper and big Moe
This fabulous blues duo has existed for about seven years. The harp and guitar has been a traditional format in the blues history, and as they say at the cover of their first CD: "Searching the Desert for the Blues", they try to give you the best of what they consider is the best of the acoustic blues tradition.
Their music goes back to the 1920`s , 30`s and 40`s. The Jumper and Moe play in different styles like the Mississippi slide or harp style, or the sweet Piedmont way of guitarpicking.
We can find memories of Blind Blake, Mississippi John Hurt, Bo Carter, Lightning Hopkins, Blind Willie McTell, Bukka White, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and many more of the old-timers in their music.
During the last years they have won great recognition at the European festival and club scene, and their Live-shows always got superb revues.
Jolly Jumper & Big Moe plays instruments like the harps, 6 & 12 string guitars, national steel, the mandolin, footstomp and whatever that's got strings on. They also use a lot of strange things as percussion, and of course, they both do the vocals.
Jolly Jumper & Big Moe comes from mid-Norway, from Hell. This is the home of the Hell Blues Festival.
The Jumper and Moe have a great act, it is like a history lesson, and it`s always a very humorous one! They have also played a lot in schools, both in history and music classes.
Jolly Jumper, born 1965, has played the harp for many years, and you can hear Little Walter, Sonny Boy and James Cotten influence his way of blowing. He also plays the guitar in a very Blind Boy Fuller way.
Big Moe, born 1950, has played the blues guitar since the mid-60`s, at that time influenced by Buddy Guy and Freddy King. He then started playing acoustic guitar, and you can hear a lot of Lightning Hopkins, Mississippi John Hurt and John Jackson in his style. Moe also plays the mandolin and the slide steel guitar.
"bootleggers blues" is over 60 minutes of "good time" music and was recorded and mixed at Frog Studio, Kristansund, Norway in January/February - May 2001. Produced by Jolly Jumper & Big Moe and Co-Produced by Jan Erik Birkeland.
Jolly Jumper and big Moe
Jolly Jumper is a skilled harmonica player in the style of the 1920s and 30s harp masters. He is equally adept on vocals, guitar and percussion. His biggest strength is his stage presence that immediately captures the audience.
Big Moe is a master of the steel strings. He fingerpicks on a 6 and 12 string hollow body guitar, bottleneck slides on a resonator guitar and uses a plectrum on a mandolin. As a vocalist, he is very expressive and his phrasing is exact. At a recent show, I was surprised to see that Big Moe also plays the harmonica.
It was during this same show that Jolly Jumper and Big Moe showcased their varied skills as multi-instrumentalists and brought the house down.
If you have ever seen Jolly Jumper & Big Moe perform, you would agree that they are true entertainers. They enjoy themselves and you cannot help but to enjoy them.
Blues music is happy music and it should be played for fun. In addition to the music, what I found most interesting is their historical knowledge of the Blues as well. This acquired knowledge is also shared with their audiences during a performance. For Jolly Jumper and Big Moe, Blues is a labor of love for that is how it comes across watching them on stage.
On the music that you are about to hear on their new CD " Bootleggers Blues", Ruf Records ( RUF 1068 ), the Oxford dictionary is the best source to summarise my thoughts. When it describes the word "jolly" it says: "joyful, festive, jovial, pleasant and above all delightful".
Michael Roach
July 2001
Reviewes
"Searching The Desert For The Blues" is an educational trip through the eclectic roots of American Blues. Jolly Jumper & Big Moe have done their homework, and it's a pleasure to hear these styles done with modern production and fine musicianship. Albums like this one are indispensable to all students of the blues."
(Blues Revue Magazine/ Keith A Mulhare)
"You simply have to hear these guys, they are great"
(John Sebastian)
"Jolly Jumper & Big Moe's new album "Searching The Desert For The Blues", are a great piece of art. Acoustic Blues at it's best and I play them often in my radio shows."
(BBC Radio, Jazz FM/ Paul Jones)
"Jolly Jumper & Big Moe are Europe's good nature charming version of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee. Albums like "Searching The Desert For The Blues are albums we really want to hear."
(Blues News Magazine, Norway/ Øyvind Pharo)
"Why do we have to go to Mississippi to hear acoustic blues when albums like this one comes out of Norway. A better blues history lesson than Jolly Jumper & Big Moe's new album "Searching The Desert For The Blues", is hard to find."
(VG/ Stein Østbø)
"What a great music they´re playing! Be sure, that they´ll get alot of airplay in my show."
("BluesPower", O.K. Radio, Bremerhaven, Germany/ Erhard Albrecht)
"They are humble to the original blues music in a way that I have never heard before. The best country-blues album I've heard in many, many years."
(Jefferson Magazine, Sweden/ Bosse Majling)
"Are there any better storytellers on the Scandinavian blues scene today than the acoustic Norwegian blues duo Jolly Jumper & Big Moe ? If You can, show me them !! "
(NRK, Radio P1, Norway/ Jørn Gjersøe)
"The Record Company's adress are 7570 Hell and "Searching The Desert For The Blues" are a hell of a cd. Acoustic country blues at it's best."
(Dagbladet/ Øyvind Rønning)
Tracklist
- Everybody’s Talking ‘Bout Sadie Green
- Prison Bound Blues
- Bootleggers Blues
- Nervous
- Love At First Sight
- Age Is Getting Me
- You Just As Well Let Her Go
- Tribute To Bongo Joe
- Sail Away
- Hey Lawdy Mama-France Blues
- Soap And Water Blues
- Midnight Special
- Too Long
- Mingelwood Blues
- Cocaine Habit Blues
- Down At My Country From
- William Tacker’s Blues
- The 78 Rpm Mysterious Lost Tape From Too Long Ago