>>PREVIEW
BELTLINE BLUES FESTIVAL
Zora Young
June 23-25
Victoria Riverside Park
This weekend Calgary audiences will have the rare chance to see music history personified on stage in two female incarnations. The first, in the soulful funk revue of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and the other in the hothouse blues of Chicago singer Zora Young.
Both women embody their genre, reaching back into the annals to present some of the grittiest, heartfelt music this continent has experienced. Both have come into their successes later in life, and though Jones has been riding a wave thanks to crate-digging DJs everywhere, Young has yet to become a household name north of the border. But say her name in Chicago and any venue south of the city, and you’re sure to get a nod of acknowledgement and possibly a story or two.
Young first cut her teeth on the "chitlin' circuit," the general name given to the string of venues throughout the eastern and southern United States that catered primarily to black audiences. It was the starting place for some of the biggest names in soul, R&B and funk, including Ray Charles, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Isley Brothers, the Jackson 5, and even Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington who all got their start playing predominantly in venues known for serving up the soul food item chitterlings.
"Basically we were playing soul music, but not just soul music," remembers Young. "It was black music played on the black circuit. I travelled around with Tyrone Davis and Bobby Rush, to name just a few, and we’d go up the Mississippi, down the Mississippi, Louisiana and St. Louis, Ohio, Michigan. We was everywhere and that circuit, it pulls a good crowd."
Through the chitlin’ circuit and her tireless work in the Chicago blues scene, Young has become somewhat of a household name – at least among her peers, having worked with Junior Wells, Jimmy Dawkins, Bobby Rush, Buddy Guy, Albert King, B.B. King, Willie Dixon, Sunnyland Slim and Mississippi Heat, just to name a few.
Her last two albums on the prominent traditional blues and jazz record label Delmark Records showcase her strength and experience – exuding that R&B, rock, funk-flavoured blues that she honed travelling the Mississippi. There’s also an undeniable gospel feel that comes from years of attending church and singing in choirs. But before she could evolve into a powerhouse blues vocalist she had to convince her mamma to let her.
"Mom didn’t like me doing blues," laughs Young. "But she’s finally at a point now that she accepts it, but she’s still saying, ‘you need Jesus, child. You serve two masters.’ She accepts now because she loves me and that’s what mammas do. "
Though her mom might not agree, blues and gospel are so intertwined that it’s difficult to ascertain where one genre begins and the other ends.
"I think that gospel really taught me about good soul music," admits Young. "It taught me how to feel the music and transfer that to singing the blues with the heart. From gospel I learned about bringing about a little love and communication. You know, people that don’t even speak the language can feel the music and understand. Music is special that way." |
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