Ernie Watts-Corky Siegel Trio
Blues harmonica/keyboard player Corky Siegel, co-founder of the Siegel-Schwall Blues Band and Chamber Blues, takes the stage with saxophonist Ernie Watts for an evening of blues and jazz. Siegel has performed with everyone from Howlin’ Wolf to Seiji Ozawa and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, while Watts has blown his sax on more than 500 recordings, playing with musicians from Cannonball Adderley to Frank Zappa. It’s anyone’s guess what they will cook up on stage. With tabla player and percussionist Kalyan Pathek.
$35.
press release: Two-time GRAMMY winning legend, jazz music icon Ernie Watts is considered by All About Jazz to be: "one of the greatest living saxophonists at the top of his game. Watts will join forces with Blues Hall of Fame harp legend and piano ace Corky Siegel and tabla virtuoso Kalyan Pathak for a rare appearance together at North Street Cabaret on Saturday, February 22.
Ernie Watts is one of the most versatile and prolific saxophone players in music. It has been more than fifty-five years since he first picked up a saxophone, and from age sixteen on he has been playing professionally. Watts has been featured on over 500 recordings by artists ranging from Cannonball Adderley to Frank Zappa.
What Other People Have Been Saying If you haven't become a fan of Ernie Watts yet, it's time to get on the bandwagon. His savvy, tasteful, fully flowered music stands apart from his contemporaries, previous masters, and those burgeoning players claiming Coltrane as a major influence. In short, he's the very best at what he does -- which in itself is a proven, time-tested commodity." - All Music Review
Corky Siegel's career began with a fortunate break when he formed the legendary Siegel-Schwall Band that toured the major rock palaces and clubs in the '60s and '70s. Since that time, he has earned an international reputation as one of the worlds great blues harmonica masters. Siegel is of course, the Chamber Blues progenitor, and an award-winning composer (of chamber and symphonic music). At a very young age, Corky learned his craft of the blues form at the feet of such legendary first generation bluesmen as Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf. He is a composer, blues pianist, singer / songwriter, and recent winner of the Lila Wallace/Readers Digest/Meet the Composers National Award for chamber music composition, the Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award for Music Composition, a recipient of the Chicago Lifetime Achievement Award, and an inductee into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame.
What Other People Have Been Saying...
"Gritty Chicago blues and rarefied classical chamber music might not seem like a match made in heaven until you've heard Corky Siegel bring the two together a crowning achievement." - Chicago Tribune
"Fantastic... I've never heard anyone play harp with this much body and harmonic delicacy I guarantee you've never heard anything quite like it." - Stereophile Magazine