VizzTone is proud to announce the December 1 release of Phoenix Blues Rumble, Bob Corritore’s latest “From The Vaults album culled from his vast archives.
Phoenix Blues Rumble is a showcase of the artists from Bob Corritore’s adopted home town of Phoenix, Arizona. Recorded between 1987 and 2017, it’s a peek into a Southwest US community that has spawned a powerful blues scene.
Blues harp player Bob Corritore moved from Chicago to Phoenix in 1981, and it quickly became a Blues hub. Bob played with local bluesmen Tommy Dukes, Chief Schabuttie Gilliame, Big Pete Pearson and Dino Spells, and persuaded his Chicago friend Chico Chism to move to town. Corritore started his long-running radio show, “Those Lowdown Blues” on KJZZ in 1984 – It’s about to celebrate its 49th Anniversary – and he opened the Rhythm Room music club and started bringing blues artists to Phoenix for performances and recording sessions. Those many sessions were to become the fertile ground for his “From the Vaults” album series. Before long Sugaray Rayford moved nearby. Behold the power of Phoenix Blues!
The first single features Hattiesburg, MS native Tommy Dukes, who relocated to Arizona in the mid-1950s and has been a prominent blues force in the area ever since. Bob Corritore met Tommy the first week he arrived in Phoenix in 1981, and over the years they’ve maintained a great friendship and worked numerous shows together.
Tommy reactivates his childhood blues inspiration by playing in the Jimmy Reed style on his original composition, “Real Bad Day.” Tommy’s relaxed vocals and groovin’ guitar provide the foil for Corritore’s straight-ahead harmonica playing on this real deal blues.
