Hello Everyone! It has been an amazing year! I will attempt to update you about our whereabouts and happenings. So much has gone down I don’t know quite know where to start, but here goes: In this blog I will talk about: Chicago Blues A Living History tour in France and new CBLH album I co-produced: The (R)evolution Continues. With special guests Magic Slim, James Cotton and Buddy Guy! The brand new Lurrie Bell acoustic/gospel CD we recorded in January with special guest Joe Louis Walker. My acoustic duo with John Primer at the historical residence of the American ambassador to France. The African tours my trio Taproot did in (Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania and Cameroon) in conjunction with African Regional Services and the U.S. State Department. And much more... NOVEMBER 2010 On November 12th I met Bill Sims in Aulnay France and collaborated on an acoustic show in conjunction with the screening of Lackawanna Blues. Bill Sims Jr. composed the music for the original off-Broadway production of the play and won an Obie Award for it. He also appears in the film. Bill and I have both worked closely with the playwright/actor/director Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Thanks to Ruben we met each other over a decade ago playing together for the opening night party for his autobiographical play Lackawanna Blues at the Public Theatre (Joe’s Pub) in NYC. We have been working on a variety of projects together since then and have toured extensively. During the next two weeks we headlined the Aulnay All Blues Festival and several other festivals in the region with the Chicago Blues: A Living History ensemble, as well as teaching a seminar on the history of Chicago Blues at the University of Chicago Center in Paris with brother Larry Skoller and poet Sterling Plumpp. This was organized by Professor Michael Deitler of the University of Chicago. My group Taproot was invited to tour in Africa with the U.S. State Department in December 2010 and January 2011. We played public concerts, taught workshops and master classes, played for ambassadors, returnee/refugee camps, music schools and cultural centers. Those countries include: Mali, Mauritania, Tunisia and Cameroon. During this tour I collaborated with many great African musicians including Bassekou Kouyate, Boubacar Traore, Malouma and Samba Toure amongst others. In between the State Department tours in Africa I was honored to play for the US Ambassador to France at his historical residence in Paris. I accompanied blues master John Primer in an acoustic duo. Bill Sims Jr. also played solo the same evening. The night was capped off by all 3 of us jamming (Bill on piano) together for the grand finale. On January 10th-13th I produced a record for the great Lurrie Bell at Joyride Studios. This record is a project that Lurrie has wanted to do for many years. You see, when Lurrie was 8 years old he was sent down to Alabama and Mississippi to live with his grandparents for a while and ended up playing and singing in the Baptist churches they attended. This record is an acoustic CD that features Lurrie singing and playing Gospel songs, spirituals and other related pieces. He is joined on three songs by one of the greatest musicians in blues music history, Joe Louis Walker! Also joining Lurrie is long-time associate Harp Master Billy Branch! as well as a cameo by yours truly playing on the title cut of the CD (which I wrote), The Devil Ain’t Got No Music. Look for the release of this CD in January 2012. Some other highlights were: I was asked to co-chair the Blues Committee of the Chicago Chapter of the Recording Academy with my friend and colleague Billy Branch. This is the first ever Blues Committee in the history of the Grammy Awards. It is currently being chaired by Kate Moss. On May 5th our committee attended the “damage control” tour the Academy called “Grammy 101” at the Hard Rock Hotel here in Chicago. It was a national tour held by VP of awards Bill Freimuth explaining and discussing the very controversial “re-structuring” of the awards categories. I wrote and delivered, on behalf of the Blues Committee, a statement that expressed our outrage at the Blues awards being cut from only 2 awards (Contemporary and Traditional) down to 1 award (Best Blues album of the year). Click here to read the full statement. June 4th I joined the legendary Lonnie Brooks at a corporate gig that we both were hired to play here in Chicago. June 12th Triple Threat concert at Reggie’s Place in Chicago featuring Deitra Farr, Lurrie Bell and I. This was a wonderful Blues Fest weekend show!! This same week we did 3 gigs for our favorite corporate account DIRTT Environmental Solutions during their NEOCOM convention. We have worked for them for years and it is always a pleasure being part of that team. This company makes modular walls that are at the cutting edge of the “green movement.” And their revolutionary software ICE is transforming the interior design industry. July 1st we had the CD release party for Chicago Blues: A Living History The (R)evolution Continues. The show featured all 5 principles (Lurrie Bell, Billy Boy Arnold, Billy Branch, John Primer and Carlos Johnson) with guest appearances by Zora Young and Mike Avery. And of course the CBLH Band: Myself, Billy Flynn, Johnny Iguana, Felton Crews and Kenny Smith. Also joining Carlos was Bass guitar phenom Bill Dickens and keyboard ace Roosevelt “Mad Hatter” Purifoy. A beautiful night!! I have played two dates this year at the famed 55 Bar in New York City with my band and Mr. Bill Sims Jr. One gig was in March and the other was in August. We are scheduled to hit there again on November 4th! Love this club. June 2nd recorded 3 songs for Toronzo Canon’s record debut on Delmark Records. Good luck with that old buddy! And thanks for having me. After the August date at The 55 Bar Bill Sims Jr. and I went up to Peacham, Vermont and played the first ever Peacham Acoustic Music Festival. As I had gone to school in this picturesque village 37 years ago (!), there were several old friends from back in the day in attendance. It was a lovely event with workshops the day after the performance. November 2011 will bring about another Chicago Blues : A Living History tour in France. See “shows” for times and venues. More soon!! SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 Chicago Blues Festival/Chicago Blues: A Living History It has been quite a summer! June hit like a tsunami. Chicago Blues A Living History headlined the Chicago Blues Festival and the following week we recorded another double album with this group of spectacular bluesmen. Between Matthew Skoller Band gigs, rehearsals and this recording (I played harmonica on it and am one of the producers) I was busier than a cat tryin’ to cover up shit on marble floor! The Mayor and his delegation from Aulnay-sous-bois, France came to Chicago to attend the festival. They are the city (20 minutes outside Paris) that executive produced the Chicago Blues A Living History. The Mayor, who had attended the Grammies with us was invited by the city of Chicago to attend the Chicago Blues Festival. Here they formed a partnership between the two festivals. He came with his right-hand men and there was a reception for them right next to the Petrillo Band Shell an hour-and-a-half before our show. The French consulate of Chicago was invited and speeches were given. The Mayor then addressed the entire festival from the main stage. That same day The Matthew Skoller Band did a show at Buddy Guy’s Legends from 2-4:30pm. Two days later we hit the studio to record. We had all the same principles as the first album: Billy Boy Arnold, Billy Branch, John Primer, Lurrie Bell, with Carlos Johnson, Mike Avery. Also 5 VERY special guests, to be announced…And of course the Living History Band: Billy Flynn, Matthew Skoller, Johnny Iguana, Felton Crews and Kenny Smith, with cameos from Billy Dickens and Roosevelt Purifoy. The record will be released in the US early next year. Beirut, Lebanon On July 28th Chicago Blues A Living History (CBLH) performed at the Zouk Mikael Festival in Beirut, Lebanon. It was a wonderful experience and the show received great reviews from Lebanese press. Some of us arrived on the 24th and were able to chill for several days before and after the show. Middle Eastern hospitality is no joke, they were so nice to us. And the food was fabulous. Vin de Liban Any one who knows me knows I’m a wine lover and I was knocked out by Lebanese wine (literally… I kid!) It was very old world wine French in style and the varietals were all French: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. And some of the grapes from the Rhone: Syrah, Cinsault, Carignan and Grenache. Bone dry Rose, just like in Provence. This is one of the few hot climate wines I don’t find too fruit forward. During the French intervention (1920), they grew some great vineyards before they withdrew all their troops and finally recognized Lebanese independence (1946). Some of those vineyards still exist. I didn’t get a chance to sample many of them but there are also some wonderful indigenous grapes like Obaideh and Merwah (white). Many of these grapes are the ancestors the French varietals. Lebanon is one of the oldest wine-making regions in the world and has a wine tradition that predates French influence by millennia. Beirut lived up to and surpassed its old reputation as the “Paris of the Middle East” and I can’t wait to return. We have to thank bandleader, guitarist, impresario and artistic director for the festival, Mr. Otis Grand, for bringing us to Lebanon. Otis can be seen touring all over Europe with his super tight blues band. Producing Lurrie Bell and I are still doing pre production work on his next CD. It will be a project he has wanted to do for years: Spirituals and Gospel tunes. Primarily acoustic. We will probably record in January. More special guests TBA!! Performance On Friday August 27th The Matthew Skoller Band headlined the new Buddy Guy’s Legends. Matthew had singers extraordinaire Mike Avery and Jamie Teague singing background vocals. The group did almost all originals that night. We had a lot of fun. France In November Chicago Blues A Living History will do a French tour. Starting out performing at Aulnay-sous-bois’ Aulnay All Blues Festival. We will be doing full CBLH performances at the fest as well as some duo performances. I will appear with my good friend guitarist/pianist/vocalist Bill Sims Jr. from NYC. We also will be holding a conference in association with the University of Chicago in Paris, on the history of Chicago Blues and the current scene. This part of the tour goes until the end of November. Then off to Africa… Africa Larry Skoller, Bill Sims Jr., Kenny Smith and I will then fly from Paris to Africa to do performances and workshops in conjunction with the American Embassy in Paris. We will play in: Tunisia, Mauritania and Mali. The lectures will be conducted in French so I will be working with my dear friend and former chairperson of the Loyola French department Anne Callahan to improve my grammar and acquire some needed vocabulary. We are very excited about this experience! The mission statements from the different embassy posts all indicate that we are going over there to foster mutual understanding and positive attitudes towards the United States. Youth outreach and Muslim outreach. They feel music programs of this nature are highly effective vehicles for this goal. We will be performing for students, the population at large and refugees. We will be collaborating with other musicians and also performing for some of the Ambassadors and diplomats. Please look at my calendar for exact dates and venues for these tours. That’s about it for now, please sign up on my mailing list and drop me a line sometime. FEBRUARY 2, 2010 Back from a very successful show for the US Embassy at the US ambassador's residence in Paris. Lurrie Bell and I had a lot of fun hanging with some of the most powerful politicians in France and performing at their reception for all of us who were involved in garnering the Grammy nomination for Chicago Blues A Living History.  http://france.usembassy.gov/events100204.html    Lurrie and I are now hard at work on Lurrie's next CD project which I am producing. FEBRUARY 2, 2010 News Flash: Grammy update...well we didn't win. But we would like to congratulate Ramblin Jack Elliot. Almost 80 years young he is indeed a Folk music legend...well, off to Paris.  JANUARY 27, 2010 Well here we are on the eve of the Grammy Awards and my brother Larry, John Primer, Billy Branch and I will be representing the Chicago Blues A Living History project on Sunday the 31st at the awards . We have been invited by the French Embassy in Los Angeles to attend a cocktail party being thrown at the Embassy in honor of all the French participants in the Grammy Awards. You see Chicago Blues A Living History was executive produced (funded) by a city 20 minutes outside of Paris called Aulnay-Sous-Bois. This is BIG news in France and so the Mayor of that city is coming to the Grammys along with a major French television network. Then on the 4th of February Lurrie Bell and I will be performing at the residence of the American ambassador to France in Paris for a celebration in honor of the Grammy nomination (or if we win: Grammy award!)  and the success of this historic project. So keep your fingers crossed . In other news Living History has been slated to headline the Chicago Blues Festival on Saturday June 12th. It has won the very prestigious French Academy of Jazz Award for best blues album of the year and has been nominated for 2 Blues Awards: Album of the year and best traditional blues album of the year. We also took best Traditional blues album of the year at The Blues Blast Awards held here in Chicago by the Illinois Blues Society. As an ensemble all ten of us musicians involved in this are becoming Chicago Blues Ambassadors to the world as we are currently being booked all over the globe. As gigs become confirmed I will keep you up to date. DECEMBER 16, 2009 Hi everyone. Welcome to my new web site! It has been a very busy couple of years so here are some highlights: I produced and played on Lurrie Bell’s award winning CD Let’s Talk about Love. We will have a link on this site to all the rave reviews and awards this release received. I am currently producing another Lurrie Bell CD for Aria B.G. Records. Also…Chicago Blues A Living History been nominated for a Grammy!! You see I collaborated with my brother Larry Skoller (producer and guitarist extraordinaire)  on the now Grammy nominated, historical project, Chicago Blues A Living History.  I lent my production experience, knowledge of Chicago Blues history and my harmonica to this project that is now being hailed by critics as one of the greatest Chicago Blues events of our time.  I am deeply gratified to be part of a project of this magnitude. The project features Billy Boy Arnold, Billy Branch, Lurrie Bell and John Primer. An all star band: Billy Flynn, Matthew Skoller, Kenny Smith, Felton Crews and Johnny Iguana, with cameos by Carlos Johnson and Michael Avery. In July we played 16 festivals in 7 European countries together – what a tour!! Highlights to be posted soon. If you’re wondering why there are not a lot of recent gigs, I just underwent vocal fold surgery and I have had to keep my big mouth shut for a few weeks. But it was very successful and I should be better than new by the 1st of the year 2010. I was featured with Johnny Iguana on a segment of Samantha Brown’s Passport to Great Cities TV show on The Travel Channel. The Matthew Skoller band headlined Buddy Guy’s CD release party at Buddy Guy’s club and hosted a jam that night with Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan and the pre-pubescent guitarist Quinn Sullivan. I recorded a segment of Speakin’ of The Blues at the Harold Washington Library with an interview with Christopher Popa. This television program airs on local cable channels. In 2008 we returned to Rabat, Morocco to play The Mawazine Festival for the second time! The other American acts were George Benson, Al DiMeola and Whitney Houston. We were in great company!! The last 3 years has also seen the birth of Family Tradition Cognac. This is a company formed by my brother Larry Skoller, his wife, Nadege, and me. We have organized several families who make estate bottled, artisan cognac. As many of you know, Larry is a great guitarist who played in my band up to the second time we played The Blues Passions Festival in Cognac, France. He stayed there, married Nadege, made me a niece (Julia) and we formed this enterprise. Our cognac is available in Illinois through Fine Vines in Melrose Park (importer/distributor) and Michael Skurnik Wines imports and distributes it in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Here is a link to our web site: www.familytraditioncognac.com