COGNAC BLUES PASSIONS FESTIVAL
28-31 July 1994
Nearly a century of Blues, from the cotton fields to festival stages across the World, (it's been a long way baby !)... Whether played by Europeans, Americans, or Australians, the Blues will always be universal, deep, humorous and glad to be in Cognac during this Summer. This first edition of the "Blues Passions Festival", is dedicated to all, who have a passion for the Blues.
Michel Rolland, festival director.
From Negro-Spiritual to Delta Blues, to Chicago, Texas or the West Coast, the Blues Passions Festival was an emotional event with the Black & White Gospel, John Brasset, Dana Gillespie, Phil Guy, Dario Lombardo, Gerry Joe Weise, and the Otis Grand Big Blues Band.
CONCERT 31 July 1994
OTIS GRAND Big Blues Band (USA, GB)
GERRY JOE WEISE (AU)
Blues Passions Festival Slideshow
1st photo = Otis Grand, 2nd photo = Gerry Joe Weise :
http://www.bluespassions.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=76&Itemid=197&lang=en
Blues Passions Festival :
http://www.chez.com/groovygravy/cognac94210.htm
GERRY JOE WEISE'S HEART-SEARCHING BOTTLE-NECK SLIDE EXTRAVAGANZA Interview
by Blues Muse for the SGS Slide Guitar Society 2006
Blues Muse : Why do you play over-the-top and normal position slide guitar ?
Gerry Joe Weise : Well I put two slides on my left hand. One metal slide on my index finger, and a thinner metal slide on my little pinky. When I play normally with my pinky, I'm playing the way I learnt from Tommy Bolin during the 70s. When I play over-the-top of the guitar-neck with my index finger, I'm paying great respect to the best slide player ever, Mr Dave Hole. That's why during my solos I flip between the two techniques frequently, they give me different sounds and harmonics. And when I boogie with my slide, I'm paying homage to the great Hound Dog Taylor. It's just amazing, that between those three artists, you have three different worlds of slide-playing.
Blues Muse : Have you had the chance to see them performing live ?
Gerry Joe Weise : Yes I saw Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers when they came to Sydney in the early 70s on their Australian & New Zealand Tour. I was just flabbergasted by the power and the groove, he is a forceful slider. Taylor's "Natural Boogie" album has been my all-time favorite, and his "I Just Can't Make It" is a regular staple on my concert song list. We do it a little faster - gets the people really rockin' ! (Ed: an excellent solo version in open B slide, is available on the "Sydney-Paris Blues" CD, recorded live at the Zenith in Toulouse, where Gerry Joe Weise opened for the Scorpions, Thursday 3 June 1999). Tommy Bolin I saw with Deep Purple at the Sydney Hordern Pavilion in 1975, he was using a lot of slide around that period. Bolin made me realise, as he always did on stage or in the studio, that slide can be used in every type of music : blues, rock, jazz, country, funk, etc... Just listen to the very fast "Quadrant 4" and the moderate, funky "Red Baron" from Billy Cobham's "Spectrum" album, jazz numbers where Bolin mixes slide with straight-playing. I did a live recording of "Stratus" from "Spectrum" on my "Live In Paris" CD, although I don't play slide on it, it's still a Tommy Bolin dedication. Now Dave Hole represents for me, that great blues-rock sound of the 90s, he is the best slide player alive today. I used to play two of his songs "The Plumber" and "Is It True ?", the later actually appeared on my "Maybe Blues Club - Live" CD. (Ed: recorded live in Marseille, 3 & 4 Nov 1997, with Peter Metzger on bass and Stephane Ehrhart on drums).
Blues Muse : Your "Slidewater Cajun" goes into unchartered slide territory like Dave Hole ?
Gerry Joe Weise : Yes it's an old composition of mine, and used to be called "Slidewater Shuffle", after hearing Dave Hole's version of "Purple Haze" from the "Short Fuse Blues" album, I started playing my own crazy harmonics on slide.
Blues Muse : Why the title change from "Shuffle" to "Cajun" ?
Gerry Joe Weise : Well after the "Live In Paris" album recording of that song, where my rhythm section played a real cajun-type-feel; hence the song title change years later.
Blues Muse : And where did you see Dave Hole play ?
Gerry Joe Weise : Oh sorry, I kind of got carried away there... I was lucky enough to be programed on two French festivals with Dave Hole in Dijon and Verdun in 94, and that gave me the chance to see him play up close.
GERRY JOE WEISE in the 1970s Web site
TOMMY BOLIN by GERRY JOE WEISE Web site
EDITOR'S NOTE - In 1994 Gerry Joe Weise and his trio played a series of important concerts. The following is a short selection :
6 May 94 - Concert as main act, Le Cadran hall, Colombes in Paris. Recording of songs for the "Live In Paris" album. (Ed: The Jimi Hendrix Experience played there in 1967).
25 June 94 - Biker's Festival in Dijon with Dave Hole.
31 July 94 - Blues Passions Festival in Cognac with Otis Grand.
6 August 94 - Summer Festival in Verdun with Dave Hole.
10 September 94 - Blues Festival in Monchecourt with Mark Hummel and Paris Slim.
From 3 October - Main concert stint each Monday night for a year at the Front Page Blues Club, Les Halles, Paris.
Blues Muse : Tell us about the 1994 Blues Passions Festival with Otis Grand ?
Gerry Joe Weise : Due to a bit of rain, we ended up playing in a hall instead of the arena. Otis Grand is a nice person, his big band was tight and funky, and I remember the crowd being great to us too. Years later, I played some concerts with his rhythm section, especially his bass player Jean-Paul Lopez, who I recorded a live version with, of "Long Train Blues" (aka "Long Gone Mystery") at the Lo Bolegason hall in Castres in 2001 for the album entitled "Sydney-Paris Blues". The Blues Passions festival organizers gave me a bottle of cognac with my name on it ! The people were so nice in the South of France, that's why after living in Switzerland for a couple of years I moved down South late 1998.
Blues Muse : What was your main slide song at the Blues Passions Festival ?
Gerry Joe Weise : "Slidewater Cajun" of course !
Blues Muse : The song where you play the guitar on the floor ?
Gerry Joe Weise : Yeah baby ! (laughter).
Blues Muse : And your main slide axes ?
Gerry Joe Weise : From 1982 to 1996 a GibsonTD 340 1967, and since 1996 I'm using a Silvertone from 1960. "Slidewater Cajun" from the "Live In Paris" album was recorded in normal tuning on the L-series Stratocaster from 1963. My slide guitars are usually tuned to G or Gb. My rectangle white Sonic Custom prototype that I recently made and I play on my knees, is tuned to open E.
