No Escaping the Blues

The 18th annual Ojai Bowlful of Blues has left its ancestral home in Libbey Park in Ojai to a new site at Lake Casitas, where the two-day epic music event will unfold this weekend. Once again, the Bowlful will provide a viable alternative to the end of baseball and the beginning of college football. The menu Saturday is mostly blues, while Sunday the soundtrack will be mostly jazz.

Plenty of Louisiana style food will be on sale as well as veggie dishes and a vast variety of beverages, including, for the first time, beer and wine. Picnickers are welcome, but their pets are not. Low-back lawn chairs are OK, as are blankets. As usual, dancing is expected to break out in front of the stage at this long-running and very mellow family event.

Headlining on Saturday will be the nationally touring blues group Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers, winners of the W.C. Handy Award as “Best Blues Band of 2000.”

Other bluesmen of note include Roy Gaines, Robert Lockwood Jr., Paul Oscher and tenor sax legend “Mighty Joe” Houston & the Defrosterz. The locals will also be out in force, including the Jimmy Calire Bowlful All-Stars featuring Mitch Kashmar and Mahli McGee. That funny acoustic blues duo, Tom Ball & Kenny Sultan out of Santa Barbara, will be making their 16th appearance at this event.

One of the highlights of the gig will be an appearance both days by Paul “L’il Buck” Sinegal, a member of the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame and one of the top zydeco and blues guitarists in the business. Sinegal earned fame and fortune and piled up plenty of road miles with zydeco legends Rockin’ Dopsie and Buckwheat Zydeco, in addition to doing a 12-year stint with Clifton Chenier.

An accomplished sideman as well as a session man for years, Sinegal is out on his own now, having released an album last year, “The Buck Starts Here.” One of Sinegal’s famous bandmates, C.C. Adcock, called his friend the “greatest nationally unknown guitar player alive. And when I say greatest, I mean he’s not just a hometown hero. He’s on the level of B.B. King, Albert Collins and Albert King.”

Sinegal discussed the latest during a recent phone interview.

When did you decide you wanted to become a guitar player?

Oh, man, 40 years ago. My mother used to play and I guess I got it in my genes and my blood and I just started playing. I play blues guitar, but I play zydeco, too.

What was your first gig like?

Scary. I was playing with some guys that had been playing, you know, and when they called me up there, I was maybe 16 years old, but I made it, man.

What did you learn playing with Chenier all those years?

When I started playing with Clif, I learned a whole lot. Number one, don’t learn how to play in just one key because with Clif, we may play in an F chord tonight but don’t grab an F chord tomorrow because the cat may be in C. So you got to keep your ears open all the time. He never played the same song in the same key, never.

What’s the hardest thing about your job?

Oh no, it’s not hard. I love it, man. I’ve been traveling all my life. I just like to get out there and make people happy and enjoy playing, then I’m satisfied. It’s easy getting jobs around Louisiana, but I want to stretch out, even though I’m getting old. I think you should be respectable and make the people love you.

So how’s the new album doing?

It’s doing good. Allen Toussaint produced it and he wrote three of the songs and that was a big help. Everyone around Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas knew me and knew I could play the blues, but the record got me up to New York and overseas. It came out last year and a new one should be out in May.

Why do you think Europeans appreciate American music perhaps even more than Americans do?

I think they study more about it. They’re more into blues and zydeco--it’s not just a pastime for them, but something they care about and they love. As a matter of fact, I’m going to the south of France on October 17.

So you’ve played on over 300 different albums?

Oh man, it’s been since 1958 along with Katie Webster, remember her? They used to call her “The Swamp Boogie Queen.” Do you remember Excello Records? I did tunes when I was still a teenager and his studio was in his house.

Do the blues guys have to work harder than the rock ‘n’ roll guys?

Oh, no, I wouldn’t say we work harder, but for the blues, it looks like they work harder ‘cause they feel it more. That blues, once it gets in your blood, you’re in trouble.

DETAILS

Bowlful of Blues at Lake Casitas, 11311 Santa Ana Road, Oak View, 2-10 p.m. Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday; $23 in advance and $25 at the gate Saturday, $15 in advance and $17 at the gate Sunday, two-day pass $35, teens and seniors half price, children free; 646-7230.

The complete lineup: Saturday: Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers; Roy Gaines; Robert Lockwood Jr.; Paul “L’il Buck” Sinegal with Fernest Arceneaux, Mitch Kashmar and Mahli McGee; Paul Oscher; Tom Ball and Kenny Sultan; and Jimmy Calire Bowlful All-Stars with special guest Joe Houston.

Sunday: Jeff Elliot Quartet; Teka; the Estrada Brothers; the Santa Barbara City College “Lunch Break” Jazz Band, directed by Dr. Chuck Wood; the Buck & Fernest Zydeco Kings; and the Jimmy Calire Trio, plus a special appearance by Memphis folk blues stylist Sid Selvidge.

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The seemingly endless party procession concludes in September when the Guy Martin Group plays its brand of rocking Texas style blues at his CD release party Saturday night at the Ban-Dar in Ventura. This is another one of those “Live at Cafe Voltaire” releases, recorded last year just before the venue went away and came back as the Ban-Dar.

A self-taught player, Martin was inspired by the best, learning his licks from Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. In fact, his traditional show stopper is his own version--not Hendrix’s--of “Voodoo Child.”

It wasn’t so long ago that Martin had fewer then 10 originals--now he has more than 50. This is no slo-mo cry-in-your-beer blues either, because Martin plays it fast and loud, just like his heroes used to.

Keeping up with all that Fender Stratocaster action from Martin is Tony Trigueiro on bass, Jason Dinkler on drums and Greg Godfrey on keyboards.

DETAILS

The Guy Martin Band at the Ban-Dar, 3005 E. Main St., Ventura; 9:30 p.m. Saturday; $15 (with CD) $5 (without); 643-4420.

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It’s also party time for the older hoppers and boppers this weekend. Twice. Vocal legends from the 1950s and ‘60s will sing oldies from the days when everything was cool, even your parents. Just in case they don’t rock like they swear they once did, “The Fabulous ‘50s Fling” will begin at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Camarillo Airport.

On the bill are legendary groups such as the Platters, the Coasters, the Chordettes, the Champs, the Crests and the Sevilles, as well as solo artists Donnie Brooks, Jewel Akens and Raymond Michaels. And it wasn’t so long ago, back when AM radio was cool, that the majority of these artists were featured on local rock station KACY AM 1520, located on Pacific Coast Highway in Oxnard.

Those were the days when Wally Cleaver and Dobie Gillis were trying to figure out girls and music was simpler, with shorter songs sung by singers that could actually sing. One such singer was Brooks, who will be the host of the event and is best known for his hits “Doll House” and “Mission Bell.”

The Platters were doo wop legends who had almost as many members as hits, including “The Great Pretender,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and “Only You.” Another classic doo wop group with a revolving cast was the Coasters, who showcased their talents on fun songs such as “Charlie Brown,” “Yakety-Yak” and “Poison Ivy.” The Sevilles are a Temptations tribute act and Michaels is well known locally for his Elvis impersonations. All the songs at this show should be familiar to anyone over 50.

The event will be held in the airplane hangar and mingling with the crowd will be James Dean and Marilyn Monroe impersonators. Three huge dance floors will be available for the resurrection of all those strange old dances such as the Twist, the Mashed Potato and the Swim. There will be dance contests, door prizes, souvenirs and lots of food and drink.

The following day, at the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks, it’s more flashes from the past when the Three Tenors of Pop sing plenty of more familiar melodies for those who remember vinyl and 45s. The stars of the show are Jim Yester, Bruce Belland and David Somerville. Each were at one time lead singers for, respectively, the Association, the Four Preps and the Diamonds.

These three guys have a pretty serious collective resume, having sold well over a million records, including 32 hit singles, 15 gold and platinum albums, and 13 Grammy, Golden Globe and Emmy nominations.

DETAILS

Fabulous ‘50s Fling at the Camarillo Airport, 375 Durley Ave.; 4:30 p.m. Saturday; $30 for one or $55 for two; 985-8594.

MORE DETAILS

The Three Tenors of Pop at the Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks; 3 p.m. Sunday; $31.50, $26.50 or $21.50; 449-2787.