B.B. King Entertainer of the Year: Janiva Magness

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Janiva Magness is at Murphy's Thursday. Read about the BMA's here:

BluesWax Sittin' In At 2009 Blues Music Awards

BMAs Reach New Heights on 30th Anniversary

By Don Wilcock

When Sirius-XM Satellite Radio host Bill Wax and Blues Foundation Executive Director Jay Sieleman walked into the Flying Saucer bar a block from Beale Street the day after the Blues Music Awards, the Memphis club welcomed them with a spontaneous and completely unplanned round of applause. The two had been the fulcrum for the most successful awards presentation in the 30-year history of the event. Wax hosted the seven-hour marathon and Sieleman pieced it together with his number two man Joe Whitmer and a staff of unpaid volunteers. The pervasive feeling was that in these times of economic struggle - no stranger to the Blues community - that we are family. Not a dysfunctional family, but a loving family that pulls together.

"I've been doing media a long, long time," said Wax three days after the impromptu applause, "and I had never experienced that in my life. It was incredibly moving. I was blown away." The event itself had profound effects on so many people. "This was a family reunion," said Wax, "but it wasn't a blood family. It was a musical family."

Chris Healey, widow of Jeff Healey, the winner of the first ever Rock Blues Album Award for Mess of Blues, commented at the awards ceremony that her husband would be proud. She told the story of their four-year-old son who wanted to know if his daddy was getting a present. "Tomorrow I can tell him yes," she said, holding back tears. In a night of 26 awards and almost double the number of performances crammed into six hours, there were countless epiphanies, numerous emotional transcendences and musical high points that offered hope to the movers and shakers of The Blues that our music saves lives and builds character - and characters.

Janiva Magness was so blown away that she blew her nose on her flowing emerald dress. She joked about the challenge of getting the two awards onto a plane without being charged $90 in baggage fees after winning both the Contemporary Blues Female Artist Award and the B. B. King Entertainer Award. On a more serious note, she confessed that Blues had saved her life. She meant it literally. The daughter of two parents who committed suicide, her only recognition as a child came when her eighth grade class gave her the prize for having the funniest face. A multiple BMA winner in the last three years, she projected assertive female sensuality in her performance singing, "I swear everybody's dreaming about something they can't touch."

There were classic pairings: Taj Mahal and Maria Muldaur singing "What About The Soul of The Man;" Gaye Adegbalola singing "I love being a queen" backed by veteran guitarist Bob Margolin and harp harlequin Jason Ricci with spiked hair stolen from a raptor's back; Curtis Salgado singing "4 O'clock" to B. B. King's guitar sting; Marcia Ball and Irma Thomas on "Morning Rain;" Koko Taylor looking and sounding healthier than at any time since her 2005 hospitalization doing "Wang Dang Doodle" with members of the Mannish Boys; and Kenny Neal backed by his family singing The Song of The Year, "Let Life Flow," from his Blind Pig album of the same name. A liver cancer survivor, Neal thanked God, his band of 20 years, his mother, and his wife, "who stuck by me for 14 months of treatment."

Testimonies for the healing properties of the Blues nearly threatened to become clichés by the end of the night. Curtis Salgado's deep soul was powerful evidence of his gratitude for being alive following a liver transplant and an outpouring of support to the tune of a half million dollars earned from performances by fellow artists. He admitted on stage what a thrill it was to be playing with The King of The Blues, B. B. King. Presenter Candye Kane openly wept as she told the story of how the support from the Blues community helped her survive a year with pancreatic cancer. The self-described "big black drag queen trapped in a white woman's body" has lost 100 pounds and was deeply moved and thrilled to be alive and part of the BMA experience.

From most of the artists there was a sense of endless struggle leading up to this one night of celebration and reward, a feeling that recognition among peers was the sweetest award of all. Even The King of The Blues and newly "elected" Mayor of Sirius/XM's Bluesville B. B. King commented on his 60-year odyssey from radio deejay on Memphis' own WDIA to his new role as commentator with his "You and Me with B. B. King" interviews with Bill Wax on Sirius/XM. It was Bill Wax who was the catalyst for bringing B. B. King and Pop star Bonnie Raitt to the Awards ceremony.

"I have been blessed that he and I have become friends," says Wax of his relationship with King. "He trusts me enough to give me information and answer my questions openly and honestly and allows me to see, and he really is himself so that when we're recording this stuff and are finished, the listeners can hear who B. B. King really is because he's not hiding behind anything. He's open enough to show that to me, and then of course I get to show it to the listeners."

It was King's graciousness that set the tone for the whole event as he sat backstage signing autographs for scores of musicians thrilled to be on the bill with him.

Multi-million-selling Pop hit maker Bonnie Raitt made a surprise cameo appearance following her dedication the same day, May 7, in Cuomo, Mississippi, of the Mississippi Fred McDowell historical marker. Before becoming a star in the Rock world, she'd studied at the feet of McDowell, Son House, and other Country Blues progenitors she met as a student at Radcliffe.

In an interview to be published in the next issue of Blues Revue, Raitt credits the Blues with giving her a leg up as a Pop star. "When I played clubs, I'd be playing a James Taylor song or a Buffalo Springfield song or a Judy Collins thing, and then I'd play some Blues - and people acted like it was the second coming. They said, 'What's a woman playing a guitar like that for?' I said, 'Who cares if I'm a woman? It's what I like.' It happened to get my foot in the door because it was unusual."

Younger artists were just thrilled to be rubbing shoulders with their mentors. Memphis harp player Billy Gibson simply couldn't believe he'd won the Instrumentalist-Harmonica Award. "Wow," he exclaimed, adding that it was a thrill just to be mentioned in the same breath with artists he's loved.

Young pianist Eden Brent experienced déjà vu from her 2006 International Blues Challenge winning performance when she experienced problems with her piano again on stage. "At least it isn't a wardrobe malfunction," she quipped, a reference to Janet Jackson's infamous bodice boggle at the 2008 Super Bowl. The Acoustic Artist and Acoustic Album winner for Mississippi Number One thanked everyone for "the dream of a lifetime. I feel like a part of your family." Then, she dedicated a song to her late mother who had written some of her songs.

Otis Taylor won Instrumentalist - Other for his banjo playing. He quipped that he was bummed out to be breaking his losing streak of 14 nominations without a win. Daughter and bass player Cassie Taylor, who is currently recording her first album, was stunning in a fetching dress and Billie Holiday orchid in her hair. She sang a song called "Sunday Morning" and introduced 15-year-old guitarist Michael Kesselring to the Otis Taylor set.

As the youngest member of the Blues Foundation board of directors, Cassie has introduced the IBC Centrum Scholarship to bring young people into the Blues. As its first winner, Kesselring, a Columbus, Ohio, native, was given room, board, and airfare to attend Blues Week in Memphis. Cassie conducted the new youth jam that attracted 70 players at the IBC and is responsible for signing 43 new youth members to the Blues Foundation in four hours at the jam.

Indeed, it was the relatively younger performers who made some of the biggest impressions at the BMAs. Albert Castiglia, once Junior Wells' lead guitarist, proved that his excellent album These Are The Days is no fluke. Backed by a rhythm section that was a perpetual motion machine, he turned "A Real Bad Year" into a tour de force that had people on their feet dancing. Bob Brozman, an extremely rhythmic National Steel player, told his audience, "Music is older than language, and that's why language needs translation." No interpreters were required for his set. He made instant contact with the crowd, dedicating his second song to the late John Cephas, punctuating his vocals and guitar work with vocal clicks, body blows to the guitar, and guitar-case foot stomping.

Bill Wax introduced Michael Burks saying that this was probably the shortest set "The Iron Man" had ever done. His iron may never turn to chrome, but his playing continues to get harder and smoother the older he gets, and while Burks will never be the next Luther Allison, Alligator Records' Bruce Iglauer has a lot to be proud of there. Iglauer had begun my evening bemoaning the state of the record business but vowing to soldier on. When I left the convention center at 1:30 he had to admit he'd had a good evening. His premier artist Koko Taylor walked away with Traditional Blues Artist Award and displayed enough swagger on stage to retain her Blues Queen crown. Janiva Magness took two (Contemporary Blues Female Artists and B. B. King Entertainer), and Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials captured Band of The Year. Both acts proved themselves winners in performance.

Pinetop Perkins' manager Pat Morgan picked up Etta James' Soul Blues Female Artist Award quipping, "Etta's not here. We'll give it to Beyonce," a reference to Beyonce's playing Etta in the film Cadillac Records. James is a perpetual winner and no show. I have to keep reminding myself that the Blues Music Award is a popularity contest, and as such, some awards to perennial favorites are givens. Buddy Guy took home his 27th, 28th, and 29th awards out of 42 nominations taking Contemporary Blues Male Artist, Contemporary Blues Album, and Album of the Year for Skin Deep, which is his most personal and heartfelt album of a 50-year career. B. B. King took both Traditional Blues Artist and Traditional Blues Album for another career topper, One Kind Favor, which may match Live at The Regal as my new favorite of his. Bobby Rush rightfully took home Soul Blues Male Artist and Koko Taylor was a sympathetic favorite for Traditional Blues Female Artist.

"Everyone wins once they're nominated," says Bill Wax. "There's no number one winner. They're all winners, but Billy Gibson's excitement was phenomenal. To see him bounce across that stage, shake everybody's hands...! How much more wonderful could it be? Robin Roberts told me that she picked up three festival gigs by being there and just having the opportunity to play. That's what it's about, musicians being able to make a better living for themselves and if by doing this, that helps, that's fabulous. It just doesn't get any better than that."

Maria Muldaur is purported to have said that the event was better than the Grammys. Veterans and neophytes alike agreed that the event had reached a new level of excitement, importance and stature. I predict next year's awards will sell out in advance. You've been advised. Get your tickets early.

Don Wilcock is the editor of BluesWax. He may be contacted at blueswax@visnat.com.
2009 Blues Music Award winners
-- Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year: Janiva Magness TH 5/21 at Murphy's at 5:30pm
-- B.B. King Entertainer of the Year: Janiva Magness
-- Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year: B.B. King
-- Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year: Koko Taylor
-- Traditional Blues Album of the Year: One Kind Favor, B.B. King
-- Song of the Year: "Let Life Flow," Kenny Neal
-- Band of the Year: Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials TH 8/13 at Murphy's at 5:30pm
-- Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year: Buddy Guy
-- Contemporary Blues Album of the Year: Skin Deep, Buddy Guy
-- Album of the Year: Skin Deep, Buddy Guy
-- Best New Artist Debut : 2 Man Wrecking Crew, Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm
-- Acoustic Album of the Year: Mississippi Number One, Eden Brent
-- Acoustic Artist of the Year: Eden Brent
-- Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year: Bobby Rush
-- Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year: Etta James
-- Soul Blues Album of the Year: Simply Grand, Irma Thomas
-- Rock Blues Album of the Year: Mess of Blues, Jeff Healey
-- Historical Album of the Year: Albert Collins, Live At Montreux 1992, Eagle Records
-- DVD of the Year: "M For Mississippi: A Road Trip Through the Birthplace of the Blues," Broke & Hungry Records, Cathead Blues & Mudpuppy Recordings
-- Instrumentalist of the Year-Harmonica: Billy Gibson
-- Instrumentalist of the Year-Banjo: Otis Taylor
-- Instrumentalist of the Year-Bass: Mookie Brill
-- Instrumentalist of the Year-Guitar: Sonny Landreth
-- Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year: Marcia Ball Sat 5/23 at Murphy's, BSO All-Stars open the show at 7pm
-- Instrumentalist of the Year-Horn: Deanna Bogart
-- Instrumentalist of the Year-Drums: Willie "Big Eyes" Smith