Barrelhouse Bonni: Calendar

Great seeing all my Beverly buddies again !  Happy Holidays and peace to all.

Theron Hawk sat in with Bonni on soprano sax at the 4400 Fulton St. block party on the hottest day of July.

Blues education!  Bonni's interview with Valerie Leonard  

Dec. 10 concluded six weeks of workshops, including two with heritage Chicago bluesmen as guests, helped generations reconnect in West Englewood.  Thanks to E'a the Holistic Artists, Erin and other staff at I Grow, and the folks at Old Town School of Folk Music who sponsored this. Audiences seemed to grow every week as people had a chance to learn about the historic music of the community and figure out ways to express themselves.

A great time was had by all, including the kids who came up to do a few rap tunes at the end of Larry's show.  BUILD's evening park programs are aimed at reconnecting generations and promoting peace in the neighborhood.

On a 99 degree day, seniors at Smith Village in the Beverly area of SW Chicago enjoyed a cocktail hour with pastry chef Latasha, with music by Barrelhouse Bonni.

A rainy day brought good company nevertheless .  People came to buy milk, kids came to pet goats and listen to front porch barrelhousing.  Thanks to the Ioders for a great Fall Gathering celebrating their urban farm in the Austin neighborhood, Chicago West Side.

Community Forum on Blues, Art & Culture for West Side Chicago: Story from Austin Talks:

Thanks to all my Capon buddies!  I heard a story from an old coal miner in the audience that "16 tons" one of the songs I sing, comes from the time when coal miners didnt get paid for the day's work if they could not make the difficult piece goal of 18 tons.  Another day older and deeper in debt.

Second in a series of community discussions.  Read about it here in Bonni's blog in the Austin Weekly News.  Nonprofit consultant Valerie Leonard as well as Camille Wilson White from the Oak Park Area Arts Council explained how things work.  Crystal Dyer, travel agent at Gone Again Travel and Tours hosted the discussion.

People came from near and far to buy Larry's CD and join the conversation " How can blues help heal our city and boost the economy in our blues neighborhoods of the South and West Side?"  Two radio DJs showed up to get their CDs:  Lady Z from WCSU and Henry Cheatham, left, of WVON. Glad to see everyone!

Lady Z interviewed Bonni and also health consultant Medina Nance.  Bonni talked about blues as a healing music, and called for more blues education in the schools. 

Thanks to all those very diverse people in this Southwest Chicago community who made this event a howling success (yes Larry sang a Wolf tune) on a hot day.

The West Side showed up n showed out! Rep. Danny Davis spoke of blues as a voice for the communnity.   

Windy City Blues society communication chief Karen Murphy gave us a nice writeup:

Eddie Taylor Jr. and Barrelhouse Bonni did a "blues schmooze" of instrumentals on piano and guitar for a laid back, neighborly afternoon.

Enjoyed this visit with guests.  Capon Springs offers live music every Tuesday evening during the summer season.  http://www.caponsprings.net

Music teacher Lisa Maatouk hosted the Chicago School of Blues band with Bonni, Larry Taylor, and Jon McDonald guitar, Curtis LaBon drums, and J.R. "Bootsie" Lee on bass. 

Mentors and students learned how the blues can help them express their feelings and ideas in this Chicago School of Blues workshop.  Featuring Bonni as teacher, with Larry Taylor vocals, Jon McDonald guitar, Curtis LaBon drums, and J.R. Bootsie Lee bass

Shirley King, B.B.'s daughter and a veteran blues educator, showed up to add some excitement to this arts workshop.  With her help, people of all ages gamely came to the stage to share their instantly made-up blues verses.

Guitarist Jon McDonald, coming back into his own spotlight after a dozen years under the wing of the late great Magic Slim, joined Barrelhouse Bonni and Larry Taylor for a pleasant evening at Wildwood Country Club in Charles City Iowa.  

Unity in Diversity's annual picnic featured the Barrelhouse Ladies in a diverse (of course) and fun lineup that included Augustus Raswell leading games for young and old; and a Native American Indian dance by 85- year old Bob Horse of Winnebago heritage.