Thanks Marty, this week I’ve got a special performance of a great song that is From The Archives of Something Blue.

In 2019 KASU sponsored New Jazz In Jonesboro held in the Round Room of the Jonesboro Public Library. On February 9, 2019 we featured the Ken Carroll Quintet, Ken Carroll on EWI; Hairy Larry, piano; Gabe Waters, bass; Chris Isom, drums; and Joseph Curtis, trumpet. Ken Carroll is Director Of Jazz Studies at ASU. Joseph Curtis is the band director at Hoxie High School. The rest of us are jazz students at ASU. We love the Bossa Nova standard, “Recordame”, and that love for this music shines through in this performance. Now, here’s the Ken Carroll Quintet playing “Recordame”.

From The Archives Of Something Blue February 7, 2021/November 11, 2020

1. DJ Hairy Larry presents John Spencer
2. Something Blue – Run – 29 second spot

Thanks Marty, It’s great to be here on Arkansas Roots sharing songs from the archives of Something Blue.

I met John Spencer at Blues Fest and it wasn’t long before we had John and Tommy, The Spencer Brothers, on stage. John came to me with some songs that he and Tom Turner wrote, Tom was the lyricist and John put them to music. John is a regular at KASU events, both playing and in the audience and Tom Turner was raised at Burnt Hill, just down the road from me.

Thanks Marty, this week on Something Blue we’re featuring some fine blues women including Suzanne Michell.

Suzanne played at the first Blues Fest in 1991 and she was a regular performer in Jonesboro, both solo and in groups, playing at Blues Fest, Sunday In The Park, Bebopalooza, and other venues around Jonesboro. She has dedicated her life to music, teaching and performing, playing blues, jazz, and folk music.

On May 23, 2010, she brought the Suzanne Michell Trio to the Craighead Forest Bandshell and gave us a brilliant set. Playing with her were Fred Wilson and Will Taylor. The entire trio are Arkansas musicians from Little Rock.

Thanks Marty, this week on From The Archives we’re featuring some jazz recorded right here in Jonesboro.

I was enjoying a Jazz Alliance performance at The Edge Coffeehouse after I retired and on break I was talking to Janie Overall who told me that at ASU the state pays the tuition for senior citizens, 60 or over. So I can say that it was Jazz Alliance that brought me back to ASU where I took Percussion lessons from Craig Collison and Jazz Improv from Ron Horton. Soon after that I resumed my composition studies and resumed hosting Something Blue at KASU.

Ron Horton wrote some great songs and I began recording their live performances collecting the tracks that ended up on their “Partly Cloudy” CD. Playing on the CD are Ron Horton, trumpet; Craig Collison, vibes; David Eckert, bass; and Mike Overall, drums. They helped me start the KASU Jazz Thursday concerts and also played at Bebopalooza! Their personnel have strong connections to ASU and the public library.

From The Archives Of Something Blue December 25, 2022

DJ Hairy Larry Presents Vikki McGee Playing Scarlet Begonias

Thanks Marty, today we’re hearing a Grateful Dead song played at the Arkansas Roots Festival.

I was at the first Delta Blues Symposium and Vivian and I helped them with music for several years. And then you get busy and you grow apart so I was really glad when KASU started presenting the music for the Delta Blues Symposium at the Arkansas Roots Festival. It was like being reacquainted with old friends.

In 2017 The Vikki McGee Three were scheduled and I was excited when I found out they had added my favorite duo. So I was recording and taking pictures and enjoying Vikki McGee, Sonny Campbell, Jacob Brumley, John Parks, and Sarah Jo Roark, all fine Arkansas musicians.

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear an original song recorded at KASU Blue Monday in Paragould.

Charlotte Taylor is an Arkansas blues lady. Playing mostly in the Little Rock area I’m always glad when I get to hear her in Helena, Newport, or Paragould. That’s right! On April 20, 2009, Charlotte Taylor and Gypsy Rain played at the Red Goose Deli in Paragould, Arkansas, thanks to the KASU Blue Monday concert series.

From The Archives Of Something Blue December 18, 2022

1. DJ Hairy Larry presents Lisa Ahia
2. Something Blue – Spiritual – 29 second spot

Thanks Marty, this week on From The Archives we’re featuring a Hawaiian Christmas song recorded at KASU Jazz For The Holidays.

Jazz For The Holidays is always a great show. On December 7, 2019 The band was joined by Sam Ahia, Lisa’s father. Sam is a well known Hawaiian jazz guitarist.

They did a couple of Hawaiian songs and I’m playing one today and one on the this week’s Something Blue show. It really lit a light for me to hear these Hawaiian songs sung by Hawaiians in Pocahontas, Arkansas.

Thanks Marty, this week on Something Blue we’re featuring some fine blues women including Suzanne Michell.

Suzanne played at the first Blues Fest in 1991 and she was a regular performer in Jonesboro, both solo and in groups, playing at Blues Fest, Sunday In The Park, Bebopalooza, and other venues around Jonesboro. She has dedicated her life to music, teaching and performing, playing blues, jazz, and folk music.

On May 23, 2010, she brought the Suzanne Michell Trio to the Craighead Forest Bandshell and gave us a brilliant set. Playing with her were Fred Wilson and Will Taylor. The entire trio are Arkansas musicians from Little Rock.

Suzanne and Fred do this marvelous counterpoint on a great old song, “The Sheik Of Araby” including jazz scat vocals and both Suzanne and Fred singing horn parts.

Here they are now, The Suzanne Michell Trio, singing “The Sheik Of Araby”.

archive.org/details/sm2010-05-23

Thanks Marty, I’m Hairy Larry and I’ve got the blues for you.

Kyle Tims got in touch with me about playing at Blues Fest and we were glad to have him perform in September of 1997. I was talking to some of my friends who had played at Blues Fest, Sonny Burgess, Doug Greeno, and Larry Donn, and they told me that Kyle’s father, Tommy Tims, was a rockabilly drummer back in the day. Music runs in the family in Northeast Arkansas so I expected Kyle to put on a good show but everyone was just knocked out by his fantastic blues guitar work following in the footsteps of Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Thanks Marty, I’ve got a great blues song this week performed live at the Fall Ball by Delta Legends.

On September 30, 2017 Delta Legends took a road trip down to the Mississippi Hill Country to play at the Fall Ball. We originally booked to busk on Saturday morning but they offered us a slot early Saturday afternoon so we got to play that too. “All Over Again” is a blues standard made famous by B.B. King and Paul Butterfield. It’s one of our best songs and inspired by the festival stage we nailed it.