Papa Lee and the Body Shop Blues

Clyde "Papa" Lee - BluesPhotos by Don Mc Ghee

Papa Lee and the Body Shop Blues will be the featured performers at the Southfield Public Library’s Jazz & Blues program on Sept. 17.

Band leader Clyde W. “Papa” Lee Sr. began playing drums when he was in middle school in Flint and he is still at it more than 60 years later. He traveled and recorded with the Detroit Emeralds in the 1970s and played the famous Club Paradise in Idlewild, Mich.

He’s played with John Lee Hooker, Bobo Jenkins, Washboard Willie, Chicago Pete and just about every well-known Detroit blues artist during the past 50 years, including Eddie Burns, Calvin Frazier, Willie D. Warren, Mr. Bo and Little Mac Collins, Uncle Jessie White, and the Butler Twins.

"Little Arthur" Anderson

The evening will feature “Little Arthur” Anderson on harp and vocals. Also joining Papa Lee will be guitarists Joe Mitchell and Nick Tabarias, and bassist Buster Wylie.

The band will perform at 6:30 p.m. in the Meeting Room of the Southfield Public Library, 26300 Evergreen Road. General admission is $5, $3 for Friends of the Southfield Public Library members. There is no admission charge for children under age 12.

Jazz & Blues is sponsored by the Friends of the Southfield Public Library and the Detroit Blues Society.

For more information, call the Guest Services Desk at 248-796-4224 or click www.southfieldlibrary.org.

To send info to JB Blues, please email Joe.Ballor@dailytribune.com

Lady Sunshine and the X Band kick off Blues at the Elks series

The 2^nd year of the Blues at the Elks series kicks off Tuesday, Sept. 9, with a performance by Lady Sunshine and the X Band.

Lady Sunshine was born on a plantation in West Helena, Ark., and grew up singing gospel music as a little girl. She moved to Ann Arbor in 1975 and began singing professionally.

The Sunshine Band came together in 1994 and made an immediate impact. The band, which has shared the stage with blues/R&B notables such as Koko Taylor, Bobby Rush, Little Milton, Roomful of Blues, War, Big Bill Morganfield, and many more, has garnered many awards.

The band is a two-time winner of the Detroit Blues Challenge; finished second at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn., in 2005; made it to the IBC semifinals in 2013; and has twice been named best blues band in Washtenaw County by Current magazine.

Janiva Magness

Lady Sunshine and the X Band will perform from 7-10 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, at the Plymouth-Ann Arbor Elks Lodge, 41700 Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth, a half mile west of I-275. Admission is $5. There will also be a cash bar and pizza.  For more information, call 734-453-1780 or click
http://www.plymouthelks1780.com/.
Blues at the Elks is a co-production of the Plymouth-Ann Arbor Elks Lodge and the non-profit Detroit Blues Society.

Blues In Ann Arbor

The Ark in Ann Arbor has an impressive lineup of blues artists performing in the next eight weeks.

Standout singer Janiva Magness, a Michigan native who attended Mount Clemens High School while living with her grandparents, is the recipient of many top blues music awards. She’ll be at The Ark on Sept. 19.

Other blues artists headed to The Ark include singer-songwriter Laith Al-Saadi (Sept. 21), roots music performer George Bedard (Oct. 10), Shari Kane and Dave Steele with Brooks Williams (Oct. 16), and folk-blues singer and songwriter Chris Smither (Oct. 31).

For information, click www.theark.org.

To send info to JB Blues, please email Joe.Ballor@dailytribune.com