WWOZ Stream Archive
Does anyone know who the tenor player is on this?
I already called in to the label and got very kind assistance, and am waiting on info back, which should indeed come, but my curiosity is bigger than I think the label may be able to answer.
Whoever that player is, elements of his playing remind me so much of a dear friend and hero of mine that passed away in the wake of Katrina, Frederick "Shep" Sheppard. The overlap is enough that at first I thought it might be a younger Shep, from before the time that I knew him.
The main knowledge bank person, though (not naming him because not everybody likes to see their name thrown out on the web), was sure that it isn't Shep, although it was apparently not uncommon for Larry Willis (pianist, known, and a mainstay of the label) to hire studio musicians from NOLA.
There is a player on their label named Bob Kindred (and a thread here about Kindred, which is beyond great) that I could see being the tenor man on that recording, above, but I haven't been able to find anything credited to Kindred in a Country or Blues format.
There is a line of descendancy here, maybe, that really interests me. There is too much particular, similar spirit and technique in the playing on that Mapleshade recording between the tenor player and Shep for it to be merely coincidence. It really interests me, and I'd be grateful for any info any one can share.
I just learned by looking for this info, by the way, that you can run back recent radio shows on WWOZ (inarguably the greatest radio station on earth!) in that area where the link posted above is archived.
