Alligator Records News Briefs – April 16, 2014

Conjure up a list of all-time great blues harmonica players, and high up
on it you’ll see the name James Cotton.
–NPR

The Mississippi Arts Commission presented blues music icon (and Tunica,
Mississippi native) James
Cotton with the coveted Governor’s Award For Excellence In The Arts in a
ceremony held February 20, 2014 at Belhaven University in Clarion, Mississippi.
The Governor’s Arts Awards are presented annually to outstanding writers,
artists, performers, craftsmen and educators who have made significant and
lasting contributions through their work as well as to corporations or
organizations on the basis of their dedication to arts advancement. Previous
winners include B.B. King, Little Milton Campbell, and Bo Diddley.

Video of the presentation and live performance is here: http://www.alligator.com/artists/James-Cotton/.

Cotton is currently celebrating his 70th year as a professional
entertainer. His Grammy-nominated 2013 CD, Cotton Mouth
Man, is an upbeat, warm blues album boasting fine musicianship and
Cotton’s undeniable spirit. Living Blues says, “James Cotton is one of
the great harmonica innovators of his generation. Cotton Mouth
Man is a star-studded affair that makes James Cotton’s best
recording for Alligator. It is an autobiographical narrative of Cotton’s
eventful life and soul-deep relationship with the blues. He plays with an
authority and energy that belies his age.”

Blues Hall of Famer Joe
Louis Walker will take part in the Thelonious Monk Institute Of Jazz’s
International Jazz Day in Osaka, Japan on April 30, 2014. Many other artists
will also perform, including Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and John
Scofield.

According to the Monk Institute, “The designation of International Jazz Day
is intended to bring together communities, schools and other groups the world
over to celebrate and learn more about the art of jazz, its roots and its
impact. Ultimately, it seeks to foster intercultural dialogue and raise public
awareness about the role of jazz music. As a language of freedom across the
board, jazz promotes social inclusion, enhancing understanding, tolerance and
nurturing creativity.”

From its base in Washington, DC, the Thelonious
Monk Institute Of Jazz identifies jazz music’s new voices, honoring its
present and past masters, making the jazz aesthetic available and comprehensible
in concert halls and classrooms around the world. The Institute is the lead
nonprofit organization charged with planning, promoting and producing
International Jazz Day.

Walker’s latest album, Hornet’s Nest, has been
hailed as a true blues tour-de-force. USA Today says it is “tough and
resilient.” Living Blues added, “Few contemporary blues artists blend
aggression, deep feeling and eclecticism with the panache and ferocity of Joe
Louis Walker.”

Alligator Records recordings from Professor
Longhair, Corey
Harris and Anders
Osborne have and continue to appear on network television programs.
Professor Longhair’s Whole Lotta Lovin’ (from his
Crawfish Fiesta album) is the opening theme
song for My Big Redneck Family, airing weekly on the CMT network. Corey
Harris’ Moosemilk Blues (from his Fish Ain’t Bitin’
CD) and Anders Osborne’s On The Road To Charlie Parker (from
his American Patchwork CD) both appeared in the April
1 episode of CBS Television’s NCIS.