TOM MITCHELL & THE BLUE RHYTHM BOYS: Monday Morning Blues

Tom Mitchell & The Blue Rhythm Boys

Monday Morning Blues

© 2002 The Blue Rhythm Boys

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Start with the blues of Mississippi John Hurt and add the “hot club” swing of Django Reinhardt, throw in tight vocals and hot guitar playing and you've got the Blue Rhythm Boys.

tracks

1 Monday Morning Blues
2 I Got Mine
3 Sweet Moments
4 Place du Brouckere
5 That'll Never Happen No More
6 St. James Infirmary
7 Frankie & Johnny
8 Jitterbug Waltz
9 Russian Lullabye
10 Richlands Women Blues
11 Indiana

notes

Blending the blues of Mississippi John Hurt with the “hot club” swing of Django Reinhardt, The Blue Rhythm Boys have delighted audiences with their tight vocals and hot guitar playing since 1997. Tom Mitchell , Jim Stephanson and Ralph Gordon bring authenticity and originality to their own smoky mix of hot jazz, blues and hokum.

Tom Mitchell, known for his hard-driving swing/jazz guitar playing and singing, has performed in the Washington, DC for more than 20 years. He can also be seen performing with Brooks Tegler's Hot Jazz, and his own quintet Double Scotch. Tom tours internationally as guitarist with folk and swing artist Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. He can be heard on Dan's recording “Beatin' the Heat” with Elvis Costello, Rickie Lee Jones, Bette Midler, Brian Setzer and Tom Waits.

Jim Stephanson's unique guitar style draws on the influences of Chet Atkins, Danny Gatton, Les Paul and Mississippi John Hurt. The Washington Post says: "Washington DC can lay claim to a heritage of great electric guitar players, Jim Stephanson, is part of that legacy." Jim is a regular on both stage and studio in Washington DC. He can be seen on guitar and vocals with local rockabilly legend Bill Hancock and with his own hot R&B band Jimmy & the Blue Dogs, who are featured on a number of compilations on the “Hungry for Music” label.

Acclaimed teacher, recording artist and performer, Ralph Gordon has been playing for dances for more than twenty-five years. He has played with everyone from Trapezoid to Martin, Bogan and Armstrong and can be heard on over 90 recordings.

The Blue Rhythm Boys new CD, “Monday Morning Blues,” was recorded by renowned Folkways engineer, Pete Reineger and features guest artists Vince McCool on trumpet, Brooks Tegler on drums, Phil Wiggins on harmonica and Kevin Wimmer on violin. About this recording, Folk/swingster Dan Hicks says: “Swingin' Acoustic Guitars, southern-tinged vocals, and the best repertoire East of Bucks County all combine to float your boat up the mighty Miss-i-sip!”

REVIEWS:

THE WASHINGTON POST
MIKE JOYCE
NOVEMBER 29, 2002

"Monday Morning Blues," the latest release by the Blue Rhythm Boys, is named after a Mississippi John Hurt tune well known to finger-picking blues guitarists. Hurt's contribution serves here as the album's opening track and casually points the way to other pieces that have been passed down from one generation of acoustic guitar players to another. Blind Blake's "That'll Never Happen No More" and the classic jazz dirge "St. James Infirmary," for example, were staples in Dave Van Ronk's colorful repertoire.

But the Boys -- guitarist Jim Stephanson, guitarist-mandolinist Tom Mitchell and bassist Ralph Gordon -- view these tunes, along with "Frankie & Johnny" and Hurt's "Richlands Women Blues," as ensemble pieces that alternately evoke string and swing band traditions. So they've recruited harmonica ace Phil Wiggins, trumpeter Vince McCool, drummer Brooks Tegler and violinist Kevin Wimmer to flesh out the arrangements in ways that are tried, true and still genuinely entertaining.

The same can be said for the pieces that are more commonly performed by jazz musicians. Fats Waller's corkscrew melody "Jitterbug Waltz," Irving Berlin's engaging novelty "Russian Lullaby," and the evergreen "Indiana" feature nimbly executed guitar solos and rhythmic pulses that, whether swaying or swinging, are just plain hard to resist. Like the pre-war musicians they clearly admire, the Boys and their guests collaborate all the while in deceptively effortless fashion. In fact, if they've learned one thing from listening to old discs, it's how to have fun without ever making a fuss.
- Mike Joyce © 2002 The Washington Post Company
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Excellent, gentlemen. A beautiful, joyful sound.

Michael Jaworik, Promoter
The Birchmere, Arlington, Virginia


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The Blue Rhythm Boys are a swing trio that knocks my socks off, with two first-rate guitarists, Tom Mitchell and Jim Stephanson, who carry the "Washington Grows Great Guitarists" torch into the 21st century. Their music is decidedly 20th century, however, as they play swing and blues from a bygone era on vintage archtop guitars, but they don't mine it for nostalgia. Instead they simply point out what great music it is.

Eric Brace- Nightline Columnist, Washington Post

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About the Band:
"The Blue Rhythm Boys were an absolute joy to have in concert. They transported our concert hall into a Southern low-down "Jook" joint. Their easygoing nature quickly won over the audience (and myself) with humor appropriate to the vintage material. Comparisons? Imagine a session with Mississippi John Hurt, jamming with Django with Louis Armstrong, and the Kansas City Five as the backline!"

David Eisner
President, The Institute of Musical Tradition
House of Musical Traditions Inc, Takoma Park, MD
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The Blue Rhythm Boys play and sing acoustic swing with deceptive ease. Rock solid rhythm and influences from Django Reinhart to Danny Gatton treat the listener to a tightly woven tapestry of sound as Tom Mitchell and Jim Stephanson trade licks on their six string Gibsons.

Pete Reiniger
Sound Production Supervisor, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

reviews

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  • leaves ya dancin into the sunset
    author: WS McLaughlan

    Django jumpin swing saturated with tastey blues and vocal lifitn hipster verve of americana jazz pushes all the great groove buttons and leaves ya dancin into the sunset dig

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