THE NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS with the City Champs

THE NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS with the City Champs


Show Date: 2010-02-10

The North Mississippi Allstars were founded in 1996; a product of a special time for modern Mississippi country blues. RL Burnside, Jr. Kimbrough, Otha Turner and their musical families were at their peak; making classic records and touring the world.Brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson soaked up the music of their father, Jim Dickinson,and absorbed the North Mississippi Blues legacy while playing and shaking it down at the juke joints with their blues ancestors. Luther (guitar and vocals) and Cody (drums and vocals) joined up with bassist Chris Chew to form the core of their own band, The North Mississippi Allstars. Through the filter of generations of Mississippi Blues men, the Allstars pioneered their own blues-infused rock and roll.After touring as an opening act for a variety of artists and honing their chops as a unit, the North Mississippi Allstars issued their debut album, Shake Hands With Shorty in the spring of 2000. Their debut proved to be a success and earned them a Grammy nomination for “Best Contemporary Blues Album”. Bringing their hill country bluesinfused rock & roll to stages all over the country and the world (including multiple tours in Europe and Asia), the Allstars quickly gained a loyal fan base. The band gained additional popularity for their work in the Gospel-Blues band The Word, which also featured John Medeski and Pedal Steel player Robert Randolph. By 2005 the North Mississippi Allstars’ had released 4 studio records, 3 of which were Grammy nominated and earned the reputation as one of the most intriguing acts to emerge from the loam of Southern blues and roots rock.The band released Hernando in early 2008, which represented a return to the blues-rock roots the band started with more than a decade ago. It was also the first release on thetrio’s own label, Songs of the South Records. The band recently finished their retrospective record (set for release on January 20, 2009) entitled ‘Do It Like We Used To Do’. The 2 CD/1 DVD package features two discs of music that chronologically highlight the band’s live performances over their first twelve years together, and also includes a full-length documentary DVD on the history of the band. The documentary captures rare live footage, interviews with the guys, and tells the story of a classic American band.

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The City Champs are the latest in a long lineage of Memphis musicians to grab the mantle of funky, soul-jazz instrumentals pioneered by acts like Booker T & the MGs, Willie Mitchell and The Bar-Kays. “The Safecracker” features 7 prime cuts of Stax, Hi Records and Blue Note inspired soul-jazz and funk, produced and engineered by Memphis producer and film composer, Scott Bomar (the Bo-Keys, “Hustle & Flow” & “Soul Men”) at his Electraphonic Recording studio. The sessions were tracked and mixed entirely on analog tape—Bomar used his Scully 1” 8-track machine, which was the same model used at Stax,Muscle Shoals Sound, and Chip’s Moman’s American Studio. The City Champs are led by guitarist, Joe Restivo, who also penned the original material on the album. Joe is one of the premier R&B/Jazz guitarists in Memphis and holds a BFA in Jazz Studies from the prestigious New School in New York City, where he studied with jazz greats Jack Wilkins, Junior Mance, Cecil Bridgewater, and Phil Markowitz. Organist Al Gamble, hails from the Muscle Shoals, Alabama region, and has performed live and on recordings with such notables as Rufus Thomas, Syl Johnson, Alex Chilton, and the Memphis Horns. Drummer George Sluppick is a native Memphian who has spent most of his life on the road performing live and recording with may notables, including Albert King, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Melvin Sparks, Ruthie Foster and JJ Grey and MOFRO. Mastered straight off analog tapes, directly to disc by mastering engineer Larry Nix on the same equipment he used daily at Stax Records.