Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Off and touring in Europe

Fred and his New JBs are on the road in Europe -- a few days into a 10-day tour that began at Quasimodo in Berlin, where our friend Heinrich Buttler caught the shots below, and photographer Dieter Duvelmeyer caught these.  Thanks, Heinrich! Thanks, Dieter!

The stop in Berlin also featured a visit to multicult.fm, weltkuturradio, world culture radio, where Fred appeared live on the Saturday morning show of Wolfgang Konig. Visit www.multicult.fm to hear the rebroadcast tomorrow, April 25, at 3 p.m. Berlin time. (Fred's segment will begin at 4 p.m.)

Fred with station volunteers Ingrid and Arend, plus DJ Wolfgang Konig (far right)
The next stop, Tibilisi, Georgia, featured a news conference in addition to the performance tonight, as well as a whole lot of that famous Georgian hospitality. Scroll down for family pictures from there.
Onstage at Quasimodo
Onstage at Quasimodo, too
Fred and trumpeter Gary Winters blowing

New JBs guest bassist Jerry Preston backstage

New JBs guest saxman Phillip Whack backstage

Fred taking part in a Tibilisi press conference
Press conference performance
The band backstage at the Tibilisi Event Center

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Europe to New York City to the Strathmore with Abe Inc.

Fred's gearing up for his upcoming European tour with his band, The New JBs, which features stops in Berlin, Paris,   Tblisi, Georgia, Duisburg, German and  Dornbirn, Austria. But he's also looking forward to what follows immediately after his return -- a short tour with Abraham Incorporated, with stops in New York City and at The Strathmore in Maryland.

Abe Inc also will do a bit of rehearsing while in New York, to follow up the band's recent European tour, which ended up in Milan, Italy, after winding through France, Germany and Switzerland. Here is a bit of video and some photos and  from that tour.

These are shots from the day in Lorient, France, by photographer Guy de Lacroix-Herpin. Thanks, Guy!

David Krakauer in a pre-show powwow with a group of clarinet players.
Fred photographing the powwow.

Fred and David onstage.
Abe Inc. onstage, urging Fred not to leave the "House Party."
Fred, Socalled and David signing after the show.
These are from our family cameras, from throughout the tour.

The tour bus, admirably piloted by our new friend Per.

Josh and C-Rayz, waiting in a hotel lobby.
A "musical toast" at the premiere of "Tweet Tweet," the DVD
Bassist and vocalist Jerome Harris and guitarist Allen Watsky, backstage in silhouette.

David onstage.
Trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, Fred and saxophonist Brandon Wright in Milan.

Wined and dined in Milan.

Rockin' with Robin in Rennes

Fred, along with his buddy Pee Wee Ellis, joined funky jazz vocalist Robin McKelle for a rollicking good time with her Flytones at the festival Jazz à l'Étage in Rennes, France, early in March. Here are some photos from that show.

Fred, Robin and Pee Wee backstage

Robin onstage

Onstage with Robin and the Flytones

Pee Wee, Flytones saxophonist Mike Tucker, and Fred

Two dates with Song Byrd in France

March brought Fred his first opportunities to play with singer Song Byrd, the cousin we recently met, and had a wonderful time. He describes her as a dynamic singer and performer and looks forward to playing with her again soon.

The first was at the la solidaire du chocolat festival in Nantes, France, where Ricardo Florès Espinosa captured these great shots. Also, here's some video of the show.




The next was at La Scene Bastille in Paris, where Funimax got this great shot, along with these others.


The Scene Bastille show opened with a hot set by new friend Kondo, and featured The Horn Dogz, with special guest appearances by Juan Rozoff, China Moses and Sly Johnson. Joya got this shot of Fred with the Horn Dogz and Juan backstage.


It was a fun night and will herald funky collaborations to come. Song's in Japan now, promoting her new album. Show her some love by liking her at her Facebook page here.

Fred's in the news

Fred's been busy and is popping up in the news. Watch the Media Archive corner for regular new additions in the future, and check these out now.
  • Fred was interviewed by author RJ Smith for his new book, "The One: The Life and Music of James Brown," which was recently released and has gotten a good deal of press coverage and numerous reviews. Here's one from the Seattle P-I; here's another at TheMillions.com. Still others can be found in the Media Archives.
  • Here, for those interested in a fun Southern California weekend, is a listing about Fred's upcoming visit to Miracosta College for the Oceanside Jazz Fest.
  • As part of National Record Store Day on April 21, Universal Music Enterprises is releasing a special 50th anniversary vinyl edition of James Brown's  "Live at the Apollo," featuring Fred with "Pass the Peas"  Read more here.