Chicagoland "In The Mix" Entertainment
February 98
How Blue Can You Get?
By: Odysseus Johnson
“The Right Reverend Deacon Doctor”
With Chicago’s Mighty Blue King, there’s not one band in America that closed our 1997 with more promise The sextet rang in the New Year at Chicago’s posh Fairmont Hotel playing their usual brand of no-holds barred R&B. With the joing filled to the rafters with their rabid, adoring fans, the band certainly had every reason to kick back and enjoy this one.
Their newest release, Come One, Come All had been released to almost universal critical praise during 9 straight sold out nights at Chicago’s premiere clubs, which included House of Blues, Buddy Guy’s Legends, Cubby Bear, and of course, the band’s old Uptown haunt, The Green Mill. Plus, with sales topping over 50,000 units sold, in less than two years since their independently released debut, Meet Me in Uptown, The Mighty Blue Kings also celebrated their recent signing with media power-house Sony / Work Group Records. Having the opportunity to discuss the band’s conquest of Chicago, with frontman Ross Bon, I was particularly impressed with the maturity, broad range of influences and vision that this compelling 25 year old band leader provides as he has guided the Mighty Blue Kings ascent to most influential “new” band on the scene.
As Ross Bon describes the impact that his idols, bluesman Jimmy Witherspoon, Junior Wells, Little Walter, and B.B. King, have had on his music, it is impressive to hear how much of their scope he has absorbed. At so young an age, as frontman for The Mighty Blue Kings, he is primary torchbearer for these legends. Born in Chicago, Bon spent his teens growing up in Missouri and New Jersey before returning to the Windy City to attend DePaul’s School of Business. Prior to matriculating as a freshman, Bon became enamored with the allure of Chicago’s bustling blues scene. Quickly befriending local “blues brothers” Joe and Nick Moss, he formed a bond with these kindred spirits and quickly absorbed many of their influences. “As guitar play for Buddy Scott, Joe turned me on to his influences, which were Otis Rush and Freddie King, while as keyboard player for former Muddy Waters sideman Will “Big Eyes” Smith, Nick (Moss) turned me on to Pinetop (Perkins).”
Bon’s stylistic development occurred as musician and frontman for Willie Smith. This is where pursued an involved study of Chicago harp masters, Little Walter, Big Walter and Junior Wells, plus, he studied the artist whose music as a bridge between jazz and contemporary blues and who provided much of the stylistic foundation for the Mighty Blue Kings, the legendary T-Bone Walker.
As Bon’s reputation as a frontman spread, he was called on by long-time friend, future Mighty Blue Kings guitarist, Gareth Best, to play some steady out-of-town dates. Delmark recording artist Dave Specter also saw and heard something “special” in Bon’s style and offered him a spot as frontman for his band The Bluebirds. “I didn’t want to say I would record his (Specter’s) next album and then be unable to tour and support the project.” It was becoming increasingly evident that Bon’s vision was solely directed at this concept of The Mighty Blue Kings. “I loved ballads, slow blues, boogie and straight-ahead Chicago blues, the Blue Kings were a way to let it all “hang out”. The band was a pipeline straight from the “source” of my influences.”
Since their debut, as an opener for Junior Wells, at his birthday party, on January 21, 1995, the Mighty Blue Kings have never looked back. In March of 1995, after taking over Tuesday nights at Uptown Chicago’s legendary Green Mill, they developed the night into a two year stint of sell outs. The band’s formal “coming out” party came at the Aragon Ballroom on March 23, 1996 where the band played to a sell-out (3,500) for the release of their self-financed, self produced debut, “Meet Me in Uptown.” With a rabid, rapidly growing legion of fans whose core cut across all demographics, the critics and nay-sayers began lining up to take their potshots. Harshest criticism has come from the staunch dyed-in-the-wool blues and jazz purists like Delmark Records founder Bob Koester who claims, “I saw them on TV and thought it was like some kind of vaudeville act.” Obviously, criticisms like these ignored the nationwide buzz that the band was getting. The Mighty Blue Kings were drawing the attention of an audience much broader than simply a jazz or blues crowd, and without the attention of any commercial radio airplay. Sellout concerts and outdoor festivals, were being attended by dead-heads, grunge-rockers, bikers, businessmen. Bon and his band’s philosophy is simple, “We’re not trying to create a sound that critics and other musicians ooh and aaah over, rather we try to create music that reflects our influences and is about having a good time. If you’re impressed, cool.”
After several hundred gigs that have included features at America’s premiere venues, TV appearances, as well as tours of Europe, Bon isn’t content to let the band rest on it’s laurels. Despite the Phenomenal success of Meet Me in Uptown, and out of the box impact of Come One, Come All “we needed to connect our vision with someone who could take this concept to a bigger level.” As an independent act, no matter how successful, commercial radio fails to add music by independents to their playlists. This is largely due to the fact that FM radio is far removed from when it was “underground” and free to reflect the tastes of it’s air staff. With commercial radio playlists tightly controlled by a handful of unimaginative “consultants,” radio programmers act as nothing more than roadblock, keeping a quality band like The Mighty Blue Kings from reaching a broader audience by denying airplay because they lack corporate backing to get it.
With this in mind, The Mighty Blue Kings management company, Chicago based Green Arrow Entertainment, took the band’s case to the next level. Their national buzz was enough to start a bidding war among the major record labels to secure their services. Sony / Work Group won the rights to The Mighty Blue Kings, and according to Bon, it wasn’t about money. “The label saw what we were doing and didn’t try to change a thing. They saw the band, the vision, and are giving us free reign.” Bon says “within two weeks of signing, Sony was sending writers that we might be interested in, plus the A&R team wanted our lists,” quite a concept. “We don’t want to be pigeonholed, we’re not a swing band, we’re not a jazz band, we’re not an R&B band. We encompass all those things and try to stay out of any particular corner.” Bon says that a debut release for Sony should be “ready by this fall.” In the meantime, The Mighty Blue Kings, featuring Ross Bon, and guitarist Garth Best, are joined on bass and drums by Clark Summers and Jimmy Olson. The band, showcasing two of the best young horn players that I’ve heard in some time, De Paul music grad Jonathan Doyle and Benedictine University grad Jerry DeVivo, will continue touring the country in support of Come One, Come All.
February has the band playing 16 dates, primarily in the Midwest and East Coast. Their lone Chicago date is a February 10th free show at Drink. Bon did end the interview with a wise piece of advice directed to musicians. “Prepare yourself for getting out of the club circuit, because as you progress, you are open to the whims of critics who can and will pan you. Keep your focus on the music and make yourself happy.”
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