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WEEK AT A GLANCE: FEBRUARY 23 - 29
MON. 24 - Ricky with Bekah Williams @ LATITUDES
FRI. 28 - Ricky @ HARTZELL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH FISH FRY
playing from 5:00-6:00 PM
FRI. 28 - RICKY NYE INC. featuring BEKAH WILLIAMS @
HILTON NETHERLAND PLAZA
SAT. 29 - Ricky @ ARNOLD'S BOCKFEST BRUNCH
playing from 12:00-2:30 PM
SAT. 29 - RICKY NYE INC. @
PENDLETON ARTS CENTER MIDDLETOWN
for more details click
HERE...
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it's an honor to be recognized as BLUES ARTIST OF THE YEAR in Cincinnati CityBeat's CEA AWARDS 2019 - thanks to all who voted and support what I do - it is greatly appreciated !
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SPECTACULAR FRENCH TOUR (September 26 - October 11, 2019) -
MONT DORE, PARIS, LYON, NORMANDY & BURGUNDY - thanks to organizers SIMON BOYER, JEAN-PIERRE BERTRAND, JEAN LECHERE
& FABRICE EULRY and to fellow musicians BEN LEVIN; SIMON BOYER,
THIBAUT CHOPIN, ANTHONY STELMASZACK (The Paris Blues Band); PASCAL
FOUQUET; LLUIS COLOMA & FABRICE EULRY...also thanking SIMON, PASCAL
& FABRICE and their families for the hospitality, plus
transportation by car through the gorgeous French countryside...
what a refreshing treat !
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THANK YOU as always ST. LOUIS for a significant time ! (July 18-21, 2019)
BB'S JAZZ BLUES & SOUPS
played a solo set followed by Chicago's mighty CASH BOX KINGS,
followed by another solo set joined by legendary blues
guitarist BILLY FLYNN which then folded into being invited, along with
young blues mastermind MARQUISE KNOX for a rabble-rousing jamboree - thanks to manager JOHN MAY for being a fine instigator !
THE FOCAL POINT
prestigious intimate concert venue where I performed first set solo, second set joined by heavyweights PAUL NIEHAUS IV (upright bass) &
DAN CONNER (drums) - thanks to MICHAEL HOLTZ for making it all possible
SQWIRES ANNEX
thanks to outstanding pianist and friend CHRISTOPHER PARRISH for saving me with this gig after a last minute cancellation - very pleasant brunch time on their grand piano
also, after Thursday and Saturday shows was able to visit two venues I hadn't visited before: THAXTON SPEAKEASY where I heard my friends and hosts during the stay, pianist CHASE GARRETT & vocalist EMILIE RICHARD, joined on some numbers by Christopher Parrish; and FRISCO BARROOM where I heard for the first time THE BOTTLESNAKES (ETHAN LEINWAND- piano & NICK PENCE- guitar)...plus heard amazing guitarist & vocalist MAT WILSON twice: on Friday night @ BB'S with Ethan Leinwand, and Saturday afternoon @ BLUES CITY DELI seeing for the first time Mat's group RUM DRUM RAMBLERS: Mat with RYAN KOENIG- mandolin, harmonica, vocals and bones, & upright bassist JOE GLYNN, both members of band led by renowned POKEY LAFARGE
lots o' love for my friends on and off the bandstand in STL -
see you again soon !
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CD RELEASES
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GETTIN'
LOOSE!"
featuring:
Anthony Stelmaszack (electric & acoustic guitars)
Simon "Shuffle" Boyer (drums)
Chris Douglas (upright bass)
Ricky Nye (upright piano, Hammond organ and voice)
thanks to Manley Fairchild @ Ultrasuede Studio and to Maurice Mattei
for design
a tribute to such varied folk as Bob Wills, Nat King Cole, Jimmy
Yancey,
Furry Lewis, Little Willie Littlefield, Big Joe Duskin & Lonnie
Mack, plus a few original numbers
check out this
interview with Ron Esposito courtesy of WVXU 91.7 FM and Lee
Hay:
http://wvxu.org/post/new-cd-boogie-woogie-piano-player-ricky-nye#stream/0
it's a rockin' li'l
record! available
NOW on CD Baby, Shake It Records and Everybody's
Records and at any of my shows
AND here's an excellent review by Mark Thompson @
BLUES BLAST MAGAZINE:
If you aren't familiar
with the name Ricky Nye, it certainly isn't due to a lack of effort on
his part. His smooth vocals and splendid keyboard efforts have been
featured on fourteen previous recordings under his name in addition to
cuts on several piano compilations. His latest has him backed by his
Paris Blues band for the fourth time. Based in the Cincinnati, OH area,
Nye has received numerous local blues awards, including CEA award,
Blues Artist Of The Year, for two consecutive years. The band is
comprised of Anthony Stelmaszack on guitar, Simon “Shuffle” Boyer on
drums, and Chris Douglas, Nye's regular upright bass player.
The disc opens with a
Furry Lewis tune, “I Will Turn Your Money Green”. The band cruises
along at a sprightly pace with Nye laying down a litany of woes until
Stelmaszack tries to reverse his fortunes with some striking guitar
picking. Nye's fingers give his piano a workout on Memphis Slim's “Miss
Ida Bea,” then he turns “San Antonio Rose” into a magnificent
boogie-woogie romp. Dipping into the Nat King Cole songbook, the band
sets a swinging pace on “For You My Love,” with Stelmaszack once again
creating a strong impression. He follows that up with a blazing solo on
an instrumental take of the Chuck Berry classic, 'Memphis”.
Highlights from the second
half of the disc include the good-time instrumental, “Shaggy Rag,” an
original performed acoustically, and a showcase for Nye on the
instrumental, “Shave 'Em Dry,” composed by the legendary piano man,
Jimmy Yancey. Nye's fingers roll across the keyboard, spinning out
three minutes of piano magic. On another original, “I Miss Your Love,”
he switches over to the Hammond organ, giving the contemporary blues
track a full, rich sound. Little Willie Littlefield's classic, “K.C.
Lovin',” gets a rollicking treatment with plenty of piano and a fat
guitar tone. “How Long Blues” from Leroy Carr is a standard that every
blues pianist has to know how to play. Nye's version focuses on his
vocals with Stelmaszack on acoustic guitar. The title, “Radiate Them
88's,” tells you all need to know about rousing finale.
This is one of those discs
that sneaks up on you, impressing track after track with lively
performances and solid musical interplay that makes every song a
delight. The players are quite comfortable working together, and with
Ricky Nye setting the pace, the disc never wavers from generating an
enthusiastic affirmation of the blues that will have you pushing the
repeat button on your CD player. Well worth a listen!
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my first holiday release, "RICKY NYE PLAYS HOLIDAY
FAVORITES"
is available NOW ! @ Cincinnati, OH record
shops
Everybody's
Records & Shake It Records, at all shows, and
available
WORLDWIDE @ CD Baby
a very cool variety of secular and spiritual holiday classics- solo
piano,
duets with vocalist Bekah Williams and upright bassist Chris Douglas,
trio format with drummer Paul Ellis and quartet action with the
addition
of tenor saxophonist Ray Heckman - HO HO HO !
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a
recording I made with old friends
Rob
Lumbard & Nick
Lloyd, entitled "BLUES IN A BOTTLE"
won BEST SELF-PRODUCED CD @ the
International
Blues Challenge (IBC) 2016 in Memphis, TN
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2 CD SET available now- debut release from
vocalist DOTTIE
WARNER- "A SERENADE IN BLUE/ THURSDAYS AT ARNOLD'S"- '20's, '30's &
'40's jazz and blues- available @ CDBABY.COM- also available @ Arnold's Bar
& Grill during business hours
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CD available NOW!
FEATURING:
Chris Douglas- upright bass
Paul Ellis- drums
Brian "Boss" Hogg- tenor sax
Sylvain Acher- guitar
Tom Moore- harmonica
Dan Dorff- percussion
recorded @ Ultrasuede Studio- Cincinnati, OH
engineered by Brian Niesz
mastered by Dave Davis
artwork by Maurice Mattei
currently
available at all live shows, at
Cincinnati, OH record shops Everybody's Records, Shake It Records
and @ www.cdbaby.com
wonderful review by Rhys Williams @ Blues Blast
Magazine-
read it HERE (February 26th, 2015 issue)
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THANK YOU readers of CITYBEAT MAGAZINE for voting me
BEST LOCAL MUSICIAN 2014- very happy to be a part of
Cincinnati's rich musical scene!
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very pleased to be VOTED BLUES ARTIST OF THE YEAR in
CITYBEAT
MAGAZINE'S
CEA AWARDS 2014 !
THANKS for your support!
so proud to have been inducted into the
INTERNATIONAL BOOGIE WOOGIE HALL OF FAME-
big thanks to Dr. Philip Leming & Dr. Robert Cody
for making the ARCHES BOOGIE PIANO STAGE
@ THE CINCY BLUES FEST possible!
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THANK YOU READERS of CityBeat Magazine
for voting me
"Best Local Musician" in their "Best Of Cincinnati" 2013 Awards-
in a town full of outstanding musicians, I take this as quite an honor!
THANK YOU READERS for voting me "BEST BLUES ARTIST"
in 2013 CEA AWARDS presented by CityBeat Magazine-
the awards show took place Sunday January 27th
@ The
Madison Theater in Covington, KY- happy to play a short set
with CHRIS DOUGLAS (upright bass), to be joined by 46 LONG,
and to take part in the tribute to HERZOG STUDIOS-
CONGRATULATIONS to all nominees and winners-
proud to make music here in Greater Cincinnati!
SOLO RELEASE:
"THE THREE B'S: BLUES, BALLADS & BOOGIE WOOGIE"
LISTEN to a wonderful review by music historian
David Lewis, aired on NPR station WVXU 91.7 FM
exclusively available Cincinnati, OH record
shops
Everybody's
Records, Shake
It Records, and all shows
"JUMP STEADY"- RICKY NYE & THE PARIS BLUES BAND
"HIGHLIGHTS from the 13th ANNUAL BLUES & BOOGIE
PIANO SUMMIT"
"TWISTIN' AT RAY'S" - FABRICE EULRY
(I co-produced this release, recorded in Cincinnati,
OH)
these CDs are AVAILABLE NOW! @
CD Baby,
@ Cincinnati, OH record shops Everybody's
Records
& Shake It
Records, and all shows
THANK
YOU! readers, voters and listeners for voting me
"Best Local Musician" in CityBeat Magazine's
"Best Of Cincinnati 2012" issue- I feel loved! :o)
happy to be voted in
the "Best Local Musician" category of
CityBeat Magazine's
"Best Of Cincinnati 2011" Readers Picks-
THANK YOU READERS!
I was honored to be voted
"Blues Artist
of the Year 2010"
by CityBeat Magazine at their CEA AWARDS held at the
Madison Theater in Covington, KY on Sunday, November 21st-
thank you for your support and to all that voted- you make a
difference!
OTHER CD RELEASES:
RICKY
NYE
&
THE
PARIS
BLUES
BAND- follow-up to 2008's
"Ville du Bois" disc, recorded
with
the
most
outa-sight
blues
players
in Paris: Anthony Stelmaszack (guitar); Thibaut Chopin
(upright bass/harmonica); Simon "Shuffle" Boyer (drums) and
special guest Nico Duportal (guitar)- available NOW @ www.cdbaby.com
TWELFTH ANNUAL
BLUES & BOOGIE PIANO SUMMIT
featuring BOB SEELEY (Detroit, MI), JULIAN
PHILLIPS (U.K.), PATRICK SMET (Belgium) & RICKY
NYE plus exciting rhythm section (Brian Aylor- drums; Buck
Stevens- upright bass; and George Bedard- guitar)-
available NOW @ www.cdbaby.com
ELEVENTH
ANNUAL
BLUES
&
BOOGIE
PIANO
SUMMIT
featuring LLUIS COLOMA (Barcelona, Spain), BARRELHOUSE
CHUCK (Chicago, IL), LISA OTEY
(Tucson, AZ) & RICKY NYE plus outstanding rhythm section (Brian
Aylor- drums; Steve Perakis- upright bass; and George
Bedard- guitar)- available NOW @ www.cdbaby.com
all the above titles are NOW also available as
DIGITAL DOWNLOADS!
PIANO KILLERS
All instrumental recording of Ricky Nye with Fabrice Eulry (Paris)
& Renaud Patigny
(Brussels)- solos, duet and trio compositions all performed on one
piano- recorded in Paris- available NOW @ www.cdbaby.com
VILLE DU BOIS
A disc recorded with the most outa-sight blues
players in Paris is available NOW @ CD BABY
***PRICES
SLASHED on ALL BOOGIE SUMMIT CDs-
#3
through #13- NOW only $9.97 @ CD BABY!!!***
CDs also available at all live shows and in
Cincinnati @ Everybody's
Records & Shake It Records
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"QUICK
'N'
DIRTY" & "Highlights from the THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH, SIXTH, SEVENTH,
EIGHTH, NINTH & TENTH BLUES
& BOOGIE PIANO SUMMITS" ("PIANO IS
FUN!" & Highlights from the SECOND
SUMMIT are currently out of print, but a few copies remain at some of
the shops listed below...) are available worldwide through www.cdbaby.com, and
if
you're
in
Cincinnati,
they
are
available NOW @ Shake
It Records, Everybody's
Records, Mole's and Joseph
Beth Booksellers (check out the CD
reviews of the Second Summit & Third
Summit from the Cincinnati Enquirer)...
***PRICES SLASHED on Boogie Summits #3 through #13
NOW only $9.97 @ CD
BABY!!!***
and here's a review of "Quick 'N'
Dirty" from CityBeat
Magazine (12-24-03):
The title of Ricky Nye and
the Swingin' Mudbugs' sophomore release (the follow-up to 1998's Piano
is
Fun!) is a play on the recording philosophy behind the album.
Nye likes to record in as few takes as possible, and Quick was
done with little overdubbing or other fixes (just like Fun!).
But if you've seen Nye's trio perform live, you know that the local
prince of boogie-woogie-styled piano probably doesn't require many
"do-overs." There are certainly no holes in Quick 'N' Dirty.
The energy and spontaneity exhibited makes listeners feel like they are
dancing the night away in some sweaty bayou speakeasy. That intimacy
translates superbly as Nye and Mudbugs Tony Franklin (drums) and Nick
Lloyd (upright bass) rip effortlessly through a plethora of blues
stylings on songs written by a variety of composers (save "Oh Yes," the
sole Nye original). From the down-low blues of Muddy Waters' "What Is
That She Got?" and the more up-tempo R&B of "Grits Ain't Groceries"
(made famous by Little Milton) to the yearning, soulful balladry of
"Please Send Me Someone To Love" and Nye's trademark barrelhouse rolls
on "Downtown Boogie" and "Dixie Lullaby," you can take Quick 'N'
Dirty as a musical history lesson or, more appropriately, as a
joyous escapade through the repertoire of one of Cincinnati's most
talented musicians. Nye obviously has the deepest respect for the New
Orleans-spawned art form, but he doesn't treat the material too
preciously, raucously banging out the tunes with skill and grace, but
also with a genuine sense of glee, something that permeates from nearly
every note. Between quality releases like Quick 'N' Dirty,
Nye's organization of regular blues and boogie piano summits, featuring
like-minded artists from around the world, and steady European touring,
his place as one of the preeminent masters of the style is secure. --
MIKE BREEN
("QUICK 'N' DIRTY" also made
CityBeat's TopTwenty Local Releases of 2003)
Pick up a copy of BEKAH WILLIAMS
excellent debut CD @
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bekahwilliams
Produced by Ricky & Bekah, featuring The Swingin' Mudbugs with
special guests (Dave Haley & Sonny Moorman on guitars, and local
tenor sax icon Ray Heckman), and recorded by Erwin Musper @
his Bamboo
Room Studio- it's a mighty fine songbook...get yours today!
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:
A TRIBUTE to BIG JOE DUSKIN (1921-2007) by Ricky Nye
I first met Big
Joe Duskin in ’82, before I ever started to mess around with boogie
woogie- that didn’t matter to Joe, he just knew I played piano, and
that made us friends. Through the time I’ve known him he has always
been very supportive of me, and of so many musicians. His playing and
singing was loved by blues enthusiasts and fellow piano players all
over the world- I can’t tell you how many times, upon encountering the
European leaders in blues & boogie in my travels, their first words
to me were “how’s Big Joe?”
I treasure the times we played together, the many phone calls, running
errands and especially meaningful were the times visiting Joe during
his last year, when he was bedridden- I’d come in, turn on his keyboard
and go at it, and Joe would lay in bed and sing his head off,
improvising blues I’d never heard from him before.
Because I loved Joe, it was inevitable that aspects of his style made
their way into my playing- his album “Cincinnati Stomp” was a template
for me to study boogie woogie, and I learned the title track to perform
as homage to him. When he played a blues, he was on “Joe time”- the
lazy tremolos, the space in his playing all added up to me. The message
in his style also came as words of advice he gave one day- he said
“Rick, take it from an old pro: don’t work so hard! Take your time,
talk to the people- they like that.” I knew exactly what he was talking
about, but I said “Joe, you have a commanding presence, a big booming
voice, you’re a great storyteller...I’m just a little white guy- what
am I supposed to do? If I start talking away, they’d just tell me to
shut up & play!” And he laughed, which is something I really miss-
his chuckling, and the sound of his laughter will always resound in my
mind.
Big Joe’s love of food is legendary- it mattered as much to him how you
were fed at a gig as any other aspect of the show. If I called to
relate tales of my travels, he’d always ask “how’d they feed you?”
After Joe played a prestigious concert at Music Hall in Cincinnati, I
called to see how things went- he said “Rick, it was so nice- they had
fried chicken, mashed potatoes, peas...”-nothing was said of the
performance! Once when visiting Joe in the hospital, he asked if I
would go downstairs to the Burger King and get him a cheeseburger &
french fries. When I asked if didn’t they have him on a particular
diet, he said “hell with them- I’m going home tomorrow”. So I indulged
him, and you would have thought he was eating the finest meal of his
life...food was a big pleasure for Big Joe.
His compromised health in the last years of his life did nothing to
dampen his hope and spirit. Joe’s performance at his 84th birthday
party was a perfect example of the transference of love from his fans
right back at them- it was the last time he was truly on fire, playing
and singing until he had nothing left to give. To see him hold court at
the Arches Stage at the annual Cincy Blues Fest was always beautiful-
his appreciation for the other pianists and their appreciation for him
always resulted in a truly inspired and joyous set.
I feel truly blessed to have had Joe as a friend and inspiration to me.
Years ago, after he was in the hospital on a regular basis, I wondered
when the day would come that Joe would leave this earth, and that day
arrived- May 6th, 2007. Yet his spirit is alive and strong, in myself
and every other musician he’s played with and encouraged. Whenever I
play, especially now, I offer it up for him...
God bless Big Joe Duskin.
R.I.P. H-BOMB FERGUSON
(1929-2006)
Historical information about H-Bomb Ferguson can be found @ www.cdbaby.com/cd/hbombf
Video footage & photo montage from documentary
filmmaker
John
Parker
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