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Produced by fellow Stony Plain artist and award-winner Duke Robillard, Witness to the Blues features a scintillating duet by Walker and Shemekia Copeland in a reprise of the Peggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson R&B classic, “Lover’s Holiday.” Stony Plain Records is distributed in the U.S. by Koch Entertainment; in Canada by Warner Music; and this CD has been licensed for release in Europe by Dixie Frog.
With the stellar backing of Robillard on guitar, Bruce Katz on keyboards, Jon Ross on bass, Mark Teixeira on drums and a horn section of Doug James on sax and Scott Aruda on trumpet, Joe Louis Walker explores the many colors of the blues palette, including Delta and Chicago styles, Memphis soul, gospel and even rockabilly. More than half of the album’s 11 tracks were written by Walker, and he adds his own distinctive interpretations to several covers, including “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” and “Sugar Mama” (which includes special guest Todd Sharpville on guitar).
Joe Louis Walker is a true blues virtuoso whose skills as a singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer have earned him a dedicated legion of fans around the world. He’s recorded with B.B. King, James Cotton, Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Steve Cropper, Ike Turner and Branford Marsalis, among many others in a storied career that covers 18 solo albums, two live DVDs and a number of compilations and guest appearances. He’s played on two Grammy Award-winning albums and won three Blues Music Awards (formerly known as W.C. Handy Awards). In addition to his hot-ticket shows in the U.S., Walker has become an international ambassador for the blues overseas, having played at countless festivals throughout Europe, South America, Australia, the Middle East and Asia.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Joe Louis Walker is now based in Westchester County, New York. By his early teens, he was a formidable member of the San Francisco Bay Area blues scene and later became a very close friend of legendary guitarist Mike Bloomfield. During these formative years, he shared stages with a wide variety of artists, including John Lee Hooker, Thelonius Monk, The Soul Stirrers, Steve Miller and Jimi Hendrix.
Mike Bloomfield’s premature and sad death persuaded Walker to change his lifestyle, however, and he enrolled in college, earning degrees in music and English. During this time he also performed regularly with the Spiritual Corinthians gospel group.
In 1985 he returned to the blues, formed his stellar band The Bosstalkers, and signed to HighTone Records, which released five albums before Walker moved to PolyGram’s Verve/Gitanes label, where he recorded six albums.
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