Mr G & The Mystery Band

Mr G & The Mystery Band

Genres: bluesrock, blues, harmonica blues

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About Mr G & The Mystery Band

MR G Mr. G started out on the west coast in the San Francisco Bay Area. He soaked up the intense funk/soul/jazz scene out there, as a fan and as the member of the horn section in various funk and jazz bands. After finishing his education in the Chicago area, Mr. G put down the trombone and began goofing around with the harmonica. He became a student of Chicago blues and found his voice as a barroom singer and harp player. Mr. G established the Mystery Band on Thanksgiving evening in 2003, filling in for a busted booking at Bill’s Blues Bar in Evanston, Illinois. Several questions surround the Mystery Band: Who will be in the band tonight? What tunes will be in the set tonight? Where will the band play? When will the band play? And the answer to all these questions is “It’s a Mystery!” Mr. G has convinced over 35 of Chicagoland’s top blues and jazz players to join in the Mystery Band experience. Mr. G has a day job and he intends to keep it. He lives in Evanston, Illinois with a very patient wife, two lovely daughters, a couple of odd dogs, a psychotic cat, and several obese hamsters. BAND MEMBERS Anthony Palmer, Guitar: Anthony Palmer is Chicago's best kept secret. Born on the West Side when the blues scene was red-hot, Palmer was inspired hearing the fierce, soulful music that sparked his imagination as it poured out of the taverns, echoing into the streets. He began playing at the age of 14, and his professional blues career has been going for 36 years. A musician’s musician and fan favorite, Palmer has lent his accomplished, soulful guitar chops to some of the top names in the blues, such as Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Phil Guy, Sugar Blue, Bobby Rush, and Johnny Sayles. Palmer spent the last 13 years touring and recording as a member of the Joanna Connor Band, a band dedicated to bringing a fresh, new sound to the blues Currently he is a member of the Jimmy Burns Band. On his off days, he gigs with Matthew Skoller, Byther Smith, Mr. G and the Mystery Band and others. He is a recording artist, appearing on CD’s by the Joanna Connor Band and several other sessions on Alligator and Earwig Records. Greg (“E.G.”) McDaniel, Bass: Why do they call E.G. McDaniel a "Son of the Blues"?. Because he is the son of a Chicago blues icon, guitarist Floyd McDaniel, and Bessie Jackson, a singer and jazz pianist. The senior McDaniel started singing with the legendary Ink Spots in 1930 and played guitar with such greats as Cab Calloway, Fats Waller and Billie Holiday. Floyd McDaniel went on to fame in the '40s and '50s by forming his own band, the Four Blazes. He was still a celebrated soloist with The Blues Swingers when he died at the age of 80. Learning at his father's knee, E.G.'s career was launched at the age of seven when he started performing on stage with his father. But Greg is now recognized in his own right as a seasoned acoustic and electric bass player and appears with big-name bands across the US, in Canada and abroad. E.G. was able to launch his own career when his dad introduced him to Byther Smith. After touring Europe with Byther Smith and The Night Riders in '97, E.G. appeared on Byther Smith's CD, "All Night Long." E.G.'s bass has powered such bands as the Eddy Clearwater Band, the Jimmy Burns Band, Mr. G and the Mystery Band, Brothers of Groove, Patty McCulla Band, Bumble Bee Bob & The Stingers and Mississippi Heat. E.G. has shared the stage with a host of blues, jazz and rock artists, including: Junior Wells, Abbe Locke, Jimmy Dawkins, Erwin Helfer, Katherine Davis, Carey Bell, Barkin Bill, Buddy Guy, Zora Young, Bill McFarland, Son Seals, A.C. Reed, James Wheeler, Billy Boy Arnold, Carl Weathersby, Pat Soul, Karen Caroll, Barrel House Chuck, Ken Sadak, John Primer and Steve Arvey. OSee Anderson, Guitar: OSee is a multi-faceted guitarist who has mastered the blues, jazz, funk and rhythm and blues. Hebegan his professional career at age thirteen, and has performed with R&B vocalist Ruby Andrews, The Staple Singers, Ann Peebles, The Emotions, Jerry Butler, Al Green, Billy Paul, The Chi-lities, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Millie Jackson, James Cotton, Big Jay McNeely, Big Time Sarah, Billy Branch, Sandra Hall, Raful Neal and Family, Albert Collins, Phil Guy, Pinetop Perkins, Lefty Dizz, Lonnie Brooks, John Mayall, the Father of Rock & Roll Johnnie Johnson, Buddy Guy, and Junior Wells. He has also led his own band, The Hit Squad, in the late 1980’s. OSee is also a talented songwriter, and his songs have been recorded by James Cotton, Lonnie Brooks and Raful Neal. OSee has recorded three CD’s under his own name. OSee began performing with The Mystery Band in March 2007. James Carter, Drums: James Carter is a passionate drummer who was born and raised on the West Side of Chicago. At the tender age of six, with his mother's guidance, he began playing drums in the church band. James says "I can't remember being without sticks in my hands." James' uncle Oliver Davis owned the famed Delta Fish Market on the West Side. As a youngster, James watched many famous musicians play the Fish Market, dreaming of the day when he would be playing there himself. During the early 80s, James attended music school at Franks' Drum Shop under the leadership of Marshall Thompson. James played in the jazz band at Orr High School. While still in high school, he joined his first R&B band Public Announcement. His biggest influences, besides his mother, were Max Roach, Dennis Chambers, Buddy Rich, and Elvin Jones. James is a member of a “blues family.” He is the nephew of the late, great Willie Kent (W.C. Handy Award winning bassist and bandleader). James traveled extensively as a member of Willie Kent and the Gents. James is now a member of the Jimmy Burns Band and has played with a host of Chicago musicians including Sunnyland Slim, Johnny Littlejohn, Boston Blackie, Shirley Johnson, Melvin Taylor, Nora Jean Bruso, Mike Wheeler, Rob Blaine, Vance Kelly, Willie Davis and the All-Stars, and Joe Barr. Twist Turner, Drums: Twist was raised in Seattle and began his career folding sheets in a laundry with Jimi Hendrix's stepmother. In 1974 Twist got a gig with west coast bluesman/guitar god Isaac Scott. He began playing all the Skid Row bars in Seattle, playing for a clientele of strippers, pimps, hustlers, prostitutes, bikers and politicians. In 1975 Twist packed his bags and headed for Chicago, Illinois. Twist was able to work with Hubert Sumlin several nights a week for nearly 10 years, and he got the gig at Theresa's Lounge with the Jr. Wells Blues Band in 1977. There was a period of 10 years or so where he never had a weekend off. In 1984, Twist left Chicago. He ended up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he became a hard working drummer for a large group of local blues and funk heroes. He also became interested in recording studios and record production. Twist returned to Chicago in 1991 and got his gig back with harp player and vocalist Little Arthur Duncan. He's now been playing with him off and on for 30 years! Twist now is focused on writing, and producing music in his world-class recording facility. He also anchors Mr. G and the Mystery Band for most of its gigs. During the last 43 years, Twist has played on over 50 records. Some of the artists he has recorded with include Sunnyland Slim, Little Mack Simmons, Little Charlie and the Night Cats, Eddie Shaw, Jimmie Lee Robinson, Little Arthur Duncan, Mark Hummel, Billy Branch, ZZ Hill Jr, Taildragger, Del Brown, Melvin Taylor, Willie Kent and a host of others. Shoji Naito , Guitar/Bass/Harmonica: Shoji Naito was born and raised in Toyoda , Japan . He started playing guitar and harmonica when he was 16. Shortly after he began his musical journey, a friend gave him some blues records - Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Robert Johnson. He liked these records so much and kept listening, even though he had no idea what they were singing about. When blues artists came to Japan, Shoji would go to see them. He soaked up performances by stars like B.B. King, Otis Rush, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Sugar Blue, and many more. Because Shoji loved the blues, he decided to move to Chicago in 1996. He was 22 and didn’t speak much English (but he learned). Shoji studied music (jazz and classical) at Columbia College and studied blues at the blues clubs in the Chicago . He would go out every night to Kingston Mines, B.L.U.E.S., Rosas, and many other venues in and around Chicago. Shoji met harmonica genius Joe Filisko in 1997 started playing guitar for his class at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Shoji met Mr. G in Joe's class a few years later, and they launched the Mystery Band on Thanksgiving evening, 2003. Shoji is a “triple threat” bluesman – harmonica, guitar and bass. He plays all three instruments with the Eddy (The “Chief”) Clearwater Band, and also plays with Mr. G and the Mystery Band, the Carl Davis Band and several other groups in the Chicago area. Shoji is also a master teacher, providing private lessons to students of the guitar, electric bass guitar and harmonica. Shoji fell in love and married Laura, an American woman who he met at the Old Town School of Folk Music Chicago Blues Harmonica class - yes, Laura plays harmonica (and she sings like an angel, too). Mike Finnerty, Tenor Saxophone: Mike is a Chicago native, now living in Evanston IL. He is a professional musician with over 30 years of performing experience. Mike is a member of the top echelon of the Chicago jazz saxophone fraternity and has performed with a host of major jazz artists, including Von Freeman, Clifford Jordan, Redd Holt and Johnny Coles. Mike leads his own jazz group, the Heat Merchants, and he is a legendary leader of jazz jam sessions around the city of Chicago. He was one of the pillars of the legendary post-bebop jazz scene at the Get Me High Lounge in the late 1980’s. Mike joined Mr. G and the Mystery Band to get back to his blues roots. Harlan Lee Terson, Electric Bass: Harlan was born in 1951 and first picked up the bass guitar in 1966. He has been playing professionally since the early 1970’s, after he received his bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Illinois – Chicago. In addition to being a ‘first call” bass player on the Chicago blues scene, he is a top bass teacher. Terson's steady "in the pocket" groove has kept him working on the competitive Chicago blues circuit, and taken him overseas as well. He recorded and toured with Lonnie Brooks from 1976-1982. He has also appeared and recorded with many other artists, including Big Walter Horton, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, Magic Slim, Albert Collins, Sunnyland Slim, Johnny Littlejohn, Eddy Clearwater, Jimmy Rogers, Kim Wilson, Eddie Shaw, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Big Mama Thornton, Jody Williams, Steve Freund, Tad Robinson, Dave Specter and the Bluebirds, Mojo and the Bayou Gypsies, The Chicago Rhythm Review, and Chicago blues rockers, The Fabulous Fish Heads. He performed at the internationally famous Kingston Mines club in Chicago for more than twenty years, and currently teaches at The Old Town School of Folk Music. He has recorded on the Alligator, Delmark, Evidence, Severn, and JSP labels. There have been a host of other great musicians that have played at least one gig with the Mystery Band. Here is a list: Guitar: Mike Wheeler (Big James and the Chicago Playboys, Mike Wheeler Band), Illinois Slim (Little Arthur and the Backscratchers), Tom Holland (James Cotton, Tom Holland and the Shuffle Kings), Steve Arvey (Blues guitar God and sideman extraordinaire), Carl Davis (the Carl Davis Band), Jon McDonald (Magic Slim and the Teardrops), Tom Crivellone (Two for the Blues), Mark Wydra (Eddy Clearwater Blues Band), Andy Meacham, Sammy Fender. Bass: Karl Meyer, Adam Kraus, Steve Hart, Tom Susala, Kevin Summers, Make Azzi, Smokin' Joe Pratt. Drums: Tino Cortez, Highway Rickey Trankle, Merle "the Perkolater" Perkins (Eddy Clearwater Band), Mike Linn, Tim Austin (Buddy Guy), Louis Powell, Robert Pasenko. Keyboards: Brian James (Lonnie Brooks Band), Barrelhouse Bonnie, Darryl Coutts (Ronnie Baker Brooks). Tenor Saxophone: Frank Catalano

Taken from Last.fm

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