Earl Nominated Best Keyboardist
& Best Blues Artist
- Houston Press 2008
Earl Gilliam, keyboards, vocals
I.J. Gosey, guitar
J. Fred Arceneaux, bass
Jackie Gray, drums
"Family" Band Members:
Jonn Richardson, guitar
Larry Evans, bass
Jimmy Rose, drums
Booking/Press Inquiries:
(713) 521-3336
Influences
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Sounds Like
"[Gilliam] alternately serves up greasy Gulf Coast funk, slinky shuffles and Texas-style Jimmy Smith-infused groove jazz, through which Gosey interweaves his masterfully sparkling guitar runs."
- John Nova Lomax, Houston Press
"Sit him at his keyboard...and the musician, thin as a cigarette, turns into a monster. His left hand is a piston knocking out thunderous chords that mingle with his rhythm section. His right is devious, capable of flitting about among 12-bar blues, jazz, funk, pop, whatever groove he deems fitting. “I can play anything,” he says. “It’s not about it being blues or jazz. It’s all about feeling."
"He’s nestled in one of the tightest bands ever heard, a nimble ensemble of polished pros who, despite their precision, maintain a soulfulness in their playing...each player immediately establishes a distinctive style that intertwines with the others in a funky and soulful Gulf Coast blues. It’s inexplicable.."
- Andrew Dansby, Houston Chronicle
"Earl Gilliam is one of the best blues organists on the planet." Described as "an over-driven Jimmy Smith," Earl is equally impressive on his lower-deck piano. Like a mad Blues scientist, you never know what he'll come up with - at times, squeezing out notes on his organ with one hand while pounding it out on the piano with the other.
You only have to hear 79 yr old Texas Blues piano man Earl Gilliam once to know how special he is. He and 72 yr old Houston Blues guitar master I.J. Gosey take the Blues on long jazz-like riffs while always bringin' it back home. Earl loose and masterful on his Hammond B2 and I.J. with his clean signature sound stretching out the notes are supported by wild man Jackie Gray on drums and the soulful Fred Arceneaux on bass. A "musician's band", professional players always stop in for a listen. From Blues classics to Texas Swing to Gulf Coast shuffles, the band plays original music written by Earl Gilliam along with a few classic R&B tunes and, when the mood hits, a Country Western ditty or Zydeco shuffle.
EARL GILLIAM BLUES REVUE
Live at The Big Easy, Houston, TX June 2007 * Don't miss the solos starting at 6:26!
Lauded as the "best Blues organist alive”, 79-year old Texas Bluesman Earl Gilliam has been smokin’ the house with his original Gulf Coast Blues sound for the past 60 years. A living legend of Houston's vital and historic Blues scene of the 40's and 50's, Earl has played both out front with his own band and as a sideman with some of the best, including: Sam Lightnin' Hopkins, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Albert Collins, Johnny Clyde Copeland, Joe Guitar Hughes, T-Bone Walker, Little Joe Washington and - in the really early days - with Goree Carter, Big Joe Turner, Grady Gaines, Nappy Brown, Roy Brown, Jerry Butler, Percy Mayfield, Hop Wilson, Lester Williams and many others. And then there were the ladies: Earl has graced the stage with such luminous Blueswomen as Big Mama Thornton, Luvenia Lewis, Lavelle White and Miss Trudy Lynn.
In 1955, Earl was invited to record his own music with Lucian Davis on Sarg Records, Willie Nelson and Doug Sahm’s first label. There were only two Black artists on that label – Earl and saxophonist O.S. Grant. He also recorded on Ivory Lee Semien’s historic label Ivory Records. Earl wrote and recorded what today are considered classic Blues tunes: “Wrong Doin’ Woman”, “Don’t Make Me Late Baby”, “Nobody’s Blues”, “Just You and I”, “Petite Baby” and more.
Earl is a well-respected band leader who held forth at such historic Houston Blues haunts as The Hamilton Inn, Shady's Playhouse and the Club Matinee's famed monthly talent shows – which blew in such young promising talent as Little Richard and Bobby Blue Bland. Earl was one of very few musicians who could play with Lightnin' Hopkins because of Hopkins' unique sense of timing. In the 60's and 70's, they occasionally played as a duo in the region. Earl not only plays a mean organ and piano, but he also squeezed on a 50 lb. accordion in Clifton Chenier's band. If you talk to Earl long enough and over a period of time, he'll drop some of the best authentic regional Blues history on you. He's the real deal!
These days, Earl tours on occasion and plays regularly close to home. His favorite gigs are at the Houston blues joint The Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club.
Video filmed and edited by Debra Peters (debrapetersmusic.com)
See more of Debra's videos @ http://www.youtube.com/DebraPeters
