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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — New Orleans cabbie-turned-bluesman Mem Shannon and his band The Membership take the Glenwood Springs Summer of Jazz crowd for a ride tonight, beginning at 7 p.m. in Two Rivers Park.
Shannon is expected to be on hand for the concert preview discussion of his music and influences, led by Wick Moses and Bob Noone at the Colorado Mountain College Glenwood Center on Blake Avenue, from noon to 1 p.m. The class is open to the public for a drop-in fee of $8.
“Clean, simple but transcending genres, he channels the spirits that inspired Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, the Funky Meters and The Neville Brothers,” writes Donald E. Wilcock, in an article about Mem Shannon posted at www.northernblues.com.
For 15 years starting at age 22, Shannon drove a cab in the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
“I learned to read people pretty quickly,” says Mem in the article. “When you're in a cab, that's something you just happen to learn along the way. You learn how to size people up in their different degrees of sobriety, and it all applies to everything I've done since then. I'm still watching and learning from people.”
Writes Wilcock, “Mem doesn't escape reality in his music. He incorporates it into his songs and lifts them in a lilt that's funky but light.”
“I'm still telling stories,” says Shannon, whose first album in 1995, “A Cab Driver's Blues,” featured snippets of conversation with actual passengers in his cab.
He followed the debut effort with “Mem Shannon's 2nd Blues Album” (1997), “Spend Some Time with Me” (1999), and “Memphis in the Morning” (2002).
Shannon has also toured the world, performing at prestigious festivals such as King Biscuit Blues Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival and has played the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for 12 years straight.
jstroud@postindependent.com
Shannon is expected to be on hand for the concert preview discussion of his music and influences, led by Wick Moses and Bob Noone at the Colorado Mountain College Glenwood Center on Blake Avenue, from noon to 1 p.m. The class is open to the public for a drop-in fee of $8.
“Clean, simple but transcending genres, he channels the spirits that inspired Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, the Funky Meters and The Neville Brothers,” writes Donald E. Wilcock, in an article about Mem Shannon posted at www.northernblues.com.
For 15 years starting at age 22, Shannon drove a cab in the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
“I learned to read people pretty quickly,” says Mem in the article. “When you're in a cab, that's something you just happen to learn along the way. You learn how to size people up in their different degrees of sobriety, and it all applies to everything I've done since then. I'm still watching and learning from people.”
Writes Wilcock, “Mem doesn't escape reality in his music. He incorporates it into his songs and lifts them in a lilt that's funky but light.”
“I'm still telling stories,” says Shannon, whose first album in 1995, “A Cab Driver's Blues,” featured snippets of conversation with actual passengers in his cab.
He followed the debut effort with “Mem Shannon's 2nd Blues Album” (1997), “Spend Some Time with Me” (1999), and “Memphis in the Morning” (2002).
Shannon has also toured the world, performing at prestigious festivals such as King Biscuit Blues Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival and has played the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for 12 years straight.
jstroud@postindependent.com
