Blueslady Jessie Mae Hemphill had a mellow voice that reinforced her hypnotic way of guitar playing. She wasn't a bluesshouter at all and played for het friends and family before 1979. Then began an international career that led her in big bluesfestivals all over the world, earning Handy Awards in 1987 and 1988 as Best Traditional Female Blues Artist. And that's exactly what she was, a stron woman who made music, deeply rooted in the Mississippi traditions, using an electric guitar. Jessie passed away in 2006, she was 82. Also take a look at the Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation (http://www.jmhemphill.org/), dedicated to the preservation of roots music of the South. Its intention is to provide a means for this music to reach a broader audience and, in doing so, to benefit the community.

There are at least a dozen albums available from Jessie, but you don't need them all. Feelin' Good is the definitive collection, 12 tracks recorded in 1987 and in 1988 with producer/ethnomusicologist/guitarist Dave Evans and drummer R.L. Boyce (on 6 tracks). You could complete that one with her first full-length album, She-Wolf, licensed from High Water and released on France's Vogue Records in 1981. This hypnotic kind of blues will bring you higher, at least if you're not disturbed by ringing cell phones, crying children or some commercial tv-station in the neighbourhood. So forget the alcohol, a glass of fresh mineral water fits perfect with this pure kind of blues. See ya'll next week guys!

Feelin' Good - High Water 1990
She-Wolf - Vogue 1981

Video: Jessie Mae Hemphill - You Can Talk About Me

Websites:
http://www.jmhemphill.org
http://www.myspace.com/jessiemaehemphill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie_Mae_Hemphill

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