After picking up his first guitar when he was 20 years old, Ronnie Earl went on to stretch the boundaries of electric blues guitar playing higher, lifting hearts and souls a little higher as he did. Like a harmonic seventh note sliding its way into a piece of music before being felt, he would eventually emerge into the New England blues scene as a budding young guitarist.
In 1973, Ronnie purchased a Martin acoustic guitar; however, he returned it the very next day for a Fender Stratocaster. He took a serious musical turn toward the blues after attending a Muddy Waters concert at the Jazz Workshop, a small club in Boston. By his third year in college Ronnie was seriously pursuing the guitar, now practicing hours at a time having rediscovered the discipline that would continue to serve him well throughout his life. Ronnie has said that musically it was his time to “catch up with the world.”
In 1979 Ronnie Earl joined the Roomful of Blues, then a ten-piece ensemble group based in Providence, Rhode Island, where he would spend the next eight years playing and touring while releasing a number of albums. In 1983, while still with Roomful of Blues, Ronnie recorded with vocalist Kim Wilson, Darrell Nulisch and Sugar Ray Norcia, releasing Smokin in 1983 and They Call Me Mr. Earl for Black Top Records. In 1988, he left Roomful of Blues for a solo career.
Ronnie Earl has played alongside such greats as B. B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers Band, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Big Joe Turner, Otis Rush, Earl King, Junior Wells, Koko Taylor, Etta James, and Big Mama Thornton.
From 2009, here is Ronnie Earl and The Broadcasters live at The Linda.
Stephane Wrembel is quite simply one of the finest guitar players in the world. The breadth and range of his playing and compositions are unmatched. This prolific musician from France has been releasing a steady stream of music since 2002 and has truly made his mark as one of the most original guitar voices in contemporary music. David Fricke at Rolling Stone Magazine called him “a revelation.”
Born in Paris and raised in Fontainebleau, the home of Impressionism and Django Reinhardt, Wrembel first studied classical piano, beginning at the age of four. But in his mid-teens, he discovered that he had an affinity for guitar. A Pink Floyd fan, he “spent hours learning David Gilmour’s style,” he said. “So I had a classical background, a passion for rock music, and then I found out about Django. I fell in love with the very strong impressionist feel in his music.”
And while Wrembel is now considered one of the preeminent master guitarists in the world specialized in the Django Reinhardt style, he avoids the label “Gypsy Jazz” commonly used for Reinhardt’s music. While heavily influenced by Reinhardt, Wrembel’s music incorporates jazz, blues, classical, swing, flamenco and rock. All of these influences come together as a genre identifiable only as Stephane Wrembel.
Wrembel visited The Linda to promote his new program Shades of Django, a musical celebration and journey. From Swing, to Bebop, Impressionism to New Orleans Jazz, Shades of Django pays tribute to the many elements of legendary musician Django Reinhardt.
From 2022, here is Stephane Wrembel live at The Linda.
Guitarist Michael-Louis Smith radiates positivity and brings amazing musicians and music-lovers together under the same beat. A top-tier bandleader and recording artist, Michael has toured nationally at major venues such as LA’s Troubadour Club, NYC’s legendary Apollo Theater, and Vermont’s Discover Jazz Festival. Michael’s ensembles Left Ear Trio and MLS Quintet showcase his genre-bending medley of jazz, funk, and afrobeat. In 2012, Michael-Louis Smith and his bandmates backed German Nigerian hip hop/soul star Nneka (Sony Music) on her US tour. The following year, MLS Quintet released First Black Nation (2013), a deeply emotional, multi-movement instrumental that tells a story about the 2010 Haiti Earthquake.
It was on the heels of this 2013 release that he visited The Linda. Here is Michael-Louis Smith live at The Linda
Thanks for sticking with us this week. Join us next week when we feature four acoustic sets: Sean Rowe 2008, Caity Gallagher 2022, David Jacobs-Strain 2012, and Carmen Lookshire Duo 2023. For more information about The Linda or any upcoming events follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, or visit thelinda.org.
