Toulouse Blues Weekender : BRUCE MISSISSIPPI JOHNSON

A SOULFUL NIGHT OF BLUESY AND FUNKY GROOVE  

2017 LIVING BLUES AWARDEE BRUCE MISSISSIPPI JOHNSON IS BRINGING HIS UNIQUE BRAND OF CONTEMPORARY BLUES SOUL MUSIC TO TOULOUSE LAUTREC JAZZ CLUB. ACCOMPANIED BY AN A LIST OF SOME OF LONDON’S FINEST, JOHNSON WHOSE EXPRESSIVE BASS-BARITONE VOCALS HAS CAPTIVATED AUDIENCES THE WORLD OVER WILL BE PERFORMING HIS DEBUT ALBUM 'THE DEAL BABY' PLUS SONGS FROM SOME OF HIS FAVOURITE BLUES AND SOUL ARTISTS.

BRUCE LESTER JOHNSON - VOCALS

ANDREW ROSS - SAX

PAT WEST - GUITAR

KARL HUDSON - PIANO

CARL STANBRIDGE - BASS

RUSS PARKER - DRUMS

BORN IN MISSISSIPPI, THE HEART OF THE MUSICALLY FERTILE AREA THAT IS AMERICA’S ‘DEEP SOUTH’, BRUCE JOHNSON IS A MAN WHO WAS BORN TO SING. AS A CHILD IN HIS GRANDFATHER’S CHURCH, AND LATER, IN THE COMPANY OF HIS FATHER’S RECORD COLLECTION, HE GOT THE KIND OF MUSICAL EDUCATION MOST FOLKS CAN ONLY DREAM ABOUT. LISTENING TO SOULFUL VOICES LIKE AL GREEN, HIS COUSIN JACKIE WILSON, LOU RAWLS AND GIL SCOTT HERON, BRUCE DISCOVERED HE COULD SING.

"IT’S AN IMPRESSIVE , LONG BREWING INTRODUCTION TO A FINE DRAMATIC STORYTELLER IN THE BOBBY BLAND SOUL BLUES TRADITION WITH 70’S INFLUENCES" 

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

”THIS IS 21ST CENTURY BLUES INCARNATE; SOULFUL, FUNKY, ERUDITE AND EXTREMELY LYRICAL." 

ROY BAINTON, BLUES MATTERS

BIO:

TOWARDS THE END OF HIS STINT SERVING HIS COUNTRY AS A MARINE, IT DAWNED ON BRUCE THAT HE HAD BEEN PUT HERE TO SING, AND THUS HIS PERFORMING LIFE, TOOK OFF! INITIALLY PLAYING IN AFRICA AND PERFORMING THE SONGS OF GIL SCOTT HERON HE BEGAN TO FIND HIS FEET AS A FRONTMAN. IT WAS IN PARIS THAT HE REALLY EARNT HIS PLACE AMONG THE LUMINAIRES OF THE CITY. PERFORMING WITH PLAYERS THAT HAD SHARED THE STAGE WITH STARS LIKE STAN GETZ AND SAMMY DAVIS JR. NOBODY FAILED TO SEE HIS SIX-FOOT FOUR FRAME AS HE TOOK THE STAGE, BUT WHEN IT GAVE FLY TO THE EFFORTLESSLY SOULFUL BASS-BARITONE VOICE THAT IS HIS TRUE BLESSING. 

AUDIENCES THEN AND NOW ARE TRULY SPELLBOUND.

AFTER HIS QUICK RISE ON STAGE SUPPORTING OTHERS, HE BRANCHED OUT AND FORMED A BAND OF HIS OWN, MAKING HIM A LEADING LIGHT IN THE FUNK SCENE. BRUCE AND HIS BAND WERE ASKED TO PERFORM IN A COMPETITION JUDGED BY THE ONE AND ONLY NINA SIMONE. WHEN THEY WON THE COMPETITION, IT GAVE HIM THE CHANCE TO RECORD HIS FIRST SINGLE AND FOREVER CEMENTED HIS REPUTATION AS A STAR IN THE CITY. IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE HE BEGAN TO CRAVE AN EARTHIER SOUND, SOMETHING MORE AKIN TO THE MUSIC THAT CAME FROM THE DELTA REGION THAT WAS HIS HOME.

THE CHANCE CAME WITH THE OFFER TO JOIN THE LEGENDARY BLUES BASSIST BIG JOE TURNER’S BAND BLUES CARAVAN AS A VOCALIST. JOE HAD TOURED IN BB KING’S BAND AS WELL AS WITH ALBERT KING AND LITTLE MILTON, AND SHOWED BRUCE THE TRUTH IN THE MUSIC, GIVING HIM A CHANCE TO TOUR THE WORLD. HIS TIME IN TURNER’S BAND SAW HIM FORMING A SOLID BOND WITH THE KEYBOARD PLAYER, AND THE TWO BEGAN TO WRITE AND DEMO SONGS THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY BECOME BRUCE’S SOLO ALBUM, 'THE DEAL BABY'. WITH A SOUND THAT STRADDLES BLUES AND SOUL, IT’S AS ORIGINAL AND INVENTIVE AS THE MAN HIMSELF, AND HAS SEEN HIM GARNER ATTENTION FROM RADIO STATIONS AND PRESS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. 

SO DON'T WASTE ANY TIME! BOOK TO SEE THIS STELLAR ACT FOR OUR SPECIAL BLUES WEEKENDER, NOW!