Boz Scaggs is in the midst of a musical renaissance. Through his recent explorations in R&B, jazz and the Great American Songbook, the versatile singer/songwriter/guitarist has created a highly personal, unfailingly soulful modern repertoire. The latest edition, ‘Out of the Blues,’ set for release on July 27, 2018 on Concord Records, finds Scaggs – born in Ohio, raised in Texas and Oklahoma – reconnecting with his earliest musical and regional influences.
The self-produced ‘Out of the Blues’ features Scaggs applying his iconic voice and gritty guitar skills to a set of vintage classics by such blues greats as Bobby “Blue” Bland, Jimmy Reed and Magic Sam, an unexpected and stirring reading of Neil Young’s “On the Beach,” and original compositions by his friend and songwriter Jack Walroth. For the occasion, Scaggs assembled a star-studded studio band including guitarists Doyle Bramhall II, Ray Parker Jr. and Charlie Sexton, bassist Willie Weeks, drummer Jim Keltner, keyboardist Jim Cox, and Walroth on harmonica, all supporting Boz himself on guitar, bass and vocoder.
This album marks the final piece of an unofficial trilogy for Scaggs, which began with the Steve Jordan-produced albums ‘Memphis’ and ‘A Fool to Care.’ “I’m a child of the ’50s,” he explains, “and grew up on the music of my parents’ generation – the post war swingers, the Hit Parade era, the semi-classical Gershwin albums and the American songbook of show and film music. Then came early rock radio; with Elvis, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, the high-watt late night radio out of Nashville and Chicago and doowop out of the East Coast. All the same stars that dotted the musical heaven our generation grew up under. Particular to my coming of age in the Southwest was hearing that crazy stuff out of south Texas and Louisiana. It was something different from that which my fellow teenyboppers in other areas were hearing. These albums, to some degree, are an exploration of those early influences, tracked through different periods of my experience.”
Indeed, it’s been a life of music for Boz Scaggs, spread far and wide through a remarkable range in style and influence. From his early West Coast rock and soul bands, through his smooth ’70s Hollywood years with hits like “Lowdown” and “Lido Shuffle,” through to more recent chart-toppers ‘Speak Low’ and ‘A Fool to Care,’ which both reached #1 on the Billboard Jazz and Blues charts respectively.
Boz Scaggs will tour extensively around the release of ‘Out of the Blues,’ see below for a full list of dates.
Track list:
Rock and Stick (J Walroth)
I’ve Just Got to Forget You (Don Deadric Robey)
I’ve Just Got to Know (Jimmy McCracklin)
Radiator 110 (J Walroth)
Little Miss Night and Day (Boz Scaggs-J Walroth)
On the Beach (Neil Young)
Down in Virginia (Jimmy Reed-Manny Reed)
Those Lies (J Walroth)
The Feeling Is Gone (Don Deadric Robey)
Boz Scaggs 2018 tour dates:
June 8 – Augusta, GA – Miller Theater
June 9 – Fayetteville, GA – Southern Ground Amphitheater
June 11 – Charlotte, NC – Blumenthal Performing Arts Knight Theater
June 13 – Bethesda, MD – Music Center at Strathmore
June 14 – Stamford, CT – Palace Theater
June 16 – Atlantic City, NJ – Tropicana Casino & Resort
June 17 – Englewood, NJ – Bergen Performing Arts Center
June 19 – York, PA – Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center
June 21 – Niagara Falls, ON – Ottawa International Jazz Festival
June 23 – Rochester, NY – Kodak Hall at Eastman Theater
June 26 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount
June 28 – Torrington, CT – Warner Theatre
June 29 – Hyannis, MA – Cape Cod Melody Tent
June 30 – Lowell, MA – Lowell Summer Music Series
July 10 – Minneapolis, MN – State Theatre
July 12 – Oshkosh, WI – Waterfest Concert Series
July 13 – Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field (w/ Jimmy Buffett)
July 14 – New Buffalo, MI – Four Winds Casino Resort
August 29 – Grand Prarie, TX – Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
August 31 – Aspen, CO – Belly Up Aspen
September 2 – Littleton, CO – The Hudson Gardens & Event Center
September 5 – Layton, UT – Kenley Amphitheater
September 20 – Saratoga, CA – The Mountain Winery
September 26 – San Diego, CA – Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay
