Blues, jazz and house-rockin' tonight at Bessie Smith Strut

When Clark White, aka Deacon Bluz, takes the stage tonight at the Bessie Smith Strut, his first order of business will be to honor a legend - while also laying down the grooves.

White and his nine-piece band will start their 6 p.m. show on the Bessie Smith Stage by paying a tribute to the late B.B. King, who died May 14 at the age of 89. But don't expect a somber, funereal vibe.

"We're going to open the show by getting people up and dancing," White says.

With the aroma of turkey legs and barbecue wafting through the air, Deacon Bluz and other five other artists will be bringing the music to M.L. King Boulevard tonight, including the boogie of Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials, guitarist/singer Jarekus Singleton, Minnesota-based jazz-blues band Davina & the Vagabonds, Atlanta blues guitarist Theodis Ealey and blues belter DieDra & the Ruff Pro Band.

White, also known as "The Blues Professor" of Chattanooga, holds a doctorate from Michigan State University and has taught blues history there as well as at Temple University, Brown University and Morehouse College. He also is one of the producers of the annual grassroots event "Blues in the Knob" in the Orchard Knob neighborhood.

He says his love of music was fostered by an aunt who taught him to play the piano before he even started school. But between the ages of 9 and 18, he took formal music lessons from music teacher and band director James "Doc" Kendricks, an experience that helped pave the way for his career in music.

"Doc Kendricks shook the lives of many people, including (actor) Samuel Jackson, because of the

music lessons he gave us at Riverside and Howard schools," says White,

Having spent the majority of his life living in the northern part of the U.S., he moved back to Chattanooga in 2006 to help care for his ailing mother, now deceased.

While performing blues and jazz is a passion for him, so is educating others about the music's history.

"I come from a family of educators, so teaching about my passion is what I love," he says. "I was expected to go to college and beyond, " His father, the late Carl White, was a principal at Calvin Donaldson Elementary School for 20 years.

"I've always sung the songs of a betrayed people," White says. "I guess growing up and being a Southerner, I was a natural storyteller, so my music isn't always about a problem, it's also about our lives.

"I'm very glad to be back here. I consider it a new life where I have a lot of peace, joy, happiness and love. And it shows in my music."

Contact Karen Nazor Hill at khill@timefree press.com or 423-757-6396.

Other Strutters

Jarekus Singleton

Jarekus Singleton melds hip-hop wordplay, rock energy and R&B grooves with contemporary and traditional blues.

According to Living Blues magazine, Singleton, who recently returned to the States after an international tour, "is making some serious blues noise blending modern-day blues and emotionally intense soul with melodic, hot-toned lead guitar, funk-seasoned rhythms and hip-hop flavored lyrics."
Born in Mississippi, the 30-year-old Singleton is signed to blues-based Alligator Records and released the album "Refuse to Lose." He was nominated for three 2015 Blues Music Awards by the Blues Foundation, including Album of the Year and Contemporary Blues Album for "Refuse to Lose" and Contemporary Blues Male Artist, but didn't win.
Although he started playing music when he was 9, basketball was his main focus as he grew up. He was selected as NAIA Player of the Year in 2007 while enrolled at William Carey University, but an on-court injury to his ankle while playing at an NBA tryout camp ended those career plans. Laid up in bed after surgery, he picked up his guitar again for solace and began writing his own songs.
He told the Lincoln Star Journal newspaper that the title of his album is also his personal philosophy.
"I take the same mentality I had in basketball, as far as work ethic and stuff," he said. "Music is more of an emotional thing to me. It's therapeutic as well. Basketball, it's more the competition thing. I've got to run faster than that guy, I've got to jump higher. With music, I don't have to jump higher than anybody, I just play the music."

Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials

Guitar Player magazine has called Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials a "snarling boogie-blues machine."

Davina & the Vagabonds

Davina Sowers, vocalist in Davina & the Vagabonds, says you could call their blend of blues, jazz, R&B and gospel "weird," but she prefers "unique."

Theodis Ealey

Blues guitarist, vocalist and Mississippi native, Theodis Ealey started playing guitar at the age of 4. Ten years later on bass, he was playing his first gig with his brothers' band but the next year he put down the bass and picked up the guitar.
Joining the Air Force gave him the chance to travel the world, but he always took his guitar with him to play what he calls "Mississippi Juke Joint Music," a mix of blues, rock, country and soul.
Now living in Atlanta, Ealey signed his first record contract in 1991 with Ichiban Records, releasing four records on the now-defunct label. But after Ichiban folded, he created his own company IFGAM, which stands for "I Feel Good About Myself." In 2004, his sexually explicit single "Stand Up In It," hit the top of Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Sales chart and stayed there for five straight weeks.
But he has a bigger goal than music.
"I would rather be remembered in life as a good person instead of a great musician," he told Stockholm, Sweden's Jefferson Blues magazine.
"If I had the choice, that's what I would rather be. People would see I'm a decent human being, that's my goal in life."

DieDra

Blues singer DieDra Ruff, with a vocal range that's been compared to Pattie Labelle and Aretha Franklin, will perform tonight on the Champy's Chicken Stage.