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Blues Musicians Heat Up Stage From High Noon to Full Moon By Terry Perkins Saint Louis Post The second day of the St. Louis Blues Heritage festival began in the blazing heat of high noon Saturday with the sounds of acoustic delta blues, jazz, a gospel choir and electric urban blues playing on four stages at Buder Park. It ended a little after midnight, as a large crowd gathered under a full moon at the Main Stage to hear the deep soul serenading of Johnnie Taylor. During the 12 hours in between, blues fans who braved the humidity and temperatures in the mid-90s discovered great music in all shades of the blues-much of it by performers who don't have national name recognition in the world of music. A prime example was Arthur Adams, a singer/guitarist who has recorded only one album during three decades as a professional musician. But as Adams proved after a mid-afternoon Main Stage performance, he has the talent and charisma to rival any of the brightest stars in the blues world. Backed by an all-star collection of St. Louis talent led by pianist Johnnie Johnson, Adams ripped through high-speed runs on the guitar and sang with a strength and fervor that soon had his white shirt drenched in sweat. As rock and R&B legend Chuck Berry watched from the side of the stage, Adams led the band through exhilarating versions of Berry classics such as "Johnnie B. Goods" (written for Berry's former keyboardist, Johnson) and "No Particular Place to Go." Despite the energy-sapping conditions, Adams had the crowd on its feet, dancing and cheering for more. Other performers known only to dedicated blues and R&B aficionados also made a major impact at the festival Saturday. Singer Sugar Pie DeSanto, who scored only a handful of minor hits in the early 1960s, proved that at the age of 62 she has even more raw talent and sex appeal than most popular female vocalists half her age. The 4-foot-11 dynamo took the stage, kicked of her shoes and immediately won the crowd over with her earthy stage presence and powerful voice. Performing her own song, "Slip-In Mules" (written as a woman's answer to "High-Heal Sneakers"), DeSanto exuberantly jumped down from the raised Main Stage, boogied in the snow-fenced photographers' area for a moment and then bolted into the crowd to pump the energy level of the audience even higher. Although she was performing in a lengthy set called "Sisters of Soul" that also featured the talents of Bettye Lavette, Mable John and Laura Lee, it;s a good bet the other vocalists were more than happy to have DeSanto as the closing act. Not many performers could-or would want to-follow her on stage. And although most of the late arrivals in the crowd came specifically to hear the soulful singing of Johnnie Taylor, who closed the Main Stage, they were treated to another electrifying performance by a relative unknown, Aaron "Little Sonny" Willis, a Detroit-based harmonica player and singer. Little Sonny and his band burned through a set of incandescent urban blues that soon had many in the audience on their feet and swaying to the tempo wail of Little Sonny's searing harmonica solos. Little Sonny certainly primed the crowd for Johnnie Taylor, who wrapped up the evening by teasing the crowd with the typical drawn-out introduction of soul tradition and the slow removal of coat and vest to the squeals of females in the audience. But Taylor also rewarded his fans with sterling renditions of classic 60s hits such as "Who's Making Love" and more contemporary fare such as "Last Two Dollars"-proving that his distinct nasal vocals and seductive delivery can still captivate a crowd. But despite the proven star power of Taylor, the real attraction of Saturday's Blues Fest lineup was the chance to hear the lesser known but highly talented musicians such as Adams, DeSanto, LaVette, John and Lee Robinson performed solo in the heritage set, accompanying his acoustic guitar with the jingle of cowboy spurs on his boots-and captivating the crowd with a distinctive blend of blues, soul and country influences. Although the crowds at Buder Park were clearly held down Saturday by the unfamiliarity with the new location and the stifling weather conditions, day two of the festival was an unqualified artistic success. SUGAR PIE DESANTO Utrecth Blues Festival Holland Nov 1996 "Don't put an amateur on the stage after me because I will leave it boiling hot!" In November of last year I visited the prestigious Utrecht Blues Festival for the second time. During that visit I would reacquaint myself with the ever precocious but always dynamic Sugar Pie DeSanto. I had not seen the artist since 1964 when she turned the Birmingham Town Hall topsy-turvy at the American Folk Blues Festival. I wondered if she had relinquished any of her temperament at the age of 60 with respect to her younger years- but her drummer and band leader hired at this show, Chris Millard, reassured me: given the opportunity she could be and just as or even wilder than before. This was the case during the Blues festival. That evening Sugar Pie overpowered the public with a steaming show that gave no indication or clue as to her age. Mother and pap-spoon Sugar Pie DeSanto was born on October 16th, 1935 as Umpeylia Morsema Balinton in San Francisco. She had 6 brothers and 3 sisters. Her father a Phillipino, was not musical but her (African) mother was a miracle child. Sugar Pie "My mother was talented. Already at the age of five she was a concert pianist, fantastic. I definitely inherited my talents from her." Also, other children from this family inherited some of this talent. "I have brothers in the music business, but the two who really continued in it is my brother and Little Domingo and myself. Domingo is also very talented. Now-a-days he leads the band (Little Domingo and Friends featuring Sugar Pie DeSanto). Oh yes and another brother of mine plays the conga and drums. Yes, it actually was a musical family." Her mother especially encouraged Sugar Pie to sing. Therefore, her latent talent was stimulated, which soon blossomed and became fruitful. The influences that Sugar Pie received were from her mother and artists such as Nancy Wilson, Dinah Washing and Sarah Vaughn. Another influence came from a young dancer, Eartha Kit, who was a member of the Katherine Dunham Dance Ensemble at that time. The saucy and shameless elements of sex, which Eartha Kit employed in her flirtations, is still present in Sugar Pie's act of today. "When I was approximately eleven, I got lessons from my mother. She taught me how to sing, mainly standards. I began to participate in talent searches in San Francisco, which I won several times. My career started this way. Because my mother was a concert pianist, I did more ballads than blues." The blues aroused her interest through her later (ex)husband, singer/guitarist Pee Wee Kingsley: " Oh goodness, when I met him, I became more interested in the blues. we did a show together and since then I continued to do the blues." The primitive-rapper "Sugar is Salty," Sugar Pie's most recent release for Jasman Bears witness again to her immense talent. Both versions of "Hello San Francisco" are on this superior mix of souls, ballads, blues, R&P, funk and even rap. Sugar Pie: "I always did rap but it wasn't fashionable for a very long time with the younger public. Now they are following me, not me following them. One can't tell much about the CD. Go to the store and buy it I would say. As far as I am concerned it is one of my better performances. Yet, the sequel will be a lot better. I have already started with the recording. I enjoyed the musicians as well as choosing the materials together with my manager. It took me a couple of years but trust me. I don't know yet what I am going to call this new CD but so far the recording is going smoothly." An important aspect of "Sugar is Salty" is the fact that except for "Hello san Francisco" she co-wrote the songs. Thus proves that her creativity, which, again, attributes to her mother, is still intact. "The inspiration came from my mother. She not only taught me how to sing a ballad, but how to build a song. Consequently, I started at a very young age." During her more than 40 year career, she has shared the stage with the greatest. She stood before sold out crowds in the most legendary theatres and wooed the public with her explosive combination of impudence, sex, humor and unbridled talent. "I have done the Apollo theatre more than twenty times, perhaps thirty. I have performed with Jackie Wilson, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Patti LaBelle and many more. Naturally, I have performed at other renowned theatres: the Regal in Chicago, the uptown Philly, the Howard in Washington and a couple of others where you only arrive after you have finished a hot record, but the Apollo in New York is the hardest on the artist. If you are talented, you are accepted. If you don't have that, you can expect rotten eggs. And then you have to rush off the stage otherwise they whip you off. And if the critics don't like you there, then you might as well forget it." Now-a-days, Sugar Pie works in the Bay Area together with her brother, one of the most talented bass players on the West Coast. She is still as popular ever over there. Also her European public has been able to see her. In Ultrecht, she ignited the theatre with fire and flames with her saucy, acrobatic and exciting show. She explained it thus:" Yes, I have to let go of some energy during my sixties. I am still quite wild. But you can expect that during my performance. I have my power and my experience. I sing full blast and give a spectacular show." Sugar Pie's sense of humor remains with me the most. Just before her performance, I asked her if she gets along with Jack Owens, because his name is also on the billboard. Her answer:"Well, I am not a spring chicken, but that guy is more than ninety years old! And he still pinches my ass. Wouldn't you just want to wring his neck?" Having just said that she exits the dressing-room in order to address Chris Millard. And with a lascivious grin yells:"Let's go kick ass!"

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