Billy Branch at Rosa's

When Billy Branch formed the Sons of Blues 30 years ago, the band was touted as the "New Generation" of Chicago bluesmen. Now, Billy and the S.O.B.s have established themselves as representative of the best of contemporary Chicago blues. Nearly every night, they can be found performing at clubs in the city and suburbs. I found Billy and the band Saturday night at Rosa's Lounge.


Billy's harmonica style is aggressive and edgy, as he puts a con-
temporary slant on the influences of his mentors, Junior Wells, Carey Bell, James Cotton and Big Walter Horton. Saturday's show at Rosa's was a high-energy romp through a variety of blues styles.

The S.O.B.s led off, warming up with an instrumental and then giving guitarist Giles Corey and drummer Mose Rutues a chance in the spotlight. Giles sang a supercharged version of "Key to the Highway, while Mose tackled the Eddie Boyd classic, "Five Long Years," with burning solos by Giles and keyboard player Ariyo.

Then Billy took the stage, harps strapped around his waist. He pulled out the chromatic for a rollicking version of "Crazy Mixed-Up World," a lesser-known Little Walter song. Then, with barely a pause for a breath, he played John Lee Hooker's "Boom, Boom" before slowing it down with an autobiographical ballad, "Northern Man Blues".



Here he took an audience walk- through, pausing several times to blow his harp, personally connecting with fans, who were delighted. I particularly like this picture (left) that I took from my vantage point at the bar. Notice the photo on the wall just above Billy's hat. That's a young Billy, maybe 25 or 30 years ago, with the great Junior Wells. The photo to the right of that is a promotional photo showing the band (but with Minoru Maruyama rather than Giles Corey).




The Sons of Blues deserve some space of their own. Each is a talented musician in his own right. Mose Rutues (left) and bassist Nick Charles have been with the S.O.B.s for years, as has pianist Ariyo (unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture of Ariyo, as he was tucked back into the corner on the baby grand). I hadnot seen Giles Corey play with Billy for probably 10 years or so; in fact, I didn't even recognized him at first, it has been so long. He was good then, but Corey's matured into a first-rate soloist, with the kind of fiery, passionate fretwork that could front a band.

Billy Branch and the S.O.B.s play each Monday night at Artis's Lounge (where Billy has played for some 23 years) and every Wednesday night at the Genesis Nightclub in Country Club Hills. You can see them other nights of the week at other blues clubs in Chicago.