“The blues is the optimism of a pessimist who preaches unbridled pleasure because tomorrow is the end” (Pol Whiteman).
I don't know how it is for anyone, but for me one of the most beloved Moscow blues bands is Misha's band... For creative restlessness, constant search for new forms, sensitive attitude towards their listeners, but without commercial servility. The stars in the forehead burned out long ago, leaving fertilized soil of charisma for healthy development and flowering of talent to the delight of lovers of the old, kind, but such a multifaceted blues.
Mikhail Mishuris is from Novosibirsk.
Passion for the blues began with the English - Cream, Free, Ten Years After - the first near-blues influences, but the real interest in the root blues was instilled and developed in him by John Mayall (and fate gave Misha a chance to tell him about it personally ...). From Misha's words, at first the real "black" American blues did not really interest him. but thanks to the powerful temperament of a man named Howlin Wolf, he quickly got involved and found his music that way.
Likes almost all the classic blues of the 40s-50s (Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Otis Rush, B.B King, Elmore James, John lee Hooker, Lonnie Johnson, Johnny Shines, Bobby Bland, Big Joe Turner, Louis Jordan , Jimmy Witherspoon, Little Milton…)
From the modern age, he is interested in Fat Possum products, musicians with soul and gospel influences (Holmes Brothers, Terry Evans, Ben Harper, Snooks Eaglin, etc.). From blues - soul ( Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Isaak Hayes, The Temptations) and some exotic stuff like Bob Marley, Tom Waits, Buena Vista Social Club and Ibrahim Ferrer. Strange relationship with the Rolling Stones - loves it, doesn't love it ..
What he doesn't like is "white" guitar blues rock, rockabilly, rock and roll, neoswing, Queen, Yes, Led Zeppelin and, sorry, The Beatles have a cool attitude.
It was with such a base of preferences and teachings that Mikhail began his career as a blues performer around 1994. He organized his first blues band, the New Blues Association (N.A.B.). The association was the only group in the region that focused on pure blues, and not on rock and blues-rock. From 1994 to 1997, N.A.B regularly performed in Novosibirsk and its environs, and, practically, any concert of Mishuris and colleagues took place with a large crowd of people and the attention of the local press and TV.
The ensemble's repertoire was famous blues(always in the original processing), as well as songs composed by the band members (mostly by Mishuris himself). One of the author's songs "No Place To Go" later got into the well-known domestic blues collection album "I won't see Mississippi". This composition remains the only studio recording of the New Blues Association.
In the summer of 1997, Mishuris went to the USA, in his words, "to learn the blues." For several months he has been actively attending concerts in Chicago - the main city of the blues, and also takes vocal, harmonica and guitar lessons at the Old Town School Of Folk Music. Within the walls of this institution, it is customary to organize blues bands, the vocalist of one of which was Mikhail. As part of this American team, in August 1997, Mishuris performed at the legendary Buddy Guy's Legends club at an evening in memory of Luther Ellison.
In autumn 1997 Mikhail returns home and immediately moves to Moscow. Comrades from the Association join him and, having changed their name to Blues Passengers, the musicians begin to perform successfully in Moscow and beyond. Mikhail immediately attracted the sophisticated metropolitan audience not only with his unusually expressive singing, but also with his unconditional talent as a showman, using tricks peeped in Chicago blues clubs and his own inventions. The audience was especially fond of Mikhail's singing without a microphone and his "walk" on the bar counter.
However, the Mishouris and his Swinging Orchestra project, which existed from about 2001 to 2003, received the greatest fame and, I'm not afraid of this word, the popularity. The concept of "non-boring blues", proposed by Mikhail, was taken as a basis, and the orchestra for a short time firmly entered into a peculiar major league Moscow ensembles. A mixture of boogie-woogie, blues, jazz and rockabilly worked flawlessly - the audience was delighted. In addition to the mighty baritone Mishuris, this was facilitated, of course, by the virtuoso playing of the musicians.
AT different time many musicians have gone through the project, and today they are successfully implementing their solo projects: virtuoso guitarist Vadim Ivashchenko (The Boneshakers), brilliant bassoonist and versatile keyboard player Nikolai Dobkin (participant in many projects, both classical and variety direction) together with the divine clarinetist Sergei Shitov (soloist of the Presidential Orchestra, his project "26Hz") made up the brass section of the project, the original saxophonist Ilya Alekhin (SaltPeanuts), keyboardist Oleg Gorchakov (Cool Cats), etc., etc.
Despite the success with the public (and commercial, including), according to Misha, "it was all terribly far from the blues and I quit there to do the music that I really love." This is how the Mishouris blues band was assembled, which regularly performs in Moscow and other cities, despite the change in format towards less commercial attractiveness, is not only alive, but also recorded the CD “I got money”, consisting entirely of author's material. Misha is very proud of this record. And I understand him, because I watched from the inside all the “sufferings” for “bearing, birth and representation in the Light” of this beautiful “child”.
In conclusion, I want to give Misha's answer to the standard question of any journalist: How do you find inspiration for new compositions? —
“Inspiration always comes from thinking life situations: sometimes funny, sometimes sad. This is how song themes come about. Well, music is composed, as a rule, under the impression of other music. It could be old music, new, jazz, blues, soul, rock - it doesn't matter. The main thing is that something sunk into the soul.
You can listen to the full collection of recordings here pesni.fm/search/Mishouris+Blues+Band
And here mishouris-blues.livejournal.com/ also see)))
MIKHAIL MISHURIS- BLUES SINGER
Mikhail Mishuris began his blues career around 1994. At that time he lived in Novosibirsk and there he organized his first blues band, or rather the New Blues Association (NAB). The association was the only group in the region that focused on pure blues, and not on rock and blues-rock. From 1994 to 1997, N.A.B regularly performed in Novosibirsk and its environs, and, practically, any concert of Mishuris and colleagues took place with a large crowd of people and the attention of the local press and TV. The ensemble's repertoire consisted of well-known blues (always in the original arrangement), as well as songs composed by the band members (mainly Mishuris himself). One of the author's songs "No Place To Go" later got into the well-known domestic blues collection album "I won't see Mississippi". This composition remains the only studio recording of the New Blues Association.
In the summer of 1997, Mikhail Mishuris went to the USA, in his words, "to learn the blues." For several months he has been actively attending concerts in Chicago, the main city of the blues, and also takes vocal, harmonica and guitar lessons at the Old Town School Of Folk Music. Within the walls of this institution, it is customary to organize blues bands, the vocalist of one of which was Mikhail. As part of this American team, in August 1997, Mishuris performed at the legendary Buddy Guy's Legends club at an evening in memory of Luther Ellison.
In autumn 1997 Mikhail returns home and immediately moves to Moscow. Comrades from the Association join him and, having changed their name to Blues Passengers, the musicians begin to perform successfully in Moscow and beyond. Mikhail immediately attracted the sophisticated metropolitan audience not only with his unusually expressive singing, but also with the unconditional talent of a showman - tricks were used, peeped in Chicago blues clubs, but his own were also invented. The audience was especially fond of Mikhail's singing without a microphone and his "walk" on the bar counter.
Financial crisis of 1998 made the existence of Blues Passengers impossible and Mikhail assembled the next team already in Moscow. For some time, together with the Nichya group, Mishuris performed with the author's program in Russian (the disc Hello, Sailor was released in 2000 and is available on the Internet), but later returned to the blues in the Mishuris Blues Band. We can say that until the end of 2000, the singer was in a creative search.
A real success for Mikhail Mishuris was his participation in the "Mishouris And His Swingin" Orchestra, the triumphal debut of which took place at the big Moscow festival Blues.ru 2001. The concept of "boring blues", proposed by Mikhail, was taken as the basis, and the orchestra in a short time firmly entered the The mixture of boogie-woogie, blues, jazz and rockabilly worked flawlessly - the audience was delighted. In addition to the mighty baritone Mishuris, this was facilitated, of course, by the virtuoso playing of musicians, especially guitarist Vadim Ivashchenko and pianist Oleg Gorchakov. Together with them in 2003 Mikhail creates the following group "Mishouris Blues Band", incomparably more suitable for fans of true blues. In the fall of 2005, the disc "I Got Money" was released, consisting entirely of copyright works on English language(mainly Mishuris himself + co-authors). The disc received very high praise from listeners and critics.
As before, along with high-class music playing, the show remains an important element of the Mishouris Blues Band concerts. Here is what Andrey Evdokimov, a well-known journalist, host of the All These Blues program (Ekho Moskvy radio station), writes:
"When Mishuris sang about" five years that he worked for one woman. And she had the audacity to kick him out of the house "(Five Long Years) - here the art of the theatrical tragedian of the old school and the outstanding vocalist, who did not go through singing school "out there", but precisely in Chicago, in the blues page of the world. In a song about the dangers of female alcoholism (Hard Drinking Woman), he drove Artem Zhulyev (tenor sax) and Ilya Alekhin (alto sax) to where Makar definitely didn’t drive calves - to the auditorium of the Central House of Artists. , allegedly embarrassed. And it turned out to be a triumphant passage. The solo turned into a sketch, the audience turned their heads joyfully."
In his book about Russian blues "Russia Gets The Blues", American professor Michael Urban gave a lot of space to Mikhail Mishuris and even called him the best Russian blues singer.
Since 2008, "Mishouris Blues Band" has been performing with a renewed line-up. Andrey Bessonov's blues clarinet gives the band's sound a unique "New Orleans" accent. Since 2009, the second vocalist has appeared in the group - Galina Kiseleva.
In the summer of 2010, the premiere of a program consisting entirely of songs by Howlin' Wolf, dedicated to the centenary of the great bluesman, took place. The traditional Chicago blues performed by the Mishouris Blues Band sounded unexpectedly fresh and unbanal. Since that time, the great keyboard player Nikolai Dobkin has joined the group and, thus, a friendly, cheerful and truly blues team has finally formed.
It is still one of the brightest and most sought-after blues bands capital Cities.
Mikhail Mishuris - vocals
Denis Shevchenko - guitar
Galina Kiseleva - bass guitar, vocals
Andrei Bessonov - clarinet
Daniil Soldatov - drums
Nikolai Dobkin - Hammond organ
16 tons of Moscow blues Mishouris Blues Band drowned Tver in the abyss of positive
I'm a lover, not a fighter (Lazy Lester)
If you decide to play the blues, it is not so much your skill that matters, but the unanimity with your teammates and a clear understanding of what you are getting into. (Mikhail Mishuris).
... If you seriously deal with harsh calculations, then there were more of them. Tons, I mean. Let's say, if we assume that each song weighed a ton. But will it be normal person measure joy in units of weight and also count the number of songs at the party? Moreover, the city was visited for the first time with a concert by Mikhail Mishuris himself, one of the most important figures of the capital's blues. And not alone, but with his inseparable ensemble. What fun can be in the blues, the music of the abandoned and repressed? - asks a person who is not particularly versed in the genre. Mikhail has a short answer to this: self-irony. It has long been clear that no one needs a loser who has doomed himself to eternal melancholy, but one who knows how to treat himself with irony in critical moment, just find a response in someone's heart.
At the table of the cafe of the club "Culture" the musicians of the group settled down - beautiful and cheerful young guys and girls. And at the head, a sort of respectable dad in the same jacket and striped shirt, imposingly sits Mikhail Mishuris, the soul of the group and songwriter. We talk about the blues, about its history and myths, about how the genre took root on Russian soil. But now it's time to act, so Big family takes the stage to demonstrate all this clearly, in the music for which they live and for which her Tver fans have gathered here today.
According to Mishuris, the blues is primarily the root music of black troubadours and minstrels of the American continent. Now the friendly discussions at the cafe table are over, and the famous "Ain" t That Lovin You" by the Chicago legend of the 50s Jimmy Reed sounds. everyday life the baton started by Lemon Jefferson is heard with a request to look after his grave. But the arrangement is not at all dreary - here it is, the power of irony and a positive look at fate, even in its manifestation as "Evil", composed by another black legend named Willie Dixon.
Before the break, the same "16 tons" sound in, again, a new arrangement for many, and everyone sings along terrifying to pious Christians with no sense of humor ironic refrain. The second branch opens with gospel hits, a religious Negro genre that marked the beginning of the blues in its usual form. Relaxed, not in a hurry, Mikhail tells about the management of the beginning of the Great Exodus, and the band's bass guitarist Galya Kiseleva helps him with her charming quiet singing. After "Let My People Go" the hall is already raging like the waters of the Red Sea that have swallowed up the Pharaoh's army, except perhaps organizing a "steam locomotive" to the next hit "This Train", turning into the unspoken New Orleans anthem "When the Saints March". Mikhail puts aside his guitar and, contrary to Willy Dixon's assertion that he is "built for comfort, not speed", begins to create the unimaginable with the harmonica, delivering a virtuoso solo from bottom to top.
Meanwhile, another favorite of the audience, clarinetist Andrey Bessonov, out of an overabundance of feelings, sat down with his pipe on the floor, playing along with Tolya Osipov, who was blowing a tenor sax and giving the audience a proper look at the elegant "tailed" guitarist Denis Shevchenko. Still, there are a lot of people on the stage, but if someone does not see the comical grimace of drummer Danila Soldatov, then everyone without exception feels the strength of his arms and legs! At the end, a few more blues and gospels sound, and the Tverites, as always, do not want to let their heroes go. But the missionaries of joy have the Mishouris Blues Band ahead long road between cities and villages of our and not only our country. Well, maybe they will trample on Tver dust when the weather clears up! And we will again take a walk, as on this cheerful Friday, March 26, and once again we will easily laugh at our sorrows and at ourselves.
Gennady Grigoriev.
The famous musician - about real blues, delta blues and modern blues
No one believed that it was possible, but in the Lower, finally, rose new wave interest in intellectual music. Literally four months ago, after an unbearably long break, the legendary Jam Prestige Jazz Club reopened. And half a year before that, Alexey Skulov launched a series of blues parties “Hoochie-Coochie Party” in Jamboree. On big stage the famous Arzamas group J.A.M. returned, Moscow bluesmen began to arrive in Nizhny.
One of the first, if not the very first, was a concert by the Mishouris Blues Band. Its leader is Mikhail Mishuris. Man with great biography. And with his vision of music, which he manages to make both real, and in demand, and intelligent.
In general, we offer the readers of Novaya in Nizhny an interview with the legendary Russian bluesman.
What is real blues? I know it's a stupid question, but still.
Blues is an incredibly broad concept. I am guided only by feeling in the definition. "Real blues" is not a criterion of quality. If I use this phrase, it just means that the group carries those ideas and moods that are close to me in the blues. Those bands that don't carry these ideas and moods, and I don't like them, formally also play the blues, including at blues festivals, go on tour. So I would not take on the function of a judge. Blues is a specific mood. There is rage and some kind of good nature in it, there is irony, sarcasm, good and evil, mixed, as in life. It all depends on the performer. There were good, good bluesmen, such as the incredibly charming B.B. King. And there were incredibly gloomy artists. Here Howlin’ Wolf, judging by the few videos that remained, simply carried some kind of threat, he was a man of a completely different temperament, he frightened the audience with his wildness and unbridledness. Whatever the artist - then the character, his charm, so each of the great and outstanding musicians - I share them, there are also just good ones - not only a grandiose performer, but also an original, recognizable character. If there is no specific character, the person turns out to be not so significant for the development of the genre. In the blues it's sometimes even more important musical possibilities. There are and have been many adventurers who play on this. Insignificant musicians who know how to present themselves. Such were among the "blacks" and among the "whites". But over time, the characters are less and less. The great old people are leaving, and the youth does not fill this vacuum. There is no spontaneity, expressiveness, just a well-learned lesson. Learning is useful, it is necessary, but spontaneity in the blues cannot be killed, as well as the truth of character, the bright explosive temperament that the best blues performers had.
Why do you think modern blues bands are afraid to play their own material?
No, they are not afraid. In the blues, you can play both covers and your own songs. It doesn't matter. The main thing is execution. The Sweet Home Chicago being played today is not Robert Johnson's Sweet Home Chicago, but rather the Magic Sam version. When jazz or blues musicians play someone else's song, it's not a cover. They basically own the song and do whatever they want with it. There are a huge number of songs in the blues that are not yet open to the general public: the work of Blind Lemon Jefferson or Charlie Patton is a deposit of incredibly interesting ideas. Many white bands wrote lyrics to old black tunes thinking they were doing a cover, but in reality they were doing own songs. A cover is when they play one-on-one with the original deep purple or Yuri Antonov. And giving the song back to people is a great feature. In general, there is an element of pride in focusing only on one's own songs. It seems to me that if a person is engaged in the blues, he voluntarily renounces fame, fame, show business paraphernalia. This is a kind of schema. And the performance of other people's songs is dissolution in a genre in which I see nothing wrong. You shouldn't get hung up.
Is it possible to return the delta blues to the modern listener?
Delta is an interesting layer of the blues. By the way, this music gave rock a lot. The riffy, one-chord structure-inspired concept is quite a rocker approach. I insist that the heritage of delta blues, as well as the Chicago and Memphis blues classics, is not even fifty percent mastered. It seems to me that here you can find a serious resource for the development of the genre.
By the way, I often argue with fellow rock musicians who like to say that the blues is outdated music, not relevant, unable to create anything new.
This is true only from the position of a very detached observer who does not know what is happening with the genre now. The opinion that the blues is a non-developing, mothballed music is well founded. But with people who express this opinion, for example, it is usually difficult for me to argue. Because they don't even know the names that I refer to, and as a rule, no arguments work on such people. Of course, there are no tectonic changes that happened before in the genre. There is a law: the more traditional the blues, the more popular it is. But I can state with authority that there are experimental currents in the blues. They don't really want to listen to this kind of blues. This is not mass, not widely popular music.
Can you name examples?
The black musician Otis Taylor immediately comes to mind - I believe that there was nothing like this in music before him. There are successful blends of blues and electronic music, blues and hip-hop - Little Ax, The Soul Of John Black. In general, it all depends on each of us. We need to develop this genre and keep it relevant.
I remember that in your LiveJournal there was a fierce discussion about modern blues. How do you still look to the future? Are there any gaps?
Yes, and I talk about it often. But as it usually happens, grayness crushes the mass. Moreover, the dullness is aggressive, climbing into the ears. It is difficult to break through this barrier. But real talent nothing can destroy. Only the person himself can do it. Musicians are reflective people. They can eat themselves psychologically. At 90%, modern blues is, unfortunately, a very dull sight. Besides, there are many good musicians. And too much canon play. I have already spoken about the lessons learned. If we turn to the classic blues, there were no such restrictions as they are now. Each guitarist had his own sound, each vocalist had his own style. Now everything is somehow unified, inexpressive. At the same time, for some reason, it is believed that if a guitarist is the leader of the group, then he must also sing. Even if he doesn't do it very well. And the blues is first and foremost human voice. And when those who don't pay enough attention to singing start doing this music, they actually kill the genre, even if they play perfect instrumentalists. Naked technology is also a problem. I believe that the concept is born in the head, and then implemented with the help of fingers. Some ideas should appear as well-thought-out moves, some should arise purely intuitively. Mindless music scares me. No concepts - we play and that's it, because it's fun, the girls are dancing. I would call it "musical gopnichestvo".
The so-called "blues dictionary" has been circulating on the Russian-language Internet for a long time. Most of the words included in it describe the relationship between a man and a woman ... Straight from Sonny Boy Williamson, who said that the blues can only exist between two people in love with each other. Plus poverty and crime. Quite a narrow range of topics. But "white" blues is different. Can it be with complex texts?
Lyrics are an essential part of a song. Yes, "white" musicians like to touch more unusual topics. But not all. Most go on the knurled - more or less ironic description love relationship. It doesn't interest me at all, to be honest. I try to compose songs with unexpected lyrics. Or even on a hackneyed topic, but from an unusual angle. I like to annoy, draw attention to music, sometimes even go for provocative actions. This is just to make people notice themselves in the information flow. If this succeeds, then you can do whatever you want.
I have repeatedly come across the opinion that only a person, so to speak, “shabby by life”, who has been on the “dark side” can engage in blues and rock and roll ...
I don't think that life and music should be so strongly connected. I don’t even know if the environment in which a person exists helps or hinders him. But she can be stimulating. I know that those who make music achieve success. And life does not give evidence that only a person who has seen and suffered can become a real bluesman.
But what about the commonplace “blues is when a good person feels bad”?
It's a stupid stamp. Blues is different, like life itself. But mostly he is ironic or even self-ironic. Dark blues is not enough. And I would not say that hopelessness and depressiveness are characteristic of the blues. This living art in which there is a place for any emotion.
Mikhail Mishuris began his blues career around 1994. At that time he lived in Novosibirsk and there he organized his first blues band, or rather, the New Blues Association (NAB). The association was the only group in the region that focused on pure blues, and not on rock and blues-rock. From 1994 to 1997 N.A.B. she regularly performed in Novosibirsk and its environs, and, practically, any concert of Mishuris and his comrades took place with a large crowd of people and the attention of the local press and TV. The ensemble's repertoire consisted of well-known blues (always in the original arrangement), as well as songs composed by the band members (mainly Mishuris himself).
In the summer of 1997, Mikhail Mishuris went to the USA, in his words, "to learn the blues." For several months he has been actively attending concerts in Chicago - the main city of blues, and also takes vocal, harmonica and guitar lessons at the "Old Town School Of Folk Music". Within the walls of this institution it is customary to organize blues bands, the vocalist of one of which was Mikhail.
In autumn 1997 Mikhail returns home and immediately moves to Moscow. Comrades from the Association join him and, having changed the name to "Blues Passengers", the musicians begin to perform successfully in Moscow and beyond. Mikhail immediately attracted the sophisticated metropolitan audience not only with his unusually expressive singing, but also with the unconditional talent of a showman - tricks were used, peeped in Chicago blues clubs, but his own were also invented. The audience was especially fond of Mikhail's singing without a microphone and his "walk" on the bar counter.
The financial crisis of 1998 made the existence of "Blues Passengers" impossible, and Mikhail gathered the next team in Moscow. For some time, together with the Nichya group, Mishuris performed with an author's program in Russian, but later returned to the blues in the Mishuris Blues Band.
A real success for Mikhail was his participation in the "Mishouris And His Swingin' Orchestra", the triumphal debut of which took place at the big Moscow festival Blues.ru 2001. The orchestra in a short time firmly entered the original top league of Moscow ensembles. A mixture of boogie-woogie, blues, jazz and rockabilly worked flawlessly - the audience was delighted. In addition to the mighty baritone Mishuris, of course, the virtuoso playing of the musicians, especially the guitarist Vadim Ivashchenko and pianist Oleg Gorchakov, contributed to this. Together with them in 2003, Mikhail created the next group "Mishouris Blues Band".
Since 2008, the team has been performing in an updated line-up. Andrey Bessonov's blues clarinet gives the band's sound a unique "New Orleans" accent. Since 2009, the second vocalist has appeared in the group - Galina Kiseleva. The traditional Chicago blues performed by "Mishouris Blues Band" sounded unexpectedly fresh and unbanal. Since that time, the great keyboard player Nikolai Dobkin has joined the group and, thus, a friendly, cheerful and truly blues team has finally formed.
"Mishouris Blues Band":
Mikhail Mishuris - vocals
Denis Shevchenko - guitar,
Galina Kiseleva - bass guitar, vocals,
Andrei Bessonov - clarinet,
Daniil Soldatov - drums
Nikolai Dobkin - Hammond organ.
