Due to a death in the family, Lonnie Youngblood will not be able to make the show. However, Dean Shot will be appearing.

December 9th 2005 - Dean Shot & Lonnie Youngblood

Fans of Jimi Hendrix are no doubt familiar with the name Lonnie Youngblood. In fact, the odds are good that most of Jimi's followers have several albums or CDs in their collections containing material from Hendrix's first professional recording sessions - sessions spent backing sax player/vocalist Youngblood in the recording of thirteen rhythm and blues tracks.

Known as "The Prince Of Harlem", Lonnie Youngblood has been blessing this world with his deeply soulful brand of funky saxophone and blues soaked vocals since the late 50's. Playing with some of the top names in blues, R&B and soul music since he was a teenager, names like James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Chuck Berry, Ben E. King, Joe Simon, Sam and Dave, B.B. King, Joe Tex, - Youngblood has worked with more great acts than he can remember.

Lonnie was born on August 3, 1941, in southern Georgia. As he grew up, Lonnie soon realized he had an attraction to the saxophone - thanks to the music of the one of the greatest stars of the 1940's.

"My mother was a serious fan of Louis Jordan, and she just loved that man so much!" Youngblood says. "And I loved her so much, so whatever I thought would be pleasing to her was what I was trying to do. She really loved Louis Jordan, so I told her I wanted to get a saxophone and be like Louis Jordan, which I really did. For some reason, watching her just made me want to be a saxophone player.

"It took a long time to get that horn - that was the hardest thing I ever tried to do in my life! It took me over a year. I got an alto like Louis Jordan had, and an alto was a hundred twenty dollars and thirty-six cents. And boy, my father really didn’t want to go that route!” Lonnie laughs. “He didn’t want that because he thought I was going to change my mind, you know? And plus it was like, my father made about twelve dollars a week. You know, it wasn’t easy, and that was one of the hardest things I’ve had to accomplish in my life, that was. But we got it, and I started taking lessons. I played in the high school band, and I had my own little band."

The investment in the saxophone soon paid off professionally, as the young Lonnie moved to the Newark area in 1959 to join the Paul Farano Trio and singer Pearl Reeves. With his reputation cemented in the Harlem community, a brief period in the army after being drafted came to an end with Lonnie being welcomed back into Harlem’s musical community in 1963. And there he found Jimi Hendrix, who had finished his own military service the summer before.

Together the two recorded a total of 13 sides together and played all over NYC. The songs feature Jimi's incredible blues and R&B playing and even some vocals by Jimi. They are the first known recordings of Jimi in a studio setting.

fast forward to NOW:

- Lonnie Youngblood and NYC/NJ blues guitarist/vocalist Dean Shot have joined forces to bring you a unmatched combination of Soul, R&B, Funk, and Blues that has to be seen and heard to believed. The sound and energy coming off of the stage when these two perform is simply insane. Funky, Greasy, Soul Shaking and Mind Blowing are some of the words people have used when trying to describe them. Be sure to catch it when Lonnie and Dean bring the Blues and Soul of Harlem into Easton PA!!