CONCERTS
- August 10th 7pm. COMBO Terrace on river, Kaunas
- August 11rd 7pm. Technical Library Garden, Vilnius
ARTISTS
- Nora Jean Bruso - vocal
- Luca Giordano - guitar, vocal
- Walter Cerasani - bass, back vocal
- Fabrizio Ginoble - keys
- Lorenzo Poliandri - drums
Nora Jean Bruso (USA) is the real queen of blues. The listener hearing the first song performed by her feels the taste of this genre. This vocalist introduces a listener to an inner drama and with the passion she sings she is ready to conquer the world. Nora Jean Bruso proves with all the above that she has every feature needed for the blues queen.
The famous blues singer Koko Taylor once said that Nora Jean sound like her when she was the same age. Also she said that Nora Jean sings an unpolished blues. She is a master of blues – one minute she makes you dance and the other – she makes you sit down and cry. Nora Jean has a sensual vocal that can show power. This vocal is a memorable one for the listeners. She does have one of the strongest vocals in now day’s blues world. Nora Jean continues with and keeps the music of the great blues performers like Howlin‘ Wolf, KoKo Taylor and many others alive. She says that is one of the greatest works of hers life.
Nora Jean Bruso (now Nora Jean Wallace) was born in 1956. She is a singer and a song writer of electronical blues of Chicago. She has deep roots in delta blues. The delta blues is one of the oldest styles of blues. This kind of blues originated from slaves life who were living by the Mississippi delta.
Nora Jean was born and raised in Greenwood city which is the heart of a region rich with blues. Since she was little she was surrounded by professional blues performers. The blues genre was imparted to her by her father Bobby Lee Wallace and her uncle Henry “Son” Wallace. Her mother Ida Lee Wallace had an impact to Nora’s musical education as a gospel singer. Her grandmother Mary had an impact too. She had a dance studio where Nora secretly listened to blues classics performed by her relatives. At that time Nora fell in love with music by Howlin’ Wolf. She develops his style of music to this day.
When Nora Jean was six years old she arranged first performance of hers that was paid for to her brother and his friends. She performed a song of Howlin’ Wolf. When she was in high school she won a talent show and was invited to perform in other educational institutions. But the real career of Nora Jean began in 1976b in Chicago. Her aunt Rose heard her singing at home and she arranged few auditions in some local clubs. Nora’s talent was noticed at once. When she was nineteen she began to perform with the band “Scottie and the Oasis”. She was with the band for few years until they split. At that time Nora was taught by many local Chicago musicians like Mary Lane and Joe Barr the secrets of the craft and how to sing.
The big break for Nora Jean was in 1985 when Jimmy Dawkins saw her performing in one of the Chicago clubs and asked her to join his band. For the next seven years she recorded and performed with Jimmy and his band. She recorded for two CDs “Feel the Blues” (1985 and 2002) and “Can’t Shake the Blues” (1991). At the same time she released a single “Untrue Lover” (1982) and in 2002 she released hers first solo album “Nora Jean Bruso Sings the Blues”.
Nora Jean perfected her skills as a performer during concert tours in Canada, Europe and USA. She is internationally known performer. She did perform in many major blues festivals: “King Biscuit Blues Festival”, “Chicago Blues Festival”, “Pocono Blues Festival”, “Rawa Blues Festival”, “Notodden Blues Festival”, “Briggs Farm Blues Festival”, “Cape May Jazz Festival” and many more.
Nora Jean has written more than 700 songs. She collaborated with Carl Weathersby, Dave Specter and many more. The “Museum of Science and Industry” (Chicago) was nominated as one of the most outstanding female performers of blues out of ten female Chicago performers. Nora Jean was nominated multiple times for “Blues Music Awards” for “The best new female artist”, “The best traditional music performer” and “The best traditional blues performer” and many other categories. The solo album “Going back to Missisippi” was released in 2004. This album had a huge commercial successes. This album hit 5th place in top track list for “Living Blues” radio, hit the 1st place “XM Satellite Radio”. She collaborated with Little Bobby for the album “Good Blues” in 2011. The “Chicago Sun-Times” indicated that that was the reason for her 7th nomination in “Blues Music Award”.
Nora’s Jean life is full of passion, pain, triumph and despair. But she creates a convincing art from those experiences combined with wisdom. Blues is pain and salvation. Nora Jean shares her bald past and present in her songs. But she maintains love and respect in those songs too.
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