William Clarke with John "Marx" Markowski - Live In Germany (1994)

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Blow, jump, swing and groove

Jump blues harmonica + jazzy swing guitar = Chicago relocated in L.A. = William Clarke & John "Marx" Markowski live. As simple as that. Four times WC Handy-awarded Clarke blows his rasping blues harp so hard, bending notes and making it growl and scream with so much energy that it's a miracle if he didn't ruin his lips. Not surprising that the show opens with the up-beat "Blowin' Like Hell" ! But the man had years of experience and training behind him. And when not blowing, to catch back his breath, he sings ! And very soulfully too, with a voice as hoarse as his harmonica.
Unfortunately this explosion of energy plus extensive exhausting touring, with all that this implies generally (stress, lack of sleep, bad food and booze and/or other stuff to hold on) damaged his health badly, leading to his death in the autumn of 1996 after a performance in his native California. What kind of medicine had he consumed to keep the pace, if he did, only the coroner knows...

Clarke & George Smith

Like Doug MacLeod, Clarke's early mentor was West Coast blues harmonica virtuoso George "Harmonica" Smith with whom he played from 1977 until Smith's death in 1983. Well known and respected on the L.A. blues scene, he had hanged around and played with blues legends like T-Bone Walker, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Lowell Fulson, Big Mama Thornton… Although he had built a unique word-of-mouth reputation and guested on a dozen other top blues artists' albums (Smokey Wilson, Shakey Jake Harris, Long Gone Miles...), his own five albums so far were not even distributed on a national level ! Until 1988, when he signed a deal with Alligator Records and reached at last the national recognition he long deserved.

John "Marx" Markowski

Next to such a huge player (Clarke was physically impressive too), his accomplice John "Marx" Markowski would almost appear as a shy secondary back band musician. Big mistake ! "Marx" reveals himself a very groovy guitarist with quite a nice jazzy flavor. On rhythm, he swings hard, putting out a sound texture in perfect accordance with Clarke's rasping harp. On lead, his technically faultless jazzy style is extremely pleasant.
The fact is that Marx is not a novice either. Over the years, he as played, toured or recorded with blues heavy-weights such as Earl King, Albert Collins, Lowell Fulson, Lightning Hopkins or Jimmy Witherspoon... He's also a cool vocalist as proved on "I Cried All Last Night", the jazzier number of the album.

Both man form a very complementary front part, backed by a probably less renowned but excellent rhythm section : bassist Willie Brinlee and drummer Eddie Clark both keep the tempo tight and hot. The band's performance of Muddy Waters' "All Night Long" is something else ! It deserves being featured in good place in a modern blues anthology. Clarke lets his harmonica go wilder and wilder til the end, and Markowski puts out an exciting swing next to him, both carried by the solid bass-drums groove. Certainly the big highlight of this great live recording." Educated Fool" is another outstanding moment with its broken rhythm. A great showman, Clarke also pulls out one of his favorite humorous tricks : a few famous military marches or anthems notes with his harmonica sounding almost like a trumpet ! The final "Lollipop Mama" concludes the show in a nice groovy manner, leaving you stunningly lost when it ends...

The four men delivered a performance that the lucky ones who went to this 1994 concert will remember until they follow Clarke on to the other side ! And maybe further. Fortunately for the others, there is this great album, a live which really stands out of the lot. ■

● A nice blog about William Clarke (in Portuguese, but translation available) : https://riskas513.blogspot.com/2012/09/william-clarke.html

William Clarke live

● 1984, Whittier, California, "No Lie" : https://youtu.be/-wxD1a6HkHk
● 1985, William Clarke on Bro Matt's Bluez Shift, with Jeri Monti (drums), Willie Brinlee (bass) Joel Foy & Steve Samuels (guitars). Incredibly, Samuels is playing with half his left forearm missing ! Don't hesitate to lift your volume up :
→ Pt 1 : https://youtu.be/k3rsIJgbOb0
→ Pt 2 : https://youtu.be/-YIv2Bb9f6o
→ Pt 3 : https://youtu.be/AnOsIg9WsRo
→ Pt 4 : https://youtu.be/SnULMPxESHU
→ Pt 5 : https://youtu.be/0Qzp_VTuOlg

● 1990, Mountain View (CA) William Clarke & Band with Rick Holmstrom & Zach Zunis (guitars), Ron Maldonado (acoustic upright bass) & Pat O'Brian (drums) :
→ "She's Yours, She's Mine" : https://youtu.be/EpfOMnZrBd8
→ Blowin' The Family Jewels : https://youtu.be/XAM6A4m9cPE
● 1991, with his song "Must Be Jelly", William Clarke won a Handy award for "Blues Song of the Year" that year : https://youtu.be/4gP3jKafMxY
● 1991, William Clarke Band with John Marx, San Francisco Blues Festival (7-part concert) : https://youtu.be/OxWaMyrnVaQ?list=PLXNHzzuThKfTW3lSlP2pbkptR3PYcukVy

● 1991, William Clarke Band with young local prodigy Kenny Sutherland, Byron Bay Blues Festival  (Australia) :
→ Pt 1 : https://youtu.be/RRSCffCD3Vs
→ Pt 2 : https://youtu.be/gfgWsyKvC3o
→ Pt 3 : https://youtu.be/pJPKoYXM_x4
● Unknown date, William Clarke with Smokey Wilson and Hollywood Fats, Solana Beach (CA) - Hollywood Fats (guitar), Richard Innes (drums), Fred Kaplan (piano) & Jerry Smith (bass) : https://youtu.be/C-ZHP56LQdI

John "Marx" live

● 1988, "I Found A New Love", John Markowski with the William Clarke Band, Berkeley (CA), - John "Marx" Markowski  (vocals & guitar), Steve Samuels (guitar), Andrew Samuels (bass), Eddie "Lips" Clarke (drums), introduction by William Clarke : https://youtu.be/oP3i2sLJJbE
● 2009, "Big Boss Woman"  - John Marx (guitar and vocals), John Mizenko (guitar), Paul Fasulo (drums) and Paul Kenedy (bass) : https://youtu.be/cqZLC0eIr0U
● 2017, John Marx & Friends, Los Angeles (CA), full show - John Marx (guitar, vocals), Mo Beeks (keyboards), Jerry Rosa, Paulie Cerra & Steve Pelucca (saxes), Paul Kenedy  (upright bass) and Dave Kida (drums) : https://youtu.be/i8cGTVYNhJ4 or https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh0PX6bdYKcH4dHIFb6PiS-ABAdvuhGk4