GENERATION BLUES EXPERIENCE "PRIVATE ANGEL"
Generation Blues Experience was co-founded by dedicated 12-year old
singer and guitar virtuoso Ray Goren in 2012 in South Central L.A.
together with veteran blues septuagenarian, Sammy Lee, and octogenarian,
Jamie Powell. A true product of his “generation,” Goren learned from
YouTube videos of the legends and was playing blues guitar in gigs
before the age of 10. But together with Powell and Lee the band has
busted age and musical barriers, resulting in landmark recordings of
blues power.Jamie Bluesboy Powell is an 80 year-old guitar player with an
unforgettable blues shouting vocal style, who has been playing the local
blues scene in South Central LA for years. His friend, harmonicist
Sammy Lee. is well known in Watts for the lonely train whistle sounds of
his harp as he sways with the relentless shuffle beat of his Louisiana
blues upbringing. Known to the locals at Bell’s Blues Workshop as the
Odd Couple, their conversations take on a Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau
quality making much ado about nothing, and having fun doing it!Ray Goren is a 14-year old musician, who began as a jazz pianist but
migrated to the blues guitar at about 8 years old. He’s acquired quite a
reputation despite his tender age, playing on opening night at the Main
Stage of the Chicago Blues Festival, at Doheny Blues Festival and
walking onstage with Buddy Guy at the Greek Theatre. Playing at the NAMM
conventions, he draws crowds of seasoned musicians. Recently Ray has
recorded an EP of his original music which was produced by Eddie Kramer
(Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss) and sits in on gigs with Robbie
Krieger of the Doors.These three came together two years ago when a well-meaning fan asked
Ray’s father if he’d like to meet some of the old men from Watts, who
really knew how to play the blues – the Real Deal. And that’s how they
first came to meet at Bell’s Blues Workshop – a residential juke joint
in South Central LA (an old drummer’s converted garage) that hosts a
blues jam every Sunday evening. Far from the festival and club scenes
Ray found a bustling sub-culture where the soul food is hot off the
stove, the laughter is loud and pure blues is in the air. When the three
next stepped onto the stage at a blues jam in a fashionable Burbank
club, magic was in the air. Electricity filled the room and everyone saw
the torch being passed from one generation to another. Generation Blues
Experience was born.The three of them bonded and became best of friends with age, color and
lifestyle boundaries all blurred. Blues became their language, They
landed a gig opening at the Golden State Theatre in Monterrey,
California for B.B. King in early 2013. “A band came out on stage to
open for the legend, B.B. King, and this kid – 12 years old – comes out
to front on lead guitar and vocals. What was more surprising is the
gifts that this musician possesses. He is a real phenomenon, and you sit
there not believing what you are seeing and hearing…. It was really one
of the most unbelievable moments I’ve experienced at any concert.” Rock
Subculture.With two albums already recorded - the first within 2 weeks of the
formation of the band and the second recorded live at their residency
gig at Lucy’s 51 in Toluca Lake - they decided it was time to create
their own music. Ray began writing songs – writing one specifically for
Jamie. Sammy wrote about his home state’s troubles with Hurricane
Katrina, and other band members wrote songs that Ray modified with his
own style while staying true to the blues shuffles and slow blues
melodies. These collaborations have resulted in “Private Angel” released
August 2014. GENERATION BLUES EXPERIENCE
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