Billy Martin & Wil Blades Duo (Toe Thumb)

Billy Martin (famously of Medeski, Martin & Wood) in 2011 at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival paired with a young west coast B3 Hammond prodigy Wil Blades for what was supposed to be a one-off encounter.  The collaboration was so successful that a west coast tour followed with a recording session in Berkley that resulted in the splendid album before us Shimmy.

Toe Thumb is a Blades composition as is the whole album shy of a couple of covers and is a good representation of their throw-down grooves, bluesy R&B and Funk. The Martin Blades Duo played election night last night in Mobile, Alabama (probably a pretty Democratic crowd that goes out to see an Organ Drums duo?) with seven dates left on their Northern and Central American tour.

The phenomenal Shimmy LP is available direct from their label Royal Potato Family (on vinyl LP and CD).  The duo is in Toronto on November 17 as part of the NuJazz Festival.  Martin has said, if you're familiar with the album, "that’s pretty much how we sound. It’s straight-up and honest, that record, Wil and I have a really great chemistry. It’s basically groove-oriented.  We had a perfect match, so it’s really a lot of fun, you know. We can be in the moment and sort of improvise, stretch out the tunes.”

November 8 | The Melting Pot | Athens, GA
November 9 | Five Spot | Atlanta, GA
November 10-11 | Bear Creek Music Festival | Live Oak, FL
November 17 | The Great Hall | Toronto, Canada    ***NuJazz Festival
November 27 | The Space | Evanston, IL
November 28 | el Lunario Auditoria Nacional | Del. Miguel Hidalgo, México
November 29 | Barreamericano | Guadalajara, Mexico
 

 Toe Thumb - Live from New York City