1997 The Jesse Samsel Band won Best New Act
Article Reprint from the August 1997
BluesNotes
Article by Rick Hall
Jesse Samsel is one of the Pacific Northwest's best kept secrets! This extraordinary musician is no newcomer to the local scene, however. He has been playin' music around here for well over 25 years now.
Jesse is not only a top-notch guitar player, singer and songwriter, he is a true gentleman and one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. That's saying a lot in the field of music, because more often than not, there are musicians around with real hard attitudes; big egos if you will! Not this veteran though, he is focused on making the best out of what's happening now and the most out of what's to come. He seems to always be looking at the positive aspects and gets excited about his passion for music and, in particular, Blues music.
Jesse Samsel is a member of three different bands. He is, along with Ken (Willie) Scandlyn, one of the guitarists and vocalists of the local band Steamy Windows. He also has his own band that is working its way to the forefront at present, The Jesse Samsel Band. And, in addition, Jesse is a member of the touring and recording band for Audioquest recording artist and soulside Bluesman, Terry Evans. Terry's group tours both nationally and internationally. Jesse says, "That to survive, not only do I want to put my name forward, but it's now time. There are several incarnations of many bands playin' out there and I'm just following that survival pattern. If you are going to play professionally and not have a day job, this is the only way you can do it."
Jesse is a man that truly loves to play music. He hosts a regular Tuesday Night Jam at
The Cascade Tavern in Vancouver and a regular Thursday Night Jam at The Brush Prairie Tavern in Brush Prairie, Washington.
Jesse has a great appreciation for all kinds of music. He says, "Blues is what I enjoy doin' and what has seemed to become my life over the past seven years, but I love just about everything!"
Jesse Samsel started playing guitar at the age of 11 and played in a band in junior and senior high school. "The band was called White Lightning and we actually had a song that KISN Radio was playin' on the air in the mid-'70s. The band Heart even opened up for us at The Inferno, way out on Division St. on the eastside, before they had their big hit "Crazy on You" in '74 or '75," states Jesse. "We really thought we were gonna get on down the road with that band. We were a Rock band and my influence was Creedence Clearwater type music. Although we never made it, I've been making a living playin' music ever since. I kept at it, playing and surviving, and in my mid-20s, I hooked up with Meredith Brooks and did an album and tour with her. That was around 1987 or so. I got to travel supporting that recording. Meredith has a Janis Joplin meets Ann Wilson type of voice that is just amazing. I was in her band for about six months.
In 1990, 1 hooked up with Willie (Scandlyn) here in the Portland area where he lives and we became partners. As a result of that, I met Bobby King and Terry Evans who were recording together and were doing a lot of background vocal work. They had done several recordings with Ry Cooder and Maria Muldaur as well as many other artists. In fact, Ry Cooder used them exclusively for years on his recordings. Willie knew Terry Evans through a gig he was doin' with The Coasters. Terry had become a replacement vocalist in the group for one of the original members and Willie was playin' guitar."
Within a short time Willie and Jesse formed the group Steamy Windows here locally and played mainly on weekends. They went on the road nationally with Bobby King & Terry Evans as their band in the early '90s and played across the country, including The House Of Blues in Cambridge, B.B. King's Club in Memphis, The El Macombo in Toronto and every hot spot you could imagine in between. Jesse recalls, "Shortly after the tour, Bobby got an offer to go on the road with Bruce Springsteen; a gig just too good to pass up. Terry then had a meeting with the band and asked us all to stay with him. We made a commitment and the ultimate plan was to stay and make records and tour with him. We did a recording with him locally called "Blues For Thought." Later he did an album for Pointblank / Virgin Records also called "Blues For Thought" and none of us got to record on that one, but we stayed with him and did the album release tour. Ry Cooder was the guitarist on that recording. Ry came to the album release party we had at Sweetwaters, a club just outside of San Francisco. I had learned one of his tunes basically note for note. He came downstairs after the show and said to me, "Hey man, how can you play that in regular tuning?" I said, well, I had to learn it in open tuning first and then I transferred it over. He said, "It's a lot easier in open tuning. I don't see how you do that!" That was really the first time he took note of me. What a compliment!"
Time progressed with Jesse playing locally with Steamy Windows. In the summer of 1995, three of the members from Steamy Windows got the opportunity to record with Terry for his next recording which was on the Audioquest label. Jeff Alviani (the keyboard player for Steamy Windows), Willie and Jesse (on guitars) recorded on the Audioquest project. Legends like Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner and Jorge Calderon were on the session. The title of the recording was "Puttin' It Down" and it was recorded at the infamous Ocean Way Studio in L.A. It was a "killer" recording and included not only some fine guitar playing by both Jesse and Willie hangin' right there next to the great Ry Cooder, but it had a Jesse Samsel song included entitled, "Nasty Doll". "It was a great thing to have Ry Cooder play on one of my tunes," states Jesse. "I was overwhelmed there for a minute. And, recording at Ocean Way Studios was really a vibe. You can feel it when you walk into the historic place. If you get yourself in a position where you're walking in to the Ocean Way Studio and recording an album, everything is in your favor!"
In late 1996, Jesse got another opportunity to record a second album with Terry, again at Ocean Way Studios and on the Audioquest label. The recording is titled "Come To The River" and was just recently released (look for the review of the recording in this month's QuickPicks). This is Terry Evans' finest recording to date. The guitar work is by Jesse Samsel and Ry Cooder. Jesse Samsel stands tall on this effort and makes solid, meaningful contributions to the overall sound of the recording. He and Ry work very well together in support of Terry's powerful, robust, soulful vocals.
"Terry Evans is an incredible person, as well as a singer." Jesse says, "Terry is one of those people who likes to create a good unit of working people where everybody has something to do and everybody holds together. The people who hang in there and work at it are the people who are rewarded." Jesse and Willie got to go to Belgium earlier this year to do some dates with Terry. What an incredible experience for these two veteran musicians.
Jesse knows that it's time to move out with his own band, The Jesse Samsel Band, which consists of Jesse on guitar, Timmer Blakely on bass and Justin Matz on drums. This fills out his schedule as a professional musician and brings him name recognition. The Terry Evans tours are limited and the Steamy Windows gigs are also somewhat limited, although this band is working on a live recording at present. Not everyone in Steamy Windows makes their total livelihood from the band and engagements are intermittent.
The plans for The Jesse Samsel Band include a cassette single release in the very near future and a CD project in the fall. The Jesse Samsel Band with Willie Scandlyn will accompany Terry Evans in the fall on a trip to Canada. They will become The Terry Evans Band for that trip.
I asked Jesse to respond to a very pointed statement and question. "Steamy Windows and The Jesse Samsel Band are both fine groups, and in particular you and Willie Scandlyn are first-rate guitar players, and here it is that you guys aren't playin' the local Blues Fest and have trouble sometimes getting your share of the better gigs around town. Blues fans really don't know you guys, yet you're so seasoned and so professional. It must gnaw at you a little bit. Do you just keep the blinders on and try to move in a positive, direction or what?"
Jesse responds, "Well, it gnaws on me a little bit and I do try to keep the blinders on and a direction and a focus! But, you know, as I said in the interview we did for BluesNotes a year and a half ago, it just always seems a little strange to me that we can go out and play the country and go to Europe and do two or three numbers or sometimes a whole set of music to supplement Terry's show with great response and we can't seem to get through the crack here at home. I don't really have an answer for it, but everybody asks me the same question! It's a little frustrating to be more accepted by the recording crowd on the road and not be noticed here at home. However, I am nothing but supportive of other people's success and I think people are aware of that. I think people in other bands know what I'm about and I've worked with most of them."
Jesse Samsel has no sour grapes or axes to grind. He knows who he is and he knows his talent and what he's capable of doing. If he can entertain you with his playing, singing or song writing he is a happy man. If there are rewards or recognition to be gained he is one musician that has truly earned it and there's no doubt about that at all!
© 1997 Cascade Blues Association