Doni Harvey - Your Blues Ain't Like My Blues

Doni Harvey is from San Francisco and his first solo CD "Your Blues Ain't Like My Blues" embodies this town's attitude of openness, spirituality and liberalism. His blues is not blues with a purist and traditionalist attitude but blues coming from a well-educated modern African-American artist. This music is a distinct mix of styles of blues/soul/reggae/rock/ballads coming in different shades of blue. A great singer and instrumentalist has found his own blues voice.
But Doni Harvey is no newcomer. He has been around. In the late seventies he was busy on the European side of the Atlantic playing bass for Automatic Man, a band led by legendary "Woodstock"-era Santana drummer Michael Shrieve. While being based in London, Doni played studio jobs for people like Phil Collins, Steve Winwood and Gary Boyle. He even contributed his playing and an original tune to the soundtrack of a James Bond flick – "The Spy Who Loved Me". Besides being busy in London studios, he toured with the successful "GO" project of Japanese artist Stomu Yamashta. Back in California, Doni formed a trio with his brothers Regi and Chris – Harvey. They became a staple of the Bay Area club scene and put out a number of singles, EPs and albums for various indie labels well into the nineties. In the late eighties Doni Harvey joined San Francisco's popular roots reggae bigband Caribbean Allstars (check out their double album "Paths To Greatness/Live & Direct" on HERMAN's 003). Reggae remains one of Doni's great loves. He became even more visible in the Bay Area when he joined Clarence Clemons & The Red Bank Rockers as singer and guitar-player.

Here's what Doni Harvey himself says about his formative years and influences:
"The music I heard at home was mostly jazz, some blues and occasionally some R & B. Some of the artists I heard were my father Earl Harvey (who never performed professionally), Lou Rawls, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstein, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Williams, Jimmy Witherspoon and many others. Also there was the blues of B.B.King, Bobby Blue Bland and Louis Jordan, to name a few. My fascination with music lead me to pick up the guitar at an early age and begin to try to pick out things that I heard on the records. Having gone to church, mostly in California, has also had an effect on the music that I play. We were taught to sing with crisp diction in order that all of the words could be understood, some of this can be heard in my music. Then, there are the influences of classical music, reggae and world music, and all other forms of music. All of which I draw on to create and visualize the sounds and colors of my music.
I was first trained in classical music on the clarinet. Later I played cello for a short time but quickly went on to the bass violin because I felt drawn to this instrument. It was about then that I first played jazz while performing in a school talent show. I continued to play music throughout high school and college. It was seeing and listening to Jimi Hendrix that really inspired me to pursue the guitar as another instrument to play and perform. I have always tried to stretch the boundaries and open the possibilities – in life and in music. I feel that I'm still learning and will continue to learn the art of music and living. For to feel that you have learned all there is to know limits your expression, and the heights that you can reach"

So Doni Harvey holds Jimi Hendrix in high esteem. He's not the only one, of course. Today, Hendrix seems to stand for much more than just personal tragedy, the excesses of the rock era, or the awe-inspiring music of a genius guitar-player. He also provides a sense of identity for many innovative African-American artists who want to move on. This is an attitude that can certainly be found with many African-American greats from Robert Johnson to Miles Davis. But "Your Blues Ain't Like My Blues" does not provide copies of these influences. Listening to Doni Harvey sing and play, one is reminded of others as well. His lead-guitar seems to pay homage to the wonderful Ernie Isley and his singing echoes the soulful intensity of the late Curtis Mayfield sometimes – in a slightly deeper vocal range. Despite all of his diverse stylistic influences, Doni Harvey is a bluesman that doesn't like to get too heavy with his blues. He is from San Francisco after all ...
Doni Harvey has done it all by himself on this album. He sings, plays guitars, bass and drums. And so "Your Blues Ain't Like My Blues" shows an artist that has found an own original voice. His songs tell of personal things while providing social commentary as well. His music is slow and uptempo, soulful, and reggaefied with a preference of electric over acoustic. One could come up with categories for each and every song on this record, they all sound quite different from one another. Everything is held together by the man's personality. Listening to "Your Blues Ain't Like My Blues" also means discovering a singer of great melodic and soulful gifts. This is Doni Harvey's deeply felt contribution to the world of contemporary blues. He is not looking back - he's looking forward. But some ghosts of the music's past have still found their way onto this record – check it out for yourselves and welcome Doni Harvey. An exclusive HERMAN's release.

This is the Last Time (Doni Harvey) 04:58
Feelin' Kind of Bluesy (Doni Harvey) 04:49
So Hard (Doni Harvey) 08:12
Your Blues Ain't Like My Blues (Doni Harvey) 06:08
Have My Love Today (Doni Harvey) 06:19
Blue & Eazy (Doni Harvey) 04:59
From the Corner of the Room (Doni Harvey) 05:51
Never Let You Go (Doni Harvey) 03:39
850 Bryant Street (Doni Harvey) 06:30
No News is Good News (Doni Harvey) 06:58