Folk Heritage Series: Andy Cohen, Eleanor Ellis & Bill Ellis

For fans of acoustic blues, it just doesn't get any better than this. Three towering talents take us on a rollicking tour through the Delta, the Piedmont, and the Paramount record catalog of the '20s and '30s, and pieces learned first-hand in the homes of the creators themselves.

Eleanor Ellis is a celebrated master of country and Piedmont blues–one of the most significant women in the acoustic blues genre. She is a torchbearer especially for her friend, mentor and musical partner, blues & gospel singer and guitarist Flora Molton, with whom she recorded two albums: I Want to Be Ready to Hear God When He Calls and the eponymous Flora Molton, recorded for Radio France.

Acclaimed Americana/Blues guitarist William Lee Ellis was named after his godfather, legendary bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe. His father, Tony Ellis, was one of Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. After earning a master's degree in classical guitar performance, Ellis met Piedmont blues giant Reverend Gary Davis. "Davis was a great sacred bluesman…There's a combination of the heavenly and the hellish, there are wonderful dynamics, tension and drama." In his quest to make the music's message live for today, Ellis has developed a style of Americana all his own.

Blues picker and Caffe Lena stalwart Andy Cohen is a connector between the legendary bluesmen of the last century (Big Bill Broonzy, Rev. Gary Davis, Honeyboy Edwards) and today's generation of blues revivalists. As a youngster coming up in the '60s folk revival, Andy began the explorations with "source" musicians that led to his current status as a virtuoso fingerstyle guitarist and "walking, talking folk-blues-roots music encyclopedia." An Andy Cohen performance encompasses the well-known, the obscure and the weirdly wonderful, and often involves autoharp and dolceola along with acoustic 6 and 12-string guitars.

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