Blues legend Big George Brock to perform for Jazz at Holmes series March 29

March 20, 2007 -- Legendary blues vocalist and harmonica player Big George Brock will perform for Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 29, in Holmes Lounge.

Joseph A. Rosen

Big George Brock

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In addition, Brock will host a blues clinic from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Tietjens Hall. The clinic will feature Brock, accompanied by a drummer, performing and talking about his life in music.

Both events are free and open to the public. Holmes Lounge is located in Ridgley Hall, on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle, near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives. Tietjens Hall is located at 6500 Forsyth Blvd. For more information, call (314) 935-4841 or email staylor@wustl.edu.

Raised on a plantation outside Clarksdale, Mississippi, Brock began playing harmonica at age eight. He was deeply influenced by figures like Muddy Waters, B.B. King and Howlin' Wolf, all of whom lived and performed nearby. According to legend, Brock — an amateur boxer — also once knocked out the young Sonny Liston and defeated a wrestling bear.

In the 1950s Brock moved to St. Louis and opened a series of popular blues clubs, including the 1,000-seat Club Caravan, which hosted shows by Muddy Waters, Ike and Tina Turner, Albert King and many others.

Big George Brock Collection

Big George Brock, 1952.

Though he has performed widely over the years, Brock did not begin recording his own music until the mid-1990s, when St. Louis' Tee Ti Records released his debut album, Front Door Man. In 2005 Brock recorded an acclaimed follow-up, Club Caravan, for the Cat Head Presents label, which also released Brock's Round Two in 2006. That same year, he was featured in filmmaker Damien Blaylock's documentary Hard Times (2006).

Brock was recently nominated for three 2007 Blues Music Awards, sponsored by The Blues Foundation in Memphis, in the categories of "Instrumentalist-Harmonica," "Traditional Blues Album of the Year" (for Round Two) and "Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year." Winners will be announced May 10.

Brock's visit to Washington University comes as the result of a class project by Rebecca Dorrill, a University College student majoring in political science. In 2006, Dorrill — herself a guitarist and songwriter — began filming Double Shuffle, Delta Style, a documentary about authentic St. Louis blues performers. The film, which Dorrill recently completed, focuses on Brock but also celebrates the musical and cultural legacies of important St. Louis musicians such as the guitarist Bennie Smith and the singer and pianist Henry Townsend.

Jazz at Holmes is sponsored by Washington University's College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, Student Union, WUJazz, Office of Residential Life, Congress of the South 40, University College and Summer School, New Student Orientation, Office of Student Activities, Event Services, Annika Rodriguez Scholars Program, Greek Life Office, Community Service Program and Michael Cannon, executive vice chancellor and general counsel.