Little Charlie & the Nightcats
Encyclopedia
Little Charlie & the Nightcats (now billed as Rick Estrin & the Nightcats) is an American
four-piece electric blues
/ jazz
combo
, consisting currently of guitarist
Kid Andersen, harmonicist/lead vocalist Rick Estrin, bassist
Lorenzo Farrell and drummer
J. Hansen.
variety, but mixed in with other compatible styles, including early rock and roll
, soul
, surf music
, swing, jump blues
, and western swing
. The Nightcats issued their debut album
, All the Way Crazy, in 1987, including the songs "Poor Tarzan", "Suicide Blues" and "When Girls Do It". The following album Disturbing the Peace (1988), included "That's My Girl", "My Money's Green", "She's Talking" and "Nervous". The records
help established them on the blues festival and club circuits, and they began touring the country extensively, playing a number of international venues. They have played at the San Francisco Blues Festival
in 1980 and 1982, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the San Diego
, California
Street Scene and Seattle's Bumbershoot
Festival plus the Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival in 2002.
Their 1993 album, Night Vision was produced
and played on by Joe Louis Walker
. It featured "My Next Ex-Wife," a witty blues-rocker that won Estrin a W.C. Handy Award for 'Song of the Year', highlighting his steadily growing reputation for songwriting prowess. Original drummer
Dobie Strange left in 1996, after 20 years with the group, and his spot was taken by June Core.
In early 2008, Baty announced he was entering "soft" retirement, no longer tours with the band, except for possible reunion tours/shows in Europe
and select North American
festivals. Baty performed with JW-Jones
at Mont Tremblant Blues Festival, Ottawa Bluesfest, and Piazza Blues in Bellinzona, Switzerland in July 2009. Estrin continued with the band re-billed as Rick Estrin & the Nightcats. Baty was replaced on guitar by Chris 'Kid' Andersen (born 1980), originally from Telemark
, Norway
. Andersen had played backing Charlie Musselwhite
as well as fronting his own band.
Baty's most recent blues recording
was as a guest on JW-Jones, Bluelisted (2008), an album which marked the first time in his career that he documented his harmonica
playing on a recording, and the first time he and another West Coast blues musician, Junior Watson
, had recorded together on the same tracks.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
four-piece electric blues
Electric blues
Electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and often the harmonica. Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America leading to the development of regional subgenres...
/ jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
combo
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, consisting currently of guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Kid Andersen, harmonicist/lead vocalist Rick Estrin, bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Lorenzo Farrell and drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
J. Hansen.
Biography
Baty (born 1953) was attending University of California Berkeley and studying mathematics when he formed Little Charlie & the Nightcats with Rick Estrin (born 1949) in 1976. The band's music relies chiefy on electric urban blues of the ChicagoChicago blues
The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...
variety, but mixed in with other compatible styles, including early rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, surf music
Surf music
Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...
, swing, jump blues
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...
, and western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
. The Nightcats issued their debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, All the Way Crazy, in 1987, including the songs "Poor Tarzan", "Suicide Blues" and "When Girls Do It". The following album Disturbing the Peace (1988), included "That's My Girl", "My Money's Green", "She's Talking" and "Nervous". The records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
help established them on the blues festival and club circuits, and they began touring the country extensively, playing a number of international venues. They have played at the San Francisco Blues Festival
San Francisco Blues Festival
Debuting in 1973, the San Francisco Blues Festival is the longest running blues festival in the United States. Tom Mazzolini, the event's producer, founded the blues festival to educate the public about the history and evolution of the blues...
in 1980 and 1982, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Street Scene and Seattle's Bumbershoot
Bumbershoot
Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day weekend at the 74-acre Seattle Center, which was built for the 1962 World's Fair. Seattle Center includes indoor theaters,...
Festival plus the Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival in 2002.
Their 1993 album, Night Vision was produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and played on by Joe Louis Walker
Joe Louis Walker
Joe Louis Walker, also known as JLW is an American musician, best known as a electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. A feature of his work is his recourse to older material or playing styles, which revealed his knowledge of blues history.-Career:Joe Louis Walker was born in San...
. It featured "My Next Ex-Wife," a witty blues-rocker that won Estrin a W.C. Handy Award for 'Song of the Year', highlighting his steadily growing reputation for songwriting prowess. Original drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Dobie Strange left in 1996, after 20 years with the group, and his spot was taken by June Core.
In early 2008, Baty announced he was entering "soft" retirement, no longer tours with the band, except for possible reunion tours/shows in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and select North American
North American
North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...
festivals. Baty performed with JW-Jones
JW-Jones
JW-Jones is a Canadian blues guitarist, singer and band leader. Jones is signed to the NorthernBlues Music label in Toronto, Canada, CrossCut Records in Europe, and Ruf Records in USA. In the last decade, he has released six albums and played in 17 countries, 4 continents, over 260 cities and...
at Mont Tremblant Blues Festival, Ottawa Bluesfest, and Piazza Blues in Bellinzona, Switzerland in July 2009. Estrin continued with the band re-billed as Rick Estrin & the Nightcats. Baty was replaced on guitar by Chris 'Kid' Andersen (born 1980), originally from Telemark
Telemark
is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Andersen had played backing Charlie Musselwhite
Charlie Musselwhite
Charlie Musselwhite is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the non-black bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s, along with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Though he has often been identified as a "white bluesman", he claims Native American heritage...
as well as fronting his own band.
Baty's most recent blues recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
was as a guest on JW-Jones, Bluelisted (2008), an album which marked the first time in his career that he documented his harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
playing on a recording, and the first time he and another West Coast blues musician, Junior Watson
Junior Watson
Junior Watson is an American jump blues guitarist and singer.-Career:Watson is regarded as an influential West Coast blues player. He was a founding member of the blues band The Mighty Flyers and, starting in the early 1980s, he performed with the band for a decade. He also performed with Canned...
, had recorded together on the same tracks.
Selected discography
| Year | Title | Genre | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | All the Way Crazy (reissued) | Jazz, Blues | Alligator |
| 1988 | Disturbing the Peace (reissued) | Jazz, Blues | Alligator |
| 1989 | Big Break | Jazz, Blues | Alligator |
| 1991 | Captured Live [Live] | Jazz, Blues | Alligator |
| 1993 | Night Vision | Jazz, Blues | Alligator |
| 1995 | Straight Up! | Jazz, Blues | Alligator |
| 1997 | Deluxe Edition | Jazz, Blues | Alligator |
| 1998 | Shadow of the Blues | Jazz, Blues | Alligator |
| 2002 | That's Big | Jazz, Blues | Alligator |
| 2005 | Nine Lives | Jazz, Blues | Alligator |
| 2009 | Twisted | Jazz, Blues | Alligator |