Papa Juke is blues with a difference, blues with a heritage, blues with an attitude. Their intoxicating and infectious original sound is courageously creative and enticingly danceable. Their heartfelt live performances are both hauntingly memorable and contagiously fun loving. You will go home after one of their shows strangely fulfilled yet still wanting more. Papa Juke is made up of Christine Webb on bass and vocals, Dr. Jim Seely on guitar and vocals, Mad Dog Friedman on harmonica and vocals and Dan "Mojo Man" Crecco on drums, washboard, percussion and vocals.

 

     CHRISTINE WEBB has been an integral force in the Colorado blues scene for nearly a decade. Before joining Papa Juke , she played most recently with Northern Blues recording artist, Dan Treanor . African Wind, Treanor's band, was a featured act at many of Colorado 's favorite festivals including the Winter Park Blues Festival, Trinidadio, the Greeley Blues Festival, the Lodo Fest, the Empire Blues Festival, Swallow Hill Folk Festival and the New West Fest. With African Wind, Christine opened up for dozens of national acts including Joe Bonamassa, Bernard Allison, Elvin Bishop, Chris Duarte, the Campbell Brothers, Carolyn Wonderland, Little Eddie and Jumpin' John Sansone. She has played numerous times as part of the Female Blues All Star Review and backed up Delores Scott of Chicago . Christine 's bass playing embraces many styles including swing, rhythm and blues , gospel, rock, blues and Celtic. As a vocalist, her influences include Bonnie Raitt , Rory Block , Big Mama Thornton, Irma Thomas , Etta James , Eva Cassidy , Norah Jones , Emmy Lou Harris and KD Lang . Her lively performances and amazing vocal talent complete Papa Juke 's unique sound and energetic live show.

back to top

 

     The Colorado harmonica legend, MAD DOG FRIEDMAN, has long been renowned for his blistering leads, funky rhythms, and raw and soulful blues . When Mad Dog was 16 years old Jack Bruce of the Cream playing Train Time inspired him to take up the harmonica, and he has never put it down since then. His early influences include John Mayall , Son Boy Williamson, Sonny Terry, Big Walter Horton, Big Mama Thorton, James Cotton , Mark Wenner , Norton Buffalo and Taj Mahal. More recently Sugar Blue, Jason Ricci , Carlos del Junco and Howard Levy never cease to amaze him. Mad Dog's song writing talent is exploding with the creative camaraderie and stylistic diversity of Papa Juke . Over the years Mad Dog has jammed with Ed Cassidy (the drummer of 1960's band, Spirit), Jason Ricci's New Blood, Sugar Blue, Harper, Michael Burks, Rosie Ledet, Philip Walker and the Incredible String Band. Also on many separate occasions Mad Dog has played harp with Bob Margolin, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith -- all long time members of the former Muddy Waters' Band. Although originally from St. Louis , Mad Dog is a seasoned veteran of the Colorado music scene. After several tours of the state in the 1970's with the back porch blues acoustic duo, King Comfort, Mad Dog started expanding his stylistic repertoire in series of different of bands. In the 1980's and 1990's he opened for such acts as Marshal Tucker, Jerry Jeff Walker, Pure Prairie League, Country Joe McDonald, Asleep at the Wheel and Firefall. More recently Mad Dog has played at various blues festivals and concerts where headliners have included Shemekia Copeland, Koko Taylor, Room Full of Blues, Charlie Musselwhite and Jason Ricci and the New Blood. There are not a lot of venues in Colorado or Wyoming or very many styles of music that Mad Dog has not played, but with Papa Juke, Mad Dog feels like he is returning to his blues roots while breaking new ground at the same time.

back to top

 

     Its obvious from the downbeat that DAN CRECCO is an extraordinary musician. Equally at home with blues , jazz, rock, country and classical, Crecco's smooth and multi-dimensional style demonstrates that he is no mere technician. Born in Bronxville , New York , Dan began playing percussion at age 8. In his early years he studied under Greg Westhoff and John Bock at Henry Adler 's Drum School in Manhattan , the drum workshop of choice for the era of drummers including Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. Young Dan would play in symphonic bands during the day, practice at night and experiment with small combos on the weekend. After studying music at Southern Illinois University, Dan toured and honed his skills with several bands from Chicago to the Cairo Delta of Illinois playing an assortment of blues , fusion and progressive rock. Moving back to New York in the late seventies, Dan spent most of his time as a studio musician at Dream Land Studios in downtown Manhattan playing with many of the new bands that emerged at the creative peak of that experimental era. Playing in front of appreciative crowds in clubs like Max's Kansas City , CBGB'sUmfug and the Kenny's Castaway made Dan a polished and highly sought after performer. Dan 's influences include Taj Mahal, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Winter , the Yardbirds, John Lee Hooker , Big Brother and the Holding Company, Big Mama Thornton, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley , Albert King and John Mayall . Dan moved to Colorado in 1994 inspired by the Rocky Mountains and was pleased to find an active and vibrant blues scene. After joining Papa Juke , he realized this is just the beginning of the journey.

back to top

 

     Paul Trunko has been teaching and performing in the Colorado music scene since moving from St. Louis, Missouri back before the millennium. He has been on the faculty at Swallow Hill Music Association in Denver, Colorado for last 20 years. Growing up playing in rock bands, he was drawn to the songs that a lot of groups were covering and where they came from. Roots Music, Blues, Folk has been at the heart of his musical projects ever since, as well as added ideas of improvising, singing and songwriting. Spending 6 years with acoustic, bluegrass band Quickdraw, 8 years as bandleader with blues/rock band The Keepers. Moving on to play with Colorado front range Grateful Dead oriented bands One Kind Favor and Shakedown Street, sharing the stage with guest musicians Melvin Seals, Vince Welnick, Tom Constanten, Rob Wasserman, Buddy Cage and others. More recently he's performed with fellow Swallow Hill teachers in the acoustic folk/blues trio Trunko, Kirkland and Briggs and The Clay Kirkland Band. Paul also has written, recorded and released two award winning acoustic kid/family albums in the Jammy Man series. The Jammy Man Band, has performed children’s concerts and school assemblies at libraries, schools and festivals throughout Colorado.

back to top