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Wil Blades
From cookin’ with Blues legend John Lee Hooker, organ summits with B-3 master Dr. Lonnie Smith, television and radio appearances, young Wil Blades is gaining critical acclaim and international recognition. Blades, a native Chicagoan, has become the San Francisco Bay Area’s first call organist and is rapidly gaining momentum throughout the country. In 2007 and 2008, he was named in the Downbeat critics poll under “Rising Star” for organ. For the past several years, Wil has been wowing Bay Area audiences with groups such as “O.G.D.,” “Motherbug”, “Amendola Vs. Blades”, “Steppin’.” In addition to performing with legendary artists such as John Lee Hooker and Dr. Lonnie Smith, Wil has performed and recorded with Melvin Sparks, Idris Muhammad, Joe Louis Walker, Don Braden, Donald Harrison, Karl Denson, Will Bernard, Scott Amendola, Charlie Hunter, Stanton Moore, Betty Joplin, Eddie Marshall, Herbie Lewis, and many others.
Born in 1979, Wil began playing drums at the age of 8, guitar at 13, and then found his true calling on Hammond B-3 at 19. While studying Jazz at New College of California with Herbie Lewis, Wil landed weekly gigs at John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom Room in San Francisco. Barely of legal age, veteran musicians, such as Oscar Myers, took him under their wings. Being self- taught on organ, the weekly gigs proved to be the best lessons of all. In the years since, Wil has received tutelage from Jazz Organ master, Dr. Lonnie Smith. “Yeah, he does it...he’s on it. He is the future to carry on the legend, the legacy of the organ, [of] the B-3.”
Read moreAlbum Reviews
- Field Notes by Chris M. Slawecki
Interviews
Album Reviews
- Field Notes by Doug Collette
August 05, 2014
Wil Blades To Release "Field Notes" On Royal Potato Family
April 02, 2012
Billy Martin & Wil Blades To Release "Shimmy" May 22 on The Royal...
“Yeah, he does it...he’s on it. He is the future to carry on the legend, the
legacy of the
organ, [of] the B-3.”
-Dr. Lonnie Smith
Pioneer and Legend of the Hammond B-3 Organ
”That boy's cookin'! That boy's cookin'!”
—John Lee Hooker
Original Bluesman
”Wil Blades is already a legend on the Hammond B-3 organ...On his debut
album, Sketchy, released in
August on Doodlin' Records, Blades showcases a smooth, funky sound that
recalls heroes like Jimmy
Smith without being slavishly derivative. Apparently, Blades' time spent in
combos with Scott Amendola,
Wil Bernard, and Idris Muhammad has taught him well.”
- SF Weekly
“Here's a young Jazz Organist that every one should know about...Wil
has so much goin' on with the Hammond B-3, it's hard to believe he's
not fifty years old...His organ playing has leaped him into the ranks
of greatness.”
—Pete Fallico
Doodlin' Productions
KSUP 88.9FM , Santa Cruz, CA
”...and Wil Blades fingering a - yes! - Hammond B-3 organ
Primary Instrument
Organ, Hammond B3
Willing to teach
Intermediate to advanced
Credentials/Background
Weekday times available, generally pretty flexible. $75 an hour. Willing to do sliding scale.
