Listen to samples of music:
Cold Slaughter Days (History of Jokermania narration)
Meet Me Up In Playland (Joe & Okes)
It's A Dirty Job (Denny & the Regraders)

INCLUDES: Columbia River Blues (Joe McKroy); I Thought I Heard Elliott Bay (Freddy Callicott); Baby Let Me Vamp On Your Viaduct (Joe McKroy); It's A Dirty Job (Denny Palatine); Otis' Mood (Otis McClellan); Meet Me Up In Playland (McKroy/Callicott); Blues For Salmon Bay (Freddy Callicott); Incident At Portage Bay (Denny Palatine); Bug Out (Denny Palatine).

FEATURED MUSICIANS: Jack Cook (vocals/guitars & jazzhorn); John Marshall (harmonica); Dave Prez (harmonica); Jim Dejoie (clarinet); Hugh Sutton (piano & accordion); Steve Branca (bass); Johnny Broomdust (bass); Dave Hudson (drums); Bill Spaulding (drums); Micro Shaughnessy (scrub-board).

"I Thought I Heard Elliott Bay" is a tribute to Northwest blues legends "Joe & Okes", performed by NW blues legend himself Jack Cook and his extraordinary band the Phantoms of Soul. Nine songs with introductions are featured on this CD and represent a fantastic assembly of blues styles. All selections were originally introduced in Raymond Barrow's novella of the same title and are currently being performed by the Phantoms in a bluesical, also presented under the same heading. Two tracks here are by blues humorist Candid "Joe" McKroy from Astoria, Oregon, who settled in Seattle in 1949. McKroy's "Columbia River Blues" is a piedmont styled blues, featuring the understated phrasing of harmonica virtuoso John Marshall. "Vamp On Your Viaduct" demonstrates McKroy's flair for novelty lyrics and its hokum spark is enabled by the whimsical clarinet work of Jim Dejoie and the energetic licks of scrub-boardist Micro Shaughnessy. Freddy "Okes" Callicott from Bethel, Alaska also arrived in Seattle in 1949 and his lyrical wit is acknowledged in two of his compositions. The title track "Elliott Bay" features the fine piano work of Hugh Sutton and "Salmon Bay", with an even sparser instrumentation, introduces Johnny Broomdust's bowed bass along with Jack Cook's bare fingered guitar picking and vocals. A tip of the hat goes to Seattle hipster Denny Palatine, who's "Dirty Job" toasts the days of the Denny regrade and all its workers. "Meet Me Up In Playland" was Joe & Okes' nearly biggest hit, celebrating the north Seattle amusement park that closed in 1961. The final track "Bug Out" was Palatine's tribute to McKroy and was a predecessor to NW rock & roll. Seattle sound engineer legend Kearney Barton narrates two of the introductions featured on the disc. All and all, if you are a fan of traditional blues and/or Northwest trivia "Elliott Bay" is a must! ---Mary "Ruth" Willis [Northwest Resonator correspondent]