"King" Louie & Baby James
Waterfront Blues Festival
Portland, OR.
June 30, 2006

Recorded from KBOO FM, which is a local all volunteer community radio station. The station doesn't have a lot of power to broadcast and I feel lucky to be in the area which it reaches. Consequently there are some drops, reception and other various problems like cutting in for interviews and such. Mostly all are a good listen. I have tried to "cleanup" some of the drops in sound and cuts. There is nothing I can do to the reception problems. Most only last a only a number of seconds.

Enjoy, twofthrs


Although Louis Pain and James Benton have worked together in various bands over the years, they only recently joined forces as King Louie and Baby James. But the band is already generating plenty of buzz.

"King Louis," as a key former member of the Paul deLay Band and Mel Brown's popular "B-3 Organ Group," has led the local revival of the Hammond organ sound. And "Sweet Baby James" has been one of the most soulful vocalists in the Northwest since the heyday of the legendary Williams Avenue scene in the '50s and '60s. Together, Louis and James are simply dynamite.

Filling out this exciting group are the soulful Renato Caranto on sax and Anthony Jones, arguably the most sought-after young drummer in Portland, along with Grammy-nominated pianist Janice Scroggins. Peter Dammann, the searing blues guitarist with Paul deLay and D.K. Stewart, has promised to sit in. This set will satisfy your soul!

"King Louie" Pain-organ :
This San Francisco transplant has become Portland's best-known exponent of the mighty Hammond, anchoring Mel Brown's popular organ group for over seven years and performing & recording with numerous other top local artists including Paul deLay, Curtis Salgado, Linda Hornbuckle, and Tom Grant. Louis has also worked with drum legend Bernard Purdie, Tower of Power guitarist Bruce Conte, Santana saxophonist Jules Broussard, and many others.

"Sweet Baby" James Benton-vocals :
Long considered one of the most soulful singers in the Northwest, "Sweet Baby" started his career singing with such west coast vocal jazz groups at The Audios and the Del-Tones. James has been a fixture in Portland since his days running "The Backyard," an after-hours club that was prominent during the Williams Avenue heyday of the 50's and 60's. As Willamette Week wrote, "Soul shouter Benton is a human landmark of Portland jazz."