Osgood & Blaque - Osgood & Blaque - Blog http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html Osgood & Blaque: Blog Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:27:37 -0700 Me And Mississippi: We Got Stories To Tell http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/me_and_mississippi_we_got_stories_to_tell
Certainly, we remember bluesmen Tommy Johnson and Mott Willis, both residents of Crystal Springs, Ms. Tommy Johnson was born near Terry, Mississippi in 1896. Later, he moved to Crystal Springs where he lived most of his life. After learning to play the guitar, he married and moved to a plantation near Drew, Ms, where he met Charlie Patton, Willie Brown and other blues musicians who had a tremendous impact on his life. Tommy Johnson is best known for his original rendition of "Canned Heat Blues". Mott Willis recorded "Traveling Man Blues", "Someday Blues" and "Bad Night Blues" during his tenure with Hy-Tone Records. Both men appeared and disappeared almost before many of us were old enough to hear the story about them. Yet, it seems that more and more gifted personalities are emerging out of this small, often overlooked section of Mississippi.

For example, men like Greg Osgood was born and raised in the small community of Gatesville on the outskirts of Crystal Springs, Ms. Osgood has entertained audiences around the world. From America to Asia and back to America he has experienced the musical cultures of Thailand, Taiwan, Okinawa and Tokyo and Germany, experimenting with various genres including classic jazz, soul, pop and R&B. Having toured with Purple Haze in the early '80s, he is no novice to the stage. Since then, he has performed with several bands including his latest duo-band project. Now a gifted blues musician in his early forties, Osgood has teamed up with a female vocalist and harmonica player, Cee Blaque, from Vicksburg, Ms. Together they comprise Osgood & Blaque Duo Band who were welcomed with warm and cheering applause at their debut performance at the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation during Crystal Spring's Annual Tomato Festival in 2006.

On the other side of the coin, Cee Blaque's history originates as a young child at the Holly Grove Baptist Church where she grew up. Her fire for singing was fueled by Mrs. Adlay Thomas, a superb vocalist at her church. "She is, to me, my greatest mentor! I have always, since I was a small girl, wanted to sing just like her. Her singing would reach out around you and stand you up, and fill you with the presence of spirit! Whenever I can, I go to hear her sing. She is still my teacher and still sings as great today as she did during my childhood!", Blaque admits. Blaque's harmonica style has been compared to that of Louisiana-born Little Walter who achieved a saxophone-like sound with his harmonica. Blaque's vocal delivery and careful harmonic phrases are a deep personification of her heartfelt yearnings while growing up in and around the Mississippi Delta and Catfish Row. Blaque's vocal performance offers intriquing embellishments to whatever she's singing, whether cover tunes or original material. Adding her own variety of harmonic calls, vocal scats coupled with authority and resilience, Blaque brings returns an era of Big Mama Thornton, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Koko Taylor and Etta James, offering much more than meets the eye. It has even been said that "Greg Osgood is a master keyboard artist and vocalist and is the perfect complement to the passionate torch singer and harp-playing Cee Blaque". Osgood & Blaque Duo Band presents melodies that are carefully blended against a backdrop of beautiful keyboard-fingered piano, strings and organ coupled with well-synced bass and drums.

In 2009, Greg Osgood and Cee Blaque were both honored on a blues marker in Vicksburg, Mississippi alongside other African American musicians of note including Willie Dixon, Louisiana Red, Artie "Blues Boy" White, Percy Strothers, Little Joe Blue, Milt Hinton, Muddy Waters, among others, who have lived in communities along the southern stretch of Highway 61 in Mississippi that are included along the blues trail. The next time you're in Vicksburg, you may view this blues marker at the corner of Washington and Grove Streets in downtown Vicksburg. "[These] musicians have and are setting the precedent for twentieth and twenty-first century music". -Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Blues Trail Commission

Greg Osgood shares a sentimental story about growin' up in his Mississippi birthplace: "Raised in this quiet, rural, predominantly black community with its lush fruit trees that range from plum, apple, pear, apricot, peach and persimmon and abundant muscadine, black berry, rasp berry and huckleberry vines, life as a child seemed very close to paradise and provided much in the way of pleasantry for children living in this sparely populated community. The typical day started early. You might hear a rooster crow and you could always hear crickets chirping and birds singing. If you lived by the river there were also other sounds of nature that filled the air. On Sunday mornings almost everybody in the neighborhood went to church. For everyone in my family, it was mandatory. After church we had Sunday dinners and cookouts, barbecues often accompanied by the local pastor, who almost always got more than his share of delicacies. Sunday evenings were set aside for scripture readings, singin' hymns and holding prayer meetings. I remember how my mother used to sit in her rocking chair that was on the front porch. She’d sang the words to “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” so beautifully, she'd rock me and herself to sleep. Yeah, me and old Mississippi. It might take us a while but we could tell you some stories".

Check out Me And Mississippi on CD. Listen to Osgood & Blaque: Raw.]]> http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/me_and_mississippi_we_got_stories_to_tell Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:27:37 -0800 Osgood & Blaque - Osgood & Blaque - Blog About Vicksburg, Mississippi http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/about_vicksburg_mississippi Cee and I are avid coffee drinkers. We like to sit on the patio at just about daybreak, drinking a nice, hot cup of our favorite coffee, which by the way, goes well with a donut or two, while listening to the comforting sound of birds singing. We would read excerpts from the current copy of Reader's Digest. Cee loves to keep to date with the Vicksburg Post daily newspaper. Occasionally, we'd see a squirrel or two and it reminds me of the beauty of nature. We both regularly enjoy this morning fetish, as it were, and are often caught away in its observance, until we are suddenly interrupted by the loud rumble of the city's garbage truck as it barges down the street collecting its due for the day.

We also enjoy another local pasttime. Have you ever been to the Overlook? There are two of them, of course, and I'm sure you've been to at least one if you live in Vicksburg. We go there in the evenings sometimes before sundown with our coffee in the thermost, steaming hot, and we sit and enjoy the beautiful view of the Mississippi River Bridge, the ripples in the water below and the cool brisk breeze that blows and flows just like the river. Every now and then we'd get a glimpse of the Sweet Olive as it makes it way back to its starting point. It reminds us so well of how many times we simply pass right by these things and never stop to think about how historical Vicksburg really is. After a while, we'd mosey on back to the house and find something else to do.]]> http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/about_vicksburg_mississippi Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:21:23 -0800 Osgood & Blaque - Osgood & Blaque - Blog What's All The Hype About Using Digital Technology? http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/whats_all_the_hype_about_using_digital_technology TheMiracleOfMidiBanner.JPG_resizedThough music and songwriting played a major part of my childhood, I don't set the date for my first composition until later. Being a pianist and an electronic musician and composer, I depend on a solid connection between my heart and my ears. I owe a lot of thanks to my mother, who sang almost every day! And so I was introduced to music very young and thus began training my ears even before I was born. I took the first years of music classes during junior high and high school while participating in the shcool band from 1976 - 1980. This was my first true formal training in music. It was quite enjoyable, but I found myself writing less music, even becoming a little disinterested. I value the things that I learned from those classes but there was something about the technical side that stole away the link between my ears and my heart. My music-writing kind of dwindled for the next few years as I dropped all music classes and focused on required credits for acquiring a high school diploma. There were times, even during my teenage years, when I experimented with recording techniques and composition styles, but little finished material came out of it.

In 1993, I purchased a Roland E-66 Electronic Keybaord and spent my first few hours in a real home studio. I was introduced to and immediately ensnared by MIDI sequencing! The following summer I took my finished product to BUMA Productions. Using only a built-in six-track recorder on my electronic keyboard, I recorded my first four original songs ever! I mixed the drums, bass, guitar, piano & strings until I achieved the desired quality of sound. What a miracle that was for me at that time! I called the album "Amour" and in 1997 I began recieving royalties for radio airplay in Canada.

Over the next several years I spent a lot of time experimenting with musical techniques, traveling with bands, performing solo shows at parties, weddings, clubs, restaurants, parks, and the like. From 1993 to 1999 I was known as "Greg Osgood-The One-Man-Band" and I could hold a crowd by myself simply using high-tech electronic keyboard manipulations. This was both fun and financially rewarding. Although I was happy with what BUMA Productions and I had accomplished, I wanted to do the "whole-nine-yards" thing.

So, in 1999, I began rekindling my desire to create. With electronic keyboards becoming fast enough for digital audio recording to be reliable, I wanted to put my music down the way I felt it. I recorded my first radio hit "Back To Back" in April, 2002, but now, I have quite a few finished pieces. I joined a group called "The Dominoes" and became their lead vocalist. It was a great opportunity to explore the challenges of stage performance, club ettiquette, fan mail, and traveling throughout the chitlin circuit. Although the Dominoes tried to stay together through what we called "stormy weather", we were unsuccessful. So, with the demise of that group, I saw the opportunity to organize my own band.

In the fall of 2002, I founded "Mississippi-145" and we played a few gigs every other week around Jackson and Vicksburg, Mississippi while we sought to get our show tight, as it were. Even so, the group began to fade due to lack of sincerity and dedication. Thus, it became my immediate objective to go back and do what I had started back in 1995 (the "one-man-band" thing). I had met a fine female vocalist from Vicksburg, Cee Blaque and we discussed the possibility of performing as a duo. This was challenging, but the hard work and time spent preparing our act eventually began to pay off.

It has been a great honor to work with Blaque. She is a super vocalist and budding harmonica player from Vicksburg, Ms.Singing with the church choir without the aid of microphones is one of the reason why she sings with the power and feeling that she does. In her own words, she told me: "I wanted to be heard when I sang, so I taught myself to sing at the volume that was really comfortable for me with the best perception of the words and the tone".

I am happy with my music career. Over the years I have had the privilege of sharing the stage with some great entertainers, some popular and some not-so-popular. Though my music is often categorized under "blues", I write only what speaks to me on some personal level. I don't try to target any one specific style, although from time to time I may experiment with a certain genre. In trying to classify or describe my own music, I've found that, like good friends, I know each song so well that I can no longer pass judgment on them. I let my listeners make their own observations.-Greg Osgood

Buy Greg Osgood music.
]]> http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/whats_all_the_hype_about_using_digital_technology Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:52:16 -0800 Osgood & Blaque - Osgood & Blaque - Blog Setting the Precedent For Twenty-First Century Music http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/setting_the_precedent_for_twentyfirst_century_music Osgood & Blaque Duo Band is one of the most widely-acclaimed new musical acts to come along in years, performing over 150 live shows annually with clients residing all over the United States. Before the reemergence of solo and duo performers, focus was primarily on acoustical performances. However, the development of compact musical acts known as "duo-band" in recent years has contributed to a significant change in the direction that live musical solo and duo performances has taken.

Louis Jordan (July 8, 1908 - February 4, 1975) was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Jordan exhibited a brilliant sense of showmanship that brought audiences first-rate entertainment "without any loss of musical integrity." Against the backdrop of house parties, fish fries, and corner grills, Jordan performed songs that appealed to millions of black and white listeners. Able to "straddle the fence" between these two audiences, Jordan emerged as one of the first successful crossover artists of American popular music. What comes to mind are Jordan's words: "We do with our little band what they do with their big band. We make the [music] jump!"

Though almost everyone enjoys a good performance by a big name band, experience has shown that big bands are often too large and too problematic to meet the entertainment needs of conventional facility proprietors who own restaurants, coffee shops, art galleries, museums, country clubs and the like. Then too, who will meet the personal needs of individuals who both want and enjoy live musical performances at their home. Fortunately, there is no need to fret over this dilemma. You won't have to hire a six-piece band to do the job. Thanks to the development of compact musical acts known as "duo-band", first-rate, live musical entertainment is available upon request whenever you desire it, whether for business or pleasure. As pioneers of this trend, Osgood & Blaque Duo Band have found a way to offer the big band "sound" without the "big band" complications through a concept that transforms the theories and ideals of American showman, Louis Jordan.

The 'musical integrity' of Osgood & Blaque Duo Band's performance at Handy's Blues Hall on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, is well noted. There was well over a hundred people packed into this little blues club and the ones who couldn't get in were standing on the outside looking through the windows and peeping over peoples heads, seeing for the first time in their lives a duo-band that operates much like a real six-piece band. "All eyes were on the two of us. They could smell the blues. It was beautiful! We had that place rockin'! We got rave reviews! It was a great show! It was a great event", recalls Cee Blaque. Joe Whitmer, director and coordinator for the International Blues Challenge event said regarding [Osgood & Blaque Duo Band's] 2006 performance: “I want to personally congratulate as well as thank you for making this year’s challenge the best in history. You should be very proud of your performance on Beale Street! Everyone is raving about the great talent that you brought to town for the International Blues Challenge. My hat off to you!”

Many people associate live music entertainment only with wedding ceremonies and receptions, but you can add a special touch to any event or party, be it a conference, a graduation ceremony, a birthday, a cruise, a garden party, a special dinner, a dance, a theatrical show or a romantic evening when you just want to propose to your girlfriend. Enjoy a casual barbecue with friends and loved ones. Organize a group and hold a book signing or book reading with very soft classic tunes from your favorite era. Help your local charity by arranging a fund raiser to benefit the needy. Send your youngsters to a movie with the babysitter while you sneak away to bask in the glow of your own private anniversary party or show.

Of course, you may have an idea of your own. The thing to remember is: Fun is the name of the game. Osgood & Blaque Duo Band is happy and willing to work with you in your desire to experience live musical performances for your indoor and outdoor activities. If you're ready, go to Osgood & Blaque's Official Website and contact them directly.

"[These] musicians have and are setting the precedent for the twentieth and twenty-first century music". -Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Blues Trail Commission]]> http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/setting_the_precedent_for_twentyfirst_century_music Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:16:10 -0700 Osgood & Blaque - Osgood & Blaque - Blog When I Was Seventeen... http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/when_i_was_seventeen "I was in a good mood when I asked the hotel manager if I could play that big grand piano they had sitting in the lobby. The manager says: "Sure. We don't pay anybody but you're welcome to play. I thought: "It's a shame to have such a fine piano as this and no piano player. So, I took a seat and started playing. Soon, a small crowd of people came and started requesting songs. "Do you know this? Can you play such-and-such". Of course, their requests were accompanied with a liberal tip. One woman bought me shot of Tequila, a budweiser and gave me a $100 bill. I played a few more selections including "Sitting On Top of The World" and "Danny Boy" before finally leaving and going to bed...it was a very good year!"]]> http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/when_i_was_seventeen Sat, 01 Aug 2009 23:20:30 -0700 Osgood & Blaque - Osgood & Blaque - Blog Emerging Onto The Professional Stage http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/emerging_onto_the_professional_stage I've been a thriving artists for decades but I can remember, like it was yesterday, when I first started performing back in the '80s. When I was a relatively new performer people liked my show and my music but, after performing for several years, I can honestly say that many of these same people have become standing members of my fan club and follow me around to see my show. I remember one specific booking when I showed up to play the venue for the first time. The venue owner had reservations about whether or not I could excite the audience. He even went so far as to tell me what songs he thought I should sing and how to perform them. I don’t think I have to tell you how that conversation went. He finally left me alone to do the show my way. I was professional, creative and got a standing ovation. The audience loved my show! After the show he told me: "You're pretty good". I asked: "Do you say that because of my talent or because of the audience's reaction?" He replied: "No. You're talented. I can see you've been around a while". I told him: "Actually, I am relatively new, but that doesn't mean I can't entertain your audience. I try to follow the example of more experienced performers and I prefer to think of myself as an "emerging" artist". My advice is: If you are a new artist, you may not be unanimously known at every venue you perform, but if you apply what you learn successfully you will certainly emerge or "come into view" of people who have never seen you before. Are you simply drawing attention to yourself? Or, are you "emerging"? In different parts of the world people expect different things. Experienced performers handle this situation with courage, tact, friendliness and professionalism while they keep on performing. Some allow negativity to cause them to become discouraged or quit. However, the more you perform before people and new faces, it's just a matter of time before you gain the experience you need. In the music world its called "paying your dues". But pay your dues the right way. Be yourself. Let people like you. Don't be rude. Love your fans and your music and you will grow. Indeed, you will emerge onto the professional stage.]]> http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/emerging_onto_the_professional_stage Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:20:52 -0700 Osgood & Blaque - Osgood & Blaque - Blog What motivates "Rebirth of the Blues" album? http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/what_motivates_rebirth_of_the_blues_album Our inspiration for creating Re-Birth of the Blues comes from several factors. We are continually progressing as soul/blues artists and as a small act with a big sound. Performance-wise, our main challenge was in making the transition from being known as a "good duo group" to being recognized as a "blues band". For decades, and maybe centuries, a band has been defined as an act of three pieces or more. But Webster's dictionary defines "band" as: "three or more musicians who play together". Osgood & Blaque consist of only two members who play together on a regular basis. Our performances include original and popular blues and soul from the big band era of blues, jazz and swing. In 2006, we were nominated by the Vicksburg Blues Society to participate in the International Blues Challenge held on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Joe Whitmer, director and coordinator of the event said regarding our performance: "I want to personally congratulate as well as thank you for making this years' challenge the best in history. You should be very proud of your performance on Beale Street! Everyone is raving about the great talent that you brought to town for the International Blues Challenge. My hat off to you". I would say that our main motivation continues to be our love for the blues, our fans, and our deep respect and admiration for the blues pioneers who paved the way blues to exist in our day.]]> http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/what_motivates_rebirth_of_the_blues_album Mon, 01 Jan 2007 23:19:08 -0800 Osgood & Blaque - Osgood & Blaque - Blog Just The Simple Things http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/just_the_simple_things We were very happy to entertain at the Shady Lawn Nursing Home at their annual Spring Fling this year. Picture everyone outside, the music is nice and groovy and it was just plain good ol' fun. The sun wasn't too hot but those shade trees have fine way of making themselves convenient on a day like this. Greg and I drank sodas, ate hotdogs, chips and the usual festivity treats and got our fill of complimentary compensation. But what we enjoyed most were the smiles, the endearing smiles on the faces of those who really appreciated having us there. The director of the event walked up to us and kindly thanked us for our generous support. We really didn't mind it at all.]]> http://gregoryosgood.com/blog.html/just_the_simple_things Sat, 15 Apr 2006 00:28:39 -0700 Osgood & Blaque - Osgood & Blaque - Blog