Album Notes

Living Blues magazine has recently announced the winners of the 2001 Living Blues Critics' Awards.

Houston's Calvin Owens is honored to be named Most Outstanding Blues Musician in the category of Sax, Trumpet, or Horn Section.

Living Blues magazine, now in its thirty-first year, is distributed internationally and generally recognized as the leading periodical documenting the African-American blues tradition.

It is published bi-monthly by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the

University of Mississippi. The awards are determined by nominations
and secret ballots from a large cast of writers located throughout North America.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE "BIG BAND BLUES "

Blues and jazz legend Calvin Owens releases his seventh CD, THE BEST
OF CALVIN OWENS" , on Sawdust Alley Records.

The year 2001 MARK THE DEBUT "THE BEST OF CALVIN OWENS" a thirteen-track CD highlighting the most recent evolution of the diverse artistry of master trumpeter, band leader, singer, composer, arranger, and producer Calvin Owens. Incorporating a mix of blues, rock, jazz, funk, rap, and zydeco, this disc features the Calvin Owens Blues Orchestra and, on selected tracks, numerous other special guests. BB KING,JOHNNY COPELAND,OTIS CLAY,TRUDY LYNN,BOBBY
BYRD,DAVID"FAT HEAD"NEWMAN,ARCHIE BELL,NORMA ZENTENO,RUBY WILSON,BIG
SNAP,CHUBBY CARRIER

What holds this far-reaching package together: Every track features the hard-driving, technically precise trumpet playing for which Owens is already well known among generations of music fans, complemented by the tight orchestration of his talented big band.

Now in his seventh decade, trumpet maestro Owens started out playing with some of the biggest names in blues and jazz, dating back to his first gigs in the 1940s. Most notably he did two long tours of duty with B. B. King, serving as "B. B.'s first music director" during the 1953-57 affiliation and then as bandleader for King's orchestra from 1978 until 1984. Among the results of their collaboration was a 1983 Grammy Award-winning album called Blues 'n' Jazz, for which Owens wrote all the arrangements.

"THE BEST OF CALVIN OWENS" CD issued by Sawdust Alley Records, the production company Owens formed over ten years ago as he began to pursue his own artistic projects. Previous titles, in order of release, include True Blue, That's Your Booty, the Spanish-language collaboration with singer Norma Zenteno Es Tu Booty, and Another Concept.

"THE BEST OF CALVIN OWENS" demonstrates again that Owens is a vital presence in American music, a true maestro whose work bridges past and present, constantly evolving beyond simple genre boundaries to define a truly unique sound.

MUSICALLY YOURS

ROGER WOOD