Album Notes

Katherine Davis grew up in Chicago, and began performing in 1979. Although she initially wanted to sing opera, her musical interests shifted to blues, jazz, and theater. Katherine is an entertaining performer. She has recently written and starred in an autobiographical theater production entitled “I Dream in Blues.” In Nina Metz’s Chicago Tribune theater review on February 10, 2006 she described Davis’ performance as one that “… pulls you in with her haunting sweetness and utter lack of pretension.” When Katherine is not performing, she is happily teaching the blues to children in Chicagoland public schools.

Blues diva Katherine Davis was joined by legendary musicians Erwin Helfer, John Brumbach and John Whitfield who played music so exciting that the audience was dancing in the aisles. Rock This House captures the energetic magic of this live performance, and the timeless appeal of classic blues.

The four Ensemble performers have played together in Chicago since 1985, and toured Europe in 1996 and 2001. Although they come from different musical backgrounds, in combination they blend the best of their individual talents to create an awesome and inspiring sound.

The Chicago Boogie Ensemble performed with three special guest musicians on this disc: Willie Henderson, a soulful, baritone saxophonist who has worked with Jackie Wilson; Lurrie Bell, a premier guitarist that has made numerous recordings and son of harmonica veteran Cary Bell; and Kenny Smith, an exciting drummer and son of Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, longtime drummer for Muddy Waters.