Last year, the Craven Arts Council and Gallery asked Jon Shain to do a tribute show featuring the music of W.C. Handy. He decided to take on the musical challenge of turning music for cornet and big band into music that a solo guitar and singer could perform. He transcribed hours of old piano music and listened to hours of full band recordings of Handy’s music. He re-arranged the music to work for solo guitar and voice.
Host Frank Stasio talks to Shain about the album that came out of that tribute show, “Gettin’ Handy With The Blues.” The Durham-based guitar player performs live in studio with bass player FJ Ventre. They will be performing at theEno Festival in Durham on Wednesday, July 4.