| BIG POPPA E |
| NETWORK |
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| "Old School Blues" |
Composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Big Poppa E is a prominent and influential figure in the late 20th
century blues and roots music. Though his career began more than four decades ago with American jazz, he has
broadened his artistic scope over the years to include music representing many varied genres.
Born Mutasim Ra'id Faisal in New York on May 4, 1948. His father was a jazz pianist, composer and arranger of
Caribbean descent, and his mother was a gospel singing schoolteacher from Louisiana. Both parents encouraged
their children to take pride in their diverse ethnic and cultural roots. His father had an extensive record collection
and a shortwave radio that brought sounds from near and far into the home.
Early in his childhood, the young musician learned to play the tenor and alto sax, trombone and harmonica, and
he loved to sing. He discovered his father's guitar and became serious about it in his early teens when a guitarist
from Mississippi moved in next door and taught him the various styles of Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, John
Lee Hooker and Jimmy Reed and other titans of Delta and Chicago blues.
New York in the 1950s was full of recent arrivals, not just from around the U.S. but from all over the globe. "We
spoke several dialects in my house – Southern, Caribbean, African – and we heard dialects from eastern and
western Europe," Poppa E recalls. In addition, musicians from the Caribbean, Africa and all over the U.S.
frequently visited the Faisal home, and Poppa E became even more fascinated with roots – the origins of all the
different forms of music he was hearing, what path they took to reach their current form, and how they influenced
each other along the way. He threw himself into the study of older forms of African-American music – a music that
the record companies of the day largely ignored.
Musi, as he was affectionately called, studied economics at Syracuse University in the late 1960s and later law at
the University of Chicago. Inspired by a dream, he adopted the musical alias of E and later was crowned "Big
Poppa E" by one of Miami's top promoters, DJ Oski. After graduating, he headed west in to Los Angeles, where he
worked as a studio musician for the next 15 years for numerous high-profile studios, including Bolic Sound,
Motown West and Sussex Records. Around this same time, Poppa E also mingled with various blues legends,
including Koko Taylor, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, and Sleepy John Estes.
This diversity of musical experience served as the bedrock for Poppa E's first three recordings: Southern Style:
blues Sessions (2006), Mississippi Reminiscence (2007) and Five Long Years, A Tribute to Carey Bell (2008).
Drawing on all the sounds and styles he'd absorbed as a child and a young adult, these early albums showed signs
of the musical exploration that would be Poppa E's hallmark over the next few years.
In 2008, Poppa E carved out a unique musical niche with a string of adventurous recordings, including Blues A
Healer, Crossroads and Anthology du Blues. In 2008, Poppa E's version of Terraplane Blues was nominated by
the International Academy of Independent Artist for Best Blues Song of the Year and his album, Blues Healer was
nominated for Best Blues Album of the Year by Cash Box Magazine.
Poppa E's recorded output slowed somewhat during the 2010 as he toured relentlessly and immersed himself in
the music and culture of his new home in Miami. Still, 2010 saw the well-received release of Big Poppa E Live in
2010, as well as his celebrated children's album, Children's Classics on the Black Owl Music label.
Poppa E is headed back into the studio in early 2011 to work on a new projected aptly entitled, Bootleggers
Blues. As the title suggests, this twelve-track set marks the fortieth anniversary of Poppa E's rich and varied
recording career by mixing original material, chestnuts borrowed from classic sources, and songs written by a
cadre of highly talented guest artists from around the globe.
"The one thing I've always demanded of the records I've made is that they be listenable and danceable," he says.
"If the record is danceable, it's listenable, it has lots of different rhythms, it's accessible, it's all right in front of you.
It's a lot of fun, and it represents where I am at this particular moment in my life. This record is just the beginning
of another chapter, one that's going to be open to more music and more ideas. Even at the end of forty years, in
many ways my music is just getting started."
century blues and roots music. Though his career began more than four decades ago with American jazz, he has
broadened his artistic scope over the years to include music representing many varied genres.
Born Mutasim Ra'id Faisal in New York on May 4, 1948. His father was a jazz pianist, composer and arranger of
Caribbean descent, and his mother was a gospel singing schoolteacher from Louisiana. Both parents encouraged
their children to take pride in their diverse ethnic and cultural roots. His father had an extensive record collection
and a shortwave radio that brought sounds from near and far into the home.
Early in his childhood, the young musician learned to play the tenor and alto sax, trombone and harmonica, and
he loved to sing. He discovered his father's guitar and became serious about it in his early teens when a guitarist
from Mississippi moved in next door and taught him the various styles of Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, John
Lee Hooker and Jimmy Reed and other titans of Delta and Chicago blues.
New York in the 1950s was full of recent arrivals, not just from around the U.S. but from all over the globe. "We
spoke several dialects in my house – Southern, Caribbean, African – and we heard dialects from eastern and
western Europe," Poppa E recalls. In addition, musicians from the Caribbean, Africa and all over the U.S.
frequently visited the Faisal home, and Poppa E became even more fascinated with roots – the origins of all the
different forms of music he was hearing, what path they took to reach their current form, and how they influenced
each other along the way. He threw himself into the study of older forms of African-American music – a music that
the record companies of the day largely ignored.
Musi, as he was affectionately called, studied economics at Syracuse University in the late 1960s and later law at
the University of Chicago. Inspired by a dream, he adopted the musical alias of E and later was crowned "Big
Poppa E" by one of Miami's top promoters, DJ Oski. After graduating, he headed west in to Los Angeles, where he
worked as a studio musician for the next 15 years for numerous high-profile studios, including Bolic Sound,
Motown West and Sussex Records. Around this same time, Poppa E also mingled with various blues legends,
including Koko Taylor, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, and Sleepy John Estes.
This diversity of musical experience served as the bedrock for Poppa E's first three recordings: Southern Style:
blues Sessions (2006), Mississippi Reminiscence (2007) and Five Long Years, A Tribute to Carey Bell (2008).
Drawing on all the sounds and styles he'd absorbed as a child and a young adult, these early albums showed signs
of the musical exploration that would be Poppa E's hallmark over the next few years.
In 2008, Poppa E carved out a unique musical niche with a string of adventurous recordings, including Blues A
Healer, Crossroads and Anthology du Blues. In 2008, Poppa E's version of Terraplane Blues was nominated by
the International Academy of Independent Artist for Best Blues Song of the Year and his album, Blues Healer was
nominated for Best Blues Album of the Year by Cash Box Magazine.
Poppa E's recorded output slowed somewhat during the 2010 as he toured relentlessly and immersed himself in
the music and culture of his new home in Miami. Still, 2010 saw the well-received release of Big Poppa E Live in
2010, as well as his celebrated children's album, Children's Classics on the Black Owl Music label.
Poppa E is headed back into the studio in early 2011 to work on a new projected aptly entitled, Bootleggers
Blues. As the title suggests, this twelve-track set marks the fortieth anniversary of Poppa E's rich and varied
recording career by mixing original material, chestnuts borrowed from classic sources, and songs written by a
cadre of highly talented guest artists from around the globe.
"The one thing I've always demanded of the records I've made is that they be listenable and danceable," he says.
"If the record is danceable, it's listenable, it has lots of different rhythms, it's accessible, it's all right in front of you.
It's a lot of fun, and it represents where I am at this particular moment in my life. This record is just the beginning
of another chapter, one that's going to be open to more music and more ideas. Even at the end of forty years, in
many ways my music is just getting started."