A blues blast at Yoshi’s
Terrie Odabi, Wee Willie Walker, Anthony Paule on a blazing bill
Terrie Odabi, the most dynamic blues singer to emerge in the Bay Area in recent decades, doesn’t need any help packing Yoshi’s to the rafters, thank you very much. She’s sold out the club three times, with her initial triumph coming before she even released her breakthrough, self-produced 2016 album, “My Blue Soul.”
But when the Oakland native returns to the Jack London Square institution Thursday, March 8, she’s sharing the billing with the great soul singer Wee Willie Walker and the Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra, who are making their debut at the club. On a scene where artists too often fight for crumbs, Odabi refuses to shut fellow musicians out of the kitchen.
“A lot of artists don’t want to share information,” Odabi says. “I believe once you’ve played a club or festival they’re probably not going to want you back for a while. Why not help someone else get ahead?” Paule, the veteran Napa guitarist, has
played a similar role for Odabi and Walker in Europe, inviting them on several tours with his horn-powered orchestra, including a high-profile residency at Italy’s Porretta Soul Festival. He wasn’t the first veteran California cat to champion the long-overlooked Walker.
Blues harp star Rick Estrin, who calls Walker “the greatest, deepest soul singer in the world today,” jump-started his career by bringing the vocalist into San Jose’s Greaseland Studios and producing 2015’s “If Nothing Ever Changes,” which earned a Blues Music Award nomination for album of the year.
This year, Walker’s 2017 Greaseland Studio-recorded album with the Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra, “After a While,” is up for five Blues Music Awards in Memphis on May 10, including album of the year and song of year for their original anthem “Hate Takes a Holiday.” His playful duet with Odabi on “Lovey Dovey” gives a taste of what’s in store at Yoshi’s (and San Jose’s Fountain Blues Festival on June 23, when they again join forces with Paule).
The contrast between Walker’s sweet, imploring tenor and Odabi’s sensuous, fullbodied alto makes for a thrilling contrast, but that’s not the only way they serve as dramatic foils for each other.
“Having a man and a woman fronting the band makes it very interesting,” Paule says. “She’s a big and tall woman, and Willie — well, he’s not Wee Willie for nothing. It makes an impression when they sing a love song.”
For Walker, the climb to the national spotlight has taken a lifetime. At 76, he’s a direct link to an era when gospel quartets served as the proving grounds for pioneering soul singers like Sam Cooke, Solomon Burke and Wilson Pickett.
Raised in Memphis, Walker started touring the gospel circuit at 15, spending summers on the road. Though he settled in Minneapolis in 1959, Walker maintained close ties to the burgeoning Memphis music scene. In the ’60s, he recorded numerous demo tracks and a handful of singles for Goldwax Records, focusing on songs by his friend George Jackson, a prolific pop and R&B composer.
While he performed around the Twin Cities and recorded with some local bands, Walker sought the stability of a day job to support his family. It wasn’t until he retired a few years ago from his longtime gig as a machine operator in a corrugated box factory that he started touring widely.
“This summer is kind of loaded. It’s overwhelming,” Walker says. “It’s crazy, but I love it, and I’m so grateful to Terrie for making the introduction at Yoshi’s. I’ve heard so much about this place. We were performing together in Italy and in Spain, the time I spent with her is something special. She’s such a sweet soul and a great singer. She’s like a rose, just blossoming.”