Jason Ricci
Encyclopedia
Jason Ricci is an American
harmonica
player and singer.
, Jason Ricci is the son of the controversial businessman/politician/activist Joe Ricci, founder of Elan School
. Ricci started playing music in punk bands at the age of 14. After discovering a love of the harmonica and Blues music, he turned his attention in that direction. In 1995, Ricci moved from Portland to Memphis, TN, where shortly thereafter he placed first in the Sonny Boy Blues Society contest at 21 years of age. Later that same year Ricci recorded his first album
, Jason Ricci.
In Memphis, Ricci began playing with David Malone Kimbrough, son of blues great Junior Kimbrough
, and soon was a part of the bands of both Kimbroughs and was sitting in with R. L. Burnside
. This also marked a dark period for Ricci, as drug addiction led to a one-year stint in jail.
In 1999, Ricci won the Mars National Harmonica Contest, and began playing with Keith Brown, later recording with him as well. In 2000, he received a two-page write up in Blues Access magazine by Adam Gussow
(harmonica player for Satan and Adam
) saying:
After 15 months with Big Al and the Heavyweights, Ricci started his own band, Jason Ricci & New Blood, in 2002. This band features Shawn Starski, who, in June 2008, was named by Guitar Player Magazine as one of the "Top Ten Hottest New Guitarists." In 2005, Ricci was honored with the Muddy Waters
Most Promising New Blues Artist award.
In 2007 Ricci and New Blood were signed to Eclecto Groove, a new subdivision of Delta Groove Productions
. His first album with the label, titled Rocket Number Nine, was released October 23, 2007. Later in 2009 the band recorded "Done With The Devil" for the same Label. The band as a whole has been nominated for Blues Band of the Year three times by Blues Wax magazine. Ricci won the Blues Critic Award for Harmonica Player of the Year (2008) and was nominated for a Blues Music Award for Harmonica Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010.
By January 2011, Jason had relocated to New Orleans, and assembled a new band, Approved By Snakes, with guitarist John Lisi.
Jason received "Best Harmonica Player" at the May 6, 2010 Blues Music Awards.
gay
male performers touring on the blues circuit today. This has been a professional obstacle as well as an opportunity for Ricci to challenge both gay stereotypes and traditional Blues expectations:
"Done With The Devil" signaled a new direction in Ricci's musical inspiration, as his study of the occult strongly influenced the writing on the album. Ricci has become a student of Thelema
and the writings of Aleister Crowley
, and Ricci has gone so far as to call him "a great holy man." This has prompted more controversy for an already controversial artist, prompting an extended online mea culpa from Ricci himself, in which he fervently denied accusations of Satanic worship.
on July 25, 2011 and charged with Public Intoxication, Public Nudity, and Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury, for allegedly assaulting a police officer during the arrest. Ricci was released on his own recognizance on August 2, 2011. The next day, a woman of Ricci's acquaintance called police to report that her musical studio had been broken into and several items stolen. She also reported to officers that she suspected Jason Ricci. The items taken included music equipment, a computer, and the woman's purse (which contained her bank cards). Police apprehended Ricci, who was submitting to a drug and alcohol test as a result of his previous arrest, and found the woman's bank cards in his possession. He was arrested again in connection with the theft on the preliminary charge of "possession of stolen property."
Jason Ricci has requested a hearing to change his plea to guilty in both cases. The hearing is scheduled for October 24, 2011.
Note: This discography does not include appearances by Jason Ricci or other members of New Blood on other artist’s albums, or various compilations.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
player and singer.
Biography
Raised in Portland, MainePortland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, Jason Ricci is the son of the controversial businessman/politician/activist Joe Ricci, founder of Elan School
Elan School
Élan School was a private, coeducational, controversial residential behavior modification program and therapeutic boarding school in Poland, Androscoggin County, Maine...
. Ricci started playing music in punk bands at the age of 14. After discovering a love of the harmonica and Blues music, he turned his attention in that direction. In 1995, Ricci moved from Portland to Memphis, TN, where shortly thereafter he placed first in the Sonny Boy Blues Society contest at 21 years of age. Later that same year Ricci recorded his first album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Jason Ricci.
In Memphis, Ricci began playing with David Malone Kimbrough, son of blues great Junior Kimbrough
Junior Kimbrough
David "Junior" Kimbrough was an American blues musician. His best known work included "Keep Your Hands Off Her" and "All Night Long". Music journalist Tony Russell stated "his raw, repetitive style suggests an archaic forebear of John Lee Hooker, a character his music shares with that of fellow...
, and soon was a part of the bands of both Kimbroughs and was sitting in with R. L. Burnside
R. L. Burnside
Not to be confused with R. H. Burnside, stage director.R. L. Burnside , born Robert Lee Burnside, was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist who lived much of his life in and around Holly Springs, Mississippi. He played music for much of his life, but did not receive much attention...
. This also marked a dark period for Ricci, as drug addiction led to a one-year stint in jail.
In 1999, Ricci won the Mars National Harmonica Contest, and began playing with Keith Brown, later recording with him as well. In 2000, he received a two-page write up in Blues Access magazine by Adam Gussow
Adam Gussow
Adam Gussow is a scholar, memoirist, and blues harmonica player.Gussow is currently an associate professor of English and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi in Oxford...
(harmonica player for Satan and Adam
Satan and Adam
Satan and Adam, a blues duo consisting of Sterling "Mister Satan" Magee and Adam Gussow , were a fixture on Harlem's sidewalks in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
) saying:
- "I am convinced he along with New Jersey'sNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
Dennis Gruenling is one of the best harmonica players of his generation."
After 15 months with Big Al and the Heavyweights, Ricci started his own band, Jason Ricci & New Blood, in 2002. This band features Shawn Starski, who, in June 2008, was named by Guitar Player Magazine as one of the "Top Ten Hottest New Guitarists." In 2005, Ricci was honored with the Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
Most Promising New Blues Artist award.
In 2007 Ricci and New Blood were signed to Eclecto Groove, a new subdivision of Delta Groove Productions
Delta Groove Productions
Delta Groove Productions is a blues record label based in Van Nuys, California. The company Delta Groove Productions, Inc. was founded by Southern California-based producer, concert promoter and harmonica player Randy Chortkoff...
. His first album with the label, titled Rocket Number Nine, was released October 23, 2007. Later in 2009 the band recorded "Done With The Devil" for the same Label. The band as a whole has been nominated for Blues Band of the Year three times by Blues Wax magazine. Ricci won the Blues Critic Award for Harmonica Player of the Year (2008) and was nominated for a Blues Music Award for Harmonica Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010.
By January 2011, Jason had relocated to New Orleans, and assembled a new band, Approved By Snakes, with guitarist John Lisi.
Jason received "Best Harmonica Player" at the May 6, 2010 Blues Music Awards.
Controversy
Ricci is one of the only openlyComing out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
male performers touring on the blues circuit today. This has been a professional obstacle as well as an opportunity for Ricci to challenge both gay stereotypes and traditional Blues expectations:
Though Ricci does not generally wear his sexuality on his sleeve on stage, his openness with being gay has occasionally been a difficult issue in the traditionally conservative Blues world, as he's been "disinvited" from a number of venues and events.
"The [gay] community doesn't like drum sets and guitars and actual live music. They're used to lip-synching, and dudes in dresses, and Madonna, and Cher, and techno beats. Those are the things that kept me from coming out earlier. I felt like I had nothing in common with the gay community, and I still don't feel like I have a lot in common with the community. I'm hoping that changes, but the majority of their icons are press-friendly little Mickey Mouse-doll figureheads that you're more likely to see on a show redecorating somebody's house than onstage at a blues festival...When I came out of the closet as a gay white male from an upper-middle-class suburban home, I came out as not just gay, but as a white guy, and as a guy who likes punk, and as a guy who didn't come from total poverty, and all those things that we associate with being 'blues' things. And when I did that, I wanted to sing about that. I wanted to write songs about what my life was like, and I wanted to use terminology that was modern."
"Done With The Devil" signaled a new direction in Ricci's musical inspiration, as his study of the occult strongly influenced the writing on the album. Ricci has become a student of Thelema
Thelema
Thelema is a religious philosophy that was established, defined and developed by the early 20th century British writer and ceremonial magician, Aleister Crowley. He believed himself to be the prophet of a new age, the Æon of Horus, based upon a religious experience that he had in Egypt in 1904...
and the writings of Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
, and Ricci has gone so far as to call him "a great holy man." This has prompted more controversy for an already controversial artist, prompting an extended online mea culpa from Ricci himself, in which he fervently denied accusations of Satanic worship.
Legal Troubles
Ricci was arrested in Bloomington, IndianaBloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
on July 25, 2011 and charged with Public Intoxication, Public Nudity, and Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury, for allegedly assaulting a police officer during the arrest. Ricci was released on his own recognizance on August 2, 2011. The next day, a woman of Ricci's acquaintance called police to report that her musical studio had been broken into and several items stolen. She also reported to officers that she suspected Jason Ricci. The items taken included music equipment, a computer, and the woman's purse (which contained her bank cards). Police apprehended Ricci, who was submitting to a drug and alcohol test as a result of his previous arrest, and found the woman's bank cards in his possession. He was arrested again in connection with the theft on the preliminary charge of "possession of stolen property."
Jason Ricci has requested a hearing to change his plea to guilty in both cases. The hearing is scheduled for October 24, 2011.
Discography
- 1995 Jason Ricci (self titled debut) North Magnolia Music
- 1997 Down At The Juke North Magnolia Music
- 2001 Feel Good Funk Self Produced
- 2004 Live At Checkers Tavern Blue Sunday Records
- 2005 Her Satanic Majesty Requests Harmonica Music (Compilation) –Self Produced
- 2006 Blood on the Road Rah Fox Records
- 2007 Rocket Number 9 EclectoGroove Records
- 2009 Done with the Devil EclectoGroove Records
- 2010 Down That Road..., compilation of live tracks
Note: This discography does not include appearances by Jason Ricci or other members of New Blood on other artist’s albums, or various compilations.