Biography

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Omar Coleman
Live!
Delmark DE 846

“We like our blues with a dose of funk, soul and all other kind of stuff”, says Omar Coleman. One of Omar’s Facebook postings said junior Wells is his favorite soul singer! Eventually these supposedly separate genres run into each other especially with the new generation of blues artists taking over.

Live at Rosa's Lounge, Chicago

1. Snatch It Back And Hold It - Wall To Wall 6:56
2. I’m Ready 3:02
3. Born And Raised 7:00
4. Slow Down Baby 5:19
5. Sit Down Baby - Jody’s Got Your Girl And Gone 8:16
6. Raspberry Wine 4:23
7. Lucky Man 6:22
8. One Request 7:47
9. Give Me The Green Light 4:41
10. Two Headed Woman 5:34

TT 61:49

Omar Coleman, vocals, harmonica
Pete Galanis, guitar
Neal O’Hara, keys (aka Neal Francis)
Dave Forte (1-5),bass
Ari Seder (6-10), bass
Marty Binder, drums


1. Snatch It Back And Hold It - Wall To Wall 6:56 (Blakemore/Guy, Dimension Gate Music/Mic-Shau Music Co., BMI - Foster/Jackson/Miller, Malaco Music Co./Peermusic III Ltd., BMI)
2. I’m Ready 3:02 (Willie Dixon, Hoochie Coochie Music, BMI)
3. Born And Raised 7:00 (Coleman/Ross/Fetzer/Flamini/Hill/Morrison, Esua Publ., ASCAP)
4. Slow Down Baby 5:19 (Omar Coleman/Dave Herrero, Trackforce Music Publ., ASCAP)
5. Sit Down Baby / Jody’s Got Your Girl And Gone 8:16 (Omar Coleman - Barker/Davis/Wilson, EMI Longitude Music, BMI)
6. Raspberry Wine 4:23 (Omar Coleman/Ari Seder, Low Jam Music, ASCAP)
7. Lucky Man 6:22 (Coleman/Ross/Fetzer/Hill/Morrison, Esua Publ., ASCAP)
8. One Request 7:47 (Ross/Raven, Esua Publ., ASCAP)
9. Give Me The Green Light 4:41 (Thomas/Robberts)
10. Two Headed Woman 5:34 (Dixon/Weaver, Conrad Music/Ghana Music, BMI)

Produced by Steve Wagner and Omar Coleman
Album Production and Supervision: Robert G. Koester

Recorded August 25, Sept 15 and 22, 2015 at Rosa's Lounge, Chicago by Steve Wagner


“We like our blues with a dose of funk, soul and all other kind of stuff”, says Omar Coleman. I remember reading one of Omar’s Facebook postings that said junior Wells is his favorite soul singer! Eventually these supposedly separate genres run into each other especially with the new generation of blues artists taking over. Omar’s love of Junior Wells music is evident on this new album; the first song (“Snatch It Back And Hold It”) and last (“Two Headed Woman”) were originally recorded by Junior. Somehow I’m sure Omar is tickled that he is now labelmates with his musical hero and had the opportunity to record the song so well known from Hoodoo Man Blues.
Born & Raised, Omar’s Delmark debut, was released on June 16, 2015. Even though it was only available for the second half of the year it was #15 on Living Blues magazine’s top radio albums of the year. In the LB review of the album Roger Gatch said “Coleman’s previous projects have been respectable efforts, but with Born & Raised he has clearly taken a major step forward. The album bears the mark of an artist who is appropriately confident in his abilities as a singer, harmonica player and songwriter (he wrote or co-wrote 12 of the 14 tracks), and who is steeped in the classic blues sounds of his home city yet unafraid to take them in a more contemporary direction. It is a pleasure to hear how his sound continues to mature and evolve.” The album received overwhelmingly positive media response and made many “Best of 2015” lists.
One of the reasons for the musical success of Born & Raised is the band played together every Tuesday night at Rosa’s Lounge for months. Guitarist Pete Galanis has been holding the Tuesday night slot at Rosa’s since 2007! I attended a few of these nights in preparation for the recording and noticed how the guys had created their own sound and had the arrangements down. After the release of the album I was drawn to attend more Tuesday nights (okay, I live only five minutes away) and decided to record the band live for possible release even though Born & Raised had barely been out two months. Strike while the iron is hot!
Right from the first track this is a stone funk party y’all. Love the seamless segue from “Snatch It” to the first of two Johnnie Taylor songs on the album, “Wall To Wall”. A bit later on the band combines Omar’s original “Sit Down Baby” with Johnnie’s cheatin’ song “Jody’s Got Your Girl And Gone”. There’s more booty funk with “Born & Raised”, “Lucky Man” and a great party version Rufus Thomas’ “Give Me the Green Light”. There’s traditional blues – “I’m Ready” and “Two Headed Woman”, rock ‘n’ roll – “Slow Down Baby”, the jazzy “Raspberry Wine” (love the bit about how west side wine got a higher alcoholic content) and the ballad “One Request”.
Omar’s star is on the rise. This coming summer is the first season of blues festivals since his Delmark debut got circulated. By time this album is released Omar will have already played the 2016 Chicago Blues Festival, the first of many festivals he will be performing at. As the song “Born & Raised” points out Omar was born in 1973. In the blues scheme of things he is just a young pup with a wonderful future ahead.


Mixed by Steve Wagner and Dave Katzman
Cover Photo: Art Priv Amol
Design: Noah Adetunji
Special thanks to Mama Rosa, Tony Mangiullo and the Rosa’s Lounge staff – Mel, Angel and Amberly.


Other Delmark albums of interest:
Omar Coleman, Born & Raised (840) with Toronzo Cannon, Mike Wheeler
Toronzo Cannon, John The Conquer Root (831) with Omar Coleman
Leaving Mood (817)
Mike Wheeler Band, Turn Up!!
Self Made Man (824) with Omar Coleman
Linsey Alexander, Come Back Baby (839)
Been There Done That (822)
Quintus McCormick, Hey Jodie (801)
Dave Specter, Message In Blue (836) with Otis Clay
Syl Johnson, Back In The Game (674) with Hi Rhythm
Robert Ward, New Role Soul (741)
Sharon Lewis, The Real Deal (816)
Junior Wells, Hoodoo Man Blues (612) with Buddy Guy


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