Israeli blues band CG and the Hammer has been chosen to represent Israel in the upcoming International Blues Challenge (IBC) in Memphis, TN, Februray 3-5,2005. Over 100 bands will compete for $25,000 in cash and prizes and the title "Best Unsigned Blues Band". The event is sponsored by the Blues Foundation (www.blues.org) which serves over 100 affiliated blues organizations and thousands of members worldwide.

About CG and the Hammer
When Dov Hammer (formerly of The Daily Blues) and Sagi "CG" Shorer (formerly of CG Blues) first met in 1999, both had already paid plenty of dues, both as sidemen (sharing stages with such blues greats as Paul deLay, Zora Young, Billy Branch and the late King Earnest Baker, among others) and leading their own bands. The two soon joined forces to create the group now known as The CG & the Hammer Blues Band.

CG and the Hammer's dynamic stage performance showcases original songs by the band, as well as blues classics from Robert Johnson to B.B. king. The members of the band are Dov Hammer - vocals & harmonica; Sagi "CG" Shorer - vocals & guitars; Kfir "Big Jimmy C." Tzairi - keyboards; Nimrod "Harry" Sadot - bass; Oren "Pass" Avisar - drums.

From bars to festivals, CG & The Hammer thrill their audiences with a combination of passion, energy and honesty. Their music is never a re-creation of sounds from the past, but rather an updated, vital celebration of the Blues as the soundtrack of real life.

"Hammer's vocals and Harmonica are consistently inspired, Shorer's guitar solos light up each track. The band wails with the right combination of imagination and reverance for the Blues tradition." The Jerusalem Post

"The Joyous and energetic performance of Hammer, Shorer and Co. showcase original songs by the band as well as blues classics, from Robert Johnson to BB King." Haaretz daily newspaper

New CD Released - "Going Deep"
After years of performing and recording with electric Blues bands, Dov Hammer felt the urge to return to his roots and play acoustic music. For the past 2 years he has held a steady acoustic show at Tel -Aviv's Mike's PLace where he uses the stripped down format to bring out the full intensity and passion of the Blues .These shows have attracted a growing number of fans, and were the inspiration for the recording of this CD. Recorded and co-produced by guitarist Ronnie Katz, “Going Deep" features 12 original songs. "Going Deep" will be entered into the IBC Best Self-Produced CD competition.

Apalachee Blues Society Brings the Blues Alive

By Ken Winker

Apalachee Blues Society, December 2004

Anyone following the music scenes in Tallahassee may have noticed an upsurge over the past few years in the Blues Scene in the Tallahassee area.. I'm talking about "The Blues," that genuine musical style unique to America from which many other musical styles came from.

A major force behind the rise of the Blues in the Tallahassee area is the Apalachee Blues Society (ABS), a volunteer non-profit organization started about four years ago by people who love the Blues and felt the need to do what we can to nurture and promote it.

On January 28, 2005, the Apalachee Blues Society is presenting to the Tallahassee community, a blues band from Israel. CG and the Hammer Blues Band [www.cgandthehammer.com], coming to Memphis, Tennessee to compete in the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge, will first be coming to Tallahassee, Florida for a very unique blues concert event. Israel's Blues for Peace [www.bluesforpeace.com] organization is sponsoring CG and the Hammer Blues Band's trip to Memphis. Opening for CG and the Hammer Blues Band will be Tallahassee's own blues and boogie-woogie piano man, Steve Sternberg. This event will be held on January 28, 2005, at Tallahassee's American Legion Hall on beautiful Lake Ella.

Prior to the creation of the Apalachee Blues Society, Tallahassee had another blues society called the Big Bend Blues Society. Some of the same people who were involved in the BBBS revived the organization with a new name and new people. Tallahassee also had Dave's CC Club off of Bradfordville Road, a rare, treasured, true back-in-the-woods juke joint where Blues greats and legends came to perform. More about the blues club later.

The Apalachee Blues Society is a membership organization with a board of directors, officers and about 225 members. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service granted the ABS 501(c) 3 status which was a big accomplishment for the organization.

Over the past four years, the ABS has produced a number of concerts, most of them held at the American Legion Hall on Lake Ella, bringing Blues artists from across the country to Tallahassee, including Rod Price and Shakey Vick, Phillip Walker, Alberta Adams, Otis Taylor (a benefit concert for the Tallahassee Homeless Shelter), Johnny Sansone, Tony Lynn Washington, Darrel Nulisch, Fruteland Jackson, and T.J. Wheeler.

Other concert events produced by the ABS included a celebration of the late Robert Johnson's 91st birthday at the Java Heads Café, a benefit for the American Legion Hall featuring Acme Rhythm and Blues, Bogazedi, Big Daddy and Red Hot Java, and Charles Atkins and Tasso, and an Apalachee Blues Heritage Music Festival featuring numerous local musicians including Richie Summa, the Jess Roberts Band, the Andrew Altman Group, Mark Russell, TZ Jonz and the Ontological Elephants, J.B.'s Zydeco Zoo, CPR, the Fantastic Sons of Cavalry, Big Daddy and Red Hot Java, and Rick Lollar.

The ABS also recently hosted a Ray Charles Tribute Concert and Movie Premier Party to honor the late, great Ray Charles and to welcome to Tallahassee's theaters, the movie RAY starring Jamie Foxx. "Sir" Charles Atkins, ABS Board President, and the Florida State University Blues Lab Band performed songs made famous by Ray Charles. This event was a fund raiser for the ABS's Blues-in-the-Schools Program.

The ABS' Blues-in-the-Schools program is where we bring Blues artists into the schools to let students hear what the Blues sounds like, where it came from, and how the Blues has contributed to many musical styles. Besides having local Blues artists "Sir" Charles Atkins, Randall "Big Daddy" Webster, and Jon Copps participate in the program, we have also brought nationally known Blues artists and educators Fruteland Jackson, TJ Wheeler, and Otis Taylor into our schools. All of these artists/educators not only teach students about the Blues, but also teach students about ways to express their feelings, rise above adversity, and teach them about what TJ Wheeler calls Hope, Heroes, and the Blues. Funding for the ABS Blues-in-the-Schools program has been provided through grants from the Tallahassee/Leon County Cultural Resources Commission.

The ABS has also gone international by partnering with the Lee Delta Blues Club in Cork, Ireland. ABS members, including the Tallahassee Blues Review (Charles Atkins, Randall Webster, and Jon Copps) went to Cork, Ireland in the fall of 2003 to participate in the Lee Delta Blues Club's first blues festival. Besides playing the blues in and visiting many pubs in Cork, ABS members also had a chance to tour southern Ireland and even kiss the Blarney Stone.

The ABS also participated in the 2003 Year of the Blues by partnering with the Paradigm Restaurant and Lounge and the Tallahassee Film Society and presenting original Blues movies produced by Martin Scorsese shown over WFSU-TV and PBS stations across the nation. The ABS also provided live Blues music for this event.

The ABS' major efforts have been producing the Freedom Blues Festival in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This event, first started by the good folks at what used to be called Dave's CC Club, and which wasn't held for two years, was revived by the ABS in 2003 and in 2004.

The 2005 Freedom Blues Festival will be held at The Moon, 1105 Lafayette Street, Tallahassee, FL., January 10-16, 2005, and will feature the best in international, national and regional blues, gospel, and roots acts.

Besides music in The Moon on two stages January 15 and 16, the festival will also have a fringe component with blues acts performing in over 20 clubs and venues, including the premier blues club in Tallahassee, the Bradfordville Blues Club. Blues jams, dances, blues films and lectures, blues panel discussions, and harp/guitar workshops will make the 2005 Freedom Blues Festival a true community-wide event for blues lovers.

For more information about the 2005 Freedom Blues Festival, go to www.freedombluesfest.org"
www.apalacheebluessociety.org"
www.freedombluesfest.org
www.apalacheebluessociety.org

About Blues for Peace

Blues for Peace was established in Israel to honor the roots of blues music, promote peace and the understanding that ALL peoples have had their share of the blues. The BFP slogan is "And they shall beat their swords into guitars". A member of the Blues Foundation, Blues for Peace is the sponsor of CG and the Hammer's participation in the IBC competition.

Blues for Peace events have included an evening of "Blues and Ethiopian Music"; a "Blues Bash" for a People to People that toured Israel, Jordan and Lebanon; a "Faith, Hope and the Blues" day in Jerusalem; midnight "Blues Cruise" on the Sea of Galilee and a "Blues Band Marathon" featuring CG & The Hammer.

Recognized by UNESCO as promoting the "Culture of Peace", Blues for Peace has appeared in Blues Revue, BBC Global Hit, Downbeat, USA Today, Jerusalem Post, CNN Student News, PBS American Masters, Experience Hendrix, Memphis Commercial Appeal and other media.

For more information
CG & the Hammer, Email Dov Hammer
Blues for Peace, Email Blues for Peace

"Local Blues Act Heads for Memphis"

Local bluesman, American-born Dov Hammer, will represent his adopted country in his country of birth early next year at a prestigious contest. Hammer will front the CG and Hammer band at the International Blues Challenge (IBC) in Memphis, Tennessee, to be held February 3-5, 2005.

Former Chicago singer-harmonica player Hammer grew up on a rich blues diet in "the northern capital of the blues," as the Windy City is known. For the past 20 years he has been plying his trade on a gradually burgeoning local blues scene, regularly appearing at such venues as Mike's Place. His forthcoming US appearance follows on the heels of his first recording as leader, "Going Deep." CG and Hammer will be among over 100 bands at the IBC competing for $25,000 in cash and prizes, and the title "Best Unsigned Blues Band." The event is sponsored by the Blues Foundation, which serves over 100 affiliated blues organizations worldwide.

Last year, Israel was represented by the Jerusalem-based SOBO band, which generated a lot of interest in blues from this part of the world.

By Barry Davis, Jerusalem Post, Oct. 10, 2004