BluesWorks

BluesWorks web site

Paul Watson, founding member and co-leader of BluesWorks since 1991, is a native Washingtonian and absorbed the vibrant live music scene at an early age. He is a virtuoso on the harmonica and is one of the rare blues mandolin players performing today. Paul is a singer and songwriter. Listening to his father’s blues records made Paul want to play the harmonica and learn more about the music. Otis Williams, the late Director of the Nyumburu Cultural Center at the University of Maryland, College Park, became Paul's music mentor well beyond his graduation from the university. Influenced by early blues artists and present-day innovators Phil Wiggins and Sugar Blue, Paul's harmonica playing favors country and Chicago blues with a jazz flavoring. National Heritage Artist Howard Armstrong was Paul's teacher and inspired him to play mandolin in the string band tradition. Paul has shared the stage with Pinetop Perkins, Saffire--the Uppity Blues Women, West Virginian Bluesman Nat Reese, Howard Armstrong, and West Texas legend Tommy Allsup. Paul's mastery of blues harp and mandolin has made him a sought-out session recording artist, and he may be heard on a range of recordings including the heritage album, "Stay All Night - Buddy Holly's Country Roots." He teaches blues harp and mandolin at workshops throughout the country. In the 1980s, Paul performed as a duo with guitarist Micheal Roach, former president of the DC Blues Society. Paul contributed original music to Leaving the Summer Land, a play inspired by The Migration Series by Jacob Lawrence. Prince George's Arts Council in Maryland has awarded Paul numerous artist's grants. In addition, since 2002, Paul has worked as a sound engineer and stage manager at the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festivals. He was a sound engineer at the 2005 National Folk Festival.

Judy Luis-Watson, founding member and co-leader of BluesWorks since 1991, grew up in a family of musicians in Tanzania, East Africa, and has long been immersed in world rhythms and American roots music. She plays piano, guitar, and the frattoire, and is a singer and songwriter. Judy tributes KUNM Radio for introducing her to the music of the legendary Otis Spann and Jack Dupree in the mid-80s when she was a graduate student in Education at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Around the same time she fell in love with "Piano Singer's Blues" featuring a collection of outstanding blues women on the Rosetta Records label. Judy has performed as a duo with Eleanor Ellis, toured western Canada with Saffire: The Uppity Blues Women, and teamed up with Gaye Adegbalola on several blues projects. She has performed with Gaye and Andra Faye as The Rhythm Method band. At Carnegie Hall's 1992 Folk Festival, Judy performed Southern African folk songs with Nomonde Ngubo. In 2004, Judy was a member of the studio band for the "Stay All Night - Buddy Holly's Country Roots" CD, and performed with several legendary West Texas musicians including Tommy Allsup. The Goan Musical Society in London commissioned Judy to compose "Hanv Saiba Blues," based on the traditional Goan folk song. She teaches blues piano privately and at heritage workshops throughout the U.S.A. Prince George's Arts Council in Maryland has awarded Judy numerous artist's grants. Nominated for a Mayor's Arts Award in 1991 by the DC Commission on the Arts, Judy was awarded an Arts Administration Fellowship in 1994 by the National Endowment for the Arts, and has served as a Grants Panelist and Site Visitor. She was a Presenter at the 2005 Smithsonian's Folklife Festival, and has served on the Community Council of WAMU, Washington's popular public radio station.