michel lacocque
United States, Illinois, Evanston
michel lacocque
About michel lacocque
TRADITIONAL BLUES WITH A UNIQUE SOUND. . . As band leader and composer, Pierre’s vision has never wavered since he founded his band in 1991. His mantra is clear and focused. The band has always had an ensemble sound: all musicians are featured and welcome to contribute on stage and on recordings. His music is traditional because it is steeped in Chicago’s golden sounds of the 1950’s, Muddy Waters, ... read more
Members
Brian Quinn
Brian Quinn was born and raised in the small town of Athens, Ohio. He began playing piano at the age of six, but found his calling when he took up the bass at the age of fourteen. After high school, Brian attended Berklee College of Music in Boston on a scholarship, where he studied with world-class musicians such as Kenwood Dennard, Livingston Taylor, and Matthew Garrison. At Berklee Brian had the experience of performing with guest artists such as Victor Wooten and George Porter Jr. (of the Meters). Brian finished college early, graduating Summa Cum Laude. Over the past 7 years, Brian has been working as a professional bass player and freelance music instructor in Chicago; playing, touring, and recording with a variety of artists and projects. Brian has played with Mississippi Heat since 2011.
Brian Quinn
Brian Quinn was born and raised in the small town of Athens, Ohio. He began playing piano at the age of six, but found his calling when he took up the bass at the age of fourteen.
After high school...
Michael Dotson
Michael Dotson is a Chicago bluesman, singer songwriter and guitarist. After 10 years of fronting his own bands he has joined forces with Mississippi Heat. He has two cd releases …. the 2006 “Lightnin’ in My Pocket”, and 2010 :A Fork in the Road”. About the new collaboration Michael says. “This band is a good fit for me, they do mostly original material and I’m a song writer, I find it more interesting working in a songwriting culture where you can come up with new stuff and try it out instead of just rehashing the same old songs.” For years he was a veteran of the Chicago blues scene, playing for three years with Aron Burton and then logging six years as a Teardrop with Magic Slim. “Yeah” Michael remembers. “There was a period when they had my phone number at a few of the blues bars, and they would call me if they were short a guitar player for the night.” He laughs. “That was great, I got to work with lots of different people but I had to get used to missing my favorite tv shows at the last minute. I was always packed and ready to go.” He also played often with George Baze and Little Mac Simmons. “George was a mentor to me” Michael elaborates. “He was Junior Well’s band leader for 16 years, and he taught me a lot about how to play rhythm, and what really matters in the blues. I remember he told me one time that he was living in New York at the same time Hendrix was there and he’d heard him playing around town and didn’t like the way he played. George said it was weird (how) he only played on the bass strings of the guitar, and it was only after Jimi got famous and he heard the songs that he understood that he had been teaching himself to play the whole guitar.” He has made regular sideman appearances with Big Time Sarah, Granae Louise, and Liz Mandeville. He worked a number of times for Willie Kent, and then fronted his band The Gents for a year around 2006 after Willie’s passing. Other stage credits include appearances with Big Jack Johnson, Guitar Shorty, Billy Boy Arnold, and Homesick James. “Those were when I was with Aron Burton.” Michael says. “He was another mentor, it was like going to blues university. We did one gig backing Homesick James at the Chicago Bluesfest and I was lost through the whole gig … he was jumping time, not calling out keys … I just felt my way through the set, and when we were done, well the people loved it and it was a spectacular payday. As Aron handed me my money he must have noticed my dazed and bewildered expression. He said ‘Mike, most of the really good paying gigs… they’re like that.’” He has recorded extensively with Magic Slim, Aron Burton, Jimmy Burns, Big Jack Johnson, Liz Mandeville, and Granae Louise and appears on 18 albums.
Michael Dotson
Michael Dotson is a Chicago bluesman, singer songwriter and guitarist. After 10 years of fronting his own bands he has joined forces with Mississippi Heat. He has two cd releases …. the 2006 “Lightnin...
Kenny Smith
Kenny Smith was raised in the heart of the Chicago blues scene. While other babies listened to nursery rhymes, Kenny listened to the blues, and the blues in Kenny’s house were played by America’s finest. His father, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, is one of the best-known living blues drummers. Willie played in Muddy Waters’ band for some 30 years. So, it’s only natural that Kenny would grow up with a drumstick in his hand, and a back beat in his head. Muddy Waters and his band were like family to Kenny. They encouraged his music, and were his mentors. In a recent article about Kenny’s drumming capabilities Robert Margolin said: “…Kenny … plays in the moment and provides a great drum part in any musical situation. He listens and creates in an instant. Kenny is certainly already one of the best drummers out there. Trust me on that. I’ve been on bandstands with some of the best…and the worst.” While Kenny acknowledges that his father taught him 99% of what he knows, he has also studied with such great drummers as Odie Payne, Fred Below, Earl Phillips, S. P. Leary, Francis Clay and Art Blakey. Kenny has performed with an impressive list of blues legends, that includes Pinetop Perkins, Big Bill Morganfield, Homesick James, Honeyboy Edwards, Henry Townsend, Rusty Zinn, Fingers Taylor, Mississippi Heat, and The Cashbox Kings – just to name a few. Besides playing and recording with Mississippi Heat since 1997, he has played on more than 50 albums with people like Jody Williams, Big Jack Johnson, Aron Burton, Lurrie Bell, Dave Myers, Kim Wilson, Paul deLay, Junior Wells, and the Legendary Blues Band. Kenny reports: “I am seriously developing my piano playing and my vocals. The harp is just a hobby, but the drums are my heart and soul. If there comes a time when I feel the blues is dying, I will make a Kenny Smith CD to carry on the tradition, to keep the blues alive. I grew up with the blues all around me, from the very day I was born, so the traditional blues will always be a big part of me. I can play different styles of music but I learned it all from the blues.”
Kenny Smith
Kenny Smith was raised in the heart of the Chicago blues scene. While other babies listened to nursery rhymes, Kenny listened to the blues, and the blues in Kenny’s house were played by America’s fine...
A couple of days from today is Christmas Eve. For some, a birth, a new hope and a model to follow. We need this day FOR ALL OF US, particularly now.
Love and blessings on you all
Mississippi Heat team
Dear friends,
We are finishing the mastering of our new CD. It is called Madeleine after our maternal grandmother who made us feel her love every day of our lives, even years after her death as she is so deeply and clearly anchored in our heart. She mourned her 17 year old son, our uncle, from the day he was taken by German Nazis in 1942 to the end of her life since she never received news about his demise. We did find out in 2009 that he died at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, long after she passed away in 1965. We have no doubt that her abundant love came from the enduring pain of that loss. Pierre Lacocque performs a beautiful piece on the harmonica with his stellar band.
So much for the title song...
Guests include Lurrie Bell, Carl Weathersby, Tom Holland, Chris Hambone Cameron, 3 back-up vocalists known for their work with Aretha Franklin...
Dear friends,
Thank you for being there!
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Mississippi Heat
MISSISSIPPI HEAT is recording for Delmark Records this month...
We are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement to record for Delmark Records at the Riverside Studios. Pierre will work with the same lineup he worked with on his last CD Warning Shot with the additions of Dave Specter, Sax Gordon and Barrelhouse Chuck as our special guests. We are happy to have Barrelhouse Chuck back with us for this recording to celebrate old good times playing together. Chris "Hambone" Cameron returns to the core band on keys and Giles Corey on guitar.
Besides Kenny Smith on a few cuts, the CD will feature Terrence Williams, Mississippi Heat's full-time drummer (Kenny still being part of the family, but so busy with his brilliant career).
Dear Friends,
We wish you a wonderful New Year for 2016. So many good things happened in 2015; sometime we let the awful things cloud the horizon. We are grateful to all of you for your support and your hard work to make this a better world.
Here are a couple of very short, upbeat videos to get us all started on the right foot.
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N1M tells us that you are on our list. We wish to thank you for your interest. We are mostly on facebook and find that we cannot maintain a presence on all social media vehicles. We are at (expired link) if you wish to get information and updates.
Best wishes to all,
Mississippi Heat HQ
Blues for George Baze(more) with Michael Dotson Kenneth Smith Brian Quinn Giles Corey and Pierre Lacocque
George Bazemore was a wonderful guitarist and vocalist with Junior Wells for many years. He played his last few years with Mississippi Heat and recorded Handyman. He passed away before he could hear the final product but the day before he passed away he got to hear a mix. He was sitting on his porch fastidiously peeling an orange. It is his smile and his orange that I will always remember as a testament of the power of music to bring joy...even a few hours before the end.
Pierre wrote this tune to share some of the impact this gentle man had on him. Here is a version filmed at the LucerneBluesFestival by jorjunkel
About michel lacocque
TRADITIONAL BLUES WITH A UNIQUE SOUND. . . As band leader and composer, Pierre’s vision has never wavered since he founded his band in 1991. His mantra is clear and focused. The band has always had an ensemble sound: all musicians are featured and welcome to contribute on stage and on recordings. His music is traditional because it is steeped in Chicago’s golden sounds of the 1950’s, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Rogers, all the great harp players… Big and Little Walter, The Sonny Boy Williamsons, Junior Wells, George Smith, and many extraordinary contemporaries such as Kim Wilson, Rod Piazza and Paul deLay. On the other hand, Pierre’s blues is unique because he dislikes to tread on old beaten paths. He always writes new stuff.
MISSISSIPPI HEAT emerged in 1991 on a night at the Cafe Lura in Chicago. Guitarist Jon McDonald invited Pierre to play harp for him with Robert Covington on drums and vocals. It was a great night, with a raucous crowd in this Polish neighborhood. Pierre looked happy, and the band played with such inspiration that his brother Michel was drawn to say he would find gigs with little efforts. A man of his word, Michel did find gigs for the band. He was wrong about the effort part, but was right about the fact that he could manage such a band. … Pierre and the Heat have now finished 7 CDs (as well as a DVD for Delmark Records in 2005).
Some of their recordings have won awards such as “BEST CHICAGO BLUES CD OF THE YEAR” and “BEST BLUES PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR” ((expired link)., Handyman, and Footprints On The Ceiling by Real Blues Magazine ).
Over the years., MISSISSIPPI HEAT has been the subject of several TV and movie features. French TV has released a documentary on Blues featuring the band., and our vocalist for a prestigious program called ARTE. Soon after a concert was filmed in Montreal., Canada., and was sold to an Italian TV company. French Canadian TV also featured Pierre and his brother-manager Michel on one of their regular programs called “BAISERS D’ AMERIQUE”. This half-hour segment was viewed in 35 countries worldwide. MISSISSIPPI HEAT has also been featured in countless trade magazines such as Living Blues and Blues Review.
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