Jacki Sackheim

exhibit 05 - jacki Sakheim

Jacki Sackheim in front of her photographs, at the Women of the Blues exhibit, in Chicago.

I was born on the southside of Chicago, listening to the music of the streets, hearing the railroad cars roll and collide above the 95th street viaducts. Later, I would listen to the blues and R&B music coming out of the radio and hear that same sound. I started going to blues clubs to hear the music and to capture the magic of the musicians onstage. It was my way to show respect.

And, it was a way to preserve the sights of the blues clubs. I have come to know many of these great performers. And they have come to accept me, a non­musician, into their world. I owe them so much. Here’s to all the musicians who have let me ‘shoot’ them. I can’t sing. I can’t dance. I don’t play a musical instrument. But I sure can play this here camera.

— Jacki Sackheim

 

LINKS

www.sackheimgallery.com

 

PHOTOS

© Jacki Sackheim - Barbara Morrison

Barbara Morrison

Performing Arts Center, Los Angeles, Leimert Park, California – March 13, 2016 © Jacki Sackheim

Barbara Morrison was born and raised near Detroit, Michigan. She moved to Los Angeles in 1973 and began to blaze a trail around the globe for her outstanding performances. One of the hardest working and busiest jazz and blues entertainers in the business, Barbara Morrison has an impressive discography of recordings that include 3 Grammy nominations. In 2008, she opened the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center (BMPAC). The 99-seat theatre and adaptable performance space is located in the historic Leimert Park District, which is considered the center of the African American arts scene in Los Angeles, CA. It is home to the annual Babe’s & Ricky’s Inn Reunion.

 

© Jacki Sackheim - Candye Kane

Candye Kane

S.P.A.C.E., Evanston, Illinois, August 14, 2014 © Jacki Sackheim

Candye Kane (November 13, 1961 – May 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter and performer best known in the blues and jazz genre. She was included in the books Rolling Stone Guide to Jazz and Blues, Elwood’s Blues by Dan Akroyd, The Blueshound Guide to Blues, Allmusic, and other blues books and periodicals. She also had a career as a pornographic actress during porn’s golden age. She was included on the 30 Essential Women of the Blues CD set released by the House of Blues record label and the Rock for Choice compilation.

 

© Jacki Sackheim - Debbie Davies Maggie Mayall

Debbie Davies & Maggie Mayall

Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, Tarzana, California – February 20, 2012 © Jacki Sackheim

Debbie Davies cut her teeth playing in blues and rock’n roll bands in the San Francisco Bay area before returning to Los Angeles in 1984, where she landed the lead guitar spot in Maggie Mayall & The Cadillacs, an all-female band. Maggie, originally from Chicago, was on tour with guitarist Harvey Mandel in 1978 when she met blues great John Mayall and went on the road with his band as a featured singer, songwriter and percussionist. Maggie Mayall & The Cadillacs, featuring Debbie Davies on guitar enjoyed several years of popular renown on the west coast. This was a reunion of the two performers.

“This was a special night, as it was a reunion with the great blues guitarist and former bandmate, Debbie Davies. Debbie and I had an all-woman blues band called Maggie Mayall & The Cadillacs back in the 80s. What a joy and what a privilege this night was and this photo captures all that energy in a hot and sweaty blues club with a couple of old pals for sure! I absolutely LOVE this photo! It totally captures the joy of the moment! Truly truly blessed. And you can quote me on that!” Maggie Mayall said in 2016.

 

© Jacki Sackheim - Marcella Detroit

Marcy Levy (aka Marcella Detroit)

The Mint, Los Angeles, California – February 20, 2013 © Jacki Sackheim

Part of the Barry Goldberg and Friends ­ Every Wednesday in February series. Marcy Levy on vocals, Jimmy Vivino on guitar, Gary Mallaber on drums, Rick Reed on bass, Barry Goldberg on B3 and keyboards, vocals and special guest Corky Siegel on harmonica. It was a mini-Chicago reunion.

Marcy started playing in local bands in Detroit in the 1970’s. The first major act she worked, toured and recorded with was Bob Seger. She had moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma where the band she started were all hired by Eric Clapton. After fulfilling a prior commitment to tour with Leon Russell for nine months, she spent four years recording and touring with Eric Clapton and she Co-wrote numerous songs including “Lay Down Sally.” After Marcy stopped working with Eric, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her own career. She ended up doing lots of session work for some of the greatest singers and producers of all time: Aretha Franklin, (her vocal idol), George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Al Jarreau, Bette Midler, Leo Sayer, Melissa Manchester,and worked for some of the best producers of all time: Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, Glyn Johns, Tom Dowd, Roger Hawkins. She sang sessions for Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager, Leiber and Stoller and many more. She also wrote loads of songs including co-writes for: Chaka Khan, Belinda Carlisle, Al Jarreau [“One Way” written with Billie Hughes], including Philip Bailey’s hit “Walking on the Chinese Wall”. Amidst doing all the session work, she also did her own record on Epic Records called, “Marcella” released in 1982,

 

© Jacki Sackheim - Marylou Stuart

Marylou Stuart (of the Black Tongue Bells)

Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, Tarzana, California – August 31, 2015 © Jacki Sackheim

“As far as my start in singing I knew I could sing at 13 . I started my own gospel group at 24…and was the lead singer for funk rock band in the late 80s called Sista Marmalade. In 2003 I started with the Bells. Brother Louis Cox and I were on the praise team at Church and the Bells needed a singer for the play The Great and Dreadful Day Tall Tale of the American Swamp. Brother Louis told them about me… I came down . And the rest is history.”

Mary Stuart, 2016

 

© Jacqui Sackheim - Estelle Walker

Estelle Walker

Malarkey’s Grill & One Hell of an Irish Bar, Long Beach, California – April 7, 2013 © Jacki Sackheim

Estelle Walker sings with her father Robert “Bilbo” Walker. Her father played the clubs in Chicago, the jooks in Mississippi, and road houses up and down the “Blues Highway”. Then he took his music to California and started all over again. He loved California so much that he finally moved there. He never forgets his roots though and every few months he packs up his retinue of friends, family, and musicians and makes the 2000 mile trip from California back to Mississippi. This photo was taken on one their return visits to California in 2013.

 

© Jacqui Sackheim - Karen Lovely

Karen Lovely

Malarkey’s Grill & One Hell of an Irish Bar, Long Beach, California – April 27, 2014 © Jacki Sackheim

Known for her passionate, driven performances, powerhouse vocalist Karen Lovely delivers a blistering mix of contemporary & old school blues. Lovely’s standout performances have garnered awards and critical acclaim at festivals and venues throughout the US, Canada and Europe. She was nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Female Artist at the Blues Music Awards in 2016.

 

© Jacqui Sackheim - Sherry Pruitt

Sherry Jackson Pruitt

Babe’s & Ricky’s Reunion Jam, Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center, Los Angeles, California – April 3, 2014 © Jacki Sackheim

Born in Beaumont, Texas, Sherry began singing at an early age. Her family was devoutly religious and she sang gospel songs in church. Her abilities with gospel music translated to singing the blues as well as popular music and she soon began appearing around town in local night clubs and lounges. In 2008 Sherry suffered a stroke while performing a gospel set with her mother at Babe’s and Ricky’s Inn, in Leimert Park, Los Angeles. This could have ended her career, but with the loving support of her family, her strong faith in God, and her own sheer determination and courage, Sherry won her way back to the stage within a year.