The Comet Bluegrass All-Stars

The Comet Bluegrass All Stars are named after an old, funky bar (The Comet) in Cincinnati where they've held court on Sunday nights since 1996. Their resume includes opening for big acts like Ricky Skaggs and Sam Bush, but in the bar's intense intimacy, they create the real magic. The photo's blurred images reflect a band in constant motion on the cramped stage as they trade vocal solos or team on harmonies. Their string playing is otherworldly. The band's four CDs are an eclectic mix of bluegrass, old country, blues, and rock that spans the decades. The members, left to right: Brad Meinerding, Artie Werner, Tim Strong, Jeff Roberts and leader Ed Cunningham. (A sixth member, John Cole, was MIA on this night.)

Dan Faehnle

Though best known as a sideman with Diana Krall and with the group Pink Martini, jazz guitarist Dan Faehnle is perhaps at his finest while stretching out with the Hammond organ masters like Lonnie Smith, Tony Monaco, and Joey DeFrancesco. In Cincinnati during late December, Faehnle was found expanding the boundaries of the Christmas songbook with local Hammond organ master Steve Schmidt, who is decked out in full holiday regalia at his annual extravaganza at The Comet bar.

Bill Bartlett

Reclusive rock guitarist Bill Bartlett struck gold twice: In 1968 as a
Lemon Piper when "Green Tambourine" topped the charts, and, in 1977, when his band Ram Jam recorded "Black Betty," among the most covered songs in rock history. For many years, Bartlett has lived quietly outside the college town of Oxford, Ohio, and has rarely played in public. In fact, he hadn't sung "Black Betty" in decades when he appeared at Cincinnati's "Summer of Love" music festival on August 15, 2009 to deliver a blistering version of his classic. "Everybody wants to know who Black Betty is," Bartlett yelled from the stage. "I think she's Bettie Page, with that black hair and those straight bangs. If you never heard of her, go to Google."

The Blue Wisp

Like the wooden barns with big tobacco ads, the all-jazz club is
vanishing from the American landscape. The Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati, Ohio, created in 1977, is among the nation's oldest. Since
2000, the club has been in a former cellular telephone storefront on Eighth Street. The club's co-founder, Marjean Wisby, was a club fixture
until her death in 2006. For almost 30 years, the club has housed the venerable Blue Wisp Big Band, led by former Stan Kenton drummer John von Ohlen. Over the decades, the club has mirrored the economic changes in jazz. With few touring jazz acts these days, the Blue Wisp maintains a close relationship with the jazz faculty at the University of Cincinnati.

Blues on the Porch

This blues mural from 2009 on a porch on Fourth Street in Richmond, Indiana, is three blocks away from where country blues legends Blind Lemon Jefferson, far left, and Charley Patton, far right, recorded in 1929 at Gennett Records.  At Patton’s recording date, he debuted his classic “Spoonful Blues.”  In the 1960s, as guitarist with British rock trio The Cream, Eric Clapton, center mural, recorded “Spoonful” (a version modified by Willie Dixon in the 1950s).  Three months after Jefferson recorded in Richmond, he died in a Chicago snowstorm.

The Incredible Scotty Anderson

Unknown to the public, Scotty Anderson has a global following with guitarists, thanks largely to sound and video downloads on the Web.  The late Chet Atkins once quipped, “Scotty plays Chet Atkins better than I do.”  For 30 years, Scotty’s blistering country-rock technique has drawn the praises of such guitarists as Brian Setzer, Eric Johnson, John5, Lonnie Mack, James Burton, and the late Danny Gatton.  A Kentucky boy who grew up in a family of mountain pickers, Scotty shies away from touring opportunities, but attracts the faithful where he’s most at home - in small bars and outdoor venues around Cincinnati, Ohio.

Christmas at The Comet

The Comet is a tiny, century-old bar in Cincinnati’s eclectic neighborhood of Northside where every December since 2002 local keyboardist Steve Schmidt holds his “Christmas Extravaganza.”  For decades, Schmidt has been a Cincinnati jazz fixture on the piano, but for this event, he puts his C-3 Hammond organ in the Christmas spirit.  Most years, Chicago saxophonist Scott Burns and drummer Mark Wolfley (both pictured) have joined the packed festivities. The annual extravaganza has its origins with Schmidt’s CD “Merry Christmas Baby.”