Kind of blue Remembering Rick Mendes BY BOB GULLA

The local blues world was handed a devastating loss with the death of Rick Mendes. The former leader of Blueswagon and the Nightbirds, Mendes was a terrific arranger an enthusiastic blues scholar, and a tireless performer. His death last Friday from cancer at the age of 49 will leave a significant hole in the local music scene and we’re truly sad to have lost him.

His most recent disc, Sunglasses and Raincoats, was released earlier this year. Knowing cancer had supplied him with a death sentence, he called up all his many musician friends, told them the situation, and that he wanted to record. They responded generously, not only because Rick was a popular artist, but because he was a good person who learned how to build bridges and not burn them.

"We play music the swing crowd loves," Mendes said in an interview back in 2001. "They love it and we love to do it for them. How could it get any better? Well, I guess they could throw $1000 bills at us!"

Mendes began his performing career back in the late ’70s when he fronted the Probers, a nearly famous bunch of locals that plied a new wave-ish sound good enough to pack the area’s larger clubs with regularity.

After national success proved elusive, Mendes grew up (sort of) and went on to cover bands and then the blues. Most importantly, he never lost contact with the club scene, even while holding onto a day job. He lived for his music and died with it in his heart.

Blueswagon played up to 180 gigs a year at their peak. Most popularly, they held down Wednesday nights at the Call’s blues/dance/swing nights. You know, the place with the free buffet. He was proud of the draw the band got on a normally quiet night: "We took a dull night and really pumped it up."

Mendes pumped up whatever stage he stepped on, whether playing rock, pop, blues, or swing. And he always put 100 percent into his performances, most of which included covers of songs that Mendes discovered and introduced to the band. "We take great tunes and put our slant on ’em," he said. "They were beautifully written and performed in the first place and by many other acts since. We just want to take our place in the back of that line."

Locally, they’d found their place in the back of a long, legendary local line, one that features legends like Duke Robillard, Greg Piccolo, Sugar Ray, and Roomful of Blues. "We’re staying true to the music we love," Mendes said. "But we’ve got a long way to go. The blues road is a long one."

Here’s hoping at the end of that road, Rick, you find a good 12-bar blues band waitin’ for you, and a gold mike stand with your name on it.

NOT SO ILLUSTRIOUS DAY. There’s unhappy news of a different sort from the Illustrious Day camp. Jackie O’Brien reports that her bassist Mark Plasse got relocated to another state for his real job and had to leave the band after a long stint. In the meantime, ID will be playing as a three-piece with Jim O’Brien on bass until the band finds an appropriate replacement. If you’re interested, it’s a particularly good time for the band, as they’re heading into the studio in August to record an EP. Somebody stepping in would receive good experience quick. In other ID news, Jackie’s DayGirl Music Publishing has officially licensed 11 songs, which comprise a large part of the music soundtrack for the indie documentary, Holy Water-Gate: Cover-Up In the Catholic Church. The music consists of previously unrecorded acoustic instrumentals by Jim and Jackie. The film, obviously controversial in nature, is just out of post-production and has not yet been released in the US but has been sold internationally to the CBC/Canada, Swiss, and Spanish broadcasters. "The film is expected to make the festival circuit and ultimately to a domestic broadcaster," says Jackie, "so we’re pretty excited about the exposure and determined to make some cash out of it one way or another with our music."

SNOOZER. Snoozer supreme Susie Ghahremani is back to music, at least momentarily, following a career move that found her freelancing as an illustrator, a business she started in December. During that time, her work appeared on compilations, websites, magazines, and the rest. But music beckoned, pretty loudly in fact, and she found she couldn’t ignore it. To reconcile the two art forms, she’s decided to merge them, sort of. "I’m taking a little bit of both music and art on the road with a small tour," Susie says, "ultimately ending at Popfest in Athens with about a hundred other bands."

At Popfest, Susie will be hawking wares of all sorts, from T-shirts and bags to buttons and bows. (OK, maybe not bows.) In addition, she’ll be playing some moog-infused sad/ happy songs with local drummer Cara Hyde. Handclapping will be added for rhythmic effect.

The first night of Susie’s expedition begins on Saturday (the 24th) at the Green Room with Walker Kong and tourmates Shumai, a band recently relocated to Providence from Boston. Their new record, on the Total Gaylord imprint, is called Tastes Like Summer. Is it a merely a seasonal coincidence, then, that Susie’s recent Snoozer disc was titled Winter Stops All Sound? Hmmm?

FUZEK-ROSSONI REUNION. It’s been a while since local songwriter and acoustic music poobah John Fuzek has put out a record. And it’s also been quite some time since the salad days of his musical partnership with the lovely and talented Mary Ann Rossoni. Well, lo and behold, you’ll be happy to hear that both are happening this summer.

Fuzek, who opened recently for Livingston Taylor at the Sunset Music Fest in Newport, just released his new album, tellingly titled A Dog’s Age. What took him so long? Well, he produced the Hear In Rhode Island festival for years, he runs Rhode Island Songwriters Association, produced other festivals, and helped local musicians produce their own records. He was also voted by this paper as one of the area’s most influential folks in the arts sector.

Fuzek’s fruitful collaboration with Rossoni, which began in 1989 and lasted seven years, yielded many worthwhile songs and two discs, including the stirring Waking Up from the American Dream. We’d imagine that the duet will be taking some of those dusty, time-tested tunes out for a spin when they reunite on July 27 at the Towers in Narragansett.

Also appearing at the Towers gig will be Billy Mitchell, JJ Baron, Lisa Martin, Donna Dufresne, and Tom Hynes. Surf on over to John’s website (users.ids.net/~hearinri/) and welcome him back to the giggin’ scene!

WANDERING EYE. On Friday (the 23rd), the fab "Your Roots Are Showing" series returns to the Century Lounge for another go-round. This time it’s Dennis Brennan, the Ware River Club, Damn Lovelys, and your hosts, Lucky 57. As is normally the case, it’ll be a sizzling night of twang-roots rock-alt.country-Americana.

Jenn Kitten’s got herself a new band. For What It’s Worth is a post-hardcore, pop-punk outfit with female vocals. The high-energy performer with a heartfelt delivery brings that approach to punk this time out, and if you don’t believe me, you can hear a rough mix of the band’s tune "This Was My Wish and It Didn’t Come True . . . So I’m Taking It Back" at www.myspace.com/forwhatitsworthri or www.freewebs.com/forwhatitsworthrocks. Their next show, at AS220 on Friday, is with Best Kept Secret, Eyes Like Knives, and Farewell to Arms.Speaking of AS220, lovable locals Hogg, together since 1994, will be holding court with some adventurous music travelers: Vertonen, bran . . . pos, Tarantism, Immaculate: Grotesque, and Struction for an interesting lineup of inscrutably named bands. The gig is on Sunday(the 25th), starts at 8 p.m., and costs $7. Call 831-9327.

E-mail your music news to me at big.daddy1@cox.net.