Diane Blue and Jimmy 'Two Suits' Capone Back at Chan's

Chan's will welcome back Jimmy "Two Suits" Capone and International Blues Vocalist Diane Blue and the Beantown Boys on Saturday, Jan 27.

Blue has been called the whole package: an incredible vocalist, a skillful harp player and an all round entertainer. In 2011 she competed in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennesse and was voted "Best Female Singer" in the 2011 Blues Audience Readers Poll.

Capone, (who also wears a few hats as Emcee for Doug Bell's "Bellevue Cadillac, the Sax Man with a sense of humor,") is also an entertainer. On stage Capone captivates an audience and believes, "It's not just music, it's a show."

Capone and Blue collaborated to make a live CD at Chan's last year. "Blue and I met at the Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, New Hampshire back in 2010," Capone said. "I was on stage with Bellevue Cadillac and Blue was slated to sit in as our guest vocalist. Once I heard her voice, I knew that we had to put something together for Chan's. Roberto Morbioli, a blues guitarist and vocalist from Italy who Blue has a trans-Atlantic collaboration with was booked to do the show with Blue at Chan's in April 2011. Well, Morbioli never made it over so rather than cancel the show, I offered to fill in and put the horns together. Blue got the rhythm section together. It was her idea to record the show live at Chan's and put out a CD of our performance entitled, 'Diane Blue Live at Chan's with Jimmy "Two Suits" Capone'."

These two plan at least four shows a year, but Capone said, "When I know Blue is playing somewhere and I am not booked, I will surprise her more often than not and make an appearance at her show. She in turn, will do the same."

Capone said to start the show, he gets the crowd going with his "Witness Protection Program Horns" and the band, Bruce "The Goose" McGrath on Saxes, Johnny "Blue Horn" Moriconi on Trumpet, Cliff Spencer on Keys, Lenny Bradford on Bass, Jeff Thompson on Drums and Timo Arthur on Guitar.

Capone will throw his horn to one of the guys and then they have to play something. It's very spontaneous, and nobody knows who will get Capone's horn. 

In the second half, Blue comes out and Capone steps into his MC role. The last time these two were at Chan's, tables were cleared away to make a dance floor. It was a sold out crowd and a night of entertainment.

The newest role for Capone will be interviewing the artists who perform at Chan's live on Steve Lupo's Talk Stream Radio. It's called "Sessions at Chan's". The idea came about when Lupo went over to John Chan and presented him with the idea to interview the musical artists that perform at the venue and then play their music. Chan agreed and Capone got signed on to be his effervescent self and MC.

The showtime is 8 p.m. and tickets are $15.