Krasnoyarsk, Siberia

We arrived in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia early in the morning on July 1, drummer LaFrae Sci’s Birthday. She was the first of the band off the plane and immediately received the warmth and welcome of the local people. When we got to the hotel, we found the International Music Festival in full swing with musicians from […]

Eli Yamin Blues Band arrives in St. Petersburg for Russia Tour 2012

  After a long trip from NY via Amsterdam, we arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia at midnight and pulled up next to Air Force 2 with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton aboard.  With a few hours of daylight still ahead of us, we took a magical “white night” walk and saw some of the beauty […]

JazzSpeare 2011 at Fordham Consortium on the Purpose of Business

It was a dream come true to have the opportunity to continue an idea I first tried out over 20 years ago at Rutgers University.  “JazzSpeare” combines scenes from Shakespeare with a live, improvised and interactive score.  Here’s my quartet with Todd Williams, tenor saxophone, LaFrae Sci, drums, Mary Ann McSweeny, bass and myself on […]

Eli Yamin Blues Band CD Release Concert Monday, June 20 at 8pm at Lincoln Center. Information and tickets.

The Eli Yamin Blues Band returns to the Clark Studio Theater at Lincoln Center Institute to perform a homecoming concert in celebration of their new release, I Feel So Glad. This is no ordinary blues band,” former Living Blues magazine editor Scott Barretta declares in his liner notes to I Feel So Glad, the debut […]

Montenegro Premiere of Nora’s Ark, the jazz musical by Eli Yamin and Clifford Carlson

What an unbelievable week we had in Montenegro at Jazz Art Jam, celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month, a co-production with Jazz Art Montenegro and The Jazz Drama Program with support from the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro, the municipality and Porto Montenegro.  I never dreamed that this production of Nora’s Ark could take off the way it […]

Guatemala International Jazz Festival

From Idaho, it was straight South to Guatemala with the Blues Band.  This time, for the first time with Charenee Wade, vocal and Ben Stapp, tuba, along with LaFrae Sci, drums and yours truly at the piano and hollering.  Man, what a gas.  The first night we opened the festival with a concert on the […]

A Healing Song, AVAILABLE NOW as single

In anticipation of our new CD with The Eli Yamin Blues Band, “I Feel So Glad,”  we just released a single from the album: A Healing Song by Eli Yamin and Clifford Carlson This song is a message to the world about the healing power of the blues. It’s great to groove to and sing […]

Remembering Santiago

I just found this video online from our visit to Balmaceda, a community music school in downtown Santiago.  Can you believe they have a blues harmonica class that meets every week?  Just fantastic.  When I went to Mississippi a few months after visiting Chile, I was telling teachers from the Delta about it.  I was […]

Santiago, Chile

Why do I LOVE the blues so much? It’s the universal language of the heart. It brings people together and makes them happy. It’s full of passion, spirit, harmony, melody and rhythm.  So much RHYTHM! We spent the final week of the tour giving workshops and concerts in Santiago and around Santiago.  What a gas […]

Iquique, Chile

After our show in Curico, we headed North to Iquique, Chile.  Our concert was on the in front of the Municipal Theatre in Hemicicio Plaza, Central Square.  It was organized by the great jazz and blues enthusiast, Alvaro Gomez. We met many eager young musicians after the show and of course, invited them to an […]