Dr. Wu

Dr. Wu' a.k.a. Jim Ashworth and Bryan Freeze have up until now, been deeply rooted in Texas Blues with the help of such players as the great Buddy Whittington, Mouse Mayes, Red Young, and other top musicians. Band mates Jim Ashworth and Bryan Freeze formed Dr. Wu’ in 2002 after growing up and playing in various bands starting in the late 60’s. The name was taken from a favorite Steely Dan song that encourages us to live life to the fullest and strive to be the very best that we can be.

Band mates JIM ASHWORTH and BRYAN FREEZE formed Dr. Wu’ in 2002 after growing up and playing in various bands starting in the late 60’s. The name was taken from a favorite Steely Dan song that encourages us to live life to the fullest and strive to be the very best that we can be. With this as their goal, they set out to record their “Texas Blues” Project Volume I “Fort Worth Artists”… a long overdue recorded history utilizing guest appearances by musicians who have made Fort Worth a global mecca of top players… especially great “guitar slingers”. With the success of their first CD, which was placed on the ballot for the 51st Grammy nominations …Jim and Bryan have eagerly gone back into their home studios to collaborate on their 2nd CD …. Vol II of the “Texas Blues” Project. Several years have passed and now we have Vol. 7! Listen, enjoy the new album of the group.

…the band at it's best playing classics LIVE at the 81 Club in the historical Stockyards of Fort Worth, Texas. A magical night captured Live at the 81 Club with Dr. Wu' along with the great Buddy Whittington, Mouse Mayes and all the band at the top of their game. Covering Clapton, Paul Rogers and Free, Hendrix, Allman Bros., Robert Johnson, along with favorite Dr. Wu' originals.

Dr. Wu' a.k.a. Jim Ashworth and Bryan Freeze have up until now, been deeply rooted in Texas Blues with the help of such players as the great Buddy Whittington, Mouse Mayes, Red Young, and other top musicians. Now with their 5th release they are broadening their horizons; branching out with new genres of compositions like "Buddy's Bolero" and "Baby I Love You" as well as new rockin' Texas Blues, and the return of the original vocalist Charlie Bassham …all of which make "Ridin' with Dr. Wu' Vol. 5 their best album to date!

New Smokin' Hot "Texas Blues" at it's very best featuring Dr. Wu'… once again backed by Buddy Whittington and his "all star" band…. with help from B-3 "guru" Red Young ….along with Yolanda Walker and the Walker Effect. This is Volume 4 of Dr. Wu's TEXAS BLUES PROJECT… a project that was started in 2007 by JIM ASHWORTH and BRYAN FREEZE (a.k.a. Dr. Wu') … originally conceived to spotlight top artists from the Fort Worth, Texas area… and to write, produce and record the very "Best Texas Blues" available. As the Project progressed, it became obvious that the winning studio combination was to team up with Texas Bluesman… BUDDY WHITTINGTON… along with his band members… Mouse Mayes, Wayne Six, and Mike Gage. Other top session musicians include… Red Young on the B-3 Organ, Gary Grammer on harmonica, and more recently the Walker Effect on back up vocals…featuring Yolanda Walker on solos.

Tan Dun's Concerto for String Orchestra and Pipa (1999) is a reworking of one of his most popular works, Ghost Opera, written for and recorded by the Kronos Quartet. In this version, the composer's characteristic polystylism – which here includes Chinese folk song, Copland-esque Big Sky music, quotations from Bach, and vocalizations by the orchestra – comes across as a jumble, without much of a strong vision holding the disparate elements together. Pipa virtuoso Wu Man, who appeared on the Kronos recording, plays the concerto with energy and delicacy. She's ably accompanied by the Moscow Soloists, led by Yuri Bashmet. The concerto is followed by Takemitsu's Nostalghia (1987) for violin and string orchestra. Its compositional assurance, clarity, subtly nuanced orchestration, and emotional directness make it all the more striking in contrast to the Tan Dun. Here Bashmet is the impassioned soloist, with Roman Balashov conducting with great sensitivity. The three brief excerpts from Takemitsu's film scores are a pleasant stylistic diversion – light, strongly differentiated character pieces.