Lee Hildebrand’s long, eclectic career centered on the Oakland blues scene. After getting out of the Army in the late ’60s, he began hanging out in the blues clubs that populated Oakland at that time. He contributed freelance articles about local blues, R&B and gospel artists to publications including Living Blues, Downbeat, the Oakland Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle.
He was also a writer and music editor at East Bay Express, overseeing feature assignments, calendar blurbs and other tasks at the paper.
In 2017 Hildebrand had a stroke that reduced his ability to write, but when he passed away in January he left behind an impressive body of work. He wrote countless reviews covering multiple genres; liner notes for a wide range of albums on Stax, Fantasy, HighTone and many other labels; and five books—Hammertime; Bay Area Blues, with photographer Michelle Vignes; Colors and Chords: The Art of Johnny Otis; Stars of Soul and Rhythm & Blues; and Images of the Blues, with photographer Lee Tanner.
“When I was at the Chronicle, I was able to open the door and get Lee into the Sunday Pink Section,” said Joel Selvin, former Chronicle pop-music critic. “He brought in stories that never would have seen print without him. He was familiar with all the underappreciated musicians in the Bay Area; not only local blues artists, but country, folk and other genres he’d tumbled into. He worked the margins and he was a great writer.
“Seeing him around the scene, he was always grooving, with a happy smile on his face,” Selvin added. “He never lost that cheerfulness, even after his stroke.”
To honor Hildebrand’s legacy and raise money for his daughter, Leeza Cree, local blues-harp icon Mark Hummel has put together a benefit concert featuring some of Hildebrand’s favorite artists.
“We were of the same ilk, in terms of what we loved about the blues,” Hummel said. “Lee’s taste was more evolved than mine, with a vast knowledge of the blues, jazz, swing, vocalists, R&B, soul and folk. He helped broaden my horizons. It was his writing about folks like Barbara Dane, Oakland funk pioneer Johnny Tolbert & De Thangs and Linda Tillery that got me hip to them.
“In 1978, he wrote one of the earliest pieces on the SF Blues Festival, for Living Blues magazine,” Hummel continued. “He gave me a nice review, ‘. . . Hummel, formally a histrionic performer, has finally found his groove . . .’ I met him shortly thereafter, at a blues club, and we talked. He said he was a fan of Junior Parker and a less-is-more approach to the blues harp. He was a West Coast-centric blues fan, leaning more towards Lowell Fulson and Bobby Bland. I told him I was a Junior Parker fan, and we became friends.”
Hildebrand also played drums and often sat in with Hummel’s band, the Blues Survivors. “When we had a slot to fill, Lee was always on the job,” Hummel said. “He toured with us once, when I had Joe Beard on guitar and Big Joe Duskin, from Cincinnati, on piano. We all got along great and Lee did a cover story about that tour for the Express, with a picture of us in the van, in front of the Ivy Room. He also toured with Jimmy Rogers, Louis Myers and Ron Thompson, and sat in with Muddy Waters.”
The tribute show Hummel put together includes performances by Lady Bianca, the Dynamic Miss Faye Carol, Fillmore Slim and Curtis Salgado, from Robert Cray’s band.
“The backing group for the tribute includes people with a deep history in the Bay Area music scene,” Hummel said. They include Henry Oden on bass (Loading Zone, Little Richard); drummer June Core (Junior Lockwood, Johnny Shines, Charlie Musselwhite); Jim Pugh, founder of the Little Village label, who played with Elvin Bishop; and Robert Cray on keys, and so many more. We can only play one long set, but it’s gonna be action packed.”
Lavay Smith, lead singer of the Red Hot Skillet Lickers, will also be on the bill. “Lee recognized Black American music comes from a rich, deep culture,” she said. “It’s a cliché to say that he’ll be missed, but he leaves behind a big hole and he won’t be replaced.”
‘A Celebration Of Life: Honoring Lee Hildebrand’ takes place at 7:30pm Tuesday, April 15, at Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero, Jack London Square, Oakland. Info: yoshis.com. 510.238.9200.
