Mike Finnigan
Mike Finnigan

THE REVIEW

I'm not going to delve into the album in question, as I'm not well-versed in music narration but I will briefly describe its musician namesake (still little known by the likes of laymen like me) ehm, c'est la vie…

Jerry Hahn, an American jazz guitarist, was born 83 years ago in Nebraska and at twenty-two moved to California where a couple of years later he played with John Richard Handy III (now ninety), a saxophonist, and not only that, he was quite adept with both the clarinet and the oboe.

In '70, he led the “Jerry Hahn Brotherhood,” a country-blues jazz-rock ensemble, then worked as a session musician with Gary Burton (a great jazz vibraphonist), singer-songwriter Paul Simon to name just a couple, after which he began teaching at Wichita State University in Kansas, then moved to Oregon and also taught at “Portland State University.”

He didn't just play and teach, but in the recent 2003, he wrote and published “The Jerry Hahn Method for Jazz Guitar.”

Well, to put it briefly, this is just to say that our Michael Kelly Finnigan, born in Ohio on April 26, '45, a keyboardist specializing in the Hammond B3 organ, as well as a singer and pianist, went on tour with Jerry Hahn and also recorded the album “The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood” in '70.

Mike Finnigan recorded only two other solo albums, unfortunately, he died of cancer in Los Angeles on August 11, 2021, at seventy-six years old, not before having worked as a session man with top artists of his time like: Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Cher, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Dave Mason, Eric Burdon, Etta James, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Leonard Cohen, Los Lonely Boys, Michael McDonald, Peter Frampton, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Sam Moore, Taj Mahal, The Manhattan Transfer, Tommy Bolin, Tower of Power and Tracy Chapman, and having contributed to pop, rock, blues & jazz recordings of the following LPs (among others):

1969: The Serfs – The Early Bird Cafe

1968: Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland

1970: Jerry Hahn – The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood

1971: Tommy Bolin – Whirlwind

1971: Big Brother and the Holding Company – How Hard It Is

1972: Finnigan and Wood – Crazed Hipsters

1974: Dave Mason – Dave Mason

1976: Mike Finnigan – Mike Finnigan

1977: Peter Frampton – I'm in You

1977: Dave Mason – Let It Flow

1978: Ben Sidran – A Little Kiss in the Night

1978: Les Dudek – Ghost Town Parade

1978: Mike Finnigan – Black & White

1978: Jim Krueger – Sweet Salvation

1979: The Dudek Finnigan Krueger Band – Special Tour Sampler

1980: Cher – Black Rose

1982: Crosby, Stills & Nash – Daylight Again

1983: Crosby, Stills & Nash – Allies

1984: Stephen Stills – Right By You

1988: Crosby, Stills & Nash & Young – American Dream

1993: I Mother Earth – Dig

1993: Buddy Guy – Feels Like Rain

1994: Crosby, Stills & Nash – After the Storm

2000: Tracy Chapman – Telling Stories

2000: David Coverdale – Into the Light

2004: The Mooney Suzuki – Alive & Amplified

2005: Taj Mahal – Taj Mahal & the Phantom Blues Band: Live in St. Lucia

2006: The Phantom Blues Band – Out of the Shadows

2006: Keb' Mo' – Suitcase

2007: Zen Blues Quartet – Again and Yet Again

2007: Joe Cocker – Hymn for My Soul

2007: The Phantom Blues Band – Footprints

2008: The Eclectic Beast Band – Living the Music

2010: Various Artists: The Imus Ranch Record II – "Part Time Love" (with The Phantom Blues Band)

2010: Willie Basse – Break Away

2011: Finnigan and Wood – It's Only a Rock and Roll Show (recorded 1971, previously unreleased)

2011: Trampled Under Foot – Wrong Side of the Blues

2011: The Phantom Blues Band – Inside Out

2012: Bonnie Raitt – Slipstream

2013: Eric Burdon – 'Til Your River Runs Dry

2013: Kara Grainger – Shiver & Sigh

2014: Trampled Under Foot – Badlands

2014: Dave Mason – Future's Past

2014: Hilary Scott – Freight Train Love

2016: Annika Chambers – Wild & Free

2017: Danielle Nicole – Cry No More

2018: Jay-Bee & the Ultratone Allstars – Life Ain't Got No Shortcuts

2020: The Phantom Blues Band – Still Cookin'

E gnente… savasansdir!

Post Scriptum:

Finnigan was a two-time winner in 2013 and 2014 of the “Blues Music Awards”, formerly known as the “WC Handy Awards”, awards given out by the “Blues Foundation,” a non-profit organization created to promote blues heritage.