July 4th is always a bittersweet holiday for me. Sure I love the time of year, getting together with friends and family, music festivals, fireworks etc. However July 4th is also the birthday of Bob Enos, long time trumpet player in Roomful of Blues and countless sessions as a hired gun for the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughn, ZZ Top (unreleased), Pat Benatar, and Sugar Ray & the Bluetones just to name a few.
To be able to say "He Was a Friend of Mine" meant that you were indeed blessed; that your life was enriched not only musically but was made immensely more fun by the presence of Bubba. Not that there wasn't a price to be paid: your lungs were treated to the smoke of his constant cigar smoking and often you would have to witness the indignity of a good vodka being ruined by orange pop, but the balance sheet was always tipped in your favor to have had Bobby as your friend.
I have been blessed by the many friendships I have made over the years through Bob and I will always long for the magic that was one of their performances, the camaraderie that went on before during and after the shows and simply being able to hang with friends. In an attempt to relive some of those moments I was cruising around the web today and came upon perhaps the best examples of one of music's best horn sections at their peak. Backing Colin James, an under appreciated Canadian guitarist with impeccable taste in American music, as the Little Big Band is the Roomful Horns circa 1993 (Carl Querfurth, trombone; Rich Lataille, saxophone; Doug "Mr. Low" James, baritone, Greg Piccolo, tenor and Bob "Bubba" Enos) and Roomful's long time drummer, John Rossi. To see the horn section that won so many W.C. Handy awards that they were retired from eligibility for the Blues most prestigious award, see the six part series:
Prt 1 COLIN JAMES and THE LITTLE BIG BAND on 'The Big Ticket' - TV SPECIAL
Prt 2 - COLIN JAMES and THE LITTLE BIG BAND on 'The Big Ticket' - TV
Prt 3 - COLIN JAMES and THE LITTLE BIG BAND on 'The Big Ticket' - TV SPECIAL 1993
Prt 4 - COLIN JAMES and THE LITTLE BIG BAND on 'The Big Ticket' - TV
Prt 5 - COLIN JAMES and THE LITTLE BIG BAND on 'The Big Ticket' - TV SPECIAL 1993
Prt 6 - COLIN JAMES and THE LITTLE BIG BAND on 'The Big Ticket' - TV SPECIAL 1993
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