Ramon Goose (born 16 January 1975) is an English guitarist, singer and producer, known for his work with the West African Blues Project and the hip hop blues band NuBlues, for his mastery of the slide guitar, and for producing albums for American blues artists. As a solo artist he has toured across the world performing concerts (including performing at Buckingham Palace) and released several albums to critical acclaim.

Biography

Goose was born and raised in

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Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, England, influenced by blues, jazz and African music (citing artists such as Ry Cooder and

Davey Graham David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham (originally spelled Davy Graham) (26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008) was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many famous practitioners ...

as major influences to his style). He started out with British band NuBlues as guitarist, chief songwriter and producer. With NuBlues he made the album ''Dreams of a Blues Man'' (released on Dixiefrog Records in Europe, 21st Century Blues Records in the United States, and published by Metisse Music) and has toured all over Europe, with

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, pow ...

, the

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and others; performed with James Brown's bandleader

Pee Wee Ellis Alfred James Ellis (April 21, 1941 – September 23, 2021), known as Pee Wee Ellis due to his diminutive stature, was an American saxophonist, composer, and arranger. With a background in jazz, he was a member of James Brown's band in the 19 ...

; and worked with

Chris Thomas King Chris Thomas King (born Durwood Christopher Thomas, October 14, 1962) is an American blues musician and actor based in New Orleans, Louisiana. History King was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. He is the son of blues musician Tabb ...

. After a short stint with American bluesman

Eric Bibb Eric Charles Bibb (born August 16, 1951) is a Grammy-nominated American-born blues singer and songwriter. Biography Bibb's father, Leon, was a musical theatre singer, who made a name for himself as part of the 1960s New York folk scene; his ...

, in 2006, Goose went on to produce, perform on and co-write critically acclaimed albums for other blues artists. His production for Mississippi blues artist Boo Boo Davis was voted Top Ten Blues Album in a ''

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'' poll in 2006, and his production of Billy Jones (based in Arkansas) — both on Black and Tan Records — also received accolades from critics. Recent projects have included an album with Senegalese musician Diabel Cissokho, and production of the second NuBlues album, ''Snow on the Tracks''. Goose ended 2009 with a tour with his own band, including four performances at maximum security prisons to test his new material, which he released on the album ''Uptown Blues'' in 2011. He has continued touring with his world music/blues band (including Cissokho) and performing with artists such as Daby Touré (from Mauritania), Noumoucounda Cissoko (from Senegal), Atongo Zimba (from Ghana) and the Algerian

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virtuoso Yazid Fentazi and English/Urdu singer

Najma Akhtar Najma Akhtar also known as Najma (born 18 September 1962) is a British singer of Indian ancestry. She was born in Chelmsford, England. She is noted for jazz modification of the traditional Urdu Indian ghazal (love songs and spiritual songs). ...

. In 2010, Goose formed a side project, the West African Blues Project, to further explore the link between blues and African music (a track of this project is featured on Rough Guide to African blues (World Music Network). In mid 2011, Goose met musician Jim Palmer backstage at WOMAD festival. where Palmer was performing with

Baaba Maal Baaba Maal ( ff, 𞤄𞤢𞥄𞤦𞤢 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤, italics=no, born 13 June 1953) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several al ...

. Joining with Modou Toure, Goose and Palmer formed the band Coconut Revolution; an album is expected in early 2013 from Coconut Revolution. In 2012, Goose started working on the Desert Rock, a unique musical project which evolved after he travelled to the Sahara and

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, combining his love of Berber and Mandinka rhythms and melodies with blues rock. In the summer of 2014 Goose showcased his new band, World Scatterings, which consists of a cast of musicians from around the world, drawing on elements of blues, folk and African music rhythms. In 2014 Goose will release his new album, ''Blues & Spirituals'', on Acoustic Music Records. In 2016, Goose accepted the opportunity to perform at Buckingham Palace. The same year, he toured with The West African Blues Project across UK and Europe. Goose released, ''Long Road To Tiznit'', which was recorded in Marrakech and London, on 25 August 2017.

Band lineup

Discography

Solo

*''Mansana Blues'', with Diabel Cissokho (2010), Dixiefrog Records *''Uptown Blues'' (2011), Music Avenue Records *''Blues and Spirituals'' (2014), Acoustic Music Records *''The West African Blues Project'', with Modou Toure (2015), ARC Music *''Long Road to Tiznit'' (2017), World Music Network/ Riverboat Records

With NuBlues

* ''Dreams of a Blues Man'' (2004), Dixiefrog/21st Century Records * ''Snow on the Tracks'' (2008), Dixiefrog Records

Albums produced by Goose

* Boo Boo Davis, ''Drew, Mississippi'' (2005), Black and Tan Records * Billy Jones, ''My Hometown'' (2006), Black and Tan Records

Select special appearances and compilations

* ''Putumayo Presents African Blues'', various artists (2012) * ''West African Blues Project'', various artists (Rough Guide to African Blues (3rd ed.), World Music Network, 2014) * ''Rethink'', Billy Hill and Ramon Goose (Rough Trade, 2015)

Books authored by Goose

* ''Learn The Ngoni, A Beginners Guide to Learning the N'goni'', Desert Road (2018)

Guitars and amplifiers

*Ramon uses

ESP Navigator Series This is a list of guitars manufactured by ESP Guitars. ESP Original Series (Japan) Guitars Basses *ESP AP *ESP Bottom Bump *ESP Bottom Line *ESP Forest *ESP XJ *ESP Halibut *ESP Amaze *ESP Viper ESP Standard Series (United States) Guitars ...

Guitars. Chapter Guitars (based in London) built him the 'African Guitar'. *Ramon uses Custom by Cougar Mystic Blues ampliers and Bill Krinard Filmosound Projector Amplifiers

References

External links

official website

MySpace page for Ramon Goose
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goose, Ramon 1975 births Living people English blues guitarists English male guitarists English rock guitarists English songwriters English record producers Slide guitarists Blues rock musicians Resonator guitarists Electric blues musicians People from Colchester 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century British male musicians British male songwriters