Steve Ajao Blues Giants

Steve Ajao Blues Giants

Steve Ajao Blues Giants is a British blues group led by Birmingham guitarist Steve Ajao. The trio features Ajao with bassist Mike Hatton and drummer Pete “Washboard” Hammond, a former member of the Au Pairs. The group has been active for more than 30 years and is known for combining blues and jazz influences with a live approach that can move between Chicago-style blues, Delta blues, jazz, and more energetic, Hendrix-influenced playing.

Origins and style

Steve Ajao is born in Birmingham, England, in 1952 and grows up around music played by his father, Bobby Ajao, who has a record collection that includes blues, jazz, R&B and related artists such as Lightnin’ Hopkins, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, T Bone Walker, B.B. King and Buddy Guy. Ajao starts on drums before receiving his first guitar, a Selmer 222, at the age of eight. By thirteen he is playing regularly, developing a style strongly shaped by Lightnin’ Hopkins, and begins performing soul, R&B, early reggae and blues in black clubs and dances across the UK. He later becomes known as one of the UK’s most highly regarded blues guitarists.

The band

Bassist Mike Hatton begins playing in 1978 and soon joins Ajao, after which the two develop an interest in both jazz and blues. Hatton performs with the group on fretted and fretless bass and also plays bass-led solo material. He records two albums of his own compositions: The Commercial Blues in 2004 and So What’s Up? in 2009, the latter with his Jazz Funk project MJHQ. Pete “Washboard” Hammond brings percussion, washboard and a strong rhythmic element to the trio. He is also a founder member of the post-punk band the Au Pairs, whose debut album Playing With a Different Sex sells more than 200,000 copies. Before and after that period he works with a range of acts, including Bitty McLean, UB40-related touring, Mambo Taxi, Fenu Monu, Mr Ajao and Tim Amman Xtet.

Live performances

The group plays as a three-piece but is associated with performances that move from hard-edged blues to jazzier passages. Its live set includes numbers such as “Number Nine” and “Travelling Riverside Blues”, and the musicians are known to mingle with the audience while playing in a New Orleans-style marching-band manner. The group’s performances draw on blues, jazz, traditional blues and blues rock, with references to Mississippi Delta styles, modern electric blues and Jimi Hendrix.