Compound Yellow invites you to join veteran blues musicians, Jimmy
Burns and Paul Ashford, for one night of sensational Chicago-style
blues on Friday, September 11, 2020 at 6:00 pm. Come hear their
special brand of musical magic as they play together in our socially
distanced side yard. Space is limited, so get your tickets soon! 20
persons max and masks are required.
RSVP to info@compoundyellow.com
Tickets are $12 per person. All proceeds go to the artists.
get your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/.../jimmy-burns-and-paul...

Biographies:
Jimmy Burns
Guitar, harmonica, vocals
Excerpt from Today’s Chicago Blues by Karen Hanson:
Mississippi-born Jimmy Burns plays classic Chicago-style
blues with slide, Delta country blues, and even a bit of
rock and roll. His vocals are smooth and powerful, and it’s
no wonder – Burns began his musical career as a singer
of gospel and R&B. He made his first recordings at the
tender age of 16 with the doo-wop group the
Medallionaires.
Born on February 27, 1943, in Dublin Mississippi, Burns
taught himself to play guitar at age ten when a woman
loaned a guitar to his mother, who also played a bit.
Burns picked it up and learned to play in open tuning. He
still often plays that way. “I still like open tuning because
it’s such a rich sound,” he says.
He put the guitar down when he moved to Chicago a few
years later. In the 1960s he recorded a couple of singles
as a vocalist. In the 1970s and ‘80s he was focused on
raising a family and operating a barbeque restaurant he
owned on the West Side, but in his spare time he
continued to play the guitar and perfect his musical style.
In the 1990s he came back to professional music. “I

guess it was just in my blood,” he explains. Or maybe it
was in his DNA. Burns is the younger brother of guitarist
Eddie Burns, who played for years with John Lee Hooker.
Before long Jimmy Burns was playing with the Rockin’
Johnny (Burgin) band at the Smoke Daddy. This gig led to
his first CD, Leaving Here Walking, recorded on the
Delmark label. The album earned two Handy Award
nominations in 1998 in the categories of Comeback
Album of the Year and Blues song of the Year (for
“Leaving Here Walking”).
“If anything, I’ve gone beyond my expectations,” he says.
“I’m very happy because of it.”
Jimmy Burns is an Oak Park resident.
Paul Ashford
Drums
Paul Ashford is a native Chicagoan raised on jazz, blues, and soul
music in the early 1960s-‘70s. His love for music and curiosity about it
as a child drew him to the beat of the drums. At age 10 Paul’s parents
bought him his first drum set and he never looked back from there.
That summer Paul and his musical friends formed their first band,
Evans Street, and in the 1980s Evans Street won first place at the
Battle of the Bands contest at Chicago’s Park West Theater. This
victory led them to meet jazz greats such as George Duke, Stanley
Clark and drummer, Raeford Griffin. At age 15, Paul was exposed to
gospel music and became the drummer for Southside Church where
he played for nine years. After their Park West Theater success,
other musicians contacted Evans Street and they got to record David
Josiah‘s hit single with him, “Mine Blowing,” for Columbia records
and, when Paul was 23, Evans Street got the opportunity to be the
house band for Janet Jackson at a promotional event for her album,
Control.
From there Paul took his talents to the blues circuit in Chicago,
performing at venues such as Big Daddy’s on Chicago’s southeast
side to Kingston Mines in Chicago’s Blues Alley. He met many

likeminded musicians along the way, and was asked to play for
Studebaker John & the Hawks when their drummer became injured.
This led to eight years of touring and traveling with John Gibraldi (aka
Studebaker John). During a break at one of their sets at Kingston
Mines, Paul met Jimmy Burns. “My best friend was Jimmy’s
drummer, and one time he needed someone to stand in for him. I
performed with Jimmy Burns at a gig in Michigan and it was like
magic,” Paul said.
Paul Ashford is a resident of Chicago.

EXTRA BLURB:
These days when Paul Ashford isn’t making music, he is one of the
essential workers at Oak Park’s Pete’s Fresh Market on Lake Street.
We want to take this opportunity to thank him and his colleagues for
all of their hard work during this pandemic. Come out and support him
and his friend, Jimmy Burns, at Compound Yellow!