Kipori "Baby Wolf" Woods
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Kipori "Babywolf" Woods
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Kipori "BABYWOLF" Woods was voted
Best New Blues Performer at OffBeat Magazines, Best of the Beat Awards 1999
and he is also nominated for 2000. Kipori has headlined at the House of Blues
in New Orleans several times and is a regular at the House of Blues happy hours.
Kipori has also opened for Blues Legend, Bobby "Blue" Bland. Kipori has performed
in Europe (Italy, Switzerland, and Germany). He has also performed from California
to Chicago and from the Florida Keys to New York City in the United States.
Kipori has recorded bass guitar and lead guitar on the sound track to Forefront
Entertainment's movie, Generation XXX. Lead guitar on Timothea's School of Hard
Knocks on Blue Soul Records. Kipori can also be heard on some of Dwayne Dopsie's
first recordings including live from the Dream Palace. Kipori's debut CD, Blues
Man From Down South has been reviewed in Living Blues Magazine, Aug. 1999. Kipori
has started working on his next CD to be released this year on the record label
with the best deal. Kipori has performed on TV, on New Orleans After Midnight,
Fox News Network, The Louisiana Jukebox, several times and appeared in the hit
R&B group Divine's music video. ~ Tipitinas.com
A legend in the making, Kipori
Woods is the youngest black blues vocalist and guitarist to surface on the blues
scene in years. Schooled under the direction of Ellis Marsalis, this fledgling
'blues man from down south' has won OffBeat Magazine's Best New Blues Artist
the past two years running.
With his second album the man they call 'Baby Wolf' takes his fans on a musical
trek, telling his story, from The Day I Started Playing The Blues to
the Hard Times and his aspirations for a Big Black Cadillac. Kipori
Woods is a young blues guitarist rich with the wisdom of ages. Early in his
promising career, Kipori shows the maturity and control of a seasoned veteran
and has the guitar chops to match. Music became a part of Kipori's life at an
early age.
His
grandfather "Luscious" Lloyd Lambert, the legendary New Orleans bass player
who worked with the likes of Ray Charles, Little Richard, Danny Barker and Doc
Cheatham, raised him. From Lambert, Kipori learned the ins and outs of the music
business. Kipori's first taste of the stage came while working with renowned
gospel greats like the Zion Harmonizers and Raymond Myles. A funk outfit, Kipori
Funk, Later let the budding artist stretch his talents in other directions,
but the blues were always calling. "I've always been influenced by the blues,"
says Kipori, but it wasn't until my grandfather passed in 1996 that I really
got serious about playing the blues." Taking his cues from masters like B.B.
King, Albert King and New Orleans legend Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Kipori's
sound blends blues classics and modern flavors.
His fretwork is at turns fierce and playful. His songs range from blues ballads
to jumping firetorms of sound. His vocals flow strong from a well that belies
his age and often take clever, unexpected turns. On stage, Kipori is an engaging
entertainer with boundless energy. He moves as though his guitar were a part
of him, becoming one with the audience in an escalating dance of seduction.
Kipori taunts, teases, and tickles the crowd until they beg for more. When Kipori
and the band get grooving, the whole club shimmies with exuberance. "I just
go out there and be me," says Kipori." I try to put on a good show because I
want the people to have a good time." Kipori perfected his high-energy performance
in numerous New Orleans nightclubs. His soaring set with Davell Crawford at
the 1999 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage remains the talk of the town. Kipori
has also toured extensively throughout the U. S. and Europe. He has shared the
stage with notables such as The Neville Brothers, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason
Marsalis, Kermit Ruffins, Rockin' Dopsie Jr., Walter "Wolfman" Washington and
many more.
In 1998, Kipori's self-produced debut CD, "Blues Man From Down South," garnered
enthusiatic support from local and national reviewers. The CD Sizzled with Kipori's
clever urban blues and featured a rich texture that included hints of New Orleans
funk, soul swamp groove and jazz. However, 'The Baby Wolf' has matured, giving
him a sound of his own and labeling him as one of the Big Easy's premiere blues
performers. So come along and take a bluesy ride in Kipori's 'Big Black Cadillac!'
~ By Chad Kirkland and Kim Hamauei
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