New Chess Records Tribute Channel is a Treasure Chest of Vintage Blues, Jazz, Soul, Rock 'n' Roll and Gospel Video Clips in one location

Marshall Chess /
Photo credit: Alex Healy

Marshall Chess, son of legendary Chess Records co-founder Leonard Chess, along with his son Jamar and partner Richard Ganter, have launched a “one-stop shop” outlet for vintage video music clips for genres ranging from Blues, Soul and Jazz, to Rock ‘n ‘Roll and Gospel with the rollout of the Chess Records Tribute Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChessRecordsTribute.

“The Chess Records Tribute Channel on YouTube is a deep excursion into the vast Chess Records history, featuring hundreds of rare videos, personal stories and experiences with constant content additions,” says Chess. “There is a podcast section, too, where I play Chess music with added comments. If you love the blues, you have got to check out The Chess Records Tribute YouTube channel.”

Now in his eighth decade, Marshall Chess continues to be at the vanguard of music innovation with the new channel, which follows the successful release of New Moves: The Chess Project, a trailblazing new album collection from his CZYZ Records label. CZYZ was the original family name of his father and uncle before they came over to the USA in the 1920s and had their name “Americanized” into “Chess,” which set the brothers on a path to create their own music history.

Partnering with Marshall Chess on these projects is long-time friend Richard Ganter. Over the years, Ganter was in contact with Marshall after both promoted the “Legendary Masters” series in the mid- 1990s. They hit it off on a friendship that has lasted for several decades. Richard suggested a bunch of ideas for a Chess book to pay tribute to the Chess family legacy to Marshall, which in 2019 came to the concept of an illustrated coffee table-style high-quality photo book. When 2020 came around and Covid 19 hit, Richard used the time to finalize the concept of the book with Marshall’s foreword and full authorized support.

 

Realizing that the world pretty much stood still in 2020 with the Chess Records Tribute Book finished, Richard started the YouTube channel Chess Records Tribute to support the book release and produce the most unique channel to showcase the legacy of the Chess family and beyond with Marshall’s full support.  Marshall at that point revived The Chess Project album he produced with his son Jamar and with several major artists and finalized the album in 2023. Thus, several major Chess projects came together to feature on the YouTube channel with the album now hitting the promo trail in 2024. 

 

“The Chess Records Tribute channel pretty much evolved from launching the book and with such a vast array of music and Marshall’s direct and deep association with Chess and beyond we quickly realized we will produce original and unique content not seen anywhere on YouTube,”” adds Richard Ganter. “The vast and deep combined knowledge we bring to this makes the pods, special features and videos the go- to channel in Blues, and of course, across all other genres. The channel covers Blues, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Soul, Gospel and Jazz, plus Comedy – the entire Chess history; plus we go beyond and cover Marshall’s later Rolling Stones involvement and his productions that take us right up to current times.”

 

After the initial launch in July, 2020, and the full launch in January, 2024, the YouTube channel boasts over 500 videos-and-counting to date. A unique offer for any music fan to learn and view, listen to some of the most amazing music ever recorded. The channel has over 20 playlists and features some of the most unique Blues videos and special documentaries ever made on the subject.

 

“The Chess Records Tribute YouTube channel reaches the far corners of the globe,” summarizes Ganter. “More specials are planned for 2024/2025 featuring Marshall Chess and his unique broadcast style to captivate and audience with the stories of his life in the music business that are truly one-of-a- kind. We have in-planning further special series that will become pod style tidbits of Marshall Chess folk tales covering artists and music, life and more.”

 

About the Chess Records Tribute Channel

The Chess Records Tribute Channel is the only dedicated video channel on all things Chess Records, its legacy and beyond, fully authorized by Marshall Chess. Currently the channel has 5k permanent subscribers and growing.

 

The channel boasts to date over 500 videos under several key genres such as Blues, Rock, Gospel, Soul, Jazz and Comedy, plus key Chess artist playlists where you get the most exclusive and rare videos seen on YouTube, refreshed every few days with new videos. The channel features over 70 exclusive podcasts by Marshall Chess, produced with Richard Ganter.

 

In addition to Blues,  all other genres that Chess was famous for are covered in depth, including Soul and R&B. Dedicated playlists feature key artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson, Etta James, Little Walter and Chuck Berry, to name a few.

 

The channel further boasts special films and features including the specially re-colorized and digitized “Bo Diddley Legend” documentary produced by Marshall Chess.

 

The channel also features exclusive videos   produced by Richard Ganter and Marshall Chess on the Grammy-nominated album Hip-Hop –influenced The Chess Project, produced by Marshall and Jamar Chess and Keith LeBlanc, featuring a stellar artist lineup of Bernard Fowler, backing vocalist of The Rolling Stones, world-class percussionist LeBlanc,  Skip “Little Axe” McDonald (Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five) and Eric Gales (Santana, Gary Clark Jr., Lauryn Hill) on guitar; Paul Nowinski  (Keith Richards, Patti Smith) and MonoNeon (Prince, Ne-Yo) on bass; Reggie Griffin (Kenny” Babyface”  Edmonds, Chaka Khan) on keys; Alan Glen (Jeff Beck, Peter Green) on harmonica; and Mohini Dey, an up-and-coming young bass player from India.   

 

Stats:

Videos: Over 550 videos live to date, with new videos published every week.

 

Podcasts: Over 70 podcasts published to-date every other week paying tribute to the Chess legacy hosted by the special Marshall Chess show covering all things music, social and tales from a lifetime of extraordinary experiences  in the business of music, artists and beyond only available on this channel.

 

Shorts: Special artist and songs featured on short video format.

 

Community/Posts: Posts to all subscribers happen almost daily across all linked social media platforms such as X, Instagram and Facebook.

 

Merchandising: A dedicated tagged Merchandise Shop features exclusive designs, which helps maintain the channel production costs. Visit: https://www.youtube.com/@ChessRecordsTribute/store

 

Key Marketing Stats:

Subscriptions: 5k; The channel was soft launched 3 years ago and started to rack up nearly 600k views in the past 12 months, 30k likes and over  10k comments/interactions with viewers across social media.

 

Core channel audience markets worldwide: US, Canada, Brazil, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, and South Africa

About Marshall Chess

After spending his early years alongside his father and uncle in Chicago studios and record pressing plants, Marshall Chess made his mark at the family label in the late '60s with his own label Cadet Concept producing the groundbreaking albums Electric Mud (Muddy Waters) and Rotary Connection (self-titled). Marshall continued his innovative work as the founder and head of Rolling Stones Records and president of music publisher, Arc Music. The Chess family continue to be pioneers in the industry today; as this new collection is co-executive produced by Marshall’s son, Jamar Chess: a Billboard "30 Under 30" alum, 2019 ASCAP award-winner, and co-founder of Sunflower Entertainment and Wahoo Music Fund One, partnered by  Marshall and Jamar.

Now living in Upstate New York and at 82 years old, Marshall Chess is still a record man above all - tending to the Chess Records legacy for his grandchildren and generations to come. He maintains The Chess Records Tribute YouTube channel, which features recorded live performances of Chess Records artists and a multi dozen-part Chess podcast hosted by Marshall where he chats about producing classic Chess albums and songs, many of which are reinterpreted on New Moves.

About Richard Ganter

Richard Ganter Started his career in publishing and studio/live productions covering several continents. During his career, he worked for various Polygram Record labels, MCA Records and Universal Music International, amongst others. A former executive at Universal Music Group International, he conceived the Legendary Masters series to reestablish the Chess Records catalogue to a global audience culminating in the production of the critically-acclaimed 15 CD Chess Story box set in 2000. He also produced several million-selling TV albums such as B.B. King Ultimate Collection. A former executive at Vivendi Universal Mobile, he marketed the first wireless mobile digital content portals globally across all genres from hip-hop to pop, including Eminem’s “8 Mile” film, Mary J Blige, Jay Z, Snoop Dog, The Rolling Stones European tour 2004, Sting, million-selling MTV Frog tune among others.

Richard Ganter is a published author running his own global digital media content management company focused on OTT platforms, video music production and channels .He divides his time between Europe and Africa.

R.I.P. James Cotton

James Cotton performing at Doheny Blues Festival in May 2014.
Photo: Bob Steshetz

Terrible news! I am very sad to hear the world has lost legendary bluesman James Cotton. Read my review of his performance at a terrific blues music event staged in Costa Mesa in March 2013 here. More recently, I caught him on day two at the Doheny Blues Festival in 2014; you can read my review of that event here.

Bob Margolin, left, with James Cotton
in performance on  March 13, 2013.
Photo: Bob Steshetz

World-renowned blues harmonica master James Cotton, whom Rolling Stone called, “One of the greats of all time, burning with brilliant virtuosity,” died on March 16, 2017 of pneumonia at St. David's Medical Center in Austin, Texas. He was 81. His overwhelmingly powerful harmonica playing was one of the iconic sounds of the blues. He toured worldwide for over 60 years.

James Henry Cotton, known as “Mr. Superharp,” recorded nearly 30 solo albums, winning one Grammy Award, six Living Blues Awards and 10 Blues Music Awards. He was inducted into the Blues Hall Of Fame in 2006. The New York Daily News called him, “The greatest blues harmonica player of all time.” NPR Weekend Edition said, “Conjure up a list of all-time great blues harmonica players, and high up on it you'll see the name James Cotton.”

Born on a cotton plantation in Tunica, Mississippi on July 1, 1935, Cotton was a working musician by age nine. He learned harmonica directly from Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), toured with Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf, and recorded for Sun Records in 1953 before spending 12 years touring and recording with Muddy Waters (starting at age 20). Cotton was featured on Muddy’s famous 1960 At Newport LP on Chess Records, including  the iconic version of Got My Mojo Working, one of the classic recordings of Chicago Blues.

Photo: Jason Marck

After his 1953 Sun sessions, Cotton didn’t record under his own name again until the mid-1960s, with tracks included in the groundbreaking Chicago/The Blues/Today! series of LPs on Vanguard. Along with Otis Spann, he cut The Blues Never Die! for Prestige.

In 1966 he formed The James Cotton Band, quickly earning a reputation as one of the most commanding and potent live blues performers in the world—a man who could literally suck the reeds out of his harmonica from the pure force of his playing. He made his initial solo albums, three for Verve and one for Vanguard, in the late 1960s. With bands featuring outstanding musicians including famed guitarists Luther Tucker, Matt “Guitar” Murphy and Hubert Sumlin, he quickly rose to the top of the blues and rock worlds. It wasn’t long before Cotton, with his gale-force sound and fearless boogie band, was adopted by the burgeoning hippie audience as one of their own. Cotton shared stages with Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, B.B. King, Santana, Steve Miller, Freddie King and many others.

Cotton’s blistering talent and full-throttle energy kept him in demand at concert halls all over the country. He played the Fillmore East in New York, the Fillmore West in San Francisco and every major rock and blues venue in between. During the 1970s, he cut three albums for Buddah and one for Capitol. He rejoined his old boss Muddy Waters for a series of Muddy albums produced by Johnny Winter, starting with Hard Again in 1977. Cotton also guested on recordings by Koko Taylor, Steve Miller, Memphis Slim, Hubert Sumlin and many others. He was joined on his own albums by stars like Todd Rundgren, Steve Miller, Johnny Winter, Dr. John, David Sanborn, Charlie Haden, Michael Bloomfield and Cissy Houston.

James Cotton performing in Dana Point on May
18, 2014 at the Doheny Blues Festival.
Photo: Kelly A. Swift

Cotton signed with Alligator Records in 1984, releasing two solo albums and the famed Harp Attack! with Junior Wells, Carey Bell and Billy Branch. He won a Grammy Award in 1996 for his Verve album, Deep In The Blues and recorded four albums for Telarc Records before returning to Alligator in 2010. His most recent recording was 2013’s Grammy-nominated Cotton Mouth Man.

In June 2010, Cotton was honored by New York’s Lincoln Center, where his friends Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Taj Mahal, Shemekia Copeland and others paid tribute to him in an all-star concert. The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal honored Cotton with their 2015 B.B. King Award for his seven decades of contributions to the blues.

Throughout his entire career, Cotton’s blast-furnace harmonica sound and larger-than-life personality always remained a true force of nature, described by USA Today as “devastating and powerful…carrying the Chicago sound to the world.”

Cotton is survived by his wife Jacklyn Hairston Cotton, daughters Teresa Hampton of Seattle, Washington, and Marshall Ann Cotton of Peoria, Illinios and son James Patrick Cotton of Chicago, Illinois, as well as numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are pending.