My initial exposure to two-fisted, boogie-woogie piano pounder and singer Doña Oxford was seeing her as part of the backing band for blues diva, Shemekia Copeland. Along with long time musical partner, Arthur Neilson, Oxford developed a base of followers that have allowed her to spread her wings and take off on her own. Oxford's first solo recording, Rowena Said, offered the first glimpse of Oxford's potential as a solo performer, while allowing her the ability to remain within the "safety" of Copeland's band.
More recently, Oxford left her New York City base and relocated to Chicago where she mixes her time performing solo with her own band and regularly backing up other Chicago luminaries such as Sammy Fender, Jody Williams and Chico Banks. In 2002, Oxford released her second CD, Raw, a live recording showcasing Oxford's talents as a piano player, singer and all round entertainer. On Raw, Oxford is backed by her senior collaborator, Arthur Neilson, on guitar, Dave Post on bass and drummer, Andrew Burris. On two songs, "Nothing From Nothing Leaves Nothing" and "'Til The Well Runs Dry," Oxford is joined by Hiro Suzuki (guitar) and Tim Tindall (bass). Although the music is recorded in two locations, The Red Lion in New York City and B.L.U.E.S. in Chicago, Raw is assembled to generate the feeling of a single performance.
After an introduction by Buddy Fox, the band opens with the first of four Oxford originals entitled "Let's Have a Ball." The opener features an extended piano solo by Oxford, followed by a nice guitar romp by Arthur Neilson, as Oxford pounds the 88's behind him. Oxford's vocal are rich and sultry, fitting well with the overall style of the music. After a quick introduction of her band mates, Oxford moves to the second number for the evening, "The Hammer (Keeps A Knockin')" This is a nice medium tempo stroll that ebbs and flows with feeling and an ongoing musical exchange between Oxford and Neilson. After lulling the audience into a relaxed mood, Oxford explodes into "I'm On Fire," a high-energy, up tempo rocking boogie that gives her and ample opportunity to feverishly pound the black and whites, giving it all up for her fans, a la Jerry Lee Lewis, while Neilson lays a ripping guitar behind her.
As part of the continuing change of moods and feelings, Oxford and her "second" band slows things down for "Nothing From Nothing Leaves Nothing," featuring a nice, burning guitar solo by Hiro Suzuki. The mood changes again as the tempo starts to pick back up for Willie Dixon's "Crazy About You Baby," one of my personal favorites on Raw. Interestingly, the solos on this tune are dominated by Neilson's guitar as Oxford chooses to remain in the background, except for her distinctive vocal treatment of the song. The song also include a brief snippet of the signature musical sound of The Rolling Stones', "Satisfaction."
Raw moves towards the midway point with an Oxford "sandwich" that includes Oxford originals "It's Our Day" and "Here We Go Again," wrapped around Denise LaSalle's, "When You Find A Fool, Bump Her Head." One of the things I appreciated most in this section of the recording was the fact that Oxford does not use her original material to beat the listener to death with her prowess on the ivories, instead choosing to take advantage of the talents of her band, working together to achieve a nice blending of sound. On "Here We Go Again," Oxford brings her piano back to the forefront, taking a dominant position in this song instrumentally and vocally, continuing however to play off of Arthur Neilson's guitar exceptionally well. The following song, "Something You Got," includes more nice piano work on this familiar New Orleans R+B tune.
In an unusual twist, Oxford heads down the home stretch of the CD with a nice version of the Jackson 5 classic, "I Want You Back." Although I can't honestly say that the original version of this song thrilled me, I enjoyed Oxford's interpretation. Oxford then takes on some nice piano-laden jump blues for Wynona Carr's "Til The Well Runs Dry," this with her "second" band including Hiro Suzuki and Tim Tindall. Following "You'll Never Ever Know," Raw closes with the burning boogie-woogie instrumental original, "Doe's Boogie," the final original on the CD. For the finale, Oxford makes it clear that she can hold her own on the piano with the best in the business, male or female. The piano on "Doe's Boogie" is ripping good, as is the fiery guitar solo by Arthur Neilson.
Doña Oxford's display of musical talent on her latest release, Raw, clearly puts her in the same class as her female peers, Deanna Bogart, Marcia Ball and Kelly Hunt, while reflecting the influence of her mentor, the great Johnnie Johnson. To learn more about Doña Oxford and her latest release, Raw, check out Oxford's website at www.donaxoford.com.

by Dave "Doc" Piltz
February 2003
Copyright © www.mnblues.com

Bandleader Dona Oxford is a double threat singer and player, well equipped with a soulful voice and a good time, rolling feel... Her solo romp, Doe's Blues"' proves that a player who takes her time with the blues can impress more that someone bent on showing off slippery licks. 

Rowena Said...

I recently had the pleasure of hearing Doña Oxford playing with the Weepers at the Stanhope House, north Jersey's best blues club. This CD features her own band, Oxford Blues. Oxford is probably one of the finest blues, barrelhouse, and boogie woogie pianists around today, and her crack band, which features my old friend Arthur Neilson on guitar, is simply wonderful. Most of the tunes are originals, with the best cuts being "Cinderella", "Down In New Orleans", "Red, White & Blues", and "It's Rainin'". And another thing -- Doña Oxford is equally at home fronting the band with convincing lead vocals. Catch them if they come into your area.

OXFORD BLUES NYC's Dona Oxford, the pint sized belter of the first order, boogies behind the keys, playing her brand of New Orleans-flavored blues while the band featuring Arthur Neilson on scorching guitar rips it up. --RMB

OXFORD BLUES is a band made up of rhythm, classic rock and blues. But the approach comes off clean and strong with Dona's all out attitude. She and her band know how to get the crowd moving in their seats. Oxford Blues has only been together a few years but in that time they have opened for Commander Cody, Charlie Musselwhite and Johnnie Johnson...They have also released a new album called 'Rowena Said...', which was inspired by Rowena Edelbrock Brown's tombstone. The songs CINDERELLA and DOWN IN NEW ORLEANS both start the album off with an upbeat mood, but as soon as ROWENA SAID... comes on, you'll find yourself singing along with Dona, the band and the blues. Don't go too low into the bottle. JUST A LITTLE BIT will bring you right out of those blues with happy moving rhythm. Other songs features are: I'M ON FIRE, IT'S RAININ', DOE'S BLUES, BYE BYE MY BABY and BIG HANDS, BIG FEET. All in all, Oxford Blues proves to be a great night out. So come on out for a night of dancing, singing and drinking, and say "Hello" to OXFORD BLUES.

As many of you may already know, I'm picky about my blues, but I can honestly say that Oxford Blues gets my stamp of approval. Doña Oxford has a voice similar to Saffire's Gaye Adegbalola and she plays some mean keys as well, mixing New Orleans and Chicago in an infectious blend. Arthur Neilson is an extremely expressive guitarist who seems to interpret Oxford's emotions almost as well as she does herself. Any rhythm section that includes Charlie Torres is way ahead of the game; complete it with Dan Hickey and there ain't no way it can be beat. As if that's not enough, Oxford writes some killer tunes, authentic as hell but from her own experiences. To top it off, I'll bet they're a blast live.

So many aspiring musicians have taken up the guitar in recent years, it's a rare event when a talented young pianist leads a blues recording session.

Rowena Said introduces the world to Doña Oxford, a clever young pianist/organist and sassy vocalist with a don't-mess-with-me attitude. Best known as the keyboardist in Shemekia Copeland's road band, Doña (pronounced "doan-ya") has also backed Hubert Sumlin, Bernard Allison, Kenny Neal and Johnnie Johnson.

Oxford is a capable vocalist, but her piano playing really distinguishes this CD. She tackles three different styles of rollicking blues piano on Rowena Said, including trilly New Orleans-style R&B on the CD's best tune, an incendiary version of "Just A Little Bit," and on the second-line rave-up "Down in New Orleans." Later she rocks out Jerry Lee Lewis-style on a cookin' version of "I'm on Fire." Then on the original song "It's Rainin'" and on the solo instrumental "Doe's Blues," Oxford's playing is nearly indistinguishable from that of her idol, the great Chuck Berry sideman Johnnie Johnson.

Oxford's best vocal performance comes on the slow blues lament "Red White & Blues," where she drops the hot mama persona to reveal a softer, more soulful side. On the tracks where she plays organ, Oxford seems content to relinquish the spotlight to her capable band Oxford Blues. Guitarist Arthur Nielsen, a fellow member of the Shemekia Coleman road band, delivers two especially blistering solos on the soulful "Bye Bye M' Baby" and "I'm on Fire."

My only complaint about Rowena Said is that delivers just 37 minutes of music. Desites its stingy length, the CD acquaints us with a talented young blues pianist capable of playing just about anything. Hopefully we'll hear a lot more from Ms. Oxford.

Rating *** 1/2 (out of ****)

Hard hitting blues keyboard ace does a little stepping out on her own after making many others look good for so long. A chop filled set that rollicks and rolls in high form, frat boys and roadhouse fans will enjoy this sweat dripper as there's a lot more than a bored side person on a stroll here. Tasty.

Shemekia Copeland, the hottest newcomer on the national blues scene, made an appearance at Carrboro's ArtsCenter, playing before a sold-out house that included her grandmother and a collection of cousins and uncles from the Wilson area.

Her four piece band opened the show with two mood-setting blues numbers. Copeland knows how to assemble a backing outfit: Keyboard whiz Doña Oxford, who fronts New York City's Oxford Blues; guitarist Arthur Neilson; drummer Barry Harrison; and bass player Eric King had the joint in the groove before Copeland set foot onstage. A highlight of the opening hour was the slow-burner "Salt In My Wounds"; it was impressive, so early in the night, to hear Copeland reach down for a little something extra. Oxford's work on the ivories was stunning and extremely cool, and her give-and-take with Neilson was as dynamic and vivid as any piano-guitar tandem in recent memory.

The second set began as the first one did, with the band knowcking off a couple of hot numbers. Copeland hit the stage with "Has Anybody Seen My Man?" The sond has an admirable stride that's well suited to the hammering piano and nasty, buzzing guitar gleefully contributed by Oxford and Neilson....