Join award-winning Texas guitar ace Jonn Del Toro Richardson and the J2M (Journey to Memphis) Allstars for a boat-rocking party on the Portland Spirit. With backing from host band Dave Melyan on drums, Timmer Blakely on bass, and Dave Fleschner on keys, Jonn goes head-to-head with such Portland blues stars as guitar slingers Ty Curtis, Chad Rupp and Kivett Bednar; blues belter Rae Gordon; soul saxophonist Fenix, harmonica wiz/vocalist Johnny Wheels, and keyboard ace Brady Goss — all of whom have competed, and often made finals, in recent years at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. 

Jonn Del Toro Richardson grew up around Houston, Texas, and you can hear it in every note he sings and plays. You can hear the Latin music that is his birthright – his uncles, aunts and grandparents played in touring mariachi bands, and often got together to play on the back porch. You can also hear the influence of the country and R&B music that was played in his house, and particularly the blues that drifted strongly over his grandparents’ backyard fence from the next neighborhood and took hold with Jonn to be the centerpiece of his musical identity. 

Jonn started out playing in Latin rock and cover bands, but soon turned to the blues, playing with a number of bands around Houston until he met Diunna Greenleaf and became a member of her Blue Mercy band. According to Jonn, that was when everything started coming together: “With Diunna I learned how to perform and be the counter punch to her vocals, and along the way learned how to sing with conviction and truth. Together we were unstoppable.” They proved it in 2005, winning The Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge, where Jonn also won the Albert King Award for Most Promising Guitarist, and appearing that summer at WBF. 

Jonn went on to perform with many of his blues heroes and performed on Pinetop Perkins’ GRAMMY-winning record Last Of The Mississippi Bluesmen with Robert Lockwood, Henry Townsend and Honeyboy Edwards. Jonn began playing with Otis Taylor, joining him on the soundtrack for the movie Public Enemy, and appearing with Taylor at the Waterfront Blues Festival in 2012. Jonn started working with blues mandolinist Rich DelGrosso, recording Time Slips On By, one of Down Beat magazine’s Top Albums of 2011. Jonn’s next CD, with long-time friend and fellow Albert King Winner Sean Carney, Wild Ride, provided a greater showcase for his formidable guitar playing and powerful vocals.