Jimi (Jimmy) Mamou (#2): Mamou Travel Memories.

A little over a year ago I posted a blog entry about an American blues musician who bowled me over with his playing when I saw him in Mexico in 2004: Jimi Mamou (also known as Jimmy Mamou).


While visiting the onetime sleepy fishing village of Zihuatanejo, this tourist floated in one of the world's most beautifully-tranquil bays as sunset approached. And I watched a series of sunsets that a hundred-plus photos couldn't capture all the striated majesty of. Nevertheless, those shots still reduce me to sighs when I look back at them.


Next, I'd walk into town to eat: maybe munching that evening on a milanesa torta, fresh seafood, or green enchiladas.

Capping three separate sticky nights, I drank cold Victoria beer while watching Jimi Mamou and the other members of his trio strut out some awesome R&B. I'll never forget the electricity he generated, his zestful showmanship, his guitar chops.

Since posting that Mamou travelogue, I contacted Mr. Fine Wine, a deejay at WFMU, to tell him that I appreciated being able to hear Mamou's "Funky Love" for the first time thanks to his show. Mr. Fine Wine responded that he's owned that 45 "forever," but didn't know much about Jimi's history until reading my blog.

Then a record seller, an acquaintance here in Denver, emailed me to say that he'd recently acquired Mamou's "'I Am' He Said" religious record. Researching that title on an Internet search engine, he happened upon my blog entry right off the bat. It's a small world, after all -- and Jimi's name is known all around the globe. My blog has also gotten hits from people looking for info on Mamou in Mexico City, Toronto, Tokyo, Turin, Paris, Chicago, and Nashville -- to name a few locales.

At the end of my post, I wondered where Mamou was now. Art and Gillian responded in February of this year: "Jimi is alive and well in Zihuat, playing here and there in various clubs once or twice a week..."

I've also researched Mamou further myself, listening online to a 1971 Elvin Bishop concert in San Francisco at which Mamou made a guest appearance, joining the band for a few songs. And I see that he performs at an annual guitar festival held in Zihuatanejo.

With any luck that's where I'll be in March of 2010. Swimming again in the gentle waves at Playa La Ropa. Watching the fishermen haul in my evening's meal during the pre-sunrise a.m. hours. And swaying like a palm tree to the rhythms of Jimi Mamou on a warm festival night beside the Pacific.

Jimi Mamou (Jimmy Mamou): Zihuatanejo Blues.

Every now and then you unexpectedly run across a performer who bowls you over with his technical prowess and onstage charisma, leaving you wondering: How come I've never heard of this cat before?

Such is the case with Jimi Mamou (who has, also, performed as Jimmy Mamou). When I visited Zihuatanejo, Mexico in November 2004, there just happened to be a blues club called Blue Mamou (now defunct?) about a three minute walk from my hotel. It was there that I happened upon Jimi Mamou entertaining. Enthusiastic, energetic and playful, he was a natural at singing and playing guitar and keyboards.

Researching Mamou's life on the Internet, I've discovered that he's jammed with scores of folks, including Big Mama Thornton in Russell City, California (check out the photo of the two together). Besides releasing a single on Capitol Records ("Funky Love"), he's also put out a religious record ("'I Am' He Said"), preaching at one time along with Billy Graham...although his set at Blue Mamou seemed as secular as they come. I'm not the only blogger this has puzzled: check this out. Perhaps you can find a copy of one of Mamou's records on eBay, where they're sometimes listed.

I wonder where he is today...Zihuatanejo? Back in Paris? Is he on a religious crusade? Or is Jimi Mamou spreading more of his "Funky Love"?

Whatever the case may be, keep on jammin', Jimi!

[UPDATE: I recently came across the track "Funky Love" within the archives of Downtown Soulville, a radio show on the great New Jersey station WFMU. The cut sounds like whacked-out James Brown-esque funk; although I like the song, I wish that Mamou had laid down some of his killer lead guitar work on it. ]

[Editor's note, 02/23/10: It seems that the link to Jimmy Mamou's bio has been taken down on Billy Graham's actual web site. I've now gone ahead and linked to the very same page, as it previously appeared on Graham's web site, using the February 2, 2007 link on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.]

Here's a subsequent blog of mine about Jimi Mamou.