Paul Tillman Smith Big Belly Blues Band THE ORIGINAL BIG BELLY BLUES BAND AND CD The Big Belly Blues Band originated from a blues song co-written by songwriter/drummer Paul Tillman Smith and Jazz Diva Faye Carol called the "Big Belly Blues" in Oakland, Ca., 2002. Guys from the local Sunday jam session at the Bluesville Jazz Club in Oakland California decided to form a Blues Band to honor bay area icon's ailing pianist Ed Kelly and vocalist George Hubbard. Jam session drummer Smith raised the idea that the band should do an album featuring the many talents of the band because they had all been friends for years and could now share in a special project. The band used the money from the jam sessions to pay for studio costs along with investments from friends. A retired bay area teacher, bassist and trombonist Harley White was brought in to pen horn arrangements along with band trumpeter director Kahlil Shaheed of the Oaktown Youth Jazz Workshops. The album fe