The PennZone

PITTSBURGH & LANCASTER, Pa. - PennZone -- MoMojo Records is honored to announce the July 25, 2025 release of The Last Dance, the posthumous album from beloved Western Pennsylvania musician Kip London.  The record emerges from a series of great recording sessions with Norman Nardini at his East Side Sound Studio just prior to London's untimely passing in 2022, masterfully curated and produced by three-time GRAMMY winner Kirk Yano at his studio in Brooklyn, NY, and mastered at world-renowned Sterling Sound.

Never straying from the original energy of London's vocal and guitar tracks, Yano assembled a distinctive group of musicians to provide a rhythmic foundation and solos to skillfully finalize the project.  In addition to Yano's own guitar and bass tracks, 2021 Blues Music Award winner Solomon Hicks and Pittsburgh's finest, Cheryl Rinovato, also appear on guitar. Don Krueger (Eric Carmen) and Tommy Rich (Donnie Iris) provide drums. Steel guitar from Tony Paoletta (Dixie Chicks, The Opry) and harmonica from world-renowned, six-time Blues Music Award winner John Németh complete the exemplary musician roster.

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Born in 1954, Kip London's early life in Braddock,PA, McKeesport, PA then Greensburg, PA was filled with his mother's love and the sounds of big band and swing orchestras. He got his first guitar at the age of 11 and never looked back. Gifted with prolific songwriting ability and rhythmic improvisation, London began playing in various Pittsburgh rock n' roll bands throughout the 70's and 80's before moving to Boston for its active music scene. His early blues album, Jump City, was listed among the top ten most listened to recordings in the Blues Revue office in the March 1998 magazine issue.  Later returning to Pittsburgh in 2017, his distinctive blues style, both eclectic and authentic, earned him the admiration of the blues community of western Pennsylvania and beyond.  He won the Blues Society of Western PA's annual blues challenge in the solo/duo category in 2021, and represented the region at the 37th Annual International Blues Challenge held in Memphis in May, 2022.

London's long time best friend Ronny "Moondog" Esser, owner of the world famous roots and blues music club, Moondogs, in Blawnox, PA reflects, "I met Kip nearly four decades ago. I watched and admired his talents as he grew from a good singer/songwriter to one of the best I ever heard.  He has written and performed dozens of songs ranging from folk to rock and swing.  I'm sure this album will be on your favorites list."

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"I am grateful to Kirk Yano for entrusting this special project to MoMojo Records," says label president Sallie Bengtson. "Over the past two years, I have learned much about Kip's background and his ability to turn personal tragedy into triumph with his loving gift of music. I admire his wife, Courtney Pardue, for turning her own tragic personal loss into this beautiful tribute to a powerful soul."

The Last Dance album release will be celebrated at the 2025 Pittsburgh Blues and Roots Festival (held July 25 through 27), an annual event benefitting  Band Together Pittsburgh, an organization using music to inspire and enrich the lives of those on the autism spectrum.  The album will be available in digital, CD and exclusive, limited-edition 2025 Pittsburgh Blues and Roots edition vinyl formats.

For more information about Kip London, his life and music, visit kiplondonmusic.com.

"A full and powerful soul not only copes with painful even terrible losses, deprivations, robberies, insults; it emerges from such hells with a greater fullness and powerfulness…" - Friedrich Nietzsche