Cotton, Hammond and Musselwhite give MCG the blues

When MCG Jazz Executive Producer Marty Ashby welcomed the audience to the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild May 2, he said they were in for a rare treat, the Blues Hall of Fame Tour featuring John Hammond, Charlie Musselwhite and the legendary James Cotton.
“Usually we’re all about jazz here,” said Ashby. “But without the blues—there is no jazz.”
And classic blues pen by master composers, played by master musicians, is what they heard.
Yeah, the number of people in the audience under 30 was maybe three—including Musselwhite’s guitar player—and the number of African Americans was maybe a dozen—including Musselwhite’s drummer, and of course, James Cotton—but that just means a lot of younger people missed some classic harmonica driven blues. Both shows were sold out.
Taking the stage first was Hammond, as always wearing A neck-mounted harmonica holder that allows him to accompany himself on acoustic guitar while he sings and blows his harp—all of which he did, opening up with John Lee Hooker’s “Lookin’ for Trouble.”
He then told the audience he’d been touring for 53 years and that he’s been blessed to play with greats like Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson and Jimmy Reed and Jimmy Rogers. He then broke into Rogers’ “That’s Alright” and picked up the National Steel slide guitar he’s been playing for 53 years and went right into a foot stomping version of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Rocket Oldsmobile.”
“Speaking of Wolf, the first time I ever heard James Cotton was on Wolf’s 1949 “Stone Pony Blues,” he said. “Ladies and gentlemen—James Cotton.”
While his shuffling gait hinted at his age—he’ll be 80 on July 1—you couldn’t tell by his playing, as he and Hammond launched into Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Fattening Frogs for Snakes.” And then, in an homage to Muddy Waters—who Cotton played with from 1955-1965—they played a cranked up version of “Just Can’t be Satisfied,” trading solos and doubling lines with each other against Hammond’s frenetic slide work.
Cotton, who toured with Janis Joplin in 1966 after leaving Waters and before forming his own band, still plays with remarkable range and power, especially considering he battled throat cancer in the 1990s. The only hint of that was in his raspy speaking voice when he thanked everyone.
After Cotton and Hammond left the stage the electric portion of the show began with Musselwhite’s band cranking out a set that included “Bad Boy,” “Stranger in a Strange Land,” and “and old folk song I made up this morning,” called “Come On In.”
At 71, Musselwhite was the “young guy” in the trio of harmonica maestros. But theirs is a small fraternity. And as such, all three have played with each other and with legends like Reed, Rogers, Williamson and Willie Dixon over the years.
“It’s been a pleasure and privilege to work with these guys,” he said. He then brought Hammond back on stage where he picked up a bright red Fender Stratocaster and complained that he never gets used to wearing a strap, before launching into an extended version of John Lee Hooker’s “Sugar Mama” that featured Musselwhite trading solos with his guitar player and Hammond.
Then Cotton reappeared, sat down, and took over. Jumping from his harmonica’s highest register to its lowest, cross-harping in a different key, playing off the other musicians, dancing and falling out in his chair, and directing the band to full stops and decrescendos like James Brown—if Brown ever sat down.
But Cotton didn’t stay seated either, for the finale—Waters’ “Got My Mojo Workin’,”—he got up and danced while he played, chiding the audience that he couldn’t hear them singing the call-and-response chorus. In seconds, 400 audience members had their mojo workin’ too, and rose to give Cotton, Musselwhite and Hammond a rousing standing ovation.
(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
 
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