Ever had the blues make you happy? Monday at the Maine Center for the Arts, the “All Over Blues” tour, which combined The Muddy Waters Tribute Band with fusion bluesman Chris Thomas King, may have been the blues, but it sure felt good.
After just the first number – Luther “Guitar Jr.” Johnson singing “That’s Alright” – there was no doubt that the members of the veteran Tribute Band, all of whom shared the stage with the late and the legendary Muddy Waters at some point, still have the mojo working.
That’s an amazing fact considering Monday was the last night of a seven-week tour, and these guys have been around, collectively, for a long time. Still, their music is virile and lyrical and unstoppable – whether it was wailing drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith doing “Hoochie Coochie Man,” harp hotshot Jerry Portnoy poeticizing his own “Blues in a Dream,” howling bassist Calvin “Fuzz” Jones grinding out “Honey Bee,” or get-down-and-dirty guitarist Bob Margolin pulling a serious Muddy vibe on guitar during “She and the Devil.”
Even more than the round robin of song presentations, there was a collective spirit here that made this 70-minute set soar. You can’ t find the experience and delight in this steamy music around every street corner – even in Mississippi or Chicago. These seasoned musicians seemed only too happy to provide the mood of porch stoops on a summer night in the country or smoky clubs downtown where the cognac bottles are half empty and the lights are deep as fog. They were so agreeable, in fact, that they gave a finale of “Got My Mojo Working” and amicably stayed for an encore of “Recycle Lady.”
The transition between classic blues and what Chris Thomas King calls “21st century blues” was jolting for some, who quickly peeled off in the second act after King performed a mere two songs. His version of blues fuses rap, hip-hop and traditional slide guitar, but he is loud and raucous at times, and that may not be a natural progression for some blues fans.
Those who left early missed King’s fine acoustic work, including “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues,” which appears on the soundtrack to the Coen brothers film “O Brother, Where Art Thou.” King also made his screen debut in that film, but he has been an innovator among young jazz musicians for nearly a decade.
King’s part of the night was an all-out showcase – with smoke, a light show and King’s four guitars, one of which he played behind his back, under his leg and with his teeth. The set included the disc-spinning contribution of DJ David Arias and the bass licks of Anthony Hardesty. After the old bluesmen, King seemed like a grandstander. But the man can sing, and he has found fireworks merging the past with the present.
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