35th Anniversary Jam

James Cotton Blues Band

Telarc
www.telarc.com

review by Robert Horn

The listing of the special guests on this CD indicate as impressive collection of talent as has gathered anywhere in a long time. I am not sure that it's a gathering that was legal: the Fire Marshall would have concerns about the room being too hot with talent and also with too many people in one building, and if a great musical sound could be called an "eargasm" this CD may be an "eargie".

In addition to the legendary James Cotton on harmonica, Mike Williams is on rhythm guitar, David Maxwell on piano, Noel Neal on bass, Per Hansen on drums, and then there is Tab Benoit, Shemekia Copeland, Maria Muldaur, Kenny Neal, Lucky Peterson, Bobby Rush, G.E. Smith, Koko Taylor, Jimmy Vaughan, Kim Wilson... and a number of other national headline acts.

35 years ago the rising young harmonica star finally left his post in the Muddy Waters Band (not a bad place to come from) to start his own band. Now 35 years later a gathering of Blues legends came together to honor him by playing music with him. That is where this CD came from.

At the center of each song here is James Cotton on harmonica, surrounded by 9 legendary vocalists, and a half dozen great guitar players standing in line to take turns being on different songs. And then there is Kim Wilson also playing harmonica on one song.

Kenny Neal was great on "Don't Start Me Talking" , Koko Taylor sings "I Got A Feeling", and Bobby Rush's singing of "Fatuation" is one of the sweetest sounds I have ever heard. Some great blues songs go way beyond the lyrics and transcend whatever the topic of the song. They go somewhere like, like maybe sort of an emotional G-Spot to sooth one's emotions, heal the soul, and do what only great blues can do. If you have ever been mistreated, or ever been in real deep pain but came through it, you know what I am talking about.

On the front of the CD is an older James Cotton, in overalls, sitting on an old wooden chair in front of an old wall of an old building that will NOT be featured in Architectural Digest. He is down where the music really came from, there is nothing more pure than that.