Blues Harp

Insatiable showman, blues singer, and ace harp man kept his high-energy act alive for over a half century. At his high-energy, 1970s peak as a bandleader, James Cotton was a bouncing, sweaty, whirling dervish of a bluesman, roaring his vocals and all but sucking the reeds right out of his defenseless little harmonicas with his prodigious lung power. Due to throat problems during his latter years, Cotton's vocals were no longer what they used to be, but he remained a masterful instrumentalist for decades. Cotton had some gargantuan shoes to fill when he stepped into Little Walter's slot as Muddy Waters' harp ace in 1954, but for the next dozen years, the young Mississippian filled the integral role beside Chicago's blues king with power and precision. Of course, Cotton had been preparing for such a career move for a long time, having learned how to wail on harp from none other than Sonny Boy Williamson himself.

"I Ain't Lyin'…" is all Charlie - original tunes penned by this Grammy winning master that resonate with the South itself - rising from the Mississippi, crossing the levy, dancing through the streets and cutting to the heart of all that matters. Charlie Musselwhite’s journey through the blues was literal from his birth in Mississippi to Memphis, Chicago and California. Arriving in Chicago in the early sixties, he was just in time for the epochal blues revival. In 1966 at the age of 22 he recorded the landmark Stand Back! Here Comes Charlie Musselwhite’s Southside Band to rave reviews. A precipitous relocation to San Francisco in 1967, where his album was being played on underground radio, found him welcomed into the counterculture scene around the Fillmore West as an authentic purveyor of the real deal blues.

“Nuno goes from good to better to best on an album that mixes blues and rock classics… while kicking in a few of his own songs. Both as a guitarist and singer, Nuno is sort of reminiscent of Clapton while his low key, understated and bluesy singing style is sort of a reminder of a modern J.J. Cale… Free Blues will have you coming back for more”. (www.mwe3.com).Free Blues, by internationally acclaimed Blues guitarist Nuno Mindelis, celebrates a Blues Phoenix arising from the ashes. Blues music has undergone rediscovery and rebirth as it is passed from generation to generation…..

In a post modern world filled with mediocre music this album is a refreshing take on a genre that has its heart planted in the soul of almost every other genre of music heard today. Nelsen and the band kick off the party with a rockin’ blues tune titled “Don’t Stop Now” if you were sitting still before this number started playing you won’t by the end…..

On April 21, 1988, two significant events occured in the Cradle of the Blues, Clarksdale, Missisippi. One was ZZ Top's dedication of a guitar made from a board from Muddy Waters' home to the Delta Blues Museum. Of equal significance were the incredible performances turned in by the "original" Muddy Waters Blues Band at John Mohead's Cotton Exchange Club. No overblown concert to mark the event, rather two authentic juke-joint shows by a special group of players, the likes of which invented the genre.
This two-CD set was distilled from those historic performances. Be warned! You'll hear crowd noise, clinking glasses, missed notes and feedback. You'll hear tade-ins and fade-outs, mainly because the original recording devices were not always operating at the right time…