Photo Credit: Christina Arrigoni
The blues like many aspects of our culture combiness elements taken from elsewhere and sent out to the world. African rhythms and Celtic melodies, along with the plaintive vocals, came together in the cotton belt, moved north and congealed into the Chess Records’ sound in Chicago. The 1960s saw the blues travel to England and become wildly popular. A man responsible for a fair portion of this played Shank Hall Monday night, August 23.
John Mayall, The Godfather of British Blues, showed why, at 87, he is in the pantheon of bluesmen. Fronting a fabulous band made up of virtuoso musicians—Melvin Taylor (guitar and vocals), Greg Rzab (bass) and Jay Davenport (drums)—Mayall stood at his throne, the Roland organ. The band proceeded to transform Shank Hall into a juke joint from the Southside of Chicago or Northern Mississippi. They cruised into a seamless, rollicking journey of sound and rhythm.
The more than 200 people in attendance were projected into a place devoid of time by timeless songs, standards of electric blues. The collaborative product of the whole group was spectacular with Taylor extracting the range of expression only an electric guitar can provide.
An hour and a quarter in, Taylor showed he has the talent to stack up against anyone ever to play the guitar with a scorching, torching, cathartic solo during a nine-minute version of “Blues for You.”
Mayall’s time with us is limited. However, he still delivers the goods if the show at Shank Hall is any evidence.
