James Cotton @ The Blue Note (review, long)

["Jp Pagan" <coquiblues@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

  Well, last night i got a chance to see the legendary James Cotton play 
live for the second time in my life. He's been playing a nightly gig at the 
Blue Note in NYC for the last few days. Last night was one of 4 performances 
(2 shows a night) featuring singer Shemekia Copeland. There's 2 performances 
left: one tonight at 8pm, another at 10:30 for anyone interested. My 
apologies in advance for not being able to recall all the songs played... 
(shoulda wrote 'em down ;)
  My $30 for a table reservation was well spent the second i got to the 
club. James was outside having a cigarette. I shook his hand, told how 
honored i was to see him, and pretty much left it at that. For those of you 
who don't know, James Cotton's voice is pretty much shot nowadays. He 
doesn't talk much, and rarely sings. Even when he does, it can be pretty 
hard to understand what he's saying, especially over the din of a nightclub 
or the roar of the band. I wasn't about to try and interview him over a 
cigarette anyway ;)
  James' band started off the night with 3 songs, during which James was 
nowhere to be seen. The band was great though, with a drummer, 2 guitarists 
and a bass player with a 6-string. One guitarist, Slam Allen, had the 
biggest grin i'd ever seen plastered on his face the entire time. The other 
guy, Rico McFarland, was a whirlwind on the guitar. Something about his 
playing reminded me of James' harp, the repetition of a single riff over 12 
bars, or the energetic scream he could get from certain chords. Both took 
turns with vocals, but i think Slam's gravelly low growl had to be the 
better of the two (he sang, i think, "We're Gonna Have a Good Time")
  James came out for the fourth song, and the band proceeded through at 
least 3 or 4 other up-tempo numbers back to back. I don't think James 
switched keys once. Just as the band would end a number and start wiping 
their brows, James would start puffing on the next song, and the band would 
fall in right behind him. Eventually, Darrell Nulisch came up to sing a 
couple of tunes while James was on harp. They traded space well, and it 
seemed like the two of them really had a connection on stage. They did 
Rocket '88 and at least one slower tune. Then James left the stage and 
Darrell sang and played harp on a couple of tunes, then sang one more while 
they waited for James to come out. Darrell has a good voice, but it sounded 
much better on some tunes than others. i think it might have been that his 
range better suited certain keys, like C, than others, like E (too low, 
maybe?).
  James's playing, it pains me to say, was a little disappointing. He played 
well (hell, better than me by a 100 mile), but his energy and creativity 
seemed less than what it once was. He seemed tired alot of the time, and he 
played mostly short bursts of chords or single notes. As the night 
progressed though, he did play longer riffs and he did perk up quite a bit, 
but especially at the beginning it just seemed like he didn't want to be out 
there. Even at his best last night, he wasn't anywhere near the kind of 
head-spinning blowing displayed on 'High Compression' or 'Hard Again' (both 
of which i'm listening to now). That said, it was a good show overall, and 
it was worth it to see James Cotton up close at least once in my life. (I 
did catch his performance at the Chicago Blues Fest last year and it was 
much better, but i was sitting so far away from him i could barely make him 
out from the other little blobs on stage...)
  After James came back up on stage, Shemekia came on for the last few songs 
of the night. That was actually some of the best moments, as she and Cotton 
bantered back and forth (Shemekia was kind enough to repeat alot of what 
James said, cause she knew alot of us missed it). Copeland has a beautiful, 
powerful voice and she was a pleasure to listen to. This was the point in 
the night at which James seemed to really perk up, and he traded harp licks 
with Shemekia's vocals on "How Long Can a Fool go Wrong." James took another 
break while Shemekia brought her bass player on stage and did a couple of 
numbers on her own. Then James came back up as the band was starting in on a 
funky one, and he had a little trouble figuring which key they were playing 
in. But he picked it up and they ended the night solidly.
  After the show, i managed to catch up to James one more time and have him 
sign a photo i took of him in Chicago. As a whole, it was a great night, and 
if you've never seen James Cotton, i suggest you go. I don't know if James' 
playing just suffered from it having been the second set of the night, or if 
he wasn't feeling well, or if it's just his age and health, but I know that 
eventually i won't be able to see him play at all and that will be worse. 
The man had more fire in his day than any other harp player i can think of, 
and it was an honor to be able to shake his hand.

             --Jp


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