[Harp-L] James Cotton

[Mick Zaklan]

   This is a real blow to the blues harmonica community.  The guy played
like he was coming at your face with a broken beer bottle.  Talk about a
sound.  Myself, I love how he could sound like a piano player pounding a
chord over and over and just draw you in, waiting for the resolution.  Or
the way he would slip in quotes from big band tunes.
   My favorite album of his will always be the one he did with
blues mandolinist Johnny Young, even though he didn't play on all the
cuts.  Sentimental, because I got to work a dozen times with Johnny and
James is just roaring here.  And it's one of the best editions of the Muddy
Waters Band.
   Just a sad day.

Mick Zaklan