Harmonica Great James Cotton, set to perform at Georgia BluesFest August 21, Signs with Alligator
Harmonica Great James Cotton, set to perform at Georgia BluesFest August 21, Signs with Alligator
July 27, 2010
Rhetta Akamatsu
Examiner.com
Alligator Records sent out a press release July 14th that James Cotton has returned to Alligator,. Cotton is scheduled to perform at the Georgia BluesFest in the mountains near Dahlonega August 21st., along with Johnny Winter.
Cotton has a new CD due out September 28, Giant. He had two highly acclaimed releases for Alligator in the mid-1980's. (He cut his first records for Sun Records in 1953, traveled and recorded with Muddy Waters for twelve years in the '50's and 60's..)
James Cotton, who turned 75 July 1st, recently celebrated his 66th year as a performer, having begun at age 9. He is, as the press release notes, "one of the few bluesmen to have harmonicas literally explode from the pure force of his playing.'
The New York Times calls Cotton "the greatest living blues harmonica player."
He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2006, and in June 2010 he was honored at Lincoln Center, where Taj Mahal, Shemeka Copeland, Hubert Sumlin, and Pinetop Perkins were among the friends paying tribute to him.
Atlanta fans, fans in other parts of Georgia, and those who travel from other states can enjoy James Cotton at the BluesFest, and fans everywhere can look forward to the release of Giant September 28th.
