Last Thursday, April 2, 2009, in the neighborhood of 11:00 p.m., Blues History was realized when Albert Cummings made a huge announcement!

I'll get back to that.  First, I have an announcement of my own.  I have a new  Fiancée.  Fiancée #27.  This is a very sentimental engagement, starting with the number itself:  My birthday is December 27th, so I have an affinity for the number, and as such, knew that special consideration had to go into this decision.  In light of a culmination of things, there is only one person who can have that number, even though he doesn't meet the must-live-at-least-250-miles-away rule.  The rule has been waived for this multi-talented Blues Hound, and here's why:

His devotion to furthering the Blues is unsurpassed; his commitment to his community is unequaled; and his fundamental understanding that one person, with the right motivation, can move countless others to engage their talents for the betterment of humanity.  He also drove from Winter Park through a blinding blizzard on December 27, 2007, to join us at the Outlook for my birthday fund-raiser to benefit the philanthropy he founded, Blue Star Connection.  He joined me again in 2008, and as it's clear we will be spending a lot of my birthdays together for the benefit of Blue Star Connection, he's the only one worthy of number 27.  It's official!  Mr. John Catt is Fiancée #27.   Congratulations?

Now back to Albert.  Before I get to the announcement, however, if you read last week's Blues Letter, you know that when I first met Albert in December of '07, he called me a bitch when I informed him I once had the distinct honor of meeting Muddy.  I reminded him of this, and he CALLED ME A BITCH AGAIN!!!  Love that guy! 

The announcement:  Albert Cummings, George Rains, and My Tommy Shannon are going on tour!   No other details were provided, but this is one tour we'll all hear about when it's set, and I believe we can safely go out on a limb and assume that Fiancée #27 will be involved and will keep us up-to-date.   Love that guy, too!

A lot.  It was 10:00 a.m. on January 17 of this year when I received the email from John that the Trio was finally confirmed after six days of emails, calendars, and phone calls (Albert was being a diva...kidding, Albert).   I was getting ready to head to the Outlook for the First Annual No Boat Blues Cruise, so one can imagine how excited I was to make the announcement in between all the sets.  The audience response, without exception, proved me hardly the only one overjoyed at the news.  And Thursday night met and then exceeded our expectations with one of the most fun shows we've had.   Here's our Sr. Guitar Corespondent:

This might be starting to sound like a broken record (hopefully some of you remember ‘records’ ), but it was business as usual with another spectacular show at the Outlook last Thursday. I find myself saying that a lot lately so I hope no one thinks I keep writing the same review and simply changing the performer's name. It’s just that Dan’s blues express has been rambling hard & fast ever since 2009 started. In January he threw Eddie Turner, Sammy Dee, Todd Tijerina & Jake Loggins at us. February followed with Trampled Under Foot, Tommy Castro, and John Lee Hooker, JR. March had Jason Ricci, Smoking Joe Kubek, Harper, Big Bill Morganfield, and Ron Thompson. And now April started off with a deafening explosion as Albert Cummings took the stage.  And just for a little added treat he had George Rains on drums and Tommy Shannon on bass, two guys who have played with a long list of blues giants. Two legends joined by soon-to-be legend, Albert Cummings.       

Albert proved that he belongs in that top echelon of guitar greats, current and past. Some guys fan the flames of the blues to keep it burning, but not Albert. This cat douses them with gasoline, Sterno, and rocket fuel and turns it into a blues bonfire! I guess if you want a guitar legend in your family you just make sure you name your next kid Albert, like Albert King and Albert Collins before him (I’m betting baseball great Albert Pujols must be a killer guitarist as well).

Some folks insist he has a lot of SRV in his style; I didn’t really think he sounded that much like Stevie Ray. The main SRV comparison I would make, is that SRV was a monster guitar player and Albert joins him in that category as well. Actually I found myself thinking his sound was closer to Jimmy Thackery’s (my son Casey & buddy Bob thought so as well). He gets that same ‘fat tone’ from his Strat that Jimmy T does, and just as clean and full of precision. Now considering I rank Jimmy Thackery right up there with God, you should know I don’t compare too many guitarists to him. That ‘fat tone’ is hard for me to describe, its a bigger, fatter sound, like 10-foot tall notes jamming the room. Sort of a deep growling sound that fills every open space in the music, and for as overpowering as it is, each note is crisp and crystal clear with no distortion. A thick rich sound that is so sweet to my ears. It’s a rare breed of guitar players who have it.

Thackery has it and Albert sure as hell does as well.  Thursday evening was a nonstop ‘orgy for my ears’. Albert dazzled the crowd with a full arsenal of tricks. Lightening scratching, long drawn out deep rich wails that shuffled and echoed. Scintillating wah-wah that let you know you were in the presence of a master. And a dash of showmanship as Albert roams the stage with an infectious smile and twists and turns his guitar in every direction, then slapping the back of the guitar neck to remind it who’s in charge, much the way Patti smacks the back of my head when I supposedly get outta line.

He hit one brief snag at the beginning and had to switch amps but it never phased him, nor slowed him down. Rains, Shannon and Cummings meshed together as if they had been playing together for years despite this being their first gig together in 15 months! They sounded great and there was talk of the three of them doing a tour together which is something I hope they pursue further.

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