Grammy Award-winning harmonica master James “Mr. Superharp" Cotton and his band will perform at the Stockton Performing Arts Center in Galloway on Monday, October 22, 2012. Cotton's latest CD, the Grammy-nominated Giant, is his long-awaited return to Alligator Records. Cotton, who in 2012 is celebrating his 68th year as a professional musician (starting at the age of nine), has recorded almost 30 solo albums, including two highly-regarded releases for Alligator in the 1980s and the famed Harp Attack! with Junior Wells, Carey Bell and Billy Branch in 1990. In 2011, Cotton won three Living Blues awards: Male Blues Artist Of The Year, Most Outstanding Musician—Harmonica and Best Blues Album for Giant. Concert information is as follows:
Monday, October 22, 2012
Stockton Performing Arts Center | Ticket price: $7-$40
101 Vera King Farris Dr. Galloway, NJ
Phone: 609-652-9000 | Showtime: 7:30pm
Over the course of his storied career, Cotton has seemingly done it all. As a small boy he learned harmonica directly from Sonny Boy Williamson II. He toured with Howlin' Wolf, recorded for Sun Records, and spent twelve years with Muddy Waters before stepping out on his own. Leading his own band, he rose to the very top of blues and rock scenes, touring the world non-stop and earning his reputation as one of the most powerful live blues performers in the world.
Giant is a ferocious blast of brash boogie blues. Produced by Cotton, Jacklyn Hairston and Derek O'Brien and recorded by Stuart Sullivan at Wire Recording in Austin, Texas, Giant features twelve tracks, including four new Cotton originals and co-writes, alongside songs made famous by Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Ivory Joe Hunter and others. Throughout his career, Cotton has always led great bands, and the players on Giant are no exception. With guitarists/vocalists Slam Allen and Tom Holland, bassist Noel Neal and drummer Kenny Neal, Jr., Giant is not just a reminder of Cotton's legendary status, it is a vibrant, hard-hitting album made by one of the true blues masters.
Giant reaffirms James Cotton's high-compression blues harmonica playing is a true force of nature. As The San Francisco Examiner says, “James Cotton is an inimitable blues legend. His wailing harmonica blows them away. His improvisations on the blues are full of fun and good humor. The blues don't get much better."
In June 2010, Cotton was honored at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center, where his friends Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Taj Mahal, Shemekia Copeland and others paid tribute in an all-star concert. There James Cotton played to yet another sold-out venue, with fans cheering the man known worldwide as “Mr. Superharp," an undisputed giant of the blues.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Stockton Performing Arts Center | Ticket price: $7-$40
101 Vera King Farris Dr. Galloway, NJ
Phone: 609-652-9000 | Showtime: 7:30pm
Over the course of his storied career, Cotton has seemingly done it all. As a small boy he learned harmonica directly from Sonny Boy Williamson II. He toured with Howlin' Wolf, recorded for Sun Records, and spent twelve years with Muddy Waters before stepping out on his own. Leading his own band, he rose to the very top of blues and rock scenes, touring the world non-stop and earning his reputation as one of the most powerful live blues performers in the world.
Giant is a ferocious blast of brash boogie blues. Produced by Cotton, Jacklyn Hairston and Derek O'Brien and recorded by Stuart Sullivan at Wire Recording in Austin, Texas, Giant features twelve tracks, including four new Cotton originals and co-writes, alongside songs made famous by Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Ivory Joe Hunter and others. Throughout his career, Cotton has always led great bands, and the players on Giant are no exception. With guitarists/vocalists Slam Allen and Tom Holland, bassist Noel Neal and drummer Kenny Neal, Jr., Giant is not just a reminder of Cotton's legendary status, it is a vibrant, hard-hitting album made by one of the true blues masters.
Giant reaffirms James Cotton's high-compression blues harmonica playing is a true force of nature. As The San Francisco Examiner says, “James Cotton is an inimitable blues legend. His wailing harmonica blows them away. His improvisations on the blues are full of fun and good humor. The blues don't get much better."
In June 2010, Cotton was honored at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center, where his friends Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Taj Mahal, Shemekia Copeland and others paid tribute in an all-star concert. There James Cotton played to yet another sold-out venue, with fans cheering the man known worldwide as “Mr. Superharp," an undisputed giant of the blues.
