Blues in a Bottle

CAMBRIDGE HAS experienced an erratic history as a magnet for folk and blues musicians. During the heyday of the Sixties' folk revival, Cambridge, New York and San Francisco formed a triangular circuit for itinerant folkies like Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, and Joan Baez. The old Club 47 on Palmer Street played host to nearly all of the best folk singers, as well as to many bluesmen who are rarely seen today. In 1967 the Club 47 folded, leaving the local music scene in a state of restless fragmentation from which it has only recently shown signs of pulling together.

Now, the Club 47 is the Passim coffeehouse and Passim has been providing a steady stream of folk talent for Cambridge audiences since its inception. Last week, a young man named Townes Van Zandt entertained there, evoking memories of the young Dylan with tunes such as "Talking Thunderbird Blues". And there are currently indications of musical rejuvenation on other fronts as well.

As the Age of the Fillmores wanes, big concerts frequently have become exercises either in brawling, nostalgic foolishness, or hero worship via binoculars. The alternative, for many people, is live music in clubs and bars; ideally, there develops a familiar relationship between performers and their locale which is--in fact--rarely found outside of Chicago, Houston, or Memphis. Cambridge has always been home to scores of fine musicians. Given the proper outlets for performing, these citizens tend to surface in miraculous fashion.

Beginning last summer, Jack's, a bar on Mass. Ave, across from the Orson Welles, has been featuring consistently excellent live entertainment without charging cover. More recently, Club Zircon--located on North Beacon St. at the Cambridge-Somerville line--has followed suit, usually charging a dollar cover while offering a better price on beer. Both clubs have enjoyed roof-raising engagements by the James Montgomery Blues Band, a group which has perfected the art of blues for drunk humans. Backed by an outfit which includes Harvard graduate Peter Bell on guitar, James Montgomery blows a wicked harp and sings Junior Wells tunes better than Junior himself. One of Montgomery's most endearing qualities is an apparent willingness to permit virtually anyone to jam with the group. Two weeks ago at Jack's, he was joined by Bonnie Raitt on guitar and vocals, an unidentified conga player, and innumerable walk-on harpists and pianists. No one seemed to mind the rough edges to the music produced by this informality; in truth, the drunker and looser the Montgomery band gets, the better the show becomes for all concerned.

In the last two weeks Zircon has presented besides Montgomery two other local bluesmen of extraordinary calibre: Luther Johnson, a black guitarist who used to play in Muddy Water's band; and last week, Billy Colwell's blues band. Colwell is a longtime veteran of the Boston music world who has seen enough ups and downs to send any sensible person into retirement. Fortunately for the world, however, Colwell is so demented that he continues performing phenomenal music for obscure personal reasons. The core of his band consists of Colwell on lead guitar, a second guitarist with a flair for wah-wah, bass player, drummer, and sax and horn players. On Saturday night, these six were joined by the eccentric "Chicago Bob" on harp-vocals and three other men who alternated at guitar and piano. Where Montgomery's act is informal and charismatic, Colwell's music is a tight, highly professional brand of blues virtuosity. Colwell repeatedly ripped off solos which can only be compared to Michael Bloomfield's on an inspired night. And like Montgomery's band, the Colwell group has acquired a repertoire of the very finest, rocking blues standards.

Other talented performers besides Colwell and Montgomery have been making regular appearances at Zircon or Jack's. Particularly noteworthy are "Spider" John Koerner, Reeve Little, and a group called Road Apples (formerly Finnerty, Morse, and Richmond.) A group of three men and one woman, calling themselves the Sheiks, are putting together a good-time style of light rock, slightly reminiscent of the Mamas and Papas, covering tunes by the Band and Chuck Berry. And when certain folk and blues luminaries are passing through this city, they may make an unscheduled trip to the bandstand at Jack's, as Rosalie Sorrels did recently. But without question, the finest blues music yet heard in a local bar will be happening soon, when Zircon brings Junior Wells and Buddy Guy from Chicago, a date which is tentatively scheduled for next month.

The endeavor to import significant bluesmen from the hinterlands has been the loving labor of the Boston Blues. Society, a non-profit organization of dedicated blues connoisseurs. In collaboration with WHRB, they have scheduled a series of superb concerts here at Harvard; with the exception of the Hound Dog Taylor concert at Winthrop House, however, these events have been curiously ignored by Harvard students. If you've been waiting for the right opportunity to investigate these affairs, you should not ignore the Otis Rush concert in the Leverett House dining room at 8:30 pm this Sunday. Best known for his song "I Can't Quit You, Baby", Rush is a young, intelligent, left-handed guitarist from Chicago who rarely leaves his home town. He is credited with having helped Buddy Guy and Magic Sam begin their recording careers. Rush can handle a wide variety of guitar styles and he sings falsetto, breaking voice. If this concert duplicates the success of Hound Dog Taylor's visit, it should be a felicitous combination of the scholarly concert and an intimate party.