TUNISIA REVIEW (07/18/05)
Author: Mike Hennessey
Online Version: http://www.gkp-promotions.de
JOHN LEE HOOKER Jr. MAKES IT A MEMORABLE NIGHT IN TUNISIA!
With vim, verve and vitality, the quintet of John Lee Hooker Jr. provided the climax to the Night In Tunisia Rhythm And Blues Festival, held at La Marina, in the Tunisian town of Hammamet Sud, on July 16.
Welcomed in the programme as the “infant prodigy of rhythm and blues”, John Lee took the 1,500-strong audience by storm with a potent mixture of traditional blues, rhythm ’n’ blues, funk and hip-hop. So much so that the promoter of the festival wasted no time in booking John Lee Hooker Jr. and his band for a return engagement in October.
In a two-hour presentation, John Lee Hooker Jr. received tremendous support from the 19-year-old Jeff Horan on guitar (whom John Lee describes as his “blues son”), William “Roc” Griffin, a Herbie Hancock protégé, on keyboards, Craig Robinson on bass and Michael Skinner on drums – all of whom also soloed with impressive fire and fluency.
John Lee’s latest album, Blues With A Vengeance, on the Bogalusa label, won a 2004 Grammy nomination and also a nomination for a W. C. Handy award. And the California Music Awards named the recording Outstanding Blues Album of 2004. In addition, the Bay Area Blues Society presented John Lee Hooker Jr. with the 2004 Comeback Artist of the Year Award.
We’re going to hear a lot more from John Lee Hooker Jr. who, in the words of the Night In Tunisia programme, is carrying on the tradition of his legendary father and injecting “a youthful spirit into an eternal musical genre.”
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