Keb Mo – A Star in Blues Heaven
Keb Mo had a banner year in 2011, garnering a “Best Blues Album” Grammy nomination for his 13th release, The Reflection, and touring the world, with stops on Later with Jools Holland and Conan. All of that sounds great, but when looking back, these events will pale in comparison to his early 2012.
Keb Mo by Jerome Brunet
As big as the multi-Grammy winner’s dreams may have been when, as Kevin Moore, he picked up a guitar in the 60’s, it is highly unlikely he dared hope he would one day perform for his country’s first black president at the White House. But that is exactly what will transpire today - Tuesday, February 21st. Not only that, Mo will be joined by fellow blues aficionados Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck, and B.B. King, with Booker T. Washington leading the band. Short of resurrecting Robert Johnson himself, that’s as close to Blues Heaven as it gets.
Jeff Beck by Kevin Westenberg
Mick Jagger by William Coupon
BB King by Kevin Westenberg
Booker T Jones by Jason Thrasher
Viewers can tune in live on the White House website – www.whitehouse.gov/live – and/or watch “In Performance At The White House: Red, White and Blues” on PBS on Monday February 27th at 9 PM. And yes, President Obama and the First Lady will be on hand. (One hopes for a reprise of the President’s now-famous Al Green impersonation.) For Sasha and Malia and middle and high school students from across the country, Keb Mo will take part in a series of workshops hosted by the First Lady. “At The Crossroads: A History Of Blues In America,” is part of a broader program produced by the Grammy Museum.
PBS has offered “In Performance At The White House” since 1978, when Vladimir Horowitz performed for President Carter, his family, and invited guests. While the producers have focused on country, Motown, classical, opera and jazz, this is the first time the blues has taken center stage.
For Keb Mo, “Red, White, and Blues” is just the start; after tearing it up for the Obamas with living legends in the East Room recital hall, he’ll head to the Apollo Theater twice before summertime. On February 24th, he joins Eric Clapton and, again, Jeff Beck, to celebrate the life of Howlin’ Wolf’s seminal guitarist Hubert Sumlin (recently passed in 2011), then he’ll return to that hallowed venue on March 6th and share the stage with Taj Mahal and The Roots for “Robert Johnson at 100,” a celebration of the original bluesman himself, who reportedly went to a Mississippi Delta crossroads, met Beelzebub, and sold the Dark One his soul in exchange for prowess and fame as a bluesman.
It will be interesting to see how such a potent tale of soul sacrifice goes over at the White House, where no shortage of life-and-death-deal making goes down.
