The Grammy nominee will perform Sunday at Auburn club.
AUBURN – As the son of legendary blues pioneer John Lee Hooker, the pressure felt by John Lee Hooker Jr. to carry on his father’s legacy is immense. When you share the same name as one of the genre’s most renowned figures, the entire blues community awaits your every move with high expectations.
Yet this gifted singer takes it all in stride, recording and touring with a unique, highly energized style that proudly propels his family’s blues dynasty into a new era. The second-generation bluesman will perform at 7 p.m. Sunday, July 23, at the Midnight Blues Club and Restaurant. Hooker is touring in support of his new album, “Cold As Ice,” released last month on the Telarc label. Tickets, $15, can be reserved by calling the club.
Hooker was born in Detroit with Delta blues-filled blood running through his Motown veins. The family blues pedigree took hold early, with Hooker performing live on radio station WJBK at age 8. He may have been young, but he knew at that moment that he wanted to be a world-class musician.
He began touring with his father’s band in his early teens. At 18, he was a featured vocalist on his father’s album, “Live At Soledad Prison.” The future looked bright for the young musician, but drug and alcohol problems derailed his career for 25 years.
After struggling through years of extreme hardship and nearly losing himself to the streets, Hooker overcame adversity to begin a rapid emergence into the blues spotlight. Released in April of 2004, his debut album “Blues With A Vengeance,” certainly lived up to its name. Hooker earned a Grammy nomination in the Traditional Blues Album category, along with a nomination for a W.C. Handy Award for Best New Artist Debut.
Using a style he describes as “two parts R&B, one part jazz and down-home blues,” Hooker is carrying on a century-old musical heritage. His grandfather, Will Moore, a blues singer and guitarist, was the primary influence on John Lee Hooker. Hooker Jr. learned a great deal of musical skills from his world-renowned father.
On “Blues With A Vengeance,” the singer pays tribute to his dad, with remakes of “Boom Boom” and “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” along with eight original songs that extol the trials and woes of the everyday working class. Notable selections include “Suspicious,” a gut-wrenching tale of heartbreak and deceit. Another more modern track is called “Goin’ Down To Baghdad,” with an obvious slant toward the war with Iraq. The song “The Blues Ain’t Nothin’ But A Pimp,” was inspired by his father, who once said “the blues is a pimp because every time you have them, you have to do something to get rid of them.”
Hooker is joined on stage by a group of talented musicians who never ceased to believe in him. Bassist George Lacson and drummer Michael Rogers hold down a rock-solid beat, while Herbie Hancock protege Stephan Ortiz handles keyboards and 18-year-old blues prodigy Jeff Horan plays lead guitar.
Together, the band has toured the United States and several foreign countries, including Norway, Australia, Lithuania and Switzerland.
The Midnight Blues Club and Restaurant is at 34 Court Street. For more information, go to www.3clubs.com.
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