James Cotton, Harmonica
George "Mojo" Buford, vocals
Rico McFarland, guitar
Dave Maxwell, piano

The show began with Dave Maxwell playing Honky Tonk Train, followed by the blues classic, After Hours, both from his new CD, Maximum Blues Piano. Then Rico McFarland joined Maxwell onstage and they played an instrumental, followed by Hey Baby, with Rico on vocals.

James Cotton, "Mr. Superharp himself" appeared onstage and the trio played an instrumental with Cotton hamming it up with his harp, showing almost boyish exuberance. A reprise of After Hours followed. Mojo Buford then came onstage and the four launched into a delightful Blow Wind Blow. Next up was a nice version of Percy Mayfield's Strange Things Happen, covered on Cotton's 1996 Verve release, Deep in the Blues.

Muddy Waters' Got My Mojo Workin' was next, and it was nice to see two Muddy alumni performing this memorable tune. Following that was Oh Baby, You don't have to go. The next song was another Muddy treat: Champagne and Reefer, with the band joining Mojo in the closing line "I'm gonna stick with my reefer, Ain't gonna be messin' 'round with no cocaine.", which the crowd wildly applauded and cheered.

The show, by this time was rising to a peak, and it was hard to tell who was having more fun, the audience or the band. Another blues classic followed, Sweet Home Chicago, covered nicely by the quartet. At this point James noted that drummer Francis Clay was in the audience. Clay, another Muddy alumnus, was also in the first James Cotton Band. Cotton then left the stage, and the remaining trio played Ain't got nobody to stay home with me. Cotton then returned back to the stage for a screaming Hoochie Coochie Man. Mojo then departed, and Cotton played his classic, The Creeper, which concluded the set.

Standing, cheering, and clapping, the audience was able to make enough noise to bring the foursome back for a short encore, which I believe is called The Hucklebuck.

All in all a great show and it was a lot of fun to see old friends Cotton and Buford reunited, playing excellent blues, and having a great time. Although Cotton had to turn over the vocal duties to Buford, his harp playing is still strong, and as always, a real pleasure to hear, the product of sixty years playing the blues, on the road.

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