Main Blues

On April 26h and 27th, Dimitriou's Jazz Alley in Seattle will host a tribute to the late great Mississippi delta bluesman, Pinetop Perkins (July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011); featuring Hubert Sumlin and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. Pinetop's best friend and Hubert Sumlin (proud recipient of the Living Blues Gold Award) has agreed to play with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and the Pinetop Perkins band for two nights and two shows at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley.

When Hubert Sumlin plays guitar he takes you to his World of Blues Feeling -- from despair to ecstasy, from delicate grace to raw power, from lost to found. Though he's influenced and inspired many of the most famous guitar players, Hubert owns the magic. His style is original and personal and instantly recognizable. Best known for his celebrated work, from 1955, as a guitarist in Howlin' Wolf's band, his playing is characterized by "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions". – Guitar World.  Listed as number sixty-five in the Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, he is also sited as a major influence by artists such as Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Robbie Robertson, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmy Hendrix.

Pinetop's last recording, Joined at the Hip, was a collaborative project with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith released in June 2010. The album features Smith on harp and the majority of vocals, leaving the drummer's chair open for his son, Kenny Smith. Joined at the Hip includes a mix of material written by Smith along with a few chestnuts from the annals of Delta and Chicago blues.

Not only did Willie "Big Eyes" Smith garner two nominations for the 2008 Grammy's, but in doing so he made blues history.  His nominations for Best Instrumentalist in the categories of drums and harmonica marks the first time an artist has been recognized for two instruments, let alone in the same year.  He is a 7-time W.C. Handy Award winner, multiple Grammy Award nominee and 2007 Blues Music Award recipient for Best Drummer.  Known for his traditional shuffle style he has been regarded as the heart and soul of the Chicago blues sound.  But these days, fans are just as likely to find Willie "Big Eyes" Smith holding on to a harmonica, his first instrument. Turns out, this award-winning blues drummer is also an accomplished harmonica master, band leader and dynamic vocalist.