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Jazz Articles about James Cotton
Various artists: Alligator Records: 50 Years of Genuine Houserockin’ Music
by Jim Trageser
Maybe this half-century commemoration of the jny: Chicago-based, blues-focused label should have been titled, The Last of the Independents." Almost alone of the mid-major labels that formerly thrived in the 1980s and '90s by specializing in non-mainstream styles of music, Alligator has managed to navigate stunning changes in the music business--from the vinyl of LPs and 45s to cassettes and CDs, and then, most recently, the virtual collapse of the retail record business and wholesale pivot to online ...
read moreJames Cotton: It Was A Very Good Year
by Jim Santella
Singing traditional blues, James Cotton captures the original foundation as it was created centuries ago. How many times have you been working hard all day long at some particular task and just felt like singing It's been a hard journey, baby, but I don't have to cry no more." Cotton's original, One More Mile," moves slow and emotional. He manages to interpret a field holler mood that gave rise to the blues long before worldwide acceptance. Cotton was 32 when ...
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