Bluesman Keb' Mo' Mixes It Up In Westhampton Beach

By Douglas Harrington

Contemporary Bluesman Keb' Mo' performed to an enthusiastic audience at WHBPAC. Images courtesing of Keb' Mo' website

Westhampton Beach - Although in competition with a pivotal Yankee World Series game, the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center (WHBPAC) drew an almost capacity crowd on Sunday, November 1 with the arrival of blues artist Keb' Mo' and his band. They might have been Yankee fans, but they were first and foremost Keb' Mo' fans and they were not going to pass up the opportunity to see this extraordinary musician live in the intimacy of the WHBPAC.

Born Kevin Moore in South Central Los Angles, the 58-year-old musician betrays his age with a youthful vigor and appearance that translates to the stage in an infectious joy of being exactly where he wants to be and doing exactly what he wants to do. This joy immediately found its way to the audience and resonated throughout the Mollie Parnis Auditorium.

An uncle gave Keb' Mo' his first guitar and by the time he was a teenager he was already a highly accomplished musician. Although he started his musical career in a calypso band, his parents' southern roots had instilled in him a passion for the blues and gospel music. R&B violinist Papa John Creach hired Keb' Mo' when he was only 21-years-old and the young guitarist appeared on Creach's next four albums and further cemented his reputation as a blues guitarist with a long stint in Monk Higgins' Whodunit Band and appearances with blues legends Albert Collins and Big Joe Turner.

Album jacket for the recently released "Live & Mo'".

Although he had produced an album in 1980 titled "Rainmaker" on a small subsidiary label of Casablanca Records, he released what is considered his eponymous debut album "Keb' Mo'" in 1994 and covered two Robert Johnson tunes as a tribute to the acknowledged "King of the Delta Blues," a major musical influence on Keb' Mo'. His second album, "Just Like You" (1996) garnered him the first of his three Grammy Awards in the contemporary blues category. His other two Grammy Awards were for "Slow Down" (1998) and "Keep It Simple" (2004).

During this time Keb' Mo' appeared on television in "Sessions at West 54th" and on film in Martin Scorcese's "The Blues." He also portrayed his idol Robert Johnson in a film documentary, appeared in the final episode of the "West Wing" playing "America The Beautiful" and in the John Sayles movie "Honeydripper."

With a total of nine albums under his belt, Keb' Mo' went independent this past October with the release of "Live and Mo'" on his own label - Yolabelle International. The album includes six live performances and four new studio recordings.

Singer Kristina Train opened for Keb' Mo' and his band at WHBPAC. Photo by Douglas Harrington

Opening up for Keb' Mo' was vocalist Kristina Train, accompanied by guitar and electric piano. A classically trained violinist, she did pull out the fiddle for a couple of numbers, but it was not to play Mozart. Train considers Aretha Franklin her inspiration and her songs ranged from contemporary blues to cool jazz. I found some precious qualities of Bonnie Raitt in her voice, which I hope she considers a compliment. Train explained to me that she "Grew up listening to NPR radio in her home, to classical, blues, folk and jazz. My mom had a great vinyl collection, the first songs I remember listening to on her record player was Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin."

Train noted the Yankee game in her acknowledgement to the crowd and joked that she knew the men were probably texting throughout the show for the score. Her fluid, lyric vocal style was a hit with the crowd as she performed about a half dozen numbers prior to an intermission where she signed copies of her debut Blue Note album "Spilt Milk" that were being sold in the lobby.

Backed at WHBPAC by Reggie McBride on bass, Les Falconer III on drums and Jeff Paris on keyboards and the occasional mandolin and harmonica, Keb' Mo' opened up with Sly and the Family Stone's R&B classic "Family Affair." This may have been a bit of an inside joke, as I found out after the show that his wife and two-year-old son were actually backstage in the dressing room during the performance.

Keb' Mo' chats with the devoted and enthusiastic audience. Photo by Douglas Harrington

Although clearly considered a bluesman, Keb' Mo' does not play a purist form of the genre that reflects the muddy, dark style of his Delta ancestors. As his own biographical notes in the program state, "Mo's music is also a purely post-modern expression of the artistic and cultural journey that has transformed the blues, and his own point of view, over time. His distinctive sound embraces multiple eras and genres, including pop, rock, folk and jazz, in which he is well-versed."

Throughout the performance Keb' Mo' changed guitars, moving from a red Stratocaster to a hollow body acoustic to a National Steel among other axes and joked with the crowd about trying to identify the acoustic jack from the electric, "Red stripe acoustic, silver jack electric. You may need to help me out once we really get going." His interaction with his audience is pure magic and the East End crowd of admirers returned the love in kind, both in shouted remarks and sustained applause.

Mixing some covered blue standards in with his own original material, Keb' Mo' played a packed set of 14 songs followed by an encore of another three, "Am I Wrong," "She Dance" and "Better Man." Apparently the vibe in the theatre was too good to walk away from as Keb' Mo' returned to the stage yet again declaring, "Okay the show is over, but we are going to keep playing. We are just going to play music, you know just playing what we want to play, just music. Now what should we play?" To which the audience responded with callouts of their favorites. Keb' Mo' and his band held the stage for another 20 minutes to the pure elation of his Westhampton Beach fans.

In a line-up of great musical acts this season, WHBPAC really brought a jewel to the stage in the booking of Keb' Mo'. This bluesman should have an annual spot in the WHBPAC line-up because, to paraphrase a line from the film "Field of Dreams," book him and they will come!