Michigan Boogie

MICHIGAN BOOGIE

Luther Allison
At the Primo Showbar

Luther Allison and his various bands have gone through a lot of changes the past three or four years. It got to the point where nobody knew what to expect whenever Allison came to town. Sometimes it was a blues band with horns, sometimes more of a soul revue, sometimes lots of wah-wah pedal rock and roll, and only occasionally good straight-ahead blues.

I'm happy to report that Luther is back to the blues, and to hear him sing and play it, and listen to him talk about it between sets, he's back to the blues to stay.

Drummer Bob Richey, who's played with Luther for years, was too sick to show up Thursday night. So Wilson Owens, drummer for Uprising, filled in. Luther's blues are of the funky variety, and that's right down Wilson 's alley.

Paul White plays piano for Luther now. He switches constantly between piano, electric piano, and organ, and he's a master of all of them. He's got a lot of speed, and even more taste, which is a very powerful combination.

Luther's sounds make it seem like he's listened to both Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix with equal care and thought. His guitar style ranges from rough and raunchy to delicate and graceful. He still picks his guitar with his teeth occasionally, but I should also point out that his use of feedback was very effective the one time he got into it.

Luther Allison has always been a good singer. Particularly on the slower numbers, his voice has a pleading, bluesy quality to it that makes you feel the man's suffering and joy. But he can rock and roll too. The funkier tunes convince me that Luther could have been an r&b singer if he'd wanted to.

By his own admission. Luther rarely plays more than one slow blues number in a row. He concentrates on getting the crowd moving to a wide variety of blues standards. many of which have updated lyrics and arrangements. Sometimes he plays a few tunes back-to-back, letting the energy build for half a set before letting up for the enthusiastic applause. Luther keeps the set moving, and the net result is some well-paced, well-played blues that had the Primo jumping the entire night. Allison's band and their brand of blues seem destined for success.

--Jim Dulzo