What a weekend!  It was so great that I'm leaving the review to Chick this week.  I can't possibly do Bob justice.

Before I let Chick go to town, I'd like to talk about Dan. Well particularly Dan's cooking.  Wow!  To ease logistics, Jill and I stayed at the Outlook for the weekend, as Mr. Margolin so generously agreed to appear on December's Broads on Blues, and decided to film the interview in the hotel.  In light of that, most of our meals were consumed at Blues & Greens, and happily so.  The new menu bears no resemblance to the former, and the food is fresh, flavorful, varied, and local.  I had the cheese plate two nights in a row it's so good, and one night I had the salmon.  Jill had a burger and said it was great.  The menu is still evolving, but from my own experiences and the testimony of others, Dan has a hit on his hands.  I'm without doubt that Blues & Greens will soon be on Boulder's culinary map, which we all know is a prestigious position in our food-loving town.  Congratulations Dan!  And my palate THANKS YOU!

Thursday we have Lethal Lisa and Rick McCall, a wife and husband team, and rumor has it Lisa's no beginner on that guitar.  Check out her site:  http://www.lethallisa.com.

Friday, Mary Russell and her band return, and it has been a long time.  A local favorite, Mary always packs a room and the dancing starts right away, so if you want a seat, get there early.  They go on at 7:30.

Saturday night a good friend of mine plays Blues & Greens for the first time (come to think of it, all bands will be playing for the first time once…) with his trio, The Jack Hadley Band!  More dancing! YAY!

Now, I shall contain Chick's excitement no longer. Honey Bee

Steady Rollin Bob Margolin returned to the Outlook this past weekend, and whenever he comes to town, it's not just a performance, it turns into an all-out celebration of the blues.

For two nights we were treated to some of the finest old school Chicago blues a fan could ever hope to hear. Teamed up again with the Delta Sonics, the shows both night were outstanding. Al Chesis, a true master of the blues harp, compliments Bob so well, that when you hear them you would think they have been playing and touring together for 20 years. Willie Panker, fresh from New Orleans, on drums, and big John Butler on bass, provided as solid a rhythm section as anyone could ever need. The band started off with some Muddy Waters and Bob's smooth slide, slick picking, and dead on vocals (nobody can sing Muddy like Margolin can) and I got the sense that Muddy's spirit was channeling through Bob's body. Whenever, wherever he plays, you can't help but feel the ghost of Muddy Waters is close by.

The Outlook had a packed house for Friday night. Bob always has his mojo working, and it's so powerful that it seems to bring out the best blues musicians in the area, as well as the fans. 2008 IBC winner, Lionel Young joined in for most of the sets adding his blues violin and smooth voice. What Lionel does with his violin is amazing, whether he is bowing it or plucking it like a banjo or guitar. Lionel's song "Beautiful Day" was as spiritual as any religious experience and yet from such a slow, soulful beginning the music somehow evolved into "Talk to Your Daughter" and the crowd was up and screaming and dancing and ready to rock.

Beyond all of his considerable talent, what has to impress you about Bob is his unselfishness.  Bob loves the blues and loves to share the stage with other talented blues performers. It wasn't long before he was trading riffs with young Michaela Rae, Loveland, Colorado's 13-year-old blues guitar prodigy. Bob is so great with kids; I had seen him with Michaela and Jay Gaunt (a killer young harp player) at Blues from the Top in Winter Park this summer and Friday was more of the same. He started off doing a Robert Johnson tune with her, then kept her on stage most of the evening, giving her plenty of opportunity to showcase her considerable talent and bend some notes with a blues master.  Pretty soon, Dan Treanor was up there giving Al a break and blowing up a storm on his blues harp. Jill Watkins popped on stage and did some of her sultriest, steamiest singing and had Steady Rollin's eyes bugging out…something not so easy to notice with him wearing sunglasses, but you know that Jill has 'that ability,' and I swear Bob's eyeballs were bouncing against his dark shades. Sammy Dee joined the ever-changing band and scorched the house with "Give Me Back My Wig," with the three guitarists –Bob, Michaela and Sammy hurling a slew of tasty licks back and forth. It amazes me (a non-musician) to see performers like this play together without any rehearsal and come off so darn good, sharing the spotlight with each other. If you get Blues Revue, check out Bob's column this month which is a good description of how the real 'guitar heroes' can jam and effortlessly, seem to trade off the rhythm and lead parts, with their goal just being to make special music together as opposed to seeking the spotlight as 'guitar god'. They seem to check their egos at the door and focus on the love of the music, just the love of the Blues. Next up was Jack Hadley, and since Jack needed a guitar, Bob gave him his to use, went out in the audience and watched Jack, Sammy, Michaela, and Dan go to town. Eventually the original band was back on stage and finished up the night but left me craving for more. So of course I had to return Saturday night, and I was sure glad I did.

For all Bob Margolin does, I sometimes take his guitar playing for granted. I don't know how I can possibly do that, but I do. I tend to forget just how damn good he is until I see him live and get reminded that this is a guy who won the 2005 WC Handy Guitar Player of the Year award, and in 2008 also won the Blues Foundation Music Award for best blues guitarist. Considering all the talent in that field, it gives you an idea of just how freakin' good he is. Still I somehow get stunned and caught half off-guard every time I hear him play. Maybe it's that lack of ego thing again, where Bob focuses on the blues more than just stringing together flashy solo after solo. Not that he isn't capable of that; he proved that as he ripped off some of the most dazzling guitar work you could ever want to hear, but it was always in the context of the song and less of a 'look at what I can do' type deal. Saturday night, Bob was in prime form and turned the night into a clinic on blues guitar. Some of the sweetest slide you can imagine coupled with powerful, house-rocking Chicago blues; there is very little Bob Margolin cannot do when he has that beat-up Fender guitar in his hands! He can make it sing, cry, growl or just blow you away with its sheer power.

It turned into one of the best nights I ever had listening at the Outlook. A night of pure fun, laughter, and kick-ass Chicago blues. Bob's smoking guitar and Al Chesis' Mississippi saxophone set the pace all night long. As good as Bob always is, Saturday night might have been the two best sets I ever heard from him. He has such a huge repertoire of tunes, and a few I had never heard him do before, like a playful version of "Corrina, Corrina," and a killer rendition of Fats Domino's "I'm Walking."  For the second set he brought out Gretchen Troop signing "I'm Ready," and she sure as hell was! Willie Dixon would have loved what Gretchen did with that song. Jill Watkins joined them for the Ray Charles segment of the evening, doing Nappy Brown's "The Night Time," and Ray's "What'd I Say." That was some pure fun (Jill and Gretchen are both worthy of being fulltime 'Ray-lettes'). The highlight was Bob and Jill crawling at each other across the stage during "What'd I Say;" it was a hoot! It's great when the performers are having as much fun as the audience; that to me is what real 'stage presence' is all about. Then it was back to more Chicago Blues, some Muddy, some Elmore, an Al Chesis tribute to Sarah Palin, lol, complete with Bob's howling wolf serenade (not to be confused with Howlin' Wolf as these were 'wolf howls' for special effect), and after a couple "one more songs" the evening finished. And even then it was all too soon. I could have handled another 4-5 hours of this stuff, easily.  My only regret is that they never did "Mannish Boy," my all time favorite song and one that nobody alive today can do better than Bob Margolin.  Oh well, I will survive and just start bugging them earlier for it next time....whimper...whimper...

Let me add this: Dan King is the Ambassador of Cool, but Bob Margolin is the Ambassador of the Blues. He does it all: a Renaissance man for the blues, an entertainer, a spectacular guitarist, song writer, singer, Blues Revue columnist, BluesWax contributor, torch bearer for the blues legacy of Muddy Waters, and champion promoter of the blues to a new generation of fans and performers.  My 22-year-old daughter, Kelly, and her boyfriend, Dave, are huge fans and came Friday night. The college-aged waitresses at the Outlook love him, and there were some teenage guitar hero fans of Bob as well, not to mention the more grizzled fans, like myself. A diverse following for sure. Bob also seems to pop up on a huge number of other people's albums, as both a performer and producer. This summer at Blues Under the Bridge in Colorado Springs, I noticed he was on George Whitesell's CD, then I caught blues singer Gina Sicilia and noticed she had this great young guitar wiz named Matt Hill backing her up. He had a punk-rock look to him but was playing some sizzling blues behind her. This kid was huge on talent, so after the show I started talking with him, and 'sho nuff' he was from North Carolina, and damn if Bob Margolin hadn't been the guy working with him back home, even helping him with an album. This was a young guy, part punk rock, part rock-a-billy and country, with just a dash of blues, but whenever you add Bob Margolin as the bridge between Muddy and the future, new converts appear, assuring there will always be that new blues talent breaking through, like a Matt Hill, and maybe our own Michaela Rae in the not-so-distant future. I usually don't quote Oprah (actually the word is 'never' not 'usually'), but what Bob does is "pay it forward." He remembers his past and takes what he gained from years with the Blues Legends and pays it forward to new talent, always doing a fantastic job of keeping the blues alive.

Personally, I am indebted to Bob in another way; it was his article in BlueWax a few years ago that turned me on to the Outlook in the first place, and I have to give him a huge 'thank you' for that! Here's hoping he can hurry back. The heck with "guitar heroes," Bob Margolin is the Blues Hero to the folks in Boulder, Colorado.

L8R

Your Senior Guitar Correspondent

Chick Cavallero 

Memo to Dan

Dear Dan:

First of all, what a tremendous weekend with Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin, Prodigal Son of the Outlook, Great Broads on Blues Deity, Ambassador of the Blues (per Chick, Bob's moniker has gotten even longer)!  It was a great time!

So great, as a matter of fact, that Jill and I have decided to move into the hotel.  It just simplifies things. However, given our status, we'll need to have the walls of at least two rooms on either side of our favorite room (600) knocked down.  One of the rooms will be a joint dressing room (see we are willing to make concessions, although Jill took a LOT of convincing), one will be a receiving room, two will be our individual bedrooms, and the fifth will be our private living room.  One of the bathrooms will need a large, jetted tub, and one a steam shower.  Regarding the decor, we are so very flexible there, that we feel comfortable leaving those decisions to you.  Do you think this can be done before November 20th when My Beloved Delta Sonics return?  We really should get a projection date as soon as possible.
Excitedly yours,
Honeybee

Dear Honey,

Great minds think alike.  I had almost the same thing in mind.  Just a bit different.  There is a shower stall down in the maintenance department.  Not sure if the jets work in the tub, but the tile is pink.  We can absolutely get a couple of roll-always down there.  The electricity is on a timer and goes off at 7PM, but we have lots of candles.  The biggest advantage is that it is close to the water boiler so if there is ever a problem with hot water you will know about it quickly.

Dan