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something new.)
African-American musicians created
the blues, of course. But on the tour
bus with Goldberg is a veritable who's
who of mostly white musicians and
singers, who, as teenagers, were smitten
by the blues and made it their life's
work: guitarist Harvey Mandel, har-
monica player Corky Siegel, singer-gui-
tarist Nick Gravenites (who wrote
"Born in Chicago") and singer Tracy
Nelson. African-American drummer
Sam Lay, who provided the backbeat
for Howlin' Wolf, shares singing duties
in CBR, and at 70, is the elder states-
man of the group. (Drummer Gary
Mallabar, bassist Rick Reed and gui-
tarist Zach Wagner serve as a formida-
ble CBR rhythm section on record and
in concert.)
The late guitarist Michael
Bloomfield and harmonica player Paul
Butterfield are honorary members of
the band, their spirits channeled on
record and on stage.

Reminiscing

As underage, blues-crazed kids,
Goldberg and friends often disobeyed
their parents, sneaking into black
clubs on the south and west sides of
Chicago to listen and learn from and
eventually sit in with the music's fore-
fathers: Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf,
Little Walter, B.B. King and others.
The DVD offers surprising footage
of some of these originators mingling
and performing with their white disci-
ples (as well as interviews with leg-
endary guitarists King and Buddy
Guy). The members of CBR also pro-
vide touching and insightful anecdotes
as they reminisce in front of the cam-
era.
One such moment finds Goldberg
describing his chance to regularly sit in
for Muddy Waters' piano player when
the keyboardist took a break. One
night, after five months of trying to
capture the band's groove, Waters
breaks into a big grin signaling to
Goldberg that he'd finally nailed it.
Says Goldberg: "Meeting and marry-
ing my wife, my son's bar mitzvah and
[that night Muddy smiled at me] are
the three greatest moments in my life
— not necessarily in that order."
That was then, this is now, and
Goldberg and the rest see themselves
as torchbearers of the music and the
offspring of the innovators who con-
ceived it.
"We've finally become the blues
guys now," Goldberg says. "We're not
exactly the masters, but we're as old as
they were. We qualify. We belong
here. Like a fine wine, we've all aged

together in a nice, wonderful manner."
The whole project came together in
a wonderful manner, too. About five
years ago, Goldberg began playing
occasional gigs throughout California
with Mandel, Gravenites and other
Chicago alumni. That led to an offer
to play the San Francisco Blues Fest in
2003, which led to an invite to play
the Chicago Blues Fest last year, which
led to a record company invitation to
record a CD and DVD.
Proud of the result, they all agreed
to promote it with this year's tour.
Hearing and feeling the power of the
music and the exuberance with which
CBR plays it on record, you can only
hope the tour bus decides to keep on
rolling.

3 Jews Jamming

A Goldberg-Mandel tune called
"GM Boogie" is proof that all geriatric
jokes can be dispensed with. The song
is a barnburner where age and time,
sadness and regret fall away. Goldberg,
Siegel and Mandel find that magic
zone during torrid solo turns then
converge into some kind of sonic
euphoria. It is both seductive and cele-
bratory, a soundtrack of triumph.
"There's three Jews [jamming] on
that," says Goldberg.
Actually, there are four if you count
Michael Bloomfield smiling down
from rock 'n' roll heaven.
"Michael (who died in 1981) is a
special part of this," says Goldberg.
"He's inside of us. He touched all of
us, especially me and Nick."
"[But] it's not about the Jewish
thing this time," Goldberg says, refer-
ring to his 1969 album 2 Jews Blues, a
collaboration with Bloomfield that
also featured Mandel on a pair of
songs.
Chicago Blues Reunion is a multi-
cultural stew.
"I think this whole thing is about
ethnicity. Nick is Greek; Tracy,
Norwegian; Sam is black, Butterfield
was Irish. It's a multicultural, wonder-
ful thing. Together, we've formed a
warm, wonderful unit with a lot of
love and soul. It's a great American
melting pot, and it comes across in the
music. Everyone's roots show." ❑

The Chicago Blues Reunion per-
forms Saturday, July 30, at the
Magic Stick, 4120-4140
Woodward Ave., in Detroit.
Ages 18 and over. Doors open at
8 p.m. $20. (313) 833-9700,
(248) 645-6666 or
www.majesticdetroit.com/stick.asp.

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