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Award-winning soul, blues, and R&B vocalist/harmonicist/songwriter Curtis Salgado, touring in support of his latest Alligator Records CD, “The Beautiful Lowdown,” will perform at the San Juan Community Theatre in Friday Harbor on Saturday, July 22. Tickets are $5 to $28. Visit www.sjctheatre.org for more information.
NPR calls him “a blues icon” with a “huge voice.” Salgado recently won three Blues Music Awards: Soul Blues Album Of The Year for “The Beautiful Lowdown,”, Song Of The Year for “Walk A Mile In My Blues,” and Soul Blues Male Artist of The Year. Blues Blast Magazine named “The Beautiful Lowdown,” the 2016 Soul Blues Album Of The Year.
Salgado is back on the road after recovering from quadruple bypass surgery last March. He will make his triumphant return to the stage on July 4 at Portland’s Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, performing for thousands of fans. With a career spanning forty years, Salgado is a one-of-a-kind talent whose music is as compelling as his story. From co-fronting The Robert Cray Band to leading his own band (and recording nine solo albums) to helping transform John Belushi into “Joliet” Jake Blues to touring the country with Steve Miller and Santana, he is a true musical giant.
“The Beautiful Lowdown” is the singer’s most fearless and adventurous release to date. For the first time in his career, he wrote or co-wrote virtually the entire album himself. He co-produced it along with Marlon McClain and Tony Braunagel and contributed to the horn arrangements and background vocal parts. “My heart and soul are in this,” he says proudly. “I worked my tail off and let the songs lead the way.” As for the title, Salgado explains, “During a recent show, I turned to my guitarist and said, ‘Play something lowdown. But make it beautiful.’ Then I thought, ‘Keep that.’”
Born February 4, 1954, in Everett, Washington, Salgado grew up in Eugene, Oregon. His home was always filled with music. His parents’ collection included everything from Count Basie to Fats Waller, and his older brother and sister turned him on to the soul and blues of Wilson Pickett and Muddy Waters. He attended a Count Basie performance when he was 13 and decided then and there that music was his calling. Curtis began devouring the blues of Little Walter and Paul Butterfield, fell in love with the harmonica and taught himself to play.
By his early 20s, Salgado was already making a name for himself in Eugene’s bar scene with his band The Nighthawks, and later as co-leader of The Robert Cray Band. Salgado quickly developed into a player and singer of remarkable depth, with vocal and musical influences including Otis Redding, O.V. Wright, Johnnie Taylor, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson I and II, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Otis Spann and Magic Sam.
In 1977, comedian/actor John Belushi was in Eugene filming Animal House. During downtime from production, Belushi caught a typically ferocious Salgado performance and introduced himself during a break. Once Salgado started sharing some of his blues knowledge, a fast friendship grew. Salgado spent hours playing old records for Belushi, teaching him about blues and R&B. Belushi soaked up the music like a sponge and used his new awareness to portray “Joliet” Jake Blues in The Blues Brothers, first as a skit on Saturday Night Live and then a best-selling record album (which was dedicated to Curtis) and finally as a major motion picture (Cab Calloway’s character was named Curtis as an homage).
Once Salgado joined forces with his friend Robert Cray and began playing together as The Robert Cray Band, Salgado found himself sharing stages with many of his heroes, including Muddy Waters, Bobby Bland, Albert Collins and Bonnie Raitt. After Salgado and Cray parted ways in 1982, Curtis went on to front Roomful Of Blues, singing and touring with them from 1984 through 1986. Back home in Oregon, he formed a new band, Curtis Salgado & The Stilettos, and was once again tearing it up on the club scene, where he honed his band to a razor’s edge before releasing his first solo album in 1991. Salgado signed with Shanachie Records in 1999, putting out four critically acclaimed albums. He successfully battled back from liver cancer in 2006 and lung cancer in 2008 and 2012, reemerging stronger and more determined to share his music with the world.
Salgado joined Alligator Records in 2012, releasing the award-winning, critically acclaimed “Soul Shot.” Salgado won three 2013 Blues Music Awards including the coveted B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year. He also won for Soul Blues Male Artist Of The Year for the second consecutive year, and for Soul Blues Album Of The Year. The strength of the record led to Salgado touring far and wide, with gigs in Manilla, Guam, Brazil, Saipan and Panama. He has performed at major festivals including Portland’s Waterfront Blues Festival, The San Francisco Blues Festival, The Chicago Blues Festival, Memphis’ Beale Street Music Festival, The Tampa Bay Blues Festival, Denver’s Mile High Blues Festival, Toronto’s Waterfront Blues Festival, Thailand’s Phuket International Blues Festival and Poland’s Blues Alive Festival.
On “The Beautiful Lowdown,” the deeply-rooted singer effortlessly blends classic soul sounds and funk grooves with up-to-the-minute lyrics. His full-force vocals-intense and uninhibited-bring an urgency and edge to his timeless original songs. Blues Revue, describing Salgado’s performance style, declares, “He starts at excellent before segueing into goose bumps, ecstasy, and finally nirvana.”
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