Blues legend introduces Tucson to genre's future

It was that sort of smile musicians have when they see the impact of their music play out in real time.

His music, he had told the crowd filling the old Benedictine Monastery chapel for his Rhythm & Roots concert, was for dancing; his blues leans more move your feet than move your soul.

A few other couples near the back of the venue also took Musselwhite up on his offer, but fans mostly chose to chair dance: a little bop here and there, with head nods and hand waves thrown in for good measure.

Musselwhite's shows can be raucous affairs, throwbacks to old school Chicago blues infused with the electric energy of his native Mississippi. But Saturday's show took that one step beyond when the newest member of his touring band took centerstage.

"He's really phenomenal," Musselwhite said in a May phone interview of jump blues guitar player Jad Tariq.

He wasn't exaggerating.

The 29-year-old Tariq went on wildly terrific solo runs with the rockstar energy of an Eddie Van Halen and the throwback blues sensibilities of a T-Bone Walker.

Nearly every song in Musselwhite's 90-minute concert afforded Tariq a solo turn that earned him thunderous applause from the audience while Musselwhite stood feet away in the center of the La Rosa stage wearing a smile that stretched ear-to-ear.

For a fast minute during these spotlight-stealing moments, it seemed like Musselwhite had faded in Tariq's shadow.

Until he started blowing into that harp.

Here was that singular sound, expressive, yet raw, unvarnished in every layer, with an unpretentious honesty that took the audience back to the seedy joints of Musselwhite's 1960s Chicago blues days.

Sitting on a stool next to Musselwhite was a well-worn travel case papered with stickers from the stops he'd made over the years. Every other song or so he pulled out a different harmonica as he waxed on about a woman "sweet as honey" or a "Bad Boy" who was just a country boy a long ways from home.

In between songs, Musselwhite would dust off a story from long-gone including one about that time in a South Side Chicago bar when a fan asked Sonny Boy Williamson II to play a song. He refused and from what Musselwhite said he could make of the mostly four-letter-word exchange, Sonny Boy would rather the fan listen to the recorded version of the song than have him sing it live.

The story was a segue to Musselwhite's version of Sonny Boy's "Help Me," which the harmonica giant recorded on his debut album when he was 22 years old.

That song on Saturday sounded no worse for the wear of 62 years gone by. 

Tucson blues band The Xcelerators opened for Musselwhite in arguably their biggest gig since the band formed in late 2024.

The band, comprised of veteran blues players from Chicago who found themselves in Tucson, earned thunderous applause for their 40-minute set of covers and band member originals including keyboard player Ken Saydak's soulful bruiser "Breakdown."

"Sure is nice being in a church," he told the audience. "I've done a lot of things in church — some things I shouldn't have done — but this is the first time I've been in church where the confessionals have been turned into shot dispensers."

The Xcelerators are on the lineup for KXCI's 13th Annual House Rockin' Blues Review on Aug. 7 at El Casino Ballroom with The Paladins featuring Arizona Blues Hall of Fame saxophonist Alex Flores. Tickets are on sale through kxci.org.