Blues Personified

Biographies of stars of the world of music usually focus on extraordinary talent, hard work and steely determination, but it’s rare to hear that our idols were helped out by a bit of luck and finding the right person. During the 1960s and 1970s, John Mayall was a mentor to many promising musicians, and his band The Bluesbreakers were a venerable institution of British blues. The group’s former members include Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce (Cream), Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie (Fleetwood Mac), Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones) and Aynsley Dunbar (Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention). Even though he is now in his 80s, Mayall shows no signs of slowing down – he is still recording and, even more importantly, performing live. In fact he celebrated his 85th birthday by setting off on a European tour, showing that blues has lost nothing of its appeal. We will have an opportunity to experience his incredible energy on 18 March at Studio. (Bartosz Suchecki, “Karnet”)