Robert Cray’s Scorching Set Dominates L.B. Fest

Despite threatening skies and nagging sound problems, the 12th annual Long Beach Blues Festival got off to lively start Saturday thanks to a series of consistently dynamic performances.

The last of the stubborn grayness burned off by early afternoon, just before Koko Taylor & Her Blues Machine, the third of the first day’s five acts, took the stage on the athletic field at Cal State Long Beach.

But the technical problems lingered throughout the seven-hour event--from muddy sound in distant areas of the field to the wincing feedback and crackling speakers that plagued the headlining Robert Cray Band’s set.

Still, Cray, the 38-year-old reigning king of contemporary blues who was again backed by the two-piece Memphis Horns, kept the crowd dancing in the aisles throughout his scorching hour-long set.

Punching and throttling every drop of spirit from his guitar, Cray continues to reinvent his music with each new performance, displaying an improvisational virtuosity that approaches Jimi Hendrix as closely as any modern-day guitarist.

The day’s other standouts included Taylor and Blues Machine, belting out their usual brand of muscular blues, plus pianist Jay McShann and vocalist Jimmy Witherspoon, who re-created their jazz-blues collaborations of decades ago with plenty of the original spark.

John Lee Hooker charmed with his suave, confident command of both guitar and stage, but his Coast to Coast Blues Band proved to be little more than an ornamental backdrop. The festival was scheduled to continue Sunday with B. B. King as the headliner.