'Almost Mystical': Blues Legend James Montgomery To Play Beverly's Historic Cabot Theater
BEVERLY, MA — James Montgomery grew up in the streets of Detroit learning the blues from some of the icons of the music business with roots deep in the heart of the Mississippi Delta.
As a singer and harp player who has traveled the world performing since forming The James Montgomery Band while living in Boston in 1970, he said there are a select few venues that still ignite his passion for the style and its rich history with just a touch more fire.
Montgomery will be back in one of those hallowed halls on Sept. 13 as part of a special night of film, tribute and blues jams when he performs at the historic Cabot Theater in Beverly with an all-star band after a screening of the documentary “Bonnie Blue – James Cotton’s Life in the Blues,” which Montgomery co-produced, followed by the jam session featuring the likes of Jon Butcher, Christine Ohlman, Johnny A, and Willie J. Laws.
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“There are certain rooms throughout the country really for some reason or another where it’s almost mystical,” Montgomery told Patch this week. “Every time I play the Cabot the audience is always so locked in, which is a great feeling. Everyone always asks: ‘What’s your favorite place to play? Do you like a big crowd or a small crowd?’
“It’s really about the places where you are sharing that experience on stage with the audience and the Cabot is one of those places where there is so much flow of energy with the audience.”
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While any night of listening to Montgomery and his band hammer out the blues is always a treat, the audience on Sept. 13 will get the double bill of the documentary that he co-produced about his late mentor and friend. The James Cotton documentary was one of five finalists nationwide for The Library of Congress Ken Burns Prize for Film and includes harmonica players from all over the world, as well as Buddy Guy, Steve Miller, Jimmie Vaughan and Bobby Rush.
“The thing about this show, and I can’t stress this enough, is that the movie we are showing about James Cotton is really incredible,” he said. “It’s worth the price of admission just to see the movie.”
Montgomery said the goal was to make the movie “more than just a biopic” and that it aims to “juxtapose the African-American history of music from the Jim Crow South to the modern cities.”
He said the jam session that follows will “be like an All-Star lineup where there is a star in every position.”
“We’re showing up and jamming, that’s for sure, and we are also really close friends,” he said. “We can’t wait to get together and play. The energy on the stage after the movie is going to be mind-blowing.
“It will be a powerful movie followed by a powerful musical experience.”
He said this will be the first time that he has played together with this particular lineup.
“There are going to be some surprises,” he promised. “There is going to be a lot of jamming, an electrifying show, with a couple of fun surprises.”
Doors open at 7 p.m. with an 8 p.m. showtime. Tickets can be purchased here.
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
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