Since 1966 James Cotton has been carrying the Chicago sound to the world. On Giant, he pours 75 years of living into that harmonica and out comes devastating and powerful blasts of notes undiminished by age.
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USA TODAY
Legendary master of the blues harmonica. Wowed, you will be.
- Time Out NY
Sweat and grit …Cotton can blow down doors with Chicago style blues.
- Austin Chronicle
Cotton can blow like hell…dazzling.
- Chicago Sun-Times
A living musical legend, Cotton is at the top of his game. Giant is the work of a master…Essential, fiery and propulsive. Cotton brings the heat with his true mastery of the harmonica. Magnificent, poignant and beautiful.
- Blurt
Distinctive wail…fat-toned style. Sheer propulsive power…Cotton can drive a song with his harp, squeezing out a flurry of notes. His true genius is his ability to select the perfect note. Cotton is a virtuoso of the blues. Giant is one of the best albums of the year.
- Blues Revue
Cotton's solos are forceful, squarely stabbing the notes and chords. His phrases are full of tonal variety, summoning a steamship, a train whistle, a saxophone, a hurricane and an octave-jumping bird. Cotton's not through creating by a long shot.
- DownBeat
Cotton's long, fabled career is unrivaled in terms of its historic import….a name that is mentioned alongside some of the very best performers ever to play the instrument. Cotton's playing has cemented his place in the top tier of blues harmonica masters: that muscular tone, those brawny wails, the stinging high note bends. …sends a shiver down the spine. Fiery, inimitable, ferocious attack, dominance and power. The well of talent he draws from is as deep as the blues he plays.
- Living Blues
The finest blues harmonica player alive.
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Boston Herald |
Cotton is a key link on the chain of great blues harmonica players - Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Junior Wells. Sometimes he out-rocks the Rolling Stones.