EDDIE COTTON JR.: Here I Come
Eddie Cotton
Here I Come
DeChamp 114
A minister’s son from Clinton, Mississippi, Eddie Cotton Jr. grew up playing guitar and singing gospel songs in his father’s church (where he eventually became Minister of Music) while performing the hit sounds of breakout bluesmen and rock and rollers like B.B. King and Chuck Berry at home. This is only his second album project since his dynamite 2001 debut Live At The Alamo Theater. He’s accompanied here solely by Myron Bennett’s confidential bass work, Samuel Scott Jr.’s discreet percussive asides and a few guests (most notably DeChamp label boss Grady Champion, who plays some spicy mouth harp on a couple of tracks). Cotton reveals himself, on this all-originals set of songs, as an accomplished songwriter as well as a casually soulful singer and compelling guitarist. Picks are the jazz-tinged “Friend To The End,” a lively boogie title “Leave Love Alone” and a gospel-cued “No Love Back.” Cotton at the top of his game.
— Gary von Tersch