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Curtis Salgado, Blues on the Coast Series

Curtis Salgado grew up in Eugene, Oregon listening to jazz, and to his father, an aspiring singer of classical music. His ambitions coalesced when, at age 12, he saw Count Basie's band perform in Eugene. Curtis became a part of the burgeoning Northwest blues scene starting in 1972 with a band called Three-Fingered Jack. Eventually he hooked up with guitarist/vocalist Robert Cray, and recorded the album Who's Been Talking. During his career, Salgado sat in with the likes of Muddy Waters, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Albert Collins and Bonnie Raitt. Aside from being a tremendous vocalist, Curtis is one of the finest blues harmonica players in the country. In 1979, when John Belushi was in Eugene filming Animal House, he caught Curtis' act and liked what he heard and saw. Curtis took the actor under his wing and schooled him on blues and R&B history. Later Belushi used a good portion of Curtis' show as the basis for the Blues Brothers act he and Dan Akroyd put together. The first Blues Brothers album was dedicated to Curtis.
Curtis left the Cray band before it broke through nationally and from 1984 - 1986 he fronted Boston's Grammy-Winning Roomful Of Blues before returning to Portland where he formed The Stilettos, touring nationally with such acts as Steve Miller and The Doobie Brothers. He even did a stint as lead vocalist with Santana in the 1990's. Curtis released three albums (the first with The Stilettos, followed by one with his own band and the third, an acoustic gem, featuring guitarist Terry Robb). After three critically-acclaimed solo albums with Shanachie Entertainment, he released Clean Getaway in 2008, only two years after he had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer.
Clean Getaway, produced by Marlon McClain & Tony Braunagel, is a seamless mix of blues, soul and rock 'n' roll all held together by the organic grooves of world class musicians and Curtis' superlative singing. He has a gift of digging into the essence of a song without histrionics or gratuitous displays of vocal chops--though he certainly has more than enough of those. It is also a celebration of having overcome his illness and a new lease on life.