Big Jack Johnson

Johnson is a living link between contemporary modern blues and rough edged Missi ssippi Delta Blues. This former oil truck driver, a boa fide international star, first came to prominence playing guitar with harmonica/keyboard playing vocalis t Frank Frost and drummer Sam Carr in the Mississippi based Jelly Roll Kings. Th e group played raw, rocking small combo blues that drew on everyone from Jimmy R eed to Junior Parker for inspiration. When Johnson went out on his own, his urge nt vocals and tough, angular guitar playing were a revelation. Johnson is able t o sound modern and rooted in tradition at the same time. His music draws on fun k, rock, R&B and traditional Delta Blues. His songs deal with modern problems l ike AIDS, crack addiction and violence which are apparently as endemic to rural Mississippi as they are to America's inner cities.