Bob Margolin Gets By With a Little Help

You expect musicians to jam--whether planned or impromptu--at the annual National Assn. of Music Merchants convention, which wrapped up Sunday in L.A. And at least one gathering did take place Saturday at the Omni Hotel, where Nashville’s Muriel Anderson led an All-Star Guitar Jam that also featured Nokie Edwards, Peter Finger, Jerry Donahue and Preston Reed, among other notables.

That same kind of communal spirit reigned over Bob Margolin’s concert one night earlier at the Blue Cafe in Long Beach.

Functioning more as emcee than headliner, the veteran singer-songwriter-guitarist got more than just a little help from his friends during what became a wide-ranging, three-hour blues revue. Guest appearances by legendary piano man Pinetop Perkins, Piedmont Blues duo Cephas & Wiggins and a variety of local talent--including Doug Macleod, Rich DelGrosso, Steve F’Dor and Bill Stuve--led to a boisterous celebration of the blues.

Actually, sharing the spotlight is nothing new for Margolin, who is based in North Carolina. He played with Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield) for seven years (1973-80) and more recently has toured with James Harman and James Cotton. The stocky, shaggy-haired Margolin is a talented guitarist, particularly when playing slide, where his thick, rumbling notes fit nicely into a variety of blues-based material.

But generally, Margolin has been unimpressive since forming his own band in the early ‘80s. Lacking emotional depth, his three releases on Alligator Records--including his latest, 1997’s “Up & In”--fail to generate much heat. A mediocre songwriter with a wafer-thin voice, he’s rarely compelling, coming off more as a cool observer than actual participant in complex matters of the heart.

Still, perhaps inspired by his comrades, on several occasions Friday night Margolin played with a conviction previously out of his reach. His strongest, most feeling-filled moments came in a tribute to Muddy, where his spooky slide guitar riffs powered the ominous “Rollin’ & Tumblin’,” and his singing was unusually authoritative throughout a menacing version of “She’s Got a Mean Disposition.”

With the solid support of bassist, harmonica player and vocalist Tad Walters and drummer Wes Johnson, Margolin simply cooked on a pair of up-tempo selections, including the lighthearted standard, “Baby Give Me Back My Wig and Let Your Hair Go Bald” and the rockabilly-tinged shuffle “While You’re Down There.”

Go figure.

Of the program’s frequent guest turns, the 85-year-old Perkins put the biggest charge into the festive atmosphere. Also a Muddy Waters Band alumnus (1969-80), the soulful Mississippi native dazzled the crowd with his boogie-woogie piano rolls and ragged-but-right vocals.

Perkins proved that the blues can indeed be uplifting when he rolled out the rollicking jump blues of “Ida Lee” and a revved-up version of the standard “Chicken Shack.” Just after his final number, the crowd-pleasing “Got My Mojo Working,” a grinning Perkins quipped, “If you don’t like the blues, you got a hole in your soul.”

Less rowdy but equally rewarding were John Cephas and Phil Wiggins, practitioners of a folk-based strain of rural black music called Piedmont Blues. The Piedmont area stretches from Delaware to Florida, and this rich, vibrant music fuses various elements of ragtime, country, folk and blues.

Although Cephas’ voice was, at times, barely audible because of an intermittently working microphone, technical problems were hardly enough to sabotage the Washington, D.C.-based duo’s warm, back-porch vibe.

Cephas & Wiggins’ most striking number was the Robert Johnson-like “Blues in My Bed,” a haunting tale of one man’s longing and loneliness. It started slowly with Cephas gently finger-picking his guitar, but gradually, the song built to a fierce climax as Wiggins’ harmonica wailing and Margolin’s fierce slide work made for a near-perfect collision of Chicago and Piedmont blues.

Also worth noting were the contributions of several local musicians. F’Dor, who played earlier in the night as a member of Mr. Conrad’s Excellos, followed Perkins with some tasty keyboard work of his own; Stuve of Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers laid down some rumbling bass lines over much of the second set; “Blues Revue” associate editor and singer-mandolinist DelGrosso spiced things up with his folk and bluegrass shadings; and singer-guitarist Macleod--who plays weekly at the Blue Cafe--wrapped up the long but satisfying evening with a pair of faithfully delivered standards.

Steady Rollin’ Bob Margolin performs Saturday at the Catch Steakhouse & Blues (formerly Hop City), 1939 S. State College Blvd., Anaheim. 9:30 p.m. $7. (714) 978-3700.