B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, The Blues Travelor, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Chris Cain, Robert Randolf, the list of blues artists is deep. From the one string Delta Blues artists recorded in the 1920’s to the screaming guitars of today, it seems like anything with a guitar from America fits into the category. It was with all this music and a lot more in my head I recently headed to Portland, Oregon to attend the Waterfront Blues Festival, this year’s version the 38th event. This year’s event was overwhelmingly new funk with a little screaming guitars mixed in. Traditional blues wasn’t in the house this year, but as I stated, the category is large.

I’m not much of a festival goer so I didn’t know what to expect. At the San Jose Jazz Festival, held in August, they close part of downtown and feature bands on a dozen different stages from bee bop and swing, to zideco and R&B, a little Smooth Jazz/West Coast Jazz and some good ol’ fashioned acoustic blues. Events are held inside and outside on permanent stages and temporary platforms set up in the middle of a closed off street. My measureing stick is is pretty high, I guess. The Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland had two stages which alternated to give groups time to set up and take down. Unlike the SJ Jazz Festival, only one band played at a time. The music was great but it was much more restricted than I am used to. You can browse the lineup here: https://waterfrontbluesfest.com/

Nonetheless, the weather cooperated and people showed up to listen, visit, eat and drink, and have a great day in the park along the Willamette River. We had a great day with good music, good food and fireworks for the 4^th to cap off the day.

Festivals are a good place to people watch so I offer some of my observations. Enjoy!