Musicians gathered at The Egg in Albany will celebrate a fallen friend this weekend, turning back the clock to remember one of rock’s most important guitarists, Mike Bloomfield.
Bloomfield was a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Electric Flag, and recorded with Bob Dylan starting with “Like a Rolling Stone” before his untimely death in 1981.
His friend and collaborator was organist Al Kooper, a page of the rock encyclopedia all his own. Kooper began as a songwriter before leading Blood, Sweat and Tears and The Blues Project. Kooper’s playing can be heard on recordings from Dylan’s aforementioned “Like a Rolling Stone” — he was in the band when Dylan famously went electric — and on tracks by Hendrix, The Stones, the Who, and many others.
In addition to his teaching at Berklee School of Music, Kooper has a keen ear for production, having helmed Lynard Skynard’s first three records.
Kooper will join with guitarist Jimmy Vivino, perhaps best known for his role in Conan O’Brien’s band, this Saturday night at the Egg in Albany in a tribute to Mike Bloomfield as part of the American Roots and Branches concert series.
