COCO MONTOYA
Coco Montoya plays guitar left-handed and ‘upside down’ like Albert King, the man whose records first turned him on to the Blues, but it was a different Albert who took the kid under his wing and showed him how to put his deep emotions into his playing. A long career was to follow, firstly in a legendary band and then as a leader in his own right, as Coco’s effortless technique and strong, committed vocals make him a modern master of The Blues.
Coco pays tribute to his mentor with a superb slow Blues;
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[stextbox id=”custom” caption=”Coco Montoya Discography” float=”true” align=”left” width=”300″]Coco selected the tracks himself for this fine retrospective of his years with the Blind Pig label, and I’m sure he was happy with the result.
THE ESSENTIAL COCO MONTOYA [/stextbox]Coco played on three studio albums and stayed ten years with The Bluesbreakers, before signing as a solo artist for Blind Pig Records in 1995. His debut album had guest spots from his mentors John and Albert as well as Al Kooper’s keyboards and drums from Richie Hayward of Little Feat. Two more fine albums followed, before Coco switched to the Alligator label in 2000, where his confidence as a songwriter, singer and leader came to the fore. Since then, five original albums, constant touring all over the world, countless guest spots and many Festival appearances have made Coco Montoya a considerable force in modern Blues music.