POP MUSIC REVIEW : House of Blues Set by Hooker, Friends a Made-for-TV Event

Cameramen on stage and a boom camera sweeping over the audience--the usual TV-taping distractions surrounded the blues bill headlined by John Lee Hooker at the House of Blues on Monday.

The lineup also included Taj Mahal, Charlie Musselwhite, Lazy Lester, John Hammond and Hooker’s daughter Zakiya. The capacity crowd at the taping was probably hoping for some big-name guest stars but only Ry Cooder stopped by.

The strict format due to the taping may have aided Hooker’s set--forcing him to make it concise. Instead of meandering jams, there was a tight duet with Cooder on “Crawling King Snake,” thundering versions of “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” and “Boom Boom” and the inevitable boogie finale with the entire lineup.

But brief, 20-minute sets didn’t help the others establish a musical groove or real audience rapport. Musselwhite’s low-key harmonica set clicked on Sunny Boy Williamson’s “Help Me” and Lazy Lester peaked with his 1957 hit “Sugar Coated Love.” But only guitarist Duke Robillard, whose trio’s jazz-flavored Texas grind blues supplied the easy-grooving backing for everyone except Hooker, may have won any new fans.

Taj Mahal (who opens Tom Petty’s Hollywood Bowl shows June 9-10) was the most animated performer but two of his songs dated from his first album nearly 30 years ago--suggesting that baby-boomer blues nostalgia may have been a priority for the TV taping.

The program airs June 30 on “House of Blues Live.” It wouldn’t have hurt to mix in younger talent like L.A.’s Ray Bailey or the William Clarke Band to show blues remains a living, growing music.