Vinyl Vault: Triumvirate

The Vinyl Vault digs into the blues next time when we feature an album entitled “Triumvirate” by Mike Bloomfield, John Hammond, and Dr. John. The album was released in 1973 on Columbia Records.

In 1973, each of the principal musicians on the album were well well-known bluesmen. Bloomfield had come to prominence as one of the guitarists in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band (the other being Elvin Bishop). John Paul Hammond was the son of John H. Hammond, a prominent record producer, civil rights activist, and music critic. By 1973, the younger Hammond had released a dozen records under his own name. Also by 1973, Dr. John was emerging from his home base in New Orleans and was coming to national prominence.

The album almost didn’t happen because of conflicting egos and an initial lack of chemistry. Things seemed to fizzle out after about two weeks, but after briefly leaving the sessions, Dr. John returned with a new rhythm section which seemed to cement the leaders and serious recording began. The result was a bluesy album with some excellent playing, mixing a few standards with some original compositions.

Join Geoff Anderson on Tuesday, December 2, at 8:30 p.m. for the next Vinyl Vault on KUVO JAZZ.