I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon in bed, finally getting some time to rest a head cold. The only way for me to get proper rest is to go off line; no emails, no facebook, no news. I lasted until about 6:30 p.m. I opened FB, and saw Matt Hill’s status on the passing of Hubert Sumlin at the age of 80. My heart sank.
Just the weekend before, Thanksgiving Weekend, Bob Margolin was in Boulder for the Otis Taylor Trance Blues Workshop/Jam/Festival, and he and I talked about what a difficult year the Blues has suffered. We were sitting at the bar of Blues & Greens at the Outlook, as we have so many times over the years, having a quick bite in between workshop sessions. Because the restaurant staff has suffered an inexplicable number of tragedies, particularly in the young sibling department, the subject of loss was heavily in the air: the 39-year old sister of one of our senior bartenders (and one of my best friends) was terminally ill, and passed away the day after this conversation. Three weeks earlier was the sudden passing of another bartender’s 22-year old brother.
