BERNARD ALLISON TO CLOSE READING BLUES FEST WITH SUNDAY BRUNCH CONCERT

Blues fans can enjoy a Sunday brunch at 10:30 a.m., followed by Bernard Allison and The Blues Reincarnation Project, in the DoubleTree by Hilton Reading Grand Ballroom on Nov. 24.

The final concert of the fest will be a celebration of the blues and a tribute to the late Luther Allison by his son, who has recently released his 21st album, Luther’s Blues.

“It’s a double album of my Dad’s music, with my own twist,” Bernard said. “I grew up listening to my Dad’s music, and his record collection, and my Mom’s record collection. My last four albums have been stripped down, (with no horns), because I’m focused on the old-school way, which is how I learned to play.”

Luther Allison (1939-1997) was known for Chicago-style blues and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. He was one of the few blues artists who recorded with Motown Records during the 1970s. Sometimes called “the Jimi Hendrix of the blues guitar,” he beguiled audiences with long, soulful guitar solos and crowd walking with his Gibson Les Paul.

Bernard, the youngest of nine children, said that all his siblings had talent for music, but he was the only one to pursue it as a career. When he was about 10, he picked up a guitar and began the laborious process of learning to play by slowing down the records and figuring out the songs.

“It was three years before my Dad knew I played,” he said. “He was on the road a lot. Meanwhile I learned a whole album of his. One time he came back home to Peoria, and he caught me practicing. He heard me and thought it sounded like his very first album (Love Me Momma) that was playing on the record player. It was a shock for him.”

Luther invited the 12-year-old Bernard to come and perform on a live album with him and started taking him to blues festivals to perform in the summers. During his teens, he met artists like Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor and Albert King, as he improved his skills while playing with his father’s band. He also learned guitar from Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

At 18, he played with Luther at the 1983 Chicago Blues Festival, and two days after graduating from high school, Koko Taylor called and asked him to play rhythm guitar with her band. He also started his own band, Bernard Allison & Back Talk, in 1985, which performed mostly in Canada for several years. Later, he joined Luther on a European tour and became his band leader for two years.

“I knew all his music,” Bernard said, “so in the role of band leader I presented it to the band, so he didn’t have to be there all the time (to rehearse).”

He also co-wrote and arranged material on Luther’s last three albums.

With all that experience under his belt, he released his debut album, The Next Generation, in 1990, with Luther’s musicians. His U.S. debut album was Keepin’ the Blues Alive in 1997; his 20th album was Highs and Lows (2022).

This year, Bernard has been celebrating his 30th year with Ruf Records (who produced his 1995 album “Funkifino”), including a five-week tour of France and another on the U.S. East Coast.

When Bernard comes to Reading with his band (George Moye on bass, Eric Roberts on keyboards and Allen Matthew Kimanthi on drums), “there won’t be any set list,” he said. “We have a large repertoire, and I have signals the public don’t see, like a first base coach. You never know what’s going to happen!”

The Blues Reincarnation Project is a funkified blues-rock, British blues, and new age blues-influenced band that will open for Allison.

It consists of guitarist Jeffrey 'Ghanaian Bluesman' Attakorah, a former member of the Newark, Del.-based punk band, The Checkered Heroes; drummer Charlie Greaves; and bassist Dylan Walker. They are occasionally joined by keyboardist Michael Macartney.

Together, they "just play whatever, with a hint of Blues," with the goal of bringing the blues to the younger generation.

To purchase tickets, and for more information on this concert and a complete schedule, visit www.readingbluesfest.com.