When Walter Trout sings the blues this summer as headliner at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, there will be no doubt about his authenticity.
Five short years ago, death was so close, you could barely squeeze a guitar pick between Trout and the Grim Reaper.
Decades of hard living had fried his liver. He lost 100 pounds. Friends and family went online, raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars, and prayed. Doctors gave him weeks to live.
Then, just as the curtain was about to fall, came the miracle.
A liver donor.
Recovery from the transplant was complicated. All Trout’s blood was replaced. Emerging from a coma, he temporarily lost his memory and speech. Through it all, one thing beckoned him to persevere: His guitar.
“It’s what sustains me, it nourishes me and heals me spiritually to get up and play to people and feel that guitar in my arms and play it,” Trout told the O.C. Weekly in 2015.
Now, at 66, the Ocean City native has regained command of his body and his Stratocaster, and Mayor Tim Dougherty is eager to welcome him onstage at the Morristown Green on Aug. 19, 2017, for year seven of the festival.
“This is going to be a great treat for Morristown. He’s one of the top blues guitarists not only in the United States, but in the world,” Dougherty told festival supporters on Thursday at the Town Bar & Kitchen.
Trout, a former member of Canned Heat and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, will headline a free all-day concert that promises a mix of surprises and old favorites.
Video: Walter Trout’s comeback trail, 2015
THE 2017 LINEUP:
Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, who appear on the soundtrack of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, will kick things off at noon.
Ninety-one year old jazz guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli — another medical miracle, bouncing back from a stroke — is scheduled to reclaim his 2 pm slot with son Mark Pizzarelli on bass on Ed Laub on guitar.
At 4 pm, Louis Prima Jr. and his big band are back, by popular demand.
They’ll be followed by Serbian-born Ana Popovic, hailed by Bruce Springsteen as “one helluva guitar-player.”
And at 8 pm, Trout finally gets his turn.
“He’s tremendous,” said Don Jay Smith, who promotes the festival with his wife, Linda Smith.
FESTIVAL SUPPORTERS AT 2017 ANNOUNCEMENT; SLIDESHOW PIX BY KEVIN COUGHLIN
Trout has recorded 40-plus albums and amassed a stack of honors that include three Overseas Artist Of The Year titles at the British Blues Awards, and a 2015 Sena European Guitar Award–vaulting him into the same league as Brian May, Steve Lukather and Slash.
And he will join an impressive list of guitar-slingers from past Morristown festivals: Robert Randolph, Quinn Sullivan, Johnny A., Robben Ford and Matt Schofield, to name a few.
Best of all, Dougherty said, the show won’t cost patrons or taxpayers a dime. Once again, donations from local developers, law firms and businesses will subsidize the event, he said.
“The reason we do it is the same as on day one,” the Mayor continued. “We do it in August to bring people into town, to see our businesses, our stores, our restaurants.
“It showcases our community to people who don’t know what we have in Morristown, to see what we offer in the arts.”
And don’t be surprised if next year brings a second night of entertainment, possibly featuring up-and-coming local talent.
Phil Fielding, musical adviser for the festival, said everyone is waiting for upgrades to Pioneer Park, across from the Green at Headquarters Plaza.
“So many people contact us and want to play the show,” Fielding said. “We could easily put together another night.”
MORE ABOUT THE 2017 MORRISTOWN JAZZ & BLUES FESTIVAL
SCENE FROM THE 2016 MORRISTOWN JAZZ & BLUES FESTIVAL
