The smokin’ eight piece band just blazed its way through an uptempo blues shuffle, with each tuxedo-clad musician taking an extended solo. The rhythm section got soft and settled into a groovy vamp as one of the horn players stepped up to the mic and announced,”Ladies and gentlemen! The Undisputed King of the Blues, B.B. King!”

The crowd at the Music Center at Strathmore rose to its feet, and there was B.B. Sporting a tux of his own, but instead of the traditional black jacket, the still imposing 82 year-old legend wore brightly colored beaded paisley as he confidently strode to a chair at the front-center of the stage. A suited assistant came onto the stage and gave King a handful of guitar picks, which he promptly threw out to members of the audience. Having sat down, King picked up Lucille, his trusted guitar, and dove head first into his first song of the night as the band segued into, “Why I Sing the Blues”.

Every element of the B.B. King sound came out immediately, the gruff and powerful voice, the warm guitar tone, the pitch bend, and that signature vibrato were all on display. While Father Time has taken away some of King’s technique and forced him to perform seated, his soul is firmly intact and he still packs an emotional wallop every time he sings or plays a note. This is not a surprise, given that King made his first recording in 1949, has recorded over 500 songs, and has performed at an estimated 10,000 concert appearances in over 90 different countries.