When late blues guitar legend Charles Baty retired in 2008, Rick Estrin was at a loss and somewhat adrift while contemplating his future on the blues circuit.
But an offer to perform with a pickup band in Brazil came, and Estrin, the longtime frontman, harmonica whiz and singer-songwriter for Little Charlie & The Nightcats, considered taking the job.
“They learned from Muddy Waters and other greats from the past, the pioneers, but also learned from us,” he said in a telephone interview Sunday from his Sacramento home.
Estrin, 74, recalled that Nightcat bassist Lorenzo Farrell and then-drummer J. Hansen wanted to keep the band going, but Estrin said he knew one thing for sure: “I know I didn’t want a diminished version of Little Charlie & The Nightcats.”
Fifteen years later, with the addition of guitarist Chris “Kid” Andersen, The Nightcats, two-time winners of a Blues Music Award for Band of the Year, are anything but diminished. Touring behind the release of their sixth Alligator Records album, “The Hits Keep Coming,” the band will perform two shows July 12 at the Blue Note Napa.
Of Andersen, Estrin said, “He was like the only guy who could step in and make it his own slot,” noting that the Norwegian-born musician was playing at the time for fellow famed blues harmonicist Charlie Musselwhite. “As it turned out, Andersen called me up and said he was free.”
Farrell was the Nightcats’ bassist for many years but has since switched to keyboards (but still plays bass), while relative newcomer and drummer Derrick “D’Mar” Martin, for 17 years the drummer for rock ‘n’ roll legend Little Richard, has taken the band “to a new level,” said Estrin, a native of San Francisco.
He called Martin “the consummate professional, a great showman, and a conscientious team player. He’s like the perfect guy.”
With the addition of Martin, The Nightcats “have gotten tighter and it’s like a family, it’s like a mutually supportive group of people,” he added.
“We have fun together and enjoy traveling together,” said Estrin, noting upon its May 10 release that the new album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard blues chart. It features the Estrin-penned tune “The Circus is Still in Town (The Monkey Song),” a song about addiction that is getting frequent views on YouTube.
Regarding his age — “Advanced,” he quipped — being an established player in the international modern blues universe “is still incredible,” he added about gigs not only across the United States but also in Europe, Australia, Turkey, Russia and South America. “People are receiving us well.”
Consider what Blues Music magazine said of the quartet:
“This band is the best in the land … superior songwriting infused with wit, humor, and streetwise insights, traditional and adventurous grooves, impeccable musicianship, creative arrangements, harmonica tutorials and savvy production … funky and original … always fresh and vital.”
And no less than Forbes magazine: “Rick Estrin & The Nightcats are America’s greatest musical showmen … foot-stomping, wise-cracking contemporary songs, a combination of rockabilly, jazz, blues, rock, and Big Band swing. Estrin is a world-class musician … the most colorful and entertaining showman around.”
The conversation inevitably turned to the pandemic, from 2020 to 2022, and how it affected the band and the music industry.
“A lot of clubs went out of business,” said Estrin, who counts among his mentors as a teenager the R&B giant Z.Z. Hill, guitar legend Travis Phillips and R&B singer Rodger Collins (“She’s Looking Good”). In fact, it is the latter musician whom Estrin credits for learning how to be a showman and song delivery — and how to be onstage looking the part: with coiffed hair, tailored suits in a variety of colors, shined shoes and exuding infectious energy.
“There were just not enough places” to perform,” he added about the pandemic years’ effects. “People got accustomed to not going out at night.”
But for the past couple of years some paydays have come with festivals and dates on the East Coast, “which has more of a club scene and the cities are closer together,” said Estrin, adding that in May the band performed at the Iridium in New York City, in clubs in Connecticut and Massachusetts, then flew to Switzerland for festivals before returning home to California.
As it has since his earliest days, including those playing in Bay Area, his harmonica style remains rooted in the mid-20th century tradition of Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) and Little Walter Jacobs, while, at the same time, advancing that tradition to take its place in the 21st century. Today, he ranks among the best in the blues world, whether playing at a fast tempo or slowing it down for dramatic effect.
His wry, tongue-in-cheek, slice-of-life songs, which includes the 1994 Blues Music Award for “My Next Ex-Wife,” has been compared Cab Calloway, Louis Jordan, Willie Dixon and Lieiber and Stoller. His tunes, covered by several other blues musicians, explore human nature and human shortcomings, but also often include good measures of appealing humor.
The band’s other Alligator recordings, most featuring original tunes by Estrin, include “Twisted” (2009), “One Wrong Turn” (2012), “You Asked For it … Live!” (2014), “Groovin’ In Greaseland” (2017), and “Contemporary” (2019).
As he nears his mid-1970s, Estrin admitted his voice has lost some of its range, but, he added, “I think I’m a more effective communicator.”
And while he doesn’t have “quite as much wind” as he did at, say, age 25, “I think I play better than ever,” he said. “Because I’m having a better time and I know that translates into performances.”
“We’ve proven ourselves by leaving people amazed, speechless and all that,” said Estrin. “It’s a great band, it really is.”
“It was a blessing to have performed with Charlie (Baty)” (who died several years ago at NorthBay Hospital in Vacaville), he said. “But this is much more me. I have hundreds of songs and I’m still able to come up with songs that resonate with people. I feel the gratitude.”
IF YOU GO
- Who: Rick Estrin & The Nightcats
- When: 6:30 and 9 p.m. July 12
- Where: Blue Note Napa, 1030 Main St., Napa
- Tickets: $25 to $39
- Online: www.bluenotejazz.com/napa
- Phone: (707) 880-2300
