Crippled Critic Theatre Review: It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues @ Portland Center Stage

The title of the show is interesting. When I read it, I thought the creators were being playfully nonchalant.. I imagined someone uninitiated to the blues being blown-away by this new sound, and when the musician is asked, "What IS that?" he would respond, "It ain't nothin' but the Blues," and this interpretation would of course imply a focus on that genre. So, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the show's Two Acts would trace the evolution of the  genre, from slave-songs to an unexpected trace of Country, and therefore enlighten us to its roots which would in-turn inform other styles of music that came after it, and in that way, nearly everything is nothing more than altered Blues....

The show is narrated by Sugaray Rayford. What struck me most about him, beyond the power of his voice, was the sheer amount of sweat that poured from him during the show. That man puts everything he has into the songs he sings.  The Gospel numbers were my favorite, particularly "Catch on Fire," which was the Act I finale. The highlight of Act II was a song called "Crawlin' King Snake." The actor who sings that song looks positively reptilian, it's actually a little unnerving.....

"It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues" has a few things in common with "Black Pearl Sings!" the show still running in the basement Studio, they both trace musical history, they even share "Goodnight Irene," (although the two versions are radically different), but most importantly, they both make the walls quake.....