B.B. King — North Sea Jazz Festival, 1987

Filmed at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague on 10 July 1987, this live concert brings together B.B. King and his band at their finest. Nicknamed “The King of the Blues,” the Mississippi guitarist and singer lays out the vocabulary that defined modern electric blues: singing phrasing on his Gibson “Lucille,” an instantly recognisable vibrato, sustained notes trading lines with his warm voice. Backed by a rhythm section and horns, he moves through shuffles, ballads and soul-tinged numbers in the tradition of the great touring blues orchestras. This 1987 recording documents an artist in full maturity, fifteen years after the success of “The Thrill Is Gone,” still able to hold a hall through the sheer eloquence of his playing. For blues lovers, this roughly two-hour full concert is a lesson in economy and expression, where every note counts, captured at one of Europe’s most prestigious festivals of the genre.