Hubert Sumlin murió ayer 4 de Diciembre

El guitarrista de blues Hubert Sumlin murió ayer (4 de diciembre) en Nueva Jersey. Tenía 80 años. En 2002 se le diagnosticó un cáncer de pulmón, que en 2004 provocó la extirpación parcial del órgano. En los últimos años, cuando su salud de lo permitía, daba conciertos con la ayuda de una botella de oxígeno. Nacido Mississipi, Sumlin residió en Arkansas antes de trasladarse a Chicago. Donde, en 1954, comenzó a trabajar con Howlin’ Wolf, con el que tocó y grabó hasta su muerte, en 1976. Tras esto, comenzó una carrera en solitario. En su disco de 2003 “About Them Shoes” contó con la colaboración de Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Levon Helm, David Johansen y James Cotton. En 2008, Hubert Sumlin ingresó en Blues Hall of Fame y recientemente la revista estadounidense “Rolling Stone” lo incluyó en la lista de los 100 mejores guitarristas de la historia en el puesto 43.

Born in Greenwood, Mississippi, United States, Sumlin was raised in Hughes, Arkansas. When he was six years old, he got his first guitar. As a boy, Sumlin first met Howlin' Wolf by sneaking into a performance. When Howlin' Wolf relocated from Memphis to Chicago in 1953, his long-time guitarist Willie Johnson chose not to join him. Upon his arrival in Chicago, Wolf first hired Chicago guitarist Jody Williams, and in 1954 Wolf invited Sumlin to relocate to Chicago to play second guitar in his Chicago-based band. Williams left the band in 1955, leaving Sumlin as the primary guitarist in Wolf's band, a position he held almost continuously (except for a brief spell playing with Muddy Waters around 1956) for the remainder of Wolf's career. According to an interview cited in Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman,Howlin' Wolf sent Sumlin to a classical guitar instructor at the Chicago Musical College. Sumlin played on the album Howlin' Wolf, also called The Rockin' Chair Album, which was named the third greatest guitar album of all time by Mojo magazine in 2004.

Upon Wolf's death in 1976, Sumlin continued on with several other members of the late Howlin' Wolf's band under the name "The Wolf Pack" until about 1980. Sumlin has also recorded under his own name, beginning with a session recorded while touring Europe with Wolf in 1964. His final solo effort was About Them Shoes, released in 2004 by Tone-Cool Records. He underwent lung removal surgery the same year. Although, Sumlin continued performing until just before his death.

Sumlin was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 2008. He was nominated for four Grammy Awards; in 1999 for the album Tribute to Howlin' Wolf with Henry Gray, Calvin Jones, Sam Lay, and Colin Linden, in 2000 for Legends with Pinetop Perkins, in 2006 for his solo project About Them Shoes (which featured performances by Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Levon Helm, David Johansen and James Cotton) and in 2010 for his participation on Kenny Wayne Shepherd's Live! in Chicago. He won multiple Blues Music Awards, and was a judge for the fifth annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

He died on December 4, 2011, in hospital in Wayne, New Jersey, of heart failure at the age of 80.