Rauma Blues 2004

The Rauma Blues of 2004 was held under lucky stars

Charlie Musselwhite, who had been invited to Rauma for a couple of years already, finally agreed and with him headlining the event, Rauma Blues put together one of the finest and versatile programmes ever. Tomi Leino with his chicago blues, Alvin Youngblood Hart with his modernized delta blues variations, Walter "Wolfman" Washington with his secondline rhythms typical to New Orleans' musicians, Bettye Lavette with her rooty southern soul and Charlie Musselwhite with his magical harp skills presented different aspects of the blues with memorable results.

The main concert of Rauma Blues was nominated by the critics as the best roots setting of the year. The specialities of 2004 were the blues cruises on Friday evening which, despite the good idea, didn't turn out a success. The cruise ship, with its labyrinthic inside, didn't give many opportunities for a good blues atmosphere to develop.