Albert Cummings – SPACE, Evanston, Sept. 21, 2025

Review & Photos: Jim Summaria

Albert Cummings

Albert Cummings at SPACE in Evanston, IL,

Sept. 21, 2025

Review & Photos: By Jim Summaria

Massachusetts born and raised bluesman Albert Cummings had the most unlikely path to becoming a respected professional musician. He earned an associate's degree in construction science and his family trade was building homes. His father also dabbled as a musician. His guitar and fiddle playing impressed the young Cummings.  

When he was twelve, his dad gave him a five-string banjo which the pre-teen learned to play by reading Bill Blalock’s Learn How to Play the Banjo books. The first music he learned was bluegrass and country tunes by Hank Williams and Merle Haggard.    

Cummings was thirteen when he first listened to guitar master Stevie Ray Vaughan's album Texas Flood. This sparked his interest in the blues that would ignite later on when he found additional inspiration from Muddy Waters and Johnny Winter. These guitar gods prompted him to buy his first six-string. He disliked taking guitar lessons, so he taught himself by playing along with blues records.

The next part of his unimaginable story followed college and a stint in National Guard. It was here, of all places, that Cummings learned that he had a powerful singing voice. He was instructed to lead new recruits in a march and led them in a motivating call-and-response cadence. This moment gave him confidence that he could sing.

His journey to become a professional musician continued with another encounter with Stevie Ray Vaughan. One night while walking around Boston, he looked up and saw the Orpheum Theater marquee that advertised Vaughan and his band Double Trouble. Albert quickly bought a ticket, entered the theatre, and was blown away at what he witnessed. It was that night that he decided to say goodbye to his beloved banjo and focus on the guitar.

But he was still a homebuilder. The family trade. Good money. Security. Music was meant to be a sideline like it was with his dad. Then one fateful day Cummings attended a friend's wedding. The 27-year-old was asked to join the wedding band and it became his a-ha moment. He then knew that performing as a musician was his true calling.

He formed a power trio called Swamp Yankee and released one independently produced album. He soon began recording his own music as a solo artist. He gained footing in the business and was fortunate to share the stage with such luminaries as B.B. King, Susan Tedeschi and Buddy Guy. All the while keeping his hand in the building business... just in case. 

He has since released ten studio albums and has worked with SRV Double Trouble bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. In 2006, his Working Man album cracked the top ten on the blues chart for his first big hit. He has toured North America and Europe gaining a reputation as a gifted songwriter, soulful singer and especially a dynamic guitarist. He doesn't tour often but when he does he sells out venues.

Like many blues artists, Albert prefers to wing it when it comes to a set list. He prefers spontaneity. When it comes to backing musicians, he tends to rotate bass players but insists on keeping his longtime drummer Warren Grant at his side. Tonight's show had Buddy Guy bassist Orlando Wright deftly managing bass duties.

Cumming’s impressive playing and technique is grounded in the Texas blues rock mode. Some solos are fiery and others soulful. His voice has the right amount of heartfelt emotion. Grant and Wright are instrumentally gifted musicians who had no problem following the axman’s tempo changes, jams and lyrical improvisations.

It was most gratifying to observe the special connection the three musicians exhibited onstage, and the audience responded throughout the evening with enthusiastic appreciative applause.

Some time had passed since the guitarist’s last live performance. As a result, he warned the audience of some potential rustiness in his playing. But when he strapped on his black Stratocaster and cranked out the first few notes of "500 Miles" from the 2012 No Regrets album, the rust was shed and Albert was in top form.

The country rocker "Too Old to Grow Up" from his 2022 Ten album had feet stomping, while the boogie style song "Emmylou" from his 2023 Strong album had fannies shaking.

It was time for a slow blues tune with "Goin' Down Slow," also from the Strong album. Cummings made his guitar gently weep while his voice howled. Grant and Wright kept the rhythm pushing forward as Cummings fingered some nice runs. Cummings elicited some laughs when he quietly mentioned that he forgot some of the song’s lyrics. It happens to the best!

The guitar slinger next displayed some tasty guitar picking on "Hard Way" from the Ten album. This country rock anthem was reminiscent of the Marshall Tucker Band. "Glass House" from the 2012 No Regrets album had a Hendrix guitar vibe with Grant channeling drummer Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The Texas blues shuffle "Got You Covered" from the Ten album showcased Cummings’ Stevie Ray Vaughan influence.

The next song selection was a curious one. With the vast Beatles catalog to choose from, Cummings chose "Why Don't We Do It In the Road," a song he previously included on the Strong album. The heavy chord arrangement was completely original and if not for the lyrics, it was unidentifiable as the song that John Lennon and Paul McCartney penned. But it was one of the evening’s pleasant surprises.

It was back to old time blues with Willie Dixon's "Red Rooster" from Cummings 2019 Believe album. His solo soared with this slightly sped up version. His raspy vocal was perfect for this rendition. Cummings went back to the Ten album for the sweet sounding "Remember " -- a nice country song about memories of growing up. This was his most stirring vocal of the night. 

The next three songs came from his 2004 album True to Yourself.

"Lonely Bed" was a sad blues where Cummings poured out his heart out with a pleading vocal and crying guitar in an attempt to get his woman back. He then segued from this blues lament to some feel good blues with the appropriately titled "Blues Make Me Feel So Good." It sure does!

The night was far from over. His first encore was "Man on Your Mind." The song began with a Robin Trower like wah-wah guitar figure and then it was off to the races. Grant again led the way with a nice drum groove that locked in with Wright’s sublime bass playing. Cummings wrestled sounds out of his guitar that it likely didn’t know it could make.

The evening’s final song was the funky Texas swing "Workin' Man Blues" from the album of the same name. Cummings fingers were a blur.  

Musically, the show was over but the sold-out audience at SPACE in Evanston had something more to say. The house gave the band a well-deserved standing ovation. There was no rustiness in Cummings playing. In fact, Cummings proved that he is a master of his craft as are his band mates. It was another great evening for blues lovers. And by the way, this "workin' man" is still in the building business back home.

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 Jim Summaria began professionally photographing rock concerts in 1973 at the age of 19 when he became the staff photographer for the Chicago rock concert promoter Flip Side Productions. Jim's photos have been published in numerous books, magazines and CDs. His rock ‘n’ roll photos have been viewed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum and Hall of Fame on Rt.66 and the Grammy Awards. Jim and writer Mark Plotnick co-authored the books Classic Rock: Photographs From Yesterday & Today and the October 2024 release ‘70s Chicagoland Rock Concerts.  Jim and Mark also co-host the radio podcast That Rock Show on the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum platform.

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