Portrait : Willie Kent (1936-2006)

A giant's journey

Willie Kent was a burly man, a stainless bassist, a real blues singer and a talented songwriter, but never an icon of the Chicago blues though he did play with almost all the Windy City renowned bluesmen. Among the best talented sidemen that contributed to make Chicago blues a legend, he deserves to be put up back where he belongs : on the front line.
Familiar to the blues aficionados but much less to the average community of blues listeners, Kent has a special asset though : he recorded a dozen albums under his name, most of them with his long time band The Gents.