Robert Cray, Keb' Mo' and Mavis Staples: Concert Archive

This archive page documents a real, verifiable concert pairing of three major American blues, soul, and gospel-blues artists: guitarist and singer Robert Cray, singer-guitarist Keb' Mo', and gospel-soul legend Mavis Staples. All three performed together on a single bill billed as "Blues Night" at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Wednesday, August 10, 2011, as part of that year's Jazz at the Bowl concert series programmed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. This page is maintained by the Southern California Blues Journal as a historical record of that documented bill; it is not affiliated with the Hollywood Bowl, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, or any of the performing artists, and it does not sell tickets to any event, past or future.

Robert Cray has been one of the most consistently acclaimed contemporary blues guitarists and singers since his breakthrough in the 1980s, winning multiple Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Blues Album and building a decades-long career that blends blues with soul and R&B songwriting. Keb' Mo' (Kevin Moore) has built a parallel reputation as a roots and acoustic blues artist whose style draws heavily on the Delta blues tradition associated with Robert Johnson while incorporating contemporary folk and singer-songwriter influences; he too is a multiple Grammy winner. Mavis Staples, formerly of the Staple Singers, is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee whose gospel-rooted voice has long crossed over into blues, soul, and Americana circles, making her a natural fit alongside blues-focused headliners even though her own catalog sits closer to gospel and soul.

The shared musical ground between these three artists — blues phrasing, gospel-inflected vocal delivery, and soul-steeped songwriting — is almost certainly why a promoter billed them together for the 2011 Hollywood Bowl date, and why their names have continued to appear near each other on blues-festival rosters and best-of lists in the years since. Beyond that August 2011 show, available concert listings and tour archives show Robert Cray and Mavis Staples sharing other individual bills — for instance a 2013 date at Harrah's Atlantic City, and an outdoor concert series date at Utah's Red Butte Garden — but no source checked for this page confirms a second instance of all three artists, Cray, Keb' Mo', and Staples together, appearing on the same stage on the same night. Each maintains an independent touring schedule, so readers looking for a current concert by any of these artists should check their official websites or verified ticketing platforms directly.

For more Southern California blues history, see our event calendar, our guide to the Topanga Blues Festival, or our broader archive of past events.