Mojo Blues Band - Got My Mojo Working (Live) (2025)

Personnel:
Guitar, Slide Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals – Erik Trauner
Guitar, Vocals – Siggi Fassl
Double Bass [Upright Bass] – Herfried Knapp
Piano, Backing Vocals – Charlie Furthner
Drums – Didi Mattersberger
All tracks recorded live during various concerts 2018-2024.

In international competition, countries generally define themselves by the brands associated with that country that enjoy a high global reputation. Austria is not blessed with too many such brands, especially when it comes to popular contemporary music. But, as always, exceptions prove the rule. What Kruder & Dorfmeister were and are to downbeat, Joe Zawinul to jazz, or Falco to pop, the Mojo Blues Band is undoubtedly to the blues. No other Austrian group enjoys the same status in the world of twelve-bar music as the Viennese band led by mastermind Erik Trauner. In 1977, an unparalleled success story began in legendary jazzland, brimming with integrity and authenticity, but also with cross-genre hits. In this sense, the Mojo Blues Band is exquisite, living proof of the attitude of the grand master of post-war blues, Luther Allison, who once stated that the blues is "not a matter of race, color, or origin." Because, of course, the cradle of the MBB was not in the Mississippi Delta, but in the center of our home capital. This requires all the more tenacity, assertiveness, and talent if you want to succeed on the international stage. Some say a little bit of craziness is also part of it. There might be some truth to all of this when you start out in Vienna's 8th district and ultimately inspire one of the great legends of Chicago blues, Tail Dragger, to enthusiastically exclaim: "They're the blackest white boys I've ever seen!" Erik Trauner has pursued his path over the decades unswervingly, purposefully, and consistently, blending Chicago blues, R&B, and country blues, and selecting his members so that the current lineup of the Mojo Blues Band is always the best of its time. There is no pandering to this, just an unwavering love for the blues and its roots. If Erik Trauner and the Mojo Blues Band were a film, the title could only be "The Untouchables." It's a good thing Austria has such a brand!