SOUL SINGER/HARMONICA MASTER CURTIS SALGADO UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL CANCER SURGERY

Award-winning soul blues singer/harmonica master Curtis Salgadounderwent successful surgery on July 18 in Portland, Oregon, to remove a cancerous growth from his lung, according to his manager Shane Tappendorf.

Doctors removed the entire lower lobe of his left lung where a metastasized mass was found. Salgado will return home within a week, and will require a recovery time of up to four weeks. Doctors anticipate a complete recovery. Salgado had a similar mass removed from his lung in 2008.

Winner of the 2012 Blues Music Award for Soul/Blues Artist of the Year, Curtis Salgado has recorded eight critically acclaimed solo albums. He tours internationally with his own band and has also toured as vocalist with the Robert Cray Band, Roomful of Blues and Santana. Salgado is also credited with being the inspiration for John Belushi’s character of Joliet Jake in The Blues Brothers. Salgado’s new CD, Soul Shot, on Alligator Records, is being hailed as his greatest album to date and continues to receive rave reviews and radio airplay worldwide. Blues Revue calls Soul Shot, “A joyous celebration of life. Soul Shot is this millennium’s finest soul blues record…deep, commanding, and essential.”

“I am extremely grateful for the overwhelming support of my family, friends and fans and the courageous people that have faced this fight before me,” the 58-year-old Salgado wrote from his home this week. “I also want to thank the promoters and venues for their understanding regarding my medical situation. We will do our best to reschedule all of our performances affected by my surgery.”

Salgado, who was diagnosed with liver cancer on March 23, 2006, underwent successful liver transplant surgery on September 30, 2006 at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

Donations to help with Curtis’s expenses can be made online at: http://curtissalgado.chipin.com/curtis-salgado-medical-fund. Donations can also be made to the Curtis Salgado Fund c/o Odaglas LLC Donation Account at all US Banks or by mail to US Bancorp, 2550 NW 188th Avenue, Hillsboro, OR 97124. For additional information please visit www.curtissalgado.comand www.facebook.com/CurtisSalgado.