Ending the night with Tab Benoit
Tab Benoit opens with a couple of rousing New Orleans-flavored songs, which are, of course, what he does best.
He's just the right mix of grit and soul and Cajun, a voice that wraps his guitar notes with sensuous feelings. Swampy, muddy, done with passionate intensity.
Notes get bent just the right way, soaring into the dark country night -- if this isn't some kind of blues Nirvana, I'm not sure what is.
I'm just gonna go listen, and write more later.
It's later. Much later. Benoit went right up to the 11 p.m. closing time, and probably could have gone all night. He sounded happy to be here, happy to be singing, and everybody seemed deliriously happy to hear him.
He did a number of straight-ahead Nawleens songs, and few interesting choices, one of which was the old Buffalo Springfield hit, "Something's Happening Here." It was a unique reading of the old rock classic. He did an extended, jam-like version of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya," in which he took a turn on the drums. His encore was the simple "My Bucket's Got a Hole In It," and he made that sound pretty fine as well.
They kept the security fence in front of the stage down for Benoit as well, so there was dancing, if not in the streets, at least in front of the stage, with happy fans leaning on the front of the stage as Benoit worked his Cajun mojo. That's nice to see, because I think it provides a feedback loop between the fans and the musicians that raises the emotional level for everyone.
It was a good start for the weekend. Lots more blues to come. Stay tuned. Watch this space. Or better yet, go watch the show, then watch this space. We'll be here Saturday and Sunday for the day. I know ... but somebody has to do it.
The schedule
Finally found a real schedule in the program. Here are the next two days:
Saturday:
2:30 - Nothin' But Trouble
3:30 - Mem Shannon
5 - Pittsburgh Blues All-Stars
6 - Homemade Jamz
7 - Joanna Connor
8:30 - Taj Mahal
Sunday
2:30 - theCAUSE with Jill Simmons and Patti Spadaro
3:30 - Southern Culture on the Skids
5 - The Pawnbrokers
6 - Dumpstaphunk
7:30 - Jill West and the Blues Attack
8:30 - Tommy Castro Band
Lil' Brian and the Zydeco Travelers
Continuing with the night's Louisiana theme, Lil' Brian and the Zydeco Travelers stirred up enough dancers to get the security fence in front of the stage moved back to make a nice concrete dance floor. Take that, homeland security.
Zydeco is a great blend of music from multiracial Louisiana, featuring a lot of accordion and rubboard. But you knew that.
What it also does is render humans unable to sit still. One person even seems to be able to dance with an alligator on his head.
Right now they're moving sideways out of Louisiana and doing Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff."
An an up-to-the-minute festival report: The flies have stopped biting, the crowd is still coming in, and there's a large and happy crowd of music fans on the premises. If you're not one of them -- well, you should be.
They've put on a body-bending set of non-stop music. It's hard to imagine that an accordion and little metal washboard on the chest can sound so good.
And closing with the Stones' "Beast of Burden" on accordion is certainly an interesting and effective touch.
Actually, they just keep playing and playing... hard to tell if they were encores or unbridled enthusiasm.
Blue Lunch from Cleveland
I'm looking forward to their set -- never heard them, but they're supposed to have a horn-driven big-band, R&B flavor as well as a straight blues bent.
Before they start up, Moondog himself (I wonder if he'd like to meet HoneyBoy?), Ron Esser, who runs Moondog's and books the festival bands, welcomed everybody on behalf of fest sponsor First Commonweath. Nothing like a bank that's still solvent to pay the bills.
But here comes the band. They're an impressive looking group -- harp, sax, trumpet, keyboards, upright bass -- dig that!
They've got a little New Orleans rhythm, some raunchy sax -- remember "Mother In Law" by Ernie K-Doe? They're doing it a huge amount of justice as I try to type in time to the music. Next up, Professor Longhair. Then, "Barefootin'." These guys swing. If you drive really fast, maybe you can still catch a tune. Now it's Huey Piano Smith.
They're really rolling in the New Orleans music. After all, the first night of the fest was billed as Mardi Gras night, so that's cool
(BlueNotes conflict of interest note: I'm sucking down a really good and head-numbing cold red, white and blue Italian ice handed to me by Tom La Scola. Just for being BlueNotes. Thanks, Tom.)
This is a heckuva set. Kind of like Roomful of Blues, but from Cleveland. They swing, they rock, they get down and dirty with the blues. What more can a blues fan ask? No free lunch? Don't tell these guys.
Sweaty Betty / Marcy Brown get things moving
Pittsburgh's Sweaty Betty Blues Band, featuring Marcy Brown, has just kicked off the evening with Marci belting out "Never Make Your Move Too Soon." My, my. I think this will be fun.
Marcy favors beads, tambourines, and blues that scorch. Which is what she's doing at the moment. Guitarist George Kalantzis shares the vocals, and his guitar doesn't gently weep, it crackles and burns.
There's already a nice crowd filling the hillside in front of the stage. But there's stil lots of room. And don't forget, a bag of food gets you in free tonight.
Blues lyrics are really great.... "I'm a cement mixer for you baby....." Wonder what that means? Suggestions accepted.
She's winding up with a tune by the great Slim Harpo, "Teena Neena Nu."
Next up, Blue Lunch, from Cleveland.
Well, it's just about time for the 14th annual Pittsburgh Blues Festival to get under way, and the 1st, maybe annual, BlueNotes live blog coverage.
If anybody is out there as the evening goes along, drop me a line.
If anybody knows how to stop the flies from biting my ankles, let me know.
We'll keep a running commentary on this page as the night goes along... well, maybe just sort of a trot. It's hot out here at Hartwood Acres -- a perfect night for the blues.
Posted
Jul 25 2008, 05:19 PM
by
Jim White