Serious fans of Chicago blues are reminded that tomorrow night (3.26) there will be another mandatory show at the Thunderbird Cafe -- Nick Moss and his Flip Tops and Lurrie Bell. Lurrie is the son of the late, great harp player Carey Bell, and one of the reigning young Turks of Chicago blues. Moss is one of those hard-working bluesmen who's dedicated his career to keeping that classic music alive. Once again, reviews and photos are invited.
Festival manners
Usually, blues fans are some of the best audiences I see. They tend to respect the music and musicians, and respect other fans as well. But sometimes ...
I was sitting comfortably in the BlueNotes portable blues-watching device, enjoying the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue, and yes, chilly Burghers, baking in the 80-degree Florida sun. Magic Dick had just started whamming his jammer in a wild duet with Deanna Bogart on keyboards, when a few fans decided that the space in front of my row would make an excellent dance floor.
A few requests to get them to move away were futile, as several women insisted on displaying their best moves for those of us seated behind them. At right you'll see about as much as I saw of the Magic Man, between swiveling hips and undaunted derrieres. Later, when Ronnie Baker Brooks came out to strut his stuff, and I stood up to take some photos around the bouncing babes, one sort of apologized: "I really love Ronnie," she said. Right. And the rest of us were just there to work on our tan.
It got a little worse later, for Delbert McClinton's closing show, when fans lined the fence in front of the first few rows of seat, forcing everybody behind them to stand. Now, let it be known that BlueNotes has no aversion to moving his body in time to the music, or getting the best seat possible. But I do try to remember that I'm not the only one at the show. A little security would have worked wonders.
Otherwise, I was very impressed with the festival. It was a nicely run operation in a beautiful spot right on Tampa Bay. There was a wide variety of food vendors, a cigar tent, and a couple of beers that actually went a little above the ever-present Bud Light category (Just once, BlueNotes would love to see a Dogfish Head tent). And it sounds like the festival was almost a victim of hard times, since announcers kept thanking a local law firm -- Florin Roebig -- for making it possible for the 16th version of this fest to happen. So a tip of the BlueNotes hat and mug to those guys.
One more thing: A petty complaint. The head fest honcho seemed to be a guy named Charles Ross. I emailed him a couple of times, asking about the possibility of getting permission to do a little BlueNotes photography from the photo area. He didn't respond. As you can see, I managed to get a few pics without any special access, and that's cool. But, assuming Mr. Ross got my emails, he could have at least responded with a polite "not possible." BlueNotes believes bad manners don't mix well with the blues.
But enough whining. Here are a few more photos that I couldn't quite fit into yesterday's post:
Posted
Mar 25 2009, 01:00 AM
by
Jim White