John Nemeth turns it on for Moondog's show

There's nothing better than a small club show where a talented musician gives about 200%, even though the crowd is small, but the vibe is pure musical pleasure all night, a musical connection between the artist and the audience that sends everybody home limp with satisfaction.

That was John Nemeth Sunday night at Moondog's. If you were one of the few people there, you know what I mean. If you weren't, well, shame on you. This guy sings his heart out and his gluteous maximus off, and seems to be having just as much fun as the rest of us.

He sings great old-fashioned soul and R&B, laced with the blues and an occasional dose of rock 'n' roll. And he plays a very mean harp. It's all done with the kind of passion and intensity that makes music worthwhile, especially the music of the blues, a shot of emotional steroids.

Damn, he was that good.

From the soaring opener, "Love Me Tonight," you knew you were gonna be loved till you drop. Nemeth ripped through two fine sets of music that seems to be written in the DNA of this young Idaho native. He ran through a set of mostly originals (he can write, too), the passionate "My Broken Heart," the ever-so-delicately salacious "Come and Get It," the R&B-laced "She's My Heart's Desire," and the hard-rocking "Magic Touch," from his album of the same name. And of course he made my night with the slow and steamy "She Did Not Show." And much, much more.

He didn't need to circle the top of the bar to impress everybody, but he did, making a pass through the tables and then hopped up to do a little bar walk. Call it the Moonwalk, maybe.

John's band was notable for its fierce backing, cracking right through the songs with the same punch as the vocals. Bob Welsh was a standout on guitar, along with Smokey Davis on bass and Nick Fishman on drums.

The band is also notable for its snappy attire. All men in black, topped by Nemeth's snappy fedora. It's the way a sharp band should look.  John said it's the way he started out, but got away from until recently. Blue bands, take note. Looking good makes the music sound even better.

Nemeth's vocals are a throwback to earlier days of blues and soul, when a soaring falsetto and the higher registers added emotional content that carried ordinary songs to extraordinary levels. John seems to understand that in his soul, where, in lesser hands, the music would sound forced and affected -- kind of like far too many American Idol contestants.

Okay, I know I'm writing a lot of flowery stuff here just to say that John creates music that sounds like it was ripped from his soul just for you.It was all hanging out for you to take, but way too many of you blues fans chose to stay home. Shoot, you could've gone home after the first set at 9:30 or so and still have gone home happy. One fan came up to me and said, "This guy is great. Where is everybody?" I couldn't have said it better. It's amazing that so many performers seem to crank out some of their best stuff for small crowds, almost daring people to stay home.

It was even more impresive when you learned that John had performed in Youngstown Friday night, come to Pittsburgh Saturday, then flew to Portland, Ore., for a Saturday night benefit, then flew back here for the Sunday night gig. He said he was working on just  a couple hours of sleep. Maybe that's the magic touch.

BlueNotes notes

There are always new faces to meet at every show. At this one, I met some fine folks from the Blues Society of Western Pa., and I met Barbie and John. Barbie was kind enough not to ask me to leave the barstool next to hers. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and an inspiration, even to the usually sedate and dignified BlueNotes. Thank you, ma'am. (That's Barbie at right, not BlueNotes.)

Ron "Moondog" Esser paid a generous tribute before the show to the passing of Jim Weber, the president of the Blues Society of Western Pa., who died Friday. He noted that Jim had dedicated the past few years to making the local society a force for the blues in the region.

I also spent some time chatting with John between sets. Besides the music talk, and the state of the blues, I think I was most fascinated to learn that John's heritage is Hungarian. Some of most interesting people that BlueNotes has met seem to be of the Hungarian persuasion. 

I'm reminded once again that one of the joys of being BlueNotes (besides talking about myself in the third-person), is getting to hear music like this and then feebly attempt to share it wih all of you.