The Pittsburgh Blues Festival in review

Curtis Salgado caught in the late afternoon shadows during a soaring vocal moment on Saturday.

The 15th annual Pittsburgh Blues Festival had a pretty good weekend. Despite a lot of threatening skies on Saturday, there were only brief showers, and Sunday was a brilliant blues day. Here's my take on what I saw.

I was ready to be impressed by a few well-known performers, but I was most impressed by the acts that surprised me with over-the-top performances when I didn't really expect it. That's the great thing about festivals -- the surprise of great music.

So I want to look back at the weekend with that in mind -- starting out with the shows that stand out in my mind, and not just listing acts in order of appearance. One caveat: I didn't make it to the Friday night shows, but heard good things about Eric Lindell and Cyril Neville. 

I did get a good start on Saturday, though, hearing Eugene Morgan and the Nightcrawlers, a local band that tends to stay up around the Butler area, thus depriving us Burghers of the high quailty of the Georgia-born Morgan's deep blues.

Morgan ran through a set of blues standards -- "Big Boss Man," "Dust My Broom," "Got My Mojo Working" -- and managed to make them sound like his own. He has a sharp, bluesy little band, and even gave 14-year-old Henry Coyle, son of his harpman Tom Coyle, a chance to sit in on harp. Very cool.

But I was most impressed on Saturday with a guy whose work I had heard a little, but never seen -- Portland, Ore., based Curtis Salgado, a fine blues harp player and a supremely soulful singer. He came out wailing solid blues and soul, and just kept getting better. At 55, Salgado has worked with just about every contemporary blues name you can think of, and has really earned all the praise he gets.

He worked nice and hard Saturday afternoon -- his harp playing soars -- but I was most impressed by his vocals. He can rock hard, but what he does best is soaring blue-eyed blues and soul. That's him up at the top of the page, soaking up the soul. I really enjoyed him a lot.

But Sunday surprised me even more, with the unexpected blues voice of Deb Callahan and the live-wire intensity of JJ Grey.

Callahan is a Philadelphia blues singer with a lusty voice and a blues attitude, and a bunch of original songs created in the same spirit as the Ray Charles and Albert Collins numbers that she opened with.

She was tough and funny and had her way with a lyric no matter what the subject. She took a slyly salacious turn with bass player Garry Lee on "If Your Man Messes Up (Can I Give You My Resume?)" that was a lot of fun. But she's one of those singers who could probably sing the Yellow Pages, and with her voice and style, no one would notice.

Then late Sunday afternoon, there was JJ Grey, a swampy, soulful, bluesy Florida singer with an intensely personal view of the world expressed in intelligent, thoughtful lyrics. He plays wicked guitar, swampy harp, and his vocals are a lot more passionate and powerful than is obvious from his CDs (even though they are very good).

He's based a lot of his musical observation on growing up in a steamy, backwoods Florida, and you can also se them while he sings. He had this to say about that in a recent interview, and I thought it was an interesting sentiment for such a relatively young guy.

 "Soon even remote places in Florida will be gone forever, replaced by golf courses and country clubs. Music takes me back to those places. It takes me back to the past where I can live, breathe and remain sane. That's probably my biggest influence. Either that or we just make up stuff that we think sounds cool."

I really enjoyed Grey's heartfelt music, and its emotional intensity, pushed along by his own passion. Whether he was playing guitar, wailing on a mournful harp, or just plain singing, he was well worth the price of Sunday's show. And you could tell he connected with the crowd. His band, with a trumpet and clarinet, is very finely tuned, and a joy to hear. They really punch his music along.

Of course, Robert Cray, the Sunday headliner, didn't disappoint, either. He can still create slow-burning blues to lift you up, and then ease you down slow with soulful, heartfelt singing. His guitar notes are big and fat, and there are not too many and not too few. He makes them all count. Which is just the way the blues was meant to be played.

But he followed Grey, and Grey's passionate working of his music and crowd, his intimate, folksy show, coming down to the edge of the stage to connect, made Cray, whose band set up at the very back of the deep stage, look almost cool by comparison. Cray worked on his biggest hits, and some new songs, and brought to all of them the craftsmanship that's taken him to the top of the blues world these days. 

I especially enjoyed it Cray's guitar turned bluer, and fired out great, steamy blues. His band sizzles, and his workouts with his keyboard player were high points.

The Saturday night headliner didn't disappoint anyone either, as Los Lobos filled the night with the great music they've been playing for 35 years. Even though they were running late, they still had time to dedicate a song to the Polish Falcons. Nice touch. They create great interplay in the band, and whether it's Latin or bluesy, get their point across with great musicianship.

Very noteworthy on Saturday afternoon was Canadian blues-rocker Shawn Kellerman. I don't think his fingers ever stopped moving after he hit the stage with a non-stop barrage of guitar notes, bending wire where no man may have bent before. He used his body to mimic the blues action, and did a kind of blues scat singing that he matched with guitar notes. 

It was an amazing, high-intensity performance that grabbed and didn't let go until the final note bounced off the Hartwood hillside.

I've already mentioned Eugene Morgan, but all the local bands I saw put on fine shows during the weekend.

On Saturday, Ron Yarosz and the Vehicle cranked out a sturdy set on Saturday -- I enjoy his organ work; it's unusual to feature that these days.

Sunday afternoon, Jill West got the day rolling with her own tough blues, including a number of songs from her new CD, "Broadcast Blues."

Then later, Felix and the Hurricanes, IBC winners for the Blues Society of Western Pa., showed why they won with a steamy set. They were joined for a few numbers by former blues Burgher Barbara Blue, now in Memphis -- where the Hurricanes will compete in the national IBCs next February.

There was more local activity this year with the brand new Blues in the Tent workshops, featuring local musicians engaging children in the history and music of the blues. The program was put together by Jimmy Adler and June Esser, and sponsored by Fidelity Investments. A couple of the times I looked in, it looked like a lot of fun.

I'll have a few more notes and photos in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, if any of you wants to share a festival experience, this is the place.

The 15th Pittsburgh Blues Festival is history, and now you can start getting ready for the 16th. The crowds looked good over the weekend, especially Sunday, and even though I looked hard, I didn't see anyone who wasn't having a good time. I even bought a Blues Society T-shirt -- for BlueNotes to wear, if he likes it.

 And don't forget, the very fine Heritage Blues Fest in Wheeling is coming up in two weeks. They have a great lineup of blues scheduled for your viewing pleasure. More later in the week.