Category: MTW Music Reviews

John Primer @ Bleu Note, Dublin 20/04/2007

Legendary Chicago Blues Guitarist John Primer was in top form in the Bleu Note on Capel Street for the first of two shows in Dublin.

John Primer earned his stripes riding shotgun with Willie Dixons All Stars, Muddy Waters Band filling the lead guitar spot until Muddy passed away in 1983, and moving on to a huge favourite of mine Magic Slim & The Teardrops before enjoying well-deserved front man status himself in the 90s, releasing hit albums like The Stuff You Got To Watch and The Real Deal among ten of his solo albums.

John who I’d seen for the first time play in the Madison Bar in Rathmines last year last year came originally from Mississippi moved to Chicago in 1963 cutting his teeth in the West Side Clubs of Chicago by the side of Junior Wells, Sammy Lawhorn and Buddy Guy and has evolved as a superb electric Blues troubadour with his own clean, uncluttered and ever reliable traditional blues solo phrasing and fast bottleneck signature sound.

The atmosphere was warmed up for us by local Rhythm ‘N’ Blues Band The Blue Notes fronted by the hard working Stephen Mc Loughlin with Bass, Drums, Guitar and Saxophone weaving a tight warm sound around Van The Man’s Moonlight and Domino, Bone’s Shuffle and an indispensable repertoire of classic Chicago Mustang and Texas ZZ Blues.

John Primers backing band for his Irish tour was The Lee Hedley Band who took to the stage and warmed up the main phase of the show for about 20 minutes with some of their regular crowd favourites like The Fabulous Thunderbirds Tuff Enuff.

The thermometer exploded when John Primer joined Lee, Lou Campbell guitar, Aaron Loughran Bass and Bobby Dyer Drums on stage with his trusted hollow bodied Epiphone Riviera.John Primer has a legendary charisma on stage, tall, confident and immaculately dressed for the occasion just like a seasoned entertainer who is known as the genuine article, the real deal.

On songs like The Stuff You Got To Watch one of John’s own compositions to The Things That I Use To Do, my own favourite all time song from Guitar Slim, the tone, energy and original spirit is old school and sublime on John’s fretboard.

John Primers seasoned guitar genius prevails from the start in a warn confident and unpretentious style show, that brings the band, the crowd and each song rumbling along like a latent volcano that climaxes with his trademark emotive, stinging axe work.

His voice is confident and soulful and his bottleneck technique is pure traditional fifties Chicago blues producing pointedly wicked guitar solo after solo that serves tradition well but unfortunately he had to abandon his Epiphone and strap on Lou Campbell’s Fender Telecaster deluxe when one of the strings broke.

John’s set was a mix of original songs and traditional classics that dip deeply into his roots like I’m A Man, Hoochie Coochie Man and Got My Mojo Working all performed with no flash just plain craftsmanship from this legendary musician turning the Bleu Note audience into another generation of blues fans.

He is a very likable guy and humoured us all for a chat and to have pictures taken before and after the show his face broadened and beaming with a smile throughout.John covers a lot of territory on his tours heading off to Greece next and then back to the States but the most important journey this man makes is showing us all the breath, depth, confidence and charisma of a blues man who plays top notch blues.John Primer is a man with secrets worth sharing and this was a gig that revealed a journeyman with a venerable career making top shelf blues music and entertainment memories.

There is a quote from John Primer on his album Stuff You Got To Watch that puts it all into focus;

“ The feelin of the music, its got to come from your heart . It’s got to. You’ve got to play it with a feelin’, from your heart. And make every word mean something…”

It’s a real treat for Chicago electric and bottleneck blues fans in Ireland to have the opportunity to witness a master of the craft like John Primer and great credit must go to the management of the Bleu Note for taking the commercial risks and promoting gigs of this high calibre.

Big Danny Memorial Show @ Annesley House, Dublin. 23/03/2007

Big Danny Gallagher was a towering giant of a man who came from New Jersey and obviously with a name like that had connections that brought him to Ireland to retrace his ancestral footprints. He hooked up with a network of creative artists over the years in Galway, Arranmore and Dublin who gathered together in the Annesley House on Friday night to pay tribute to this large in life and large in death personality that left a big intense impression on those he befriended until his sudden death recently. The music was in full swing when I arrived, Business Bassman John Quearney, one of Big Danny’s closest friend’s and supporters was doing a slinky version of Willie Dixon’s Built For Comfort with his son Colm and Dave Murphy on Guitars and legendary Irish drummer Nollaig Bridgeman solid as a rock at the rear.

Immediately I was stunned by the extraordinary inventive interplay between Colm Quearney on his Telecaster and Dave Murphy on his big Gibson Lucille with the emphasis on well thought out solos that built up to breathtaking intensity repeatedly throughout the set. Maybe it was because I was sitting next to Emma at the sound desk but the sound was brilliant overall but in particular the beautiful gutsy deep toned solos on the classic Freddie King/Clapton/Green instrumental workouts. The Stumble and Hideaway were spinechilling with the rhythm section matchfit and in full stride throughout. Live music does not come much better than this, and the full house in attendance were on a roll and swaying along to the enjoyable punchy performance of these multi talented musicians who are central figures in the Dublin music scene motivating and inspiring past and future generations of musicians.

Colm Quearney does divine Bob Dylan covers turning Lay Lady Lay, Tangled Up In Blue and Like A Rolling Stone into something distinctively polished and propelled by guitar playing of the highest quality, taking his influences and melding them into a style uniquely his own. There was pictures of Big Danny on the wall’s and two large framed pictures raffled by Smiley Bolger another legendary character on the Dublin music scene over the decades. One of large framed black & white pictures immortalising a jam session with Big Danny in the company of Business men John Quearney and Pat Farrell was won by Biddi T who will no doubt have it adorning the Faith Avenue household with pride of place. Big Danny was a man of many opinions inspired by the American Beat Generation and many contributors on the night recalled stories and events that would have made Kerouac and Ginsberg put pen to paper.

On Big Danny & the Lost Leader Band CD Sign of Faith there is a message from Big Danny: “Children everywhere, being fed bad, little or no information, Be true to yourselves and treat others The way you like been treated it’s that simple.” Danny Rogers read some poetry from Lawrence Ferlinghetti who espoused a liberal spirituality with kindness and was famous to the 70’s rock generation for his recitation of the prayer in The Band’s Last Waltz concert film by Martin Scorsese. “The dog trots freely in the street and sees reality and the thing’s he sees are bigger than himself and the thing’s he sees are his reality, drunks in the doorways, moon’s in the trees. The dog trots freely through the street and the things he sees are smaller than himself, fish on newsprint, ants in holes chicken in Chinatown windows, their heads a block away The dog trots freely in the street and the things he smells smell something like himself. The dog trots freely in the street past puddles and babies, cats and cigars, poolrooms and policemen. He doesn’t hate cops he merely has no use for them. And he goes past them and past the dead cows hung up whole in front of the San Francisco Meat Market He would rather eat a tender cow than a tough policeman though either might do. And he goes past the Romeo Ravioli Factory and past Coit’s Tower and past Congressman Doyle of the Un-American Committee He’s afraid of Coit’s Tower but he’s not afraid of Congressman Doyle although what he hears is very discouraging, very depressing, and very absurd to a sad young dog like himself, to a serious dog like himself. But he has his own free world to live in, his own fleas to eat. He will not be muzzled; Congressman Doyle is just another fire hydrant to him. The dog trots freely in the street and has his own dogs life to live and to think about and to reflect upon touching and tasting and testing everything investigating everything without benefit of perjury, a real realist with a real tale to tell and a real tail to tell it with” A quality succession of contributors joined the band on stage on vocals and blues harp adding to a very pleasing and varied set from Hoochie Coochie Man, Mystery Train and a first class a cappella version of Danny Boy bringing the tribute home.

Big Danny Gallagher’s memory associated with such a splendid, sincere, competent and finely crafted night of music and performance rock solid in all departments is the finest monument his friends could have erected to evoke the memory of their friend gone to that great gig in the sky “when you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight, death leaves a heartache no one can heal, but love leaves a memory no one can steal”.

Chris Smither @ The Village, Dublin 13/02/2007

Every year now for the past decade I receive a most welcome postcard from singer songwriter Chris Smither detailing his touring schedule for the month’s ahead. To repay the complement I have attended a performance on every tour because I think it’s a nice traditional touch, good revenue for the postal system which pays the bills in my house, but most of all because Chris Smither has been trekking around this planet for to thirds of every year now for decades with his gentlemanly manner, well crafted songs, intimate performances and spine chilling folk blues guitar style and is one of my favourite live performance experiences.

Chris Smither is one of the most respected and likable performers with a well rounded signature guitar style that smoulders and grooves in the finest traditions of acoustic folk & country blues and a song writing style that strikes the perfect balance between serving tradition well and redefining the craft to catch the attention of the contemporary listening buds.

Over the past few years I travelled down to veteran promoter Larry Roddy’s promotions in the beautiful setting of the Ballymore Inn to catch Chris’s annual visit and over the years I’ve been to Whelan’s several times, Mother Redcaps and tonight it was all happening in The Village formerly known as the Mean Fiddler and before that again The Wexford Inn.Chris arrived on stage and kicks off spellbinding us with his musicality and effortless virtuosity on a 12 fret cutaway Collings acoustic, a majestically sounding guitar, thumb pick and fingerpicks pinching the bass notes and cascading across the chords on the title track of his 2003 CD Train Home.

His unique heel and toe was tapping out the percussive rhythm as he warmed up the crowd with uplifting energy saying he was keeping the mood light for awhile:
“I don’t want to get to heavy to soon”

Chris grew up in New Orleans but really got into the folk scene in Cambridge Massachusetts in the late sixties and has been playing festivals, clubs all around the world and making the most penetrating and delightful albums ever since.From his new CD Leave the Light On, Chris introduced one of his trademark humorous lyrical overviews of mankind called Origin Of The Species, going back to the beginning of time and tracing the biblical versus Darwin journey from the garden up to the present. Nine out of ten people have a bible of some sort in the house, what’s wrong with the other guy?

“The whole thing works like clockwork over time
I’ll just sit back in the shade while everyone gets laid
That’s what I call intelligent design” ©

Dave Carters Crocodile Man breezed along with driving rhythm and smooth bluesy finger style followed by the tale of Lola the kind of woman your mother warns you to keep away from and the kind of advice you don’t take until it’s to late.

Chris talked about his new state of the art GPS device which helps him find venue’s in difficult locations and especially the persuasive comfort of the systems sexy female voice to a man as she helps him find his way along the highways.

“Freeway exit 1.5 kilometres away”

I suspect that her charm would probably be lost on our own M50 you wouldn’t get to hear her often enough to develop a relationship.Chris played a song called Diplomacy about the sense of disillusionment that has existed under George Bush and his administrations foreign policy decisions and many people including myself have found the real ambassadors of perspective and reassurance for that wonderful talented and influential continent in recent years has been its artists like Chris Smither, Bruce Springsteen and The Dixie Chicks whose good fortunes have been recently restored with multiple awards at this years Grammy’s.

“It’s the land of the free, blind and leading the lame”©

Chris’s dad Robert was a professor at the University of Tulane but his uncle Howard was also a learned man and gave the young embryonic musician some indelible advice:

“If you know two chords you can play a lot of the song’s you hear on the radio and if you know three chords you could pretty much rule the world”©

Chris has an ode to his father on his new CD, a song he approached with reticence “ scary enterprise” , because of the profound closeness and sensitivity of the subject matter but as he said his father is now in his 90’s with no sign of quitting yet and Chris he is in his early 60’s it was time to deal with it.

“It takes so long to say more than goodnight”©

Chris Smither creates the atmosphere of a living room for his worldly wise lyrics and nice melodies. His thumb & finger style blend of rhythm and lead has the knack of making an audience cosy and comfortable pacing his performance with ease, economy and grace and it is mature melodic easy to follow musicianship at its best and absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

The songs are the magic, each tune deceptively refined and clinging tenaciously to the memory from a craftsman with talent to burn and Chris doesn’t believe in burning it but using it wisely and living proof that restraint doesn’t equate with wimp out.

“I don’t pick no cotton
I never pick my nose
I couldn’t pick a pocket
In a pile of dirty clothes”©

Chris draws admiration from the singer songwriter audience and the traditional folk blues audience because his music redefines its ancestral identity in a manner that is satisfactorily challenging and reassuring.

Specifically interesting is the seamless integration of guitar and voice
Chris Smithers approach represents a modern vision of the blues that moves the listener forward through the time zones from finger picking Delta and all stops in between to places it has never been before called Evolution Street.

Songs like Link of Chain fire the latent blues imagination of the listener and have enough modern charisma to make them mainstream radio friendly.His reputation as a songwriter has been enhanced over the years as various music luminaries like Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris and Diana Krall have recognised his talent and recorded versions of his versatile compositions.

Chris done an online search recently and found 15 versions of his classic Love Me Like a Man and all the artists were women so he reckons that is a pointer that he is doing something right.

Songs like Leave The Light On and Open Up from the new CD and my own favourite Happier Blue show an unerring eye for those narrative details that once heard, can indelibly invite a song into your brain forever.

There are precious few songwriters of this calibre around and he is my favourite interpreter of the works of one Mr Bob Dylan from his Dylan meets Canned Heat vibe on his early 70’s Down In The Flood, What Was It You Wanted on Up On The Lowdown in ‘95 to Desolation Row on Train Home in 2003 and now Visions Of Johanna on the CD Leave The Light On.

The guitar playing is clear musical and easy to follow and demonstrates astounding acoustic finesse bringing the full house in The Village down to pin dropping attention during, Killing the Blues.It reminded me of a quote I picked up recently from local musicologist Sean Finn attributed to Joni Mitchell:

“Relax your body. Keep your eyes closed. Feel the beat. Express how much you enjoy that beat with your body and forget what you look like.”

For fans who wants to get some of Chris’s incredible licks under their fingertips he has a new instructional DVD available from his web site WWW.Smither.Com which promises a pot pourri of lick, riffs, tips and working methods.

A life dedicated to touring and playing his music around the globe has earned him a loyal following who responded with rapturous applause at the end of the show bringing Chris back for an encore on Blind Willie Mc Tell’s Statsboro Blues.

Veteran roots promoter Larry Roddy was clearly delighted with the excellent turn out which had been a cause for celebration at the previous performances in Cork and Galway as were many supporters, Charlie Hussy from D.C.A.L.’s Bluestrain on 103.2fm and online every Sunday night, Frank Mulligan, Benny Conaty and Kevin Morrow aka Hollywood Slim contemplating putting his own acoustic roots outfit together which is good news from a local who brings flair and originality to our blues and jazz scene.

I recall another gig in Mother Redcaps back in the early 90’s when the hail rain and snow was belting down on a miserable winters night in Dublin and despite only a handful of dedicated supporters in attendance Chris got up an played out of his skin, told stories and sang as if there was three hundred in the audience and sent us on our way home with satisfaction and added value.

“These men you’ve been seeing
They got their balls up on the shelves
You know they could never love you baby
They can’t even love themselves”©

T-Bone Kelly Band @ Bleu Note, Dublin. 3/02/2007

T-Bone Kelly is a talented American in town who has got the work life balance just right, during the day he creates an atmosphere of inspiration for his students in his lectures as professor of psychology at the University and at night as leader of the classy, emotionally driven, powerful T-Bone Kelly Band. The songs are a good mix of new material and classic covers from the Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, ZZ Top and Rory Gallagher.

T- Bone Kelly has accumulated a wealth of musical experiences in his travels and this Irish project of his is clearly a labour of love with some very talented local
musicians, John Nugent (Drums), Martin O Keeffe (Bass) and Phil Baker (Co-Lead
Guitarist) making a welcome return to the live scene on guitar in absolutely fine
form after a ten year absence.

They launched into the high energy set with some modern Texas blues in ZZ Tops Tush the appropriate mating call of the young man on the town on a Saturday night with T-Bone and Phil trading sizzling guitar runs between them.

“I been bad, I been good
Dublin,Texas,Hollywood
I ain’t asking for much
I said Lord, take me downtown
I’m just looking for some tush.”

The wonderful blend of raunchy humour and sexual  innuendo had the upbeat Bleu Note audience captured immediately followed by another key influence in the tough, melodic T- Bone Kelly sound Honky Tonk Woman by The Rolling Stones showcasing T-Bone on blues harp.

Part of the appeal for me in the relaxing ambiance of the Bleu Note is their collection of imported beers on offer and there is nothing tastier to complement a bottle of Tyskie Polish 5.7% beer with its 17th century light relatively strong recipe,  than a bouncy and invigorating version of Screaming Jay Hawkins’s I Put A Spell On You, indelibly  inoculated into my consciousness the first time I put the needle down on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s version in the jukebox in Fat Freddie’s Chipper back in ‘69.

The T-Bone Kelly Band’s frisky unpretentious approach to the arrangements has a vibrant likable energy and bounce and works well especially on uncluttered covers live No Expectations from Beggars Banquet the Brian Jones and Bill Wyman era Rolling Stones 1968 LP.

“Take me to the station
And put me on a train
I’ve got no expectations
To pass through here again”

Phil Baker found the magic in the moment with his tribute to Rory Gallagher doing an impeccable version of the Irish Tour ’74 Muddy Water’s  tune I Wonder Who playing bottleneck with a full sized beer bottle.

“I wonder who?
Goin to be your sweet man when I’m gone”

T- Bone cruised up to the end of the first half nailing the groove with Green Onion style riffing and classic Chicago  and Texas blues matching his guitar skill with some rack held blues harp and raw rollicking boogie somewhere in a vibe reminiscent of The Allman Brothers, Smoking Joe Kubeck & Bnois King or Buddy Guy.

“You got to help me, baby
I can’t do it all by myself
You got to help me, baby
I can’t do it all by myself
If you don’t help me baby
Gonna find somebody else “

After a short break there were ample portions of more classic covers like Unchain My Heart, Are You Ready,Bring It On Home To Me and originals like Indigenous Tuna showing a band with authority never letting the pace or fretwork slip below the funky hot n taste on the radar screen.

The energy and excitement on the stage pretty soon became the pulse of the party, my favourite type of cross pollination filling the front of the stage in the Bleu Note with sensuality and patterns of interactive unabashed celebration and in the moment Saturday night fever.

There is a humorist theme in the air at a T-Bone Kelly performance which makes a nice desert for the southern fried boogie cultivating bridges of empathy in the rapier like wit of tunes like  Down Drinking At The Bar by Louden Wainwright 111 where the obscene is poetically combined with the pristine.

T-Bone Kelly has put together a local band of crack musicians with a road house heart and plenty of musical muscle, capturing the essence of a song like ZZ Top’s Jesus Left Chicago demonstrating the concise punchy delivery and ZZ’s wacky sense of humour.

“Took a jump through Mississippi
Well muddy waters turned to wine
Then out to California
Through the forests and the pines
Ah take me with you Jesus”

The classic chemistry of T-Bone’s Gibson guitar and Phil Baker’s customised Squire Fender Strat copy was as near to perfection especially when they combined legs and arms to play with each others fret boards.

Just as a matter of interest for one to have the true tonal attributes of the classic Gibson and Fender combined in one instrument you would have to take the hard wood from a neglected garden on Mount Diablo not to far from  Alamo, California, cut and steep it in a vat of bikers urine for five long years in a workshop behind the best little Bordello in Paris Texas and finally polish the atomic free radical sun dried overblown massive blues tone molecules with a blarney stone in the Arizona  desert close to where they made the TV western Have Gun Will Travel.

In the meantime you can capture the essential magic of it all at a T-Bone Kelly Band gig in the Bleu Note on the corner of Parnell & Capel Street where the music is consistently alive and kicking and keeping Saturday night live and exquisitely wonderful as captured in  poetry by George William Russell one hundred years ago or so to the night.

“Ah, no the wizardry is over
The magic flame
That might have melted all in beauty fades as it came
The stars are far and faint and strange
The night draws down
Exiled from light, forlorn,
I walk inDublinTown”

Carlos Johnson @ Bleu Note, Dublin 26/01/2007

Real live Chicago Blues performances have been thin on the ground in recent years so the arrival of consummate bluesman Carlos Johnson with his own band was eagerly awaited in Dublin’s new live music venue, the Bleu Note on Capel St this weekend.

Local support band for the Friday night show The Blue Notes kicked off the first half of the night with a powerful set of classic cover versions and crowd pleasers, wishing BB King well from his current ill health with an impressive up tempo version of The Thrill Is Gone followed by another classic Just A Little Bit.

The Blue Notes with front man Steve Mc Loughlin grooving and twisting away like Chubby Checker on stage led the band through material from Sonny Boy Williamson, Van Morrison, the late soulster James Brown, Joe Cocker with guitarist Phil Bolger in fine form on ZZ Tops Fool For Your Stockings and an exciting key change on Further On Up The Road.

“Now I’m telling everybody
It seems too good to be true
Sweet things can always get sweeter
I know mine did, how about you?
Yes, its alright
I said, yes it is, that’s alright
I may not want to admit it
I’m just a fool for your stockings I believe”

The Blue Notes make a glorious joyous, raucous racket and opened up the nights proceedings with a set crammed full of classic covers with the Guitar, Bass, Drums, Saxophone, Blues Harp and Vocals giving a turbo charged facelift to the classic blues rock and boogie material.

Downstairs in the basement of this popular new music venue on Dublin’s Capel St, the Friday evening crowd was mellowing out nicely to the Liza Hingerty Quartet who was sculpting her thimbleful gentle voice to maximum effect over the sleek addictive proficient arrangements and beamed me back to an intimate Julie London vibe in a 50’s martini lounge resplendent in her radiant azure blue silk cocktail dress as clear as unclouded sky.

The Bleu Note has done a great job in recent months for live music in Dublin and the added value is a management team who genuinely care about promoting quality music attractions in comfortable and stylish surroundings and are currently working on an exciting presentation for Valentine’s Night featuring Liza and six equally talented female jazz vocalists which will surely be a winner all the way in the candle lit ambiance of the Bleu Note on a night when there is so much love in the air.

I must confess I am also very partial to the delights of the Bleu Notes imported beers in moderation of course, particularly the clean rich flavours of the eastern European brews with their mysterious soft pleasant aftertastes.

“Beauty lies in the hands of the beerholder”

Carlos Johnson’s Dublin performance of his signature brand of top blues, r&b, jazzy blues and funky soul seen him in the company of a molten hot three piece band comprising Tim Gant Piano, Joewaun Scott Bass and Melvin Carlisle aka Pookie Styx on the Drums who got the contemporary and traditional values in his music exactly right.

Carlos Johnson’s performance is full of hook you in stomping beats and funky rhythms creating first rate atmospheric soulful blues with his guitar lines gaining explosive emotional intensity as each song progresses.

To a packed crowd of local live music fans that included veteran blues travellers and enthusiasts, Northside Eddie, Black Hat Gerry, Southside Pat, North County Mick and Southside Eddie the energy level never dipped below the fully charged zone as Carlos opened up by saying:

“If you ain’t got the blues, we gonna give them to ya
If you do got the blues, we gonna get rid of them for ya”

There was an enlightening feel and groove between the musicians on the stage, the importance of the interaction was evident from the start, the nods, smiles and eye contact directing the dynamics on stage with the whole crowd tapping their toes and tying in with the amazing high hat and snare work and throbbing bass rhythm section.

When Carlos puts his foot on the accelerator ascending his chilling south paw arpeggiated chord work to a climax, he delivers screaming blues solos shaped with the most incredible searing perfectly controlled, intonated high register bends wailing on the right side of the feedback threshold.Thankfully I was there to witness this essential performance of live music at it’s finest and reminded me of the old Irish proverb:

“The most beautiful music of all is the music of what happens”

At one point Carlos took his hollow bodied Gibson for a stroll over to Liza Hingerty in the audience, who joined him on vocals for his version of Mississippi John Hurt’s Nobody’s Business But Mine, teasing the audience as to whether he should play hard or soft.

“Sometimes my baby gets boozy
Sometimes she tries to rule
Nobody’s business how my baby treats me
Nobody’s business but mine
If I come to Dublin
And I want to have a pint of Guinness
Then its nobody’s business how my baby treats me
Nobody’s business but mine”

Anyone there truly witnessed history in the making, Carlos surrounded by his own calibre of musicians intuitively complementing his true potential in a meaty definitive master class in contemporary Chicago Blues playing and reminded me of an similar indelible memory in Whelan’s back in the early 90’s witnessing another Chicago legend Jimmy Rogers, sadly not to long before he passed away , live in Dublin with his All Stars Blues Band featuring Houndog Taylor’s drummer Ted Harvey.

Then there was another much recalled legendary performance by Luther Allison at the Monaghan Blues Festival which I unfortunately missed out on, but I did make it to his Mean Fiddler performance before he sadly had to leave us also in 1999 to go up that great stage in the sky.

“True wisdom lies in gathering the precious things out of each day as it goes by”

Carlos Johnson in the company of top drawer Chicago musicians, this is the environment that allows the individual musical ebullience shine through and spawns new and unexpected delights and perspectives.

In a good live music performance the audience are vital participants and their response is itself essential for the performance to take off and fly and fly it did in the Bleu Note with constant back and forth exchanges unifying the exuberant sexual energy in the air as the atmosphere got rocking and the dancers boogied their way to the stage front for this real deal blues party in Dublin’s fair city.

Whatever style of music you play, if you do it convincingly then your spirituality always comes out in the music and Carlos brings it out revealing a good heart, taking a video camera and filming the audience sending a get well greeting to Chicago Bassman Sam Green who worked on his excellent In And Out CD, who is unfortunately in bad health as a result of a motorcycle accident back home.

Carlos Johnson is a modern manifestation of the trajectory of the blues guitar style incorporating the rootsy passion of tradition with the modern technical proficiency and meld of jazz, soul and funk and has proven that given a chance, good promotion and sponsorship, this kind of gig can be embraced by a diverse multigenerational audience looking for the live experience and an opportunity to participate and be united in the joy of music united as listener and musician under the same roof.

“The women all like us cause we play in this place
The men don’t like us when we knock’m to their knees
I said hey, there’s a blues band in town
We love to play the blues
We don’t mess around
Hey a Blues Man’s in your town”

Carlos Johnson was in top form in the Bleu Note and this axe slinger of considerable repute had all the dancers in the audience at the top of the class for the final encores and although the ladies had all the best bump and grind moves on view, the air guitar call and response award of the night goes to our own blues traveller Black Hat Gerry sending us all home ecstatically satisfied at almost 3am in the morning.

Carlos Johnson is an excellent example of a working musician nurturing and re-cultivating the roots of a music styles tradition with an instrumental virtuosity that is exciting, energetic, vital and dynamic and its why the audience in the Bleu Note responded with equal enthusiasm as Carlos went for a walk through the audience, in behind the bar at the back, playing non stop and jamming with his musicians on the stage with the crowd roaring on approval in the middle of this musical sandwich.

The live music experiences has always been one of the best transcendent releases we as human beings need to release the everyday tensions of life and find a life dance to restore the balance and it was a great one.

“Well it sounds so sweet
I had to take me chance
Rose out of my seat
I just had to dance
Started moving my feet
Whoa to clapping my hands
I said the joint was a rocking
Goin’ round and round
Yeah, reeling and a rocking
What a crazy sound
And they never stopped rocking
‘Til the moon went down”

Carlos Johnson @ Bleu Note, Dublin 17/11/2006

Supported by an impressive set from our own local blues heroes The Business featuring Pat Farrell on some finely crafted blistering fretwork, John Quarney on Bass and Davey Gaynor on Drums playing some crowd favourites like Standing Out There in the Rain, Ain’t Superstitious, Poor Man’s Throne and Willie Dixon’s I’m Ready the atmosphere in the Bleu Note was on a high when one of Chicago’s finest blues guitarist’s Carlos Johnson arrived on stage.

The Bleu Note a very welcome new live music venue on Dublin’s Capel Street, put on three Chicago Blues nights featuring the electrifying Carlos Johnson supported by The Mary Stokes Band on Thursday, The Business on Friday, and The Conspirators on Saturday night.

Carlos Johnson is the real deal on stage a south paw playing with the heavy strings nearest the floor and a tone wailing on the right side of the feedback threshold, this thumb and finger style bluesman played scorching guitar breaks and high energy funky blues.Carlos Johnson knows exactly what he is doing on stage, drawing on his voraciously wide musical interests, with elements of funk, soul, jazz and classic Chicago blues, all bubbling away, is cooking away on the Bleu Note stage.

Born in Cook County back in 1948 Carlos started off being in awe of BB King but soon started adding other influences like Charlie Christian who pioneered the sound of single string guitar playing back in the late 1930’s and early 40’s moving on to make a living playing the blues behind Junior Well’s, Koko Taylor and Son Seals.

Playing his hollow bodied Gibson upside down with the knobs under his arm, Carlos goes for a stinging, biting tonal attack taking it for a stroll around the crowd when its really cooking. His band for these engagements were a Polish Blues Band called Blue Crow based in Castlebar and they were kept on their toes as Carlos play’s hard and fast, teasing the female audience members at every opportunity as to whether he should play hard or soft, clearly gifted in the art of the double entendre.

He mixed in classics like Jimmy Reed’s Bright Lights Big City and I’m A Man with inventive material of his own like Leaving On The Next Train and Blues Man and by the time he finally unplugged his faithful guitar the crowd was well and truly in a party mood.Carlos is especially hot on the slow soul jazz style guitar workouts with a terse and tasteful attack on the strings and like all left handed players who play the strings, strung high on top his unique approach is spellbinding to watch with the end result individual and divine.

His resulting popularity with the audience in the Bleu Note had them all in the palm of his hand in no time with all kinds of dance moves being witnessed at the front of the stage. His voice is full of funky urban tones with a wicked sense of humour repeatedly teasing the receptive audience with plenty of feedback from the equally humorous Dubs.

Carlos has earned his stripes touring internationally as far away as Japan and serves the tradition well when he demonstrates how easily he turns the blue groove into a soul party and left no one in any doubt that there was a Real Chicago Blues Man in Capel St steaming up the windows on a freezing cold November night in Dublin.

Al Stewart @ Vicar Street, Dublin. 4/11/2006

Scottish born singer songwriter Al Stewart came to Dublin on Saturday night. Best known for his 1976 hit Year of the Cat Al Stewart started off in the mid sixties playing in all night clubs with the likes of Cat Stevens, Paul Simon and Bert Jansh with over 17 albums and 175 songs to his credit.

There was a feast of acoustic guitars on the stage all playing incredible solos and fast chordal changes to the melodic arrangements with USA Singer Songwriter Dave Nachmanoff opening the performance with a selection of his own interesting material about family ancestry in the American Revolution and a lovely tune called Grateful before being joined on stage by Al Stewart to a rousing reception from the Vicar St audience. You know you are going to get fun and easy listening songs full of great guitar music that display’s Al’s ability to traverse broad musical landscapes and even more diverse subject matter in his imaginative lyrics.

Al not only writes wonderful epic historical story laden lyrics but talks at ease with the audience creating a warm relationship and much humour in the exchanges that preface each song on the set list, starting off with Flying Sorcery and In Brooklyn. He jokingly described the song as being off his 2nd Album back in 1928 and moved on to have a chat with the audience about Antarctica from Chronicles in 1969 which featured Richard Thompson on guitar using a pseudonym and not Jimmy Page who featured on one song but tends to get the credit in the urban myths that surface around those recordings.

He also revealed with facetious amusement that the song was not directly inspired by the famous adventurer Shackleton and the doomed Endurance but rather by a cold woman who wouldn’t sleep with him back in the days of free love and flower power. This also provided a surprise introduction for Mark on the flute popping up in the middle of the audience before making his way on to the stage and becoming not only a jack but master of all trades for the remainder of the show with Sax and Percussion chores a plenty.

On the Border was up next greeted by many singing their heads off to the familiar melody and this audience was having a ball and when Al talked about bad relationships and whether many of the audience had experience of such, one female voice shouted out “I’m in one” to uproar and laughter. It was one of those unplanned priceless moments which Al enjoyed clearly, wondering if this had come as news to a possible husband or partner sitting beside her.

A special treat on this 25 date tour was in store for us next when the amazing Laurence Juber joined Al on stage for one of a limited number of dates on the tour. Laurence produced the latest album and adds his guitar wizardry to the production and soon was ripping it up on stage to songs like Dark and Rolling Sea and the Djangoesque Munich, Gina and another huge crowd favourite Time Passages featured recently in an episode of the Sopranos which added nicely Al informed us to his bank balance.

Word has it that the show was being recorded by RTE for a radio broadcast on one the forthcoming Monday nights in November.After the break there were songs about odd sex on a slippery vinyl surface, good revolutions and bad revolutions in the Palace of Versailles and some excellent solo guitar by Laurence Juber on Paint by Numbers feeding his Acoustic into an effects unit that produced a superb electric guitar solo sound.

Then Al introduced us to the first time he heard Laurence Juber play Little Wing one of the greatest pieces of guitar music ever recorded back in the pioneering sixties by Jimi Hendrix and definitely in the upper half of my own top ten desert island discs, and left the stage to Laurence to dazzle us with his uplifting and moving version with its acoustic to-die for dynamics.The showmanship of this all star guitar gathering on stage is spot on as they shift effortlessly between styles as diverse as quirky virtuoso classical, acoustic folk, Django and Russian ragtime capturing the versatility of Al Stewart’s music in this live retrospective showcase.

The great warmth and spontaneity of the evening’s entertainment came to a wonderful climax in Year of the Cat when the music duly touched the full spectrum of Al’s style on an outstanding take on his mid 70’s classic with Marc appearing on the edge of the balcony for the Sax solo. There was a great sense of continuity in the performance with the sensitive acoustic musical approach giving the audience one of the most rewarding and musical performances I’ve witnessed in Vicar St.The guitar sound was pleasing and quite hypnotic with clear harmonics and smooth guitar histrionics achieving a very beautiful effect in the mix featuring a fretwork display of delicious lickery, absolute magic fluency and dexterity with classic melodies and riffs at every turn ensnaring the hearts of everyone in the audience.

The songs featured in the performance from Al’s new album “ A Beach full of Shells”, Katherine of Oregan, Gina in the Kings Road and The Immelman Turn prove that he is entirely capable of crafting catchy(no pun intended) commercial and distinctive melodies for many more years to come thankfully. The final touch of class was giving the fans a chance to meet and greet afterwards which took some time but was the icing on the cake, fair play to Al, Laurence, Dave & Marc, their families and the Vicar St Team because it turns a good night into a wonderful memory and makes all the difference.

Beginning to End feat Christy Doran @ JJ’Smyth’s. 29/10/2006

Had a very exciting night in JJ’s candle lit Pendulum Club Sunday night getting my head around the futuristic guitar talents of Irish born Lucerne resident Christy Doran on his way back from the Cork Jazz Festival for a welcome Dublin appearance. Beginning to End is an improvisational collaborative music performance written with leading Irish Composer and Bassist Ronan Guilfoyle inspired by the works of Samuel Beckett and polished off with the extraordinarily unique Swiss Vocalist Isa Wiss out front and drummer Sean Carpio tying everything down at the back.

Trying to explain the amazing excitement and beauty of this performance is a bit like dissecting a fish out of water it would be impossible to capture the grace and magic of it all away from its natural environment but that’s never stopped me before so I will press on. The door handle for me was Christy’s guitar, a six string electric Fender Strat look-alike produced by ESP with a worn look finish that allowed his brush strokes, moves, tickles, scrapes and scratches up and down the 22 frets to sound as smooth as a baby’s ass interplaying with the beautifully fused musical explorations of Isa Wiss’s vocal’s Ronan’s acoustic bass guitar and Sean’s percussive foundations and backdrops.

This is a musical experience that open’s your eyes and ears, capable of taking you beyond your wildest dreams, to the unlimited potential of the spoken word freed from boundary’s of expression, the improvisational rhythmic rearrangement of the dot’s and a Hendrixian guitar world of delights hinted at previously in masterpieces like Electric Ladyland and the spiritual spacious sounds of John Mc Loughlin. In the hands of master musicians like these it’s possible to experience a musical transcendence that is fluid and spiritual even on the first date. The ecstatic innovation bursting with energy on stage pulls you along the rails planting seeds along the way that soon become laden with all manner of fruit and ear candy.

Being a self confessed latecomer to jazz music, I have my own coat hangers with me to make sense of it all in the wardrobe and yet I find again and again in the company of Beginning to End that where the technical proficiencies, which are of the highest calibre are enthralling and challenging to me, the evocative passionate galaxy patrolling expression of Christy Doran’s guitar sound makes perfect sense to me finding an immediate interpretation in my conscious, listening experience.

Compositions entitled Neither, The End is in the Beginning, Happy Day’s and Gone are all vehicles brim full of inventive guitar and bass lines, lyrics steeped in the darkness of Beckett and tripping off Isa’s tongue like an alien dialect interpreting simultaneously to the conscious subconscious and spiritual mind releasing pleasurable waves of ecstatic comfort for the ear. After coming to a brief standstill to take a break for air, Isa introduced her own song entitled Probably and then two more by Ronan including Sucking Stones a vocal performance searing with brilliance and another gem called Stories if my memory cells serves me correct. Ronan and Christy sprint relentlessly up down their respective fretboard’s with furious speed keeping the needle just barely below the spontaneous combustion threshold.

What I loved about Christy Doran’s guitar technique, Ronan Guilfoyle’s bass, Sean Carpio’s Drumming and Isa Wiss’s vocals, is that they collectively create such a wonderful atmosphere, that brings superb craftsmanship to the rich textures and layers of the complex and captivating compositions opening the impenetrable pages of Samuel Beckett’s work so that you realise that there are no classically understood limitations necessary. Beginning to End celebrates the centenary and work of Samuel Beckett and it’s a marriage made in the beautiful unpredictability of defining usefulness in any spoken or musical language.

That music develops with an improvisational flow that only touches the riverbank once on its way, offers up no resistance to constraint, listens out for no matchfit in anyone else’s speech pattern and is entirely satisfied with its usefulness, accepting that our convenient definition of chaos is really just a lack of awareness and converting that into a conclusion that the sea will refuses no river so why should we. This is a musical dream and better still, because unlike our dreams which are fragmented by the limited power of our recall, the Beginning to End musical experience is cohesive and linear unravelling its capability to imply the beat while flowing openly along to a limitless aesthetic future.

Creatively expansive and fuelled by the finest, explosive, combination of skill and passion on stage, building blocks of pure emotion and sensation are produced effortlessly on stage, glued craftily together with Christy’s tremolo bar technique and superb control on a trippy and spacey delay effects unit, with creative left and right hand techniques, tools like a screwdriver sitting dangling against the strings behind the neck pick up and a bow highlighting his impressive chops and amazing lead tones.

If you like your music on a constant restless quest, up for the challenge of reinvention, fresh with a new perspective, propelled by a deep understanding and an appropriate nod in the influential direction of masters like Miles Davis, Tony William’s, John Mc Laughlin, Jimi Hendrix then you have come to the right place in a performance by Beginning to End and the extraordinary talents of Christy Doran( www.christydoran.com ) Ronan Guilfoyle(www.ronanguilfoyle.com) , Isa Wiss and Sean Carpio that will take you on an amazing journey.

Saturday Night Blues, Dublin 09/2006

Steve James & Del Rey @ Cobblestones, Smithfield.

Carvin Jones @ JJ Smyths, Aungier Street.

Jalapenos @ Blue Note, Capel Street. 

KJ Mac & Aileen Mythen @ Saturday Night Blues

Dropped into Frank Ryan’s in Queen Street and caught the end of the Irish Soccer International in Stuttgart where most of the punters seemed relieved that we had only lost by one goal to Germany before going across the wet cobblestones of Smithfield to see Austin Texas based traditional blues resonator guitar and ukulele performers Steve James sharing a double header with long time friend and country blues collaborator Del Rey from Seattle Washington in the appropriately named Cobblestones live music venue.

Larry Roddy was on the door, a stalwart of live Blues promotion staying closely rooted to the traditional blues styles going way back and I have had the pleasure of attending many of these promotions over the years in Dublin and down in Ballymore Eustace for his Monday night performances by Chris Smither, Catfish Keith, Paul Rishell and Annie Raines.

Steve James is a warm and talkative musical visitor to Ireland for many years and it was a long overdue opportunity for me to catch up with this virtuoso of humorous rootsy tunes and immaculate guitar picking bred of back porches and wood shedding circuits of fast bottleneck story laden legend Furry Lewis who first released classic mould shaping records in the 1920’s and enjoyed a popular revival aided by Steve James by his side in the later decades of his life in the folk blues revival of the 1960’s.

Playing National Resonator guitars with a clean and articulate technique his speed and expression seems limitless, full of energy and spontaneity showcasing an easy command of his impeccable country blues-picking blend.

After years on the road meeting up for duets at countless festivals and workshops around the globe, Del Rey and Steve James together on stage is an amazing feast of counterpoint double lead playing that could only be described as a musigasm of finger picking and bottleneck technique.

Singing tunes about going down to Louisiana and experiences with do right women and the hassle of trying to get from place to place on previous tours around Ireland, it all flows effortlessly and sublime off the folksy stage in the Cobblestone venue with Del Rey visually reminding me of Merle Streep as the 50’s diner lady in The Postman Always Knocks Twice and Steve getting stuck in to his fretboard like a working man with first hand knowledge of his trade.

Milwaukee Blues was excellent and their version of Chuck Berry’s Nadine blew me away and a trip back to 1928 by Steve to the music of Sidney Bechet who created the role of jazz soloist in the 20’s featuring Back Street Blues and One More Meal, with sophisticated finger-stretching levee breaking exercises by Del Rey playing a guitar and Ukulele like Jimmy Page with a double neck, that opened a new universe on that instrument for these eyes.

Carvin Jones Band @ JJ Smyth’s Aungier St Dublin 2

I legged it down to JJ Smyth’s next to catch the end of the flamboyant USA electric rock blues sensation Carvin Jones playing his Stratocastor in every position anatomically possible to a full house of jubilant fans.

With his Hendrix, SRV tube screaming repertoire of fast lane boogie, Carvin moves through the audience with his black hat, cowboy boots and smile as wide as the Liffey and a Karma Sutra book full of positions to make his guitar kiss the sky with, never missing a beat with his cohort Bill Troxill pounding along on Bass.

On a whirlwind tour of Ireland the ever-popular Carvin breaks every speed limit on the fretboard, strapping on an extra Stratocastor for a spot of duelling with both hands playing both guitars at the same time as if they were extensions of his arms.

Jalapenoes @ Bleu Note, Capel Street, Dublin 1

My final stop on the night was over to The Bleu Note on Capel Street to listen for the first time to a new local group for me, Jalapenoes featuring K.J.MAC also playing some great SRV high energy blues on his Stratocastor backed up by a tight rhythm section in spidery fingers of Paddy Joyce on Bass and Kieran Lally on Drums and an excellent vocalist and charismatic stage front presence in Aileen Mythen who exibits a total comfort and charisma on stage adding to a collective assured performance. Kieran is a fine player and although this was my first time to see him play live I had listened many times to his version of Elmore James classic “Talk To Me Baby” on the Irish Blues Club compilation Forty Shades of Blue Vol. 11.

My Babe, Summertime Blues, Pride & Joy, Tell Me Why got maximum R&B treatment, tight and polished arrangements with the dial stuck firmly in the having a good time range.

When they got into the roots material the chemistry was rich and entertaining inhabiting a groove somewhere between the common ground of the old blues masters and the new  country artists sometimes referred to as Americana.

The musicianship in the Jalapenoes works so well together and the male female harmonies are so full of vitality, handling any requests from the audience with a perfectly beautiful professionalism of approach and intricate interplay not to mention that Aileen would bring eyesight to the blind when she blows the blues harp and pounds the stage in her blue leader boots.

“My babe don’t stand no cheatin’, my babe
Oh no, she don’t stand no cheatin’, my babe
Oh no, she don’t stand no cheatin’
Everything she do she do so pleasin’
My babe true little babe my babe.”

Richard Thompson @ Vicar St, Dublin. 24/07/2006

It’s probably unforgivable to mention it, but this was my first time to see the legendary Richard Thompson perform live and it was a truly wonderful exhilarating, experience, exceeding all expectations. From the minute he arrived on stage for this solo performance his every move was exciting, captivating and a delightful buzz.

Since bringing home the LP Unhalfbricking, I have admired the amazing guitar talent of this excellent singer songwriter since the early seventies as he left his trademark magic on his own compositions and in particular for me his superb cover versions of Dylan and Townshend songs and other contemporary writers and his fresh and exciting take on his traditional influences.

Starting off at school with Hugh Cornwell of Stranglers fame and moving on to form Fairport Convention his career has defined all that is good in Tradition Folk and Rock n Roll over the past forty years.

Born on the 3rd April 1949 and regarded as the musician’s musician, each song is a proficient sophisticated gem embellished with stellar guitar skill. Ranked in the top 100 guitarists of all time in Rolling Stone magazine his highly acclaimed live performances are consistently rated as compelling, creating an atmosphere rich and warm for the audience.

When The Spell Is Broken cast the night’s set afloat featuring all the trademark delights, right hand tri-bred picking at times creating a cacophony of riffs and phrases with effortless ease employing a full range of dynamic hard and soft, picking and strumming.

All the classic songs were given an airing at the request of the audience, Shoot Out The Lights, Valerie, Jimmy Shands, From Galway to Graceland, Dimming Of The Day, and the huge crowd favourite, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning all delivered in Richards competent workmanlike style.

Richard uses a mix of Standard tuning and DADGAD, tuning the strings as required on stage and going into a vocal performance while replacing a broken string and sharing some jokes with the audience.

“His mother in law fell into the upholstery machine, she’s recovered. Doctor said she is comfortable”.

Richard Thompson is a stunning player to watch and his instrumental excursions are as tight as a ducks back passage.