festivaLs ealInG Blues

FesTIVal

ealinG london

JulY 20-21st. 2013 saturday

The 26th Ealing Blues Festival was properly kicked off by Paul Cox and his crew of gifted musicians. Paul strutted on the Main Stage with his band The Proof as though he owned it. Very soon he had the audience in the palm of his hand. Opening numbers

That’s The Way I Feel, Don’t Lie

To Me and Walking On Sunset, all from his previous albums set the pace for the next 90 minutes. Credit must also go to his band, Roger Cotton (keyboards), Mike Summerland (guitar-a star in his own right!), Pete Stroud (drums) and the dapper Nigel Hardy (bass). The set climaxed with cuts from his new album The Proof with Until The Well Runs Dry, I’ve Got The Proof, Cold Cold Feeling and I Feel So Bad. The festival was off to a blinding start. Meanwhile, on the South Stage the Jules Carter Trio were getting things going with brilliant covers of Cream, Hendrix,and Steely Dan done in a Clapton mode but with an original style.

Next on the Main Stage were Dale Storr’s New Orleans Big Band. Dale is a barrel -house/ boogie piano player with a fantastic Louisiana feel. Tunes ranging from Allen Toussaint to Dr John via Professor Longhair certainly brought the temperature up in the big top arena, especially the female brass section featuring Dale’s wife Kim on sax.

Over in the South Stage, I caught the final three songs from Glorious Fools, a duo consisting of Doug Melbourne and Nigel Appleton doing their interpretations of the John Martyn songbook. Brilliant is all I can say (it made you think about getting the Martyn albums out when you got home).

They were followed by the duo Babajack who were the surprise of the day in my opinion, sensational in originality and passion. Becky Tate, with her unique vocal style and auburn hair flowing in all directions, playing hypnotic percussion on her cajon (box drum) with her partner Trevor Stegar on homemade guitars and stunning harmonica. This was their first trip down south and it won’t be their last, They certainly deserve their nominations for five blues awards this year.

Next on the Main Stage were Northsyde fronted by Jules and Lorna Fotheringill. Jules is a guitarist of the highest quality, full of amazing fluidity and Lorna is the perfect blues vocalist. Their take on Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight was a revelation. Get The Funk Out was different, Mercy from their first album and Hard Shoes showed what a perfect festival band they are.

On the South Stage, The Blue Bishops, a great blues band veering on the R&B side. From the start they had the audience whooping and cheering and going berserk. With 3 stages I couldn’t catch everyone, and I missed Ealing band Jump 66 who I was informed wowed them on the Bar Stage with their stylish barroom jump/swing blues.

Finally on this hot humid Saturday night, Robert Hokum’s (the man behind this weekend) new band The Devil Drives took the stage. They must be the funkiest blues band on the circuit. Most songs were self-penned, The Gospel According To John Lee Hooker, All Play No Work and Don’t Miss The Bus – what a way to finish the first day.

Sunday

First on the Main Stage were The John O’Leary/Alan Glen All Star Blues Review. Kicking it all off was John O’Leary (Savoy Brown, Sugar Kane) with Born in Chicago, followed by Papa George (guitarist extraordinaire) giving us T-Bone Shuffle. Don Craine (Downliners Sect) complete with hilarious anecdotes did All Night Worker Ali Maas followed with her version of I Just Want To Make Love To You. This girl is also a star in the making. Papa George then did Built For Comfort, he must be one of the most underrated guitarists on the circuit. Steve Morrison set the stage alight with his unique slidework on Baby Don’t Go and a blistering version of Up Country.

Ali Mackenzie (Birds) and Laurie Garmain (Yardbirds) with their versions of Walking By Myself and Hoochie Coochie Man became a vehicle for community singing. Ali Maas returned with Ali Mac and closed the set with Don’t Lie To Me and Got My Mojo Working. Alan Glen (guitar and harmonica),

Pete Miles on drums and Glyn Evans on bass must also be mentioned – a solid backline!

On the South Stage, Rabbit Foot were the big surprise on today’s line up. A duo from Brighton - their take on the blues is original, fun and back to basics – tribal blues. Swamp Boogie and Suite 136 were just two of the highlights. Another band to watch out for.

On the Main Stage were Never The Bride, with iconic Nikki Lamborn and Catherine Been Feeney. They say they are the rock and roll end of the blues but if you sound like Janis Joplin you must be getting close. They ran through their catalogue which included The Living Tree, t’s A Man’s World and Mercedes Blues. They won themselves a new audience this afternoon.

In the bar, Mark Harrison educated a lot of people with his authentic acoustic self-penned blues. The Spikedrivers on the Main Stage with their take on down home in your face blues. Constance Redgrave had me enthralled with her vitality and the slide guitar of Ben Tyzack made the whole thing a real experience. Sam Kelly on the South Stage did his usual kick-ass set judging from the crowd but unfortunately I didn’t get to see him and his friends. At this point, due to prior commitment I had to leave, and I didn’t get to see Dr. Feelgood, which was a shame.

Credit must go to Artistic Director Bob Salmons (a.k.a. Robert Hokum) and Ealing Council for putting together this brilliant weekend of music, which with 20+ acts, three stages and a two day ticket for only £8 confirmed its place as not only a Premier Blues Festival, but probably the best value one too!

BoB BonSeY

24Th annual GreaT BrITIsh

r&B FesTIVal

Colne, lanCashire. uk auGust 23rd – 26th 2013

The long Bank Holiday weekend started with two stalwarts of the British blues scene, Nine Below Zero and Dr. Feelgood. Both these acts display a vital and muscular approach to performance that goes a long way to explaining their enduring popularity – and, of course, a bag of musical goodies that they can dip into at will for sure-fire crowd pleasers like Down To The Doctors and She Does It Right .

Friday

Headliner, California-born Joe Louis Walker, was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame earlier this year; fittingly for an artist whose career is studded with multiple BMAs and contributions to Grammy-award winning albums with BB King and James Cotton. JLW is one of those musicians who is capable of expressing himself through many styles of blues and this performance had plenty of variety. A selection of numbers from the recent Alligator release Hellfire demonstrated some of his versatility; slow, searing blues on I Won’t Do That , Soldier For Jesus – a powerful, soulful gospel track which was a high spot, Too Drunk To Drive – a bouncy lightweight good-time boogie. Up next on Earl Hooker’s Blue Guitar came an invitation to harp man Billy Branch, much more of whom would be seen later in the weekend. The interaction between Billy’s echoing harp lines and JLW’s slide created an apt tribute to Hooker’s induction to the Blues Hall of Fame. Closing out on a funkier note with Sugar Lips (written by JLW collaborator Murali Coryell), the standard for this festival had been set pretty high from day one.

Saturday

On then to day two, and a lively start from contemporary UK blues outfit Kat and Co. The eponymous Kat (Kathleen Pearson) may have stepped on stage costumed like a Louisiana saloon chanteuse, but there was more than just straight blues on offer. Anthemic numbers like Make It Rain jostled with more domestic tales of marital disharmony (Tired of Trying) and more urban-feeling blues exemplified by Payin’ My Dues , guitarist Francesco Accurso taking the part recorded by Mud Morganfield on the album track.

A change of tone to a more jazz/blues fusion direction now, in the shape of Elliott Randall and the New York All Stars. The former Steely Dan guitarist produced a very relaxed and good-humoured set, clearly enjoying playing with fellow guitarist Steve Williams, who did some killer slide work on Robert Johnson’s Hellhound On My Trail Obviously the crowd were not going to be satisfied without the signature Reelin’ In The Years , which was perfectly delivered.

Sticking to the other side of the Atlantic, but way south of NYC, Lil’ Jimmy Reed, a blues veteran from Alabama who, the story goes, acquired his stage name as a stand-in for the Jimmy Reed when the Chicago legend was a little too lubricated to perform! Lil’ Jimmy was as authentic as they come, running through a set of blues standards with panache, tons of straight-ahead harp and pokey guitar licks. The crowd really got behind him, and demanded a well-deserved encore.

After a mid-session break, the evening began in earnest with a young UK band, based just up the road in Lancaster, TC and the Moneymakers. Front man Tommy Cocks leads a tight, accomplished unit and blows a mean harp in his own right. He does a pretty good