Tag: Bleu Note

Phil Guy @ Bleu Note, Dublin 24/08/2007

Phil Guy younger brother of the legendary Buddy has been wrapped up in blues music since he arrived on the planet back in 1940 four years after Buddy. Just like Stevie Ray Vaughan and his brother Jimmy, the Guy brothers have their own individual musical personality and approach to playing the blues and although Phil has stood in his brothers legendary shadow over the years he has also carved out a respectable niche for himself as a guitarist and performer.

Phil was consistently good from start to finish in this Bleu Note performance and much of the credit for this lies in the truly wonderful support provided by the Lee Hedley Band with the empathetic and marvellously inventive guitarist Blue Lou Campbell providing perfect guitar power accompaniment for this master post war Chicago Bluesman.

Lee on Vocals and Harp, Aaron on Bass, Bobby on Drums and Blue Lou on Guitar created a winning atmosphere to pave the way for Phil Guy’s arrival on stage with frighteningly good versions of Treat Her Right, On The Road Again, Tuff Enuff and Hoochie Coochie Man.

Phil makes it look easy sliding into the notes on his Fender Telecaster on classics like The Things That I Use To Do, Last Time, Sky Is Crying and Little By Little and when he settled into a slow and easy blues groove you could close your eyes and find your ears digging the same vibe as some pure Junior Wells Hoodoo Man Chicago Blues my favourite recording featuring Phil’s brother Buddy with Junior Wells , Jack Myers on Bass and Billy Warren on Drums.

The Lee Hedley Band rhythm section, Bobby Dyer on drums and Aaron Loughran on bass were at their magnificent best converting every signal from Phil into solid chunks of genuine roadhouse electric blues with the star of the previous weeks show Bobby Dixon sitting in on keyboards and taking some well executed solos.

Each song sounded fresh and vital reminding me how good the blues can be and how it should be with an appealing performer, a good time atmosphere bunch of musicians on the stage ,with a sound that is rich and full bodied, making, shaking and sharing good blues music live in Dublin.

Phil Guy’s stage persona is much different than that of his brother Buddy, whose high energy moves on stage primarily influenced a young Jimi Hendrix, whereas Phil employs a no effect’s approach to his stage demeanour preferring to let his fingers do the talking with his killing floor riffs on his Fender Telecaster.

Phil has got an experienced funkier side to his craft and its no problem for him to take it to the bridge on a James Brown tribute or Rolling Stones Miss You vibe and diversify into some ZZ Hill and Little Walter seamlessly for some down home blues shuffles.

When older brother Buddy left the family home in Lettsworth Louisiana at seventeen, the then thirteen year old Phil took down Buddy’s old acoustic and started teaching himself to play. After a few years as Buddy made his way from band to band from Baton Rouge to Chicago, younger brother Phil would fill the vacancy left behind by his talented brother, honing his skills in outfits like The Raful Neal Band and Slim Harpo and eventually joining Buddy’s Band in Chicago in 1969.

Pretty soon the Guy Brothers were opening for The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton on European Tours and Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead and The Band back on the American circuits.

Phil has backed up many of his contemporary blues cohorts on guitar from Koko Taylor, Big Mama Thornton, Son Seals and Albert Collins as well as deviating into soul and funk and disco outfits over the years in order to solve the commercial nature of his craft.

Phil Guy never gets to fancy and never forgets the importance of the groove and keeps the time honoured standards surprisingly fresh with plenty of stride and stomp and a real solid backbone to each tune.

Phil initially cut his teeth on Jimmy Reed and the funkier James Brown tunes and when he gets an irresistible groove going he fills the dance floor with his blend of soulful Chicago blues with gyrating hips and flailing air guitarists bouncing out of their seats including two veteran live blues supporters on the scene Southside Eddie and Southside Pat nodding on in approval.

Each song was elevated to a sublime level of intensity by the guitar, bass & drums of the Lee Hedley Band with charismatic front man Phil blowing up a storm on his solid Blues Harp measures all the way. Phil Guy’s stinging concise style along with his rough plaintive vocal style delivered a pants on fire hard driving pace on top of the Lee Hedley chassis and four wheel rollicking roadhouse tinged rhythm & soulful blues backdrop.

The time just flew in and before I knew it we were walking out the door of the Bleu Note at 3am exhausted and elated by another great live Chicago Blues performance on Capel Street, Dublin shining a well deserved light on the scintillating talents of Phil Guy and the dazzling support of the Lee Hedley Band.

“The sky is crying can’t you see the tears roll down the street”

Bobby Dixon & All Star Band @ Bleu Note. 17/08/2007

Willie Dixon was a legendary songwriter, bass player, record producer and influence on the development of Chicago Blues Music as it has evolved to the present, through his work with Chess Records and artists like Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, Chuck Berry and contemporary modern interpreters of the blues like Led Zeppelin.

Willie Dixon’s songs appear on every blues rock set list on the planet from Jimmy Reed’s, Big Boss Man, Close To You, Muddy Waters, Shake for Me, Stevie Ray Vaughan, My Babe, Little Walter, Spoonful, Howling Wolf to I Just Want To Make Love To You, Etta James and countless more fantastic tunes. Willie Dixon’s son Bobby came to the Bleu Note with a top notch group of musicians to pay tribute to the music of his father and share some memories on Friday night in what turned out to be a spinechilling demonstration of passion and musical talent from the assemble musicians on stage.Bobby Dixon was on Keyboards flanked by Larry Taylor son of another legendary bluesman Eddie Taylor on superb drumming duties, Nathanial Peterson 5 string electric bass and smokey soulful vocals, Bobby Fields bluesy funk trumpet and the amazing Johnny O on tube screaming soul blues magic.

All the old standards provided a vehicle for each of these talents to display their ample wares, I’m Ready, The Thing’s That I Use To Do, I Should Have Quit You Baby, Let The Good Times Roll, Sex Machine as well as selections from their own individual recorded material.This was the children of the blues paying homage to their parents and heroes with a groove that represents everything that is good about contemporary blues when in the hands of a talented group of musicians. Johnny O is an exciting and talented guitarist comfortable with tradition and the connections with its neighbours Soul Avenue and Funky Rock Crescent proving his dexterity throughout with his well timed contributions.

All of these experienced musicians possess a natural entertainer’s flair with a confident warm and appealing air infusing the atmosphere, and the collective was sheer joy for the full house dancing out of their seats from the minute these guys walked on to the stage in the Bleu Note on Capel St in Dublin’s fair city. Johnny O’s blistering blues rock rhythm delivered with a proficient soul side salad was a joy blending forceful Albert King snarling bends with some wailing Albert Collins style squeals that had notes ricocheting off every wall in the Bleu Note.

Each song when handed over to the band by Bobby was constructed with controlled brilliance, fire and fury, each band member contributing his share with efficiency and class and never overstaying their welcome with spicy intense solo’s only constrained in its potential by Bobby’s rambling intro’s.The fleet precise rhythm section provided by Larry Taylor, the towering Nathaniel Peterson and Johnny O was a potent back drop for Bonie Fields walkabout trumpet solo’s through the delighted crowd which included Southside Eddie and Bluestrain 103.2 FM presenter Charlie Hussey.

This was a sturdy presentation from the Bleu Note who have brought some great music to the Northside of the Liffey over the past year with multiple attractions on offer on the main stage upstairs as well as offering a showcase to a new generation of talented musicians emerging from music colleges and studies in the jazzier downstairs lounge.

During the break I dropped downstairs to hear some laid back jazz from the charming Edel Meade Band featuring some fine fretwork from Scott Kohlmann who reminded me of a young Dixie Dreg Steve Morse supported by Steve Kohlmann on Drums and Bass Man Kevin Higgins physically countenancing each note as Edel seduced us all with her impassioned vocals on tunes like Black Coffee, You Don’t Know What Love Is and appealing lines like “softly as in the morning sunrise, as in the evening sunset”.

Although the technical proficiencies of Jazz is a slippery slope for my ears the genuine warmth and youthful energy of the Edel Meade Band permeate and it’s a delightful pleasure to relax in the comfortable lounge in the Bleu Note and chill out to groovy vibe while these young guns of the future cut their teeth. Back upstairs we finished the night off with Bobby Dixon’s All Stars with a real party atmosphere in the air on the eve of the Rolling Stones Slane Concert with two tickets raffled by the Bleu Note for local charity. Johnny O unleashed some wicked solo’s and guitar genius as the groove turned into a party and the front of the stage was cooking to a musigasm of excitement and dance and camera phones capturing the magic from this truly breathless funky Chicago Blues tour de force live in Dublin.

“The things that I used to do, Lord I won’t do no more
The things that I used to do Lord I won’t do no more
I use to sit and hold your hand baby
Cry baby do not go”

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.

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.