With a line-up that included the likes of Robert Cray, Taj Mahal and Shuggie Otis, this was, to paraphrase a classic line from the movie The Godfather, an offer that blues aficionados truly couldn’t refuse.
Opening the night was legendary guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Shuggie Otis and his seven-piece band. While not a hugely well-known artist in this country, Otis and his band proceeded to stun and impress the arriving crowd.
Having played with everyone from Etta James to Mos Def in his career, now into his 60s, the man still is in possession of some extraordinary guitar skills. By turns groovy and fiery in his style and attack, it was easy to see why he has inspired subsequent generations of guitarists.
You can almost picture, many years ago, young boys in short pants like Eddie Hazel, Prince and Eddie Van Halen having their minds blown when they first heard tracks like “Strawberry Letter 23”. Tonight was a rare and exciting opportunity to see a true genius of the medium at work.
In sharp contrast in both style and approach, The Taj Mahal Trio were next on the bill. This was old school blues that almost made the listener feel transported to a smoky bar somewhere in New Orleans.
Mahal is an artist of a time and place where censorship in music was highly restrictive, especially in relation to sexual matters. For a big man, Mahal was quite supple in how he moved onstage. A hip wiggle or a guitar lick could sound and look like one of the rudest things you’ve ever seen!
Employing a real talent for suggestion and innuendo in his music, Mahal and his band displayed a strong instinct for what they were doing. It was a highly enjoyable bit of ‘meat in the sandwich’ on this triple bill before Mr Robert Cray and his band took the stage.
Playing tonight as a four-piece, Robert Cray and band were a great example of modern blues at its most polished and professional. With a rather unusual stage set up – having the band set up on the back part of the stage with a wide space in front of them – it was a solid set from a true fixture of the genre. Cray has now been doing his thing for the better part of 30 years.
Tracks such as “Right Next Door”, “The Forecast Calls For Pain” and “Smoking Gun” were played to a highly appreciative audience. While a little too smooth for some, this was an entertaining set from a true lover of the blues and his musical partners in crime.
Combined, the three acts were a fantastic example of how a genre doesn’t necessarily have a hard and fast set of rules about what it has to be.
Shuggie Otis was blues dipping into funk and psychedelia, and it was clear how this has inspired others to veer from musical expectations of the style.
Meanwhile, Taj Mahal and Robert Cray offered up their own very unique takes on the genre, making apparent the elastic flexibility of the blues and its ability to mean different things to different people.
It was also heartening to see many in attendance bringing their children. Keith Richards once said that the most important thing about music is that you pass it on. That spirit was alive and well at what was an immensely enjoyable show.
