Well, the general consensus of this one, from audience and musicians alike, was that it was a wonderful evening of music and possibly the best one yet (in what is already becoming a tight competition for that title). From start to finish there was a great vibe and there can be no doubt that the event is showcasing some of the highest quality, and most original, blues music of any kind in London.
The thing about acoustic, or acoustic-ish, stuff, as I keep saying, is that it brings out the individual. There’s no volume to hide behind, no mass of sound to form a barrier between you and the listener. You can be yourself – in fact, you have to be yourself. That’s why it can be a scary prospect for some, and a big challenge. That’s also why it’s so good. There’s just about no such thing as a standard issue acoustic blues artist, and there was certainly no such thing as that at the Green Note, where every artist had something a bit special, and a bit different to offer.
As has become usual, I kicked things off with my own material on the National, starting with an instrumental and then bringing on David Atkinson to join me on the mandolin for Big Mary’s House (a juke joint in 30s Mississippi). Then the band – Dave on keys, Martin on percussion and Charles on upright bass, came up for Itch That Can’t Be Scratched and Hard Work. For both of these we were joined by the very welcome presence of Rick Webb, demonstrating again just how good a harp player he is.
This band set-up, squeezed onto the stage like the people crammed into Groucho’s cabin in that Marx Brothers movie, stayed up to play with Barry Jackson. Barry made himself right at home from the off, and set off on a journey through a marvellous set, the music stretching out in various directions, everyone getting a good go in the foreground, all parts of each song thoroughly examined. A high spot was How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live?, delivered in an extended version that might have got Ry Cooder a bit worried about his own excellent version in comparison.
Next up was the always welcome Laine Hines, surely a prime contender for best solo acoustic bluesman in London (prewar division). Kicking off with a solo version of Robert Johnson’s Come On In My Kitchen, for which the adjective ethereal was invented, he was then joined by various elements of the band for the rest of his predictably fine contribution to the evening.
James Daniel was next, joined by the band, with David moving from mandolin on to my National. Again, James’ set provided a contrast with much of what had gone before, a slightly, louder and harder edge, with his harp and Dave’s piano coming to the fore very effectively. He was followed by Justin for another of his excellent sets on 12-string, reminding us (not that anyone needed it), that every change of set would bring a change of style and atmosphere, keeping musicians and audience from assuming that anything would get samey. Indeed, one feature of this event is that the interesting music going on actually cuts down the amount of musician chat going on at the bar – rare praise indeed.
Graham Hinton and Owen Houlston were next, for another polished set, this time Graham’s fingerpicking skills complemented by Owen on my National (fearing it was on the way to becoming ‘house guitar’, it decided to retaliate by presenting Owen with some unpredictable behaviour tuning-wise). Their set covered a range from the rollicking to the smooth and went down very well indeed. The band and myself then went on to close the evening with a couple more of mine.
There was a very good-sized audience, and response and comments afterwards indicated that again the whole evening was much enjoyed. You often get a sense of people in the audience at the Green Note discovering this music for the first time and being quite thrilled by the discovery. And then there are people not discovering the music, but thrilled at discovering that it exists in London, played by very good people indeed.
I think it was generally agreed too, that the single most important ingredient in the evening as a whole was David’s mandolin playing. At how many blues jams do people ever say, ‘Hey, I can hear the mandolin really well’ and get a smile on their faces because of it? David’s playing in the band, and in the other combinations, raised the music to another level.
So, men and women of the London blues scene who do the electric jams but have yet to test yourselves at The Green Note acoustic night? Are you person enough for the challenge? If so, come down some time, sip of the atmosphere and be yourself on a stage. If not, come down and watch the rest of us being ourselves.
The next one's on 9th December. Don't miss it.
Mark Harrison
Photos by Rick Webb
(only a couple this time but they're good ones. Future blogs may not have any, unless someone wants to put their hand up for taking them ....)
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