Gig Review
The Guy Tortora Band
Saturday, 27 March 2010:
Always a good draw, a capacity Bluesnight's crowd gave the Guy Tortora Band a very warm welcome! Notching up their fifth show here, this quartet of first class musos wowed the audience with an evening of excellent music. It is quite significant that half the number played were Guy’s own compositions. These songs can easily stand on their own against any blues standard or classic. "Living On Credit" is a very apt song in the present economic and financial difficulties. It drives along very well. One of the most powerful songs was "When Cotton Was King". This provides a detailed history of cotton, where it was grown, who grew it, how it was transported to England and transformed in the mills of Lancashire; superb guitar playing and keyboards emphasised the darkly emotional vocals. An almost 100-year-old tune "Viola Lee Blues" by Gus Cannon had a great rhythm and some tasty slide work.
In the second set, another of Guy’s tunes “Sanctified Love” was a real jazzy swinger. It had a very nice guitar solo and the keyboards got a good workout too, with the rhythm section subtle and understated!
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Overall the music played throughout the evening was suburb!
Janosch Bajtala on keyboards and harmony vocals is the perfect accompanist and Costa Tancredi on bass has a nice style with his fingers effortlessly flowing up and down the fret board. Pete Hedley on drums has a tight style of playing and the fact that the band have been together for some time means that they have developed a deep empathy for each other.
Rick Estin’s "Don’t Do It" – a musical dose of medical advice against modern day eating, drinking, smoking and sexual excesses - has become a firm favourite with Bluesnight's regulars and new audiences alike. So it proved again, with the band going full tilt at this playfully lyrical number with a serious message.
The band was called back for an encore and gave us two numbers, the first was Dylan’s "Highway 61" which started slow and became a full blown boogie. The final number of the night was the Stone's "Honky Tonk Woman"; very good vocals by Guy.
Altogether, it was a good, tight and highly accomplished performance throughout. For an excellent night out and top value for money, the Guy Tortora Band are the business!
Review by: Lewis A Harris.
© Bluesnights. The Dorset Blues Society.
27 March 2010.
