Gig Review
Paddy Milner & Marcus Bonfanti
Saturday, 24 April 2010:
With a packed house to entertain, these two very gifted musicians - Paddy Milner & Marcus Bonfanti - pulled out all the stops and gave us a wonderful evening of blues, boogie and a whole lot more. In the first set Paddy Milner did a solo spot and showed us why he's so highly rated in the U.K., mainland Europe and beyond. Wonderfully dexterous on his Roland keyboard he can play a boogie such as his own composition “Going To See My Baby” with its good time feel, or a slow blues as on Memphis Slim's seminal “Mother Earth”.
Responding to a request, Paddy did a very well executed interpretation of Dave Brubeck's “Unsquare Dance”. (Little wonder that when Brubeck himself heard it he wrote to Paddy saying 'I wouldn’t change a single note...'). Paddy's own composition “Call On Me”, a New Orleans influenced tune, is stylistically syncopated with a good feel!
Another equally stunning offering swiftly followed this excellent opening set, this time from Marcus Bonfanti in solo mode. He kicked off with a harp song “God Only Knows” which had good call and response! “Devil Girl”, co-written with Ginny Carl Black, features a great refrain with passionate, emotive vocals; a very good song. Marcus has a very rich voice and combined with excellent picking builds up a nice sound exemplified on his own songs “The Girl I Knew” and also on “Now I’m Gone, Is Your Life Better?”.
Note: Click thumbnail to view full artist image.
Photo credit: Paul Martin.
... continued
Following the interval, Paddy Milner & Marcus Bonfanti performed as a duo, kicking off - and why not? - with Muddy Water's “Got My Mojo Working”. Fast paced and rocking with tasty slide licks and superb keyboard solo runs, they meshed very well. Earl Hooker's “Lets Make A Better World” contained an astute message about society. This was followed by a lovely rendition of Doc Watson's “Deep River Blues”, the guitar chops were excellent, the keyboard spot on - very well done!
Next, a very good instrumental arrangement of the African/Caribbean “Rum & Coca Cola”. The audience then got a real and rare treat when Hamish Maxwell, godfather of the South West Dorset blues scene, joined them both on Big Joe Turner's “Bye Bye Baby”; this moooooved, going down well with the capacity crowd.
Blind Lemon's “One Kind Favour” featured a well thought out guitar solo and ace keyboard work. The audience joined in the chorus of Muddy Water's “What’s The Matter With The Mill?” which was good fun. With the end approaching nobody wanted to leave, so Paddy Milner & Marcus Bonfanti gave us “Iko-Iko” with its wonderful up-tempo syncopation leading them off in a two man Conga, around the building, and eventually back to their instruments!
What a finale to a really superb evening!
Review by: Lewis A Harris.
© Bluesnights. The Dorset Blues Society.
24 April 2010.
