Guitar Blues Tour
For the last several months, Ruthie Foster, Jorma Kaukonen and Robben Ford have been on the road together, packaged as the Guitar Blues Tour. I was lucky enough to hear them play at the Aladdin Theater on Sunday night, a nice, enjoyable couple hours of music.
The showstopper was, uniquely enough, the showstarter: Ruthie Foster. There’s no one on the planet with a stronger, more soulful voice than the woman from East Texas that I’ve been raving about for the past year. With only 6 songs in her set, she made the most of every minute and simply electrified the audience.
When you follow someone as dynamic as Ruthie, it’s hard to look anything but sedate. Add to that age and what appeared to be frail health and you can see why Jorma’s set that followed seemed a little bit of a downer. Even so, there’s a deep wisdom to his whisper of a vocal and no question he’s still as accomplished a blues guitarist as anyone on any stage anywhere.
After the intermission, Robben Ford came out to do his set. Whereas the first act were solo sets, Robben had brought along his drummer (and nephew, Gabriel Ford) and bassist, DeWayne Pate. Truth be told, it got a little louder than it needed to be and, sorry to say, Robben’s music has never been high on my hit list. But his playing was exceptional and the song they did that was written by his nephew, Too Much, was a gem, a poly-rhythmic little ditty that was the set’s standout.
After a few duets (two from Robben and Ruthie, two from Robben and Jorma), they came out for the finale, a funky version of Dylan’s Gotta Serve Somebody. The best part of the show in its entirety, as it should be, was the encore, an amazing acoustic version of Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.
All in all, the show was a little inconsistent (as you’d expect from three artists with vastly different styles) but, in the end, it was a hugely enjoyable night of music.
Here’s a sample of Ruthie’s latest record along with some recent stuff from Jorma and Robben.
Ruthie Foster – (You Keep Me) Hangin’ On
Ruthie Foster – Nickel and A Nail
Jorma Kaukonen – Too Many Years
Namaste
_/\_
Music Junkie
