Robben Ford
Congratulations if you were one of the 900 or so people in the Cascade Theatre last night (Saturday). You saw and heard one of the all-time greats of electric guitar — Robben Ford.
Of course, you saw a whole lot more — the incredible, soulful Ruthie Foster, whom the audience absolutely adored. And Jorma Kaukonen, a guitar master himself on both acoustic and electric.
When Ford, Foster and Kaukonen all joined together (with Ford’s stellar rhythm section) at the end, I was in heaven. It was a double pleasure because they hit us with two incredible Bob Dylan tunes — a soaring version of “Gotta Serve Somebody,” and a sweet three-person acoustic encore of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.”
Watching Ford is such a treat, because he seems so at ease with himself and his instrument. Playing a yellow Telecaster with a fine selection of pedals, he ripped through high-octane solos peppered with blues and jazz tones and all kinds of notes you don’t expect. His playing is never a cliche, and it’s always inventive. He plays with soul and also knows when not to play, when to leave space.
Like with many of the greats I’ve heard, it’s intriguing to watch him when he’s in a support role. I love watching him play rhythm with his little tasty fills. He’s played with Miles Davis, George Harrison, Joni Mitchell, Greg Allman, and so many more. It’s like he soaked up all that great music and released it through his fingers on six strings. What a master of tone as well.
And he sings with great soul. I love his voice.
Ruthie Foster
But in terms of voice — oh, wow, Ruthie Foster. The woman had the Cascade crowd eating out of her hand, because there’s just no denying gut-bucket soul when it’s right in front of you. Her guitar playing supported her songs just perfectly. She also played the keyboard with Ford. The fellas were smart to bring her on tour. I heard that she sold out of her CDs.
She took the emotion of the room so high in her opening solo set, that it was a pretty mellow come-down to hear Kaukonen’s fingerpicking acoustic solo set that followed. But the Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna founder’s playing is an inventive pleasure to hear as well. It ended up being a nice transition into intermission and the high-spirited set that would follow.
Jorma Kaukonen
Nice night for the Cascade with a full house and a long intermission to sell some concessions.
After, I walked across the street to the Vintage Wine Bar to hear some more excellent blues by Slam Buckra and Thom Berry. A nice place to land after the concert, and I even got another Dylan, an atmospheric, slide-heavy version of “Highway 61 Revisited.”
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I’ve been hearing the name Mumblefinger for quite some time, but had never heard him (them?) before last Thursday at the Downtown Eatery. Mumblefinger is a fellow (I believe) named Brian Birke. His group on Thursday included Cleveland on keys and Steve Huff on bass and a drummer who I just met and have promptly forgotten his name (anyone?).
The band had some tasty grooves going during Pint Night at the Eatery. Everyone seemed to be swaying and having a good time. Jazz, blues, surf and good pours. What more do you want?
