Mississippi Valley Blues Fest - 2007

The 23rd annual Mississippi Valley Blues Fest was held last weekend at LeClaire Park, which is right next to - and sometimes in - the mighty Mississippi River.  The weather all weekend long was just perfect.  Temps in the low 80's, low humidity, light winds.  The Mississippi Valley Blues Society couldn't have asked for better weather.  And because of that, they had great crowds all three days of the festival.

Once again, the MVBS' entertainment committee did a pretty good job of pulling in a number of great performers, but also offered some of the same "head-scratching" acts that left a lot of people wondering what they were doing performing at a blues festival. 

I will have to say they started out the festival with a bang on Friday night.  Even though I wasn't there to see him play, I was told Damon Fowler put on a high energy show.  But the next guy up on the main stage absolutely blew the crowd away.

Albert Cummings' main job is running a family construction company that specializes in building houses and remodeling homes.  His hobby is going out with his bass player and drummer and playing some SCORCHING blues.  I'd heard and read about Albert Cummings in the past and he was one of the top people on my list that I wanted to see at the fest this year.  And he certainly didn't disappoint. 

Cummings' 90 minute set started off with high energy and the level never came down until he walked off the stage.  Cummings played his guitar with authority and passion - so much to the point that he literally made the hair on the back of my neck stand up on a couple occasions.  It was an amazing show. 

Chubby Carrier played Cajun music on the bandshell next.  I've seen Carrier play about three or four times before, so I wasn't eager to see him play all that much.  But what was more interesting was running into a group of old friends from my hometown of Newton, IA who came over to the festival with their wives.  We stood near the beer tent before, during and after Carrier's set catching up on old times.  It was great fun for me. 

Actually, the one person they came over to see - as did a number of others in the crowd - was Robert Randolph and The Family Band.  Robert Randolph got his start playing pedal steel guitar in his church band in New Jersey.  Backed by a brother and two cousins, Randolph is also an accomplished guitar player and singer. 

Randolph's music is sort of a cross between gospel, funk and blues - delving more into the "jam band" style during a large part of his show.  This didn't sit well with a lot of the hardened blues fans in the crowd, but it pleased the younger people who the MVBS was trying to lure to the festival with Randolph's music.  Randolph was good, but I was somewhat underwhelmed by his overall performance. 

Saturday was a beautiful day - clear skies and temps in the lower 80's.  I came down in the middle of the afternoon to see Kelly Richey, a high-energy female guitar player from Cincinnati.  Once again, I'd heard and read about Richey and really wanted to see her play. 

She put on a great show.  Not only is she a great guitar player, she's a great showman - or is it showperson?  She deftly played the guitar behind her head and didn't miss a note.  When she left the stage, she left those in the crowd howling for more. 

I left for awhile and then came back later in the evening to see a couple of acts.  Over in the tent, blues great Watermelon Slim and the Workers were entertaining an overflow crowd.  Watermelon Slim (aka Bill Homans) is a Viet Nam war vet with a genius level I.Q.  He plays the harmonica and a table top dobro guitar.  He uses various objects to play the slide on the guitar - things like salt shakers, miniature liquor bottles, spark plugs, even a smooth rock that he said he found on the ground. 

And he put on a GREAT show.  Over the years, there are many people who have played in the cramped and hot tent who I felt should have been on the main stage.  Watermelon Slim is another one of those performers that had me wondering why they didn't do just that.   

Unfortunately, at the same time Watermelon Slim was playing in the tent, the Jackie Payne and Steve Edmondson Band was playing on the main stage.  I caught about 45 minutes of Watermelon Slim before I grudgingly walked over to the bandshell to see Jackie Payne and Steve Edmondson. 

Jackie Payne (left) is a long time blues singer from Texas who now lives in the Bay Area in California.  Steve Edmondson's dad, Travis Edmondson, was half of the old folk duo Bud and Travis.  Steve (below) traveled on the road with his family and learned the guitar from his father.  He certainly plays a blistering style of blues.

Playing along with Jackie Payne and Steve Edmondson was the legendary New York blues organist, Bruce Katz.  Katz (left) was scheduled to play the tent stage on Sunday and he sat in with the band and played his Hammond B3 organ and electric piano to perfection.  He's a great keyboard player and really added a great dimension to an already terrific band. 

I was told by a friend that I was not to miss the Jackie Payne/Steve Edmondson performance, and I have to say he was right.  They put on a great show and had the crowd jumping and dancing. 

Saturday night's headliner was the Blues Harp Blowout, a show featuring three great harmonica players - Mark Hummel, James Harman and Paul Oscher.  You know, I really appreciate the expertise involved in playing blues harp, but I don't think I could sit and listen to 90 minutes of nothing but harmonica music backed by a band.  I left after the first song. 

I found out the next day I wasn't alone - 30 minutes after the show began at 11 p.m., well over half the people in the park had left, as well.  The MVBS had the same problem last year keeping people in the park for the "headliner".  Hell, Watermelon Slim would have been a better headliner than the Blues Harp Blowout.  Oh well...

Sunday was also a gorgeous day - a little warmer and more humid than the previous two.  But a nice breeze coming off the river made the weather very enjoyable in the park.  I was sitting on my deck at 2:45 and my buddy, Randy Adams, called me up.  He said, "Where you at? You're missing a kick-ass performance down here!"

The person he was talking about was Doña Oxford, a piano playing dynamo of a woman.  After I got down to the park, I was told by many people that I missed a helluva show.  I was told Oxford was "Marcia Ball with an attitude."  Sunday's first show of the day have historically been killer performances.  I should know that by now.

Actually, I wanted to come down to see the great guitarist, Tom Principato who played on the main stage at 4 p.m.  Principato is from the Washington D.C./Northern Virginia area and has been performing for over 40 years.  He has played with a long list of blues greats, including a stint in the great band The Assassins with blues legend Jimmy Thackery. 

And Principato didn't disappoint, either.  Backed by a bass player and a drummer, Principato also had the great blues organ player Tommy Lepson playing with him for the show.  Principato and Lepson played off each other without effort and put on a fine show.

As I said earlier, the Bruce Katz Band played in the tent on Sunday late afternoon/early evening.  The tent was about a third full - disappointing considering the great job Katz and his band did.  Once again, considering Memphis blues/soul singer Ruby Wilson was on the main stage, they could have very easily juxtaposed the performers.  I caught a little bit of Ruby Wilson and the performance was more of what you'd see in a lounge.  Katz and his band put on one helluva show - very worthy of playing on the main stage. 

Closing out the festival on Sunday night on the main stage were Little Charlie and the Nightcats.  Fronted by the wonderful showman/harp player/singer Rick Estrin, and featuring the guitar work of "Little" Charlie Baty, these guys put on a high energy show and had the crowd jumping and dancing. 

I've seen Little Charlie and the Nightcats a number of times in the past, but hadn't seen them perform in person for about 13 years.  Estrin looked a little more gray around the temples from when I last saw him in person.  But he still exhibited the stage presence he's always possessed in the past. 

And Charlie Baty's guitar work was still top notch.  Playing an old style Gibson guitar most of the night, Charlie showed many in the crowd why he's the king of "jump blues" guitar.

Estrin and Baty have been literally joined at the hip for about 25 years.  The band members backing them may have changed, but their music is still as great as it was when I first saw them nearly 21 years ago at a small bar in Des Moines. 

The crowd on Sunday wasn't near as good as the previous two days.  Because the 4th of July comes on a Wednesday this week, a lot of people who came in from out of town undoubtedly had to scoot back home to go to work on Monday morning.  Still, I was told by a MVBS board member they had more people on Friday and Saturday this year than they had for all three days of the fest last year.  (Last year, the weather was unbearably hot.)  And a lot of beer was sold, which helps out the MVBS' bottom line.

Once again, some of the acts that played the main stage were a little more "funk" and "soul" than blues.  And a couple guys that I felt should have been showcased on the main stage were stuck back in the tent where the sound and sight-lines aren't as good (and it's appreciably hotter in the tent).  But it was still a good festival.  I know the entertainment committee for the MVBS does their best - especially when not a lot of performers are traveling these days, and the fact that coordinating the effort to get so many performers to come to a festival in the Midwest around the 4th of July is a pain in the ass.

There's always the on-going discussions by the blues "purists" that attend the Mississippi Valley Blues Fest each year as to what is and what isn't the blues.  I say to them, "You're already here.  Just shut up and listen to the music."  Pleasing everyone is so difficult to do.

But I'd have to say the top performances I saw were from Albert Cummings, Watermelon Slim and Bruce Katz.  Those three alone, back to back to back, would have worth the price of admission for the full weekend.

Also, by the way, I have to give a shout out to MVBS president Ric Burris who got me a pass to the V.I.P. area up front for the shows on Saturday and Sunday.  Thanx again, Ricardo!

Comments

[Tony Jobe]

I'm embarrassed to admit I'd never heard of Albert Cummings before reading this post. But after checking out his web site and listening to some song clips online - wow. I can see why people like Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon were impressed by him. Tomorrow morning I'm heading out to buy two or three of his CDs.