Ronnie Scott’s 10th -11th July 2012 / £24 – £45 / Doors 6pm / www.ronniescotts.co.uk / 020 7439 0747
Only his voice can blend Niger and Mississippi river alluvia with such moving authenticity. His unique, inimitable, self-taught guitar technique owes a great deal to his kora influences, but its shades and phrasing also suggest the great black bluesmen of the deep American South: Blind Willie McTell, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and others.
It’s the hell raiser who had ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ at the birth rock’n'roll in the late 50′s that’s now Jerry Lee Lewis as a Mean Old Man but he’s still rockin, country and gospel with a bunch of big name mates on a fantastic brand new 19 track album.
You’ll know the history of the blues as it progressed from the sharecroppers in Mississippi Delta, the electrification of the blues with the migration to Chicago and Detroit and the influence on young British rock/pop bands in the sixties. Even so, this compilation by Nigel Williamson is a reminder of how very great the greats were
Why hasn’t Cassandra Wilson had the success of Norah Jones? Compared to her Blue Note coleague, she had a head start, as it’s been 20 years since her debut album was released.
This one caught my eye but only after I saw the review in Metro, who gave it one star out of five. We’re on the ‘explicit lyrics’ issue again. As the paper says, Mr. Banner spends “four minutes telling his girl to play with herself. No wonder I haven’t heard it on the radio”.
