R AND B, Guitarist Legends Woo CT Audiences

Guitar Blues Review from Middletown Press

R&B artists Jorma Kaukonen, Robben Ford and Ruthie Foster fill almost every seat in the house.

Feb 16, 2009 4:52 PM - By BOB MCGUIRE
Excerpt from R&B, guitarist Legends Woo CT audiences, published in The Middletown Press on Feb 12, 2009

It’s another bone-freezing January night as we make our way into town with just enough time for a stop at The Dutch, a friendly night spot a short walk from The Garde Arts Center in downtown New London.

A steady stream of blues fans enters the warmth of the Moorish theater, filling almost every seat in the house.

Jorma Kaukonen, Robben Ford and Ruthie Foster, three representatives of the current state of the blues, brought their "Guitar Blues" tour to the Garde Arts Center on a recent Saturday night.

The 1,500-seat vaudevill-movie house built in 1926 is a work of art itself and was restored in 1998 to showcase the original palatial design and Moroccan themes.

It’s one of the few remaining historic movie palaces in Connecticut and is smoothly run with a superb sound system.

Tonight’s bill consists of an interesting mix of three of America’s most acclaimed guitar players. Kaukonen is a founding member of two legendary bands, the Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna.

According to a brochure I picked up in the lobby tonight, he also runs a Guitar Camp in Ohio when not on tour. Ford is one of the premier electric guitarists working today. Inspired by Mike Bloomfield, he was soon touring behind such blues luminaries as Charlie Musselwhite before he was out of his teens. He moved on to tour with George Harrison on his only solo tour and played with Joni Mitchell before founding The Yellowjackets in 1977.

Austin-based Foster is the relative newcomer of the three, but with a half-dozen releases in her back catalog already. Even though she’s well-known in folk circles, she’s stated that, "I come from a deep background of old soul and blues and even R&B. Early on, long before I ever got into the folk thing, I was doing more soul on acoustic guitar than anything else." This is evident tonight as Foster opens the show with a deeply soulful approach reminiscent of Joan Armatrading but with the commercial appeal of a Tracy Chapman.

The show builds nicely as the solo Foster falls into an easy rapport with the audience; she presents a powerful mix of contemporary folk with old-school gospel and blues. I’m sure she made a lot of new fans tonight — this is a woman known for having broken Ani DiFranco’s record of selling a thousand CDs at a single appearance in Canada a few years ago.

Kaukonen is up next. He ambles onstage looking a good deal more avuncular than he did in his Surrealistic Pillow days, but then again, so do I.

He settles into a chair with eyes closed and launches into a stunning set that illustrates why he’s known as one of the leading current practitioners of finger-style acoustic guitar.

Jorma runs through a set of familiar blues gems from "Hesitation Blues" and "I Am the Light of the World" to "Let Us Get Together" and "Uncle Sam’s Blues."

The playing is stark and mesmerizing, punctuated only by the occassional wolf howl from die-hard Hot Tuna fans seasoned through the audience tonight. His old band was known as a pre-cursor of the contemporary jam bands like Phish; many nights Hot Tuna would play for as long as six hours.

Closing out the evening was a phenomenal set by Ford and his band (Dewayne Pate, bass; nephew Gabriel Ford, drums). His fluid playing and obvious command of musical genres lifted the pace of the evening considerably with the audience hanging on for the ride.

He moved from lightly plucked gliss and osto screaming, crying bits of feedback with effortless abandon. One moment he’s in a dreamy vale and the next he’s channeling Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Ford is joined eventually by Foster, first on keyboards for a soulful tune and then back to acoustic guitar as Jorma strides back out for the extended finale.

This is more the Jefferson Airplane Jorma, on his feet and strapped in behind a bright-red hollow-body electric. He leads the band through some sixties chestnuts like his fired-up version of "Rock Me Baby" from the Airplane days.

The appreciative crowd won’t let the assemblage off the stage tonight without at least a few parting numbers. These turn out to include a few Bob Dylan tunes, including "You Gotta Serve Somebody," which allows each headliner to take a turn at vocals.

It’s a shame that this venue doesn’t book more shows like this, as the ambiance is completely unique. The staff is friendly and professional, the sound system is phenomenal, and the local New London crowd warm and receptive enough to turn January into July...

For full article visit: http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2009/02/12/entertainment/doc49933476261d8856019374.txt