| DAN BARRY PHOTO |
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| Sweet Daddy Cool Breeze, live in Springfield,
Mass. |
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If there is one place in Springfield that´s worth the trek north, it´s
Theodore´s. This excellent blues bar has good sound, and a huge
interior that affords a good view of the band no matter where you sit.
It also has acts like
Sweet Daddy Cool Breeze , who our neighbors to the north voted ¨Best Blues¨ in the
Valley Advocate ´s Band Slam. I figured I couldn´t really go wrong with an endorsement like that, and I was right.
The ¨Sweet Daddy¨ of the band is Wally Greaney, and he´s an excellent
frontman. His chops on both the harmonica and sax were particularly
impressive; that musical flexibility allowed him to jazz up the set,
literally and figuratively. But on Friday night, I was blown away by
the band´s guitar section. Bassist Eddy Humber Jr. may have looked
quiet and understated on stage, but his playing was rock-solid. He
favors consistency over adornment, allowing him to stand out amid the
sounds of busy blues guitars.
And when I say busy, I mean explosive. Uwe Herr, a German guitar
prodigy, has joined SDCB for their live dates this winter. It´s easy to
see why they´d want him: His solos are some of the most exciting I´ve
ever seen in a live performance. He and SDCB co-founder (along with
Greaney) Mark Easton share a genius for the timing and structuring of a
guitar solo. Listening to their solos is like watching a game of
grandmaster chess: You realize that they´re choosing their current
moves based on what they see 10 or 20 seconds into the future. This was
particularly clear during their cover of ¨Red House.¨ During each
guitarist´s solo, the crowd was cheering them on, leaping out of their
seats with enthusiasm.
One wants to be equally enthusiastic about Cassandra Kubinski , who played at Jitters in Southington Saturday night. A pop singer and pianist, Kubinski´s CD Hiding Underneath
was a bit too glossy and overproduced for my liking. Still, she had
excellent pitch, so I was hoping her songs would be more engaging in a
live setting.
Instead, her frequently self-effacing lyrics just stood out in
sharper relief. ¨I know what you think about me / I´m such a cutie, I
would never play you, I could never hurt you,¨ she sings on the chorus
of the title track. Meanwhile, every silent syllable in her lyrics was
filled with an ¨oh,¨ ¨ooh,¨ or ¨unh.¨
Her set was also undermined by a series of volume problems. Kubinski
made an earnest effort to adjust her volume to the small space,
repeatedly asking the audience if her levels were all right. (Now
that´s something more local musicians could afford to do!) But despite
her best efforts, Kubinski´s voice ran away with her again and again,
leaping from quiet to loud at inopportune moments.
Livintrust and Stealing Providence play Up or On the Rocks on the 3rd. Jet Black Jane and Rider play the Hungry Tiger that same night. Mass. metallers Once Beloved hold a CD release at Wallingford´s Cherry St. Station on the 4th, with Margo , Humanity Abandoned and Wake of Incarnation . Jive Miguel plays the Hungry Tiger on the 4th.
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Don´t forget to visit Dan Barry´s blog at
localcommotionct.blogspot.com
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