The Utrecht Blues Festival has a nice design, not an overloaded program but four top acts with two intermission acts, Roel Spanjers and The Ozdemirs, both of whom performed twice.
This year, surprising acts were invited such as Tad Robinson and Toronto Cannon, two American blues artists who were not often seen in the Netherlands, supplemented by the Austrian duo Chris Fillmore and Meena Cryle, and the now well-known Cinelli Brothers. Together with photographer Johan Breij, who took great photos, we experienced a nice relaxed festival.
Jos Verhagen
Upon entering, the sounds of Roel Spanjers greeted us, in his characteristic swinging piano boogie style he immediately attracted attention. To these cheerful tones, the visitors present went to the Rondo hall. This was well filled so that there was enough space to swing vigorously. And it certainly did swing in three of the four acts. Those who know Chris Filmore and Meena Cryle know that the blues ballads are an essential part of their repertoire, but they also surprised with a varied set.
The afternoon opened with Tad Robinson, who was assisted on this occasion by the Belgian formation the Ozdemirs, who would also perform twice during the breaks of the programming. At the suggestion of Tad Robinson, it turned out that the Ozdemirs have often made the cut from the backing band and where Tad gave them space to solo and that was fully utilized. Tad Robinson himself with his warm voice is known as the Blues crooner who also has a nice piece of harmonica. His style of blues evokes memories of Robert Cray during the Strong Persuader era. After the opening, two horn players came on stage after three songs to reinforce the whole. ‘Move on’, ‘Long way home’, ‘You got it’, all wonderfully relaxed blues songs in which fiery guitar playing and harmonica alternated with moody Hammond and fine sax solos. Enjoy to the fullest with the strong closing track “Back to Chicago” with a beautiful tenor sax solo and where once again everything was done. Given the reactions from the audience, Tad has recruited many new fans. Top singer this Tad Robinson.
After a short break, another top singer took the stage, Meena Cryle, when she uses the slow blues she touches people, although this time her voice wasn’t quite right, but that could be my fault. Her partner Chris Fillmore was in good shape with his characteristic, Stevie Ray Vaughn-like guitar playing, he amazed us with masterful pieces of guitar control. By alternating the slow blues with up tempo tracks they managed to captivate the audience. They even performed a new song ‘Joy’, which Meena described as Voodoo blues, a nice song, and good to know because perhaps it is a harbinger of a new album. Their last full-length album was Elevations from 2019. The duo was in good shape and supported by the fat grooving bassist Angus Thomas and drummer Rainer Baumgartner, they surprisingly conjured up Elvis Presley’s ‘I got feeling in my body’. In addition to the inevitable blues ballad ‘It makes me scream’, Etta James’ performance of ‘Take it to the limit’ was of unprecedented beauty.
As the third act, Toronto Cannon was programmed and the audience’s expectations were high; what would he bring, what would it sound like. As one of the standard bearers of contemporary Chicago blues, many were left guessing. His albums are good, but seeing him live is not that common. I can say the sound check was already good which only increased my expectations further. He fully lived up to that expectation, like a whirlwind Toronzo and his band poured out the blues over the hall, with Toronzo’s great bassist Brian Quinn standing out. With his nimble-fingered way of playing full of groove and soul and his energetic stage presentation, he contributed enormously to the dynamics of the performance. With songs like ‘Tell him about me’, ‘Midlife crisis’, ‘The Chicago way’ and the great ‘John the Cockeroo’ the performance was over in no time and he left a stunned audience. Anyone who still dares to claim that the Chicago blues is dead should try Toronzo Cannon and be sure that they will be at the front at the next performance.
After this Blues Orgy the question was whether the closing The Cinelli Brothers could top this. Anyone who has seen the Cinelli brothers perform before knows that it is always a surprise how a performance turns out. This time they had taken a good look by starting quietly and then gradually increasing the tempo and showing their musicality. It took a while for them to catch me, but they eventually managed to get me back completely. That aspect, sensing and engaging the audience, is where the strength of The Cinelli brothers lies. This time they omitted the extensive change of instruments, but the emphasis was on the harmony vocals, some songs from their new album Almost Exactly, the harmonica, the razor-sharp solos of Stephen Giri and the entertainment of Marco Cinelli. Drummer Alessandro Cinelli is a special drummer who manages to play the congas in addition to drums at the same time, and is not afraid to use his hands when it suits him. The highlight of the show is a great version of the song Choo ma gum introduced in a funny way by Marco Cinelli. The Cinelli Brothers are still touring in the Netherlands for a while, so if you have the chance, go see them.
Conclusion: Looking back on the festival, four top acts all managed to fascinate from start to finish, the quality was high. Well organised, excellent light and sound, good food, enjoyed it. We were told that the festival will be continued next year, I can’t wait.
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