Hard Time, Soft Time

There had been a bad few days and suddenly there was a very good one.

My offer to help my drumming mentor, the great John Marshall, with his gear at a Soft Machine rehearsal meant that I ended up sitting in a studio with John playing drums to my left, and John Etheridge playing guitar and Theo Travis playing sax to my right. And straight across from me was the formidable bass of Roy Babbington.

I've seen the Softs live many times, but sitting in the midst of them, and particularly getting that bass right up in the mix and in my face was a rare treat. And the playing of all four musicians was particularly uplifting and bordering on the spiritual – for me, at least, because I had had two days of stress and misery (not worth going into the details here).

Music really does have the power to heal, particularly when played by masters of their craft at this high level. 

If you're going to the Softs' upcoming gigs in the UK, you are in for something very special.

John Marshall (top right) and Roy Babbington (bottom right)

Boxing Clever

Sunday 9 April 2017

I've long been fascinated by cajons – which seem to be little more than expensive wooden boxes. But I've never thought you could do that much with them in terms of rivalling a drum kit.

I had to think again after seeing percussionist Demi Garcia playing cajon with flamenco guitar whizz Ramon Ruiz at the excellent gipsy jazz venue Le Quecumbar in London.

Demi is simply a drumming genius and he not only played full on and in perfect unison with Ruiz's guitar improvisation and the footsteps of dancer Araceli Garcia but he also never played one unnecessary stroke.

On top of this he is totally modest – which makes him even more endearing. When Ruiz asked him to tell the audience something about himself, he said: 'My name is Demi – that's it.' His drumming told everything else.

From Dire Straits To Dire Straits

I remember seeing my first CD. It was on a visit to Eindhoven in the Netherlands in the early 1980s. Philips was based nearby and was getting people to try out its revolutionary new product.

The CD in question was by Dire Straits. And the selling point of the new technology was that the disc was indestructible, was easy to store in large quantities, and gave the very best sound reproduction.

Time has proved all of those claims to be far from correct.

I've continued to buy CDs, though. And my favourite place to buy them has been the little Music Memorabilia shop in Alfriston, East Sussex, which has stocked an eccentric collection of great albums covering everything from music hall and comedy to a huge range of pop, blues and jazz.

But not any more. The shelves at Music Memorabilia are slowly emptying as the manufacturers cease to make CDs – and people cease to buy them.

The CD is now truly in dire straits... And I feel as though I've been there at its birth and its death.

In Very Good Company

It was sad to hear a few days ago of the passing away of James Cotton – a name synonymous with the blues harmonica. Cotton wailed with the greats – Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters – and played on countless recordings and gigs.

Playing the blues harp is as much about raw emotion as it is about technique. I occasionally get the chance to put down my sticks and play harmonica with Russ Payne and Unison Bends, and much as I love the drums, I always leap at a chance to try to emulate the likes of masters such as Cotton, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Paul Jones and Bob Dylan.

It was also quite a big kick to find that a track from our new album, 'Liquor and Iron', was going to get big exposure from being on the playlist at Digital Blues this week – alongside a couple of tracks by James Cotton. Now that is a real musical honour...

Winwood Ho

At a time when most rock legends from the Sixties seem to be scarily older than you think – or in many cases, more scarily, dead – one of them still seems remarkably young.

Steve Winwood is still touring and is due in London in July. And though you might think he should be in his seventies by now, he's actually a mere 68.

That makes it more than 50 years since I first saw him on stage – when he was 16 or 17. He was already a veteran performer then, and fronting the Spencer Davis Group.

A precocious guitarist as well as keyboard player, he has had so many incarnations. But his finest hour was with the sadly short-lived Blind Faith, in which the Creamy musical virtuosity of Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker was harnessed to the truly lyrical songwriting and singing of Winwood.

I was fortunate enough to see Winwood and Blind Faith at Hyde Park. And despite all his brilliant work since that time, it is the Blind Faith album that seems perfectly to capture the Winwood essence.

Together Through Death

Bob Dylan has provided the soundtrack for so many lives. Now it seems he is doing the same for the dying.

BBC presenter Steve Hewlett who has died of cancer at the age of 58 apparently passed away in the company of his family and with Dylan's music playing.

Hewlett seems to have been a man who lived and died well. It would be intriguing to know which tracks he picked. So many spring to mind. But maybe there are some things you don't ask...

Complimentary Medicine

The last time I played drums on an album – 'In Love With Trouble' by the Shark Dentists – the reviewer in Blues Matters magazine complimented me... on my harmonica playing. That was, of course, welcome – although the drums are my first instrument, I do like to contribute a bit of blues harp on the side.

But it was good to find my drumming has finally been noted by Blues Matters, in its review of the new album 'Liquor And Iron' from Russ Payne and Unison Bends. (I did also play four bars of wistful harmonica to set the scene for the epic track 'Heading Out East' but, understandably, that didn't get a mention.)

Anyway, we're all grateful for the positive comments about our work. So here is the full review:

RUSS PAYNE AND THE UNISON BENDS

LIQUOR AND IRON

(Thousand Smiles Records)

The album opens brightly with the funky This Life (Gonna Be The Death Of Me), Russ Payne’s vocals and guitar riffs distinctive and engaging. Nigel Summerley’s infectious rhythmic drumming on Saskia’s Got A Gun provides the perfect backcloth to the conversational vocals and clipped guitar style. The pace slows with the balladic It Could Have Been Me; the textured vocal harmonies, Saal Seniveratne’s fluent keyboard skills and Payne’s soulful guitar interludes create mood-inducing crescendos. The clever tempo changes on All Talk add to the atmosphere of another good original song. The slower burning Waiting At The Gate, Certain Tears and the title track showcase the versatility of Russ and confirms his status as a very fine singer, songwriter and guitarist. Bassist Bill Keller and drummer Summerley maintain the high-energy grooves of Sometimes and Oughta Know By Now in the tradition of great, explosive power trios. Payne’s searing guitar solo and vocal harmonies with Jake Rousham stand out on the catchy, up tempo Good Luck. An impressive album, Liquor and Iron proves that the gap between relative unknown bands and those at the forefront of the current UK blues explosion is very narrow indeed.