Meeting of blues minds

A pairing of immense young and older blues talent was showcased at a Nutley War Memorial Hall gig last night hosted by Graham Pope. The show opened with the highly accomplished guitar skills of the 22 year-old Sussex-based blues veteran Neil Grove, who fronts the trio Midnight Cannonball. Accompanied by Greg Smith on double bass and Jezz Palmer on drums, Mr Grove is an exciting interpreter of lesser known (to most) blues guitar pioneers, with a particular leaning to the jump blues style of Bill Jennings. However Neil Grove and his band are their own players. Not derivative but keepers of an essential heritage performed with high energy and huge inspiration. Songs by Roy Brown, the revered standard ‘St James Infirmary’, and clever, funky guitar-led, instrumentals like ‘Ease Back’ and ‘The Hucklebuck’ were dispatched with a seeming effortlessness that belied the high craft at work. 

Midnight Cannonball (Neil centre, Greg right, and Jezz out of shot)

An older figure on the UK blues scene is guitarist and singer Vince Lee who, together with double bassist Sophie Lord, brought a taste of West Coast (Cornish) blues to Nutley’s sleepy denizens. Vince’s wide repertoire included two songs from blues/jazz/global music interpreter Tom Waits, a slice of Rhythm and Blues from a godfather of rock n’ roll Louis Jordan, and an incredible self-penned instrumental Vince introduced as ‘Spanish-Turkish surf music’. Vince then brought Neil and Jezz back on stage for what became the highlight of the night: a musical tour de force that included a reinterpretation of a song by country blues legend Sleepy John Estes and Vince’s own “blues from outer space” entitled ’Satellite’. Vince and Neil ripped up the place as they traded exciting solos against Sophie and Jezz’s solid rhythm section. As Vince soloed, Neil’s accompaniment was equally insistent though never competitive. This was a world class meeting of musical spirits performed to just 50 punters in a village hall. Lucky us. Earlier, while Neil was off the stage, Vince noted that a video of the young guitar maestro was getting a lot of attention among blues fans on that other West Coast, California, where he and Sophie are shortly touring. Let’s hope Neil too can soon tour the Golden State and get the recognition he surely deserves. 

Neil Grove (left) with Vince Lee (right) and Sophie (centre)