Live Review: Village Trestle & Wantu Blues Jams strike gold with Lisa Marie & Sweet Willie D and Leather And Lace beauty contest.
By Bill Copeland
BillCopelandMusicNews
Today’s July 4th Wantu Blues Jam at The Village Trestle was one of the smoothest run jams I’ve ever seen at the Village Trestle. Located in Goffstown, New Hampshire, a suburb of Manchester, the Village Trestle had a holiday turn out of approximately 200.
Jam host” Slutty” Pete Zona usually does a good job managing these jams, and today he was on top of his game. Fewer musicians were available due to the patriotic holiday. Yet, Zona did find a lot for his house band and his guests players to do. (Since you have to know: He’s called “Slutty” Pete because he’ll play with anyone).
The house band, Mark St Laurent and Tim O’Connor on guitar, Rick King on Drums, and Dave Guilmette on bass, opened smoothly with “I’m Ready.” St Laurent was peeling off tasty lead phrases while O’Connor was holding the rhythm with a confident, easy going style that made the song flow. Rick King, a graceful, steady-Eddie drummer steered the band down the path of righteous playing, keeping them anchored and lively at the same time.
This is what a house band should do at a jam’s start. Set a pace for the rest of the day and assure the audience that they’re in for a show, not a run of the mill, willy-nilly, haphazard gathering of players who don’t know what to do with themselves. Today’s jam was a classy affair.
Howie Fohlin did his saxophone thing for a while and he was supported by Gary Calderone’s harp playing. So many notes. So much texture. It was still quite early in the set, and you could tell that something special was going to happen. And it did.
Greater-Boston based blues crooners Lisa Marie and Sweet Willie D were in the room, and they were called up to the stage to do their much appreciated featured singers work. Lisa Marie had the breezy rasp down pat on “Bad Case Of Love” and “Blues With A Feeling.” These mid-tempo numbers fit right in with what appeared to be the theme of the day. She came up with Sweet Willie D later in the jam and the two of them together more than made up for the dearth of players today. Sweet Willie D’s beautiful smooth tenor could really pull the emotions out of a song and bring it forth for the audience. His rendition of “Rock Me” inspired the players around him to higher levels of art. There were lots of tasty guitar phrases, fierce horn blasts, and the guys had people swaying to it during their several minutes of extended jamming.
A local favorite Jerry Ray Basner took to the band area to play Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “The Sky Is Burning” with Trestle’s owner Steve Pascucci backing him on the drums. Yes, blues fans. The Village Trestle’s co-owner, Steve Pascucci, is a multi-instrumentalist who keeps things interesting as well as provides a space for talented musicians to play. His wife Lorraine Pascucci is the other half of this partnership. Getting back to Jerry Ray Basner. This man is a natural on stage. Short, barrel chested, wearing a black hat, he gives off a hip biker/musician charisma. There is nobody else like him on planet Earth. Whether he is playing guitar on a Jimi Hendrix tune or belting out the vocals on The Door’s “Roadhouse Blues,” Basner puts heart and soul into what he is doing, and the passion pours out of that “it factor” he projects across the room.
Today’s house guest guitarist(the second guitarist is always a guest) Tim O’Connor achieved a moment of sublime artistic beauty on Marshall Tucker Band’s “Can’t You See.” The sweet melody he pulled out of his Epiphone guitar could pull on anybody’s heart strings. It was the first of a few highlights involving Tim O’Connor. He’s the same Tim O’Connor who plays guitar for 2120 South Michigan Avenue. Later in the second set, saxophonists Howie Fohlin and Jerry Page(who once worked with Tina Turner) were up on stage together. Total sax power resulted.
“Downtown” Dave Glannon came by with his harp case and his silky smooth blues crooner’s voice and upped the authenticity of this jam. Interestingly enough, the Village Trestle held its first ever Miss Village Trestle Leather And Lace beauty contest during this holiday jam. The contestants were regular gals and Farrah MacVarish was crowned the winner, but the voting indicated it was a difficult choice for the audience, as enthusiasm expressed during a strut walk of the bar revealed each was a favorite of the crowd. Personally, I was rooting for the tall, built, statuesque beauty of a woman nicknamed “Blaster.” I think The Commodore’s wrote a song about her once.
It was another special event from the Wantu Blues Jams as hosted by The Village Trestle in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Combining guests like Lisa Marie and Sweet Willie D with some of the best area players was a clever move. Holding the Miss Village Trestle contest on the summer holiday was another attention getter. I hope my readers from Massachusetts and Rhode Island will give the Village Trestle a chance if they happen to be winding down their summer vacations in New Hampshire on a Sunday afternoon.
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