Diane Blue and the Beantown Boys celebrated Blue’s new CD Live At Chan’s by playing a release party at Mal’s Lounge in Haverhill last night. Except for a disappointing summer turn out of about three dozen people, the release party went off without a hitch for the eight piece band, which included Blue on vocals and harmonica. It’s become clear that Mal’s Lounge takes pride in booking only the best blues and R&B bands in the greater-Boston area. Last night was another in a long series now of bands that can let it all hang out because they have what it takes to satisfy a roomful of people with discriminating tastes.
The band Blue has assembled around her are comprised of the biggest names in the greater-Boston music scene. Guitarist Timo Arthur, trumpeter John Moriconi, Cliff Spencer on B3, Lenny Bradford on bass, Jeff “Jungle Boy” Thompson on drums, and Bruce “The Goose” McGrath on sax and flute, and last but certainly not least, the host with the most, Jimmy “Two Suits” Capone make up her gang.
After a band warm up, Blues began with her original “Lovely Day,” her harmonica melody moving things at a sing song pace before she turned up the heat with Aretha Franklin’s “Baby, I Love You.” Blue has that cool chanteuse way of sounding sultry, bluesy, and rangy all at the same time. Her voice is so strong that even when she isn’t holding a note forever or riding up the scale, you know that she can because her timbre is so muscular.
Her down and dirty rasp is wide and she sang each vocal melody note for what it’s worth. She also changed dynamics as easy as hitting a switch. To look over at the microphone stand and see that that small woman is the one with the booming voice is like witnessing a small miracle. The real unsung hero of the night had to be the soundman. He had everything in the right place and never faltered throughout the evening.
Blue tackled Willie Nelson’s “Nightlife” and her voice shined through in this slower number while organ notes simmered just below the surface. Blue builds steam in these slow boilers, and, when she let’s loose, wow! She really keeps you riveted with her belt. “Two Suits” Capone’s sax solo built up like a mountain before he climbed it with a smooth follow up. Capone was all class last night, in his playing, in the way he carried himself, in the way he made his suit look good.
Blue had the chirpy timbre to pull off Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” with authentic soul. She does a fantastic job handling the dynamics while singing over a seven piece with its three horns. That she’s not afraid to share the stage with so much fire power shows courage. For “Knock On Wood” she made her way around the groove really well. The song is twisty but Blue can navigate.
Trumpeter Moriconi was a secondary star at last night’s show. He does things with his trumpet that few musicians do. He can take his instrument to the extreme horn blasts with a lot of melody and texture and everything else in the colors and tones. It never hurts a singer to have that kind of voltage backup. “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” got a slamming out that classic groove treatment, and Blue got funkier, doing the rapid fire delivery. Organist Spencer’s flights of fancy rocked the house with many exciting rises of smokey notes and thrilling chords. Timo Arthur’s guitar solo was a precise laser beam of melodic phrasing.
Blue filled in the sensual spaces between the hard sudden drum fills on “Fever” and the horn section gave it the needed slinkiness. Yet, “Fever“ did seem to miss something in the chemistry between players, never quite making the song as sexy as it should have been. “I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water” was another great ensemble piece for Blue and her boys. Rolling bass lines, bad ass sax, wild guitar breaks, and Blue unleashing her harmonica with its thick, juicy flow of notes made it a number that came alive like a monster, with all of its limbs and muscles working together like a machine.
The other plus about having a band this good is that they can take some of the chestnuts that have become bar band clichés over the years and do something exciting with them. The band kept the groove fun and wide on “Shakey Ground” while Blue cut loose with her svelte vocal, and Arthur’s soulful solo hit the high notes in just the right way in just the right places.
“At Last” was another barn burner and “Use Me” came to life with lift from low end organ and bass making the song possible and Timo’s R&B guitar licks were icing on the cake.
Musically, Blue had a very successful CD Release Party. Attendance at her shows should pick up in the fall. It didn’t help that there were two festivals yesterday, one in New Boston, New Hampshire to the north of Mal’s Lounge and one to the south in Scituate, Massachusetts. That probably divided up the blues crowd yesterday and left them too tired to travel.
Sorry I missed it ,so much talent in 1 room.!! She sure draws a crowd at the Cantab lounge..
Where can I buy the CD? If it’s as good as this sounds I’ll give it airplay on BayFM
http://www.dianebluemusic.com