The Tokyo Tramps blew into the Village Trestle in Goffstown, New Hampshire last night and then they blew everyone’s mind with their feisty deliveries of true American blues. One patron among the hearty supporters hollered out, “This band plays real blues!”
The trio opened their first set with their tune “Holler And Shout,” and Satoru Nakagawa’s svelte voice and nifty chord work was likely the first thing everyone noticed. His melodic phrases were full of Americana roots and blues gusto. He knows where this music comes from and he brings its soul to the forefront. The twists and turns in this song make it a bit longer than blues songs from the vintage days, yet it gives the modern audiences more to sink their teeth into. Sweet blues notes just kept coming out of their speakers.
Yukiko Fujii, bass player and vocalist, kept a smooth, even flow of low end notes as she has a lot of control over the trio’s sound and direction. Her voice degree was awarded by Berklee College of Music in Boston and her vocal performance last night was much above average. She really rode the range of her voice in these songs. After she would ring as much bluesy joy out of her lyrics, Satoru would chime in with tender, precise melodic phrases.
Nakagawa’s guitar breaks were full of feeling and generous offerings of technique and power. The Tokyo Tramps play so well that you want to listen closely to every subtle nuance. Without the traditional Louisiana instruments like accordion and washboard, the trio still conjured up their Cajun-flavored “Down On The Bayou” on guitar, bass, and drums. The concoction they came up with last night resembled Fats Domino’s “Walking To New Orleans” in its sing song pace and in its broth of chords and greasy leads.
The Tokyo Tramps soon moved into another song inspired by that southern state with “Thibodaux, Louisiana.” The song was marked by a lot of beautiful vocal harmonies between the two front people, and the double smoothness giving more life to their song. The trio jammed on the traditional rock and roll song “Iko Iko” and stretched it out like The Grateful Dead does with the same song. Drummer Kosei Fukuyama got to show his chops with beats that bump the song forward with pushy momentum. This drummer can inject movement into his beats and his solo showed how much he can expand the sound he gets out of his individual pieces.
Fujii sang a heartfelt song called “Some Day You Will Come Home.” The tune is about much she misses her mother who still lives in Japan. Backed by a beautiful, mellow guitar, Fujii’s vocal approach was touching, making you feel her song as well as hear it. Nakagawa brought out much of the song’s sentimental feel with his achingly beautiful guitar lines. Eventually, Fujii took more control by belting out with sustained notes near the end of her piece.
Much of The Tokyo Tramps set last night was marked by Nakagawa’s vintage sounding slide work and old time picking techniques. Country blues shuffles and two-step beats with local harp player “Slutty” Pete Zona chiming in created very tasty meshes of blues. “Big Time Blues” was another of the Tramp’s homegrown blues that sounded so vintage, with Nakagawa making those slide notes almost echo out that old time sound from a decade long ago. It should be noted that Zona was running the sound last night, as he does at many Village Trestle shows and during every Sunday afternoon Wan-Tu Blues Jams there.
“Dance Of Kindred Spirit” from the trio’s latest CD With These Hands might be inspired by Japanese folklore with its lyrics about ancient times and a “miracle of the century” and other epic themes. As a blues song it did well with slide and lead guitar and sounded at times like a clever travelogue set to music. Moving on to another new song, “Rollin’ And Tumblin,” the Tramps had a rolling, swampy beat that kept moving while Nakagawa’s slide guitar grinded out the essence of a hundred years of blues notes. That guy seems to feel what blues music felt like to people of previous decades.
Their latest title track “With These Hands” featured Fujii on vocals, and, her influences on it seemed to have every girl group from the early 1960s in her timbre. Telling her life story in a song must have been easier with a drummer like Kosei Fukuyama behind her with his driving, moveable beats. He is one of the area’s best drummers and he has that quality that shows up apart from the feel and the technique that drummers can only be lucky enough to be born with. “Good Morning, Marietta” found Satoru walking into the crowd with his guitar and singing sans microphone. “Everybody Wanna Be Loved” and “Shake Your Money Maker” offered more of the same Tokyo Tramps fun, moveable beats, smooth low end, and plenty of slide.
Closing out with “Got My Mojo Working” and “Crossroads” The Tokyo Tramps brought the show full circle back to the roots of where the blues originally came from. Nakagawa also sounded really cool on those classic blues standards.
It was a night of good blues music with the trio and the audience throwing energy back and forth. The owners of the Village Trestle will likely get a request for a return of The Tokyo Tramps from all who were in attendance.
www.tokyotramps.com
