Bellevue Cadillac pulled into Tupelo Music Hall last night and impressed their audience with the incredibly huge sound they make with their eight-piece horn band. Led by the veteran guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Doug Bell, the gang of players served up hot renditions of their original songs.
Bell came out on stage like Mr. Showbiz, decked out in a long shiny dress jacket and doing improbably high kicks for a man his age. He and his boys started out with a car song called “Cruisin” that exploded with positive energy and raging horn blasts. The music had a blend of 1950s rock and roll edge, 1940s swing, and the looseness of jazz. Bell’s guitar, Andy Bergsten’s bass, and Jeff “Jungle Boy” Thompson’s drums had real drive and spark while the horns had an unusual blare. Individual horn parts work better in this band than others because their arrangements allow for each horn’s “voice” to do its thing.
Their tune “Guilty” found the horn section swelling with a larger than life feeling, and Bell’s guitar break had a melodic sheen . “Vermouth” spiraled upward in horn momentum, and that crazy bass player got some wild motion going on in his technique. Andy B has an uncanny range of possibilities up his musical sleeve. Many of Bell’s notes went off like a gunshot at the beginning of his phrases before they turned more melodic, reaching up into the high pitched stratosphere until they were tap dancing on a cloud of suspension.
Lead horn player Jimmy “Two-Suits” Capone during his “It Must Be Love” solo unleashed some snappy short notes that traipsed over a bulbous low end. Capone soon shifted dynamics and blew a hurricane of soulful notes, his melody full of pizzazz.
Saxophonist Bruce “The Goose” McGrath relinquished his brass for a flute during the quaint, likable island flavored tune “Ja Ja Opobo. This light breezy paced piece with Bell’s descriptive humorous lyrics provide a sympathetic view of his historic character. Another humor laden Bell original, “Pull The Plug,” had winsome four part harmony on the chorus and Bellevue Cadillac’s trademark killer music all around it. “Prozac” began with a slam bang horn section batting it out of the ballpark with their fulsome sound. Bass man Meade acted like he was on Prozac for this one. He leaned so far back on his stool that his feet were up in the air and his low end notes sounded like something from another galaxy.
Drummer Jeff “Jungle Man” Thompson served up a primitive and dynamic solo with thundering drum notes filling the air. There was something ancient in his approach to smacking the skins, as if he was playing drums in a cave just after the original man showed up on earth. And boy could this guy go around his drum kit, offering all kinds of fills and rolls.
The second set found Bell bringing his brother Dave Bell on stage to drum while he played his electric ukulele. His voice was as smooth as Jack Daniels, the professor got the audience singing to “Jingle Bells.” It was their rendition of “Blue Christmas” though that most impressed, a lot of knobby notes from all eight instrumentalists before Capone blew a svelte classy melody line. If that wasn’t enough, Bobby Holfelder Breeze’s trombone vibrancy made his fulsome, brassy, shiny notes slide around with hefty glee.
Bellevue Cadillac went into some more material from their Love Always CD. Beginning the tune “Ships,“ Capone’s clarinet weaved its hypnotic spell over the wave of brass beneath him while Bell sung of ships passing in the night. At one point, Bobby Breeze wandered into the audience playing his trombone with a sharp, clear, tumescence. Trumpet man, Sean Devlin , played his own take on the snake charmer melody Bell composed for this before Capone took over again. McGrath then played his soprano sax with high notes gliding in a sweet linear line. And this tune was only one example of how each horn man comes up with his own individual voice.
The boys showcased more of their R&B side with their brightly colored “Too Much Sunshine, Save It For A Rainy Day.” Tim “Miles” Long’s funky organ chords seemed to sustain forever, and wild, swinging sax work from Capone was grooving fun. Bells’ other upbeat piece “Summerset” focuses on his life in the 1960s. Its easeful groove and Bell’s emotional inflected voice made you feel his sweet nostalgia for that more innocent time.
“What Goes Around Comes Around” was marked by fantastic ensemble playing. Not about solos here, the boys got so tight for an eight-piece it was scary. Bass man Andy B had traded his upright for an electric four string, and he was loitering merrily on the far left side of the stage, like a man who just left a party feeling really good. And he and everybody else had reason to be feeling good; Long’s organ funk flowed upwards like a nice frothy beer.
Bellevue Cadillac’s Caribbean flavored “Blow Wind Blow,” featured in the major motion picture release Shallow Hal,, inspired a conga line dancing around Tupelo Music Hall. “Hazel Eyes,” Bell’s tongue in cheek lyrical account of international intrigue, was inspired partly by surf music and partly by 1960s secret agent movie themes. Bell and Andy B had fun aiming their instruments like Tommy Guns at the audience.
“Under Your Spell” was a New Orleans flavored treat for the ears. Bell’s voice rides the peaks and valleys of this one with style. And the horn section was like a gumbo of flavorings and spices. At the end of the show, guest vocalist Jeanne Crowley came up to help them in the vocal department, as did a few people from the audience who were wearing large fake plastic red lips. Bellevue Cadillac attract all kinds. That’s because, like last night’s show testifies, they are an amazing live act.
Thanks for the wonderful review. We had a blast!! Sean