Racky Thomas Band played Smoken’ Joe’s in Brighton, Massachusetts last night, and they made a good addition to the small restaurant’s annual Mardi Gras celebration. Thomas whipped up several New Orleans flavored blues tunes that rocked the room. He was also a dynamic watchable presence that kept all eyes on him, that is until one of his impressive backing band were doing something you didn’t want to miss. And those guys were certainly something, each one a story onto himself.
Aside from the crack backing band, the other highlight was that Thomas sang many of his tunes into an old-fashioned microphone that made his voice sound like something off of an old vinyl record. Thomas sounded vintage, crooning into that microphone, like it was dialed in from a radio station from the past. Thomas had the very crowded room handclapping to his first number and he pulled them into the music that way many times throughout the night.
Thomas’s sense of the yesteryear tone paired well with Peter Henderson’s blues drenched lead guitar. At some points that lead guitar just merrily skipped along to a jolly, jaunty rhythm. Henderson went into some mean blues phrasing that fit well with the sound Thomas creates with voice, microphone, and harmonica, creating a wide array of something colorful, moving, tremendous, as if Henderson was the musical carpenter fleshing out Thomas’ vision of New Orleans blues club from an earlier time period.
Bass player Mudcat Ward played with a lot of depth, breadth, and width, rocking his upright like the huge instrument was a toy he could do anything he wanted with. There were moments when that upright was more melodic the guitar or piano and moments when it kept the beat like a big bass drum. There wasn’t a song on Thomas’ set list that Ward couldn’t bring down low into a groove filled magic. Listening to all that Ward whipped up may make one wonder if people will start saying “Mudcat Is God.”
Racky wielded a mean harmonica, playing a locomotive of melody, belting it out in his own soulful way while an underbelly of piano notes from Matt McCabe filled out the rest of the space in some songs. McCabe seems to have a penchant for ragtime and barrelhouse. He had his best moments when the piano melody lines got greasy, sliding over the left hand low end notes, like he could really rock the house with just the keyboards alone. “There’s Been Some Lonely Lonely Nights” was a sad slow ballad in which the piano tinkling conjured the lonely misery of the subject matter while simultaneously shedding the sadness by delving into it and showing us it’s not so bad. You could feel the crying notes that poured out of Henderson’s tender guitar as they rang out with an authenticity of soul.
Thomas lead the band into a New Orleans flavored rendition of “Tiger Man” that rocked, swung, and swayed all at the same time. The tempo was a little slower than the Elvis Presley version, yet that only gave the band more of a playground to fill in the space with gumbo flavored stylings. Thomas sings in a homemade style that combines southern gospel, blues, and New Orleans rock and roll. His inflections combine all but he turns it into something fun and engaging rather than play like a paint by number encyclopedia of genre. Ward took “Tiger Man” down low into some place where cool and soul meet. You could feel the palpable pluck coming from his upright. You should have seen him go. After all these years, Ward can still play like a young hotshot.
The band had a field day with many of the classics, turning them into something new and fresh despite how familiar they are to us. “Money Honey” came off in perfect 12 bar blues in the pocket and Big Joe Turner‘s “Roll ‘Em Pete” was a delight of piano rolls and “Jambalaya was rumbling with largeness and fun. Thomas nailed the soulfulness to Fats Dominoes’ “Walking To New Orleans” and so did the band behind him. You could almost feel the footsteps of someone walking down a long pave road because the band enlarged that bumpy, take your sweet time rhythm. Drummer Michael Avery carried the rest of the band well here and during many other number as well. Avery plays in an understated method that lets him move the band through many rhythmic twists and turns without ever playing loud and flashy.
T Bone Walker’s “The Hustle Is On” was rollicking fun while Henderson’s breezy, easy going guitar lead had a sharp, feisty tone, that when played slowly, were filled with fire. “The Girl I Love(She Got Long Black Wavy Hair)” was another oldie but a goodie from the blues category that Racky Thomas Band made their own.
Jimmy Rogers “Lonesome Blues” found Henderson’s lead guitar following the bopping beat and adding colors and tones like a chef adding the right amount of seasoning. The Racky Thomas Band has combined the grit of early rock and roll with New Orleans flavored piano and harmonica blues. Almost anybody could find something to like in this mix. The only thing bad about last night’s show was it was over too soon. Serious music fans would be well advised to keep checking the Racky Thomas schedule for his gigs and format. Last night was nothing like what Thomas usually does with his solo dobro gigs, and he probably can play out in many different pairings, trios, whatnot to capture the essence of some important period in American music.
