The Shirley Lewis Band rocked the crowd at Smoken’ Joe’s in Brighton last night. Lewis, despite getting on in years and needed to “take it easy” still made it a party with her vivacious spirit. Several people remained in her audience until the grand finale.
As a bonus attraction Lewis had local legend Chris Stovall Brown providing guitar support. Stovall Brown warmed up the Smoken’ Joe’s crowd with an easy going electric blues guitar at a polite volume during dinner time. He picked off some snappy phrases that were marked by brittle high notes as he eased on down the road.
Bass player Rob “The Colonel” Downs sang lead vocals on Bobby Womack’s “A Woman’s Gotta Have It.” Hefty grooves from the low end tugged the ear while Stovall made this song his woman, caressing notes out of his guitar, making them moan with lower end chord progressions. After the R&B classic Stovall dove back into some exciting blues idioms on his Telecaster. You’d swear he was making that guitar sing in the native language of the six string. Stovall Brown made it cry out high sorrowful notes that seemed to resonate forever.
Soon, it was time for the Regal Queen Of The Blues, Ms. Shirley Lewis, to arrive at the microphone. Lewis eased through a medley of classics. Her mellow take on “Let The Good Times Roll” chased the dynamic around the room. Lewis just lets her voice glide through the spaces left open by her thumpy rhythm section. Stovall Brown put his three cents in, sending a mean, crunchy phrase through the ceiling. Lewis took over with a slight touch of her skills, shifting tempos and singing faster than a record on 33 rpm. She soon brought it down slow with B.B. King’s “Since I Met You, Baby.” Lewis said she was going to blow horn before cupping her hands over her mouth and humming in simulation of a saxophone. This inspired Stovall Brown to step up his game to play something tasteful, artful, and inspired.
Lewis was all charm on Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me.” Her sweet feminine voice pulled the joyful love out of each verse. You could hear the affectionate, respectful tone in every note that she carried up high and then sustained. Stovall Brown carried the torch himself for a bit before Lewis regained control of the timeless classic and infused it with her own special charm. It was cool to hear her finesse a few sweet notes at a time, finishing things up pretty as a song bird.
Lewis got much more aggressive during her delivery of Aretha’s “Chain Of Fools.” She rocked it up tempo, relentless, making you feel how the song is giving someone a piece of its mind. Stovall Brown played it deep, all the way to the bone, ripping some gravitas up to the surface with his incisive highs. Lewis also socked it to the crowd with segues into “Respect” and “Think” and even “Ease On Down The Road.” Lewis dedicated “Do right Woman” to her friend Karen who was in attendance. Needless to say, Lewis nailed the gritty honesty of the song as well as the brilliant vocal spikes that mark it.
Lewis showed a little bit of her jazz side with speedy vocalizations of “Yellow Basket.” She opened up some space for “The Colonel” Ron Downs to play a fulsome low end solo on his bass guitar and also for a brief but adept drum solo from Richard Malcolm. For “I’d Rather Go Blind” the band built a warm platform so Lewis could do her mournfully beautiful interpretation of this gem of an Etta James classic. Stovall Brown buttressed the tender emotions by making his guitar sound like it was crying, in mourning. Yet, it was Lewis who brought this tender ballad to three dimensional life with her preternaturally good coos. Segue into a mid-tempo, blissful interpretation and Lewis finished “Blind” like it has always been a breezy R&B number.
The band jammed for a bit, playing a wild two step shuffle in overdrive, Stovall Brown making his higher electric notes scream out in soul-felt expressions of human emotion, joy, pain, sorrow, party time, he plays it all through his instrument just like he sends his notes through the amp.
Guest lead vocalist and long time Lewis friend Valerie Stevens proved herself a Queen in her own right. She was a phenomenal belter on “Phenomenal Woman” with her husky rasp and force of nature personality intimidating the microphone. Segue into “Fever” and she made it even more mischievous fun with her twisty take on things. Stovall Brown unleashed a 900 degree smoldering guitar phrase that sounded like it was fighting its way up from the fiery depths of Dante’s Inferno.
“Down Home Blues” was another show stopping, crowd pleasing number in Steven’s hands. Her massive, husky belt could’ve beaten back that latest hurricane. Stovall Brown chimed in with buzz saw mean chords and notes that put more the necessary meat behind the bombastic vocal presentation.
Bass man “The Colonel” Ron Downs took over for a bit, using his Motown influenced coos to set the stage for his appropriately romantic delivery of “Just My Imagination.” Local boy Big Jack Ward was in the crowd, and Lewis recruited him to sing “Big Boss Man,” a number that oozed an air of authority on the strength of the most pitch perfect blues vocal in the state. For a guy who looks like he could be a banker by day, Ward has a really cool voice for getting down to brass tacks in his blues numbers. One was highlighted by Stovall Brown’s note bending frenzy to make the instrument cry out in pain, as only a true blues electric guitarist can do. Here, the rhythm section kept it in a deep pocket while things got crazy above the calm surface.
Peter Black, DJ from 95.9 FM WATD radio show Wide World Of Blues went up to the microphone. He complimented Smoken’ Joe’s owners Joe and Wendy Dodd on the fine job they have been doing keeping a blues momentum going on in the city of Boston with their establishment venue. Soon, Ms. Lewis was back to business singing Koko Taylor’s “You Can Have My Husband,” cruising through the winding road of twisty lyrics. Lewis went into one of her originals that showcased her powerhouse barnstormer vocal belt just before the bridge. Then, a little comedy in which Stovall played his guitar behind his back and Malcolm one upped him by playing his drums while his back was turned to the kit.
Lewis belted out the party vibe of Jimmy Rogers “You Got Me Runnin’” which found Stovall Brown walking his guitar notes leisurely around the meter. He also punctuated the song with authority using slamming chords while Lewis applied her quick delivery of the shout-sung song. Lewis called her friend Stevens back up to the fore to sing backup on “Stand By Me.” Lewis’s opening coos and crooning were graceful sketches of voice for this sweet oldies number. Listening and watching Lewis and Stevens working together so smoothly made you realize the amount of history each has in music. You just can’t build something that monumental that easily without years of experience.
Shirley Lewis Band never fails to dazzle with a combination of high class, high caliber talent, and a high appreciation for showing the crowd a good time. Last night at Smoken’ Joe’s was no exception.
