During a busy weekend in the Boston music scene, I caught part of the action at Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ & Blues Sixth Anniversary Party And Pig Roast last week. I got their just in time to catch a lengthy set by saxophonist Nat Simpkins, guitarist Joe Pappas, and keyboardist James Ventola. The trio were playing a mellow, flavorful set of vintage instrumentals that certainly set the mood for an early afternoon pig roast.
The saxophone’s heavenly melodic flow spoke of an earlier time in New Orleans musical history. Guitarist Pappas sung in a mean low blues tone that sounded like he meant business when he uttered “Have Mercy On Me If You Please.” Pappas also played a beauty of a guitar line on “Hot Shot.” New Orleans music factors in heavily at Smoken’ Joe’s. Owners Joe and Wendy Dodd have visited the Big Easy many times and their visits, in part, inspired their creation of their Brighton venue. The restaurant also features a nod to Mardi Gras every February.
Simpkins put an extra thick throaty texture in his sax lines in “Night Train” that perfectly punctuated the old blues number. The sax man also got it more racing, oldies style, later on and finished with a line that made the sax cry out the notes.
A breezy but soulful version of Ray Charles’ “I’ve Got A Woman” found Pappas singing it low and full of feeling. A King Curtis number let Simpkins put in a drawling horn line, soulful, and he played it with panache, utilizing his unique way of injecting color into his melody.
The trio were soon joined by Sir Cecil on the drums and Matt Sambito on bass guitar, insuring that there would be plenty of beat driven blues for the remainder of the set. Pappas sang “Natural Ball” with a rhythm section behind him to allow for a more assertive approach. Ventola tapped out a barrelhouse piano line while Simpkins added muscular sax swells.
Next up was the newer band The Symbolics, fronted, in part, by Smoken’s Joe’s own charming, diminutive general manager CJ Reese on keyboards and vocals. The Symbolics are also fronted by Ben Bullock on vocals and acoustic guitar. The melodic offerings from this band is staggeringly good. The keys, acoustic guitar, and a saxophone insure that The Symbolics will always have a lot going on in their bluesy, folk-rock numbers. Their second number meandered pleasantly along multiple melodic lines on a Robert Zimmerman tune.
Their third song featured smooth harmony vocals that expressed the rangy possibilities of this band in their swiftly changing tempos. Their fourth song had a sly groove coming from the rhythm section that allowed Reese, Bullock, and their saxophonist to deliver words and melodies with he propelling force of a marching band. The Symbolic’s delivered “Josephine” with depth and meaning before jumping into a funky groove number with a hefty sax line. A hand-clapping fun song had a great palpable bass line before The Symbolics went into a sprightly, jazzy version of “House Of The Rising Sun.” Reese handled lead vocals on one song with a belty roar and husky drawl that showed she’s not your average, run of the mill restaurant general manager.
That was all I could catch of Smoken’ Joe’s Sixth Anniversary Party before I had to make it to a family function at another part of town. Smoken’ Joe’s continued success insures that blues and roots bands will have a good home in the city of Boston for some time to come.
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