Arthur James Band played the “after party” for Barnfull Of Blues at Boondocks Tavern last night. Performing outside in the cool evening air, James and his rhythm section delivered some smoking blues and called others from the festival up to jam with them. The two year old Weare, New Hampshire Boondocks Tavern is located not far from the festival, so some local players had no trouble playing some more blues after sitting outside for eight hours. That might have also had something to do with the healing powers of Arthur James, but we can go into that more later.
James, and his rhythm section of drummer Johaan Haas and bass guitar player Bob “Dyno“ Dinozzi, began picking off some tender, brittle blues guitar notes, bulbous bass notes, and palpable drumming.
James and his boys went into “Blues, Blues, Blues” which found James singing with a husky hum in his timbre, reminiscent of the older blues men from the 1940s and 1950s. Next up was a Howlin’ Wolf number, James nailing the nimble rhythm. It sounded great being played in James’s guitar tone. James’s melodic phrase was killer, ground out with fiery precision.
James pulled out something old by a jazz pianist and he had to transcribe for guitar as he went along. James played a multitude of snappy, up tempo guitar notes to compensate for not having a jazz pianist in his combo. It was worth watching to see him racing along at breakneck pace to manufacture all of his notes.
James played his original “Oh Yeah,” and said something to the effect that people who use that phrase should pay him royalty fees. The song marries James’s tasteful blues guitar style to an R&B groove that you could definitely move your feet to. More importantly, James’s up tempo ringing guitar tones were a blast to listen to because you could hear his rhythmic quirks inside his main phrase.
The Arthur James Band’s take on “Ice Cream Man” offered a pleasant vocal harmony on the chorus. The tune was also packed with James’s tasteful guitar licks. If musical notes had flavors, James’s, here, would be the best damn chilly fries in the county. James also sang “Folsom Prison Blues” with an affected southern country accent. Fitting, as the shuffle beat tempo and the Memphis country blues guitar riffs rang out with clarity and purpose, putting everyone in the mood to scream “Yee-haw.” James showed he can rock it country style.
Eventually, James, being the generous, sharing, and some say divine(but more on that later) soul that he is, let some other folks up to jam with his trio. Second guitarist “Chicago” Paul Spera came up on stage to weave a mesh of that sharp brittle sound that James had been conjuring so well. Spera peeled off a sharp phrase that got hotter as he went along. Harmonica man Dennis McKenney played a sublime, pretty, whistling line amidst the brittle six string texture. The contrast made for a good batch of music. After getting warmed up, the harmonica man sang and played “Mother In Law Blues” with a warm folksy vocal.
Wearing a white cowgirl hat, the succulent Kendal Bush sang an even tempered version of “House Of The Rising Sun.” Firm and belty, Bush scaled true heights as her voice spiked in the more passionate moments of the song. Guitarist Steve Grill pressed out a mean ominous phrase. Bush then delivered a pleasant “Ain’t No Sunshine” that was fun for the players to jam on, its mellow pace leaving open moments for playfulness. Bush moved on to “Love Me Like A Man,” a number that let her show off her fetching rootsy timbre and her assertive delivery of its demanding lyrical theme.
Grill sang lead vocal on Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man.” Grill also joined James for a doubly twisty lead guitar phrase. More was certainly merrier as their sharp licks dovetailed into an interesting mix. “Every Day I Have The Blues” was a rollicking finish to the first set. Oldies rock and roll tones and aggression flavored it, making its presence felt in the twisty guitar parts, throbbing bass, and traditional drum beat.
John and Roxanne Mann from Roxanne And The Voodoo Rockers with bassist Mickey Maguire and McKenney on harmonica performed a slow burner blues that got Boondock’s owner MaryEllen Robinson-Montplaisir on the dance floor. Harmonica lines wafted in sweetly while James picked off some nice licks. Mrs. Mann sang over it all in an old fashioned blues chanteuse style. The same line up played “You Talk Too Much.” McKenney’s lilting, breezy, upbeat harp lines belied the true meaning of the song, bathing it in warmer hues than the annoyed lyrics. James, here, stepped on an effects pedal, sharpening his high notes to let loose another killer phrase before Haas impressed with a tidy drum solo.
Before I had to leave I head McKenney blow some more harp, switching easily from instrument to vocals with his country gentleman style. It was a good Arthur James Band gig and a good post Barnful Of Blues jam session as well. The whole evening passed by with a pleasant mood that showed no sign of the controversies that have been swirling around Arthur James in the last several weeks.
A Facebook group page entitled “Arthur James Is Not Bigger Than Jesus” is loaded with barbs, comments, and insights into James’s similarity to the Christian god Jesus Christ. It is not clear, from the various commentators, exactly what is going on. Some people interpret that the James album title Bigger Than Jesus went too far into the realm of blasphemy. Others seem to imply that James thinks he really is Jesus Christ, as described in the New Testament, and challenge him to perform miracles. While still others feel that James is endowed with divine powers and seek healing. Whatever is going on inside those discussions, it shows no signs of abating. One anonymous source, who would only identify himself as an occasional guest bass player for AJB, sounded only too human: ‘Working with Arthur keeps you on your toes, which is counter productive. His collection of hats is 
truly amazing. He has fired me on 26 consecutive gigs. Who the hell plays in A flat? This, I got it all in short , bald and grumpy.”
https://www.facebook.com/groups/124626750897106/?ref=ts&fref=ts
