Peter Parcek
Some tribute shows come across like a work of art. Boston’s Peter Parcek and his trio along with special guests paid a glorious tribute to B.B. King as part of the On Stage series at the Chevalier Theatre in Medford, Massachusetts last Saturday night. By placing the band at the end of the stage with their backs toward the audience seats, the On Stage producers created a café style seating arrangement for patrons sitting on stage with the band. Last Saturday night’s show was packed, making the tribute a success financially as well as artistically.
Musically, it was hard for the musicians to go wrong. Peter Parcek is one of the greater-Boston area’s finest, most experienced blues musicians. His rhythm section, bassist Joe Klompus and drummer Marco Giovino, are known in their own right, and his guest singers and guest players are all name figures on the Hub music scene.
Opening with his own “Showbiz Blues,” Parcek began with his trademark bluesy slide phrase meandering across the soundscape before leading his rhythm section with one his more grindy guitar lines. His melodic phrase moved around wildly, like his fingers were on fire, his every note jumpy, nervous before settling back into his initial raw guitar sound.
For “World Keeps On Turning,” Parcek employed the low end notes on his guitar to mesh with drummer Marco Giovino’s tom work to make a nice thick groove. Parcek’s raw plaintive vocal found a good home amidst all that bulbous thumping. But when it was time for one his wiry guitar phrases, he made his guitar sing. He got his high notes feeling brittle, creating a sensation of flying high without a net.
Guest musician Jeremy Van Cleaves played a fiddle accompaniment to Parcek’s 2007 title track Mathematics Of Love. Bowing colorful lines, Van Cleaves put another layer of sadness next to Parcek’s emotive notes. Parcek soon unleashed a fury of notes that expressed the painful frustration this song is all about.
Parcek‘s take on Fred McDowell‘s “Kokomo Me, Baby” has practically become his own song after years of playing it. Turning it into an up tempo shuffle, Parcek rapidly picked his cascade of single notes as Van Cleaves picked a sweet melodic line on mandolin. Another cover, “She Likes To Boogie” by Frankie Lee Sims, got a fine treatment from Parcek’s sandpapery vocal, giving it an authentic feeling of yesteryear. He also made his guitar do all the boogying, his tasteful high notes were played in beautifully space intervals, making his song feel like it as spearheaded by something special, sharp, and soulful.
Jay Scheffler, Joe Klompus
Parcek’s original “Tears Like Diamonds” required Van Cleaves to return to the stage with his fiddle. His sweet melody alongside Parcek’s perky rhythmic notes was a strikingly good contrast that highlighted each well. Parcek’s instrumental “Rolling With Zah” let the three initial players showcase their sharp playing techniques. Within their tight compact sound they emitted tremendous runs of notes, knobby grooves, and a lot of tuneful drumming.
“Shiver” found New Hampshire’s star harmonica player Joel Latulippe blowing short, sharp lines around the groove. His harmonica skills cannot be denied. His phrase drove the band forward, spearheading with a fierceness that had plenty of bite and swagger. Parcek’s mortality song, “Ashes To Ashes,” was driven by the tom drum into a grind house blues with a spiritual zeal. The quartet made you feel it. Latulippe, known as Little Harpo in Manchester, New Hampshire, played a steady mix of feisty highs and a low end drone to bounce them off, and it was cool.
The trio, along with Latulippe and two players from the Manchester Horns, opened the B. B. King set with a jazzy instrumental blues. Guest singer Jay Scheffler, from the Ten Foot Polecats, had a perfectly rough blues voice, complete with color and tone, on “You Upset Me, Baby.” His husky drawl was put to good use here, emotive, like the king would’ve liked it, deep, loud, and flamboyant in vocal oomph.
Boston vocalist Andrea Gillis, whose no holds barred approach to “Rock Me, Baby,” made the song come alive with three dimensional sound. She packed a wallop. She’s one of those singers whose vocal prowess draws all eyes to her as she performs. Gillis also sang with show organizer Patrick Coman and Jay Scheffler on “When Love Comes To Town,” helping the band find the swinging swagger of the live number King recorded with Irish super group U2. Their trade off vocals sounded fantastic against the number’s fulsome groove, making sparks all the way to the end.
“Paying The Cost To Be The Boss” was a free flowing blues in the hands of this outfit, the flow getting its strength from the horn section. Light touches on the guitar and fiddle opened up a lot of space for Coman to bare his soul at the microphone. He made one feel the pain of working life, cutting into the soul of this song to bleed it dry and carry the message home.
Manchester Horns
Powered by Parcke’s snappy guitar line, “How Blue Can You Get” moved around like a snake with purpose through this tender cruise. The Manchester trumpet offered a vibrant lift, and it was uncanny how he contributed to the whirlwind of emotion in such a take your sweet time song. The title track from King and Eric Clapton’s CD “Riding With The King” found Coman leading while trading vocals with Parcek whose piping hot guitar line conjured memories of the year this album came out.
Another show organizer, Dino Cattaneo, came out to sing “Beautician Blues” and his quaintly gruff vocal felt so right over a sublime guitar melody. Ms. Gillis came back to the stage to belt “Thrill Is Gone” with her hefty timbre. She filled it up with mysterious longing as Parcek paid out his perky, emotive notes and Van Cleaves bowed a mournful longing.
Scheffler’s raspy delivery on “Every Day I Have The Blues” made it as real as Parcek’s wide, arcing guitar line, the thumpy groove, and the soulful horn lines. The entire ensemble came back to close out with “Woke Up This Morning Reprise” and the sorrowful wail coming from Latulippe’s harmonica coated the number in tasteful phrasing. It seemed to inspire the players since they went into their warmest horn lines and the most exuberant groove.
Last Saturday night was as fun as it was successful. All that fine blues music and all those fine area performers paying tribute to one of our country’s finest talents went over well with everyone in the audience, based on their enthusiastic response.
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