Bees Dexlux; Carol Band, Conrad Warre
A double billing of L&M Rhythm Kings with Bees Deluxe provided four solid hours of good music at Nelson’s Candies in Wilton, New Hampshire last Saturday night. If it got any better it would have been heaven.
L&M Rhythm Kings get their message of love across in songs built up over a locked in groove with organ and guitar doing snappy things spread over those crack rhythmic moves. L&M kicked things off with Ronnie Earl’s tune “Green Light,” a number with Larry Lusignan’s biting guitar licks spearheading the band’s driving rhythmic click. Mark Longo’s soulful organ surrounded those licks with something supportive, an added thickness that carried it well. Those soulful organ notes dropped like rain on “You Belong To Me,” a tune that offered fiery guitar just above the rhythm section’s steady stomp.
Two songs into the night and it was clear the L&M guys were going to keep everyone entertained with their snap, crackle, and pop. The audience, which was fairly sizable for a small town in New Hampshire, were by then bobbing heads, tapping their toes, and applauding L&M’s handling of tricky shifts in grooves, changes, tempos, and dynamics.
L&M gave “Without You” a gritty blues guitar line backed by a bulbous bass line. The gritty notes hit hard, landing in that low end glove. Lusignan’s mid-range vocal was well suited to reach up higher or move down lower, another layer of cool. His voice came in most handy when the rhythm section boys kept the groove thick but loose.
“The Lower Level,” the title track to L&M Rhythm King’s latest CD, offered a fun call and response chorus that hearkened back to a better time. Similar to the jump-swing blues of the 1940s, the lead vocal and the backing vocals reflected a true chemistry as drummer Glenn Rogers kept a pulpy groove beneath it all. Bass player Michael “Squid” Rush applied a bump of low end beneath Lusignan’s tasteful guitar work, pleasant, brittle notes that gently tapped danced around the groove.
Bees Dexluxe; Allyn Dorr
Another title off the new L&M disc, “Inside Out,” was played with tasteful self-restraint by Longo on his electric piano. Elegant ivory tinkling coolly conjured a 1920’s speakeasy or maybe a classy jazz piano bar. Longo crooned with a suave manner, vocally phrasing in the early blues style, putting just enough darkness before some slow rippling guitar notes. Each band member was a solid cornerstone, keeping this classy piece afloat with an easeful manner. Its down tempo crawl and the forlorn notes that fell onto the groove with melancholy persistence seriously served up emotions.
Since the L&M guys were on a roll with their latest release, they also played “Meadow Lounge” from the new album. Lilting melodies in the voice and guitar was a sweat chunk of change added to the wealthy sparkle in its piano rolls amidst splashes of bright drumming. This piece’s locked in groove made it possible for the upper registers to dance around the top.
L&M went into the their other new number “Smoke” with its late 1960s blues vibe intact. Its instrumental portion was flowing over the brim with wonderful rhythms and twists and turns in frenetic guitar and hard charging organ. The singers served up something special with their harmonies on the chorus, a fulfilling sound which sustained until an instrumental portion of organ swirl and lead guitar prettiness took over. Nice touches.
L&M also covered “Don’t Turn Your Heater Down” by Delbert McClinton and Tommy Castro. This jump-swing number gave Lusignan a chance to indulge in some guitar magic when he widen a briskly paced melody. Meanwhile, the rhythm section kept it festive, lively, and it made the whole event somehow feel bigger than a band playing in a room.
After their impressive lengthy set, L&M Rhythm Kinds made way for the progressive band Bees Deluxe. Bees Deluxe get off on playing challenging instrumental parts as well as rearranging classics into more progressive arrangements. Guitarist Conrad Warre immediately freed his guitar sound from convention al blues idioms on “What You Do To Me,” playing a flurry of notes over a wave of Carol Band’s organ chords. Warre’s phrasing cut through like a lean, mean laser beam.
Bees Deluxe; Paul Giovine
At other times throughout last Saturday night’s gig, Warre would play an echoey lead guitar, the notes reverberating like crazy. On “Traveling South” Bees Deluxe evoked a traveling sound with their paced groove. Then, switching gears to a hard rocking take on Billie Holiday’s “God Bless The Child,” the band giving it a lift, lofty keyboards, driving lead guitar. All was in perfect sync even as the lead guitar caught fire, brighter, wider, fiercer notes near the end.
Warred sang lower vocal notes on “Georgia” using his rasp for fine flavor while keeping it flinty with bits of sharp lead guitar notes. He unfurled a longer running phrase on Robert Cray’s “Bad Influence” grinding out a road house melody. Bees Deluxe utilized their talents to tackle the build up of The Beatles’ “She’s So Heavy,” a song kept familiar as it was already acidy enough for Warre’s guitar techniques. The rhythm section made the mountainous groove feel ominous in its development, carrying the torch and the angst of this classic.
The band played “A Quitter Never Wins” with a big bold approach as well as a rounded sound in Allyn Dorr’s bass guitar. The group moved it up in dynamics before dissolving it into a mellow groove. Band’s simmering organ work, Warre’s sharpened phrasing, Dorr’s muscular control, and Paul Giovine’s dominating drum work made this into something huge.
L&M Rhythm Kings at Nelson Candies in Wilton, New Hampshire
If that was not enough to convince the audience of this group’s combined mad genius, their progressive blues version of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy” surely sealed the deal. They built upon the original’s slow, hopping groove then they layered over it with more accented bass and drums, heavier keyboard notes, and some good guitar phrasing that teased out a more metallic sound. Bees Deluxe used an old time blues snap for “Homework,” showing that Bees Deluxe are originally from the same galaxy as the other musicians they cover.
Warre called Lusignan up to join his outfit, and the dual guitar approach had its own kind of magic. At certain moments they’d phrase simultaneously as when they playfully rolled out B.B. King’s “How Blue Can You Get.” Making Freddie King’s “Palace Of The King” rock right out was another treat that Bees Deluxe had in store for their Wilton, New Hampshire audience.
Nelson’s Candies’ new owner Nancy Feraco presented a night of fine blues and progressive blues entertainment by putting L&M Rhythm Kings and Bees Deluxe on the same bill. A stage and seating area on the other side of the candy shop’s location was perfect for local, regional, and national touring bands. It’s large enough for the music to flow and fill the room but just small enough for an intimate setting.
