Guest Book

With the embers still aglow from Chastain Park this past weekend, the Buffalo crew headed out under a brilliant full moon to UB (University at Buffalo) to see Susan grind her groove in support of her new, upcoming release. Denise, Peachygurl Heidi and a good friend and myself joined a cozy little preshow gathering hosted by Gailagain and BuffaloBill in their lovely home to kick off the evening in fine fashion. We also had the pleasure of seeing the whole Bomberry family in attendance at the show, as well. Susan played a healthy dose of her new material before the adoring crowd who, (including myself), loved the compositions. I have not had the opportunity to preview any of the new songs, so it was my first time hearing them, as they were presented live with her new (to me) band line up. She really put on a well balanced show, combining old fan favorites from her earlier works, with new material all blended together with some soul stew-like seasoning. It’s really quite pleasing to watch Susan evolve as a performer. The raw harshness, and gutsy, in-your-face, brashness is still in there when she reaches for it, but today she is far more thoughtfully poised and graceful in her delivery. The maturity of her live performance, combined with her experiences touring with other high caliber musicians is very evident as she directs the onstage musical flow, while blending her own ample skills of delivering either blistering energy, deep rooted soul or barely audible subtle sweetness. After numerous shows of observing the ABB and DTB, you can see the osmosis that has penetrated Susans’ psyche and has helped to shape her live performance. The musical on-stage directional leadership qualities ever so subtly communicated to key individuals, keep things on track while nailing her own pieces of the interplay, are lessons learned from a masterful ABB who have raised those skills to an art form. You can see this in the Mule, the DTB and all the related family bands. My impressions of a show are greatly influenced by a variety of factors, one of which is position. A mid range distance from the stage allows me to hear a well blended and balanced sound, with decent sight lines and affords me the opportunity to really appreciate the show on an all encompassing performance level, and really listen to the songs as presented. At a far distance from the stage, (like the lawn or the cheap seats), the performance nuances are lost to me, as the concert serves more as great background music for a really fun party, with the emphasis on the party and the social interaction with other fans. At a very close proximity, I get caught up in the musicians tactical maneuvers where I watch for cues, facial expressions, a bit of the behind the scenes support and actual hand-eye coordinated executions of how they do what they’re doing. I think my overall preference would be the midrange, where you get a little of everything, but the songs themselves are king. In any event, Susan’s current tour seems to be one of her best, where she is wonderfully coming into her own, maturing as an artist and raising her stature through a very fortunate career with access to other very talented individuals. Last nights Buffalo show was reviewed in the local news and is copied for your reading enjoyment right here….. ------------------------------ Susan Tedeschi a brash blues force By Garaud MacTaggartNEWS CONTRIBUTING REVIEWER Updated: 10/15/08 9:04 AM Susan Tedeschi is a Bostonborn blues chanteuse and guitarist whose career as a band-leader began back in the mid-1990s but whose popularity on the jam band circuit has soared since she began touring in support of the Allman Brothers Band and eventually marrying one of their guitar wizards, Derek Trucks. She has a distinctively brash and forceful voice, one that is capable of communicating a song’s core with equal parts verve and subtlety. When Tedeschi sings, the lyrics burst out of their shackles to become real and vital stories of a heart’s passions and trials. In concert, new songs like “700 Houses” — which she cowrote with John Leventhal and details the emotional and physical devastation inflicted upon a population by Hurricane Katrina and other forces of nature — are delivered with considerable feeling for the people and places talked about in the lyrics. Tedeschi can also take “Magnificent Sanctuary Band,” a gospel tune written by former rockabilly star Dorsey Burnette and recorded by Donny Hathaway (among others), and drive it to the church in a blues Cadillac. Tuesday night’s concert in UB’s Center for the Arts was crowded with moments like these and the audience ate it up. It didn’t matter what material Tedeschi and her band played, old or new, the people who bought the tickets also bought her presentation. They were applauding every song, voicing their approval after solos and bantering with the artist, all of it in such a way that everything meshed together and made the hall seem smaller and more intimate. Her band was tight and the solos were, on the whole, brief and to the point. When guitarist Dave Yoke or saxophonist Ron Holloway stepped up for their moments in the spotlight it was a joy to hear how many ideas they could compress into each eight bar nugget. Opening up for Tedeschi was Chicago-based singer/songwriter Joe Pug, whose vocal mannerisms and song structures are throwbacks to the early 1960s when Bob Dylan was prowling the streets of New York and singing songs inspired by Woody Guthrie. His sly, good-natured humor won over the audience and his songs displayed a quirky outlook at life, love and politics that somehow seemed to hit all the right notes. “Not So Sure” was one standout that deserves to be covered by other folk or country music artists while the lyrics for “I Do My Father’s Drugs” were about so much more than what the title implies. Pug has opened for Tedeschi before and despite the apparent oddity of an acoustic folk dude, complete with capoed guitar and harmonica rack, setting the stage for a high impact electric blues band, the billing worked pretty well. Concert Review Susan Tedeschi Tuesday night in the University at Buffalo Center for the Arts, Amherst.