The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Blues Society Celebrity jam at the Pine Loft on Sunday
It is the first Sunday of the month, and that means the Pine Loft Café will be host to the Connecticut Blues Society Celebrity Jam. This month’s special guest guitarist is Paul Gabriel. The music runs from 1-5 p.m. On Friday, the Richard Badowski Band is at the Pine Loft.
A favorite guitar-slinging powerhouse is back at the FTC Warehouse this Tuesday. FTC fans never get tired of seeing Tab Benoit pay them a visit. Part of that appeal lies in Benoit’s impressive, fiery guitar playing. The other part is probably the reputation he’s made around here for his high-energy show, that can knock you back and make you sit up straight. Of course his Louisiana touch helps. Besides his playing, Benoit heads the Voice of the Wetlands, a group that is concerned about the natural areas in his home state. Each year he hosts a Voice of the Wetlands festival in his hometown of Houma, Louisiana. With all the makings of an American music icon, Tab Benoit has become one of the premiere roots stylist of the century and becoming part of Louisiana folklore and legend.
Bruce Katz and his band will be at the the Acoustic on Saturday. Katz is a veteran musician that has been called upon by many. He is a veteran of the Allman Brothers extended family, playing in the Greg Allman Band and the Butch Trucks Freight Train Band. On the festival circuit this past summer, he sat in with friends John Hammond and the Alexis P. Suter Band.
Katz is a four-time (2008, 2009, 2010, 2015) nominee for the Blues Music Award (W.C. Handy Award) for “Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year,” selected by the Blues Foundation. While blues is a very important part of his music, it has more angles and influences, occupying a unique space where blues, “soul-jazz”, jam-band rock, and all aspects of Americana music collide into a style of original music all his own. He is equally comfortable playing a Hammond B-3 organ and piano.
Joining Katz is Steal Your Peach, making its Connecticut debut, performing the music of The Grateful Dead and the ABB. These guys have been playing clubs up and down the east coast. They are a mixture of some of the best and hardest working musicians in the Philadelphia area, specializing in the music of the Allman Brothers Band, while also blending songs of the Grateful Dead, blues and funk.
A number of new venues have made their way into Blues Beat. The Flying Monkey at Brainard Airport in Hartford has two shows this weekend. On Saturday it is the David Stoltz Trio. Along with Stoltz are Theresa Wright and Brad Rickert. You will get a dose of the blues with some jazz and soul. Then Sunday, Jeff Pitchell comes in.
Over in Waterbury at the Scoreboard Bar & Grill the Eran Troy Danner duo plays Friday from 5 to 8 p.m.
Sandy Connolly is at The Marketplace in Guilford from 7 to 8:30 on Saturday; and in North Haven, The Modeans are stopping in at E.J. Nevins Pub on Saturday,
Some changes in the open jam scene are worth noting. On Saturday nights, the Front Row Band leads a jam at the RedZone Grille in Plainville.
The Open Mic at the Outer Space is now held every Monday, hosted by Seth Adam.
Wednesday in New Haven, there is an Open Jam hosted by Pete Greco and Soul du Jour at Pacific Standard Tavern.
The Shamrock Pub & Grill has Crosseyed Cat on Saturday, where they are hosting everyone’s Birthday Bash.
The Chicago Blues Camp has a special offer for members of the Connecticut Blues Society. Members attending the camp and staying over for the Chicago Blues Festival Weekend will get a special discount. The camp includes a week of blues including 20 hours of group lessons from leading Chicago blues musicians, 10 hours of jam sessions, outings to world-famous blues clubs, lectures and workshops on blues history and weekend lodging near the free Chicago Blues Festival.
For more information, you can contact Brett Champlin, Executive Director, at Brett@ChicagoBluesCamp.com or 847910-0602.
This year, the 34th Annual Chicago Blues Festival will be held June 9-11, 2017 at a new location, Millennium Park. The park only holds 11,000, including seats and lawn. The former location, Grant Park, had a much larger capacity.
Remember to mark your calendars for two of the Connecticut Blues Society’s major events. The annual Blues Blizzard, the best blues dance party in the state, is slated for March 25.
Then, starting on April 20 and running four weeks is the Connecticut Blues Society Band Challenge at Black-Eyed Sally’s. These are the preliminaries which eventually will send the state’s band to Memphis for the International Blues Challenge.