HALF CENTURY OF SOUL
Boz Scaggs to perform at Troy music hall
» Blue-eyed soul artist Boz Scaggs is coming to the Collar City next week for a performance at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.
“I’m at a point where I’m having a lot of fun with music, more than ever,” Scaggs said about his most recent album A Fool to Care. “It’s like I’m just going wherever I want to go with it.”
The singer-songwriter and guitarist will play selections from A Fool to Care, along with a variety of songs from throughout his impressive 50-year career as a blues and rock musician at his upcoming local show at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in downtown Troy.
Fans who have followed Scaggs’ remarkable career dating back to the late sixties with the Steve Miller Band; his solo triumphs with such classic albums as Silk Degrees (1976) and Middle Man (1980); and the splendid assurance of late-period high points like Some Change (1994) and Dig (2001), will instantly recognize Scaggs’ characteristically deft touch as a singer. He brings a sly drawl to a funky workout like Li’l Millet and the Creoles’ “Rich Woman,” a conversational intimacy to Bobby Charles’s “Small Town Talk,” and an elegant delicacy to the Impressions’ “I’m So Proud.” He easily negotiates the Latin flavoring of “Last Tango on 16th Street” and “I Want to See You,” both written by San Francisco bluesman (and longtime Scaggs compatriot) Jack Walroth.
The inspirational heart of the 12 tracks on A Fool to Care lies in the sounds of Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma that played such a vital role in shaping Scaggs’ musical sensibility, but they venture forth boldly from there, ranging from the seductive New Orleans rumble of the title track to the wry social commentary of “Hell to Pay” and a heartbreakingly wistful interpretation of The Band’s “Whispering Pines.”
As he did on his most recent previous album, Memphis (2013), Scaggs worked with producer Steve Jordan and a telepathic core band consisting of Jordan on drums, Willie Weeks on bass, Ray Parker, Jr. on rhythm guitar and Jim Cox on keyboards. “Steve works on a high energy level,” Scaggs said of his prized collaborator. “It’s relaxed and easy, but also very highly charged. His direction is laser-focused, and his playing is intense. It’s a whirlwind and he’s a strong leader, but it’s also lovely and loose and cool. That’s all a comfort to me. I’ve produced myself and I feel pretty solid in the studio, but it’s really nice for me not to have to do anything but help select the material and be free to be a singer and a guitar player.”
Scaggs believes that this album and Memphis, its immediate predecessor, might turn out to be the first two parts of a trilogy, a three-album collaboration with producer Steve Jordan and the band of musicians.
Tickets to Tuesday’s show are available for $49 to $79 each. They are available online at www.troymusichall.org, via phone at (518) 273-0038, or in person at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Box Office.
More information on the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and upcoming programs is available online at www.troymusichall.org.
Additional information about Boz Scaggs is available at www.bozscaggs.com.