January has been guitar lover’s heaven in LA, as by the third week Angelenos have had the chance to see and hear the likes of Lee Ritenour, Andy McKee, Johnny Rivers, Howard Alden and Tommy Emmanuel. Keeping up with fret paradise was Robben Ford, fresh from recording his latest album A Day In Nashville in tow with a smoking combo of Jim Cox/B3 (fresh from touring with Mark Knopfler), Stephen Baxter/tb, Brian Allen/b and Wes Little/dr for a 1 ½ set of a perfect blend of blues, jazz and funk.
And did I say blues? It seemed that each guitarist that’s come to LA has his own unique way of blending it into his style, and Ford lathered it on gloriously on pieces such as when he sang with his Mose Allison-inflected voice on the moaning’ “Midnight Comes To Soon” and shuffling “Slick Capers” or strummed and picked his strings until they begged for mercy on the swampy “Thump and Bump.” As will all things indigo, Cox’s B3 created broodingly murky waters for Ford to tread through as he testified with his axe and Baxter confessed on his trombone during a foreboding “Fool’s Paradise.” A driving “Cut You Loose” had the rhythm section snap and sizzle, while Ford brought the blues back home to church with a meditative “On That Morning” that mixed thoughtful guitar musings with ruminating keyboards. By the time the evening ended with everyone stretching out on the danceable “Nothing to Nobody,” Ford showed the packed house that in the world of six string gun slingers, he’s still at the top of the heap.
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