Ah! A pair of Power Trios! One new, one veteran, one female and one male. What better way to spend a Sunday night?!?
Opening up for guitar legend Robin Trower was the Katy Guillen band, fresh from Kansas City. The team of guitarist/vocalist Guillen with Stephanie Williams/dr and Michelle Bacon/b displayed an enthusiastic set of originals, with the firm backbeat of “Not To Give Up” teamed with some nice guitar work by Guillen on “Earth Angel” as well as a nice vibe on the classic “Baby Please Don’t Go.” As authentic as a pair of faded blue jeans.
Has it really been 46 years since Robin Trower debuted his legendary debut album? I saw him at the Whisky A Go Go during that fledging time, and when I recently reminded him of that show, he gave a classic British response, “You’re old!”
Well, both he and I may be a bit aged, but the music style of the blues and its by Trower and his team of bassist/vocalist Richard Watts and drummer Christopher Taggart was simply timeless. Unlike most other blues rockers, Trower has never aspired for mindless vegematic chops on his Strat; instead he puts his emphasis as putting as much soul and feeling he can into each note, using his guitar almost like a paint brush to take you to musical portraits.
His opening salvo was the infectiously shuffled groove of “Too Rolling Stone” with Trower in an enthusiastic mood, and Watt’s blue-eyed soul of a voice perfectly gritty for the tune. A couple of songs from the recent album Coming Closer To The Day had Trower in strong voice as well on “Diving Bell” and the sweaty Chicago blueser of “Lonesome Road” as his fingers caressed the strings as if they were carved by BB and Freddie King. Taggart supplied a relentless R&B beat for a rollicking “The Fool and Me” before shifting gears for Trower to stretch out over the funky and smoke filled “Somebody Calling.”
Mixing in material from his classic first three albums, Trower rode the whip on the stallions as they stampeded on the thundering “Day of The Eagle” before the leader created a Hound of Baskervilles fog on a thick as molasses “Bridge Of Sighs” that was an ominous and foreboding delight. Trower’s selection of notes, pedals, dynamics and space filled the room with a misty fog of blue before shifting into wah wah mode for a steamy and blistering “Confessin’ Midnight.”
A beautiful take of the ballad “Daydream” displayed all of Trower’s strengths, as his slow and gentle buildup crystalline sparkles of starlike notes, calmly strolling to the climax was perfect in its simplicity and logic. Not a wasted note, space or thought, like all great chefs, he trusts the basic ingredients without having to overpower the flavor with extra spices. By the time he closed with the Hendrixy headbanger “Little Bit Of Sympathy” and the first encore, “Rise Up From The Sun,” Trower concluded the evening by delivering a gentle “For Earth Below” a title that served to summarize this man of faith’s attitude about his artistry, knowing ,as The Bible says, that “every good and perfect gift is from above.” It was a musical message that fit the evening of timeless blues well, stated by a musical prophet that has kept faithful to his message.
Upcoming shows at the Ventura Theater include Dwight Yoakam 7/25 and Justin Hayward 8/24