Tenby Blues Festival – Day 2 – It’s Not All about Guitars
Sean “Mack” McDonald Photo©Nigel Summerley
On a night of guitar heroics on yesterday’s second day of the Tenby Blues Festival, there were some side players who came very close to stealing the show.
But first, let’s hear it for Sean “Mack” McDonald, a US blues star making his UK debut. After making a swift recovery from referring to being in England (the capacity and primarily Welsh audience soon put him right), he won over the crowd and, with his generous servings of good-time blues, turned the De Valence into a vibrant dance hall.
An unshowily fluent guitarist with a keen sense of dynamics, McDonald has the additional advantage of a great voice and some downhome humour.
But his set – which happily took in blues classics such as You Don’t Love Me, a tribute to Johnny Otis and a Chuck Berry medley – would have lacked a certain amount of soul if it were not for the inspired sax playing of Sylvain Tejerizo. The horn player really did take the music to another level and he must take a large part of the credit for keeping the dancers dancing.
Sax man Sylvain Tejerizo Photo©Aline Whitaker
Kaspar and the Swamp Dogs Photo©Nigel Summerley
It was a similar story with Kaspar and the Swamp Dogs… Kaspar Berry Rapkin treated us to a high-energy set of contemporary blues, which he styled as Neo-Delta. That genre label seemed to fit well, since his guitar playing was grounded in the roots of the country blues but played with a youthful 21st-century exuberance.
Once more, though, honours must go to Swamp Dogs drummer Mia Casey. As with Sylvain Tejerizo, things would have been a lot less compelling without her playing. She is a phenomenally good drummer, always listening, always responding and always doing the right thing in the right place at the right time. Her technique is awesome but her emotional fills were even more so.
Mia Casey Photo©Nigel Summerley
Also on the bill was C Bone, a guitarist who probably would have shone, even without the support of an excellent rhythm section. He plays a lot of notes, but his solos often had a lyrical and thoughtful quality. There were shades of Albert King and even Peter Green, but above all he put me in mind of the blues output of Gary Moore.
All in all, it was another great night at the De Valence… and there is still one more to come tonight.
Tenby Blues Festival continues today – full details and tickets: www.tenbyblues.co.uk.
C Bone Photo©Aline Whitaker
