Boulder's Home Of The Blues BluesNews

CONGRATULATIONS, BOYS! I'm really happy for you and proud of you (we're friends; I'm allowed to be proud!).

Before I step into the near future with these guys and others, I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to all of you unable to make last night's performance with the Ronnie Baker Brooks Band. Damn! Just, DAMN! Chick has already summarized the evening, yet even in his capable hands, justice can't be done. You had to be here.

Don't miss another great night of music! We have The Insomniacs tomorrow night! As is evidenced by the headline herein, they've been getting some of the right and just recognition they deserve. I've written about them, Chick has written about them, and Colorado Blues fans are finally catching on. Come and join us to help them celebrate their recent award!

Oct 29th, 2009 - The Insomniacs were honored to be nominated this year for *three* Blues Blast Music Awards by Illinois Blues. They headed to Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago to participate in the awards show and to enjoy a great night of music. The band had the opportunity to back up "Sean Costello Rising Star Award" nominee Dave Gross for a blistering set and enjoyed hanging with old and new friends. It was a great night of music and excitement that culminated for the band when the final award was announced and The Insomniacs won the "Best Contemporary Blues Recording" category. They took the stage and closed the show with the help of fellow Portland great Curtis Salgado.

Wow, I would have loved to have been there. Maybe we can recreate it here tomorrow night, and give them the Boulders Home of the Blues Award for Best Contemporary Blues Recording. Just a thought. We actually might want to consider having a fan-driven, friendly competition with various categories. I'm liking it. Best facial expression will automatically go to Carlton Armstrong. You'll understand once you get to Chick's review of last night. Well, let's just get to it:

WOW! And DOUBLE WOW!! Last night Ronnie Baker Brooks raised the bar and created the new standard in blues nirvana for the Outlook. What an amazing freaking show! I keep saying the beauty of live music is that you never know what you are going to see or experience, and what you see will be a never-to-be-repeated performance. That was truly the case last night. This show should have been last Saturday because it was full of tricks and treats! With live music just about ANYTHING can happen...and believe me it did!!!!

First off, Ronnie Baker Brooks has become the ultimate entertainer. He gets better and better every time I see him. His voice is so smooth, his guitar playing is amazing! Tight, crisp and electrifying. RBB is carrying the Chicago blues torch of his father and setting the blues world on fire with it. He is a man obviously loving what he is doing, smiling and playing the hell out off his guitar. Roaming the crowd with his axe…shaking hands with his fans…and never missing a note. He made his Fender whisper and cry, then scream, shake and rattle the rafters! One trip through the crowd he took over the bar, used a whisky bottle as a slide, then made himself a drink and sipped it down...again never missing a note. Once his thirst wasquenched he climbed on top of one of the tables and kicked into a raucous “Sunshine of Your Love”! I was shaking and tingling…then realized that was only the end of set one!

Ronnie has a killer band backing him: Steve Nixon-keys, CJ Tucker–drums and Carlton Armstrong-bass, and Carlton is one of the coolest looking/moving entertainers I’ve seen. He has an evil look on stage but is the nicest guy off it. The added treat last night was one Jelly Bean Johnson, a killer guitar player who also joined RBB at the Greeley Blues Jam last summer. Jelly Bean is a helluva talent, a former drummer for Prince in the 80s, a producer on a Janet Jackson single, and above all else, a MONSTER guitar player! The duel action of Jelly Bean and RBB trading licks resulted in something so incredibly amazing I figured it had to be illegal. A virtual orgy for my ears! But as I said, this night was really something special. I’ve seen some great shows at the Outlook, where the guys run the gauntlet of their latest CD and it’s always some good stuff. But this was no ‘cookie-cutter’ set of the latest RBB CD. Every few minutes something/someone new was added. The second set brought up Lionel Young to weave his electric violin between whatever spaces RBB & Jelly Bean left between their notes. Then Rockin’ Jake joined with some blues harp and Bill Rich (Taj Mahal’s Bass player) switched off with Carlton. The jam was building to a fever, moving and grooving! Funky at times with a little Stevie Wonder “Superstition” tossed in. The Insomniacs were in the house, appropriate because NOBODY was sleeping through this gig (guitarist Vyasa Dodson had tried but Dean was nice enough to roust him from his room). So RBB coaxed Vyasa to switch off with Jelly Bean and Alex Shakeri took over twinkling the keys. The result was a tasty three way trade-off between Vyasa’s slick guitar, Lionel’s violin, and Ronnie’s growling Fender that was dazzling! Whew what a night! Hell I even bought a $40 RBB shirt,which BTW, makes it the most expensive shirt I ever bought in my life, but well worth it to commemorate this special night! On the Outlook website is this quote from my friend John Catt, “The future is bright if you turn off the light your TV gives off and get to a live show." Nothing could emphasize that statement more than the show at the Outlook last night. ~Chick Cavallero~

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