Bill Sims Jr.
(vcl/gtr/pno); Chaney Sims (vcl); Junior Mack (vcl/gtr); Vincent Bucher (hca);
Kenny ‘Beedy Eyes’ Smith (dms); Bruno Wilhelm (ten/arr); Didier Havet
(tmb/tub); Michel Feugère, Jean Gobinet (tpts).
(Review by Lance)
“The grit of low-down country and urban blues
with the bold brass of New Orleans; the hand-clapping fervor of gospel
punctuated with fiery postmodern, jazz-infused horn arrangements; the haunting
cries of work songs and pulsating drums that reach back to the real roots of it
all. You’ll journey across the Middle Passage, be driven down Highway 49 from Clarksdale to New
Orleans
The
above is taken from the band’s website and lays out perfectly the down home feel of tonight’s big one.
Some amazing blues playing and
singing and all-round professionalism exuded from each and everyone on stage.
The audience too interacted – when I saw Hannabiell and Yilis sitting in the
row behind I knew this was going to be good – they know the score.
Chaney Sims can sing – boy can
she sing be it soul, jazz, blues, gospel or rock ‘n’ roll she can do it. And so
can her pappy Bill Sims Jr.. Big daddy plays a mean guitar and sings the blues –
plays piano too. Junior Mack’s the other guitar and he too knows his way around
fretboards and vocal chords.
You want harp playing? You got it
with Vincent Bucher – I hope some of our local harpists were present – this was
a masterclass.
And a horn section to die for.
Trombone, smooth sounding; tenor sax gutsy, earthy; the two trumpets! They had
a duo blast that lifted the roof – one of the many highlights. Another was
Chaney singing St James’ Infirmary
with only piano backing. Emotive...
On drums, ‘Beedy Eyes’ Smith
drove things along culminating in a fantastic drum solo – effective and yet not
flamboyant.
A superb ending to a great
weekend.
Lance.
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