The Mavericks Hall 1
Friday July 19
Raul
Malo (lead vocals, guitar) Eddie Perez (guitar) Jerry Dale McFadden (keys) Paul Deakin (drums);Other instruments are
guitars, trumpet, sax, accordion, bass, and various percussion. Sorry, didn't catch the names of the
musicians.
(Review by Ann Alex)
Not
a jazz band, but music influenced by country, 1950’s pop, Tex-Mex, Latin and
Cajun. Three tiers of Hall 1 were full
of very enthusiastic fans of all ages who lapped it up, clapped along and
stood to move around to the music. The
band was very rousingly led by Malo. The
keyboards player was ultra extravert, dancing as he played and jumping about. The bass player stood out because of his mode
of dress, all in black except for a golden cross, and white jacket and top
hat.
This band had a big hit with Dance The Night Away, which readers
must surely have heard on the radio.
Tonight they were playing mainly songs from their latest album In Time. Numbers included Born To Be Blue; You Don’t Have To Love Me, Just Pretend; Mr Lonely;
Dance In The Moonlight. Not sure if all these titles are correct, but you
get the idea, mostly love songs. The
first encore was just Malo with guitar, doing a moving version of Here Comes The Sun, then the band
returned with generous further encores because of audience demand, so they
continued with numbers such as Guantenamera
and Twist And Shout, BSH left at this point, so for all I know, they could be playing yet to an appreciative audience!
The Reception
Earlier, we were treat to a press reception with a difference.
Instead of nibbles of vol au vents, salmon and sausages on sticks, we were offered genuine
Americana food
– jambalaya and corn bread, as mentioned in the songs. Jambalaya is rather like a spicy chicken
risotto and the corn bread had pieces of sweetcorn, a delicious flavour. Yummy!
After
s short introduction from Ros Rigby, up stepped Raul Malo of The Mavericks with
his guitar, playing a spirited rendition of Blue
Bayou. And not one singer but two,
as we also had a Johnny Cash song from Jon Langford (Mekons, Waco
Brothers). There is a free exhibition of
Langford’s paintings in the Sage this weekend, well worth seeing. The paintings are of American music giants
such as Hank Williams, and are for sale.
Free Outdoor Stage.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch - or rather the Free Outdoor Stage - more cooking with Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra, Big Red and the Grinners and a number of country bands.
Oh, and of course, Matthew E. White and the McCrary Sisters were over in Hall 2 - like at the International Jazz Festival there is just so so much going on.
Ann Alex.
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