I don’t know much about the blues. Well, I mean, I’ve had them and will probably have them again, but the musical genre of “the blues”…not so much. When I lived in Alabama, that’s a whole nother story, the guy I dated took me to see some very prominent blues musicians. But, it was all the same to me. It all sounded like…”ba, ba, da, ba, da, one night my baby, ba, ba, da, ba, da, she took my dog away, ba, ba, da, ba, da, one night my baby, ba, ba, da, ba, da, she took my dog at play”….you get the picture. But, last night, I saw someone special.
Pete Special is a Chicago Blues man, unlike any I have ever heard before. There is no huge band behind him. There is no typical lament in his lyrics. He, dare I say it, performs blues in a cabaret type style. That’s right, all you poo-pooers. He put the lyric first. The delivery is understated. There is hope even in his sadness. He delivers a song like it is a story to tell. A story he tells to a petite, big bosomed blonde he is trying to seduce. He growls to her about his needs, with a twinkle in his eye. And he wraps his well trained hands around the neck of his guitar with tender affection. The audience was his.
Near the end of the night, after some great up-tempo numbers, he sang What a Wonderful World. The loud, full room came to a deafening silence. We all knew the words. Nothing new was going to be said. But, his heart was apparent and the song was original all over again. It was quite masterful and as my musical director, Beckie Menzie, says “was earned”.
He graciously gives the members in his band time to be acknowledged by the audience with it not becoming masturbatory and self-indulgent. Something, from past experiences, is a rarity. Too often that can go on for years, as we applaud everyone in the band with a 3 minute solo, from the lead guitarist down to the guy playing the triangle. But even if it had gone on, these guys deserved that kind of attention. One of the best drummers I have heard in a long time, John Mahoney, and Matthew Longbons on bass gave Special support and took his performance to the next level.
I could have listened to him all night. He was at Uncommon Ground, a great venue for you to really get the whole package. The stage was close and you could see and hear everything with clarity. Go and see him. It will be a night that will bring a smile to your face.
