Blues Festival Wrap-Up

Kudos for Cavallo 

Saturday began in Clinton Square with a historic act at 2 p.m., the 85-year-old—though he looks and sounds years younger—Jimmy Cavallo and The Houserockers. But before the band played a note of their jump blues, local bluesman Ron Spencer joined Cavallo on stage. Spencer talked about Cavallo’s contribution to the art form as the first white performer to play the Apollo Theater in Harlem, a full year before Buddy Holly took the same stage. He broke into the music world with the song “Rock, Rock, Rock” in 1956 featured in the film of the same name, and has continued with music since, including in collaboration with Spencer. 

For those reasons, he was chosen and recognized as the inaugural inductee into the Blues Archives Hall of Fame and presented with an award. “The only thing wrong with being a pioneer,” Cavallo joked, “is that you got to get old.” 

But Cavallo didn’t perform as you’d expect as 85-year-old might. His voice is still strong, his stage presence is still lively and feisty and his tenor sax playing is still as healthy and forceful. The group went through classics like “Everyday I Have the Blues” and Cavallo’s band, including Dave Solazzo on keys and Joe Carello on alto sax, kept it tight and moving, highlighted by honking horns and killer keys solos.

Cavallo reminisced about the old days at Sylvan Beach, hundreds of jitterbuggers in his audiences and the Syracuse Area Music Award (Sammy) for Best Rhythm n’ Blues he won in 2007 with “these delinquents up here,” as he jokingly called his talented backing band. Cavallo still makes for an effective bandleader, directing the movement of the music, the pace of the tunes and the order of the solos. Charming, funny and witty as ever, the band put on a fun, jumping set with old favorites from Big Joe Turner—“Flip, Flop and Fly”—Cavallo’s own claim to fame, “Rock, Rock, Rock” and a Ray Charles medley indcluding “Georgia on My Mind” and “What’d I Say.” The set ended with a take on “America the Beautiful” that had the crowd singing, standing and cheering loudly and appreciatively by the end. 

Cavallo was sure to plug Spencer and direct the audience’s attention to the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Stage (along South Salina Street) as Spencer, strapped with his mossy, turquoise green guitar, and his band got the beat moving with a beachy rock vibe. “Your Kiss” swung with a boogie-woogie jump blues beat and “Rollercoaster Blues” featured blistering keys and sax solos from Dan “Cato” Eaton and clever lyrics, “You’re my rollercoaster baby / I’m gonna take a ride until your mine” delivered by the animated Mark Gibson. 

The band played old favorites and new songs, like “Here I Am Again,” slated for a record due out later this year and kept the audience riveted, despite the increasingly oppressive heat, thanks to their relentless, grinding solos and well-practiced stage show. The Ron Spencer Band isn’t only fun to hear, with their visible band chemistry, they’re also fun to watch. 

The pace didn’t slow with the switch of stages as Deanna Bogart took her turn. Dressed in a light pink tank and black dress pants, the energetic brunette wasted no time in showing off her own boogie-woogie tunes and her dynamic skills on the keys. With a style reminiscent of the soulful and funky Marcia Ball, Bogart bounces and wails, interacts playfully with her audience and switches often from keys to tenor sax.

Though the set leaned heavily on the jazz end of the spectrum, Bogart bumped the blues as well and featured her impressive bandmates along the way, especially highlighting bassist Scott Ambush, who got funky with some slap, adding extra attitude to the set. 

Audience-favorite moments included when Bogart and the boys played an extended version of “Still the Girl in the Band,” which at one point found all but Bogart leaving the stage. They left her to her piano, her bassist, playfully swinging the mike away from her lips mid-sentence as he walked by. Bogart kept talking about her stint as the girl in the band in her teens, 20s, 30s and more, keeping the audience rapt with her charming, though a little hokey, sense of humor. But it was when she let loose on the black and whites that she really got the Square’s attention. Her fierce and free solo had her bouncing forcefully all over the keyboard before the band returned to their instruments and broke back into the song. 

Bogart held on to that won attention during “Sweet Pea,” a song about her first moments latching onto music when she was 5 years old, by grabbing her tenor sax and walking through the crowd to play and dance among the fans who loved the performer’s unbridled energy. 

Local group, Big D and the Tasty Café, jumped up next on the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que stage, filling in for the Canada-based River City Junction, held up by unattainable work visas. Big D delivered covers of classics spanning Bill Withers’ “Use Me,” The Miracles’ “You Really Got a Hold On Me,” and several from The Allman Brothers Band.

After the classic covers, it was time for the slick voice and killer harp of Mitch Kashmar. The unassuming group hopped on stage, with the thin, yellow-rimmed sunglass-wearing guitarist Terry Robb, to Kashmar’s right, quickly drawing the most attention. Kashmar ripped the harmonica apart and has a solid, smooth voice, but Robb stole the show with sizzling slide guitar and untamed riffs. 

Robb took a turn singing a few tunes, showing off a voice with a twang that sang, “Sail on my little honey bee … I don’t mind you sailing / baby, please don’t sail so long … I hear a lot of buzzing / sounds like my honey bee,” and with that Robb made his guitar buzz just like his honey bee. He also impressed with his interpretation of Grant Green’s “Idle Moments,” awing the audience to silence. 

Billy Thompson was up next, a player with a sturdy resume playing with cats like Art Neville. He channeled some Stevie Ray Vaughan in his ferocious solos with a voice that emanates passion like a fiery Gregg Allman. Thompson sang a perfect “Into the Mystic” despite his crackling guitar, a result of technical issues. Regardless, he stuck through it until he could swap in another guitar to finish out the set with some rocking swing blues. 

Clinton Square was filled by the time the Brooks Family Blues Dynasty took the stage at 8 p.m. and with good reason. Ronnie Baker Brooks and Wayne Baker Brooks, sons of the legendary Lonnie Brooks, each delivered his own solo material before papa joined the boys on stage and both proved, as Ronnie said, “He {Lonnie} taught us everything we know,” then with a smirk, “but not everything he knows.” 

The crowd was loud, large and appreciative of the family on the stage, a group that has their stage show down to a science. Guitars flew behind heads, guitar necks got twisted up and shared and players danced around the stage, without a beat missed. All the while, bassist Carlton Armstrong kept the funk in full effect with nasty basslines on his extra long guitar neck and a consistently severe facial expression. When the band jammed all together, the result was some seriously heavy, head-banger blues, never lacking in energy. Perhaps Ronnie’s request helped: “I know it’s been hot all day,” he acknowledged, “but the more energy you give us, the more energy we give you.” 

They delivered hard, tough and chugging Chicago blues and the energy only went up as the sun went down. The family kept the audience connected by playing through some Muddy Waters that had the Square shouting, “I just wanna make love to you,” and Ronnie kept listeners laughing with his Waters, John Lee Hooker and Howlin’ Wolf impressions while Lonnie kept the crowd amazed with his energy and clear ability to still bring it, though he’s pushing 80. 

“He’s 78, looks like 58 and acts like 28,” Ronnie explained.

Once the energy hit fever-pitch, the crowd wasn’t ready to slow down. Club Crawlers ventured out to both the Westcott Theater and Crowne Plaza Hotel to see all-star jams with artists including MonkeyJunk, Johnny Sansone, Kenny Neal, Dennis Greunling and second sets from Mitch Kashmar and the Brooks brothers. 

The Redfield Room at the Crowne had listeners out and dancing to the pompadour-sporting band of Greunling. Some bopped to the sock-hop, swinging blues while others lined the spiral staircase in the middle of the room, peering down to the band below. Greunling, the pompadour exception in the band, wore his long hair slicked back; dressed as he was in dark sunglasses and a black suit, the image was appropriate to complement his rough and powerful harp style backed by his steady and tight band. The raucous crowd was disappointed to see them go. 

The stage was then handed over to harp-melter Kashmar, and fellow-melter Sansone for a few tunes, while the Brooks brothers played an intimate show in the LaFayette Room late into the night.