Loading

BabaJack

Venue: Saltburn Blues Club
Town: Saltburn By The Sea
Date: 19/10/13
Website: http://www.babajack.com/

BabaJack are on a roll just now. Years of hard work and persistence have paid off and they are in demand.

A look at their upcoming gigs reveals they will touring not only across the UK but also Switzerland, Belgium and France in the next few months.

BabaJack have been also scooping UK awards as their irresistible rise continues. Percussionist Becky Tate was recently voted UK Instrumentalist of the Year - for the second year running. And they had five nominations in this year's British Blues Awards.

A storm-tossed night with lightning illuminating the Northern skies, it seemed so apt to be heading across to the North Sea coast to hear BabaJack's almost primeval blues rhythms.Their set didn't disappoint. Overcoming early sound problems they quickly built up a head of steam.

Their latest album "Running Man" is their fourth and was heavily featured in their set. Coming Home - with it's hypnotic beat - set the standard - Trevor Steger's staccato slide, subtle harmonica, thumping bass from Adam Bertenshaw and Tosh Murase's syncopated drumming combining with Bec's strong vocals - made sure the audience got into groove.

Falling Hard, again from the new album, features powerful African drumming from Bec and great harmonica from Trev.

After three songs the drummer and bass player took a back seat and Bec and Trev took us back in time with Death Letter - a stripped down homage to Son House's Death Letter Blues. This was followed by the duo's "work song " - a brilliant simple working of Hammer and Tongs with Trev's evocative harmonica and Bec's plaintive vocals - a highlight in a superlative first set.

A song from their 2012 album, Rooster Blues took us into another tour-de-force - the reclamation of an old folk song that went to America with Led Zeppelin that's now a staple of the BabaJack set - Gallows Pole, with the weight of the band behind them got a rousing reception from the audience.

Becky - looking for all the world like a siren from the silver screen - was now beginning to enjoy herself. She threw herself into the title track of the new album - Running Man - as the first set came to a resounding conclusion.

The second set was even more frenetic as the high tempo was maintained. Rock n Roll Star - recently played on Radio 2 Blues Show - got us back in the groove. The band's nod to Lead Belly came with Religion, a song from their first album - Exercising Demons., with Bec and Trev going it alone.

Every Day the Same - also from the new album - featured Trev' s winebox slide guitar - complete with a hidden message! Bec's ramped up the performance by returning to the cahon for Skin and Bone - a song off the Rooster album. Naturally they were urged on for a encore and delivered a spine-tingling version of Lead Belly's Black Betty to bring their set to a close.

It was a great night. There were no flashy guitar solos, no flashy keyboards, no flashy brass. This was night of blues as it was meant to be meant heard - from the soul. This was groovetastic night - compliments to Harry Simpson for keeping blues music alive in Saltburn - and if you get a chance to see a band who are flying high then don't miss Babajack.

John Knighton
Photocredit Neil King, not taken at gig