BronxHarp
72 posts
Jun 20, 2012
5:21 AM
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I went to see Brandon Bailey and Michael Powers (photo above)play Monday night at Terra Blues, the only exclusively blues club left in NYC. I almost didn't go. A friend who was going to join me was sick, a couple of other harp players I know were busy, and my wife had to stay home with our daughter. But I hadn't been to Terra Blues in a couple of years and what could be a better incentive than seeing Brandon in the Big Apple? So, I headed down to Greenwich Village on the 1 train from the Bronx.
To be honest, I figured Brandon was going to be more central stage at this gig, but that's only because I know him from HCH 1&2 and love his harp wizardry and never have seen Michael Powers even though I know he's central to what's left of the NYC blues scene. Obviously, it makes sense that he'd accompany a venerable venue regular like Powers. Brandon kept the blowin' and drawin' a bit low, giving Powers room and reverence, but the playing was just so sweet. I really can't think of a better word for it than sweet. Brandon and Adam can probably give us more of the back story, but my guess is these guys just met this week and probably had barely, if any, time to rehearse.
None of that mattered. Powers would mention a key, Brandon would pick it out of his case, and off they went on a lively, lovely, cohesive collaboration, a sumptuous duet -- with a jazzy reverence for note after note -- that I'd pay quite a bit to have in my possession were it to have been recorded. Maybe Brandon and Michael will get to that some day (Powers' deep appreciation of Brandon's contribution was palpable) but more likely it'll just remain in me as something to be grateful for being in the presence of.
I feel rather delinquent that here I live in NYC yet had never seen Powers, who I will go see again and again whenever possible.
I could have left full of joy as Brandon and Michael headed out back with their equipment but the evening's collaborative vibe continued with a late set of 3 NYC blues headliners, who lead their own bands many times monthly at Terra Blues. So, get a load of this lineup, and maybe you can't as these guys are, to my knowledge, unconscionably unknown to blues lovers outside of NYC: Junior Mack, Saron Crenshaw and Jerry Dugger.
Their performance was orchestral. Another word you don't associate with blues performances. But these guys, virtuosos in instrument and voice, sitting in chairs on the small stage (Mack and Crenshaw play guitar, Dugger bass), each topped with a different hat, married their instruments and voices in a way that moved me all the way through. I left at 11:30 to go back up to the Boogie Down Bronx. They were set to play to 2:30 a.m. I left, though, with so much more than I went down for.
P.S. Thanks Adam for the MBH email alert on Brandon's NYC schedule. Wouldn't of known without it. And people, how about supporting Brandon's Kickstarter fundraising campaign for his EP if you haven't already? A few bucks from each of his fans on this forum will no doubt send him over the top: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brandonobailey/new-brandon-o-bailey-ep]
--Jordan Moss
Last Edited by on Jun 20, 2012 5:25 AM
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