This was just uploaded: one view. Very HQ footage, directly in front of the band. A long one-chord sweet/funky vamp. You'll really get a sense of Salgado's creativity, his power, and his ability to LISTEN--which is to say, his ability not just to play, but to stop playing at the right moment, let the music swell, then dive back in. This is a rare quality among harmonica players.
And of course he was the lead singer for Santana for a while; the guy is in that select group of top-end blues harp guys who can really throw down vocally.
He's got some very interesting ideas. His playing is fairly patterned on the high end, but the key thing is, he knows how to work endless variations on his toolkit. He listens really well. So what he plays is music. He's a blues guy playing jazzy, funky R&B, backed by a wonderful band.
Thanks for this Adam. This is my favorite player since the 70's, and this is one of my favorite tunes he does live. Video's and recordings don't do this guy justice. Its impossible for a harp player to watch one of his performances without getting goosebumps. For fun this is one of his first bands in Eugene, OR.
Man was that solo galvanizing. So much verve. So organic. So Northwestern "deLay-Selgado" stamped by their unique dripping musicality. And I love your: "let the music swell, then dive back in" comment. d ---------- Facebook
This is why I will always prefer playing with a band over playing solo. You can't kick this much ass without a great band behind you no matter how good you are! LOVE IT!
I am grateful he decided to be Curtis Salgado and not a LW clone.
I found his high end playing to be much less pattern based than most guys going up there. Most high end playing is the same few power riffs and usually not about actual phrasing and rhythms. ---------- Mike VHT Special 6 Mods Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas - When it needs to come from the soul...
If you want to understand what a modern blues life looks like, take a look at Salgado's bio. His website is terrific:
http://curtissalgado.com/index.php/biography
The man has lived. The music you play reflect the life you've lived, the ups and downs. That's a basic stipulation of the blues life. There's a lot of crazy highs and lows behind the strong stuff. Trust me. And I'm a lightweight. Every time WalterTore and BBQ Bob post dispatches from their apprentice years, I realize that. I've had my share of the serious stuff, but nobody--for example--has ever pulled a gun on me during or after a gig. I've almost always got paid for the gigs I've played.
One of my favorite unsung heroes of harmonica. He should have broken through, but fate dealt him an unfair hand.
Many know that he was the inspiration for John Belushi to form the blues brothers, as Curtis was playing in the hotel that the production crew/actors stayed in while filming Animal House.
I knew him as a hugely talented and very humble guy that was always willing to lend a helping hand (a la Norton Buffalo).
My favorite story has been posted before, but here it is again.
We brought Curtis in for SPAH 98, along w/Kim Wilson, Steve Baker, Carlos Del Junco, Sunny Girl, etc etc (Steve Guyger and Jerry Portnoy showed up just cause of the "cool hang").
Anyways, the Thur Night Blues Show (which I still hope is available through SPAH in one medium or another - being the best one ever IMO) was open to the public at $10/ticket. Wednesday night in Detroit at the Magic Bag Theatre in Ferndale, Rod Piazza was performing, so I decided that would be a good place to hand out flyers advertising the Thur night show. I asked Curtis if he wanted to come along and help. He said "Yeah, baby".
So, here we were, handing out flyers to the line around the block waiting to get into the Rod show. One guy took a flyer from my hand, looked at the line up and said "Curtis Salgado, eh? I've always wanted to meet him". So I said "Really?", reached behind me and pulled Curtis over in front of him and said "Well, here he is". That guy almost died on the spot.
Needless to say, with all the extra promotion to the right target audience, the Thur Night Blues Show was packed. Curtis put on a fantastic show, including his gospel style singing. As a credit to his artistry, we had 3 older black ladies come back to the hotel on Saturday (after witnessing Curtis' set on Thur) asking if he had any gospel recording for sale.
The second great Curtis story and a credit to his humanity was when we did SPAH 99 in St. Louis. Curtis was touring at the time and was in the area that same week. Sure enough, he agreed to show up at the convention w/band and played a free late night set (I believe it was Fri night) for the attendees.
He has had serious health problems, but his good Karma has pulled him through and he is still out there.
He could kick ass as a blues harmonica player any time he wants to, but really wants to be known as a singer/performer w/kick ass band/arrangements, as is evident in the video above.
I sure hope he gets wider recognition for his talents, as he is one of the good guys. ---------- The Iceman
The Cd's he puts out are ear candy...It's the kind of music where I can imagine the best of the blues Pro's have his stuff in their colection and listen to his music and love it.
yup....the big '98 in the background is a good clue.
back up band I put together for this show was rhythm section from Big Dave and the Ultrasonics along with Nick Moss on guitar, whom I imported from Chicago for the night.
also, on all of Curtis' harmonica solos, notice the creativity and lack of "blues type licks". This seems to be from drinking the water in the Pacific NW, as many other musicians from this area are just as creative. ---------- The Iceman
Curtis Salgado singing gospel at the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise Gospel Brunch - October 2011. Sorry about the video quality, but you'll get the idea of how powerful his voice is.
