Bryan Lee and Blues Power

Talk about Blues Power, this guy's got it! Not too many people were at the German Club last night, but those that were got a full strength dose of straight ahead blues. The first set was Bryan on guitar with his band of guitar, bass and drums. Dressed all in black with a black hat, sunglasses and white goatee, he is quite a presence, even though he sits while playing but stands to sing - and really belts it out. The venue is an old fashioned hall with a great wooden dance floor, and tables around the perimeter (That's where most of the zydeco bands, like Leroy Thomas, Nathan, CJ, and Rosie, etc. play when they come to RI for a one-night gig) It accomodates around 200, but there were only about 50-60, including several dancers, who had plenty of room to show off their moves. Bryan is blind so he kept saying, it doesn't matter if there's 3 or 3000, he loves to play for us, and the audience returned the love. A guest horn section of Doug James on baritone sax and "Carl Q" (ex Roomful of Blues) on trombone showed up for the second set, a little late due to Doug's having played with Duke Robillard in Fall River earlier. ( I was going to go there myself, but it was cold & rainy last night so we opted for the indoor venue) When the horns joined the band, it was like a totally different show, so funky and soulful. They did alot of material from the album "Six String Therapy" which was produced by Duke Robillard and recorded in Pawtucket and also featured Doug on sax. So they knew all the songs and did a great job, even though Bryan kept saying they hadn't played some of them since the album was recorded. The Duke was also in the house and sat in on the last tune. I did not realize that Duke has produced a few of Bryan's albums, including the latest, "Katrina was her Name". Another RI - LA connection. So we got a good show last night, I just wish I had brought more people, but I didn't know what to expect. I should have known, if Sal's books em, GO! They are playing in New London Ct tonight, then in NYC I think. Bryan only travels with the four-piece band, but he seems to really like having the horn section, so maybe some guest horns will show up at the other gigs.