BLUESMOVE LIVE REVIEWS
@ The Torrington, Darlington Arts Centre, and other live reviews.

A first visit to the Back Door Club at the Torrington in North Finchley on a late November Sunday evening (30/11/03) turned out to be the first of three firsts! Second first was meeting promoter and one man stage manager Pete Feenstra who runs this and many other London gigs whilst the third first was catching a rare London appearance by the band about whom I had heard so much, Blues Move. Put simply, these guys are phenomenal! No really, that superlative is more than deserved. Playing to an audience which numbered no more than 50, the band which comprises Howard Smith on guitar & vocals, Julian Grudgings – keyboards & vocals, Mike Hellier drums and Roger Inniss on bass showed why they are earning rave reviews everywhere they play.

The very varied set kicked off with two up tempo numbers, “Big Boss Man” and the Julian Grudgings penned “Get Out of Jail”, which saw Howard Smith pacing the stage like a latter day Wilko Johnson. Try as hard as one may, it is often inevitable that one draws comparisons and the immediate memory that was stirred was Little Feat, not an unfavourable comparison. Keb Mo’s “Dangerous Mood” led into another of Julian’s compositions, “Rhythm of Life” and then Howard’s fabulous “Slow Train” which I reckon is a classic! The song starts off with spare guitar chords from Howard and builds slowly but steadily to a climactic peak before subsiding to finish almost as it started. All the time the rhythm chugs along conjuring up this image of the huge American freight trains which wind their way across the continent. It is one of those songs that defies description, it has to be heard to appreciate the subtlety, the power, the depth the splendour of it all. It is also a great showcase for Julian’s great talents on the keyboards, Howard’s beautiful measured guitar playing and Mike’s rock steady drumming which underpins everything the band do and to which, it is clear, Mike gives his all.

Also from the band’s excellent “beat’n’trak” CD which should be in everyone’s collection as a great compendium of this superb but underrated British band’s talent and material, was another of Howard’s compositions, “Diplomat Song” which gave Roger Inniss his moment of glory. Roger has played with many great names and has slotted seamlessly into the band and what a player he is! I first saw him playing with Mick Pini in May 2003 and tonight Roger alternated between a huge six string bass which at times he played as if he were lead guitarist and a beautiful five string acoustic fretless bass which is relatively newly acquired and which Roger tells me he is loving playing.

Often bass players are given a solo simply to satisfy the unwritten lore that says every dog should have his day! Roger’s solo in “Diplomat” was something else. To say that the audience’s breath was taken away is an understatement, his deft touch and obvious skill was utterly spellbinding and jaws were hitting the floor all round the room!

Julian’s “Drinking Song” was followed by a great rendition of Freddie King’s “Remington Ride”, a great number which bounces along and in some respects was completely unexpected except that I had heard it on the CD!

BluesMove are the band of choice for many touring artists including the excellent Sherman Robertson during both his recent tour and his upcoming 2004 tour and it was fitting that the band treated us to their take on one of Robertson’s better known compositions “Outta Sight Outta Mind”.

The set was rounded off by Howard’s emotion drenched “Brand New Friend” and Julian’s aptly titled “Hurry Up”, both numbers which only served to reinforce what talented composers they both are and how hugely talented the four musicians who form BluesMove are and how tight they are when playing together. Absolutely superb! The encore was entitled “Good Thing is About To Run Out”, a most appropriate title given that all too soon the gig was at an end and we all had to wend our way back home after a really cracking evening’s entertainment.

An appeal to venues & promoters in London & the South-East. You owe it to your customers to book this superb band and bring their music to your venue. They are truly one of the outstanding British bands currently on the circuit and deserve a higher profile which they will achieve and then you won’t be able to afford them!!! Don’t say I did not tell you!

Ashwyn Smyth

It's rare nowadays to come across a new band on the live circuit that pleasantly exceeds your expectations. That’s not to say there aren’t any good bands about. Generally speaking, the standard on the live club circuit usually surpasses the context in which it is being played.

And so it was that Blues Move made their debut at the Torrington. Relatively unknown at the outset, but kings for a night at the climax of their set, Blues Move is essentially half of Leicester's Mick Pini band plus Howard Smith on guitar/vocals (late of The Razors) and of course the brilliant Roger Inniss on bass (Ruby Turner/Steve Gibbons/Climax Blues band).

But before waxing lyric about Inniss and his 6 string cricket bat bass, let it be said that the whole band also comprising Julian "bithday boy" Crudgings and drummer Michael Hellier were his musical equal. As a unit Blues Move were tight, and as the first of two sets progressed they slipped into the realm of the inspired.

Front man Howard Smith comes on like a demented Wilko Johnson figure, but confusingly plays guitar like a cross between Sonny Landreth and Lowell George. "Get Out Of Jail" for example had a New Orleans feel and Smith worked his Sonny Landreth style groove to great effect on "Slow Train". With JC offering some lovely keyboard embellishments and the railroad rhythm section of Hellier/Inniss pumping to the max on the majestic "T-Bone Shuffle", the band seemed to visibly go up a notch as the audience roared them on.

Blues Move may lack what marketing parlance call a sexy angle, but as this gig demonstrated there's no substitute for class. And Blues Move have it in abundance.

Oh and Roger Inniss? Well the inevitable bass solo when it came, was simply spell binding, but subtle enough to carry the song on to an extra dimension, before the band slipped back into the groove. Moments such as these were once the preserve of top visiting sessioneers. In the context of this gig, Inniss's dexterity was one of several spell binding moments on a memorable night.

Blues Move, Live at The Torrington Sunday, 9th February 2003

On The Road With: BLUESMOVE (Where you editor risks run ins with 4-legged groupies down on the farm)

Buoyed up by jaunt around Scotland in glorious weather the previous week – Steve Earl in Glasgow; Kilmartin Glen; Ardnamurchan Point; Glencoe & Stirling – I fancied another weekend of nonsense. And what better way to spend it than by unofficially “road managing” Bluesmove for 4 gigs in 2 days?

The usual line-up of the band has been interrupted by the long-term absence of bass player Graham Lacey following the recent illness and subsequent death of his partner Jill. In his place stepped Roger Inniss, a veteran of Elkie Brooks, Climax Blues Band Steve Gibbons Band and countless other gigs.

The band was putting in a days ` recording at a studio in Hartlepool prior to their late night drive to Aberdeen. They arrived around 2:30am, found their way into my flat and rested up before the early start involved in getting down to and playing a lunchtime gig at The Lemon Tree. We meet up mid morning and I catch up with Mike Hellier, Julian Grudgings and Howard Smith and am introduced to Roger Inniss for the first time. He`s a joker with a playful sense of humour and I warm to him straight away.

The Lemon Tree is busier than usual for a Friday lunchtime, partly because it is the start of the Easter holidays but also because there are people here to see the band. “Big Boss Man” opens proceedings and straight away the band hit a groove and a level of volume that isn`t going to annoy.

The hour-long set is culled mainly from the “Beat `n` Trak” CD, with Howard and Julian sharing the vocals and melody and Mike & Roger starring as brothers in Rhythm. I must say that Roger is one hell of a bass player but you have to worry about his intelligence. I mean, someone sold him a bass with 6 strings on!

The gig is an ideal taster for tomorrow nights` full length outing at The Blue Lamp. But before that we have another 2 shows and around 300 miles round trip to put in. The van is loaded and we head off on the “killer” A96 to Kinloss and East Grange Loft. We pull up at the venue – a working farm – and are greeted by Lucy & Grigor Butler. I have spoken to Lucy countless times on the phone over the past 12 months and have heard Grigor`s imput in the background but this is my first meeting with them. In the year they have been open they have put on all sorts of music and seem to be ticking over with a regular clientele. The soundcheck is quick and painless, the lasagne very tasty and the selection of bottled ales extensive and very much to my liking. It`s going to be a good night! The venue is a converted barn loft and with around 60 people in it is busy enough to look good and to just about cover costs. The band cruise through a first set which kicks off with “Big Boss Man” and moves through “Get Out Of Jail” and “Dangerous Mood”. Next up is Julian`s “Rhythm Of Life”, which includes the ironic or cringe-inducing lyrical coupling, “You`re my all things nice/you`re my chicken and rice”. How does he get away with it? On “Slow Train”, Howard`s guitar heads into Sonny Landreth territory and “Diplomat” has been transformed by Roger into his bass showpiece. “Remington Ride” is a great romp to take the band to the break. The audience reaction is great, there`s the obligatory idiot dancer and I meet up with SBN reader Julia for the first time since Orkney Blues 2002.

Michelle Shocked`s “If Love Was A Train” opens up set 2, followed by two relatively new numbers, “Hit That Highway” and “Hurry Up”. The latter, in particular, is beginning to evolve into a Little Feat-style tour de force as it gathers pace, momentum and length. Howard`s “Brand New Friend” squeezes out any emotion left unsqueezed and the band close the set with “T-Bone Shuffle”. They`ve left “Burglar” and “Good Thing About To Run Out” as encore numbers and they need them both tonight as the enthusiastic audience won`t let them go. An absolute corker of a gig in a great venue. After the show we load up the gear, have a wind down drink and chat with our hosts and wander through a deserted cowshed in the dark and on up to the farmhouse and bed.

In the morning Grigor prepares a full on breakfast which sets us up for the day and the trip over the hills to Dundee.

Edinburgh may have the Caley Brewery Blues Fest; Glasgow may be in the midst of a blues renaissance and Aberdeen has The Blue Lamp, but Dundee is the blues capitol of Scotland. And Deacon Brodies is the longest running continuous blues gig in Scotland. The band is set up and ready to play by 3pm but there are only a handful of blues friendly faces around. Within 10 minutes the venue has filled up with blues fans, musicians and recognisable faces. I had to reprimand Roger for his wearing of a jazz t-shirt at an out and out blues venue which, I think, made him and the band play another absolute stormer, with “Hurry Up” going to new heights and lengths yet again and Howard, in particular, pouring everything into his performance. And even though it`s going to take them beyond the 5pm curfew, an encore is demanded.

I nip round to Rokstop where a difficult empasse between Kloth Monkey and The Boogaloo Investigators (double booking scenario) is being solved. I then nip along to the Balcony Bar to catch a quick earful of Crossfire before we head back north to Aberdeen. Yes folks, that`s 3 blues gigs on a Saturday afternoon in Dundee and all well attended.

The drive back is quick and I manage to catch up with Glasgow based Django Reinhardt specialists Swing Guitars in The Globe before catching my 4th Bluesmove gig in two days. I arrive just after Julian`s “chicken and rice” line (not deliberately!) and a reasonably full Blue Lamp responds warmly to an evening of top quality blues.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the shows and the set is sitting pretty at the moment, although inevitably new material and a new CD will need to come soon. This line up of Bluesmove will be back in Scotland as backing band/support for Sherman Robertson for two shows in August and again (but with Graham Lacey back on bass) for dates with Steve Arvey in late September. They are a band at the peak of their form. Make sure you catch them soon.

Chris Simmonds

Four piece blues outfit BluesMove are described on their website as the band "on the cutting edge of the blues." I wasn't too sure what that meant before the gig, but I was about to find out!

From the moment they hit the stage I knew we were in for a quite different night of blues entertainment. It could have been the body language from guitarist and vocalist, Howard Smith, who appears to be a bundle of nervous energy. (He reminded me of a John Otway or Wilko Johnson type figure who's inner most feelings burst through to the surface and come out as expressive jerky movements. He was quite entertaining just watching him!).

Their music is a delicious cocktail of blues, rock and r'n'b with added mixtures of country, funk, swing blues; why, there's even a little jazz overtone included for good measure!

Julian Grudgings on keyboards adds a different slant on the covers the band play. His approach enhances these numbers with arrangements that have been well thought out. Keb Mo's "Dangerous Mood" and Junior 'Guitar' Watson's "Hit that Highway" are slow burners that make you feel 'dirty and sweet' all at the same time. The tinkering piano is low-down and sleazy but Howard's guitar is passionate and inviting. Great shades of darkness and light. Julian's self-penned "Get out of Jail" is a real funky arrangement. He includes honky-tonk piano as an intro before Howard's searing guitar rips into a stunning solo. Julian's vocals are also well delivered and sit in well with the funky bass line pounded out by Graham Lacey's steady drivin' vibes.

Howard's "Slow Train" is a slow, building number. Mike Hellier, on drums keeps the lid on nicely when required, then lifts the lid off, to engulf us in a flurry of dynamic rhythms. You can almost hear that ol' train a' coming in the distance! On Julian's "Drinking song" the band are in 'blues-mode,' with a sleazy guitar riff over a jazzy background piano. The song does have a strangely intoxicating feel to it, and funnily enough I found myself drinking quicker than normal while listening to it! The last number in the first set was an old Freddie King instrumental called "Remington Ride". Howard's guitar being the lead instrument and backed by a strong bass-line from the steady Graham Lacey.

After Michelle Shocked's "If Love was a Train" had kick-started the second set, the band played further self-penned material that attracted the dancers onto the floor. Once there, they stayed until the end of the show. Even when the band played a real slow tune called "Brand new Friend" - which reminded me of Tom Waite's material. [Howard's voice however not delivered with a whisky-drenched rasp, but more of a Bacardi Rum smoothness!], the dancers did an old fashioned 'smoochie' instead.

"Hurry Up" reminded me of Little Feat, with its country-rock flavour mixed with honky-tonk piano. Julian also adds a gospel-type groove before Howard's wah-wah guitar solo is thrown into the mix. It probably looks a strange concoction on paper, but this hybrid really works very well. The dancers loved it too and the rest of us listened in awe.

T-Bone Walker's "T-Bone Shuffle" concluded the set with an up-tempo and hard driven rhythm section really belting it out. Mike and Graham have worked hard tonight, and are a strong and reliable backbone for the two lead instruments to build on. They haven't put a foot wrong all night, and must be a dream for Julian and Howard to work with.

The band return to the stage for two encores, Freddie King's "Burglar" and Lucky Peterson's "Good Thing is about to Run Out." Both are again, well played with energy and eagerness. The crowd tried to encourage more from the band, and I'm sure they would have obliged, but the old clock on the wall said, "that's all!" - and we had to go.

After tonight's performance it would be difficult to disagree with the bands website statement, they are on the cutting edge of the British blues movement, These guys don't play or sound like any other band I've seen before, (and believe me; I've seen quite a few). Long may they continue to be so inventive with their writing and arranging.

A thoroughly enjoyable nights entertainment from BluesMove; and hopefully a night I can repeat again soon.

MIKE PRENDERGAST

This outfit of accomplished and experienced musicians comprises of Howard Smith (guitar), Julian Grudgings (keyboards), Graham Lacey (bass) and Michael Hellier (drums). They performed two full and varied sets, including several numbers from their excellent "Beat'n'Track" CD. There was something to satisfy all musical tastes - rock, funk, slow blues and shuffles, swing stuff, even a touch of country, but a list like that cannot begin to do justice to the special quality they bring to each number.

They are blessed with two talented vocalists in Howard and Julian, who both really know how to deliver a song. Their choice of material was excellent, whether covered or self-penned. Tight arrangements were coupled with superbly relaxed playing, allowing the individuals within the band to shine.

Basically, this lot don't just do numbers. They thrash them to within an inch of their lives. They play with real intensity and fire that can leave you gasping. Each number sounded genuinely different and there were some real surprises, like the cool funk of "She's A Burglar" and the agonised power of "Slow Train".

We've seen some great acts at the Runner in recent months and Blues Move are right up there with the best of them. Hope you book them again, Barry! I'll certainly be spreading the word so that the next time the room is nearer to capacity. If you couldn't make it, do yourself a favour and get down next time and bring your friends, because I can't imagine ANYBODY failing to have a good time!

Dave Kingsbury (The Running Horse, Nottingham 2002)

I have recommended, and still do, that you invest in Beat'n'Trak the debut album from British four-piece BluesMove, it's a truly excellent mix of originals and classic covers.  But if you want to experience the true force of the band then I suggest you go and see them live, quite simply they exploded on stage.  Just to put the icing on the cake if you can also catch them in the windowless, intimate, slightly sweaty atmosphere of the Barrels Cellar Bar then your cup is most definitely overflowing.

Experience tells in these matters and in Mike Hellier, Julian Grudgings, Howard Smith and Graham Lacey, BluesMove boast a wealth of experience.  now that's not much use on its own, it has to be backed up by talent and the band displayed theirs to devastating effect.

Right from the opening Big Boss Man they were edgier and spikier than on CD, that's not a criticism more a reflection on the way they twisted turned and ultimately revelled in their set.

With Mike Hellier on drums and Lacey on bass providing the heartbeat of the band it was left to Smith and Grudgings to add the flesh.  If you were to sit down with a blank piece of paper and design a frontman then Smith would be the result, slim and dressed in black he almost disappeared against the stone backdrop, that was the only thing transparent about him.  With a voice of pure passion and a series of little guitar cameos played with such skill that would have today's "stars" a weeping and a wailing, rather like Old English Spangles you don't see quality like this very often these days.  Alongside Smith was the rather more restrained Jonathan "Jools" Grudgings, who injected a beautifully light jazz feel into the likes of "Tore Down" and "Dangerous Mood" the latter underpinned with a beat plucked lovingly from the lexicon of the greats.

"Rhythm of Life" was the first track taken from Beat'n'Trak and it brought Grudgings to the mike, compared to Smith's rawness Grudgings is the sophisticate.  It makes for a pleasant and intriguing contrast.

Almost every track the band played was "extended" by an instrumental conclusion that rather like Topsy just grew and grew, it's a great thing to watch a band doing what they love and loving what they do.  Hellier told me afterwards that it had been a conscious  decision to draw back from the bigger gigs they were used to individually and come together to play for sheer enjoyment.

The remainder of the first half was an object lesson in the fusion of jazz, funk and great rock.  Diplomat's intro wouldn't  have been out of place in a Shaft movie and during Burglar we discovered that every key on Grudgings keyboard worked.

The first half ended with Remington Ride and how the band indulged themselves, now there's fun and fun.  The first is a kind of amateurish knockabout, the second is the kind borne out of hard work and talent, guess which they came up with?

So to the second set and proof, if indeed proof were needed that BluesMove are a working band working in synch came with a thumping "If Love was a Train".  If you can get a showstopper at a blues gig then theirs was a stunning reworking of "Take Me to the River", taking the definitive Al Green version and adding a "blast of sound" but the real strength came from a clear understanding of the music.

Sometimes on a night such as this what you initially hear is not all you get, "Brand New Friend", the band's heart-tugger, saw Smith undergoing physical contortions as he extracted every last morsel from the song.  The other three stayed in the groove and at the end all received well deserved and hard-earned praise.  The moment was heightened by "T-Bone Shuffle"  which followed close behind and certainly caught the attention of the guy trying to talk to me, and I suspect most of the others.

As a band you know you've got them when they begin to play along, I counted at least three "extra" band members during "T-Bone Shuffle" which also served as the intro and proved that it's just a scurrilous rumour about bass players, Graham Lacey didn't need a solo spot to prove his worth but it all added to the fun.

Too soon came the encore and no reviewer worth his salt is going to refuse a sitter as they launched into "Good Thing is About to Run Out".  They were, it was and sadly it did.  Until the next time at least, the band well satisfied with the atmosphere, were already talking about a return.

The perfect night?  I hear you ask.  Hardly, the blues fans of Berwick did themselves no favours, the audience were enthusiastic and appreciative but sparse.  Use it or lose it guys.  Remember Old English Spangles!

Michael Mee

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