Musical Musings of a Tiny Rager

Robben Ford, Toss Panos, Andy Hess & John Scofield @ The Blue Note (12.01.10)

Happy Birthday To Ali Greenberg!!  Ali made my night by picking a wonderful choice performance for her birthday celebration, choosing an intimate John Scofield and friends performance at the Blue Note in the East Village, NYC for a lovely Wednesday night of music.

On stage tonight was:

Robben Ford – Guitar & Vocals
Toss Panos – Drums
John Scofield – Guitar
Andy Hess – Bass

Robben Ford, Toss Panos, Andy Hess & John Scofield - The Blue Note, NYC (Photo by Dino Perrucci)

Video and pictures, other then professionals, were prohibited and as our crew arrived early, we were sitting pretty much directly on the stage and I was unable to get away with much.  Thank goodness for Dino Perrucci of Dino Perrucci Photography being present to capture a few moment on camera for us! The pictures throughout the article are his. THANKS DINO!!

I was excited to see tonight’s performance not so much for John Scofield this time but for Andy Hesss and specifically Robben Ford.  Robben Ford is a five-time Grammy nominee and has played with artists as diverse as Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Witherspoon, Miles Davis, George Harrison, Phil Lesh, Bonnie Raitt, Claus Ogerman, Michael McDonald, Bob Dylan, John Mayall, Greg Allman and many others.

Robben Ford - The Blue Note, NYC 12110 (Photo by Dino Perrucci)

After the first song (unknown title), John Scofield introduced the members of his posse on stage.  There was a joke made then went into Traveling Riverside Blues, a Robert Johnson original made famous by Led Zepplin.  A JAMMING Good Morning Little School Girl was next, a song covered so many times that it has been acknowledged by the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.

The joking continued throughout the night into the next song.  Robben Ford suggested that John had created this blues style song during their two day rehearsals in L.A. and he believed it didn’t have a name.

“Yes! We practiced!” Robben snickered.

Scofield responds, “Yeah, you have to rehearse the blues.  And actually, the song does have a name and it’s called Slow Blues in F Sharp. ”

“It’s in the second fret,”  jokes Scofield to Robben, the audience half gasping, half laughing. “Just kidding! He knows what he is doing!“

Robben Ford & John Scofield - The Blue Note, NYC 12110 (Photo by Dino Perrucci)

Andy Hess, ex-bass player for Gov’t Mule, ripped his spot the entire set.  Being that I was positioned directly under Scofield, hoping not to get sweat dripped on me as the place was scorching hot, Andy was blocked most of the set but his strings stood out in each song. My ears kept being drawn to his style of playing.  I found their song choices for the evening fun and feisty as opposed to some stiff jazz performance. The boys had fun in that short window of music.

John Scofield - The Blue Note, NYC 12110 (Photo by Dino Perrucci)

Sadly, the set only last a little over an hour, one hour and seven minutes to be exact.  Having to pay $35 to be seated at The Blue Note plus having a $5 minimum at your seat (which really means another $10 plus tip as nothing costs $5.00), brought the bill up and I expected more music for that price, especially since the following set didn’t begin until 10:30pm.  I felt a bit slighted, not going to lie.  AND you have to pay again to view the second set.  Alas…it was annoying but it was worth it regardless.  A nice birthday celebration with friends over a show is never something to complain about 🙂

The crew on stage debated over the next song.  Lovin’ Cup was “on thier list” so they choose that one. John Scofield talked about how he and Robben were fourteen years old together back in 1966 and loved this song.

Aside from the short length of the performance, it was a nice quick bite of music for a Wednesday night.  Can’t go wrong with that 🙂  Everyone should check out Robben Ford when you get a chance.  The guy wails.

Set list: Unknown First song, Traveling Riverside Blues, Good Morning Little School Girl, Slow Blues in F-Sharp, Lovin’ Cup

John Scofield - The Blue Note, NYC 12110 (Photo by Dino Perrucci)