Tomas Ruf’s Blues Caravans have been running for nearly 20 years since the first one featuring Sue Foley, Candye Kane and Ana Popovic. It is, for him, a useful way of introducing new artists on his label and over the years he has introduced the likes of Dani Wilde, Aynsley Lister, Ian Parker, Joanne Shaw Taylor and many others.
This version follows the format of the previous years. Katarina Pejak has just released her second album on Ruf, while Johanson & Greene have both released their debut. The three musicians are all given an opportunity for a short solo set and the three combine at the start and at the end of the show. Rhythm section for all of the tracks is drummer Christin Neddens and bassist Tomek Germann.
I found it fascinating to hear three very different sounds combining to make a powerful and very familiar sound. The CD opens with them all playing on Robert Johnson’s ‘Come On In My Kitchen’ and it has a very Allman Brothers sound to it. All three get to sing and solo and very jolly it is too.
Katarina Pejak is a piano & keyboards player, very much in the singer/songwriter vein and has a much softer sound than the other two, who are both guitarists and play a harder form of Blues. Apart from three fine songs of her own she plays a very different version of Floyd’s ‘Money’ – slightly jazzy and her vocal and electric piano take it to a different place. Eric Johanson is a much heavier player, clearly schooled in the New Orleans sense of groove but married to a real livewire guitar style. ‘Undertow’ is powerful and sounds like a great live track, while ‘Galaxy Girl’ has a darker and more funky feel. Alastair Greene is heavier yet. Brought up in California, he used to be Alan Parson’s touring guitarist. There is a sassy edge to his vocals and his style reminds me of George Thorogood. ‘Am I To Blame?’ is a great platform for his guitar pyrotechnics while ‘Rusty Dagger’ is far more subtle and constrained. They come back together for Dr John’s ‘I Walk On Gilded Splinters’ which is fine, although they don’t create the miasma and atmosphere of other versions.
All told, a very enjoyable listen and a good example of the Blues Caravan.
