CONCERT OVERLOAD: Live performance #861 - Hubby Jenkins at McCabe's Guitar Store (February 2, 2019)

[ad_1]

Saturday evening at McCabe’s I witnessed the performances of not one, however two musicians who, in my view, match the “area of interest artist” label to perfection. Certainly, each Hubby Jenkins, the headliner, and John Reed Torres, the night’s opening act, concentrate on genres which might be seldom heard, actually not by the followers of mainstream music.

With catchy gospel songs like “Jesus Walked This
Lonesome Valley”, “The Final Month Of The Yr”, “Down On Me” and “I Heard The Angels Sing”, Hubby Jenkins grabbed my
consideration from the very starting. Alternating between his acoustic guitar and banjo, he stored me totally entertained not solely together with his music, but additionally together with his storytelling. Hubby turned out to be a treasure trove of information about old-time music, in addition to the social and racial injustice of these troubled occasions – listening to Hubby’s tales about slavery and black banjo gamers made me really feel a bit like a scholar in a classroom. However there have been additionally moments of levity, with Hubby studying out loud random components from a couple of Select Your Personal Journey books, with the total participation of the viewers. I might have performed with rather less of that and just a little extra music.

Hubby Jenkins taking part in his guitar at McCabe’s

Hubby Jenkins taking part in his banjo at McCabe’s

I used to be very impressed with Hubby’s guitar and banjo choosing and I appreciated
his singing, too. His rendition of the music of Blind Willie Johnson,
Bukka White, Uncle Dave Macon and others sounded nice to those ears.
One of many highlights of the present was the thought-provoking “Little Log
Cabin In The Lane”, a track written a couple of hundred years in the past by a
white man named Will S. Hays, a few slave lacking the consolation of
slavery, as Hubby put it. “John Henry” and “Coo Coo Chook” have been two different stand-out tracks.

Within the absence of a predetermined set record, all the night had a free-flowing really feel to it, very very like spending time in the lounge of a musician pal. I am fairly positive this was not my final encounter with Hubby.

Hubby Jenkins at McCabe’s

The night kicked off with a thirty-minute set by John Reed Torres, a
credible ragtime pianist who has performed at varied ragtime festivals in
Europe, South America and the States. His first quantity, Scott Joplin’s
“Maple Leaf Rag”, was adopted by 5 self-penned tunes and one different
Scott Joplin composition titled “Gladiolas”. In between songs, John
spoke with eloquence concerning the historical past of ragtime music, a style that
most individuals know treasured little about. Whereas I appreciated his efficiency, I
assume that John’s present might have benefited from the inclusion of a
well-known rock or pop track re-imagined as a ragtime quantity.