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| Jerry Miller, fabulous guitar player in the old mould. Great sound out of his Gretsch. |
Along to the home of England's Folk and Dance HQ in Camden, The Cecil Taylor House. Not what I expected or wanted as it was primarily a seated affair. All four sides of the purpose built hall, complete with I think Douglas Fir panelling was three rows of stacked bench seating. Ok for a big barn dance, but not for the EJ Band. In someways after all that I spotted a seat available in the front row slightly left of centre. Perfect for a couple of snap shots but lighting was poor so new it would be difficult to get a decent shot without having to resort to Photoshop. Shooting in RAW format at least gives me a good chance.
Yet again Eilen Jewel and her band do not fail to impress, songs ranging from the self penned, to covers and two Loretta Lynn numbers, all undertaken in old style short 45rpm time.
EJ clearly was annoyed that nobody would get up and dance and so a dialogue with the audience ensued, including myself and all was good fun. Cannot recall any other performer that has such a good rapport with their audience. Many requests were shouted from the audience but with such a good back catalogue not all could be accommodated. Unusually a majority of the songs were up tempo except for my requested Codeine Arms which she played in the second half. Last number up was an extended Shakin' All Over with guitarist Jerry Miller playing an excellent and long solo on guitar. The set ended and to a man and woman, EJ got a standing ovation from the 350 crowd.
It just makes you wonder why the masses love crap like X Factor, oh well, it keeps the cream for me to like and follow, and hopefully you too.
Before the band started Jerry Miller was tuning up his guitar on stage, it looked different to the one I had seen him play on three previous occassions which was bright red. I mentioned this to the professional photagrapher sitting next to me who low and behold asked him at the end of the first set. it turns out to be the same guitar, he had not changed it. Looking back to the Tingewick gig a year ago, it is bright red but exactly the same, JM did say the natural timber finish changes with the lighting, and I am guessing that the lighting at the earlier gigs were heavily in the red spectrum.
