POP MUSIC REVIEW : A Bash for the Blues at Dance Club

Kind of strange holding what was billed as the first “Blues Hall of Fame Festival” in the swank, sumptuous Hollywood dance club Spice. Not that the blues requires a juke joint ambience, but some strange tableaux were acted out on Sunday--like a few dancers strutting through some contemporary, synchronized steps as the Mighty Flyers’ pianist Honey Alexander pounded out the kind of two-fisted boogie-woogie that flourished 50 years ago.

But then the festival was kind of a strange affair--as much a 40th birthday bash for a blues-loving promoter as a regular gig or, as advertised, a concert honoring the late Chicago blues harpmeister Little Walter. The immersion in the music was complete Sunday--the main stage in one room, jamming in an adjacent room, videos of blues legends in a lounge behind the bar--but the performances by a lineup of local mainstays rarely rose above the serviceable level.

The ostensible headliners--guitarist Luther Tucker and drummer Al Duncan, both prominent Chicago blues session men--were on stage for all of three songs. Too bad, because there was effective chemistry between them and vocalist-harmonica player Mitch Kashmir and bassist Jack Kennedy from the Santa Barbara-based Pontiax. The combination of Kashmir’s vocals and evocative chromatic harp solo, Tucker’s speedy trills and Duncan’s light touch and subtle fills made the Little Walter slow blues “Blue and Lonesome” a superb finale.