JAZZ REVIEW : Ford’s Blues Concert Is Rock Solid

It used to be that blues musicians came from the Mississippi Delta or the urban centers of Memphis or Chicago. Nowadays, they come from rock and jazz bands.

It’s appropriate that rock and jazz, musical styles that have relied heavily on blues forms, are supplying not only the next generation of musicians to carry on the tradition but new spark as well. Guitarist Robben Ford’s dynamic show Friday at the Coach House was a perfect example of this, as he displayed the kind of technical and expressional savvy one expects from jazz musicians combined with the cut-loose enthusiasm of a rock ‘n’ roller.

Working with bassist Roscoe Beck and drummer Tom Brechtlein, the duo heard on his new “Mystic Mile” CD (fittingly enough on jazz pianist Chick Corea’s Stretch label), the onetime Miles Davis sideman worked up rich harmonic displays, strong dynamic constructions and tough, burnin’ blues lines during a set that concentrated on the new release. Beck and Brechtlein, billed as “The Blue Line,” complemented their leader’s style with smart technique and appropriately electric approaches. The blues has always rocked, but never quite like this.

What sets this band apart is Brechtlein’s muscular yet precise drumming. He powered each number with an ever-changing array of percussive accents while keeping the rock-steady beats moving to propel his band-mates. On the slow-paced “Worried Life Blues,” he resorted to brushes, reducing the dynamics of his play only slightly while adding a whole lot of sizzle.

Ford’s guitar work, ranging from seductive cat’s-meow tones to screaming, bent-note lines, was full of startling combinations and warmly melodic passages. His solo during the album’s thoughtful title number “Mystic Mile” was rich with sweet-sounding chords; on “Moth to a Flame,” his guitar cried with smoothly cut wah-wah passages. And he kicked out the jams when the mood called for it, as during Jack Bruce’s “Political Man.”

The trio was at its tightest during Ford’s funk-based “Busted Up,” as Beck’s climbing bass line gave the tune a danceable feel and Brechtlein’s pinpoint shuffle and offbeat snare accents popped in and out of the bluesy guitar embellishments. While comparisons to Cream, the Bruce-Eric Clapton-Ginger Baker collaboration, seemed appropriate at various points during the show, Brechtlein’s chops were far above Baker’s slap-happy style.

While Ford’s guitar work was top-notch, his vocals were not. Much of the quality of his voice was lost in the foggy amplification--his tone has more character on the recording, where he sings in even, caramel-colored tones--and the fullness of his guitar sound made for bad comparisons with his colorless singing.

The band closed with the opening anthem from the new CD, “He Don’t Play Nothin’ But the Blues,” the story of a Texas bluesman in New York. Ford’s lyric, a plea for purity in the art form, was set to a sophisticated urban beat, far away from the Texas sound and too sharply executed to be compared to Chicago or Memphis styles. Though he may want to remain true to the tradition, Friday’s show proved that Ford is breaking new ground as well.