Live Review: Charlie Musselwhite, Mal Eastick, Buddy Knox, Dan Hannaford

A night of blues in Bangalow, nestled against the lush green Northern Rivers hills, is not as rare a happening as you’d think, although perhaps not often of this scale.

Charlie Musselwhite, the last of the Chicago white-boy bluesmen, a true master of the harp, the harmonica, the Mississippi saxophone, blowin’ it clean and smooth, ragged and torn, on the little stage at the Bowlo, his cracking band in tow; a treat indeed for all concerned.

First up, local lad Dan Hannaford, no slouch on the harmonica himself, but more focused on the songs and his guitar, a new record imminent, country twang with more than a dash of the blues. Following Hannaford is Buddy Knox and band, a tight little bluesy unit who can swing with the best of them. Knox is a fine guitarist, his songs seem solid, although to be honest, and perhaps it was the setting, not really as barn-burning as he’s been in the past.

Third support is all about burning barns, Mal Eastick and his instrumental trio, which is as you’d expect – guitars, guitars, guitars. This scribe considers himself somewhat of a connoisseur of electric blues guitar, but this was too much – screeching, wailing, tearing, searing, fantastic fretwork no doubt, but it needed diluting… some vocals, piano, harmonica, anything.

And so Charlie Musselwhite, stepping up with his four-piece combo, lays down those Chicago blues like it’s still 1967. While dimensionally diminutive, the sound he creates, the aura, is monstrous; his voice is supple and clear, his banter as sharp as ever, the twinkle never leaving his eye, but it’s when he blows the harp that the room stops. As Hannaford said at one point: if you close your eyes, you’re there, man. And we were.

Over here to play WOMADelaide, Musselwhite shows he’s not lost anything with age, showcasing for the first time in Australia young guitarist Matt Stubbs who is one of the tastiest players we’ve seen in a time, his soloing subtle where needed, fiery elsewhere – the perfect foil for Musselwhite’s voice and harmonica. Overall, a stellar display of electric blues, done the way it was always meant to be: with feeling, passion and fire. Charlie Musselwhite is a monster of the blues, and tonight shows why.