This
evening we went down to
Rapperswil
for
the annual Blues
n Jazz festival. We arrived at 18:30 on the first day of
this three day event to see Otis
Grand & Bluesgamblers kick off Friday evening in Fischmarktplatz. We
secured our seats at the Dieci
pizzeria for a spot of dinner being careful to ensure we
overlooked the stage. Having order our dinners, we kicked back
in the summer sun - simply waiting for both dinner and the
gigs to get going.
Otis Grand took to the stage shortly after our food arrived. Which was a great way to enjoy dinner. Grand's powerful voice, energetic performance and stage presence are an excellent addition to an outdoor dinner in a historic setting.
After
the guitar-blues style of Otis Grand, Johnny
Sansone was quite somethin'. The enthusiasm acordionist
and harmonica player Johnny Sansone has for his music, his
original music, is contagious and the crowd caught it. Big
style. Playing many tunes from his latest album Poor Man's
Paradise Johnny seems to take many of his cues from the real
life - some of which seem to come from his home town of New
Orleans which (according to his website) turned
his life upside down along with the lives of many others.
While the acordian is not normally my particular choice of
instrument, Johnny's evervesant persona, skilled playing and
straight-forward down to earth subject material made his performance
highly enjoyable.
After
Johnny Sansone, we headed onto
Rapperswil's
Hauptplatz to see
the Louisiana born blues guitarist Sherman Robertson. Dominated
by the Rapperswil
Castle, the Rapperswil main square is a formidable live
venue and always attracts a large crowd. And Sherman Robertson
strong brand of electric blues is a fine reason for a large
crowd to assemble. Known being the the guitarist of choice
on Paul Simon's Graceland album, Shermans energetic performance
went down a treat the spacious, yet full, Hauptplatz.
Probably
the most high-profile performer of this evenings acts, we caught Roger
Chapman at Fischmarktplatz. As anticipated, Fischmarktplatz
was utterly packed with many making a special effort especially
to see Chappo and, I have to admit, I was also looking forward
to his performance here in
Rapperswil.
Chapman gave the most
energetic and up-tempo performance of the acts we saw this
evening and the crowd really seemed to take to him. Chappos
musical skills and performing ability are beyond doubt having
previously sung the hit "Shadow on the Wall" on Mike
Oldfield's Crises album and further success in Germany and
other European countries.
As is customary in Rapperswil, the mood at the Blues n Jazz was convivial. The crowd is friendly, local and, generally, has a good knowledge of blues and jazz.
My sincere thanks goto Urs Hämmerle (President of the Committee and Hotelier) and the Committee of the Blues n Jazz Festival for their hard work in organising the Blues n Jazz Festival. Of course, my thanks also goto the performing artists without whom this gig would not be possible.
