BamFest with Chris Duarte headlining…..

Since I'm still waiting for my Joe B. RAH DVD to show up, I thought I'd post a little review of a festival that I attended this past Saturday.....

Really had a great time this past Saturday, on what could only be described as the perfect weather day, when I attended BamFest located on the shores of Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin. Great music, great food and great friends like Jacque, Ken, Rev. Paul, Tallan and his parents Carl and Doris Latz. Temperatures were in the mid 70s with no wind and very little humidity. Can it get any better than this?

The artists that performed were:

The Chris Duarte Group
Bobby Messano
Joel Pingitore and the Playground of Sound
Sue DaBaco and Wise Fools
Aaron Williams and the HooDoo
The Electric Road Kings
Fedora

Jacque, Ken and I didn’t get to see the first two groups play, but we did get to the fest when Aaron Williams took the stage. Aaron is a fine guitarist with a deep singing voice. Got to meet and chat with him after his set and found him to be a really nice young man. Also found out that Aaron knows Davy Knowles a little, because he and his band opened for them this past summer in Madison.

I’ve seen Sue Dabaco and Wise Fools a number of times now and they brought some high energy Rock to their set as they normally do. The highlight I would have to say was when they played a very good version of “Hey Joe”.

This was the second time I’ve seen Joel Pingitore and his Band and I’ll tell you what, Joel has Stevie Ray Vaughn’s tone/sound down to a science. They play a wide range of Blues/Rock music and with Joel’s great guitar work, I look for this Band to make some real headway someday. I also got to meet Joel after his set and he too is a really great young man.

I didn’t even know who Bobby Messano was, but I found out he sure can play guitar! During his set, he told a number of stories as he said, “Because I’m Italian and I like to talk.” Turns out, he was Steve Winwood’s lead guitar player for a time and when he was introduced to Eric Clapton by Steve, Eric acknowledged owning several of Bobby’s albums; a heady experience if there ever was one!

And then it was time for Chris Duarte to take the stage. I’ll say one thing; there is not a harder working artist on stage than Chris. The man just never stops when he’s playing and his combination of Blues, Jazz, Funk and Rock blended together keeps the audience's attention at all times. I’ve seen Chris a number of times now and I must say, his guitar playing was just excellent on this day.

After Chris’ set was finished, a number of people from the other groups got up and played a number of songs during their All-Star jam. As I mentioned under Tallan’s Birthday post, he was asked to get up and join Chris. Sue DaBaco, Don Rembert, Scott Walters and Chris Burroughs for the final song of the night.

I have pictures from the Festival:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/8384830@N0 … 293239411/

And also video of The Chris Duarte Group and Joel Pingitore and the Playground of Sound:

Chris Duarte “People Say” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duS1Q3xh34w

Chris Duarte “Still I Think Of You” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP27Jlh706E

Chris Duarte “Big Legged Woman” Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDvtD0bskaY

Chris Duarte “Big Legged Woman” Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqKJ2yZdDs4

Chris Duarte “My Way Down” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5NkxZsd1ao

Joel Pingitore “Ball and Chain” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUHEw6z75p8

Joel Pingitore “Going Down” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nHAoPBd52I

Joel Pingitore: “Riviera Paradise” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDygU0wimX4

Until next time…..Enjoy,

Roy