New York Rock

Copyright © 1998, 1999 Chuck Winans
courtesy of blueskyartists.com

                                         Jonny Lang and Buddy Guy Get Their
                                         Mojos Workin’ at the Hammerstein Ballroom

                                          by Otto Luck, August 1998

                                         Jonny Lang has a new buzzcut hairdo,
                                         which makes him look all the more like he
                                         just stepped off a schoolyard playground,
                                         which makes his mighty guitar-work
                                         appear all the more amazing, which
                                         makes it all the more apparent that, at age
                                         17, he is one of the most promising young
                                         axe-grinders to arrive on the scene since
                                         Stevie Ray Vaughn surfaced from the
                                         great state of Texas.

                                         Which leads me to the next paragraph...

     Lang kicked off his gig at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom, on July 28th, with “Still
     Rainin’,” followed by “Quitter Never Wins,” a Trimline Telecaster (the kind with the
     f-hole in it) dangling from his lanky 6-foot-1 frame. Jonny appeared to have his Fender
     plugged into a trio of vintage Super-Reverb amps. The sound that this combination
     created was awe-inspiring as was Jonny’s chops and thunderous Joe
     Cocker-meets-Greg Allman voice. It occurred to me that this kind of musicianship does
     not come from sheer practice alone – yes, Virginia, God has blessed this Minnesota
     prodigy with reams of talent.
 

     During Lang’s third number, I polished off my bag of pretzels and started nipping on my
     little plastic cup of beer. Unfortunately, the club had run out of Heineken early on and I
     had to resort to drinking the swill they call Budweiser (there goes that sponsorship, NY
     Rock). Nevertheless, with Lang whipping up the storm he was onstage, the beer went
     down just fine and, besides, us bluesmen are made to suffer, right?

     For his fourth number, Lang tore into the Sonny Boy Williamson classic, “Good Morning
     Little School Girl” which Jonny rendered with a whole lot more heft than he did on his
     A&M Records debut Lie to Me. In fact, if I have one complaint to voice about Lang,
     it’s that his studio work to date is a bit pale compared to his live performances – at least
     the one I attended.

     As if Lang hadn’t already delivered enough gusto to cause one
     to be firmly planted in Blues Heaven, there was plenty more to
     come from the legendary Buddy Guy, who followed Jonny’s
     set, appearing onstage around 11 p.m. I had heard much about
     Guy – a multi-Grammy Award winner, mainstay of the Chicago
     blues circuit, and owner of the famed Chicago club Buddy
     Guy’s Legends – but had never had the opportunity to see him,
     until now, and it was well worth the wait. Minutes into Guy’s
     set, it became obvious why the man is so popular. He’s a
     consummate performer with an infectious nature that, well, just
     leaves you feeling good all over.

     Buddy opened with the Muddy Waters classic, “Got My Mojo Working,” and
     immediately wowed the audience with his speed-drill guitar work. Guy’s style of playing
     manages to be rapid-fire in its execution while somehow appearing completely effortless.
     Along these same lines, he has a relaxed yet energizing presence onstage. His smile
     beams out at you, easily rivaling the glow of any of the stage lights which, by the way,
     were particularly good in the Hammerstein Ballroom on this evening.

     Guy introduced the next number, “I Just Want To Make Love To You” (also a Waters
     tune), by informing the crowd that “We’re gonna get so funky you could smell it.” While
     my olfactory senses detected little other than the billows of marijuana smoke that were
     circulating throughout the mezzanine section, a couple of my other senses did take note
     of the fact that Buddy continued to put on one hell of a show, highlighted by his
     ten-minute pilgrimage into the audience during “Hoochie Coochie Man” (you guessed it,
     another Waters hit), all the while cranking out one blistering lead after another. Needless
     to say, the audience became completely unglued at this, rewarding the Chicago bluesman
     with many decibels of collected approval.

     By the way, I should mention that the Hammerstein really seems to have their act
     together in terms of acoustics. Compared to some of the other cavernous clubs in the
     New York Area, the sound was excellent, coming through crisp, clear and well
     distributed throughout the room. It was a refreshing experience after being tortured by
     the likes of the Roseland Ballroom, and a few other select venues, at concerts I’ve
     recently attended.