photo above by Ken Koekstat

 

Please e-mail reviews and photos to: cdgfans@ix.netcom.com or you can mail them to:
Chris Duarte Group Fan Club, P.O. Box 31516, Aurora, CO 80041

 

Great things happening on the horizon! The band is back from their tour of Europe and will be touring in the good 'ol U.S. of A once again. Be listening for some new tunes the band might be trying out prior to recording another album on Shrapnel!!! Chris confirmed in an e-mail (see below) that they will be at Prairie Sun Studios again with Mike Varney from June 3rd - 19th.

SPIRIT OF '66
Verviers, Belgium
4/14/08

Greetings from Belgium! Great show yesterday evening in "The Spirit of '66" in Verviers, Belgium. Last time I saw him was at the Bospop Festival in Weert, Netherlands, several years ago, a show I'll never forget!! I met the bass player and the drummer (sorry, can't remember their names) before the concert and showed them the way to a place where they sell "Belgian chocolates" :-) but the place was closed already :-( After the show I treated them to some real Belgian beer called "Hoegaarden". I'm sure they'll remember me :-) Very friendly people. Chris Duarte was great as expected. That man knows how to handle a guitar :-) I recognized a couple of songs from Texas/Sugar... and the first song of the second set was a solo version of "Wish You Were Here", wonderful!!! I think the first set was about 70 minutes and the second one too. After the concert I saw Chris returning some kind of a "pedal" he used during the concert to a guy in front of the stage. I think that pedal belonged to that guy and Chris needed it on stage for some reason, I don't know. That same guy also had two guitars with him, I'm not sure but maybe Chris even played on one of them. I only got the chance to take a few pictures and as expected they didn't turn out very focused, it was too dark over there and Chris moves too fast :-) Chris was so friendly to sign two CD sleeves for me ("Texas/Sugar" and "Tailspin Headwhack") He was so friendly and posed for a couple of pictures with some of my friends, too. I forgot to ask somebody to take a picture of Chris and me :-( Well next time perhaps... I forgot to mention that the drummer came on stage for the encore with tape on his mouth and eyes, I don't know why he did that but it looked funny for sure :-)

-review and photos by Robert Aerts

THE BOOM BOOM CLUB
Sutton, Surrey, England
4/6/08

When they come to write the great book about guitar players there will surely be a place for Chris Duarte. Surely there can be few other players on the planet who can combine such startling energy levels with outrageous creativity and notes to match. Not for nothing has this Georgia based Texas guitar slinger been described as the 'John Coltrane of the guitar'. The reference primarily focuses on his long meandering and at times eclectic solos which often teeter on the brink but ultimately being home the bacon. It's not just the sudden rush of notes with his guitar neck pointed at 45 degree angles to himself, nor even the repeated shakes of his long haired mane as he teases out yet another tone inflection that make him different. No, what distinguishes Duarte from the pack is his absolute need to remain unfettered in his exploration of his chosen instrument. Much like John Coltrane's experimentation with tone textures and his weaving in and out of arrangements, so it is with Duarte whose flights of fancy on his guitar sometimes left his rhythm section trailing. But he does have the sense of discipline to build bridges back to the starting point from where he once again picks up the thread with the rest of the band. On 'Something Wicked' he brought whoops and hollers from the crowd as he explored the outer limits of his playing within a blues framework. The other thing about Chris Duarte is that his expansive solos and jazzy flurries aside, he sometimes opts for altogether simpler grooves which are built on the back of some funky rock steady outings and deep blues. And while some of his songs don't always immediately fit the mould, he's the kind of player who effortlessly touches base with say Hendrix in terms of experimentalism, Steve Ray in terms of tonality and Johnny Winter in terms of lightning fast note flurries and a trademark growl. On the heavy duty, big toned and hard riffed 'Sun Prairie Blues' for example he emulated the likes of Walter Trout and Robin Trower in tough rock blues setting. And somewhere between a battery of intense audience draining guitar overdrive he proved he could rock out with the best of them or effortlessly slip into a God-given shuffle as on 'Hard Mind' on which his estimable rhythm section of Joseph Patrick Moore on bass and Jeff Reilly on drums pushed him all the way. In between times he came up with a brief intro in Spanish and the seemingly usual, 'great to be in the UK' line, before offering the startling revelation that he needed to discuss the language of Shakespeare - 'I just love the cadence of his language'. And barely pausing for breath he powered into a spontaneous opening that took the band into another muscular funky groove. By the time of an explosive final number, Chris had let his hair loose, and headbanged with the best of them while playing some of the most exceptional guitar it's been my pleasure to witness in years. The standing ovation at the close of the show suggested everyone at the Boom Boom Club thought so to.

-review by Pete Feenstra, photos by Nick Rabett (from the website "GetReadyToRock.com")

P.S. This is an e-mail I received from Chris Duarte while in England on 4/6/08:

Hey Craig,
just a quick pic for you to post, this is Roger Mayer who came out to hear me in Sussex last Sunday in England, it's just basically north north London. Roger Mayer designed Hendrix's pedals, the Octavia, that spaceship-looking thing I used to play, and various other things. He's probably one of the most famous names in pedals, and it just so happened I took my Mayer voodoo-vibe pedal for this tour because it runs on batteries and I didn't want to mess with the different European currents, so more kudos for me. Tour is going good, some good crowds and we're having fun. New record to be done in June from the 3rd to the 19th at Prairie Sun Studios with Mike Varney again at the producer helm and me at the co-pro seat.

Later - chris

THE STAGE STOP
Rollinsville, Colorado
3/22/08

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1st set: Amy Lee / Letter To My Girlfriend / What Can I Do? / Crazy / People Say
Free 4 Me / One More Cup Of Coffee-Impressions-Screenwriter's Blues-Watch Out

2nd set: I'll Never Know / Memorial Field / Pop Song / Something Wicked
My Way Down Encore: Cleopatra / Like Eric

The Devil and his minions, I mean Chris Duarte and his band, performed an intense show of supernatural energy at the historic Stage Stop located in the tiny old mining town of Rollinsville. It is an old stagecoach stop from 1862 and is older than the state of Colorado. The music throughout had a nice depth and a warm tone as the 150-year-old barn's wood resonated with the skull-crushing sounds of the Chris Duarte Group. This was one of those shows that cause fans like me to go see the band anywhere and everywhere they play, it was mesmerizing and the interplay between the band was loose and improvisational. There were several moments in which Chris completely left the planet and bassist Joseph Patrick Moore and drummer Jeff Reilly just looked at each other and shook their heads. One such moment was a non-stop 42-minute medley beginning with a psychedelic, soulful "One More Cup Of Coffee" which melted away into the jazz tune "Impressions" and then downshifted into a totally different take of "Screenwriter's Blues", a much quicker shuffle rhythm to it and Chris's vocals frantically determined as he completely blew the roof off the place, then, as the burning debris fell back to the ground, he slithered into a dark and ominous version of "Watch Out" that left the crowd, most of which had never seen the band before, shocked and at a loss for words (because their jaws were scattered across the floor). This closed out the set and Chris, completely oblivious to the mushroom cloud of emotional energy he had just unleashed, snapped out of it and bounded off of the stage to sell some merchandise and let the guitar cool down a bit. The second set began with a rockin' "I'll Never Know", a tune Chris has honed from his experience playing with Bluestone. Then the band played "Memorial Field", one of Chris' oldest songs and only the second time (I think) that this version of CDG has ever played it (Joseph said it was over a year since they played it). It lasted about 14 minutes and each musician stepped forward and gave it their own twist and interpretation while Chris kept it on track and soaring. A cool "Something Wicked" followed, with Chris closing the show with a revved-up "Like Eric". It was a killer show, one of the greats!

-review by Craig Keyzer, photos by Rick Shaw

OSKAR BLUES
Lyons, Colorado
3/21/08

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1st set: New Unnamed Instrumental / Paper Dolls / People Say / Leave Her Be
Crazy / Tailspin Headwhack / Hard Mind / R U 4 Real? / Never Will Change
Screenwriter's Blues / Free 4 Me

2nd set: Letter To My Girlfriend / I'll Never Know / Pop Song / Sun Prairie Blues
Hold Back The Tears / Scrawl / Drivin' South / One More Cup Of Coffee
My Way Down Encore: Cleopatra / Like Eric

The second night of the 3-night CDG Colorado tour was at Oskar Blues in the small town of Lyons, west of Boulder. The club, a favorite of locals and it being a Friday night, was PACKED long before the sun set over the Rockies. It was a sold-out show and the small stage was the roomiest part of the venue, the audience was a mass of compressed human flesh that was ready to party! It was a rowdy, noisy crowd that helped kick the band into a higher level of playing. Several old-time fans who have been following the band since the early 90's and whom I hadn't seen in years were in attendance such as Mike Tomascovic, Karen Tyson, and Arthur Creech. The show kicked off with a funky new instrumental that grabbed the audience by the throat from the get-go and the funk only got funkier with "Paper Dolls" and "People Say" which immediately followed. The band drilled into each song as if their lives depended on it, playing hard and tight. Jeff Reilly's drumming propelled this show from start to finish, his over-the-top playing driving Chris into the strat-o-sphere! Chris once again played the pedals with his funky new tennis shoes, stomping the pedals of his array arced across the front of the stage, sometimes with both feet at the same time (see photo)! He also whipped out his beautiful metallic-green Les Paul on several songs. On the song "R U 4 Real?" Chris played like a sonic painter, creating landscapes of music that hung delicately in the air like soap bubbles. Every time I see Chris play his singing seems to be getting better all the time. It is forceful and clear, sometimes even like a roar, and I think his vocal chords probably got toughened up a lot fronting the band Bluestone and having to sing in a higher register than with CDG. Many of the locals who made up the bulk of this audience had never experienced the Chris Duarte Group before and were ecstatic beyond belief at what they were seeing and hearing! Every song was played with power and passion and the band freaked out the crowd with a sonic "Drivin' South" that dissolved into a trippy "One More Cup Of Coffee" that everyone loved and had a lot of whammy bar effects throughout. Chris surprised the band during the show-closing "Like Eric" by riffing into Jeff Beck's "Freeway Jam" for a few minutes as the song began. A nice, long, rowdy, roadhouse show on a Colorado Friday night! Boy howdy!

-review and photos by Craig Keyzer

QUIXOTE'S
Denver Colorado
3/20/08

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1st set: C-Butt Rock / Letter To My Girlfriend / Tailspin Headwhack
Do The Romp / One More Cup Of Coffee / Screenwriter's Blues
I'll Never Know / Never Will Change / New Unnamed Instrumental
R U 4 Real?

2nd set: Pop Song / People Say / Crazy / Paper Dolls
Hold Back The Tears / Leave Her Be / My Way Down
Free 4 Me / Watch Out
Encore (Chris solo): Star-Spangled Banner / Across The Borderline

What the hell is wrong with Denver?!! A thriving metroplex of over 2-million, a city containing numerous fans of the Chris Duarte Group, a town Chris has played in since 1992 and always has drawn good crowds - could only cough up an audience of about 20 or 30 people?? WTF!!! Oh well, they missed a solid show from a great band. I was curious to see how much the band had progressed since last summer when Joseph Patrick Moore and drummer Jeff Reilly had both only been in the band for about three months and were still learning the CDG catalog and finding their sea legs. The club is located right in the heart of the historic black neighborhood of Five Points, connected to a bigger club called Cervante's (the old big band ballroom known as the Casino Cabaret back when Charlie Parker, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington graced its stage). I had never been to Quixote's before and noticed immediately that practically every square inch of the place had a Grateful Dead poster or a painting of Jerry Garcia, a very jam-band kinda' place (which, in my humble opinion, is an audience that Chris Duarte's management should be pursuing aggressively, a scene in which live tapes and word-of-mouth are pathways to success). I would love to see CDG jamming to a huge writhing crowd at the Bonnaroo Festival or the Wakarusa Festival, driving them crraaazzyy with songs like "Screenwriter's Blues", "People Say", "Crimino", "Watch Out" just to name a few! They'd be thousandaires in no time! I'd say half of the audience at Quixote's (15 or so) fit that mold, their dreadlocks flailing about as they experienced the Chris Duarte Group for the first time. I noticed that Chris's "stack" of amps and monitors was about half of what it was last time I saw him, but it still sounded good and the band played well, but the sound system of the club left a lot to be desired and the vocals cut out completely on a few songs. It was a solid show nonetheless and highlights included "One More Cup Of Coffee", "R U 4 Real?", "Watch Out", and a great encore of Chris by himself playing "Star-Spangled Banner" and "Across The Borderline", his vocals strong and soulful. Jeff Reilly tried out some new snare drums that were made by a craftsman here in Colorado and brought to the show. One was metal and the other of wood. He was really happy with them. Bassist Joseph Patrick Moore mentioned to me that he got "The Call". Out of the blue he received a call from Stewart Copeland of The Police, someone he has never met or knows, who wanted him to play bass at a show in Savannah, Georgia on the Wednesday (3/26) after the Colorado shows. Stewart wrote a composition for a large musical ensemble and didn't give anyone the charts until the week before the show. Joseph was to fly out of Colorado on Sunday morning and then do one rehearsal for the show before the performance the next day. He was nervous a bit and said the charts were complex but that with such short notice thought Stewart Copeland was creatng an improvisational performance (Joseph has posted reviews and photos of this performance on his website! Go here to check it out in the Views section!) And Chris had some news as well: The Chris Duarte Group will be going into the studio in June to record another album on Shrapnel!!! It will be at Prairie Sun Studios again out in California! He is busy writing some new songs for the album, some of which will probably be tried out live on some unsuspecting audience between now and then so keep your ears peeled!

-review and photos by Craig Keyzer

MOSCOW PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Moscow, Russia
2/10/08

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We had great CHRIS show yesterday! The big hall, many people, great gig ( 2 hours +). After the show – long line – people want hin to sign CDs and photos! Before the show – special autograph session in biggest CD Store in Moscow. Chris even choose acoustic guitar from the store and played 3 songs (My Way Down,…). The guys from the group also played very good and I hope have good impressions from the show and from our country as well. I will also try to write some report about the show. Here is a link to click on to see many great photos from this show: http://www.music-photo.ru/concert2008/duarte/index.htm

-comments and photos by Oleg Pavlov

From a later e-mail he sent to me: It was really an event and people still discuss the show. I can tell you – CDs sold out and all musical magazines decided that it is a MUST to write something about. I hope to find a chance to invite Chris to Moscow again. This time – more than one day. Maybe some clubs programme + concert.

THE DOUBLE DOOR INN
Charlotte, North Carolina
1/25/08

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I've witnessed a lot of very good guitar players take the stage at The Double Door Inn since my first visit back in 1992, but I must say that this past Friday night, the 25th of January, I believe I listened to the best one yet. Chris Duarte is an amazing guitarist - pure and simple. His range of capability is second to none that I have personally seen. In fact, I 'd go so far as to say that he would make my top ten that I have ever heard. That's some pretty good company. Chris and Band took the stage at the Double Door around 10:30 and played until about 12:15. I thought he had gotten lost in his music and forgot about time - and their break - but at 12:15 he took an intermission for a short time. During this intermission the band mingled with the crowd and Chris managed the tee-shirt and CD sales. Now this was not a normal sales exchange. Chris took the time to talk to everyone who came up to him. Not just sell them something but actually talk to them. I saw him sign photos that people brought as well as sign just about everything he sold. I wanted a copy of the "Tape Trips Volume 3" - a very good double CD live compilation. Chris didn't have them out with everything else, so he grabbed the keys to the truck and went out and got them! Like I said, a very nice guy in addition to being a talented musician. The second set was very special as Chris decided to indulge himself in some fantastic guitar playing. In fact, the last song went for at least 30 minutes. Joseph and Jeff are to be commended for staying with Chris during that set! Several times they just looked at each other and you could tell they were just jamming as they went - with Chris deep in his music putting on a show I will not soon forget. Hopefully he’ll return to Charlotte soon!

-review and photos by Monty Chandler

Here's a direct link to more images from the show

http://www.montychandler.com/Musicians/Chris%20Duarte/index.htm

THE APOLLO THEATER
Nagoya, Japan
1/14/08

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1st set: Silver Horse / Big-Legged Woman / Drum solo-Crazy / Luck Shine On Me
Tailspin Headwhack / In The News Today / Put Up Or Shut Up / Give It Back To Me
Borrowed Love / Me 'N You / 101

2nd set: People Say / I'll Never Know / Out In The Rain / Never Gonna Change
She Cries / Do It Again / Still Got Gasoline / Can't Fight The Blues / Met My Match
Hold Back The Tears / Just Kissed My Baby / Do The Romp / My Way Down
Cleopatra / Like Eric Encore: Chevrolet / Valle, Colorado

This night was the last night of the tour. Yoshi told that they were going to play until they got tired to death. Yoshi is not a liar. They played with all their energy and passion on this night. They did two sets and encore for more than 4 hours! I don't know how to describe this night. It was the best show I've ever seen. I'm really sorry I had to leave during the encore to get back home. Chris said he always had had good times in Nagoya both in English and Japanese. It was true. The audience in Nagoya was more enthusiastic than in Yokohama. Toshi said "What do you think about this plan? Bluestone Company plays one set, Chris Duarte Group plays one set and Chris and Bluestone play together another set. 3 sets show!" Of course he was kidding us, but I really hope it will come true someday. I have been a long time fan of Chris. Bluestone Company is one of the best bands from Japan. I do love them, too. This combination is a miracle to me. I believe Chris Duarte & Bluestone Company is one of the greatest band in the world! I cannot wait to see them again!

-review and photos above by Chie Saito, photo at left by Toshimitsu Miyamatsu

VARIT
Kobe, Japan
1/13/08

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Silver Horse / Big-Legged Woman / Give It Back To Me / Tailspin Headwhack
Put Up Or Shut Up / Out In The Rain / I'll Never Know / Luck Shine On Me
Hold Back The Tears / Drivin' South / Me 'N You / In The News Today / Met My Match
My Way Down / Never Gonna Change / Valle, Colorado
Encore: Still Got Gasoline / Do It Again

I had never been in Kobe until this night. It is located near Osaka and Bluestone Company is originally from Osaka. So it would be an interesting show there. The opening band was Mother Soul Blues Band. They did good southern rock. Unlike the Yokohama show, the audience was watching the band earnestly. No shouting or dancing. I don't mean the show was boring, they made us to pay all attention to the show with their playing. The audience might be quiet, but everybody in this room fixed their eyes on stage. Personally, I was so glad to hear "Drivin' South" for the first time on this tour. They played the new slow blues "Still Got Gasoline" again, too. It's worth to hear!

-review and photos by Chie Saito

THUMBS UP
Yokohama, Japan
1/12/08

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Silver Horse / Big-Legged Woman / I'll Never Know / Just Kissed My Baby
Put Up Or Shut Up / Out In The Rain / Leave Her Be / Me 'N You / Amy Lee
C-Butt Rock / Give It Back To Me / Hold Back The Tears / Do The Romp
Never Gonna Change / Crazy / In The News Today / Met My Match
Luck Shine On Me / My Way Down / Can't Fight The Blues / Cleopatra
Like Eric Encores: People Say / Chevrolet / Valle, Colorado

This venue is well known among Savoy Truffles' fans. There were so many old fans of Savoy Truffle there on this night, too. I saw the show at a balcony seat, the upper floor of this venue this night. The band looked more relax than in Tokyo and enjoying playing. Chris used a new guitar called "Getto" for the first time. It sounds like his Strat '63. Kind of warm sound. I like it a lot. They did some songs like "Amy Lee" or "Never Gonna Change" they had not played in Tokyo. Yoshi used his talking modulator on both of "Just Kissed My Baby" and "People Say". (He did in Tokyo, too!) When he used it, his bass playing would sound more groove. They also played some of Savoy Truffles' songs. Chris said he liked "Hold Back The Tears" a lot. So do I. It is a beautiful ballad with Toshi's impressive slide guitar. Taizo's powerful drum solo led the audience to "Crazy". Taro's percussion solo before "Chevrolet" made the audience excited. Some of the audiences were shouting, clapping their hands, dancing and singing during the show. It was a really fun night.

-review and photo by Chie Saito

All the members arrived at the venue around noon for an interview with Guitar Magazine. The soundcheck started from 6:00 to 7:30 with a photo session. This time Chris plays his legendary old Stratocaster and his brand new blue Stratocaster. And for this tour, a special handmade white Stratocaster model guitar (label says "moon-peach") is provided. Chris seems to like the sound of new handmade guitar and fans in U.S. may see it soon. At the soundcheck, they played some tunes including "Me N' You" and instrumentals. Surprise is talking modulator tried by bass guitar player, Ogasawara. I have never seen any bass player use this equipment. More surprise is a sudden burst of smoke from the amplifier during use of modulator. Fortunately it is under control and it never happens in the performance. Doors open at 8:00. Venue is full of audience. Music hearing in the ears are from 70's, like Bad Company, Free and etc. As my music learning is from 70's, these turn me on before the beginning of stage. This is a third time to see Chris & Bluestone in Yokohama. Seeing them at the beginning of new year becomes almost a habit. Sounds may strike my brain to wake sleepy body after holiday season. Other fans may be the same. Yokohama is always a special place for them since Bluestone has played from their Savoy Traffle era. Fans always welcome Chris as well as them. This is the reason why audience may be the most noisey in Japan. We have some expectation as Chris made Blue Velocity which is the best among his albums. (Japanese fans know Chris respects Savoy Traffle and put "I'll Never Know" and "Out In The Rain" on the album.) Performance starts on time at 9:00. Chris plays with old Stratocaster at first and later changes to blue and white ones. It ends at 12:30. They showed full power to play the music for fans. Twin Guitars sound like a edge and strike our mind like lightning. Twin percussions explodes like a bomb. Aggressive bass sounds like a wall to fill the void of the sound. These sound collaboration build something great in music for everyone. Audience really appreciates it. I am impressed with this collaboration of music by Chris and Bluestone Co. It is a great moment. I surely wait for the next tour in 2009.

-review and photos below by Kazuo Utamura

BLUES ALLEY
Tokyo, Japan
1/11/08

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1st set: Silver Horse / In The News Today
Do It Again / Out In The Rain / Free 4 Me
Leave Her Be / Put Up Or Shut Up
Tailspin Headwhack / Give It Back To Me
Luck Shine On Me / People Say
Still Got Gasoline / Met My Match / Me 'N You
Carnal Assets / My Way Down / Cleopatra
Like Eric Encore: Valle, Colorado

It's been a year since I last time saw Chris Duarte & Bluestone. This was my first show on this tour. Luckily, I was able to see them in front of Toshi at the front row on this night. The room was full of people. The show started with Chris' voice, "Konbannwa, minasan. Genkidesuka?", meaning "Good evening, everyone. How are you doing?" His Japanese is much better than last year. As they started to play the first song, "Silver Horse", I was amazed they sounded more "band" than last year. All of them have been good players, so the shows in Japan last year were very good. But this year, it was more than that. The second song was "In The News Today". When Chris started to sing, I thought his vocals were better than last year. Although, I had loved his vocals as much as his playing guitar for years, what I heard on this night was never better. The next song was "Do It Again" from his new album Blue Velocity. I'm so happy I had the chances to hear his new songs in Japan. The 7th song was a new song of theirs, "Put Up Or Shut Up", up-tempo rock 'n roll. After this song was "Shakespeare Time". I saw this in many years. They played another new song called "Give It Back To Me". Chris said "It's difficult to play, needs to sing high tone!" This song reminds me of Santana. It has those passionate melodies, something Latin. Yoshi, Taizo and Taro, their rhythms sounded great! Of course, so did Toshi and Chris' guitars. I love this song so much. Their surprise were not only the new two songs, they also showed us a slow blues called "Still Got Gasoline"! It was amazing they had 3 new songs on this tour! It is really good blues, I like it a lot.

-review, photos, AND recording (see below) by Chie Saito

Chie recorded the Tokyo show from this tour and has posted music files you can download!

Go to http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=512636

FARM 225
Athens, Georgia
12/29/07

and

DARWIN'S
Marrietta, Georgia
12/27/07

Of all of the songs in the Chris Duarte catalog, my all-time favorite is an instrumental named "Memorial Field", a jazzy piece that Chris refers to as being "very Pat Metheny-like". Any show where that tune is played automatically soars right into my "top shows of all time" list. I don't know what it is about that song. I try not to analyze music too much, but something in the delivery and the cascading feel to some of the passages just hits me right where it counts.....right in my soul. So, to attend these two Jazz gigs in Georgia, with no expectations whatsoever of hearing ANYTHING that I recognize, and to end up hearing two outstanding yet totally different versions of "Memorial Field", was just too good to be true. What a way to end the year! The first show of my road-trip was a gig played by LEMONADE HAND GRENADE, which consisted of Jeff Reilly on drums, Neal Fountain on bass, as well as Chris Duarte and Sid Wolf on guitars. I knew I was in for a treat when Chris informed me (referring to Sid) that he'd "been learning a lot off this cat", which is high praise, and as it turns out, quite deserved. Sid is a super-smooth jazz player with a thick resume, and a very impressive guitarist. Chris played a bit of a sideman role on this gig, but not in the usual sense. Both players took turns with solos, and sometimes played in great harmony- especially on the opening song, which had a very Santana/Allman Bros. feel to the main lick (not being a jazz guy, I'm relegated to describing things in rock terms). Giving Chris's role more of a sideman appearance was the fact that he sat down for the whole show (as Chris does when playing jazz), while Sid stood, guitar slung high in traditional fashion for this type of gig. Also featured in the second set was Atlanta saxophonist Brian Lopes, adding a whole new dynamic to the already talented cast. There were solos, jams, and even some total improvisation. Darwin's had the perfect small dark room vibe for such a musical showcase. It was great to see Jeff in an element where he could do so much coloring with his kit. I noticed that Jeff is becoming very familiar with "Memorial Field" to the point where he is really adding to the drama of that spectacular tune. I haven't really seen very much of that since the legendary drummer Frosty was in the band. Very cool!

The second gig was in Athens, billed as the JEFF REILLY TRIO. This was the same lineup, minus Sid, and with more emphasis on the drummer's role during the show. As fantastic as the previous gig was (as well as being longer), I can't really say which I enjoyed more. I do really prefer the freedom that a trio allows for the musicians, and how that gets played out. This night was no exception. Jeff really got to do his thing, and it was classy and tasteful. Along with Jeff, Mr. Fountain really got to shine here as well, and seemed to have a great time doing it. Because of the freedom of the format, the music (and Chris in particular) during this gig sometimes went straight into the stratosphere, causing me to just lose it completely. Sometimes I was laughing to myself, trying to contain it. Other times I simply shook my head in disbelief. A few times, Chris went so deep and expressive on the guitar that the other musicians and I were shaking our heads in amazement towards each other, incredulous. At one point Chris played something that Neal either recognized, or just thought was totally brilliant, causing him to punch his fist into the air and exclaim "yeah!". A spontaneous moment of pure musical exhilaration and exuberance by one of the players. How cool is that? Highlights of this night were "Memorial Field", a jazzy version of "Shiloh", and a jam that somehow out of the blue morphed into a very loud, rockin' version of "Goin' Down" to close the show! Worth every minute, and every penny.

-review by Arthur Creech

to see some great photos from these shows go to

http://www.photographictom.com/LemonadeHandGrenade/

CALLAHAN'S
Auburn Hills, Michigan
12/2/07

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On a cold damp night, three Canadian CDG fans made a run over the border to a new night club, Callahans in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was rainy, damp, windy and foggy but as usual Chris and the boys in the band warmed things up. Two wonderful sets of Duarte blues, rock, fusion with the intensity at full throttle. The stinging vibrato, chord bending, sizzling lead riffs had the crowd bopping in their seats. Chants of "turn it up" filled the air. What a musical ride! Beating a rhythm, drummer Jeff Reilly had Chris jumping all over the stage. Bassist Joseph Patrick Moore was right in the pocket and we were sitting so close you could feel the air being pumped from the bass drum and the bass amp. What a night and several musicians came to shake hands with Chris after the show and have a photo (below, left to right--Johnny Bee Badanjek of Mitch Ryder and the Rockets; Brian Schram; Chris; Jim McCarty also of Mitch Ryder and the Rockets; and Cactus Larry McCray, a blues guitarist).

-review and photos by Ken Koekstat, Ontario, Canada

USTI JAZZ & BLUES FEST
Prague, Czech Republic
10/20/07

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Here's some photographs of Chris Duarte playing in a jam session in Prague.

-photos by Tomas Bobrovniczký