Best of fest not on Main Stage

by Steve Barnes

ALBANY -- More than nine hours after Maynard Brothers Band lamented bein' done wrong by a woman, there was Jimmie Vaughan, equally aggrieved about a gal -- a kinky, two-timin' gal, no less -- and bouncing his twangy Texas guitar sound off the marble of the Empire State Plaza.

Welcome to the Fleet Bluesfest.

The annual event, held from noon to about 10 p.m. Saturday, drew thousands of listeners throughout the day to hear a dozen acts that performed on three stages around the Plaza. People strolled: It took perhaps four minutes at a medium pace to get from the Main Stage, in front of the State Museum, to the North Stage, between The Egg and the State Capitol. People tried to hide from the skin-crisping sun; the best spots were beneath the blockheaded trees along the Plaza. A kid on inline skates nearly went into a reflecting pool; he'd been startled by a fellow who was wearing a five-foot-long python around his neck and waggling his butt to tunes by local favorite Ernie Williams.

But mostly people listened to the blues, in all the messy, rude, unhappy, introspective, defiant, soul-touching and danceable forms the style has to offer.

Vaughan -- who was made headliner after Bo Diddley canceled because of illness -- is a guitarist of undeniable ability. And there's no disputing the sheer fun that his headlining set delivered.

But this year, more than in the past, the best blues was found on the second (North) and third (Acoustic) stages. None of the other Main Stage performers -- Shirley Johnson, A.C. Reed & the Sparkplugs, Kenny Neal -- came anywhere close to Main Stage dynamos of past years such as Shemekia Copeland, Skeeter Brandon and Koko Taylor.

Instead, the wowing music came from folks including Richard Johnston, Les Sampou, Christine Santelli and Guy Davis. The young hill-country bluesman Johnston, more impressive than he was last year, screamed through on a sloppy old jalopy of sound. He played three drums, a high-hat and maracas -- all with his feet -- and used as his "guitar" of choice a thing he calls the "diddley bow": basically, four strings on a couple of broom handles stuck into a cigar box.

The homegrown blues diva Christine Santelli gave an alternately rousing and scorching performance, fully supported by a rousing band (and a thrilling keyboardist). She hot-footed easily with the zydeco-tinged "Happy," plunged soulful with "I Can't Stand the Rain," and mined such sadness from Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind" that you didn't know whether to applaud or send a condolence card.

The most unexpected, and also most transcendent, song of the Bluesfest came on the Acoustic Stage from Davis, son of actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. After some standard, well-executed blues, he performed a mesmerizing version of the Bob Dylan tune "Sweetheart Like You."

The Maynard Brothers Band, who beat out two other local groups in Friday night's Colossal Contenders Contest, sponsored by the Northeast Blues Society, opened the day at noon with a fine, tight set on the North Stage. There wasn't much of a crowd -- perhaps 150 -- but the quartet, fronted by three big bald guys, showed they've mastered the blues sound and subject matter. One tune, they informed the crowd, was about "drinkin' and sufferin'."

FLEET BLUESFEST 2002 with JIMMIE VAUGHAN, KENNY NEAL and more
When: Noon to 10 p.m. Saturday
Where: Three stages on the Empire State Plaza, Albany
Length: Most acts played 45-60 minutes; Neal, 75 minutes; Vaughan, even longer
Highlights: Headliner Vaughan's guitar playing was superb, but the bluesiest, most impressive and affecting music came from performers on the second and third stages: Richard Johnston, Christine Santelli and Guy Davis.
The crowd: Large and happy, toddlers to seniors; as it changed throughout the day, an exact figure is difficult to pin down, but don't be surprised if 10,000 people passed through the Plaza over 10 hours
Organizational note: Kudos to Bluesfest staff: Almost everything started exactly on time. Only one set was noticeably late -- and a mere 15 minutes at that.
Sunburn quotient: High; recommended sunblock was SPF 30, at least