Customer Reviews

Live at the Old Absinthe House Bar 2: Saturday

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A New Orleans native, I stopped in at the Old Absinthe Bar for a Sazerac while taking some out-of-town guests around the city. There was a blues band on the stage fronted by a heavy-set guy dressed all in white. His voice was pretty good, and we were into the music, but when Bryan Lee ripped into his first solo our jaws just dropped. Maybe we'd heard that kind of playing on a blues CD once or twice, but none of us ever imagined we could just walk into a bar off the street, buy our "one drink minimum," and hear someone wail like that. His companion musicians were superb as well. We sat, hardly talking to each other, until Mr. Lee left the stage for the last time.

You'll never hear exactly what we heard. The blues bar was gone long before Hurricane Katrina, another victim to the epidemic of mango-flavored daquiris. But this CD is about as close as you can expect from a live recording. Unlike the Friday Night recording, this one included two guest guitarists: Frank Marino (known for his work with Mahogany Rush) and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Their performances are excellent, but more important I think is that their presence brought out the absolute best in Mr. Lee's playing. Forced to choose between the two CD's, I'd go with this one first.

When I found out (not from Amazon) that Frank Marino was on this album, plus KWS, I almost bought it sight unseen, but I gave the samples a listen and then decided to pick this and the Friday night (part I) up.

I wasn't dissapointed, but my expectations we perhaps a little high, so it's not one of my top blues guitar albums, live or otherwise. It's a decent blues album and I like it, and although I'm no stranger to raw live blues, some of Lee's rawness comes off as, I'm sorry, but it's my opinion, sloppiness. Taken in context of a live recording in a New Orleans bar, this fits, but it's not 5-star material. Nor, IMHO is the companion album.

But don't let that stop you from picking it up, it's/they're good album(s). Lee is a decent guitarist and singer, and it's really cool that he had Marino & Shepherd sit in with him. Makes you want to blast it loud while sipping a Jim Beam.

To be really fair I need to check out other albums by Lee.

If you're a very hard-core Marino fan like I am, you might a little dissapointed , Frank's a great player on his own and even better with Mahogany Rush, but like his "blues period" where he went from his own, post-Jimi/almost progressive self-styled fantastic sound period (IV, Strange Universe) to a more Johnny Winter vein, well, Frank's just not a blues guitarist *first*. He seems to be straining, not to play notes, but to garner feel. I can't believe I of all people am saying this about Frank!

Frank does do some nice slide playing, although I'm not sure it's actually slide, I had heard that on earlier MR albums he used his whammy bar for slide-sounds, but that be yet another Marino urban legend.

Some people are not so keen on KWS, but I have most of his albums and I like him a lot even if he's a SRV clone, at the end of the day he plays well and has good tunes. He sounds good here too.

Don't kill me for this review, someone else yeh or nay it.

Bryan Lee is one of my blues heroes. I don't know how I first heard about him, but I bought this CD a while back and it remains one of my favorites. So when I finally got to visit New Orleans this past weekend (2/21/2003) I made it a point to stop by the Old Absinthe House to pay my respects. Little did I know that only a few blocks further down Bourbon Street I'd get to hear the man himself, twice! At The Blues Bar on Bourbon Street I was privileged to hear him play on Friday and again on Sunday night. If you ever get a chance to visit N.O. make sure you go to hear Bryan Lee play. But even if you never make it there, pick this CD up.

I have a very big blues collection but I had never heard of Bryan Lee. A friend of mine from New Orleans turned me on to Bryan and "Live at the Old Absinthe House-Saturday Night."Brian Lee really makes you feel the blues in this one. His live versions of "I'll Play The Blues For You","Flip, Flop and Fly" and Love Her With A Feeling" are the highlights of the CD but every song is a blues lover's dream. If you like this one you will also love "Live at the Old Absinthe House-Friday Night.----Blues lovers make these two part of your collection. Brian has some help from the likes of Kenny Wayne Sheppard,James Cotton and Frank Marino but he stands on his own very well on this CD.

I know what you're thinking. An old white guy playing electric guitar based blues? That's what it is, and this old white guy can play. He's very talented. But not only that his back up band is great too.

One of the songs is one of my favorite Albert King songs "I'll Play the Blues for You". When I saw that I thought to myself, "Oh I've gotta see this old man try to play an Albert King song." And the old fella does pretty well, but come on let's face the fact that this guy is no Albert King. But is back up band makes up for it. Albert King's back up band wasn't that good. Bloomfield said that they stunk. With Bryan Lee's band not only to they maintain a great rhythm but they're throwing down some good solos: piano, sax, harmonica... And on at least one song the great Kenny Wayne Sheppard plays a solo.

Great band, great guitar playing, great song selection. Albert Freddie Muddy Stevie and Hound Dog are gone. Buddy and BB are not far behind. The fact that great live blues is still alive makes me happy inside.

Last year I travelled to US and visited the wonderful city of New Orleans. I had the chance (and the privilege) to be in the presence of this incredible man, playing three sets of one and a half hour each (yes, 4 1/2 hours on Bryan Lee) at "The Saloon" for the price of a beer bottle and a US$ 10 tip. As a bonus I got his autograph on two CD's, the "Saturday Night" and "Live and Dangerous" (yes, Mr Bryan Lee is blind but is able to sign his name for those who ask him), a photo with the man and a little chat with him and his wife Bethanny. As I already have the "Friday Night" CD, my live trilogy is complete! Let's not forget that this CD introduces Kenny Wayne Shepherd to the world and also have Frank Marino as a special guest. A must buy for blues lovers.

I have seen Bryan perform live several times at various locations in New Orleans, and for a man that didn't start playing guitar until later in life, he is outstanding. A true blues aficionado! All of his CD's are excellent if you enjoy the blues.

I bought this CD because of a recomendation from Kenny Wayne Shepherd on the CD. WOW! This is blues with a feelin'. Good hard Looooosiana blues power. Joined by Kenny Wayne Shepherd (who Bryan Lee has mentored), you can hear the pride as he lets his protege strut his stuff on Look Over Yonder Wall. If there's a bad track on this CD I haven't found it. A raucous crowd adds to the excitement of the album. A sad note is that in 1997, the landmark where this was recorded was turned into a daquiri shop, so this is your only chance to hear Bryan Lee at the place he called home for over 10 years.

Bryan Lee's Live at the Old Absinthe Bar Saturday Night CD is without a doubt one of the best hard core live blues CD's around. Too bad not too many people have heard of him. He has a great band behind him and his guests are not too shabby either (Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Frank Marino). The Friday night CD is quite good also. If you love the blues, this CD is rather entertaining and should be in your collection. It is addicting to listen to since it is so good.

If you only buy this as a protest against the loss of great old music haunts like the Old Absinthe House Bar in New Orleans, that's reason enough. The engaging, dynamic performance by the bar's longtime resident genius Bryan Lee is just a plus.