Location: Postojna
Concert date: 09/24/2008
Attendance: 200
Ticket price: €14.00
Woohoo, Postojna Blues is back! That’s right, on Thursday the 5th season of one of the most prestigious festivals in Slovenia, the Postojna blues festival, kicked off with the clang of the first concert in the series, and it will undoubtedly liven up the music scene on the sunny side of the Alps through the end of March 2009. Well, at least judging by the incredible show put on for us by the indestructible, infectiously velvety voice of soul champion Ronnie Jones. He’s one of the most authentic soul performers of the modern era, which, given that the man is a downright enviable 71 years young, is hardly surprising. Despite the huge diversity of his musical expression, Ronnie Jones is first and foremost a representative of the old school, which of course shaped the vocal and instrumental variety of an evening ruled by blues and soul.
Ronnie Jones came to Postojna with a band of likable Italian musicians, whose brightest spot was an old acquaintance, Mike Sponza. Sponza didn’t waste any time and dove straight into sailing over a seriously catchy R&B rhythm, which he soon swapped for an impressive set of funky riffs. As you’d expect from a Postojna local, Mike loves playing in the big hall of Predjama castle. Completely relaxed and visibly emboldened by his role as chief helmsman of a lineup of guitar, Hammond and drums, the little Italian quickly found himself in his element. Sponza launched into an improvised guitar sprint, showing himself to be an outstanding handler of blues and funk licks. Either way, the chances of Mike Sponza managing to steal the evening from RJ looked minimal from the very moment Ronnie joined his Italian colleague on stage. Ronnie Jones first introduced himself to the Postojna crowd with Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. A nicely done rendition that won people over with a warm voice, which right from the start proved itself a mellow descendant of old-school soul.
Rock Me Baby sounded like an interesting attempt to cross BB King with a pinch of soul. In other words, an energetic genre mash-up that stirred up quite a bit of excitement among Ronnie Jones’s until-then tightly packed ranks. Unbridled enthusiasm first claimed the “head” of the otherwise always confident keyboardist (his name, sadly, slipped past me in the whirlwind of mayhem), whose uncontrolled trilling really took a toll on the audience’s ears. For a moment it looked like Ronnie would go down the same road. But as a soul master, he doesn’t exactly go in for aggressive vocal growling very often. What saved him from straining his vocal cords too much was his vocal predisposition, which after all lives in gentler waters. Or does it? Jones proved me wrong with the very next number, a stunning interpretation of Stormy Monday Blues by the immortal T – Bone Walker. During it, Jones didn’t forget to mention that he has played with some truly interesting names in the past, such as the godfather of English blues Alexis Korner, Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart, and there was still plenty of room on the list for the merry pair of “Cream brothers” Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. Anyway, Stormy Monday Blues was the undisputed favorite of the night, exceptionally well-versed dynamically, with just the right amount of atmospheric moments. Ronnie’s voice is most impressive in exactly those moments, when the Hammond and guitar lurk in the background, barely noticeable, tracking his every vocal move.
Ronnie then galloped off into Mustang Sally with a sharp, funky syncopated stride, an old Mack Rice classic that most people know best in the version by Wilson Pickett. The song has gone through countless makeovers over the years, some of them misguided and some unforgettable. Thursday’s Jones interpretation can safely be parked in the latter category. This cunningly arranged “gal” thrilled with the captivating swirl of Ronnie’s vocal lines, brilliant backing-vocal turns, and finally a brilliant solo from the idyllically happy Sponza. The cup was full, and then a high-spirited Ronnie Jones topped it off with a funny James Brown imitation. The crowd’s reaction was instant, and just right for the arrival of the already traditional Postojna intermezzo, a short break.
The second half ran under the direction of Sponza’s own 19 Years Old, a catchy blend of blues, jazz and soul scents, whose heady aromas were replaced upon Ronnie’s arrival by Ray Charles’s Night Time Is The Right Time, this time with Lara as the backing vocalist (her surname, Baruca, may tell you a bit more). Another mystery was solved as the opening bars of All Night Long came pounding in, pointing a finger at Billie Jean and the sins of Michael Jackson linked to it. The song once again showed the cohesion of top-caliber masters of musical expression, with the obligatory improvised dialogue between guitar and Hammond, of course. From here on, the indestructible Ronnie Jones took the reins of the evening into his own hands. He delighted with the traditional chorale-style Down By The River Side, served up as usual as “bait” for the crowd to sing along in tune. Postojna was no exception here either. The soul/funk rouser The Feeling Is Gone was greeted with roaring approval from the crowd, and amid the general excitement it also woke up a bit of athletic spirit in Mike Sponza’s stocky frame (the guy started dancing around on one of the tables). There was still time left for a soul-inspired stroll through Superstition by deer hunter Stevie Wonder, and in the encore Proud Mary, which Ronnie Jones supposedly tackled solely out of gratitude for the Postojna crowd’s hospitality. But the 71-year-old musician shocked the most with a spiritual address, Motherless Child, accompanied by a terrifyingly gothic Hammond backdrop and backed by a characterful vocal. Motherless Child silenced Predjama castle in an instant. The song carried an unusually morbid aftertaste, dictated by the vocal formation it was arranged for, with which Ronnie Jones quickly demonstrated the musical evolution from spiritualism, through blues, to the final stage that we call rock & roll today. Perfect!
Text: Daniel Pavlica
Photos: Mojca Perdih
Setlist
1.Uvod
2.Something
3.Walking
4.What’s Going On
5.Rock Me Baby
6.Stormy Monday Blues
7.Somebody To Save Me
8.Mustang Sally
9.19 Years Old
10.Night Time Is The Right Time
11.All Night Long
12.Motherless Child
13.Down By The River Side
14.The Feeling Is Gone
15.Superstition
16.Kansas City Woman
17.Proud Mary
Photo Gallery
