Artist: Kotzen, Richie
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2008
Rating: 3.5/5
Richie Kotzen, the 38-year-old guitar hero who put out his “intricately” titled debut “Richie Kotzen” at just 19, is known as an outstanding musical talent. He has one of those rare gifts that few artists manage to combine in one person: he’s a superb guitarist and a singer at the same time. Interestingly, “Live in Sao Paulo” is only his first live record when it comes to his solo career.
“Live in Sao Paulo” has a raw, live sound that Richie deliberately kept when he transferred the captured recordings to the final CD format for release. In Kotzen’s case that makes perfect sense, since the man is known for his strong affinity for authenticity and the real deal. The heart of that authenticity is, of course, playing the material live. Considering Richie’s musical influences from his youth, the soul influences of acts like Hall And Oats, The Spinners, O-Jays or Curtis Mayfield mix it up with the straight-up directness of a rock hairdo. The show opens with Socialite (“Mother Head’s Family Reunion”, 2007), a seven-minute, stretched-out funk n’ soul jigsaw puzzle marked by lively jams. It’s a great warm-up and an instant, in-your-face introduction to Kotzen as an artist from head to toe. The power trio of Kotzen, Johnny Griparic (bass) and Dan Potruch (drums), who was replaced for the European leg of the fall 2007 tour by Pat Thorpey, Kotzen’s buddy from the Mr. Big days, often recalls, with their mental “disconnect” in the longer improvised passages, their incredible tightness and their rock-solid sense of each other, the indestructible greatest bands of that kind that roared across the music horizon at the turn of the sixties into the seventies. Two great and unusual covers pay tribute to those days: Shapes Of Things by Yardbirds and I’m Loosing You by The Temptations, both of which Kotzen dressed up completely in his own style. I should add that Kotzen wouldn’t be serving up such goodies if he didn’t have such a playful, hot and varied rhythm section behind him, one that breathes in sync with the guitarist and is the guarantee of just how tight this record is.
The atmosphere is club-sized, and it’s interesting that the crowd makes more noise for Kotzen’s own High than for the Poison classic Stand. Clearly proof that Richie’s own material has caught on really well in Brazil too. Given that there’s only one disc, filled with almost 80 minutes of music, we can fairly assume that the Sao Paulo show was longer and that quite a few songs were cut from the recording. Even so, Richie’s selection of songs offers a phenomenal retrospective cross-section of his rich career, one that all his loyal followers will love, and one I’d recommend to all of you who demand, and forever hunt for, the most authentic reflection of an artist’s soul, sparkling freely on stage and caught in the blues-soul melos of Kotzen’s unique musical voice.
Lineup
Richie Kotzen – vocals, guitar
Johnny Griparic – bass
Dan Potruch – drums
Production
Richie Kotzen
Track List
1. Socialite
2. High
3. Remember
4. Fooled Again
5. Faith
6. So Cold
7. Love Divine
8. Shapes Of Things
9. Doin’ What The Devil Says To Do
10. I’m Losing You
11. Mother Head’s Family Reunion
12. Stand
