Mark Knopfler, Villa Manin, 08/06/08

If the great Mark Knopfler, who played in front of some 7,000 avid Dire Straits fans, appeared at the splendid setting of the historic Villa Manin (located about 20 kms from Udine), well, perhaps we owe it to a certain degree to his old chum, Paul McCartney. And what does Sir Paul have to do with Knopfler and Italy? Well, many, many moons ago Mark came with his old band, Dire Straits, for some concerts in the Bel Paese. He was apparently ripped off by some crooked promoters, and said: “Never again in Italy”! The man who instead convinced him to return? Paul McCartney. And ain’t we glad too!

The quasi 60 year-old Scottish musician from Glasgow, albeit with a slight paunch, looked in o.k. shape. I think it must have been over 10 years ago that I last saw Knopfler together with his old band at Rome’s old PalaEur. That was Dire Strait’s first-ever Italian appearance after the bad financial run-in the band had had years before in Italy.

Another great memory I have of Mark is the 1997 DVD he did together with McCartney for a benefit concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall for Sir George Martin and his recording studio on the island of Montserrat. The tiny island had been destroyed by a volcanic eruption and so in order to help his old and famous record producer, Paul called up some of his old musical mates, such as “Slow Hand” Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Sting, Elton John and Mr. “Blue Suede Shoes” himself, the late, great Carl Perkins (who would shortly later die of a heart attack after that very memorable concert. McCartney in particular had been one of Perkins’s greatest admirers). The grand finale of that epic concert was “Kansas City” (which had been played by The Beatles in that very same venue some 30 years before!) and saw on the very same stage: Knopfler, Sting (on bass), Clapton, Collins, Perkins, John and McCartney. The result is simply impressive as Paul stares in awe (and vice-versa) at Clapton as he plays one of his famous guitar solos! I’ve seen most of the people great musicians listed above (in fact all of them with the exception of Perkins), including two great other artists that Knopfler’s also worked with: his idol, Bob Dylan, and Tina “TNT” Turner (on her “Private Dancer” Album).

But on with the Villa Manin show. Mark was joined on stage by 6 other great musicians and opened the 2-hour concert with “Cannibals”, followed by “Why Aye Man”, “What It Is” and “Sailing To Philadelphia”. Some old Dire Straits songs were then pulled out of Knopfler’s magical hat, including everyone’s favourite, “Romeo And Juliet”, “Sultans Of Swing” and a great old ballad, “Brothers In Arms” (in 1985 it reached position no. 1 in the UK and US charts, as well as in 22 other countries!). Knopfler then ended with “So Far Away” (much to the immense joy of all those present) and “Local Hero”. A pity though that he didn’t play one of my all-time Dire Straits favs, “Walk Of Life” (if I’m not mistaken, the video of that song shows a few NBA matches), but one can’t “always get what one wants”, as Mick Jagger once sang a zillion years ago…(all pics by M. Rimati)

Barry McCabe, Castel San Pietro Blues festival, 01/06/08

This very “simpatico” Irish bluesman really got all those present standing up on their feet with some great blues (and also r&r!). I got to talk to Barry at the end of the show. Again, yet another honour as he’s also played together with his fellow great compatriots, Rory Gallagher (an Irishman who grew up with the American blues and who died in 1995 after complications from a live transplant. So sad were the Irish upon hearing of his death that the mayor of Cork proclaimed an official day of mourning while the great Jeff Beck read the funeral eulogy) and Van Morrison. Barry’s been playing for about a year with Mick Taylor and apparently had put on quite the show together with Mick in Milan last year. Barry also invited him to be his 'special guest' for his CD presentation. They apparently had hit it off so well and the crowd enjoyed the show so much the only thing to do was to do it again...and again...and again.

And “out of the blue” (excuse the pun!), McCabe organised at the end of his gig (with a very low-key Snowy White in the corner) a great, great jamming session with Ana Popovic and the other back-up artists. One song (which I immediately recognised) was Grand Funk Railroad’s “Some Kind Of Wonderful”. The best was yet to come as the impromptu band concluded with that great American blues-rock guitarist himself, George Thorogood, and his “Move In On Over”!!

I can’t think of a better way to have ended such a great little free blues festival (and McCabe even told me after that the last encore wasn’t even rehearsed, it was just done on the spur of the moment!). I can’t even begin to imagine what the concert would have been like had Taylor also been on the same stage with these great performers (all pics by M. Rimati)!

Terence Charles “Snowy” White, Castel San Pietro Blues festival, 01/06/08

Well, this is one artist that I’m probably NOT going to buy his music via iTunes or E-mule, that’s for sure. Not only did he show up without his own guitar (it was sent ahead to St. Petersburg as he was going to play with Roger Waters on his live “The Dark Side of the Moon” tour after the Castel San Pietro festival), but at one point in the show he almost appeared to have stopped playing all together! Snowy was called up at the last moment by concert organizers as Mick Taylor unfortunately bowed out do to “health” problems (a Rolling Stones biography states that after 5 years that Taylor spent with Jagger and Richards, he came out of that experience completely “destroyed”! No doubt the lifestyle, including the massive quantity of drugs, that the Stones led had quite the effect on Taylor. Richards though had deemed him one helluva guitarist. And here’s what Bill Wyman has to say on Taylor’s playing capabilities. It’s taken from Wyman’s massive autobiography on the Stones and it quotes “The Village Voice” from one of their Boston concerts: “The Stones were marvellous, superb as always in presenting the best type of music around. The horn section was a great contribution, but the real surprise was the lead guitar by Mick Taylor”!).

White’s repertoire may include having played with Pink Floyd from 1977 to 1980 (after 3 years of permanent play with Thin Lizzy) and also with Waters on his 1990 “The Wall” album (which was played near the ruins of the Berlin Wall), but he didn’t leave THE greatest impression that I’ve ever seen in all these years of concerts. My sources tell me that Snowy at one point huddled up with the keyboard player in order to let McCabe and the others jam. That may certainly be so but the general impression from those in the crowd (including me wife) was that he didn’t look too enthusiastic of having to be up there on stage, albeit he is nevertheless a great guitarist (all pics by M. Rimati).

Ana Popovic, Castel San Pietro Blues Festival, 01/06/08

Having seen a concert or two in my life (with Ms. Popovic, that makes 162!), you could say I’ve also seen a few great guitarists here and there. And I have to safely say that 99% of them have been men, until Ana Popovic came along. It was indeed refreshing to see one “hot” female performer (and a great guitarist too!) for once come along on a stage and sort of “knock your socks off”, as was the case with Belgrade’s 32 year-old Popovic!

She’s come along way from her native Belgrade (she lives in Holland and travels with her 5 year-old son Luuk) with her first group Ush in 1998 right up to her latest album, “Still Making History” which was recorded in 2007 at the House of Blues in L.A. (apparently, the album has been in the top U.S. charts for some 14 weeks). And it’s the U.S. which has also helped to launch her career internationally-speaking.

Quite the slide-guitarist, Ana has also played with the likes of Taj Mahal and Solomon Burke. She’s also taken part in the prestigious “Blues Cruise” in 2006 with the likes of Hammond, Cotton, Hubert Sumlin and others. In 2006 she also received 6 nominations at the “Living Blues Awards”, including “Best Live Performer” and “Best Female Blues Artist”.

Quite the honour I must say to see this young female blues artists as the Castel San Pietro gig was her only Italian concert in 2008 before her long and upcoming tour of the U.S. Ana packed quite the heavy punch and concluded her set with Jimi Hendrix’s “House Burning Down”, a song, as she herself said, most appropriate for the situation which had hit her native Yugoslavia years ago and which still today haunts many countries in the world (all pics by M. Rimati).

James “Superharp” Cotton, Castel San Pietro Blues Festival, 31/05/08

The small bath town of Castel San Pietro, located 17 kms from Bologna, hosted for the 12th year its great little free blues festival. The Rolling Stones and John Mayall’s former great guitarist, Mick Taylor, was to have closed the festival, but unfortunately bowed out due to “health” problems (my sources said it was due to drugs). We had already made plans so we decided to check out the festival anyway.

And we’re glad that we did as it was indeed a lot of fun. The Saturday night show included harmonica player James Cotton, a 73 year-old bluesman from Tunica, Mississippi. At age 9 Cotton was adopted by Sonny Boy Williamson II and travelled with the incredible bluesman for 6 years. In the 1940s he hooked up with another blues legend, none other than Howlin’ Wolf, who had also been a strong influence on the Stones. But the greats don’t end there as shortly after he was called up by none other than Muddy Waters to replace Little Walter and Junior Wells. He played with Waters for 10 years until 1965 when he eventually went solo.

Cotton has recorded for some of the most important record labels around, such as Alligator, Blind Pig and Telarc. He’s also won Grammy Awards in 1996 and 2003 and has also been inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis, Tennessee. 1977 was the year that had Cotton play together with Waters and Johnny Winter. In his illustrious career, Cotton has played with the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Santana, Steve Miller, Freddie King and B.B. King.

Unfortunately, throughout the years Cotton’s voice has practically disappeared, thanks also to some rather heavy whiskey drinking. What he lacks now in singing he certainly makes up in harmonica playing. His concert that evening lasted about 90 minutes. Indeed an honour to have seen live such a legendary artist (all pics by M. Rimati)!

John McLaughlin, Udine May 11th, 2008

For only 15 euros (and about 90 minutes’ worth of concert) the great John “Mahavishnu Orchestra” McLaughlin touched down in the small town of Udine (pop. 95,000 souls) with his great back-up band, the 4th dimension, a splendid trio of musicians worthy of the ultimate in funk-electro-jazz music (especially drummer Mark Mondesir)! The 66 year-old English jazz-rock guitarist virtuoso, who once played together with another great icon of the world of music, Miles Davis (whom I had the pleasure of seeing in Rome’s Olympic stadium shortly before he died) and was also part of Davis’s epic album “Bitches Brew” (which also has a track named after him), appeared in splendid form, wearing a simple pair of jeans, a short-sleeve shirt and white sneakers. McLaughlin had also once appeared as a sideman for none other than the Rolling Stones. The stage? Very, very simple, with just the musicians’ instruments (including one smaller drum set which was played by the fabulous keyboard player, Gary Husband) and no fancy lighting à-la-Kiss. Dominique Di Piazza was on bass for the band. According to Wikipedia, McLaughlin is: “.. regarded by many as one of the most influential and technically gifted guitarists of all time, having mastered a remarkable range of styles and genres, including jazz, Indian classical music, and fusion. He has also incorporated aspects of Flamenco music in some of his acoustic periods”.

McLaughlin played some tunes from his new album, “Floating Point” as well as some old material. Personally, at some point in the concert, I felt as though I was almost listening to Pat Metheny (whom I’ve seen only three times so far) in McLaughlin’s music, indeed a worthy “heir” of the great John. It was Mclaughlin’s third visit to Udine and even though the crowd was rather small (made up mostly of folks in their 50s but with also the odd “youngin’” here and there), his performance was no doubt greatly appreciated by the audience at hand. One of his tunes was also “Light At The Edge” by the great old sax player Pharoah Sanders (whom I also saw years ago in Rome).

On an odd note, as we arrived at the theatre at about 8.40 pm, there was John and his band also arriving. I looked at him and said, “But aren’t you ALREADY supposed to be inside”? At which point he looked at me and said, “Yes, I’m going now” (pic by M. Rimati)!

Francesco De Gregori, Spilimbergo (PN): July 30th, 2005

A nice venue in front of the town’s Duomo, the same place where in 2004 I saw Stevie Winwood in concert. De Gregori is Roman-born, a sort of “Bob Dylan” of Italian music. He’s been on the Italian musical scene since 1972. He was joined on stage by a six-piece band, all very, very good musicians (the keyboard player could have been his son!). I personally don’t even own one single album by De Gregori out of some 800 that I have but I must admit that many of his songs are not only quite good but the words are very interesting, some which have even been used throughout the years as Italian political manifestos. At 30 euros per ticket De Gregori played AT LEAST 2 solid hours with one encore. The only negative part was that he didn’t play a song from his latest album, “Vai in Africa Celestino” (which I downloaded on my iPod). Odd rather for such a well-known musician. After the gig we had some drinks in a local bar and the drummer, keyboard player and lead guitarist showed up. I naturally complimented them, especially the drummer, on their great performance.