[Tradjazz] Delta Dreambox plays blues tonight at Barbes, 10pm

[Bliss Blood]

Friday, December 28, 10:00pm
BARBES <http://www.barbesbrooklyn.com/>
376 9th Street @ 6th Ave
Park Slope, Brooklyn
718-965-9177
$10 suggested donation

<http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=128237062&albumID=1344629&imageID=14190908>
Concert Review:* Delta Dreambox at Banjo Jim's 11/16/07*
November 17, 2007
LUCID CULTURE WEBZINE
A killer show by New York's best blues band. That's right: blues band. 
Not a bunch of deaf, beerbellied baby boomers playing Clapton and Led 
Zep covers at earsplitting volume: this band plays like they stepped out 
of a whorehouse in a pre-code Mae West movie.

Delta Dreambox is yet another one of Bliss Blood's stunningly authentic 
old-timey bands, along with the irresistibly romantic Moonlighters, the 
irresistibly dark, haunting Nightcall and her 1920's jazz band 
Cantonement. That's a lot of work, but somehow she pulls it off. With an 
uncanny feel (and what seems to be an encyclopedic knowledge) of 
seemingly every retro style ever invented, she's a goodwill ambassador 
from the late 20s come back to remind us what fun really is.

Tonight she was in top form, her clear-as-a-churchbell voice soaring 
over the excellent band behind her. With the addition of a superb piano 
player Marty Bartolomeo doing some killer barrelhouse rolls and solos, 
they're sexier than ever, maybe the reason why Blood was decked out in a 
red vintage outfit with matching boas that left just enough to the 
imagination.

Slide player Mark Deffenbaugh is their not-so-secret weapon. Blood has 
become a magnet for the best slide blues players on the planet, and this 
new guy is no exception. When it was time to cut loose, he ripped into 
the songs like a panther on a helpless bunny, firing off a flurry of 
notes but somehow managing not to waste anything. He likes the lower 
registers where it's murkiest and most sinister. The band also has an 
excellent blues harpist Ernesto Gomez, whose airy, upbeat playing 
reminded of Randy Weinstein's work with Hazmat Modine, and 
vaudeville-style songwriter Al Duvall moonlighting on banjo.

Together they ran through a bunch of mostly more obscure songs from the 
1920s and 30s, including several Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and Memphis 
Minnie numbers, a grim, haunting
Victoria Spivey song about a person rallying valiantly against 
tuberculosis but ultimately succumbing, and a rousing, guitar-driven 
Charley Patton "Down the Dirt Road Blues" to close the set.

To say that this band doesn't play often enough isn't really fair, 
because Blood is so busy with the Moonlighters (they'll be off on 
European tour til mid-December).   As tasty as the Moonlighters' 
originals are, it would be nice to get to hear her dip deeper into this 
genre, considering how well she pulls it off. If you're a big Janis or 
Melissa Etheridge fan, Delta Dreambox is probably too quaint, quiet and 
old-fashioned for you. On the other hand, if you are a purist, this band 
will make you sweat.