It came as quite a surprise three years ago when Henrik Freischlader announced his retirement from performing. Fortunately for fans of great guitar playing it was less of a retirement and more of a sabbatical. 2016 saw the release of the album “Openness”, a tour with the trio format and Henrik Freischlader was back. So what does 2017  have in store for us? Well, quite a lot actually, with the fun in the UK beginning with three gigs on the “Blues for Gary” tour, a tribute to Henrik’s hero Gary Moore, where he’s supported by Gary’s former sidemen, Pete Rees and Vic Martin and joined by Moritz Meinschäfer on drums. The three UK dates are: 

Under the Bridge, Chelsea – Friday July 28 

The Tunnels, Bristol – Saturday July 29 

Maryport Blues Festival – Sunday July 30 

But that’s not all, after downsizing to a trio format in 2016, Henrik’s gone in the opposite direction this year, unveiling the Henrik Freischlader Big Band with singers Linda Sutti and Joanne Kasner, Moritz Meinschäfer (drums), Armin Alic (bass), Dániel Szebényi (keyboards), Marco Zügner (saxophone), Harrisen Larner-Main (guitar & vocals). With Henrik, that’s eight people on stage and a huge amount of talent. 

They’re coming to the UK in September for six dates and this is something you really don’t want to miss. Catch them here: 

Band on the Wall, Manchester – Tuesday September 19 

Robin 2, Bilston – Wednesday September 20 

ABC 2, Glasgow – Thursday September 21 

The Flowerpot, Derby – Friday September 22 

The Borderline, London – Saturday September 23 

Komedia, Brighton – Sunday September 24 

Do yourself a favour and try to catch one of these shows; you certainly won’t regret it. 

Vargas Scroller“Hard Time Blues”; well I’m not so sure about that. There are a lot of other influences in there as well (soul, funk, jazz and Latin for starters) and only the title track hints at the ‘things are so bad I’m gonna have to pawn my glass eye’ school of blues lyrics. Maybe most blues fans don’t actually pay as much attention to the lyrics as they do to the playing. You regularly hear solos applauded, but when was the last time you heard anyone shout ‘Wow that’s a really perceptive and insightful lyric’ at a blues gig?

So obviously this album is about Javier Vargas as a guitar player and he’s a very good and versatile player. He may not be too well known in the UK, but he’s toured extensively in support of the likes of Jeff Beck and Gary Moore and recorded with Carlos Santana. Listen to the album purely from a guitar enthusiast’s point of view and you won’t be disappointed. He shifts seamlessly between the Latin grooves of the opener “Welcome to the World” and “King of the Latin Blues”, the slow blues of “Burning Shuffle” and “Spanish Roads” and the manic jazz/eastern/blues fusion of “Space Jam”. There’s even a bit of a soul groove with the lovely, understated “Fulton in the House”.

The billing for the album is Vargas Blues Band featuring Paul Shortino (Quiet Riot) and I’m not quite sure that the combination works. Paul Shortino has a great voice for cutting through metal arrangements but I’m not convinced that it works with a band playing songs that are subtle and delicate at times. Keys player Tim Mitchell in the live section at the end of the album and drummer Peter Kunst and Guy Pearson seem to be a better fit with the band’s style. Not sure about the live version of “Tobacco Road” either.

And after saying all of that, I still like the album. The instrumentals all work well and Javier’s playing is superb whether he’s playing with or without slide, playing delicate, controlled solos or in full wig-out mode. He’s really worth listening to and he’ll be in the UK later in the year.

Meanwhile, “Hard Time Blues” will be out on June 10th on Santo Grial Records (VB 002 CD). Currently available on iTunes.

 

 

Henrik Freischlader 290113 (Photo by Allan Mckay)

 

Billy Walton 290113 (Photo by Allan McKay)

Oxford Street on a wet Tuesday night in January can be a really miserable place, but not if you’re on your way to see The Billy Walton Band and the Henrik

Freischlader Band at the 100 Club, which is exactly what I was doing last Tuesday.  Both bands did the Skegness Butlins Blues festival last weekend before setting off on their UK tours.  Henrik is touring in support of his latest album “House in the Woods” and Billy is touring because the band love playing here and they have a lot of fanatical supporters in the UK.  The Stuart James Band was also on the bill as openers, so, three bands for a tenner in central London; you can’t argue with that.

At this kind of gig, the headline/support distinction doesn’t really apply; each band has its own following and they generally respect the work of the other bands on the bill.  I’m not saying there’s no tribalism, but there is a huge amount of mutual respect between the bands which is reflected in the attitudes of their followers.  Everyone came to hear good music and they weren’t disappointed.

The Billy Walton Band played a much, much shorter set than they would play as headliners and focussed on the latest album, “Crank it Up!”.  They packed in all of the highlights of a headline set into 45 minutes which featured Billy’s wonderful playing and showmanship and the improvisational interplay between Billy’s guitar and Richie Taz’s sax over the rock-solid rhythm section of William Paris and John D’Angelo.  If you’re looking for highlights, I’d go with “Deal with the Devil”, “The Deal went Down” and “Hot Blues” from the album and the inevitable show-stopping “Cannonball”.  I may be biased, but you really should make the effort to see these guys.

If you want a bit of background on the Henrik Freischlader Band, there’s a review of “House in the Woods” here.  Like the Billy Walton setup, this is a classic 70s power trio with an added twist.  In this case it’s the smoky Hammond sound of Moritz Fuhrhop which fills out the sound while Henrik plays his riffs and fills and solos. Again, the rhythm section of Bjorn Kruger (drums) and Theofilos Fotiadis provided a solid foundation for the creativity of the 2 lead players.  Henrik, like his hero Gary Moore, is equally impressive playing heavy riff-based songs and the slower ballads but he still has another weapon in the locker; he has a powerful, lived-in and careworn, voice which delivers both the rockers and the slower songs perfectly.  The band is tight and convincing in both styles and also sounds great with funkier and reggae-tinged material.

The set was dominated, unsurprisingly, by material from the new album (which is very, very good) and “Nowhere to Go”, “1999”, “House in the Woods” and “Breaking my Heart Again” all

sound stunning live; we even had a cover of “Come Together” thrown in for good measure.  There was a minor glitch with the bass sound during Henrik’s set, but it didn’t detract from a powerful live performance from two dynamic bands.

If Henrik and the band are wondering why the audience were leaving halfway through their set, it puzzled me as well.  Transport out of central London isn’t great late at night, but I really don’t understand an audience leaving at 10:30 when a headline band is absolutely on fire.  Anyway, I was there with Plus One until the end and it was a great night; two superb bands with incredible guitarists and great songs.  It doesn’t get a lot better than that.

 

Product DetailsI may have said this before, but I love an album that opens with a statement of intent and “House in the Woods” does just that.  The title track opens with a huge guitar riff backed by a smoky Hammond and you know exactly what you’re going to get, particularly when the lead vocal drops in on top of the guitar/organ interplay.  The arrangements on this album lean quite heavily on the late 60s/early 70s power trio tradition of Jimi Hendrix, Cream and even Rory Gallagher with guitar riffs and fills punctuating the vocals; the addition of the Hammond of Moritz Fuhrhop to this powerful mix offers extra textures and another layer to the sound.

There’s one thing which makes this album stand above the rank and file of blues/rock albums and that’s Henrik Freischlader’s voice; it’s raw, powerful and, at times, incredibly emotional.  Normally you expect singer/guitarists to excel in one discipline, but Henrik Freischlader is a great guitar player and a great singer and he’s equally convincing in all of the styles on offer here.  “House in the Woods” and “Sisters” are blues riff-driven, while “Nowhere to Go” and “1999” are much more funk -influenced, but the first real revelation comes with “Breaking My Heart Again” where Henrik’s voice, rather than his guitar work, dominates for the first time.  The first time I heard this song, I was convinced that it was a Paul Carrack lead vocal, and that’s not a comparison I make lightly.  There are thousands of guitarists who can belt out high tempo blues tunes but, for me, the real singers are the ones who can perform well on the slower, more laid-back tunes as well.  Henrik Freischlader is one of the real singers.

The second half of the album carries on in the same vein, with the funky “Take the Blame” and riff-driven “Hear Your Talking” leading into the ballad “Two Young Lovers” before the brooding menace of “With the Flow” and the closing slow blues of “Won’t You Help Me”.  The album is a well-rounded collection of songs from ballads to fairly hard blues riff-rock; the band sound convincing throughout, but the vocals really shine on the two ballads “Breaking My Heart Again” and “Won’t You Help Me”.

If you’re into the great blues-rock players like Gary Moore, Johnny Winter and Joe Bonamassa, then you’ll love this album; the playing is always superb and there’s a song for everyone here, whether you want a heartfelt ballad, a riffmonster or something with a backbeat, they’re all here.  Listen to this in the car at maximum volume.

“House in the Woods” is out on February 4 2013 on Cable Car Records.