For those of you without eagle eyesight the unedited text is here:
Blues legend Robert Cray was red hot when he played to a packed G
Live audience in Guildford this week. The last time Guildford saw such quality
guitar playing was in 2001 when Cray played the Civic Hall. He came on stage
wearing a crisp shirt and smart jeans, a very youthful 60, all substance and no
show. He’s youthful for such a revered blues man who is spoken of in the same
category as Buddy Guy and B.B. King. It was a coup for the G Live to be able to
book the multi Grammy winner on just a six date UK tour. That is was a Sunday
night made it even more remarkable that it was a sell-out, and Cray made a
special point of thanking the audience for coming out at the end of the
weekend.
Cray is a legend to the blues as George Benson is to crossover
jazz and soul. His blues is tinged with soul and effortlessly smooth. He’s a
hero to a generation of would-be blues guitarists and he showed why. When he
played the track “I guess I’ll never know” from his breakthrough 1986 album
Strong Persuader he took the volume right down and you could have heard a pin
drop. The set certainly was not intended a plug for his latest album and took
material from his vast repertoire.
Robert Cray is well known for using many guitars on set, and on
one occasion he sent his roadie Zaq back saying “I’ll stick with this one
thanks”. Even his bare-footed bass guitarist got in on the act, with three
basses on stage. Backed by his tight trio of US musicians, Cray kept the
Guildford crowd enthralled during his set, quality guaranteed.
But all too soon he was gone, and then back for the encore of the
Booker T-inspired “Hip Tight Onions” and, saving the best until last, the title
track of his latest recording “In My Soul” which has a massive Little Milton
soul influence. In the words of local hero Gary Booker, Cray left “the crowd
calling out for more”. A churlish criticism of the night would be that the set
was a mere 90 minutes playing time including the encore. Please don’t let it be
another 13 years before he comes back again.
