If you’re a blues band hailing from Denmark then you’d
better be bloody good if you want to make an impact. Thorbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado clear that bar with room
to spare.
The beanpole that is Thorbjorn Risager is the main man on numerous
fronts. It’s a cliché to describe a
blues singer’s voice as gravelly, but Risager definitely lives up to the tag,
and makes versatile use of his instrument to deliver a variety of song
styles. At the same time he shares lead
guitar duties with Peter Skjerning, and into the bargain his rhythm guitar
sound is a growling beast fit to compete with his voice. Oh yeah, and he writes all their original
material. No wonder his name is on the
front door.
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| Thorbjørn Risager - Danish blues ain't cheese |
And yet this show demonstrates that The Black Tornado is
still very much an ensemble affair, a whole that is great than the sum of its
parts, Risager included. With two
guitars, trumpet, sax and keys in addition to bass and drums, they knock out a
big, fat mother of a sound, without even trying. And what’s more, they’re tighter than a cork
in a champagne bottle.
All of these qualities are evident in set opener ‘If You
Wanna Leave’ which kicks off with a ‘Roadhouse Blues’-like riff and shedloads
of grit in the guitar sound, before adding horns to take us down the bright
side of the road. And it’s not much
longer before ‘Maybe It’s Alright’ raises the roof still further with its
Stones-meets-ZZ Top sound, featuring yet more meaty guitar, plus cracking horn
riffs and kickass drums, and some decorative fairground-like organ from Emil
Balsgaard as icing on the cake. It’s a
belter, and sets a hell of a standard for them to follow.
They’re not frightened to change tack with the material
either. ‘I Used To Love You’ is a
convincingly mournful affair, and later they dial it down again with ‘China
Gates’, a Nat King Cole ballad that Risager tells us featured in a movie about
the French Indo-Chinese War. I’ll have
to take his word for that, but what I do know is that it’s a subtle affair,
with some nice slide guitar from Skjerning.
‘Long Forgotten Track’ is also a slow and rolling atmospheric piece,
with chiming guitar work.
In the midst of all this they also manage to get feet moving
with a boogie-woogie jump blues
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| Hands up who wants to get down? |
Just for good measure Risager introduces a new song called
‘All Your Love’ into the set, inspired by BB King. And indeed he goes on to deftly channel the
spirit of BB with both his guitar tone and his vocal phrasing, over a walking
bass line from Soren Bojgaard, while Peter Kehl adds a jazzy trumpet solo.
Other highlights are the nagging ‘Long Gone’, with the horns
providing a spot-on counterpoint to the vocals, and a distinctive arrangement
of ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’. But they
really cut loose – and I do wish they’d do it a bit more often - on set closer
‘All I Want’, complete with lead guitar harmonising.
Thorbjorn Risager and The Black Tornado bring something fresh,
sophisticated and classy to the blues scene.
Risager explores different avenues with his songwriting, and his bandmates
follow with conviction, serving up something not to be missed.
Support comes from local outfit Main Street Blues, who as
always serve up some interesting song selections held together by an earthy
sound. Derek Smith contributes some
dirty guitar licks on Coco Montoya’s ‘Last Dirty Deal’, while John Hay’s bass
and Iain Hanna’s organ add some more colour to the palette. Sean Costello’s ‘Hard Luck Woman’ is
strutting but spare, with Smith’s guitar fluid and easy going. In fact if I do have a criticism it’s that
they’re too easy going at times, and could do with upping the energy levels.
But they bring some funk and swing to Warren Haynes’ ‘Before
The Bullets Fly’, and generate excellent dynamics on Alvin Lee’s ‘Bluest
Blues’, with a melodic intro and swathes of keys from Iain Hanna to enhance the
mood. Main Street Blues have a new album
coming soon, and hopefully they'll be giving some welly to their own material.
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