Home » Jazz Articles » Live Review » The Seth Yacovone Blues Trio At Red Square

The Seth Yacovone Blues Trio At Red Square

By Doug Collette
July 23, 2017
View read count

The Seth Yacovone Blues Trio
Red Square
Burlington, VT
July 16, 2017

On this warm, breezy summer evening outside Burlington Vermont's Red Square, The Seth Yacovone Blues Trio's first of three sets was sufficiently moving and diverse to satisfy like a concert complete unto itself. Yet the threesome's performance manifest passion and solidarity most directly through the inclusion of two numbers lying outside the strict definition of the blues.

Seth Yacovone simultaneously offers homage to, and does a favor for,

Bob Dylan

guitar and vocals
b.1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Bob Dylan by covering one of The Bard's most carefully-wrought (but unfortunately often overlooked) latter-day songs. The Native Vermont guitarist/vocalist rendered vivid the intrinsic portent in "Blind Willie McTell," utilizing the ache in his voice as much as his careful picking of the shadowy notes from his guitar. The deft, understated accompaniment of drummer Jeff Salisbury and bassist Jan Schultz, helped remind how astounding it is the Nobel Laureate author of this tune left it off the album for which it was originally destined, Infidels (Columbia, 1983).

As ethereal as was that performance, the Trio turned

Neil Young

guitar
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Neil Young's "Barstool Blues" into a direct, visceral shot to the soul and the psyche. Accustomed to dance around his kit a la the great NOLA percussionist Stanton Moore, Salisbury kept the beat hard and steady here, allowing his rhythm partner Schultz to inject a couple altogether startling, arcing runs. The beauty of Seth Yacovone's covers, as with this one from the Crazy Horse era of Zuma (Reprise, 1975), is such that he turns his choices into personal statements: when the sparse but fully-engaged al fresco audience heard him sing the most noteworthy lines of the composition more than once, those attendees all knew how much he meant them.

The stark nature of these two numbers didn't render any less memorable the slashing version of

Howlin' Wolf

vocals
1910 - 1976

" data-original-title="" title="">Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor," or other riff-based arrangements such as that of

Freddie King

vocals
1934 - 1976

" data-original-title="" title="">Freddie King's "Hideaway." In fact, the cumulative effect of The Seth Yacovone Blues Trio's opening hour-plus was music so hot, the breeze wafting up 'Alfredo's Alley' off Church Street felt all that much more delicious.

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Ballet: The Music Of Michael Gibbs
< Previous

Float The Edge
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.