As If Angels Were Singing

Wilson Blount's nickname "Big Daddy" did not just come around by chance. While his body powerfully arches over the conga, his hands caress it with much affection. Big Daddy is both, robust and tender at the same time. Right from the start, his performance gave the second Jazz-time-Gala a totally different accent than the night before: No noisy avant-garde excesses could be heard anymore but rather a sentimental recollection of the roots of the blues. Wilson, who otherwise plays out his affection for funk and soul, presented himself in a down to the essential reduced trio-lineup: acoustic guitar, blues harp, vocals, and percussions. And to fuel himself, he used sparkling water instead of bourbon. The man from North Carolina served a mixture of old titles (including the especially noteworthy and unusually optimistic "Working on a Railroad") along with own compositions, which might as well be easily mistaken for the good old traditionals. Songs such as "Talking to Myself" or " Walk a Mile in My Shoes" sounded like the dusty classic blues.