Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 21,1987
"Tonight, we're going to play what we call `American and world music, Texas drive and swing!'"
With that, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown launched a diverse musical showcase Thursday night at the Cellar Door. Brown has been playing his amalgamation of jazz, country, cajun, rock `n' roll and big band blues since 1947. During the past forty years he has received a Grammy award, been nominated for several more, been granted 6 W.C. Handy awards (including Best Instrumentalist of 1986) and a host of other awards.
He began playing in Texas, cutting singles on the Peacock record label in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He has recorded with jazz pianist Jay McShann as well as country guitarist Roy Clark. He constantly filled arenas in Europe during the 1970s, when American listeners couldn't appreciate his style. Now he is touring to highlight his latest effort, "Real Life" on Rounder Records, a "live in the studio" recording that captures his onstage fire.
Brown has fingers of fire, whether he's playing one of his two Gibson Firebird guitars or his fiddle. His fingers run up and down the fretboard, evoking snatches of Charlie Christian or T-Bone Walker or Lightning Hopkins. His distinctive staccato style cuts like a brand-new razor. Instrumentals such as "Gate's Groove" and "The Neck" sounded cool and hot at the same time, very finger-popping bebop. Then he played a down-home version of Percy Mayfield's "Please Send Me Someone to Love."
With a quick instrument change, Brown switched gears into cajun country and Texas swing while playing fiddle on "Jambalaya," "San Antonio Rose" and "Foggy Mountain Breakdown." It sounded a bit like a cross between Bob Wills and Buckwheat Zydeco. The only things missing were the hot sauce and the crawfish. Then Brown cautioned the audience before his next-to-last song: "Now, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to take you where no man has gone before, past Mars and the twilight zone into another vortex. Please, do not try this at home without the aid of another professional musician." With that, the band swung into a third generation warp speed version of "Pressure Cooker," Brown's signature tune.
Brown detests being labeled a blues player. ' ' I hate that label, man," he said after the show. "I mean, that music brings you down, makes you sad. What we play is feeling good music, music to make you think about your lady. I want to be glad." And Brown and Gate's Express certainly made the small audience glad they ventured out to see one of America's consummate musicians.
When Li'l Ronnie and the Bluebeats opened the show, they played to the sparse crowd as if it numbered three thousand. With the addition of Stuart Grimes on drums and Mike Moore on bass, the Bluebeats present authentic, emotional Chicago-styled blues. Particulary noteworthy were their original tunes such as the ballad "When the Loving Is Gone," the upbeat "Take My Hand" and the Sonny Boy Williamson-like "Two Wrongs Don't Make It Right." This consistently energetic band makes it and plays it right.