Bruce and Bob

Lately, Brandon and I have been splendidly fortunate to spend time in the presence of true musical greatness, wrapped up in the talents of two ordinary yet extraordinary guys named Bruce and Bob.

1. Bruce
www.brucekatzband.com

Maestro Bruce Katz, a virtuoso keyboard genius in the organ vein of Jimmy Smith and Des Moines' own Sam Salamone, gave us a night to remember at www.bluesongrand.com last week. It was one of those midweek sparsely attended shows, yet how very lucky were we to be witnesses to such awesome talent at such close range. Brandon has been privileged to interview and review Bruce and his band before, see www.midnightwine.blogspot.com and www.DesMoinesMC.com. So when we arrived, Bruce greeted us by name and with hugs at the door, as did his stellar bandmates, drummer Ralph Rosen, bassist Rod Carey, and an enormously inspiring guitarist named Chris Vitarello, www.chrisvitarello.com.

Simply put, it was like going to school and to church at the same time, in all the best of ways. Bruce and his posse showed us "the meaning of musical grace" as they served us up a gourmet banquet of musical "v" words: vitality, vigor, vivaciousness, and again, virtuosity. Before the first set was complete, they explored country, blues, rock, soul, jazz, and again, this was all in just the first set. It was the kind of "kaleidoscopic" musical approach that I dream of daily, vividly painted right before my grateful eyes, and ears! I came away with the reaction I've had at only a few magical musical moments in my life, including nights with Wynton Marsalis, Gov't Mule, and 2 of our 3 Stevie's--Wonder and Nicks. That reaction is this: I wish every musician and music-lover I know could have been here.

Bruce told us that he's working on an offshoot project featuring jazzy/bluesy interpretations of Aretha Franklin songs, to be coming this fall. Meanwhile, here is your several-month notice to make plans now when this group comes back to town in 2010. (By the way, I got so excited about their music as I write this, that I totally spaced the fact that little old me got to get up and do a tune with them--he mouthed at me from the stage asking me to come up--I still haven't quite recovered from the glee of this--and we did a slow 12-bar blues in D that the late great Irene Myles herself gave me on the back of a "Mel's" menu, called "Mean and Evil".)

2. Bob

Bob's Soundclick website here

There's a bar in our neighborhood called Smokey's Saloon, a pool table haunt with a nice-sized stage and dance floor, which is sometimes our last stop on the way home after a night on the town. This particular Saturday night, we were excited to learn that the entertainment was none other than Bob and company. The trio usually performed country blues stuff, but someone was present who had a serious birthday hankering for some Hendrix. So Bob gave the enthusiastic group of fans a moment to remember. He came off the platform, pulled up a chair right next to his lively listeners, and kicked into some serious birthday Hendrix (thanks to his wireless guitar hookup--he was mobile). After we were all enthralled to the point of overwhelming, Bob sauntered on over to one delighted Mr. Findlay, took off his guitar as the band continued, and handed it right then and there to him, as if to say, your turn now--show us what you've got! And boy, did he ever! Mr. Findlay went on to play while seated, with fiery passion and "Hendrix-ness" right under the nose of his hero and mentor.

So after those hoots and hollers subsided, Bob took his guitar back, segued into "Red House", and edged back over to none other than Mrs. Findlay, gave me that look, and I launched into some shouting blues with him, right from my chair, totally unamplified, totally lacking agenda or baggage, just for the pure joy of the music and the moment.

Of course the Bob I'm referring to is the one and only Bob Pace, who I'll be sharing the stage with a few more times this year, after many years of admiring his talents from afar. And to share it all with my husband makes it even sweeter. Bob could play rings around guitarists way more famous than himself, yet has remained "under the radar" to be completely approachable and accessible in intimate, unpretentious settings, like Smokey's Saloon, or Blues On Grand most Tuesday nights, or other neighborhood holes-in-the-wall.

Luckily, you don't have to wait until 2010 to enjoy and be inspired by this musicianship. You can connect with Bob all over our city, a wonderful example of how much more rewarding it can be to support the musical greatness of someone local that you can actually converse with, and find out firsthand about their creative inspirations. (Another place to connect with Bob is www.myspace.com/bobpaceandguitartown.)