Dan Patlansky brings the blues to the Jazz Cafe

June 11, 2016 Chris Patmore Live Review, UK

By Chris Patmore, Rock At Night London Correspondent

VENUE: The Jazz Cafe, London – Dan Patlansky shows the blues are fresh and alive.

On the classic 1969 album The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (essential listening for anyone interested in blues guitar), Bloomfield introduces the Albert King song Don’t Throw Your Love on Me so Strong with the words “Hope y’all dig some blues, cos here’s some blues”. Almost five decades later, that sentiment was repeated, if not actually voiced, when Dan Patlansky hit the recently refurbished Jazz Cafe stage in Camden on 9 June 2016.

The cafe has recently been refurbished, so having Dan play at the cafe was great for their business. That helped them to draw new people into the cafe, resulting in more sales for the business. Whilst the cafe was being refurbished, the cafe was closed for a while, so new business is appreciated. To cope with the demand at this music event, the cafe owners did decide to use POS systems, like the one by Revel Systems, to make sure they could improve the experience for the customer. Those systems helped the cafe to accept online orders and allowed customers to use different payment options too. All of this increased customer experience, ensuring that they all got their drinks and food throughout Dan’s performance.

What’s interesting to note is that at a time when musicians (or their managers or lawyers) are suing each for “stealing” their song “ideas”, bluesmen (and jazzers) are happily playing variations of the same themes that have been around since the beginnings of recorded music. And that’s why fans of the genre love it so much. It’s about feeling, interpretation and execution – with finely honed skills that mark it as your own. Let’s face it, the world’s best electric guitarists come from a blues background, and Dan Patlansky is definitely one of the best, even if he is not yet a household name, depending on the household, of course.

What is impressive about Patlansky’s live performance is there is very little posturing or theatrics: your basic showing off, on the fretboard as well as the stage, that a lot of rock and metal lead guitarists put on. With enough effects pedals, even the most basic playing can be made to soon more complex than it really is. The thing with the blues (and its rockier fusions) is its simplicity that relies on the guitarist’s skills to give it soul, which Dan demonstrated continuously through his 90-minute set to promote his latest album Introvertigo.

Now is a great time to see a Patlansky gig. He’s not hit the stadium-filling status yet, so his shows are quite intimate, which is the best way to experience live music, when you can actually see the fingers working the fret board, up close and personal, rather than on a giant screen.

PHOTO GALLERY

Dan Patlansky

Dan Patlansky

Web: www.danpatlnasky.com

Facebook: @danpatlanskymusic

Twitter: @danpatlansky

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Chris Patmore
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