Some of the best blues and R&B can be found on Sunday nights in the city of Boston. The Sunday Night Blues Series at Tremont Street’s Beehive nightspot continues with host Bruce Bears on keyboards and vocals. Bears was supported by bass player Brad Hallen, who was subbing for regular bassist Jesse Williams, and drummer Max Teixeira.
Last night’s Blues Series show featured Manchester, New Hampshire guitarist Tim Pike. Formerly of the now defunct Soul Band, Pike got to strut his stuff on guitar and lead vocals. But we’ll talk more about Pike later in this review.
The blues show opened with gentle dinner hour music from just the trio. This quiet approach allowed for direct insight into what these players do. Bears applied the soft tinkling while the rhythm section smoothly supported him. Teixeira tapped those skins just right, moving it forward with some tasteful brush strokes. Hallen let loose a sweet bass solo, unobtrusive low end elegance. Teixeira played some thumpy rolls on his tom and the rhythmic pattern sounded exotic. Less is more works for these guys. All kinds of sweet colors and tones floated in the air once these three were on wringing all the sweet beauty there was to be found in the mellow end of blues and R&B.
Eventually, Pike came up to start his feature with the Ann Peebles 1960s Stax hit “I Can’t Stand The Rain.” Pikes’s voice revealed only traces of emotion and the restraint worked well for someone of Pike’s understated soulfulness. Bears hit all the right organ notes, a mellow groove with chords sliding around and this made it possible for Pike to move in with some beautiful high notes on his six string.
“Rock Me, Baby” found Pike serving up some seriously crunchy blues chords that were brimming with the desire to grow into lead phrases, and they did grow, expand. Pike’s melodic range allowed his lead solo to traipse all over the room. As a vocalist, Pike belted soulfully and he found the gravity of every song, bringing them forward, as if he was a musical waiter offering something from his menu to everyone in the Beehive’s room.
Such melodic phrases he yanked out of his axe throughout the evening, Pike could make his greasy notes dance all around the beat. That was pretty good for a guy who wasn’t even using a slide.
The second set began with more gentle piano tinkling to reestablish the mood. Hallen has a lot of range, making his electric bass sound like a big, heavy upright, pulling out the fattest, widest low end notes. Bears approached the piano with the sophistication of jazz. Bears tossed off so many sparkly notes in “Willow Weep For Me” it seemed like it was raining music.
Then, Pike returned.
The guitarist emoted at the microphone during a punchy version of “Love And Happiness” and he let loose a piercing guitar lead before having fun with “Will It Go Round In Circles.” What a blessing be able to rock out on guitar and also be a first rate soul singer.
Later in the set, Pike dragged the funk out of Sly Stone material and he made The Beatles “Get Back” into a soul song that rocked, his guitar leads taking turns with Bears’s tasty keyboard work. Pike also played lead and rhythm simultaneously on The Beatles “I Want To Tell You,” banging out heavy chords and chirpy melodic phrases.
Pike purred the vocal line perfectly on “Something” while his high-pitched lead guitar line grew appropriately large. The Sunday Night Blues Band packed a wallop behind him, giving that kind of support the guitar needed, heavy bottom and driving drums for the lead to walk around on.
Bears knew when to glide in with overlapping chords to create a lattice work of electric piano. Bears has a gusty voice, one he uses with careful restraint, a blues technique that works in many songs. Alongside the groovy organ, Pike would pick his blues notes in a way that made them cry, as if they were going out of season, and he wouldn’t be able to play them for a while. That lead sounded like a bird singing at one point.
There were many other highlights that came from having these four on stage together. One was when Pike reached deep down inside to pull the feeling out of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?”
With guest stars like Pike, and with a high octane house band like Bears, Hallen, and Teixeira, The Sunday Night Blues Series at The Beehive should do well for a while.
Bill could you please forward this to Tim Pike. I sang in a rock band with him when we were kids, Thanks.
Hey Tim, Long time man, I’ve been living in New Mexico going to South Plains College in Texas for commercial music and majoring and finishing up a two year degree in Sound technology. Great school, we’ve learned protools software and im finishing up an album this month. Kind of a contemporary Christian rock with a touch of blues, folk, and southern rock. Ive been married 7 years and have two children, Kyler and Breanna. Did you know Bob Philibert passed away this year. Man i’m already 43. How have you been?