7.13.06 kulturnatib

True not true
(Last of two parts)

After this sobering encounter with Daisuke Inoue came my meeting with BB King. If my myth of the Filipino karaoke inventor could not stand up to the truth of Daisuke's claim then honor, the legend of BB King is a shining halo over BB King's head himself, primarily and the BB King Blues Band in support - live and onstage.

The Place des Arts is Montreal's main performing arts building. It is an old building, perhaps older than Montreal's determined drive to become, then maintain the claim to being the premier 'City of Festivals' of the world.

The Montreal International Jazz Festival is the linchpin to this claim. For a little over a quarter of a century now -- 27 years -- and for a little over a week between the last weekend of June and the first weekend of July this year, downtown Montreal resounded with the increasingly international vernacular of jazz of over 100 acts from all over the world.

The Place des Arts is where the paying concerts -- ticketed events -- are held. Here BB King had the pre-festival kick-off concert. The official kick-off honors went to The Neville Brothers, a celebrated New Orleans band, in recognition of the roots of jazz and in solidarity for the rebuilding of the city in the wake of the devastation of hurricane Katrina a year ago.
This concert is also part of BB King's 80th anniversary world tour that kicked off shortly after his garnering the 14th Grammy of his career for the BB King and Friends - 80 album in February this year.

The concert opened with two local acts, Garret Mason and Bob Walsh. They provided a good context for how the blues has and continues to evolve with BB King's over-arching influence. Mason represented the younger, more evolved strain of the blues-jazz fusion while Walsh provided the more roots style blues with a definitely Quebecois accent.

After the break, which barely gave the sell out crowd enough time to recover from the heady, hold-your-bladders guitar and blues harp (harmonica) wailing, growling duels, with ample support from the drums, piano, bass guitar -- acoustic and electric -- the house lights dimmed once more for the entry of the BB King Blues Band.

With two saxophones, a trumpet and a trombone the tone was set for a swinging, wind instruments driven, big band sound that would be the perfect complement for King's archtop, blues guitar licks and hoarse-growl voice.

Three songs later, after being puzzled at why BB King would be looking so young, I realized my mistake. The young looking, fairly trim guitarist was not BB King at all.

King was ushered in and his throne, an ordinary metal lawn chair was set up at the head of the band. Here was the King as I imagined him to be: big, jocular, surprisingly still so lively at 80, although held down to his chair by diabetes.

As the thunderous welcome applause died down King lit up the 4,000 seat auditorium for an hour and a half of classic blues tunes, jokes -- I am not only old, but I'm also lazy -- and the delivery of the songs, the body language, the stomping, the rocking in place while seated, the bending backwards as a note is teased or squeezed out, or even the tender hugging gestures.

Here was the secret to King's staying power. He recalls that earlier in his career he was used to playing in bars or clubs that were not much bigger than a fourth of the auditorium's stage. And, he never stopped treating every performance like a cozy gathering of friends even when his music was already packing huge auditoriums and breaking boundaries of age, language and geography.

Still, what struck me most with King is how his music is simply not his guitar, though it is undeniable that he is a virtuoso at this instrument, nor his voice that is as distinctive as that other jazz great, Louis Armstrong, nor even his longevity. It is his indomitable spirit, his experience with poverty -- which he has never forgotten -- and his expression of solidarity with the oppressed, or more simply, those down with the blues.

We step out of the concert and it is almost midnight. Merci beaucoup, BB King says several times at the close. He says it in Mississipi-English. I agree. I say the same thing over and over, in Bisdak-French. I'm still saying it now.