Lefty Collins and The No Mercy Band

After a quick change of clothes, there was just enough time to race back to the Douglass Theater for the evening’s shows. Once inside, the level of excitement as the audience anticipated hearing Lefty Collins and Jimmy Hall was incredible. When the house lights dimmed, Lefty Collins and the No Mercy Band had taken their places and they were ready to rock the house.
Word of the southpaw’s musical prowess had preceded Lefty Collins and the No Mercy Band, but many really didn’t know what to expect. So often after weeks of hype and buzz people walk away from a show shaking their heads in disappointment. Not this night! Lefty is a seasoned professional, with a total command of his instrument, and a deep and abiding respect for the musical heritage of the Allman Brothers and related blues musicians.
When Lefty and the band play a cover, the result is interpretation—not impersonation, and he undeniably understands the dynamic nuances of the music he plays. With his fiery pistol-packin’ grooves and gritty, driving attitude, it is obvious that Lefty pulls the trigger when he is onstage. In addition, the sound that Lefty coaxes out of his guitar when he slips a slide over his finger is unquestionably what sadness must sound like to a man. As a vocalist, Lefty knows very few stylistic limitations.
Lefty treated the crowd to a well-rounded blues session with songs like “I Love the Blues,” and “Elizabeth Reed.” Drummer Angel Murillo, second guitar JP Vancura, and Pete Vancura (winner of the Jerry Garcia look-alike contest), on bass kept the groove going and pushed the bottom to the top, in support of Lefty’s agile guitar work. Near the end of their show, Lefty brought a beaming Bill Ector, editor of Hittin’ the Note Magazine, onstage to join the band on “Use Me Up.” Ector showed that he has been hiding some serious guitar chops behind his writing, and my guess is that it was sometime after lunch on Monday, before his staff was able to wipe the smile off his face.
Regretfully, Lefty’s show ended far too quickly for me, even with guests, tributes, and encores, but it became abundantly obvious during his show that the Lefty Collins buzz was for real.

Back at the hotel, at 3:00AM a pick-up jam could be heard in a “borrowed” banquet room near the elevators. As elevator doors opened, several smiling GABBA members stepped off oblivious to the time with guitars in hand, heading toward the music while a haggard, but happy crowd assembled around the elevators waiting to go up to beckoning beds. I rode up with Lefty Collins and got to shake the hand that was spitting fire just a few hours earlier. I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive as we shook hands that fire and lightning might fly from those fingertips, but apparently he’s just flesh-and-blood like the rest of us. - Bill Thames

Oteil and the Peacemakers, Bach Porch Stage, House of Blues, Chicago, IL- 11/12
Marley Seaman
2004-11-22
Before Oteil and the Peacemakers started their set on Friday at Chicago's House of Blues, the bassist/bandleader announced that the show was being recorded for release as part of a live album. With the tape rolling – or the DAT burning, or whatever the correct term is – the band delivered an energetic set than lasted more than 2 ½ hours, showcasing its funk, gospel and rock influences.
At the heart of the Peacemakers is the interaction between Burbridge and drummer Chris Fryar. They are the Sun that the rest of the band – Mark Kimbrell on guitar, Matt Slocum on keyboards (which were tasteful, if rarely heard) and Paul Henson on vocals – rotates around, adding layers and texture to a strong rhythmic core.
With the Allman Brothers, Burbridge keeps time while aggressively pushing the melody forward. In this band, he's less of a rhythm player and more of an active participant in the riffs and hooks of the songs. He doesn't need to solo very often to make an enormous impact on the music. Several songs were stamped with his trademark doubled bass/scat lines, but his longest bass solo may have been played while sitting in with the opening act, Lefty Collins and J.P. Vancura (of Lefty Collins and the No Mercy Band) on an acoustic version of the ABB's In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.
- Marley Seaman