Everything you want on a CD if you love the blues. (Review by Caroline Smart)Last night, a packed audience at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre enjoyed an evening of top-class up-tempo and moody blues from the Tim Wells Blues Band as they launched their long-awaited CD, Everything You Want.
MC Iain Ewok Robinson got the audience into an upbeat mood and included a very amusing poem about a Smart Phone (I sympathise with his frustration with this piece of technology!). Guest artists Colin Peddie and Kerry Wood of Rise fame appeared in the first set with a selection of numbers from the soulful to the triumphant. I have great admiration for these two musicians and am always impressed by Kerry Wood’s sincere performance style.
Then it was on to the business of the evening. The Tim Wells Blues Band comprises Tim on vocals, Nux Schwartz on guitar, Peter Enslin on keys, Jason Andrew on bass and Steve du Plessis on drums with Colin Peddie as guest member. The band has an impressive history and deservedly so. It is a tight combo that works well together. The evening’s special guests were Tim’s old friends and colleagues, both well-known personalities on the music scene: Joseph Clark on harmonica and Brendan Jury on violin.
With staging/direction by Dean Bennewith, there were stunning lighting effects by Michael Broderick.
Nux Schwartz is the producer of Everything You Want which contains material largely written by Tim Wells. Only three of the 12 tracks are the band’s versions of “covers” or standards. A bonus track is a remix of one Tim’s songs Every Little Bit Counts featuring spoken word/rap by Iain Ewok Robinson which was performed live last night.
Emotional moments of the evening were two numbers on the CD: Silent, dedicated to Tim’s beloved brother Chris Wells who lost a valiant fight against cancer, and Van Morrison’s Into the Mystic which is dedicated to Durban’s legendary Syd Kitchen who died last year. Other numbers that impressed were Woke up this Morning, Come Back City Girl and Million One Reasons, the latter featuring the beautiful mournful tones of the viola from Brendan Jury.
Apart from being a fine musician and a multi-award winning actor, Tim Wells is also one of Durban’s busiest voice-over artists. Possessed of an inner smouldering energy and a powerful voice, he also proved that he’s still nimble on his feet with some fast-moving jive steps!
Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre director Jackie Cunniffe has a long association with Tim Wells and she produced the popular The Piano Men back in 1994 with Chris Letcher, Joseph Clark and Brendan Jury performing alongside Tim. There was a moment of musical magic at the end of the show last night when the latter three sang As Time Goes By, a number which appeared in The Piano Men. While Clark and Jury are now based elsewhere, these three artists have made a considerable contribution to fine music in Durban.
Everything You Want is obtainable through Tim Wells on Facebook or email tim@wells.co.za If you are a lover of good blues music it’s worth every cent at a cost of R100 and it is indeed - everything you want! – Caroline Smart
Posts
