My birthday: Buddy Guy & Susan Tedeschi

[murielm99]

Breeze54 said to post something nice that happened to you in the last 48 hours. Mine was so nice, that if I can still stay awake and post, it deserves its own thread.

My birthday isn't until the end of the month, but my daughter gave me my birthday present last night. We went to Ravinia to see Buddy Guy and Susan Tedeschi in concert. We sat inside, in the pavilion. It was hotter than Hades, 94 or so at the time the concert started, and it got even hotter. The place was sold out.

The NuBlu Band opened. It featured Carlise Guy, Buddy's daughter on vocals. Her band is really good. I was pretty sure I had seen the bass player at other blues festivals, and I was telling my daughter his name seemed familiar. The lady behind me said, "Do you know him? He's my brother!" She is a friend of Carlise Guy's, and went to school with her. We had lots of fun talking. It was so great to talk to someone who knows the blues and grew up around the Guys.

Susan was her usual terrific self. She sang much of her repertoire from her CDs, plus one song from her new CD that has not been released yet. I have followed this woman's career since it began. She has always been a great singer, and her guitar playing is getting better by the day. I saw her a year ago at Park West, her playing even better now than she was then.

Buddy did everything, all his songs, plus everyone else's: Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, you name it. It was his party. Nearly everyone there was his fan, and knew all his stuff. He did his usual thing, going all through the audience, and outside to the crowd. His son played with him in his band. What a musician! He will carry on his father's tradition. Susan came back out and sang with Buddy, too.

When we left, we spoke with Carlise Guy and JR Fuller, the bass player I was sure I had seen and heard elsewhere. They are all super nice. They are playing at Legends tomorrow night. My daughter is going there to hear them. BTW, she is a flute player, classically trained, with degrees from Lawrence Conservatory and Carnegie Mellon. She has decided to learn to play the blues on her flute. I love her classical playing, but there is more than one way to express the feeling that the music brings.

This was a great birthday present!

[Bunny]

1. I saw Buddy and Susan, and the great BB King, in Pittsburgh about

five years ago. It was fantastic! Glad you had a good time.