I was pleased to catch the second set of Colorado bluesman John O aka Johnny Ohnmacht’s first Lethbridge gig at the Slice, Saturday, Oct. 20. Blues shows can be a gamble as far as attenda
nce, but organizer Keith Woodrow brought in a room full of unfamiliar faces of blues fans listening intently to Onmacht making his Les Paul sing, backed by a crack Calgary rhythm section of bassist Viktor Szuroczki and Hollywood Bob aka drummer Jimmy Lambretta.
I arrived in the middle of a jam on blues classic “Crosscut Saw.”
The rest of the set was nothing but well played blues and funk music punctuated a by a comedian in the crowd who kept repeatedly yelling for a drum solo, even after multiple drum solos and in the middle of a solid bass solo.
They played a lot of Johnny O’s originals and choice covers including James Cotton’s “One More Mile” and ”Big Boss Man.”
Johnny O soloed subtly and tastefully without overplaying. His rhythm section played in the pocket.
He ended with a beautiful version of Little Feat’s “Spanish Moon” and promised to return to jam with host Keith Woodrow, though I missed that set.
