Live at Iowa State University
John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers
Quantum Leap DVD
www.mvdb2b.com
9 tracks/49 minutes

By the time this show was filmed at the Maintenance Shop, a club in Ames, Iowa, John Mayall had faded into the musical archives. It had been more than fifteen years since the release of his last major recording, The Turning Point. This dvd finds the legendary British blues guru in fine form backed by a crack band featuring two up-and-coming guitar players, Walter Trout and Coco Montoya. Mayall looks great for his age, his sleeveless t-shirt showing off the leader’s solid physique at the age of fifty-three.

The disc opens with the focus entirely on Mayall, who works hard at his keyboard set-up while singing in his distinctive higher-pitched voice on “Birthday Blues.” He switches to guitar on “Rolling With the Blues” but wisely gives the solo to Trout, who starts with a slow-burn on his Stratocaster before he wakes up the audience with an intense string-bending assault. Next is “Parchman Farm”, a Mose Allison classic that had been in Mayall’s repertoire for decades. He breaks out his harmonica for the first time and quickly delights the crowd with harp solo accompanied by clapping from audience. Mayall slides over to the keyboard where he plays chords with one hand while still blowing harp with the other hand.

“Riding on the L & N” is a rocker with Mayall on slide guitar this time. He gives the solo to Montoya, who plays briefly before suddenly nodding to Trout to take over due to equipment difficulties. Trout slows things down before unleashing another of his guitar outbursts. Trout stays in the spotlight on a tune from the Eric Clapton Bluesbreakers era, “My Little Girl”. He borrows a few of Clapton’s licks during his high-powered solo that finds Trout’s body going through a series of contortions as he works his Strat into a frenzy. The instrumental “Steppin’ Out” is another number associated with Clapton. Trout goes first, delivering a fast and furious solo complete with body gyrations and the requisite facial contortions. The camera then switches to Montoya, who takes his first solo while seated in a chair at a table near the front of the stage. 

The band closes the set with what was the closest thing to hit Mayall ever had - “Room to Move.” Originally a workout for Mayall on harp and vocal effects, this version initially follows the same format before Mayall again slides over to the keyboard and trades off with his harp. The band finally kicks in for a rousing finish. Everyone returns for the encore “One Life to Live”, which provides ample space for more guitar fireworks from Trout and Montoya, who wanders to the back of the club and is captured taking a long drink from somebody’s pitcher of beer.

While the performance is worth seeing, this dvd disappoints with only stereo sound - no surround sound options. The camera work is spotty at times and tends to fixate on Mayall. When Montoya takes the lead, his guitar is buried in the mix and at several points is barely audible. The packaging lists the length as 85 minutes but the actual concert takes about 49 minutes. There are also biographies and discographies included on the disc for Mayall , Trout and Montoya plus a very brief interview with Mayall. Since the disc is available on-line for less than the retail price of $12.95, it can be recommended in spite of these shortcomings. It proves that John Mayall continued to nurture and develop another generation of blues musicians and was still turning out vibrant performances even after the spotlight had drifted away.

By Mark Thompson

Also See  http://www.tollbooth.org/2008/reviews/mayall.html