We had been at a big music event in Atlanta for six hours Saturday afternoon but we left at 7:30 in the middle of a set from one of our favorite acts and before another took the stage to drive back to Marietta to Darwin’s Burgers and Blue for the Jeff Jensen Band, thus proving conclusively which act we love best in the blues world.

The Jeff Jensen Band consists of Jeff on guitar and vocals, Bill Euffino on bass and backing vocals, and David Green on drums. All three are dynamic performers and together they fit so perfectly that they create the best group on stage I have ever seen. Jeff, with his excellent original material and a few astounding covers, crazy guitar and vocal skills, and some  of the best hair in blues, would be a tremendous showman all by himself, but with Bill playing tremendous bass and moving onstage with Jeff in such perfect choreography that I whispered (well, yelled) to my husband that someone should make a Bill and Jeff anime of them,and David providing the best beat and an amazing drum solo right before the break, they are just unbeatable.

I believe this was the 8th time we have seen the band in the last couple of years and they all come talk to us and give us hugs before the show, plus ‘I’ve reviewed three CDs, so they are friends. Every other time I’ve seen them  it has been with other fan who feel the same way. In fact, Jeff said to the standing-room-only crowd at Darwin’s, “Well, since most of us are family now…” and then, he looked around., “Wait..how many of you have seen us before?” Pretty much the whole left side of the room raised their hands. “How many haven’t seen us before?” Pretty much everyone who was standing up on the right side of the room raised their hands. All of us ere going “Wow” because we were so focused on the stage we didn’t’ really notice the horde of college kids, friends of David Green’s who had come in!

After that, the energy seemed to crank up even a little more.The over 21’s among the crowd were drinking and there was a lot of dancing and when Jeff went up to the very edge of the stage and started showing off some guitar fireworks, he had the young men crowding the stage mesmerized. When Bill joined him on vocals and they moved together in what seemed sometimes a dance and sometimes a battle the crowd went wild. They were yelling for David, of course, even before that amazing solo durin “Brunette Woman” I believe, that seemed to defy what a drummer should be able to do.

It was one of the most amazing shows I have ever seen. I think a lot of new  people became fans of the band that night. For me,it was great fun to watch that happen, like seeing them for the first time myself all over again.

As usual, we left looking forward to the next time! Do not miss seeing The Jeff Jensen Band any chancre you get and in the meantime, you can at least get an audio taste on the live album The River City Sessions. But there is literally nothing like seeing this band live.