Sunday, June 25, the Atlanta Blues Society had its monthly Gathering and Jam. This time, the meeting was at The Vista at Napoleon’s in Decatur. The Vista is a wonderful venue with a large stage perfect for bands and jams, lots of tables and plenty of dancing room. In other words perfect for the ABS!

The host band yesterday was The Breeze Kings, one of my two favorite local bands. The Breeze Kings have been entertaining Atlanta since 1997. Harmonica master and vocalist Carlos Capote, lead guitarist Jim Ransone, bass player Greg Shapiro, and drummer Trevor Roberts fit together like a music-making machine. On this day, Capote wailed on his harp and sang powerfully while the group backed him up mightily. But a highlight of the show for me was when Shapiro took the vocal, leaving Carlos free to just wail as the group did a sizzling version of “Johnny B Good. and during the hot instrumental break, Ransone broke out with a duck walk across the stage! I had no idea he could do that but it was so much fun to see!

After The Breeze Kings’ set, Society President George Klein gave us a few minutes of discussion about upcoming events and raffled off a couple of things and it was on to the jam. We left a few minutes early, but we were there for my second highlight of the event, from the Sole Travelers’ Jeanie and Mike Edwards along with Alby Palombo on harmonica, Rocky Buldo on bass, a great sax player and drummer and possibly another guitar player. Jeanie is a very talented singer and when she did “I’d Rather Go Blind,”interacting individually with each member of the jam I had tears in my eyes, it was so good. This is not to say that the other jammers were not great-the ABS is stuffed with fantastic musicians – but that it was that perfect moment when just the right song meets just the right group of musicians.

As mentioned earlier The Vista has lots of room for dancing, and our dancers put it to proper use! There were even a couple of fabulous line dances! And the grown-ups were joined by several very cute little ones, including a very enthusiastic little boy and an adorable little girl with a pink bo who danced with great concentration.

All in all, it was another fantastic afternoon of music, fellowship and fun! If you aren’t am ABS member and you would like to be, check out The Atlanta Blues Society website for more information!
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