Erja Lyytinen – Live in London

I must admit to not knowing an awful lot about Erja Lyytinen, until her latest cd dropped on my doormat, it is called ‘Live In London’, which had me thinking that I must be missing out on something special, and I was right.

On October 7th 2014, Erja Lyytinen rolled into London’s iconic venue the 100 Club for an evening of live music. At her side, Erja was accompanied by a crack band featuring long-time musical partner Davide Floreno, bassist Roger Inniss and drummer Miri Miettinen. Live In London mixes  brilliantly chosen covers with an impressive amount of original material.

Opening up with an old Fred McDowell track ‘It’s A Blessing’ it’s like meeting a long lost friend, every feels right, from the opening a cappella through to the guitar outro, this song oozes class.

Throughout the gig Erja sings with a beautiful soulful voice, and then she picks up her guitar, and then it’s wow, she can play, her solo’s are fluid and convey a range of emotions that only a true blues musician can do. And she can play slide guitar. And play it exceptionally well.

The slide work on ‘Let It Shine’ is outstanding, couple that with her warm and sultry vocal and she really does draw you in, I even involuntary leant forward in my chair while watching it. Watching it???

What surprised me when I opened the jewel case is that it contained both a cd as well a DVD from the concert, and all for the normal selling price of a cd, now why can’t other artist do that

“The sky is crying” is another of her slide guitar masterclasses and she sounds and looks amazing while playing, however the best track on here is the closing one, an eleven minute rendition of another Elmore James tune ‘Dust My Broom’, Erja lights up this song with her soaring vocals and slick slide guitar playing underpinned by a purposeful Roger Inniss on bass guitar, there is a certain chemistry on show here, musical chemistry that really grabs the audience for this track and shows that you don’t have to come from the deep south to feel the blues. At times this is both a mesmerizing and inspiring performance from Erja and I will be watching her closely from now on.

TRACKS

1. It’s A Blessing (Fred McDowell)
2. Let It Shine (Erja Luytinen)
3. Person To Person (Elmore James & Marshall)
4. Hand in Hand (Elmore James)
5. Grip Of The Blues (Erja Luytinen)
6. Change of Season (Erja Luytinen & Davide Floreno)
7. Everything’s Fine (Erja Luytinen & Davide Floreno)
8. Hold On Together (Erja Luytinen)

See Erja live at the following UK Blues Festivals in June 2015 and on her UK tour in October:

LINTON FESTIVAL
Friday 19th June 2015
www.lintonfestival.com

DURHAM BLUES FESTIVAL
Saturday 20th June 2015
www.durhambluesfestival.co.uk

CLEETHORPES BLUES FESTIVAL
Sunday 21st June 2015
www.cleethorpesbluesfestival.co.uk

DARLINGTON, DARLINGTON BLUES CLUB
Friday 2nd October 2015
Box Office: 01325 363135
Book Online: www.darlington-r-n-b-club.co.uk
The Forum Music Centre, Borough Road, Darlington, Co. Durham, DL1 1SG
www.darlington-r-n-b-club.co.uk

SHEFFIELD, THE GREYSTONES
Saturday 3rd October 2015
Greystones Road, Sheffield S11 7BS
www.mygreystones.co.uk

BARNES, BULL’S HEAD
Monday 5th October 2015
Box Office: 0208 761 9078
Book Online: www.feenstra.co.uk
373 Lonsdale Road, Barnes, London SW13 9PY
www.feenstra.co.uk

WOLVERHAMPTON, ROBIN 2
Wednesday 7th October 2015
Box Office: 01902 401211
Book Online: www.therobin.co.uk
20-28 Mount Pleasant, Bilston, West Midlands WV14 7LJ
www.therobin.co.uk

EDINBURGH, VOODOO ROOMS
Thursday 8th October 2015
Box Office: 0131 556 7060
Book Online: www.ticketweb.co.uk
19a West Register Street, Edinburgh EH2 2AA
www.thevoodoorooms.com

KEIGHLEY, KEIGHLEY BLUES CLUB
Friday 9th October 2015
Box Office: 01535 600310
Book Online: www.keighleybluesclub.net
Hall Of Fame Bar, Royd Ings Avenue, Keighley, BD21 3RF
www.keighleybluesclub.net

OXFORD, HAVEN MUSIC CLUB
Monday 12th October 2015
Box Office: 01865 244516
Book Online: www.wegottickets
Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1UE
www.havenclub.co.uk

EVESHAM, IRON ROAD
Wednesday 14th October 2015
Box Office: 07831338277
Book Online: www.wegottickets
The Railway Hotel, 140 High Street, WR114EJ
www.theironroad.sqwiz.co.uk

CHISLEHURST, BEAVERWOOD CLUB
Thursday 15th October 2015
Box Office: 0208 761 9078
Book Online: www.feenstra.co.uk
Chislehurst, Kent BR7 6HF
www.feenstra.co.uk

SUTTON, BOOM BOOM CLUB
Friday 16th October 2015
Box Office: 0208 761 9078
Book Online: www.feenstra.co.uk
Sutton, Surrey SM1 2EY
www.feenstra.co.uk

CHESTER, CHESTER BLUES FESTIVAL
Saturday 17th October 2015
Box Office: 01472 349222
Book Online: www.chesterbluesfestival.co.uk
1 Station Road, Chester, Cheshire West and Chester CH1 3DR
www.chesterbluesfestival.co.uk

FROME, FROME BLUES FESTIVAL
Sunday 18th October 2015
Box Office: 01472 349222
Book Online: www.fromebluesfestival.co.uk
Market Yard, Frome, Somerset BA11 1BE
www.fromebluesfestival.co.uk

Main picture credit:  TINA KORHONEN/ www.tina-k.com