Santa Cruz Automatic Blues

Sunday May 25, 2008, Aptos, California. The sixteenth annual Santa Cruz Blues Festival was a bore. The musicians mailed it in, with a few notable exceptions. The staff was irritated and nasty, and the audience was disengaged– no doubt the whole thing has become an automatic walkthrough. Worst: Headliner Al Green’s Vegas act with pumped up arrangements that completely destroyed the spellbinding minimalist character of his 70s hits. Best: The Subdudes. Pure roots and blues artistry, with passionate singing and a glorious mix of woody/steely timbres pouring out of their exquisitely talented fingers.