What do you get when you mix the sultry temperament of Latin America with the raw soul of the blues? Jose Ramirez & Blues Factory Band ft. Boy Vielvoye. Exactly: an unforgettable afternoon like the one that took place last weekend during KERS&BLUES.
Blues in Wijk – EU has been working hard to keep the blues alive since 2010. What started as a small initiative by local music lovers has now grown into an organization with national appeal.
With a varied range of concerts in “their” theater, a blues festival and now also KERS&BLUES in the countryside of Wijk bij Duurstede, in the town of Cothen.
The program initially seemed like a supporting act and main act, but in the end it turned out to be a double bill: the Blues The Factory Band with guest Boy Vielvoye played a 90-minute set, followed by José Ramirez, who was on stage for no less than two hours.
The Blues The Factory Band performs every fourth Thursday of the month in Culemborg, together with various guest artists.
Boy Vielvoye has been a guest there several times, and it turned out to be a good choice to combine him with this band again for KERS&BLUES. It was a great set, with songs from Vielvoye’s career as well as work by guitarist Harm van Essen, who played songs from his own band La Ratte.
Of course, carefully chosen covers were also played, such as “My Back Scratcher”. An excellent start to this Saturday afternoon.
After an hour of conversion, it was the turn of Costa Rican José Ramirez. I first saw Ramirez in October 2021 at the Bluesmoose Radio concerts in Groesbeek.
The organization of Jazz Blues – EU was also present and they have followed him ever since, until the moment was right for a performance in Wijk bij Duurstede. Ramirez’s backing band consisted of Carlo van Belleghem on bass, Marcus Weymare on drums and Matthijs Daniël on Hammond organ.
While the band started the intro of “The Hunter”, Ramirez walked through the audience towards the stage while playing. The first three songs came straight from his latest live album Bad Hombre.
Fortunately, he deviated from this with the third song. There was even a song that cannot be found anywhere on his discography. Together with Keb’ Mo’ Ramirez had played the song “The Itch” on one of the many blues cruises.
This was perfect for a South American artist. With a few more bongos it could easily be a Santana song.
As a true blues artist, Ramirez also performed songs from his predecessors. For example, “Sweet 16” by B.B. King and “Honey Hush” by Albert Collins were reviewed, the latter in a blues-soul medley that also included “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and “Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch”.
Ramirez likes to involve his audience in his performance. There was a lot of audience interaction and he regularly walked through the hall.
Personally, I like that once; four or five times is too much for me – no matter how enthusiastic the audience is.
At such moments, the guitar playing suffers a bit, and as a blues lover, that is exactly what I come for.
But all in all: a very successful afternoon/evening, with an event that is certainly worth repeating – at this beautiful location, in the middle of the cherry orchard of Cothen.
