Judy Totton Photo
In May 1970, Ruby Mitchell, called the “Queen of the Gypsies” in the press, died in Albany, N.Y. As she lay in critical condition, at least 500 Romani from across the United States converged on Albany Medical Center Hospital to hold vigil.
While Albert Lee isn’t Romani and nowhere near dead, when the legendary guitarist — he’s considered one of the best country players alive — brought his band to Cafe Nine on Friday, the faithful came from all over the state for a chance to see Mr. Telecaster for themselves, with their own eyes, up close.
The opening act, Boston-based Girls, Guns, and Glory — Ward Hayden on vocals and guitar, Chris Hersch on lead guitar, Paul Dilley on bass, and Josh Kiggans on drums and percussion — came out with a blazing set of Hank, Sr. tunes, rockabilly, truckabilly, ballads, and country swing that charged up the full house.
The faithful was there in droves. Local guitar maven John Thomas held court front and center, chortling along with Hersch’s popping and slippery solos. I spoke with Gene from Storrs and his wife, who were GG&G fans; he said the band rocked harder than normal but still “kept it country.” George, from East Haven, talked about the past and future of Cafe Nine and the club scene. Joy Haines was there, representing the old Advocate staff. Marcy talked to me about how this whole scene would play out in NYC (but, frankly, she lost me). And promoter Fernando Pinto worked the crowd, glad-handing one and all.
Lee and his band — J.T. Thomas on keyboards and accordion, Will MacGregor on bass, and Jason Smith on drums and vocals — took the stage at 10 p.m. and, after some minor tweakage, came out of the gate at around 90 m.p.h. Lee was sporting a Music Man Albert Lee model, a fine guitar with a wider palette of tones, snaps, and twangs than the Fender Telecaster, of which many consider him to be the king. Now in the second year of his 70th-year birthday tour, he was in complete control and clearly loving it.
In the heat of trading solos, Thomas (another John Thomas!) looked over toward Lee, almost incredulous that he was sharing the stage with him. Lee looked back at Thomas with equal amazement and admiration. It was a beautiful thing, and it spilled over into the room as Lee and his outfit tore through a set that included Richard Thompson, Ray Charles, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, even some Glen Campbell — and, of course, plenty of early rock ’n’ roll. It was all delivered with wit and humor that went beyond the musicality. At one point, Lee inserted a very sly quote from “Layla” into a tune with a completely different chord progression, a jazzy, breezy throwaway from a master of the form.
