Blues Beat
Lucerne Blues Festival - Lucerne, Switzerland

The Lucerne Blues Festival continues to stand out as one of the finest Blues festivals in the world. Whether it was the engagement of drummer Kenny "Big Smile" Smith to his fiancée Holly on the 600-year-old wooden bridge in Lucerne or the midnight Zydeco party hosted by Buckwheat Zydeco that closed out the fest or Bettye LaVette wringing tears throughout her elegant delivery of "Souvenirs" or the five-hour Sunday Brunch augmented by the Mannish Boys' explosive two sets of traditional Blues or the afternoon stroll though Lucerne's Old Town to the Rathaus Brauerei for a stein of its freshly brewed Christmas beer, Lucerne is the magical city for your November 2009 Blues fix.

2008's festival continued to demonstrate why the festival motto, "Lucerne loves the Blues," is felt everywhere. I talked to many fans that made the trip from the States and each said that they could think of no better way to enjoy the Blues in a European setting. To the credit of Festival President Guido Schmidt and Director of Administration Martin Bruendler, Lucerne has created a very special environment that combines the music from the heart with the heart of the fans.

Taya Perry of Homemade Jamz

Though the Festival proper runs for three nights from Thursday through Saturday night, with four sets per night and an after-hours session that lasts until dawn, Lucerne boasts ten days of Blues activities starting the weekend before with a free show in one of the sponsoring hotels. This year, Curtis Salgado and his band from Portland opened the festivities on that Friday. Salgado also hosted the first Brunch of the week for fans. His longtime friend Richard Cousins, who currently lives in Zurich, sat in with Curtis for part of the set.

Every Blues Festival has its own charm; Lucerne has a continuous magic that has been established over 14 successful years. Because they bring in performers for Lucerne's organizers, Schmidt and Bruendler make sure that one day of the week is devoted to bringing Blues to Lucerne's Kantonsschule Reussbühl school. This year they brought Homemade Jamz to the school for two performances. The Perry family band first rocked the walls of the school with a morning performance for the students 14 and under. After a classroom Blues education session with a class of 17-year-olds by Fruteland Jackson, Fernando Jones, and myself, the Perrys performed again for the school's older students. During band introductions, 16-year-old Ryan and 14-year-old Kyle received energetic applause, but the loudest cheers went to Taya, the family's 10-year-old drumming machine. After the performances, students from the school besieged the Jamz for autographs and handshakes, proving that the Blues thrives around the world.

These kidz from Tupelo didn't just wow the students during Lucerne's Blues In Schools day, they also played a set for 600 guests at the Sponsors' Dinner and then opened the Friday night festival for the 1,500 fans crammed into the casino venue. With their homemade muffler guitars and Taya drumming, the Perry family was the Festival's three-time winner. And this band was never far from the stage watching how the other Blues acts do a show. Whether it was Taya watching Bettye LaVette singing or Carlton Campbell drumming or Ryan and Kyle watching the interaction between Kirk Fletcher and Ronnie James Webber, the Perry's were never far from the action.

Ryan and Kyle Perry of Homemade Jamz

The other discovery Lucerne has made is that nothing opens or closes a Blues festival better than a hyper-charged set of Zydeco. To that end, Buckwheat Zydeco opened the Festival on Wednesday with a free show and then he closed out the weekend with a midnight, two-hour set of nonstop dancing and singing. Just when festivalgoers thought he'd finished, Buckwheat came back on-stage, sat at the B3 and picked up the party groove again. Note to other festivals, this is the way to end your show because no one is heading for the doors until the end.

The main three days of music are held Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights in Lucerne's Grand Casino starting at 7 p.m. and running until the nightly jam ends somewhere around sunrise over Lake Lucerne. The shows take place in a long room that packs in 1,500 fans a night. Because there are rooms off the main room with high resolution and flat-screen TV's broadcasting the show throughout the Casino, the festival never felt claustrophobic.

This year's Festival again had music for every taste. Jackson and Jones kicked off Thursday's set with a down-home, acoustic performance of traditional Blues and clever originals. Curtis Salgado and his band followed performing songs from his critically acclaimed, Blues Music Award-nominated Clean Getaway album, including an exciting performance of his Song of the Year nomination, "Twenty Years of B.B. King." That was followed by Sue Foley's set, which featured her original tunes mixed with her tribute to Memphis Minnie. The night on the main stage ended with the Cash Box Kings featuring their singing discovery Oscar Wilson. The after-hours party was hosted by the Campbell Brothers' unique brand of sacred steel Gospel. Church never sounded so good!

After the Homemade Jamz opened Friday's set, Pat Boyack and Hash Brown took the Lucerne party to a Lone Star juke joint. The highlight of Friday was Contemporary Blues Woman of the Year Bettye LaVette's poignant performance that left no emotion untouched. From her devastating take on "Souvenirs" to her Tina Turner-styled "Still Want To Be Your Baby" to her biographic "Before The Money Came," LaVette put Lucerne under the spell of a woman expressing real human emotion and drama. While the Campbell Brothers closed out the Main Stage, Severn Records' Steve Guyger and his band of David Maxwell, Steve Freund, Steve Ramsey, and Steve Gomes took the stage for the 2 a.m. show and jam.

The final day of the Festival began with Little Freddie King's set of hard-driving, electric Blues. The Steves (Guyger, et. al.) followed. Delta Groove's Mannish Boy Revue furnished the all-star roster of the weekend. Guitarists Kirk Fletcher, Frank "Paris Slim" Goldwasser, and Kid Ramos handled the Blues guitar history lesson while Rand Chortkoff blew some Windy City harp. Vocalists Finis Tasby and Bobby Jones treated the crowd to a highlight reel of Blues classics while bassist Ronnie James Webber and drummer Richard Innes held the bottom. Follow that with two hours of Buckwheat Zydeco's explosive New Orleans sound, with Little Buck Senegal, and it was a night that never ended because Sweden's jump Blues masters Trickbag and Pat Boyack closed out the Saturday night musical glow in the casino's after hours.      

Fruteland Jackson and Fernando Jones

The Festival closed with its traditional Sunday Blues Brunch that locked into the spirit of Lucerne. Held Sunday morning in the ballroom of the opulent five-star Schweizerhof Hotel, the brunch featured a breakfast buffet followed by a 60-minute set by Chortkoff's Mannish Boys Revue. That was followed by a full lunch buffet followed by another 60 minutes with Bobby Jones, Finis Tasby, Kid Ramos et al. followed by a full dessert buffet.

Now to the cost of this one of a kind experience. A one-day pass is 64 Swiss francs (A Swiss franc is almost equal to the American dollar). The festival also sells a three-day pass for 135 francs, and the Blues Brunch cost is 95 francs. In addition, since the festival doesn't begin until 7 p.m., the American traveler can spend the days walking narrow, cobblestone streets in Lucerne's Old Town. Whether you like shopping in the trendy shops or eating fondue in a dark-wood Swiss tavern, Old Town has something for everyone.

The festival usually begins early in November and schedules its finale weekend around the second weekend of the month. Check out the dates for 2009 on the website, www.bluesfestival.ch and book your tix early. And congrats to Kenny and Holly!

Art Tipaldi is a senior contributing editor at BluesWax. You may contact Art at blueswax@visnat.com.