Teresa MALLAM/Free Press Kenny (Blues Boss) Wayne, left, and Johnny Ferreira were having a lot of fun as they boogie-woogied their way through their set at the Treasure Cove Casino Showroom on Friday.
By Teresa Mallam - Prince George Free Press
You know it’s going to be a good gig when Juno award winning boogie woogie piano player Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne is in town. When he brings along sax sensation Johnny Ferreira, you know the roof is gonna come off. That’s the kind of night it was Friday at Treasure Cove Casino Showroom. As an added bonus, Lindsay Mitchell gave us some great guitar stylings and local artists Paul Forster (guitar) and his son, Eric, (drums) did a good job too.
The highlight for me was when Wayne and Ferreira went out into the audience and snaked their way around the tables playing the gospel hymn turned jazz standard When the Saints Come Marching In. They got the crowd clapping.
Ferreira is known for his award-winning songs (used in TV and film) and his outrageous sense of humour (check out his new eBook, How to Sell Your Music, Your Services and Your Grandmother’s Peanut Butter Cookies Online.) Most of all he’s known for his over the top, screamin’ sax and rock, rhythm and blues music and we saw lots of that Friday.
Slowing things down a bit, I also liked the simmering sweet version of Since I Met You Baby which gave Mitchell a chance to shine on guitar and also brought Ferreira’s sexy sax sounds to new heights. Literally. Anyone who has seen him perform knows it’s a treat just to watch the dynamic, high-energy artist do his thing on stage. He gives the instrument an exhausting aerobics workout raising his brass sax up in the air, down low near the stage or from side to side.
The entire band gave it all they had. There was a lot of gleaming sweat on stage. So much so, host Earl Krushelnicki of Blues Underground Network handed out white face clothes to the band members.
Wayne rocked the house – as he always does – with tunes like Boogie Woogie Mama, Sweet Home Chicago, Blackberry Wine, You Can Pack Your Suitcase, Blueberry Hill, My Nadine, his own song Tangueray and one inspired by a late-night newscaster, Judge by Your Look. However, the song that had the crowd up on their feet and filling two dance floors was I Hear You Knockin’.
They played three sets and would probably have stayed all night if not for the rules of the house and the fact folks were getting tired from clapping and dancing. And if the fans had any energy left to spare, they went home with Wayne’s 2008 CD aptly named Can’t Stop Now and carried on the dance party at home.
