Down by the crossroads with Rollo Markee
At Round Midnight, the music is everything. In this cosy little bar, just a stone’s throw from Angel tube station, the windows are painted with silhouette figures of blues players and even the toilets are adorned with graffiti musical sentiments. In the men’s cubicle, a Miles Davis quote is scribbled in permanent marker and reads ‘’when you’re creating your own shit, even the sky ain’t the limit” – There must be a toilet pun in there somewhere.
But besides admiring the windows and toilet graffiti, tonight we were at Round Midnight to see Rollo Markee And The Tailshakers, a formidable blues and boogaloo act that have been steadily building a reputation as boasting one of the most authentic blues sounds in the country. With their vintage gear and valve amps, it’s of little surprise that many have dubbed their sound as reminiscent of the old Chess recordings. Tonight though, they should have been dubbed Rollo Markee And The lone Tailshaker since only two of the band members were performing. That didn’t matter though. Rollo Markee makes a great frontman, most likely due to his eclectic performance background (a combination of music, acting and dancing). This doesn’t mean though that he’s a Shakespeare quoting, pirouetting Blues man. He doesn’t make himself into a tree and neither does he moonwalk. What it does mean though is that he has a presence about him that oozes confidence and swagger but without arrogance. And his stage presence is no act: This guy has been playing the blues for over twenty years and is frankly every bit an authentic and skilled blues man as you could wish for in 21st century London.
So with just voice, guitar and harmonica, the duo worked their way through a variety of standards and even some work songs, with Rollo giving an historical introduction to many of the tunes. The standout song of the night was undoubtedly a rendition of Muddy Water’s ‘Can’t be satisfied’ and when the gorgeous raw sound of Rollo’s harmonica came howling from the valve amp beside him, it was truly magic. Despite the lack of drums or bass, there was still plenty of energy to the performance with improvised solos and tight endings pulled off with almost telepathic precision. Despite all this though, it would have been great to see the band tear through the evening with some of their more explosive blues style that we know they are capable of. We won’t have to wait too long though to see the band as a whole unit again: You can catch Rollo Markee And The Tailshakers as they return to Round Midnightfor another free gig on September 13th 2014 and, let’s be honest, you’d be a fool to miss ‘em.
– Nick Vaughan
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