I’ve had a deep interest in the blues for many years. Over time, I’ve become a student of this form of indigenous American music, poring through the history, the musical “family tree”, the psychosocial and geographical aspects. Back in 1992, I even went so far as to take a road trip through the Mississippi Delta, just to see what the region was like. It’s hard to visualize what the old bluesmen experienced in the jukes throughout the south, and even more difficult to fathom the economic status of the region in the thirties and forties.

Be that as it may, I can’t say that I have ever been to a true, Mississippi delta juke joint. Legend has it that the bluesmen of the era would play them for money, for drinks, and for women. You had to work hard to work the crowd, and being a great performer was probably just as important as being a good musician. If you could get the joint jumpin’, then you would probably be a success. It was a measure of your status (and legacy) as a blues man.

I have been fortunate to see a few performers over the years that would fit this description of “bluesman”. Robert Randolph is just such a performer, and his performance at Antone’s on Friday night (2/4/11), with his Family Band, spoke strongly to the roots of the blues, and to the roots of his musicianship. But perhaps most importantly, it spoke to the sheer emotion and bravado of being a true performer in the purest sense of the word.

It’s safe to say that his band is a group of very accomplished musicians. Bass player Danyel Morgan plays some of the finest 5 string bass I’ve ever heard or witnessed. Drummer Marcus Randolph plays as hard as anyone. Backup singer (and little sister) Lenesha Randolph provides some stirring vocals. Backup guitars Adam Smirnoff and Brett Haas keep the rhythm section plugging along. The band has a chunky, deep Mississippi blues sound. The thick guitar tones, the deep funk-ified bass lines, all combine into a very tight unit. Every song has a groove that is indescribable. And of course there is Randolph himself, a man that plays some incredible Hendrix-esque licks on a pedal steel guitar.

And when a musician of Randolph’s stature has the fortitude to perform his own version of Michael Jackson’s legendary “Thriller” – in his own way - well, you can only imagine the response from the crowd. Then take all these fine musicians and swap instruments – Lenesha on drums, Danyel on pedal steel, Robert on bass – and the crowd went wild. There is a lot of dancing in a Randolph crowd, so much so that they even invite people to join them on the stage during “Shake Those Hips”. True juking, indeed.

I think back to the first time I saw Buddy Guy play at Antone’s, sometime around 1990 or 1991. Not only could he coax some incredibly wild bends and licks from his guitar, but he could work the crowd into a fit of frenzy. He could get people screaming and yelling and make the women swoon with every gyration and chord.

Randolph has learned his trade well. He can work a crowd, without a doubt. He can get the joint jumpin’. And last night, he did just that. In the tradition of the old blues men of a bygone era, he made Antone’s a juke joint revival.

By the time he came back for an encore – with Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top fame joining him with some tasty licks of his own – the tone had been set. Yes, I’d been to a juke – and it’s name was Antone’s, if only for one night.

Photo credit: NatalieMaynor