Jabato

Last Thursday, I had the chance to see Tuck and Patti live. This husband and wife team returned to Gran Canaria after a couple of year absence. It was the second time they have visited my island and I couldn’t miss them this time.

First of all, I got admit that my expectations were fully covered by this superb musical duo, from the very first song they played ‘till the last track of the concert.

I had previously seen a DVD from one of their live shows and I remember I watch it all the way through. I even forgot about my normally compulsive use of the TV remote control.

The concert was to start off at 20.30. We arrived at eight, more or less, and we decided to have a beer. My mate gave me my ticket and I read: seat number seven, row number one. In the first row, ¡magnífico!

There were many empty seats but ours were……. “The Seats!”

Tuck and Patti stepped into the stage, holding hands under a very soft light that, for sure, from that very moment, got us into the atmosphere of a terrific jazz concert we were about to enjoy.

Tuck’s amp was not at sight, but folks, he played a “not from this world” Gibson L-5, I, immediately, fell in love with. It was a beauty. Tuck only used a volume pedal, that sometimes worked as a delay too. No other fx's

Patti addressed the audience with a delicate voice, speaking very clear English, telling us to relax.

They played most of the tracks of their last CD, “I remember you”, but also several of their hits.

Patti’s soulful jazz style voice, Tuck’s exquisite guitar playing and the superb and passionate arrangements of the tracks, made the whole concert a real pleasure.

When they finished their first song, the audience was shocked, people didn’t stop clapping, I even found Tuck trying to start off the next tune but he couldn’t; the audience didn’t let him do it.

The show went on with one great track after another, ‘till Patti left the stage to let Tuck do his solo part of the show.

Folks………….his version of Santana’s Europa………I don’t know how to say it………it was superb, amazing, what an incredible amount of good musical taste; the intro included some sort of complex fretwork that Tuck executed with total accuracy and perfection. It took me a while to realize which was the track he was playing, because Tuck’s intro hid the melody so well, I mean, it was so far away from the original Santana’s tune, that when we recognized the main Europa song guitar riff, -after a nearly 8/10 minutes intro- we could only shout Bravo!

Tuck’s hammered-on technique was simply outstanding. I had never seen anybody using his hands on the fret and his fingers over the strings like he did. Those perfect harmonics in different parts of the fretboard or the way he strummed and slapped the strings, often with both hands, making the guitar sound like several people playing together, not just one.

After his amazing display of a huge colorfully technique, Patti joined him to carry on with a version of “Takes my Breath Away” that did just that. At the end of the song, the audience exploded shouting bravo, bravo....

Patti, once again, addressed the audience "We want people to leave, feeling like something has happened. In our last show in Italy, we asked the audience to do an effort for you, we told them that we were going to play here in Gran Canaria in a few days time and asked them for an extra effort in order to let everybody know that we are all living here, sharing the same Earth and therefore we have to live in peace…..they did it for you and now I’m asking you to do it for them and for all….don’t be shy”……….we were all shocked in our seats.

Then, they began to cover Cyndi Lauper’s “Time after Time”.
While singing the track, Patti divided the audience in three groups, saying she wanted us to sing, doing the choirs at her command!! She gave each of the three groups a different tone to sing and I assure you that it was one of the most grateful experiences I’ve ever had. It was great. I’m afraid I will not listen Lauper’s version anymore.

After an hour and forty five minutes of real pleasure, the concert reached the end. Tuck and Patti said goodbye while we were all standing up, clapping, shouting bravo and…thanking them so much, that this marvelous couple came back into the stage for two bonus tracks.

I will never forget this show in my life, I’m afraid. It was simply a beauty from every single aspect of it. Jazz music, the atmosphere they two both achieve, the intimate musical interaction that involved everyone in the hall; Patti, probably one of the richest and warmest voices in jazz i've ever heard; Tuck, a world top class guitarist with an exquisite good taste.

It was 22.30 when we left. We decide that after such an "acojonante" concert we had to celebrate it, so we went for dinner.

A bottle of wine, a bit of this and a bit of that, “tapas”, you know and it was 1.30 when we asked for the bill.

I had one of my “always-in-the-car” Fisherman’s Friend and drove back home.