Blues Caravan 2024

Description

Nineteen years ago, the founder of the label Thomas Ruf sent three musicians under contract with his record company on a joint tour for the first time under the name Blues Caravan: Sue Foley, Candye Kane, and Ana Popovic. For the 2024 edition of this tour, the task has been entrusted to Katarina Pejak, Eric Johanson, and the label's newcomer Alastair Greene, who, as in previous years, were also supported by a duo rhythm section. The performances followed the tried-and-true model, meaning that after a joint opening, each of the three played their own set with songs from their respective repertoires, before coming together on stage for the finale and closing the concert with another joint rendition of songs such as Dr. John's voodoo anthem "I Walk On Guilded Splinters" or Elmore James' cover "One Way Out," which is an integral part of the Allman Brothers' live repertoire. This was also the case on April 20, 2024, at the Blues Garage in Isernhagen near Hanover, where the trio's performance was recorded for this CD/DVD box set, featuring 16 tracks on the CD and 27 songs on the DVD thanks to the larger storage capacity. That night in April, they started with Robert Johnson's classic "Come On In My Kitchen," which they performed together, then it was Katarina Pejak's turn to deliver the first solo set. The singer, keyboardist, and songwriter from Belgrade performed her own material as well as a version of Pink Floyd's classic "Money" on her setlist, which is also found on her studio album "Pearls On A String," released at the beginning of the tour. While Pejak had already gained experience with Blues Caravan in 2019, her colleagues' participation in the tour was a first for both. And while her current release marks her second studio album with Ruf Records after "Roads That Cross" from 2019, "The Deep And The Dirty" by Johanson and "Standing Out Loud" by Greene are their debuts on the label.