Gerry Joe Weise and Buddy Guy.

Buddy Guy and Gerry Joe Weise, 12th Amiens Jazz Festival, France,1993.

Le Courrier Picard Newspaper, Monday 24 May 1993 n°15054.

12th Amiens Jazz Festival, 18 to 22 May 1993.

Buddy Guy and Gerry Joe Weise.

The 12th Amiens Jazz Festival with Buddy Guy, Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin, Stephane Grappelli, Mike Stern, Bob Brozman, Bireli Lagrenne, Gerry Joe Weise, closed it's doors last Saturday night, to a satisfied audience. Sophie Roussel.

21 May 1993, Friday Night Blues.

Buddy Guy, Bob Brozman, Gerry Joe Weise.

Buddy Guy is not only a legendary guitarist, he is a generous and warm-hearted bluesman.

There are nights so blue, that even the cats on tin roofs pretend to be Howlin' Wolf under a golden Moon, crying out "Riding In The Moonlight", and tapping their tails in rhythm on the zinc gutters. Those nights are electric with sparks, hypnotizing, and true blue.That was just the case Friday 21, when Bob Brozman stepped up on stage, dressed elegantly in a tailcoat, vest and crocodile boots. A neat trimmed beard and oval glasses, gave us the impression that he was going to sing "In The Court Of The Crimson King", looking quite like Robert Fripp. But after the first few bars, one knew he pledged his soul to the blues. The king of the National chrome acoustic, a real virtuoso. He uses decorative high harmonics, then slides them up along the neck to change pitch, backed by impressive right hand fingerpicking. Bob Brozman played traditional blues: "Love In Vain", crazy boogies, calypsos, even a French classic: "La Vie En Rose", where he made the audience sing along.The hall was reaching the boiling point, when half an hour later Buddy Guy and band hit the stage. The legendary Chess Records studio guitarist had backed Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson and Big Walter Horton. The Chicago legend became famous in Europe thanks to the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, who were Buddy's cult fans. His thick voice gave lots of feeling to his first class performance on guitar. What a showman ! His  clowning capers on the microphone were very captivating. By the time Buddy Guy came to "Johnny B Goode", the crowd just went wild.It wasn't easy to perform after Buddy Guy, but the Australian bluesman, Gerry Joe Weise and his trio came on stage just after midnight, as Gerry Joe strapped on his guitar. His energetic guitar style, produced scorching blues licks, likened to that of Buddy Guy's intensity. Gerry Joe Weise's forte is his honest bluesman approach. The night was hot and sweaty, which measured up well to the expectations of all.

Philippe Lacoche  (translation by Monica Lefevre)

A Radio Interview.

An extract with Gerry Joe Weise at the 93FM Radio Primitive station.

Recording by M.Thevenin, May 1993.

Radio Primitive : We saw you stepping out of the limousine with Buddy Guy together outside the backstage, just before the concert, any confidentialities to tell ?

Gerry Joe Weise : Well, Buddy and I talked about Junior Wells. He said the Amiens Jazz Festival was their only French date and that they were off to London next, "Mustang Sally" was a n°1 radio hit in England. He gave me a signed guitar pick, and we exchanged records.

Radio Primitive : How did you like the Buddy Guy concert ?

Gerry Joe Weise : Just marvelous, Buddy was all quiet before the storm. And when he started his set, he leashed out all the blues demons. He's been to the crossroads several times during his life, and he just knows how to tame those monsters. He'll mock them with stage antics, while keeping the respect going for the masters like Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker and Robert Johnson to Jimi Hendrix !

Video of Australian blues jazz guitarist Gerry Joe Weise, 

performing at Buddy Guy's Legends Blues Club, in Chicago, USA.