12-year-old guitar prodigy joins Danny Bryant in fantastic jam session
Danny Bryant with support, The Samuel C Lees Band, at Arlington Arts, on Saturday, October 7
Review by BRIAN HARRINGTON
SAMUEL C Lees turned professional at the age of just 16 when he started touring with iconic Welsh prog-rockers Budgie.
After a career spanning virtually 30 years he is recognised among fellow guitarists as supremely talented and versatile.
He worked with the likes of Jack Bruce and Robben Ford and opened for Yngwie Malmsteen, Walter Trout and Joe Bonamassa, among others.
Performing tonight as a power trio with Gary Fletcher on bass (ex-The Blues Band) and Grant Kershaw (a highly-regarded session drummer) on percussion, they tore through a hugely entertaining set that opened with E Warm Up Instrumental along with Give It Another Go, as well as covers of Tush and Big Legged Woman, before ending with Going Down. A perfect warm up for Danny Bryant.
Danny Bryant’s last show pre-pandemic was at Arlington Arts and he was due to tour Italy just two weeks later. Sadly that tour was cancelled, but Danny recalled that in 2018 he had appeared here and on that occasion Bernie Marsden of Whitesnake fame had joined him on stage for the entirety of the gig. Bernie died in August this year and Danny dedicated this show to him.
Danny released his latest album Rise just over a week ago, but opened with the excellent Tired Of Trying from his 2019 Means Of Escape album.
In a scintillating set of blues/rock he included Westport, Nine Lives and the stunning Painkiller, before inviting Samuel C Lees back on stage with 12- year-old guitar prodigy Hanley Webb (Zack in the stage musical School Of Rock) for a fantastic jam session.
Heartbreaker and a cover of the Hendrix track Little Wing, a track which Bernie Marsden used to tease him about (because he never got the intro right) preceded a great version of Whole Lot Of Shakin’ Going On and the title track of the new album.
The instrumental encore completed a night of music to delight every fan of blues/rock.
Wonderful .
