Kendall Jigsaw with Princess Jeni@ at Swamp Water Bluz
Well shame on me for never have been to one of Kendall's shows! Checked out a few of his songs on YouTube so knew immediately what I have been missing. He is from Denver, Colorado and plays guitar, sings and is a songwriter. He has been a professional musician for many years and has written over 40 of his own songs.
Today's show is at Swamp Water Bluz, it will be my first time coming here. When I arrived, I noticed that the club was surrounding by water which I really liked. They were very friendly to me, I started to speak to one of the owners Mina Weissbrod. Mina owns the club along with her real-life cousin Queen Phyra. I asked her about the club, and she gave me plenty of information on it. The two of them used to have another club but decided in March of this year to build a blues club as the blues is their first love. When they opened the club, they brought a few singers from their old club even though they did not sing the blues but eventually they want this club to be all blues. The two of them are very passionate about having this club and live performers. As Mina said, "We are so proud, it was a lot of hard work, a lot of planning, and the joy we get when the floor fills up, and the people are cheering and chanting and loving all that is going on. We are so happy when someone tells us that they LOVE the place." They have the passion of what a club owner needs to be in second life I really enjoyed their thoughts.
So, I look up to the stage and see that Kendall has someone with him on stage. I found out that it is his real-life wife and her name in sl is Princess Jeni so it looks as if they will be performing together.
First song is Gravity by John Mayer, great song to start out with!
Kendall starts out with the song I Put a Spell on You by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, this is the Christone "Kingfish" Ingram version of the song. I have always felt that if you sing the blues that you really must feel that inside of you, that singing it comes from somewhere deep inside of the singer. Kendall for sure brings that feeling out for us to all enjoy, he has the slightly raspy voice that you need to sing the blues! I really enjoyed it!
Yep, he is a blues guy!
His real-life wife Princess Jeni starts singing the song You Know I'm No Good by Amy Winehouse. What a great song, this is one of those songs that when the singer sings you just sit back and relax and get into it. Jeni did a great job singing this song while Kendall was playing some great guitar in the background.
Blue on Black is next, it was originally done by the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band but done by several bands after that. I have always thought that the lyrics in this song were so unique. Kendall is doing a great job on this song, and he is a great guitarist which really shines in this song.
The next couple songs are songs that Kendall wrote. The first one is Long Tall Man in Black which when I first heard the name, I thought of Johnny Cash. Kendall and Jeni are singing this song together and it is a cross between rock and the blues. They continue with another original which is a brand-new song, and this is the first time that they performed this song it is called The Truth. As they start to sing you can tell it is for sure a blues song. I especially love Jenni's singing in this song, you can really hear the blues in her voice. She really makes you feel what a blues song is all about. This song really complimented her voice.
Fire on the Floor is the next song by Beth Heart. This was a great performance by Jeni and as usual fantastic guitar playing by Kendall.
I love it when a guy and a girl perform together, I always like to hear the bantering back and forth between songs.
Next up is Blue Jean blues by ZZ Top. Now I have to say I was not expecting such a slow blues song from ZZ Top I was thinking something like the song Legs that is high energy. This was a pleasant surprise to hear this slow blues song.
The last song is Tennessee Whiskey which Jeni is singing. I have never heard a woman sing this before. It was very refreshing to hear a woman sing this song, loved it!
I really enjoyed this show. Kendall has that rough declamatory vocal style, which is characteristic of a blues singer, it was great Kendall. And it was a nice addition to hear his wife also I was not expecting that. She has what is needed, feelings that are being expressed though song., often melancholy. I loved it!
Thank you, Mina and Queen, I so enjoyed being at your venue today!
