BERDON KIRKSAETHER
AND THE TWANG BAR KINGS
LATENIGHTERS UNDER A FULL MOON
ROLLER RECORDS RRCD 08
GO CAT GO–COOL CATS ON THE MOVE–RENDEZVOUS–JUMPING THE NIGHT AWAY–MIDNIGHT HAZE–ANOTHER ONE GOING DOWN–TAKE IT AWAY–TAKEAWAY–PITSTOP BY THE RIVER–WALK AND YOUR FEET WILL FOLLOW–LATENIGHTERS UNDER A FULL MOON
Berdon Kirksaether is a multi-talented guitarist, composer, and producer from Norway. Back in the Nineties, he fronted a band called CIA, which was that country’s hottest blues band for quite a long time. Three of those original members reunite for this set, “Latenighters Under A Full Moon,” adopting the moniker Berdon Kirksaether And The Twang Bar Kings. Taken as a whole, the set follows the band on a mythical night on the town, from the band warm-ups to last call for alcohol. But, broken down into the sum of its parts, one finds quite a collection of blues, jazz, and even a nod to Sixties’ psychedelia.
Up first is an excellent instrumental warm-up, “Go Cat Go,” with clever trade-offs between Berdon’s leads and the B-3. “Cool Cats On The Move” leans into that psychedelia, and is revisted later in the set on a blistering tribute to Hendrix, “Midnight Haze.” Perhaps the set’s most unusual cut is “Take It Away–Takeaway,” which has Berdon dropping some mellow lead lines over a positively avant-garde sax!
Our favorites all had blues undertones. “Conrad’s Bar Bounty” swings with the enthusiasm of Gatemouth Brown, while the guitar work in “Jumping The Night Away” is more of a single-note, staccato style along the lines of the Iceman, Albert Collins. “Walk And Your Feet Will Follow” is augmented by some fine acoustic piano, and the set closes with the title cut, a cool, “After Hours”-ish jam.
It’s no wonder these guys are held in such high regard in their homeland. Berdon Kirksaether is a master of many guitar stylings, and he and the Twang Bar Kings show everybody what they’ve got on this too-cool-for-school set, “Latenighters Under A Full Moon.” Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow.
donandsherylsbluesblog 