Article & Photos: Peter Hurley
Photo: Gerald McClendon
Gerald McClendon at Galewoodstock
Live Show Review & Photos
by Peter Hurley
Summer in Chicago means neighborhood block parties and the best are filled with drink, food, multi-generational energy, multi-cultural vibes and music—lots of it. Who could resist, then, spending a beautiful late-summer evening on Saturday, August 24th grooving and dancing to “SoulKeeper” Gerald McClendon and his band at the 4th Annual Galewoodstock Music Festival in Chicago’s NW Side Galewood neighborhood? Presented by the Galewood Neighbors, the fest featured McClendon & Co. in the golden-hour slot. Toe-tapping, hand-clapping, foot-stomping soul-to blues-to funk music poured forth from McClendon and Co.
Gerald McClendon is the singer in Chicago dedicated to keeping the music alive that enriched urban airwaves in the ‘60s with the deep Soul offerings of Memphis’s Otis Redding and Arthur Conley, Detroit’s Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and the Temps and Chicago’s own Chi-Lites and Sam Cooke. Mr. McClendon spent his childhood in Chicago’s Altgeld Gardens glued to the radio and singing along with his vocal heroes until finally “debuting” in his high school lunchroom with spontaneous group a capella renditions of the day’s hits. An inaugural recording in the late ‘90s of original material with Roosevelt Purifoy titled Choose Love was followed by another brilliant collaboration with songwriter Steven Bramer and a cream-of-the-crop ensemble, Mother Blues, produced a classic Sleeping While The River Runs. McClendon has gone on to record five more CDs, including his latest Twist Turner-produced Down At The Juke Joint released earlier this year to great acclaim.
Photo: Gerald McClendon & Vince Salerno
Dressed in a cool, tropical Hawaiian shirt, McClendon and his “A-Team” appeared underneath a canopied outdoor stage and kicked things off with the Conley’s iconic shaker “Sweet Soul Music” and didn’t let up for the next hour. A perfect “1-2-3…1-2-3” shout led a segue into Wilson Pickett’s ripping arrangement of “Land Of 1000 Dances” and had the street people up and jumpin’. Longtime McClendon musical partner, saxophonist Vince Salerno, blew the life out of his tenor while bass player Clif Stewart provided backing vocals and thundering bottom lines. Drummer Brady Williams, guitarist Tom Klein and keyboard artist Paul Casino laid down the tightest dance grooves as the best Soul units do.
“Vince and Tommy have been with me about twenty-three years now, Clif about fifteen, and Brady and Paul over ten. We’re as close as one heartbeat,” said the band leader. “I keep them busy and they keep me moving.”
L to R: Paul Coscino, Tom Klein, Brady Williams, Gerald McClendon, Clif Stewart, Vince Salerno
After a blazing start, the unit slowed it down a little to the haunting strains of “Heard It Through the Grapevine” and then a singalong “My Girl” before introducing Salerno’s original “Blues and Trouble,” a blues scorcher with the tenor man switching to harp. A gorgeous treatment of the Chi-Lites masterpiece “Oh Girl” followed, and the man and the band did this one proud.
Stevie Wonder’s cookin’ hit “Superstition” followed, signaling a wilder ride to the finish line. Paul Casino shone with his handling of Wonder’s patented electric clavier sound. Close to the end, McClendon channeled Sam Cooke in “Twistin’ The Night Away” and The Commodores’ “Brick House,” which brought the set to a roaring crescendo. From covers to originals, this ensemble cooks with gas and front man McClendon possesses some of the finest vocal chops heard on record and stage.
For further sublime listening pleasure, check out one of Gerald McClendon’s regular appearances at Untitled Supper Club at 111 Kinzie St. Chicago, IL 60665. (312) 880-1511. Or listen to his brilliant original material on his CDs including Choose Love, Sleeping While the River Runs with Mother Blues, Grabbing the Blues by The Horns and Blues from All Points with Vince Salerno, and his latest collaboration with producer Twist Turner, Down at the Juke Joint. Available on all music platforms.
Artist Website: https://www.geraldmcclendon.com/
About the Author: Peter M. Hurley is a photographer/writer/artist whose interest in Blues began as a young boy upon first hearing the distinctive and haunting Chess Records sound of Bo Diddley. Exposure to Little Walter, Junior Wells and Howlin' Wolf in later years led him to further discover more Blues originators. After many years as an artist, Mr. Hurley shifted his visual focus, bringing his painterly sensibilities to the art of photographing musicians in the throes of performance on Chicago Blues stages. Combining music and visual art goes to the heart of what he had felt growing up with rock 'n roll and then discovering its source: the Blues.
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