It seems that Acoustic Sussex regularly invites back artists that have put on good performances and it was no exception when they invited back “The Chocolate Man”, to Chequer Mead, this time. Now this is not the local agent for Lindt & Sprüngli, whom I’m sure would be equally popular, but Guy Davis, the New York based blues singer whose voice is the equivalent to rich dark chocolate and akin to those old blues artists from the Deep South. Guy appeared the first time for Acoustic Sussex at the White Hart, near Ardingly and went down a real treat (if you’ll excuse the pun). You’d never guess from his performance that the presence he portrays in his songs was second hand, because someone raised in New York would find it difficult to put that intense feeling into his material. He draws inspiration from the blues greats and he is well worthy to keep the fire going and to pass on this great genre to contemporary musicians and other music lovers alike. 

When you meet Guy he comes across as a very humble and polite person that belies his incredible talent, not only as blues singer/songwriter and acoustic guitarist, but as an actor, director, and writer appearing in numerous film and stage plays. More recently, Guy has been busy performing his music and was introduced to “Old Time Blues” by stories from his family and latterly musically by Taj Mahal, a more recent exponent of the blues. His collaborations include John Platania (former guitarist with Van Morrison), Levon Helm (The Band), Tommy “T-Bone” Wolk (one of my all time favourite musicians bass player with Hall & Oates), Carly Simon), Gary Burke - drummer for Joe Jackson - and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull who invited Guy to open for the Tull in 2003. 

Not all the songs presented at Chequer Mead were traditional bluesy songs, some were light-hearted humorous song which went well with his story telling banter between songs, like his affinity with the “low cost” airline Ryanair who, Guy claims, give you more air miles for your buck by transporting him on one occasion direct from London to Manchester via Dublin. 

Guy reminded me of Chester Burnett (aka Howling Wolf) with his rich dark voice. Give us another hit of that 100% old dark Chocolate again, please Guy and come back soon.

Supporting Guy Davis was Jay Stapley who, when I first heard him on stage, I was not particularly impressed by. But…on reflection, when I played the songs on the jukebox of his website (www.jaystapley.co.uk), the music started to work its magic and the more I heard it, the more I liked it. It’s funny how the songs that you don’t like immediately become favourites and you are astounded that you didn’t spot this straight away. My particular favourite that he did on the night was “Clever Lines”, an introspective song which describes inner-most feelings of doubt which, I am sure we all feel at times and most certainly one which rings a few bells in my present task of review writing. 

Jay has a most pleasant voice and ability to use both the piano and guitar to great effect, which is not surprising because Jay once held the position of guitarist in Roger Waters’ (Late of Pink Floyd) Bleeding Heart Band. Knowing that Roger is a discerning musician, it’s not surprising that Jay was employed. I saw them once at the Docklands Arena and they were superb and I remember acknowledging that the lead guitarist, none other than Jay Stapley, was particularly stunning. I would certainly like to hear more.

Review courtesy of Bob Preece