Boz Scaggs@The Canyon Club 04.30.09
By George W. Harris

Last week, when I saw guitar wizard Jeff Beck perform, the audience looked like a cross between Wayne’s World and a vinyl record convention. With Boz Scaggs and his tight R&Bish sextet, the crowd was definitely like a viewing of “The Sisterhood Of Traveling Pants, Part 3.” So, why does Boz get all of the chicks? After the satisfying 1 ½ hour concert, I asked my wife and her best friend, “Besides talent, what’s he got that I ain’t got?”

Two things make Scaggs stand out. First, his music is first rate, and his guitar playing is enough to satisfy the air guitarist in every guy as well. The band, which included excellent backing vocals, bluesy piano work by Dan Page, as well as sax soloing by Eric King, mixed the right amount of soloing over the deep grooves that the rhythm section provided on hits like “Lido Shuffle” and “Low Down.” The chick magnet part is that, as my wife so diplomatically put it, “he’s smooth, slow, and takes his time with his deep voice; not like you!” And that’s the difference; Scaggs can deliver a lyric from a song like “You Make It Hard To Say No” or “Breakdown Dead Ahead” and draw you in with is avuncular and calm tone. That, combined with the irresistible vibe, is just a deadly combination. And, while he didn’t provide any material from his excellent recent release, “Speak Low,” like every other successful man, he knew his audience, and gave enough to satisfy both the chick flicker and rocker in all of us.