Morning:
12°c
The Evening Standard demands an end to the practice of burying children and babies in mass paupers’ graves
More...
It’s Day’s night, and no one is going to spoil her story
A Sentimental Journey
Film
This is a shocking, replenishing film, not to be missed
Green Zone
Restaurants
It is great that Bruno Loubet is back — and at prices that are eminently fair
Bistro Bruno Loubet
The action and direction are superb and the acting good, but the plot is so pathetic it defies belief
Wonderful - beautifully acted and gloriously funny, particularly Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw
Probably the most important photography exhibition london has ever seen
London,
Jack Massarik's rating
Reader rating
Description: Folk blues, country roots and a modern slant on those trad genres are all part of KJP's eclectic bag. A regular visitor to these shores, his instrumental and vocal skills are always a strong draw.
Phone: 0845017 5584
Website: www.artstheatrewestend.com
Trains: Tube: Covent Garden 
Extra info: Pub
Talented country-bluesman Kelly Joe Phelps
Armed with a clutch of new songs from his latest album, Tunesmith Retrofit, country-bluesman Kelly Joe Phelps was in mischievous mood last night.
"This seems like a nice room to play, with soft seats and all," he mused. "But any seats is better than none." He paused. "Anybody know the Jazz Café?" Prudently, his next words were off-mike.
Settling on to a hard wooden chair, this talented Delta-style troubadour from Portland, Oregon, fine-tuned a steel-string acoustic guitar amplified by a sound-hole pick-up, and went to work.
The mandatory traditional number (Woody Guthrie's Pastures of Plenty) and roots blues (Tight to the Jaw) joined favourites from earlier albums (Cardboard Box of Batteries, The Anvil) in an engrossing hour of finger-style magic.
Using at least three capo positions and as many different tunings, KJ artfully varied keys and tempos for his light-toned yet husky vocals and insistent rhythmic backing. New songs such as Big Shakey involved such refinements as 3/4 time and diminished-seventh chords.
For blues purists, the best moments came on Handful of Arrows, where Phelps produced a long-neck banjo with four strings and half-neck drone. Its sound, rather like Taj Mahal's national-steel guitar in overdrive, was the essence of Americana. My old boss John Mayall would have given his Hollywood ranch-house to play like that.
• Tonight (0870 060 1742).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
