By the time I got to Hopper's, Jim Mesi was sitting at leisure with a couple of buddies, his rig was all set up (and so was the bass player's). Always the consummate pro, Mesi had just decided to get there early to hang before the gig.

I had jammed with Jim on several occasions over the past 12 years or so, but never have I done a full night with him, so I was excited, especially looking forward to grooving with one of the grooviest bassists in town--Jimmy Solberg.

I have never seen Mesi anywhere in public where he wasn't dressed to the nines, and although he "dressed down" a bit for this gig, he was fully pressed, shaven, slick and sharp. His Strat matched somehow in a glitzy kind of Vegas way--thickly glittered finish with a custom "Jim Mesi" logo embedded in the body of it below the pick guard under at least 30 coats of enamel. It was impressive. Turns out the dudes he was hanging out with when I arrived were custom auto body shop guys, who had done the paint job on his guitar.

As usual there was a sparse group of attendees when we fired up around 9:10, and Jim suggested we keep it instrumental for the first few songs, so as not to run out of vocals before the night was out. (It became clear later that we hadn't neeeded to worry). Mesi doesn't sing--he kind of barks, actually, and leaves the vocal duties up to other members of his regular band--namely Solberg, drummer Justin Matz, and keyboardist Ed Neumann. So, we sauntered into a dreamy version of "Sleepwalk" and then some peppy surf numbers. Anyone who has seen Mesi, knows what he can do on the surf stuff...he is truly a maestro, coaxing sound and nuance out of his guitar and amp that simply go beyond what Nature intended.

Also, as usual, after the first break, the place started filling up a bit, and by then, we had settled in with each other, and were creating some beautiful moments. Jim and Jimmy did throw me a few curves which I had to catch, but it all went down quite smoothly.

Jim was musing to me during the second break that he had grown weary of the blues, which seemed to be like the sun saying it was tired of shining, but I did dig what he meant, and some of the motivation toward the ocean side of the blues rock. Plus, he said he liked reaching a broader audience, which has paid off for him in his lucrative Defense Department tours he does once or twice a year, receiving the military's rendition of rock star treatment in such countries as England, France, Germany, and even down to the Balkans, entertaining the troops stationed at the various imperialist outposts of the United States Gubment.

Our earlier fears of lack of vocals were mercifully squelched upon the arrival of one Ed Neumann, Mesi's regular keyboard man, who can sing like a bonafide soul man. Although partially or completely inebriated by the time he reached the stage, Neumann was impressive nonetheless, nailing some of those memorable chestnuts of the golden age of soul and blues (none of which I can remember right now--I gotta write these things sooner after the gig than three weeks).

Anywho, as far as I can remember, a great time was had by all, and Mr. Mesi, the Italian Chainsaw himself, was most complimentary and highly complimented himself.

Hope to see you down at Hopper's next Tuesday night, with rockin' Jonny Koonce!

Boyd