STAY BLUES to Enjoy

In the summer of 2007, the Stay Blues quartet released their only album, featuring wonderful blues covers. They lasted a few years and then called it quits, although the members never strayed from music or the blues. This Thursday, they’re reuniting for a seemingly unique concert. This is how we talked about them back then:

For ten years, Stay Blues, the group originally formed by Alvaro Fernández (harmonica and guitar) and Paul San Martin(vocals and piano), has been recreating the blues tradition and giving us a taste of it in the countless concerts they have given, both in small clubs and at many of the blues festivals organized in the Basque Country and surrounding areas. Cover versions are a subgenre within the blues that are well received among fans of this musical style, who appreciate the work these groups do to raise awareness of the legacy left by the pioneers, pay homage to the great masters, rescue forgotten gems, and reinterpret in a personal way some of those songs so often heard by a multitude of performers.

The two core members of Stay Blues have no shortage of experience and knowledge of the blues. Fernández played in Lau Behi and Blues Stop, two of the leading blues bands in San Sebastián, and San Martín is a musician well versed in jazz and blues, having collaborated with several pop groups and being a member of Alex Ubago’s band during the 2005 tour. The two created this acoustic blues project to play covers of their favorite songs. They were soon joined by Fernando Neira (bass) and began playing regularly in venues in San Sebastián and the surrounding area. This opened the doors to many blues festivals, as well as to other venues that a group that hasn’t recorded an album rarely has access to, such as the San Sebastián Jazz Festival, where they played in 2006 and 2007, or the concert they gave with Raimundo Amador in Burgos (Spain). Following the recent addition of Karlos Aranzegi (drums, Bide Ertzean), the band has gained in consistency. It was time to record their first album.

Stay Blues offers nine versions of blues classics by composers such as T. Bone Walker, Duke Ellington, Roebuck Staples, and W.C. Handy, pieces that have previously been reinterpreted by Ella Fitzgerald, The Beatles, Peggy Lee, B.B. King, Cannonball Aderley, Diana Krall, and Madeleine Peyroux, among others. This gives an idea of ​​the material this San Sebastian quartet works with. The repertoire covers different sounds within the genre, opening with an early piece by Bonnie Raitt, “I Know,” in the purest New Orleans style. This is followed by an immortal ballad, “Call It Stormy Monday,” and later there are rhythm & blues (I Ain’t Got Nothing But the Blues, Kansas City), boogie-woogie (Cow Cow Boogie), more ballads (Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to You), gospel (Why Am I Treated So Bad), and traditional blues (Careless Love).

Neither lineup changes nor the passage of time have altered the group’s basic approach, based on piano and harmonica, and wrapped in a clean, transparent, and very natural sound that reveals the performers’ technical abilities. Added to this is Paul San Martin’s soft, melodic voice, with a cool touch, which brings the group closer to the style of jazz singers. The set is enjoyable for both die-hard blues fans and those more inclined to pop or jazz. A true delight for the ears.

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