Chris Bergson & Ellis Hooks - Live In Normandy (2019) [CD Rip]

Chris Bergson and Ellis Hooks’ new CD and DVD Live in Normandy - recorded in May 2018 at the BackStage Association’s Nuit du Blues festival - captures the magic of Bergson and Hooks, two modern soul powerhouses, in front of a stadium crowd. Bergson, "one of the most inventive songwriters in modern blues music," (All Music Guide) and Hooks, a singer whose gravel and honey voice “blends the soul croon and blues growl,” (All Music Guide) are in top form on this release, which is the result of almost a decade of collaboration and touring.

Elmore Magazine hails the Chris Bergson Band as, "one of the most talented bands playing today...From blazing rock to funk to soul to Delta blues and all that's in between." Live in Normandy captures Bergson and Hooks in concert backed by their longtime working European band. The dynamic performances reflect a synergy honed over years of touring together in Europe. Bergson estimates he’s played over 100 concerts with the top-notch rhythm team he refers to as “The French Connection” with Philippe Billoin on keyboards, Philippe Dandrimont on bass and Pat Machenaud on drums. “I’m so happy this document exists,” says Bergson as “it really captures the grooves we get into live and the joy we experience in playing together!”

The 12-track CD and DVD includes a new Bergson and Hooks original, “55 Miles from Bromley,” a swampy, funky groove where Hooks looks back at the small farm town where he grew up in Alabama. Live in Normandy also includes crackling live versions of Bergson and Hooks originals such as “Knuckles & Bones” and “Bitter Midnight” along with a searing, extended version of “Heavenly Grass.” The genesis of this song was a Tennessee Williams poem Bergson set to a Delta blues groove. It’s a standout performance from Bergson, where he clearly pays tribute to two of his biggest guitar influences - Hubert Sumlin, with whom Bergson performed in his later years, and the great Freddie King. Live in Normandy also features blazing versions of Bergson originals “Greyhound Station” and “Float Your Mind,” and Bergson and Hooks put their indelible stamp on covers of Sam Cooke’s “Somewhere There’s a Girl,” Little Milton’s “Grits Ain’t Groceries,” and Otis Redding’s “Nobody’s Fault But Mine.”