Keith Dunn is a blues veteran who has been in the environment for over 30 years. He was born in Boston where he discovered the blues very early after seeing a performance by T-Bone Walker. A while later he bought his first harmonica and was totally bitten by the blues bug. In the meantime, he has played with numerous greats such as James Cotton, Hubert Sumlin and Roy Eldridge. Keith has been living in the Netherlands for some time now and can regularly be seen on numerous European stages where he gives the best of himself together with his Belgian band consisting of Bart Mulders (guitar), Renaud Lesire (bass and guitar) and Thomas Pultyn (drums). The latter is actually the nephew of “Wuff” Maes, drumming apparently runs in the family.

Keith Dunn is still popular because The Maple was chock-full, which seriously raised the temperature. Drinking on time in warm temperatures was once Frank Deboosere’s motto and the beer flowed freely when the band came on stage and immediately sent a solid instrumental into the room with ‘Off The Wall’. This also set the tone for a very energetic performance that would have very few resting points.

The foursome continued with ‘Everything’s going to’, ‘Standing Out Crying’ and ‘Frisco’ where Renaud proved not only to be a solid instrumentalist but also vocally. A voice with a bit of charm where a nice French accent pierced. Keith then took back the reins for a sturdy ‘Hoodoo Man’. Good voice and he did a fine job on the Mississippi saxophone. Bart Mulders determines the rhythm and was again very strong on the guitar, a bit of an unsung talent that Bart, while the rhythm section kept the whole thing tight, in short, the machine was on a roll.

They gradually worked towards the end of the first set with ‘Going Away’, a very nice ‘Strange Land’ – which is a song by the great Charlie Musselwhite -, ‘Ragged And Dirty’, a very swinging ‘Crazy Legs’ and finally reached the finish with ‘Don’t Start Me Talking’. Nice end to a very pleasant first set, which everyone certainly enjoyed. Time for a drink and a breath of fresh air, to be ready for Keith Dunn, The Sequel !

The men continued on the momentum of the first movement, starting with ‘Tip’, followed by a very swinging shuffle ‘Maybe Wrong’. In the meantime, Bart and Keith continued to alternately sprinkle lavishly with pleasant solos, and you could clearly see the attendees enjoying themselves.

Bart is not only an excellent guitarist but can also sing a bit and he proved that with ‘All Your Love’, cover of Otis Rush and ‘Just A Little Bit’. Keith was allowed to rest, at least his vocal cords, because after this Renaud took care of the vocals with a nice version of Little Walter’s ‘Just Your Fool’. Gradually the end of the performance was in sight and Keith took over the vocals again for ‘Stange Things Are Happening’ and a hypnotic ‘Wish You Would’ to put an end to it.

Not counting the innkeeper of course, in this case ‘MC’ Ivan, who came to ask for an “encore” without difficulty and obtained it without a murmur. It even became two, starting with ‘Sadie’ by Hound Dog Taylor, where Bart was able to show his singing skills again. Finally, the evening was closed by Keith to the tune of ‘Snatch It Back’.

This was the end of a more than very pleasant evening, which everyone had enjoyed to the fullest, including the band. So we could return home very satisfied.

Marcel