The band’s website asks a very simple question: “What happens when you mix a drummer and bass player with metal/heavy rock background, a saxophone/flute player who studied jazz in Kiev, a guitarist/lead vocalist who started with punk rock and later learned to love the blues/jazz, and a percussionist/drummer who hates blues with a passion?” The answer is Blind Feat. How would their mix of self-penned rock, ballads and Jazz arrangements come across to a Kurpark audience more used to hearing familiar rock, blues and jazz standards?

Despite their being a relatively local band (outside of Ukranian sax player Sergii Chernenko) I hadn’t heard them before. Their name suggested a Blind Faith/Little Feat coverband, which they are definitely not, and I regret not asking how the name came about. It was very soon clear though that Vocalist/guitarist Niklas Scharge makes sure that drummer Charly Schnell has to ‘put up’ with playing blues. His powder blue Strat reminded me of Robert Cray and the stetson hat of Gary Clarke Jr. His voice, oddly enough, reminded me of a restrained Graham Parker.

So what can I say about Blind Feat overall? That style mix mentioned earlier creates a surprisingly smoothe musical platform. The songs are not available anywhere yet, which gives them plenty of room for improvisation since there is no ‘definitive’ version for comparison. Drummer Schnell and bassist Patrik Barzen make a solid rock rhythm section, but the band’s dynamics come from the interplay of Scharge’s guitar and the saxophone of Sergii Chernenko. There is a slight jazz element added, but it’s more in the way of improvisation than the musical style itself as Chernenko keeps largely to rock saxophone in the style pretty well defined for eternity by the late great Clarence Clemons. The only real deviation is when Chernenko swaps out his saxophone for a clarinet on what was, for me, the evening’s best number ‘Faith’.

Once again then an enjoyable evening of entertaining music in the sunshine down at the Kurpark Trinkpavillon. A shame the concert was over by 9 pm but I suspect that, as the band was only formed in 2023, they don’t have a huge reprtoire to call on. That website band intro also says that their aim is “To win the audience over with our live performance”. Mission accomplished – with ease and also with style. I’m looking forward to hearing the recordings that Niklas Scharge says were made a couple of weeks ago. Should be something a bit special coming our way!