Legend, phenomenon, cult figure... the list of such superlatives could go on and on. The man we are talking about here, Roland Van Campenhout, is not at all interested in these descriptions of himself. He is simply a wonderful musician, an impressive guitarist and impressive singer with the blues as his main stylistic device. He is of course able to present it in its more pure, traditional form. But also, and in recent years with obvious preference, in a much more modern form.
Like on his latest live album 'roland & the deep blue sea', which sounds so fresh and young that it is hard to believe that the Belgian will be turning 80 in the coming weeks (July 25). He is turning 80! In other words: eighty! OK, other protagonists who started out in the 1960s have also reached this age. Blues colleague John Mayall is already 90. But are they all still capable of such a musical fountain of youth?
The album, recorded at GC 't Blikveld in Bonheiden in southern Belgium with the full band - in addition to RVC, with a keyboard player, second guitarist, bass and drums - offers a total of six pieces, five of which are longer, all between around nine and eleven minutes long, which you immediately have to press repeat after hearing for the first time. For example, the opener "Out In The Rolling Sea" turns out to be a rousing psycho-blues track characterized by strict riffs and flowing wah-wah sounds, in which guitars and electric piano, spurred on by the two rhythm players, engage in such a fascinating duel in the second half that Roland lets out a clearly audible "Wow" towards the end.
'Turn Around And Take Me Home', the following track, begins gently with floating guitar sounds and a plaintive voice, and later on is not stingy with string excesses. The traditional 'Fish In The Deep Blue Sea' advances here to a hearty slow funk. And 'Midnight Star', the final number of the regular set, blows out a splendid rock attack. The encore "Wake Up All The Death" with its many guitar echoes and 'Under The Sea And Above' as the final, three-and-a-half minute groove gem complete the track listing of this fascinating live album.
Roland Van Campenhout only came to music when he was twenty. In the mid-sixties he started playing skiffle and folk, and then discovered the blues a few years later. As a temporary member of the Rory Gallagher Band he travelled the world and from then on absorbed all kinds of musical influences wherever he went. He has played with various luminaries (including Tim Hardin, Leo Kottke, T.C. Matics' Arno Hintjens) and has released around 30 stylistically rich albums to date.
And yes, he is and remains, just like his German counterpart Richard Bargel, who wrote the liner notes for the album, a 'niche musician', with, according to Bargel, 'prizes and awards that were hardly noticed by the public.' But they feel comfortable in this niche, because (Bargel quote): 'We both consistently went our own way, away from the mainstream, which never interested us. What interested us was our musical freedom, our authenticity and the individual implementation of our rich song repertoire. Creating something of our own, not just copying, playing against stereotypical thinking and simply ignoring narrow-minded critics, that was and still is important to us today.' Roland Van Campenhout's album "roland & the deep blue sea" is a magnificent proof of this statement!
