A tight R&B quintet that can reach deep into the Blues
It's obvious that playing on the road with folks like Charles Walker, Earl Gaines and Ruby Turner has rubbed off on Mo'Indigo, a tight R&B quintet from merry old England. In fact Charles Walker is the producer of The Blues Inside. The Deep Soul great duets with Indigo lead singer Harry Lang on the terrific "You Can Have Her", which builds to a tumultuous climax of Soul singing. While my initial interest in this project was the Walker connection I was surprised there's even better cuts here, my favorite being the shimmering ballad "Am I Losing You", featuring a yearning vocal by Lang and icy cool organ by Frazer Wigg. Also great is the Tex-Mex opener "Hurricane Song" which reminds me of Nick Lowe's Cowboy Outfit years. The band can also reach deep in the Blues as on the slow burning "When An Angel Falls From Grace" and they Stax it up on the Albert King-like "Fool Around Love" highlighted by the WattSoul Horns (Richard Watts, Ben Gates). Guitarist Robin Carr even squeezes out some Albert licks on the track right properly. Well done. Dylann DeAnna
Reviewer: Blues Critic
February 2001 -
Willie Brown's Rockin' Blues Bar Newsletter,
Captain Pat
Well, what a turnaround from the last two sessions. Thanks to all of you for turning out, you made it a great night.
I did say in the last review that Mo Indigo would not disappoint and how right was I?? The band were absolutely fantastic, right up there with some of the best sessions that we have had, they even arrived on time which is a strange occurrence for a blues band. It seems that a reference for a great blues band is to be late!!
We were short staffed that night so I was doing the bar and the door and making sure that everyone was having fun so if you had to wait a bit longer for your drinks "sorry"
Bongo started the night as usual, doing his utmost to create the right mood, playing the very best blues cuts and throwing in a few surprises just for fun; he always does a great job.
Harry and the band started with some Atlantic showing us the full range of his voicebox, and from then on just entertained to maximum satisfaction. The 1st set lasted 45mins it felt like five, the second set opened with "baby what you want me to do" A REAL THUMPER. Solos from Pete made the night special for me as we go back a long time to his Shout Sister Shout days. He had just that day got a new toy, a brand new Gibson Black Beauty which he plugged in for the first time, it definitely worked real good!
Pete indulged himself at the audience's request, far excelling all expectations.
The fabulous keys using the Hammond-like sound really made all the difference, separating Mo Indigo from most other bands. The audience called for 3 encores and got all of them the band finally got off stage at 10 past 12 after playing there second set for over a hour The were just "GREAT"
What a wonderful night we all had.
December 1999 - Blueprint
Farnham Festival
Meanwhile Mo Indigo proudly and elegantly presented themselves in the Barley Room.This band was very impressive indeed, even when they used bags of volume every single note and word was audible. Harry Lang on vocals, Pete Farrugia, showing how it should be done on guitar, a rock steady rhythm section and Tony Cooper with good fills and solos on keyboards provided one of the Festival highlights.
September 1998 - Blueprint, Robert LeBea
Blues at the Mill
Merton Abbey Mills, London - 28-31/8/98
Meanwhile in BB's Club the slick suited to a man Mo'Indigo finished the opening night in style. Harry Lang's velvet voice reminded me of Robert Palmer, while Ant Cooper's keyboard work was stunning. Classics ranging from "Lonely Avenue" to "Get Out Of My Life Woman" sent the punters home eager to return tomorrow.
September 1998 - Blueprint, Fran Leslie
The Great British R&B Festival
Colne - 28-31/8/98
On form, Mo'Indigo played an excellent set on the Lesser Muni stage, although we would have liked to have seen them in a larger venue.
April 1998 - Blueprint, Alan Taylor
The Bleak House, Woking - 16/2/98
A high point for me at last year's Farnham Blues Festival was discovering Mo'Indigo. Their brand of soul-tinged r&b and blues are refreshingly melodic, infectiously rhythmic and stylishly delivered.
Appearing in the regular Monday night blues slot at The Bleak House, they impressed right from the start with the clarity of their sound. Guitarist Peter Farrugia squeezed clean, expressive licks from his Gibson through a Mesa Boogie amp whilst Ivan Thompson delivered tasteful sax lines from his weathered tenor. Ant Cooper was busy pumping out electric piano runs on a Fender Rhodes, and classic Hammond solos through his Leslie cabinet. The way that they balance this instrumental front line of three is a joy, the musicians complementing not competing with each other.
This band is all about style, not flash, and outside the solos the visual focus is on vocalist Harry Lang. Having a dedicated singer is a luxury most gigging bands forego, but Mo'Indigo spurn the Jack of All Trades approach in favour of having the right man for every job, i.e. a singer singing and not a guitarist making do. Chicago-drilled drummer Ron Roesing might be remembered for his unusual kit and Christmas tree of ten cymbals, but his lightning precision is the backbone of the band's cohesive playing, and John Bulpitt underpins it all with his Fender jazz bass, stepping up to feature for the occasional break and providing vocal harmonies with Peter and Harry.
They opened on a sprightly "Sugar Babe" and continued on the moody "Neighbor Neighbor" mixing originals with a variety of covers both well known and obscure. And both the blues afficionados and casual punters were loving it. They delved into the Chuck Berry songbook and came up with the popular but less than obvious "Nadine" (which they have arranged brilliantly) and closed their first set with a fine "Fannie Mae".
"Get Out Of My Life Woman" brought everyone straight back into the mood for the second set where fine originals alternated with covers, including a great "Shame Shame Shame". This was an excellent example of the band's understanding as Peter's guitar dueted with Ivan's sax to simulate a horn section. A stunning "Take Me To The River" made a breathtaking encore and sent everyone home happy. Me? I wondered why I couldn't hear more of Ivan's harp playing, Ant's Hammond and Peter's fluent, biting solos. But maybe you can have too much of a good thing.