By Allan Wigney
It's easy to take Tony D for granted.
Certainly, one seldom has to look too hard to find him. The bluesman born Anthony Diteodoro played Tucson's last weekend; in coming weeks he has gigs scheduled for Wakefield, Carleton Place and Aylmer.
And as for the Rainbow, he has known more than one residency at the Byward Market home of the blues.
But on the eve of the release of a fifth studio album, it's perhaps time to give thanks for a singer and guitarist who has dazzled us with technical skills while gently nudging the blues into new areas for two decades.
Is there really a Tony D playing bars in every North American city? Not likely.
For one thing, few blues guitarists are turnout out "Argentinean surf-tango" tunes like Asstango, one of 10 musical excursions on Diteodoro's The Jook Joint.
And while he's hardly the first — or the 100th — guitar hero to tackle Big Joe William's Baby Please Don't Go or Jimi Hendrix's If 6 Was 9, he is to be commended for breathing new life into both blues/rock standards.
And the inclusion of those well-worn tunes amidst eight far-ranging originals expresses the method behind Diteodoro's madness.
"The concept came about through hosting the Acoustic Stage at (the 2002) Bluesfest," Diteodoro explais. "I saw solo performers doing single-note lines, mimicking vocal lines, and I started to get into that style of playing. I thought it'd be cool to take Delta stuff and put the band behind it. Of course, once that happened I just decided to electrify the hell out of it."
Hence, the detour into Hendrix territory.
But, in the context of Tony D's juke joint, If 6 Was 9 sounds perfectly at home alongside gritty Delta blues, jazz and of course surf-tango.
Certainly, it stands as a worthy illustration of the power of guitar lines mimicking vocal lines. And of the many branches that have spouted from blues roots.
Tony D's own roots are those of an Ottawa kid in love with the blues — and with the guitar.
"Instrumentals are what attracted me to music in the first place", Diteodoro says. "I couldn't wait for the vocals to be over. Notes tell you more than words."
Diteodoro's skill at taking notes earning him a reputation locally as chief guitar-slinger — a reputation that endures. But his ability to express himself vocally should not be discounted. And particularly on the heels of a recent acoustic guitar album, Diteodoro has been advised by some to forsake the blues in favour of a "singer-songwriter" career.
"I can understand record companies wanting a hit," Diteodoro says of the suggestion, "but that's not what I'm about. Blues isn't a commodity; it's a feeling. And if the industry would keep their hands off it, we'd be okay."
Not that Tony D is for freezing the blues in time. "There's too much reverence in the blues and not enough originality," he asserts. The Jook Joint is his case for keeping it fresh. Even the album's artwork, he explains, shows a conscious effort to avoid presenting yet "another cover shot of a guy with a guitar."
Tony D is undeniably a guy with a guitar. And that's okay. It's been enough to take him across the continent and to such exotic locales as Bosnia and the Persian Gulf. But here at home, the ever-popular Diteodoro has seen a recent downturn in the live musc scene. That's recent, as is in post-smoking bylaw.
"The bars are hurting," he observes.
"Non-smokers said they'd come out and they didn't come.
"And the new generation of kids doesn't go to see live music. To me, it's just common sense to be moved by a bunch of guys actually playing; I don't see excitement in a guy spinning records."
"And for smokers, it all used to be part of the package. You take one thing away and it has an effect."
Of course, he adds, "my perspective has always been from the blues ..."
awigney@yahoo.ca
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