In a grainy video from a performance at the Lugano Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1986, the iconic rhythm and blues singer and pianist Ray Charles, attired in a tuxedo, beams broadly behind his signature dark glasses. He is seated at a Steinway grand piano as the guitar player behind him deftly coaxes the first few grinding bars of a slow and swampy blues from a Gibson ES335. The searing bends, soulful tone and soaring vibrato are suggestive of BB King and as the full brass orchestra kicks in, punctuating the guitar with counterpoint stabs, the guitar player rises from his chair as if propelled to his feet by an invisible force. His tall and lanky frame pitches forward and lurks backward as if the guitar he holds were some wild animal attempting an escape. A torrent of vocal-like, blues-inflected notes leaps from the guitar’s fretboard like sparks of electricity arching and cascading through the air of the auditorium.
At his piano stool, Ray Charles’ muted smile has become an infectious grin. He bops and sways in a frenzy of ecstasy precipitated by the guitar player’s feverish, quicksilver introduction to “I’ve Got News for You.” The guitar player has set it up perfectly for the legend to launch into the tune’s opening verse, “You said before we met, That your life was awful tame, Well, I took you to a night club, And the whole band knew your name ….”
To witness the first minute and 30 seconds of this video is to understand why Jeff Pevar would go on to earn the reputation for being “the guitar player who made Ray Charles smile.” Little could Pevar have known at the time that performance, when he was in just his mid-20s, of the storied and prolific career that lay ahead of him:
Previous to being recruited by Ray Charles in 1984, Pevar had toured and recorded with Rickie Lee Jones, but he would go on to collaborate with a lengthy “who’s who?” list of iconic artists such as Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bette Midler, Joe Cocker, James Taylor, Phil Lesh & Friends, Jefferson Starship, Jazz is Dead, Marc Cohn and many others, all the while showcasing his exceptional talent across diverse genres and musical landscapes. In addition to becoming known in the industry as a “guitar player’s guitarist,” Pevar became an internationally sought after session player and studio musician as well as a prolific composer in his own right, crafting scores for film and TV while also producing an impressive catalog of albums featuring his own music.
During this second of what hopefully will become an annual pilgrimage to the island, Pevar will be visiting with his wife, the singer/songwriter Inger Nova Jorgensen, and the two will perform together alongside former Blues Brother Johnny Rosch. It’s become customary among some on St. Croix to mourn the halcyon days of yore when headlining national acts routinely came to the island to perform, as if those bygone days seem fated never to return. Jeff Pevar’s visit, however, bucks that trend and offers island residents and visitors a chance to witness world-class guitar virtuosity and rousing blues and rock music in intimate local venues, including The Deep End Bar & Grill on Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. and Sunday, April 12 from 4 to 7 p.m., and Rhythms at Rainbow Beach on Easter Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m.
