Porretta Soul Festival - day one

I'm back in Porretta Terme for the 32nd Porretta Soul Festival and once again it's delivering some top quality soul music. The only trouble is that it's going to be tough to beat the sublime performance on the first evening by Don Bryant and the Bo-Keys.
The first act of the evening was the Sweethearts from Geelong, Australia, a group of 26 teenage girls who show  passion for soul music and quite a bit of talent. Four singers alternated and the horn section came across strongly on soul favourites such as 'Higher and Higher', 'I Can't Turn You Loose', Shake' and 'Mr Pitiful'. Former James Brown sax player Pee Wee Ellis  now aged 78 and looking somewhat frail, came on for a version of 'Cold Sweat' to add some credibility to what was quite an enjoyable set. He also added credibility to the next act, a Swiss band called Re:Funk, performing four tenor sax numbers with them from his JB career. Other than that, they proved very disappointing and my attention wandered.
Things began to look up as the Bo-Keys took to the stage, but only up to a point  as they were backing former Gregg Allman music director and guitarist Scott Sharrard  who was a lot more rock than soul. He was adequate on some soul influenced songs from his recent 'Saving Grace' album, and his set included Otis Clay's 'Precious Precious', 'Everything a Good Man Needs' and 'The High Cost of Loving You' but this wasnt the real deal. The band was excellent however, with the wonderful Archie Turner on keyboards and Scott Bomar on bass  but Scott Sharrard didn't make much of an impact.
It was left to the star of the evening Don Bryant to turn what had been a below average night's entertainment into a great one. Wearing a snazzy jacket and what can only be described as a pith helmet, Don showed that his re-emergence as one of the premier soul performers around today is showing no sign of slowing down. He mixed excellent stage craft, regularly throwing kisses to the audience, with a superb mix of his songs from the sixties to the present day. His older numbers included 'Everything's Gonna Be Alright' and 'That Driving Beat' from his time as the uncredited singer on Willie Mitchell's hits, '99 Pounds', first recorded by his wife Ann Peebles, 'i Die a Little Each Day' and, as an encore, Ann's 'I Can't Stand The Rain'. From his 2017 album 'Don't Give Up On Love there was 'A Nickel and A Nail', 'What Kind Of Love', 'One Ain't Enough' and a stupendous version of 'I Got To Know' with vocal support from Bo-Keys members Kirk Smothers, Mark Franklin and Joe Restivo. By the end of this magnificent set the audience on this Thursday night had dwindled to just a relatively few and that was a shame, as Don Bryant is truly the dog's bollocks of Soul music. Apparently Re:Funk over-ran meaning both Don and Scott Sharrard had shortened sets. Personally I would have dispensed with Re:Funk altogether, but at least we saw some of Don's genius. More soon, and photos when I get home.