Dan Patlansky: Live at the Daisy Jones Review

I am always a sucker for live music, and live music recordings just seem to make my heart and ears smile. They are raw and provide listeners with a realistic and honest way to enjoy what an artist or band is all about and how much talent that artist or band actually possesses.

That being the case, I can honestly attest that Dan Patlansky is killing it on his brand-new live album release, Live at the Daisy Jones. There’s no “white out” used on this recording. It’s just like it was played live.

One thing is obvious from the outset: Dan Patlansky can play. In a world full of exceptional guitarists, he stands out among the very best. His three-piece band includes Andy Maritz on drums and Greg van Kerkhof on bass, and this backing band is just as great as Patlansky.

For curiosity’s sake, The Daisy Jones Bar is a live music and entertainment venue in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and typically can accommodate 150 to 200 people. So, The Daisy Jones Bar is an intimate setting, which is another thing that I love about this recording.

Patlansky is a South African native who was born in Johannesburg. He grew up being exposed to all kinds of music through his parents’ record collection and was a fan of Pink Floyd before gaining an appreciation for Stevie Ray Vaughan’s music. He was in his first band at around age sixteen and released his first album at age nineteen. Ten other albums followed.

Along the way, he has shared stages with the likes of Joe Satriani, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Walter Trout, and others. He has been nominated for many awards for his music and guitar skills and has also been the recipient of awards such as #1 album of the year in 2014 and 2016 from Blues Rock Review.

This live recording is the latest step in Dan Patlansky’s already amazing career, and it’s a step that he has wanted to take for a long time.

If grabbing a listening audience’s attention with the first few notes played is important so that they’ll be tuned in throughout a concert, Dan Patlansky and the band can check the block that reads “mission accomplished.”

“Red Velvet Suit” is a rocking little number that just had to have gotten the Daisy Jones crowd up, moving and grooving. There’s some really great guitar work on this one and a funky little break about midway through the song before returning to the musical theme of the song.

This song is a tribute to Patlansky’s greatest influence, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and you can hear a lot of “SRV” in this song. The actual title of the song is about an outfit that Vaughan wore to his 30th birthday concert at Carnegie Hall. I can just about guarantee that he would be pleased with this opening number and smiling at the band’s performance here.

Cut number three of Live at the Daisy Jones is “Baby’s Packin’ Heat,” and it’s firing away right out of the gate with some searing six-string heat of its own. “Love how you make me croon. Set me on fire girl. Let’s make all your petals bloom.” Whew, it’s getting a little warm in this one.

Then, a little more than halfway through, this song takes a little jazzy-sounding detour before returning to its blues roots. Patlansky sings, “Got a deadly weapon, baby you’re packing heat.”

“Born Under a Bad Sign” pays tribute to the great Albert King, and I’ll make this risky statement as honestly as I can: Dan Patlansky could stand right beside Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan on this one, and they’d create one of the greatest blues trios ever created in the blues music world. Dan Patlansky’s playing is really that skilled and expressive.

Please allow me to just mention here that you should check out “At the Roof of the Boat” (track five) just so you can understand what a skilled guitarist Patlansky really is.

The last song on Live at the Daisy Jones is “Movin’ On,” and this one seems to be about past mistakes and dealing with them. Patlansky sings, “Looking for answers; searching for truth; in all the wrong places, wasted my youth.”

This cut offers a look and listen to a softer side of Patlansky as he sings, “Tears might fall, bones might crack. Got to carry on, past is gone. Wounds won’t scar. You keep movin’ on. Gotta keep movin’ on.” What a perfect way to end this live recording.

If you want the true measurement of an artist or band, listen to them live. While many of us may struggle with catching our favorites at a concert venue, many times because of our personal logistics, it is rewarding to discover well-done live albums. This is one of those albums.

Patlansky and his band will be playing dates in October through November in Europe. After that, make sure to check social media for upcoming concert opportunities. And, in the meantime, grab this new album, Live at the Daisy Jones, and remember to crank that volume up.

The Review: 9.5/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Red Velvet Suit
– Baby’s Packin’ Heat
– Born Under a Bad Sign
– Movin’ On

The Big Hit

– Born Under A Bad Sign