Description
Tango at the Lost Café is the fantastic 2013 album from singer/songwriter Gavin Sutherland, featuring special guests including his old Sutherland Brothers and Quiver partners, Iain Sutherland, Tim Renwick and Willie Wilson.
“With a bunch of tunes in my head I knew I was heading somewhere new, but I wasn’t quite sure where I was going until I happened upon a Tango session at Mike’s Old Bus Depot near New Pitsligo, next door to The Lost Café.
As the hot little five piece dance band struck up, a lovely, happy young woman took my hand and asked me if I’d like to dance. “Of course” I said, “but you’ll have to bear with me. Never done this before.” Kirsty displayed the ‘ocho’ and ‘giro’ moves with effortless grace as I struggled to follow her lead, but strangley, as she dragged me around the dance floor, all the random little bits n’ pieces of music that had been rumbling around my head for some time, began to fall into place and make some sense.
A rough sketch of ‘Tango At The Lost Café’ appeared in my head as I drove home under a starry sky and, by the time I’d got in and put the kettle on, I kind of knew where I was going. Olé!”
– Gavin Sutherland.
“Tango At The Lost Cafe, I love it, really relaxed vibe and great tunes. It’s a win” – Johnnie Walker, BBC 2.
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Pete Chilton –
This album is a lovely relaxing blues ensemble. It starts with an angelic chorus and moves gently through the mississippi where the brass section takes us ‘down to wash it all away’. The vocals throughout are mellow as are the guitars. ‘Waiting for This’ I am driving down route 66 leaving Chicago and heading south, top down and cruisin! ‘Something I Said’ is so reminiscent of the Sutherlands, really pleasant, well balanced harmonies which brings back fond memories but my favourite has to be ‘The Tweeter’. Love the lyrics…..’2 for 1 for coffee and a special on the Italian wine’…..great…we have all been in that Co-Op queue! ‘Two Tone Shoes’ where guitar and piano work in perfect harmony and then the sax kicks in from nowhere…….nice, smooth, no hurry…..and again in ‘Something I Said’ mellow balanced guitar pairings. A nice, relaxing, chilled piece of work delivered by a group of accomplished musicians who clearly enjoy their work.
Steve from Stage Parades –
The best solo album ever from Gavin Sutherland in my opinion. It has something for everyone and has been a joy to listen to many times already. Everything about the overall standard of songwriting, production, vocals, lyrics and musicianship are first class and it beat my expectations by a mile. The Tweeter has the wonderful line about being in a line at the local supermarket and it just made me feel good that someone could write about nothing really, you have to play the track to understand. Other feel good tracks for me personally are the album title track wonderful band is playing hard tonight with superb backing vocals here, Something I Said a duet with Nancy K. Dillon, the opening track Choir Of Angels, Waiting For This, Minding My Business and Down To The River with its spiritual J.J Cale feel. Two Tone Shoes (Let It Roll) is blues perfection. Nobody Does It Like You has the WOW factor. Everyone involved in this album should be applauded. Highly recommended.
Bamb –
Sometimes you have to wait an awfully long time for your favourite artists to hit that sweet spot when they return to recording the type of thing that first attracted you to them. I’ve always enjoyed the music that the Sutherland Brothers made, even as far back as the late 60’s. It was nice to spend last Saturday afternoon just letting Gavin’s new CD wash over me. From the observational lyrics of ‘The Tweeter’ to the very catchy title track ‘Tango at the Lost Cafe’ each track has that lovely laid back feel that I know and love so well. It’s also good to hear the two brothers harmonies again on one of the tracks… see if you can spot which one. Lets hope that this collection of tunes gets some airplay and encourages him to keep coming up with the goods. I dont want to have to wait another 30+ years, We dont have that much time!
Steve Smith –
The best solo album ever from Gavin Sutherland in my opinion. Everything about the overall standard of songwriting, production, vocals, lyrics and musicianship are first class and it beat my expectations by a mile. Everyone will have their own personal favorite tracks am sure. The Tweeter has the wonderful line about being in a line at the local supermarket and it just made me feel good that someone could write about nothing really, you have to play the track to understand. Other feel good tracks for me personally are the album title track wonderful band is playing hard tonight with superb backing vocals here, Something I Said a duet with Nancy K. Dillon, the opening track Choir Of Angels, Waiting For This, Minding My Business and Down By The River with its spiritual J.J Cale feel. Two Tone Shoes (Let It Roll) is blues perfection. Lastly, must mention Nobody Does It Like You, as a SB+Q fan, you must buy the album for this track alone. Highly Recommended.
Brian –
Gavin’s second solo album, Diamonds & Gold, had the subtitle "Acoustic Music to Soothe the Troubled Soul". That title could equally apply to this sequence of ten beautifully textured, delightful songs. The music is largely gentle, quite folky, and very easy to absorb. So yes, it is acoustic music and it would certainly soothe any troubled soul. Oddly, when you put the CD on iTunes, the description comes up as "blues", yet this must be the cheeriest blues music I’ve ever heard. Agreed, much of it is in 12-bar format and the first song starts with "Woke up this morning…", but Gavin is clearly a glass-half-full person. Indeed the music is cheerful and bright with a clear aim of making you feel great. Overall, if you like well-crafted music and intelligent lyrics, this is a CD you must have.