Next up were the up-beat, up-tempo jump blues sound of Cool Disposition, featuring the triple threat of Mickey Bauer on hip, expressive vocals, Harold Tremblay blowing a mean, powerful, expressive harp, and the very talented and tasteful guitar playing of Dan Schwalbe. Rounding out the group is a solid rhythm section in veterans Marty Bryduck on drums and Greg Beach on bass. With the crowd growing in size in the cozy confines of Floyd’s, the band had the dance floor crowded with people moving to their energetic, enthusiastic playing and singing. Kicking things off fast with “Shake Your Moneymaker,” Dan Schwalbe played brilliant guitar, Mickey had his hip, energetic vocals working, and Harold played solid, entertaining harp. The band featured many songs off their CD, Rompin’ at the Rib Shack, including “Loving Glow” and “Joy Ride.” On the former Harold has his harp wailing, nicely backing the strong, clear vocals by Mickey. In addition to their own songs, the band did a blues tour, with stops along the way with numbers by Little Walter, Louis Jordan, BB King, and other blues legends. This band gets tighter all the time, playing frequently around town. Harold’s chromatic harp work has a great sound, Dan’s guitar is some of the best blues guitar you will ever hear, and Mickey provides solid, expressive vocals. If you want to listen to solid jump blues, or more likely get up and dance, be sure to check them out.

Nick Moss and the Flip Tops then hit the stage for some great blues guitar by Nick and solid blues piano by Piano Willie, a veteran of many great blues bands. Starting out with a fast instrumental opening, the crowd was wowed by Nick’s fast, brilliant playing. He can really rock it out, yet he can bring it down for some great slow, soulful, nuanced playing, especially for a big man who is built like an offensive lineman. “If I Could Get My Hands on You” featured the fast, rocking guitar of Nick and the great, charging piano of Willie. Nick did a good job of changing tempo, following rocking, fast rolling blues numbers with soulful, slow blues grinders like “Way Down on Bad Avenue.” Nick proved to be a solid vocalist, giving the crowd great, achingly mournful, drawn-out vocals to go with his expressive guitar. Nick likes to change the tempo within his rocking blues numbers, bringing it down for some slow, clear soulful picking. Piano Willie sang a number of songs, featuring his strong, Jerry Lee Lewis tinged vocals and piano playing. His sharp, ringing voice blended well with his fast, boogie-woogie piano on “Baby Look at You.”

Nick played several slide guitar songs, effectively employing his wah-wah pedal for a great sound. “You’re Gonna Lose” featured great ringing, echoing slide guitar licks along with his smooth, high energy vocals. Nick played a number of songs off his last CD, including the title track, “Count Your Blessings.” This is a wild, energetic double shuffle that had Nick and the entire band playing their butts off. Nick’s fast, expressive guitar licks wowed the crowd. As with the previous bands, he had the enthusiastic crowd up and dancing throughout the entire show. It was a great finish to a wonderful day of blues. Be sure to check out Nick Moss if you get to Chicago, or when he ventures back to the Twin Cities to play. This solid, veteran band has lots of talent to provide smoking blues for listening or dancing.

The good people at Floyd’s have announced they plan a second annual weekend of blues the first weekend in August, stay tuned for further news on this. They plan to feature many local blues bands, some regional acts, and one national act in their comfortable blues backyard. Also, watch their calendar as they have many local bands playing in the next month, along with Texas blues harpist Randy McCallister on April 16th and 17th.

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