Heart And Soul Salgado’s Style Hard To Peg, But Concerts Go Beyond Fun

Thu., Nov. 14, 1996

Don Adair Correspondent

Curtis Salgado could be the planet’s only practitioner of Pentecostal delta funk-punk.

Salgado, who will appear at the Davenport Hotel Friday night, has perfected an eclectic blend of R&B, funk, soul and rock. And he calls it Pentecostal funk-punk.

Call it blues with an attitude, soul with hot sauce. Salgado’s a crooner, a wailer and a harmonica cat with chops that will steam up your spectacles.

“My job is going from town to town and getting up on stage butt naked - I might as well be - and singing my heart out,” Salgado said before a visit here last March. “And either you like it or you don’t.”

Salgado’s Portland-based band, the Stilettos, is right in there with him; pound for pound, it’s one of the best blues and soul outfits on the West Coast.

The singer’s career has taken him to the heights and the near heights. In a tale that’s become legend, Salgado turned comedian John Belushi onto the blues when Salgado was cranking up the energy in the Robert Cray Band. Belushi dedicated the first Blues Brothers album to Salgado.

Salgado has fronted Roomful of Blues, arguably the country’s best blues band on any given night, and even had the temerity to tackle the lead singer slot in Santana, one of rock’s truly high-risk jobs.

On a memorable night in San Francisco in 1995, he even upstaged the Steve Miller Band at a Fillmore Auditorium show, Miller’s home turf.

“Best performance of the evening,” raved Examiner reviewer Philip Elwood, “was an untitled blues selection performed by the Salgado band …”

These days, Salgado seems more or less content writing songs and tearing up the place with his own outfit. That’s not to say he wouldn’t like another stab at the gold ring. When you’re as good as he is, there’s no reason to let the dream dry up.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONCERT Curtis Salgado and the Stilettos will perform at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Davenport Hotel. Tickets are $15 at the door or $12.50 in advance, available at Street Music, G&B Select-a-Seat outlets or call (800) 325-SEAT.

This sidebar appeared with the story: CONCERT Curtis Salgado and the Stilettos will perform at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Davenport Hotel. Tickets are $15 at the door or $12.50 in advance, available at Street Music, G&B; Select-a-Seat outlets or call (800) 325-SEAT.

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