Hot Rocking Blues At A Cool Italian Castle

Bruce Von Stiers

“Music is about feeling free. No boundaries and no limits. It’s about honesty…And about inspiration: If I can inspire someone to pick up and instrument and start creating music, my purpose is fulfilled.”

That is a quote from rock blues guitarist and vocalist Ana Popovic. She is quickly becoming a major force to be reckoned with in the blues world. In fact, back in 2007 the magazine Jazz News wrote “Jimi Hendrix is a woman and her name is Ana Popovic.” Honored but humbled, Ana replied that “there’s only one Jimi just like there’s only one Stevie Ray Vaughn.” And her music has been called a “unique blend of blues, tinged with jazz, funk and rock.”

Ana hasn’t had a very long career but people have definitely been paying attention. In 2003, she was nominated for the W.C. Handy award for Best New Artist Debut. The same year Ana won the Jazz A Juan Revelations award, the oldest and most prestigious jazz award in France. In 2006, Ana was a nominee for the Living Blues Award in four different categories. BluesWar 2007 saw her nominated for blues artist of the year. And in 2007 Ana’s album Still Making History was on the Billboard charts for 19 weeks, making it all the way to the number three position.

More than just a pretty face, Ana has shared the stage with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Soloman Burke, Jonny Lang, Sonny Landreth and Bonnie Earl, Koko Taylor and many others. She has recorded several albums to date. And all of this from a performer who was born and raised in Belgrade, Hungary and began her musical odyssey at age 15.

The reason that I’ve brought your attention to this great rock blues performer is that Ana has a brand new DVD out. This is a concert DVD that was filmed in Italy. The title of the DVD is An Evening At Trasimeno Lake. Even though Ana is the primary performer, the concert was listed as being performed by the Ana Popovic Band.

The DVD is being released by Artists Exclusive, a promotions and artist management company based in The Netherlands. They represent blues giants like Jason Ricci and The Mannish Boys.

Two geographic indicators are listed on the DVD cover. They are that the concert was “live from the heart of Italy,” and that it was “filmed at the enchanting medieval castle in Castiglione Del Lago, Perugia, Italy.”

Ronald Jonker is on bass guitar and Andrew “Blaze” Thomas is on drums. They are members of Ana’s regular band. They played on her latest album, Blind For Love. I reviewed that album and was really impressed by these talented musicians.

Helping out were Michele Papadia on keys and synth, Cristiano Arcelli is on saxophone, Stephane Avellaneda on percussion and Riccardo Guilietti on trumpet. All of these musicians are well known in Europe. And helping out on backing vocals is the wonderful Sandra Laville.

The DVD has a main menu from which you can either play the entire concert or individual songs. The menu also has audio choices for Dolby digital stereo or PCM stereo. The concert itself lasts an hour and almost thirteen minutes.

The concert starts out with my favorite song from the Blind For Love album, Wrong Woman. This is an in-your-face song about guys who look at, and lust for, other women. Damning lyrics like “you hold her hand but your eyes are all over me” make this a too tough song. But Ana has long curly hair, a tight sleeveless shirt, tight leather pants and mid calf leather high heeled boots with studs on the side while sing this song in the concert. And did I mention that Ana has this sultry Eastern European look about her? Back to the song though. Ana’s guitar playing is top notch, especially a couple of solo stretches in the song. And the other guitar and key work is great, along with tough drums.

Then there is the rocking blues piece called Is This Everything There Is. Good vocals and too cool key work make it work well.

That is followed by the rollicking blues tune called How’d You Learn To Shake It Like That.

There is a short interlude video segment that was filmed during the day in courtyard at the castle. Ana talks about the tour and how she wanted to make this particular location a stop on it.

Sultry and achy are the vocals in the slow burner, U Complete Me. Killer drums and key work complement Ana. And Ana has a monstrous blues guitar solo on the song as well.

Toe tapping, head bopping music is in Nothing Personal, another song that was from the Blind For Love album. There is very good sax on the song along with slick key work.

Shadow After Dark has a moody blues rock tone to it with some great guitar and key work.

A light hip-swaying groove can be found in Lives That Don’t Exist.

Then Ana moves into a Stevie Ray Vaughn kind of blues groove with Let Me Love You Babe. There is a killer solo on the synth.

Settling down into a gentle mode, there is a light love song called Doubt Everybody But Me. And then there is Blind For Love, another gentle love song that was the title track from Ana’s album I mentioned earlier.

Ana has some killer guitar in Get Back Home To You. There is also some tough horn music.

Some more blues groove can be found in Recall The Days. The keys and synth make it a too cool song. That is joined by some tough drums and smoky vocals by Ana. And near the end of the song Ana kills it with an ever tough guitar solo.

Love Fever is a tough rocking blues song with cool guitar backing Ana’s sultry vocals.

The last song from the concert on the DVD is Hold On. It is another rocking blues song and has great vocals, backing vocals and the rest of the band kicking it up a whole other notch. Not only does Ana sing it out tough, her guitar work on the song sizzles. And there are smoking solos on bass and keys.

The DVD also has a few extra things under the Bonus Material menu. You can watch Ana do an acoustic version of Blind For Love. She also does an acoustic version of Steal Me Away, which wasn’t done in the actual concert. Both of these songs were filmed during the day before the concert and used locales in the castle. The other bonus item is a full interview that Ana has with a blues journalist.

An Evening At Trasimeno Lake is rock blues concert footage at its best. Not only does Ana Popovic have good pipes, she has definite mad skills playing guitar. And the people with her, from the bass player to the drummer and background vocalist, all complement Ana.

You can order a copy of An Evening At Trasimeno Lake through outlets like amazon.com or directly from Artists Exclusive.

Sites where you can learn more about Ana Popovic, her music and this concert DVD are www.anapopovic.com, www.myspace.com/anapopovic and www.artistexclusive.com

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