Review: Little Steve & The Big Beat – Circles
Little Steve & The Big Beat – Circles
Format: CD / Label: Timezone Records
Release: 2024
Text: Pascal Wilhelm
Little Steve (aka Steven van der Nat) once told me how he got into the blues. As a young boy, he was in the attic of his parental house. While practicing his chops, the roof window was open, and it happened to be that R.J. Mischo played with his band in a bar down the street. He went to the bar and watched the show. It was the first time he experienced American blues music. “It had quite an impact”, he says. Being a young and talented player, he was quickly asked to join a band with more mature musicians that played regularly. “With that, I developed quite fast, I think.”
Steven’s current band has one of the finest musicians in the Dutch scene. Next to Steven, who is an excellent guitar player with a distinctive voice, The Big Beat consists of Martijn van Toor and Evert Hoedt on tenor and baritone saxophones, Bird Stevens on bass and Jody van Ooijen on drums.
An EP was released in 2013, followed by a full CD in 2016 (‘Another Man’), which received critical acclaim. The band has been playing regularly on major stages, both nationally and internationally.
And now there is ‘Circles,’ their third release with all originals. And oh man! It sounds so great. Kudos for Bird Stevens, owner of the Tub_Thumper Records vintage studio. Listen to Circles, the title track. That bassdrum sounds so DEEP. Speaking of which, this is a serious track. “I’m an optimist by nature, but I am afraid humans as a species don’t learn from past mistakes, and I felt I had to put this in a song.” Serious shit. But there is more.
Various songs about relationship between man and woman with Rome being my favourite (“Every road leads me back to you”) with Steven playing some nice acoustic guitar. Anna Lee is also a nice one, reminiscent of the style of the late Boyd Small.
On ‘Circles,’ Kat Riggins provides backing vocals on Only Got Eyes For You, Pascal Haverkate trumpet on the title track and Bas Janssen keys on 99 LBS, The Shame Is On You and Tired Of Moaning.
The rhythm ‘n blues of Little Steve & The Big Beat is artisanal, traditional, but still of our time. Fans of James Hunter will appreciate this excellent release.
I caught the band live recently, and what stood out is how tight they are. Especially how the horn section arrangements fit in with the songs. A nice example of this on ‘Circles’ is Find Me A Way, a song about about resilience (funny detail: the whistling in the outro).
Little Steve & The Big Beat is about the best that Dutch blues currently has to offer.
Tracks:
01. 99 Lbs
02. The Shame Is On You
03. Anna Lee
04. Walking At Night
05. Circles
06. Alive
07. Find Me A Way
08. Tired of Moaning
09. Only Got Eyes For You
10. Runaway Man
11. Rome