Johnny Winter: Back With The Blues at Toad's Place By Marc Romanow, Special To The Herald Press Just minutes before Johnny Winter's performance at Toad's Place in New Haven on Friday night, the legendary Texas blues guitarist was honored with an award recognizing him as the "Most Requested Artist 2002" by Beef Stew, host/producer of the #1 rated Sunday Night Blues radio program on 106.9 WCCC-Hartford. While Johnny visibly appreciated the honor bestowed upon him, one could tell that he wasn't about to embrace accolades. He was more focused on accomplishing what he enjoys the most, and that was playing the blues. Looking fitter than he has been in quite some time, Winter's energy level manifested itself with both his gregarious playing and enthusiastic vocal work. Backed by a tight three-piece band that included veteran harpist/vocalist, James Montgomery, the ensemble opened with the familiar Freddie King classic, "Hideaway". While Winter did not race up and down his fret-board like he used to 15 years ago, his intricate, technically flawless playing was both fluid and melodic. Part of the genius of Johnny Winter is his ability to know his limitations. On other tunes, like "She Likes To Boogie Real Low", "Good Time Charlie" and "Got My Mojo Working", his tasty chord playing was complimented with shorter-run, economic soloing. The adoring audience, many of whom have seen the master perform more than 20 times, were impressed with his energy level and did not seem to care about his physical limitations. His connection to the fans represented all that was necessary to put on a memorable show. On the slower "Black Jack", Winter amazed everyone with his dexterity and convincing vocal display. One could literally observe him hitting each note one at a time. What his fans were witnessing was a brand of guitar-playing that was short on flash, but instead accentuated feeling and almost effortless skill. He brought the house down when he launched into closer, "Johnny Guitar". Again, his playing wasn't fast but crystal-clear articulate and resonant. His companions, Montgomery, Scott Spray on bass, and Wayne June on drums and vocals were so entrenched with each other and in perpetual sync that the phrase "orchestrated improvisational jamming" came to mind, especially on the aforementioned standard and the powerful "Sick and Tired". Usually, Winter incorporates his slide-playing into the body of his sets. On Friday, he decided to devote his entire encore presentation to the slide. And it was certainly worth the wait! Strapping on his signature Gibson Firebird, Johnny launched into "Mojo Boogie" and then stunned everyone with Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited", a song he performed routinely years ago. His stripped-down blues interpretation of this classic was so original that it took several minutes to realize what he was playing. Although Winter is not scheduling many gigs on this tour, the world-class blues aficionado (who happens to live in CT) is in the final stages of preparing a new studio CD release that will come out later this year. A few of these new songs were included in Friday night's set. With 29 recordings and countless other collaborations adding to his credit during a six-decade career, it's about time the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame took notice and installed one of the greats.