There’s Still Nothing Like Steaming-Hot Koko

SANTA ANA — Alanis Morissette and Fiona Apple made a lot of noise last year as the latest voices of the angry young female contingent. That’s all well and good, but where do you go to soak up an authentic voice of real experience, to hear someone who’s been singing about overcoming heartache for more than 30 years?

That place on Thursday night was the Galaxy Concert Theatre, where the Queen of the Chicago Blues performed with confidence and class. What the indefatigable Koko Taylor proved over the course of her spirited, convincing set was that some folks do age quite gracefully, thank you.

She’s 66, but who could tell after watching this seemingly ageless wonder pour her heart out in one powerful song after another? Slow down? Forget about it.

Taylor continues to play more than 200 gigs a year, and she’s lost little, if any, of the fire and emotion she had when she first caught the ear of Willie Dixon back in 1962. (The legendary blues man got Koko a recording contract with Chess Records and later wrote and produced her 1965 breakthrough hit, “Wang Dang Doodle.”)

The enduring quality that gives Taylor her distinctive edge is a coarse voice that is tailor-made for the blues. It isn’t pretty, just effective.

In the tradition of “Big Mama” Thornton, her raw voice growls and grunts, often building in intensity until it explodes with a killer line like this from the Little Milton song “Mother of Nature”:

“I’ll rain on your parade

And I’ll stomp all over you.”

Lord have mercy.

This song was only one of many highlights during a solidly played, career-spanning set whose theme was holding one’s own in the up-and-down battles of romance.

A prominent chapter of that theme examined achieving one’s sexual liberation and fulfillment. Prime examples included “I’m a Woman” and “Come to Mama,” the latter a simple, straightforward declaration of desire as Taylor seductively sang out: “Call me any time / Day or night / Come to mama.”

Yes, Taylor--a former housekeeper--was at times bold and brash. But always tastefully so. The 14-time W.C. Handy Award winner (think blues Oscar) deserves praise for expressing her sexuality without resorting to crude language (a la Madonna) or the crotch-rubbing gyrations exhibited by Etta James during last year’s Dos Equis Blues Festival in Newport Beach.

The concert did branch out to showcase other sides of Taylor’s music. A more vulnerable one was effectively unveiled when she slowed the tempo to croon several tender ballads, including “I’d Rather Go Blind,” “Let Me Love You Baby” and “Can’t Let Go.”

Yet another included a handful of rollicking, party-time numbers. Of these, a cover of the Moon Martin’s “Bad Case of Loving You,” a propulsive “Jump for Joy” and her signature, set-closing “Wang Dang Doodle” inspired the sit-down crowd to dance, albeit briefly, in the aisles.

Taylor’s five-piece backing band, Blues Machine, provided capable if generally unexceptional ensemble support. The only standout was lead guitarist Calvin Louden, whose solo during “I’d Rather Go Blind” offered a succession of focused, emotionally wrought chord progressions.

Once or twice Taylor strained to reach a high note and missed. But it mattered not. This performance was not about perfection. It was about perseverance, grit and emotion, about sharing one’s heart and soul with an audience.

In other words, it was a hit.

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Another woman worthy of praise is Keri Rodriguez, the petite, red-haired singer of the second-billed Back Door Blues Band. The spunky vocalist displayed a winning stage presence and powerful set of pipes. What she needs is original material that’s as impressive as the Fullerton quintet’s excellent cover version of the blues standard “Take My Man.”

The best thing that the opening act, Fry Sum Blues, has going for it is a cool name. The group’s set of poorly mixed, pedestrian blues hit a low point with “Caught Lookin’,” a self-described “message song” that came off as simply lame.