Jazz Fest 2nd weekend
Thursday – May 2ndI heard the Kora Konnection featuring Morikeba Kouyate of Senegal. The African harp sounded wonderful with the balafon, a marimba instrument with gourds underneath the bars acting as amplifiers. The group was outfitted in wonderful African fabrics with lots of drums in many sizes. The last number, LUMBA, called to appreciate and understand ourselves by singing and giving thanks. I enjoyed this and came upon it by accident. An ‘interpretive’ dancer was on board too.
Jumpin’ Johnnie Sansone was my favorite act of the day. He plays harmonica, sings and also plays the accordion. He’s ‘deep’ and he’s ‘got the power’. He puts on quite an animated show to the point of turning red in the face. He came out in a vest and dress pants carrying two voodoo type items,one in each hand – a skull in left and a cross in the right. The band included, John Fohl, one of the very best guitar players, and special guest, Bob Andrews, on Hammond B3 organ and piano. The saxophone player, Joseph Cabral, is a noted local performer with the Tex Mex group, The Iguanas. This was an amazing blues set and ended with a gospel/blues number about finding the Lord before the Devil finds you. Johnny ‘fainted’ at the end, then got up and tossed out free harmonics. I ran into him the next day and told him ‘You’ve got the power’ and he really liked that and suggested I had the power too!
I went to the interview of the vibraphonist, Roy Ayers. I knew nothing about him except for what I read in the local rags. I went to a snippet of his set later and didn’t like his music at all. It was extremely loud and chaotic. The interview was somewhat interesting and he composed the soundtrack for a movie called Coffee. The soundtrack was then subsequently used again in Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. He did a record with Fela of Nigeria who had 27 wives. It was raining outside.
I caught the last tune of Geno Delafose on the way to hear local musician Theresa Anderson for the first time. She is Swedish and I find her ‘the New Orleans version of Bjork’. She’s predominantly a vocalist and also plays the violin and uses some delayed/overlapping sound devices. Her band includes a tuba, drums and guitar. She has a strikingly angelic voice but the music is not my thing and she’s not as much fun as Bjork.
I heard a couple of numbers by Pokey LaFarge and liked one about living in the Central Time Zone. It’s a great traditional jazz ensemble with predominantly stringed instruments and it was a lot like some of the traditional jazz bands that play on Frenchmen St.
The bassist/vocalist Mark Brooks had special guest vocalist Barbara Shorts in the Economy Tent during a deluge. She did such jazz standards as “Take All of Me”, “Hot Nuts” and a wonderful 2nd line tune that brought out the umbrella brigade. This was a lot of fun. Don Vappie was playing his traditional virtuosic guitar and banjo. He’s always a pleasure to hear!
The big event of the day was the 35th reunion of One Mo’ Time with Vernel Bagneris. He’s an awesome dancer and no ‘spring chicken’ but he can sure ‘shake a tail feather’ still. The host of vocalists from the original cast was on board and the band, lead by Orange Keller, was cookin’. This is traditional New Orleans jazz at its very best and presented like a cabaret show. It ran for a number of years at the Village Gate, Off Broadway in NYC, and originated at the Toulouse Theater (now One-Eyed Jacks), in New Orleans. The parade of unparalleled female vocalists included Wanda Rouzan, Thais Clark, Topsy Chapman, Lillian Boutte, Barbara Shorts and Sandra Reeves-Phillips. Here’s a very good review.
http://www.nola.com/jazzfest/index.ssf/2013/05/new_orleans_jazz_fest_2013_reu.html
Friday – May 3rd was the day that plunged to record cold temps in the evening. It was a miserable day and clammy and windy. It was impossible to move around due to the mud that was everywhere. I chose to just sit through a couple of sets and stayed indoors as much as possible.
My favorite event of the day was the Coco Robicheaux Tribute in the Blues tent with Dave Easley on pedal steel slide guitar and Mike Sklar on lead, “Queen” Irene Sage, vocalist, officiates and she’s joined by Coco’s wife, Danielle and Dorian Rush on vocals. They did some gospel type numbers including I shall be Released and Rock of Ages and a lot of Coco Robicheaux’s tunes from his Spiritland CD. The pianist, Mike Hood’s voice sounds a lot like a mix of Dr. John and Coco Robicheaux and he’s a great performer. Walter Wolfman Washington was a special guest on vocals and guitar. The tribute ended with acapella voices repeatedly chanting “Gonna walk, gonna talk in the spirit” accompanied by hand percussion. Coco was ‘in the house’.
Next up was Astral Project. Tony Digradi plays soprano and tenor sax. I particularly enjoyed their Voodoo Bop number. I know Johnny Vidacovich, drums, and James Singleton, bass, and the group is very tight and musical without drifting too far off from melody, rhythm and harmony. They’re all virtuosic players and especially Steve Masakowski on his 7-string guitar.
I stayed at the Jazz Tent for Nicolas Payton. The last time I saw him, he spent so much time playing keyboards and strayed from the trumpet. He makes the most beautiful pearly tones from his trumpet and plays it simultaneously with the electric keyboard. For one tune he set the keyboard to square waves, a particularly ugly sound. He’s a good keyboard player though. He changes his material and seems to always be searching for something new. At times he’s a bit untethered but I respect his quest yet have more of a fondness for his earlier ‘pre-keyboard’ material.
I headed over to catch a bit of Willie Nelson. His songs are great and his finger picking is finger lickin’ good but, can someone buy this man a new guitar? His guitar, Trigger, has a hole in it and sounds like an oversized ukelele. It’s signed by his friends and is missing most of its varnish. He turned 80 on April 29th and the crowd was holding up Happy 80th Birthday signs. They also knew a lot of the words and sang along. I left after he did On the Road Again. Other tunes included “She’s a Big-Hearted Woman in love with a Two-timin’ Man”, “Whiskey and Women”, “Don’t let your Babies become Cowboys” etc.
I ended the day with Orange Kellin’s New Orleans Deluxe Orchestra in the Economy tent. It was rather empty which was unfortunate since it’s a wonderful group. I heard a couple of numbers including “Old Tuxedo Rag” by Papa Celistin. It was nice to hear the large well tuned ensemble.
Saturday – May 4thand what a difference a day makes! It was gorgeous and sunny. There was much less mud and one was able to get around better. The lineup was a lot richer too.
I started out at Fais Do Do stage with the Red Stick Ramblers. It was an amiable crowd with some sitting and some dancing. The Ramblers play a mix of Cajun music and traditional jazz tunes.
Next I went to Luke Winslow-King at the Lagniappe Stage inside the Grand Stands. I missed him at French Quarter Fest. He writes his own tunes and the band also plays traditional jazz from the 20s. He did Home Blues that had a nice lazy rhythm and fun lyrics. The vocalist/washboard player had her own technique, holding the washboard on her lap. This was a really good group and I got in a little sunbathing too.
I arrived and stayed for the entire Fleur Debris Superband with Nicolas Payton, David Torkanowsky (piano), Zigaboo Modeliste(drums) and George Porter (bass guitar) with guest saxophonist, Derek Douget. Both Porter and Modeliste were in the background with solos going back and forth between Torkanowsky, Payton and Douget. They did a nice tune by Harold Batiste that I quite liked because of the harmony changes and asymmetrical rhythms. Payton was on electronic keyboard and trumpet, often simultaneously.
I popped in to hear a little of Eric Lindell, a blues guitar player, now with 3 saxophone players added to his band. He sings and strums the guitar but was not doing a lot of guitar solos. The solos were now allocated to the sax players. I’m not a big fan of blues guitar players adding horn sections to their bands which seems to be a bit of a trend now in New Orleans.
I went back to the Jazz tent in time to hear the beginning of Terence Blanchard and this was my favorite event of the day. I’m a big fan of his ensemble and he’s a great composer. The music is engaging, original and well cast. I particularly like his tenor Saxophone player, Brice Winston. Kendrick Scott was on drums. Fabian Almazan, pianist/composer from Cuba, Lionel Loueke, a guitarist from Benin, and finally the young pup, Joshua Crumbly on bass . I really liked the 2nd tune Hallucinations from his new CD, “Magnetic”. The sound of the trumpet and sax together is just stunning. New Orleans makes the best trumpet players. It must be something in the water! I sat next to a writer who was taking copious notes. Here’s a nice review of his new CD http://www.offbeat.com/2013/05/01/terence-blanchard-magnetic-blue-note/
I was able to catch a good bit of The Little Willies with Nora Jones singing at the piano. They did a lot of country type numbers including a Willie Nelson and a Loretta Lynn tune. The performances were great and this was back at the friendly Fais Do Do stage. I ended up in the exact spot where I started the day with the same most colorful acquaintances still dancing hours later!
On the way to Fleetwood Mac I caught one number by the Male Debale of Bahia Brazil – a Samba band with a lot of drums and colorful red and gold costumes.
I got settled in just as the Fleetwood Mac was playing Gold Dust Woman with the crowd singing along enthusiastically. Stevie Nicks, the high priestess of rock and roll, was all in black with a gold laced shawl. She had on long black fingerless gloves. This number was followed by an awesome guitar solo by Lindsey Buckingham. They ended the entire set with “Don’t Stop”. Just prior to that there was a long drum solo by Mick Fleetwood. I missed hearing the giant tam tam stationed ominously behind him that he must have used at some point. They did a lot of songs in the 50 minutes I was there. The set was filled with magic and the majesty of one of the best rock and roll groups of all time. They’re still looking for the mystery in life. Other tunes I heard included “Stand Back” and “Go Your Own Way”. The current Fleetwood Mac lineup includes Mick Fleetwood and John McVie – both original members since 1967, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks who both joined the band in 1975
Sunday – May 5th was a beautiful day and I rode my bicycle. I heard the New Birth Brass Band near the end of their set at Congo Square on my way to hear the Savoy Family Cajun Band. They played traditional Cajun music with lots of two steps and waltzes. They ended with a song by famous Cajun accordionist, Alphonse Ardoin. I heard a couple of tunes and a French Ballad.
I stayed for the entire set of Ellis Marsalis. He played some of his own compositions and didn’t stop to announce numbers. He also played some Thelonious Monk and jazz standards. His son, Jason, was on drums, Derek Douget, on tenor sax (who played earlier with Fleur deBris), and Jason Stewart, on bass, who always plays with him. Ellis plays straight ahead jazz with inventive melodies and harmony changes. I particularly liked one tune with a bossa nova rhythm supporting a lilting melody.
I zipped over and caught the very beginning of the Taj Mahal interview and stayed for the duration. He’s got the ‘gift of the gab’ and talked a lot about the blues and a bit about music from western Africa. This music needed to be prolonged to fill the big distances and long work hours. An African instrument, the precursor of the banjo, was displayed. Taj grew up on a farm in South Carolina and talked of life on the farm and the chores that needed doing. He told the story of the song, Josephine, made famous by Fats Domino. It was actually composed by an unknown man from North Carolina. Taj has 11 children and lives in Hawaii. A recording of a fabulous song Strong Man Holler http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCixhmdVu5U was played. He talked about his famed 1971 concert at the Filmore East with his 4 tubas and such luminaries as Cannonball Aderly in the audience. http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/taj-mahal/concerts/fillmore-east-january-16-1971-late-show.html
He’s still playing with his 4 tubas. He talked about whistling and jive talk. Apparently his father was quite the whistler! On a recording played Taj’s whistling morphs into a fife seamlessly. The interviewer, Gwen Tompkins,often flirting with Taj, was well prepared and conversant in jive as well.
I caught a short bit of Walter Wolfman Washington playing – again a blues guitar player with a big horn section featuring saxophone solos. Walter plays guitar wonderfully and sings R&B and New Orleans music effortlessly with a little bit of funk thrown in, such as in Blue Moon Risin’. He’s got a great smile but with no canines and I have yet to hear him howl although the audience does when he arrives.
I had a great seat reserved for the Wayne Shorter Quartet with Danilo Perez on piano, John Patitucci on bass and Brian Blade on percussion. They’ve been together for quite a while and are very tight. They play straight jazz – nothing too far off the beaten track and they’re just all so virtuosic. Shorter seems to prefer the soprano sax and played it more often than the tenor sax. This set was incredible and with no pauses.
I got a good seat for Taj Mahal which ended with 10 tubas (his 4 tuba players and 6 sousaphone players added from Rebirth Brass Band). 2 of the 4 tubas doubled on bugle and the other 2 doubled on trombone. Taj played the song Josephine mentioned in the earlier interview. He held court on vocals, harmonica and a variety of stringed instruments from guitar to banjo. One of his guitars is a metallic copper color. He did a lot of the blues and songs the audience knew and sang along with. The 10 tubas posed for photos at the end. It was a great way to end the fest. Taj even gave a brief tutorial on the sousaphone! Being a big fan of multiples of the same instrument, I knew I was sitting in the right place. Always look for me front and center!