Jazz Fest 2009-Part 4

So, before we were so rudely interrupted by my wonderful Emeril's dinner, I had just been watching New Orleans own John Boutte, but the real reason I was at the Jazz Tent Friday afternoon was to see an equally small statured but hugely talented young lady who originally hails from Oregon. Only 24 years old now, she taught herself to play violin when she was 5 and only picked up the bass in high school! Yet, she was good enough to earn a full scholarship to the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, where she is now one of the youngest faculty members in the school's history!!! Not only that, she also sings like a bird!! It is truly rare for me to stay for anyone's full set at Jazz Fest----there's just too much to see and hear----but I just could not tear myself away from this incredible woman's set!! She plays both upright and electric bass and runs the gamut from funk to fusion to and sings in scat, English and even Portuguese! All I can say is that if you ever have the opportunity, you absolutely MUST see this woman play.

Esperanza Spalding!!!

It was truly a hard act to follow after Esperanza's outstanding show, but I had no doubt that guitarist John Scofield was up to the task. A Dayton, Ohio native, he has played with everyone from Charles Mingus to Gary Burton and Miles Davis. He recently put together a group of New Orleans musical heavyweights dubbed The Piety Street Band and set out to record a blues record. He ended up with a bluesy, New Orleans Gospel record, but who's really gonna quibble??!! The band includes Australian transplant Jon Cleary, who in addition to his own band (The Monster Gentlemen) tours regularly with Bonnie Raitt, bassist George Porter Jr., who seems to play with absolutely everyone at Jazz Fest and the aforementioned vocalist John Boutte.
I only stuck around for a few songs, but the record is definitely on my "to buy" list! One of the highlights was a great version of the classic track "Motherless Child"



John Scofield (who bears a more than passing resemblance to Bob Bernard!)

By now it was late in the fest and the day had really just started as we had tickets to two evening shows and still had to fit in dinner somewhere, so I decided to call it a day (an amazing one at that!) and headed towards the buses. God bless them for putting the Gentilly Stage on the path to the bus stop, as it allowed me to get to see vocal legend Tony Bennett. At age 82, he may actually be at the height of his popularity with a slew of best-selling records in the last several years. One of my favorite musical memories is seeing him as a surprise guest at a Les Paul show in a small club in New York a few years ago. I wasn't sure how he'd translate onto one of the large stages at Jazz Fest, but I should have known that this consummate entertainer would have no trouble wowing the crowd at any venue. He sounded just as good outdoors at the fairgrounds in New Orleans as he did in the intimate NYC club. Good for Tony, and good for Jazz Fest to have been able to attract someone of this caliber! And just in passing, Bennett earlier in the day spent his free time visiting local elementary schools where he donated thousands of dollars in musical instuments to needy, young aspiring players. A very nice way to close out Day 2 of the Fest!

But, as I mentioned, our day was far from done. After a quick freshening at the hotel, Bob, David, and I hit the streets for the House of Blues where it's become something of a tradition for us to see New Orleans legend Mac Rebennack, better known as Dr. John! The good Dr. is best known for his mid-70's hits "Right Place, Wrong Time" and "Such A Night", as well as his definitive version of "Iko, Iko", but his musical styles run the gamut. He's recorded Hoodoo psychedelia under the Night Tripper moniker and even done tribute records to Johnny Mercer and Duke Ellington. The last time we saw him at HOB, he played an entire show of Ray Charles tunes! On this night, we got a little bit of everything including the most upbeat version of "St. James Infirmary" I've ever heard. All of us were just a bit concerned about the Doctor's health. He'd clearly lost some weight (not necessarily a bad thing for him) and he just looked a bit pallid. Now mind you, his performance was every bit as strong as ever, and the good news is that his appearance at the interview stage on Sunday allayed any fears we might have had (keep reading)!!

Now you'd think all of this would be plenty for one 24 hour period, but no----we'd decided we needed more and had purchased tickets to a 2am show at the House Of Blues Parish (a smaller venue in the upstairs of the HOB building). When we arrived at the door just a little before midnight, we were informed that the early show was just finishing and we should come back in 30-60 minutes. So after strolling the Quarter for a bit we made our way back to the still closed gates. Deciding to just hang there and wait, we waited....and waited...and waited. When we saw the band unload their gear from a van at around 1:15 while we were still standing on the sidewalk we truly began questioning the wisdom of our decision to see this show. Yea, I know.....you all questioned our wisdom a long time ago!!! Anyway, at about 1:30 we made the decision to pull the plug on the whole deal if the doors weren't opened in 5 minutes. After all, we figured there was no way this thing was gonna get off the ground before 3 at this point!!

All I can say is thank the great Gods of soul music that they cracked those doors about 3 minutes later, cause otherwise we'd have missed one of the best live shows I and my partners in crime have ever seen (and it by God started on time too)!!!

Charles Walker is surely a name that most of you have never heard. A contemporary of James Brown, Nashville native Walker was singing funk and soul in the early 60's, but never acheived more than regional success, predominantly in the New York City area where he was a regular at the Apollo Theater before fading into obscurity.

Thanks to the recent resurgence of retro Funk and Soul, as evidenced by Amy Winehouse, Duffy, and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Walker got a new lease on life when Bill Elder (who goes by the stage moniker of Leo Black) rediscovered him and asked him to front his band of crack Nashville players, The Dynamites. They spent 2 years getting it just right before debuting their 1st record, appropriately titled "Kaboom".

Walker was an onstage presence unlike any I'd ever seen, and it didn't hurt that we had positioned ourselves right in front of the stage. At times he seemed like a preacher and at others the devil himself, writhing and inticing the crowd with his blend of gospel shout and supple balladeering (that 2nd version of "Summertime" I mentioned last post). All of this backed by a horn heavy band that was as tight as a drum or to quote the website Jambase.com---"tighter than James Browns New Bag"!!! All I know is that there wasn't a soul in the building who wasn't shaking his ass and I don't think I've seen a bigger smile on anyone's face than I saw on David Strait's for the next 2 hours. Later David said that Walker was the best soul singer he'd ever seen (and I was with him when he saw James Brown!). For those of you who know David's extensive musical knowledge and experience, this is truly an incredibly impressive statement!

So finally, after a little iHop breakfast, we dragged our dead dog tired asses back to the hotel and called it a night (or day since the sun was not long from rising) at around 5:30 in the morning.

It was to be a very brief rest. Not only did Bob have to get up early to retrieve the credit card he'd accidentily left behind at Dante's Kitchen Thursday night, but I was bound and determined to get to the Fairgrounds by the 11:15 am start time for the Cuban flavored New Orleans band Otra's opening set at Jazz Fest! I first saw these guys at the Congo Square stage a few years back. After Katrina these guys seemed to disappear (I believe they ended up in Colorado for a while), but they've recently re-emerged on the New Orleans scene and I didn't want to miss them. So, after grabbing a quick bowl of gumbo I headed to the Acura stage for the first music of Day 3! While not quite as tight a set as I recall from the first time I saw them, they still had the early festgoers on their feet dancing!

Latin Jazz/Funk band Otra!

Next up was the reappearance of a guy who'd been a regular at Jazz Fest in my early years coming down here (for those who don't know, this is my 17th year). Zachary Richard is a Louisiana native who achieved a modicum of fame with his 1992 record "Snake Bite Love" when Rolling Stone Magazine dubbed him the "Cajun Mick Jagger". A few years back, he relocated to Quebec, Canada where he immersed himself in his Acadian roots, releasing several records in French, including the excellent "Cap Enrage". He has just now released his first English language record in many years and we were very lucky to have this guy back at the Fest! I won't say a lot about his Jazz Fest set, as I also saw him later this night back at HOB Parish. Suffice to say he drew a pretty nice crowd for early in the day and it was great to have him back home!

Zachary Richard (with David Torkonowsky on keys).





By this time the crowd was starting to get thick at the Acura Stage. I wish I could say it was because of Zach, but the number of Bon Jovi t-shirts and buttons told the true story! And while I'm happy to have anyone at Jazz Fest that will help to boost the local economy, I most certainly didn't want to be in that crowd! Besides, Allen Toussaint was due to be back at the Allison Miner Interview Stage, this time not as part of a tribute, but rather on his own.





I think the best way to describe Toussaint (besides the usual things used to describe him like genius and extraordinary and the like) is that he is both a gentleman and a gentle man!! It would surprise me if he has ever said a bad word about anyone. While not many people know him by name, if you've been alive the last 4 decades, you've heard his work! He wrote a number of 60's and 70's hits, including "Working In A Coalmine" and Glen Campbell's "Southern Nights". In addition he's a legendary producer who's best known work includes the Labelle album that spawned the hit "Lady Marmalade", not to mention the abundant work he has done with local legends Irma Thomas, Ernie K. Doe, Lee Dorsey and scores of others. And as if that wasn't enough, he is also an incredible arranger. My personal favorite of his works in this vein are the stunning horn charts he wrote for The Band's "Rock Of Ages" album!!


He more recently came into the national spotlight after he briefly was forced to leave his beloved New Orleans home after Hurrican Katrina. He became a true champion and ambassador for the citie's recovery and, as an offshoot, collaborated with Elvis Costello for a truly wonderful record, "The River In Reverse" that brought him renewed and well deserved new fame!

It was a real joy to listen to him share his memories of all of these artists and even a greater joy to be sitting only a few feet away as he performed slections from his vast career.






Allen Toussaint

Making A Musical Point!

I'm afraid I'm gonna have to take a break at this point to get some other work done, but I promise to get back to work on this soon and get it all wrapped up.........stay tuned!!