The 2012 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is underway!...

John Fogerty joining the Black Keys at Coachella for a tribute to Levon Helm...

One week to Jazz Fest 2012!...

Frantically trying to finish up work stuff so I can get ready for Jazz Fest 2012 (2nd weekend).  This will be my 8th with the Pool Hall Studs, but the first without the late Johnny Gumbo.  He will be missed, but Peter M will fill in admirably, but most likely without the spectacular face-plant of 2011.  The Reet says that all my tee shirts are getting kinda ratty and I should buy some new ones.  Geez, I thought they looked perfect.  Well, okay, I guess the tan 2000 Litchfield Jazz Festival one has holes that have become a bit too large, but the dark grey Lucinda Williams is still a keeper.  PHS Barry D is contemplating an early Jazz Fest arrival this Sunday to catch Bruce Springsteen; said that The Boss was awesome last week in NYC.  Replacing the late Levon Helm on 2nd Saturday in the Blues Tent will be the Warren Hayes Band with guest Dr. John.

Meanwhile, Everso Records has left a new comment on my post "Here comes Shelby, there goes Shelby...", a Peter M review of a Shelby Lynne concert at Johnny D's in Somerville.  Apparently, Mr. Records is sensitive:

The artwork is done by Jorgine Jensen who I'm sure does not want the image associated with such a negative light of SL. What a messed up review. Incredibly rude...She ALWAYS gives a great show. Ask the roomful of people who actually got it.

The 2012 Meriden Daffodil is this weekend.  Hope the weather warms up a bit.  Music Schedule

Louisiana Music Factory posts Jazz Fest Schedule...

Drive By Truckers' tribute to Levon Helm...

Saturday is Record Store Day!..

Special issues - history article

Integrity 'N Music, Wethersfield CT- superb selection of jazz, new/used, vinyl/cd; in-store performance at pm today by New Unity Quintet.
Brass City Records, Waterbury CT-funky little record/tool shop hidden on 2nd floor; large selection of used vinyl/cd; has stage for performances, but have never seen one.

April 18th 2012...the mother lode of Psych & metal collectables...from a mint Butcher cover to an unpeeled VU banana cover to ALL of the Chocolate Watchband albums to Live Like a Suicide to Motley Crue on Leathur to Promo white label Who albums to New York Dolls to Red Hash to Pink Floyd Tower record labels to WAY too many mono pressings of 60's rock albums to list.....these are the REAL collectables...and just in time for record scam day! closed Thursday and Friday to prepare for Saturday...drop by but please bring a napkin or towel to mop up the drool....

Turn It Up, Northampton MA- excellent collection of used vinyl/cd along with new issues; I visit this store as often as I can make it up to Northampton.
Gerosa Records, Brookfield, CT- I've never been there, but if The Sawtelles say it's cool, then it's cool.  The Sawtelles are playing there at 3 pm this afternoon.
Redscroll Records, Wallingford CT- I stopped there pre-Christmas when I heard they were getting rid of their cd collection.  Picked up a bunch of Xmas presents.  Since I'm not a purist (although admittedly a music snob), I don't buy vinyl (too much trouble; hell, grew up listening on transistor radio!).  Good store, though.
Exile on Main Street, Branford CT- Took a ride down I91 to I95; a cool little shop just off Route 1, good selection of new and used CDs.  Picked up: Celebration, Florida (The Felice Brothers), Electric Dirt (Levon Helm), Come And Get It (Eli 'Paperboy' Reed), Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now (Justin Townes Earle)

R.I.P. soulful man...

Levon Helm dies from throat cancer at 71 (story) (tribute at wolfgangsvault):

• Shelby Lynne -"Oh yeah.... I met Levon at the Ryman back in my Nashville days... He looked me in the eye and said "I sure do like your singing". My heart grew big as a watermelon. I'll never forget that moment. Soulful dude. I will miss him." -SL 
• Low Cut Connie - "The boys in Low Cut Connie are so very sad to hear about Levon's passing...RIP..you were the shit. One of the greatest drummers and voices in Rock n Roll" 
• Bob Dylan -"He was my bosom buddy friend to the end, one of the last true great spirits of my or any other generation. This is just so sad to talk about. I still can remember the first day I met him and the last day I saw him. We go back pretty far and had been through some trials together. I'm going to miss him, as I'm sure a whole lot of others will too."
• Some guy named Dire Wolf - "I'll watch The Last Waltz (for about the 50th time), drink beer, smoke a fat one and sing along like a fool."

At dinner last Friday night, I was telling Keith that one of the upcoming Jazz Fest sets I was really looking forward to was the pairing of the Levon Helm Band (although not THE Band) with Mavis Staples closing Saturday in the Blues Tent. Alas, news first came that Levon had cancelled (following exits by John Mayer and Eddie Vedder), but now it comes out that Helm is in the finally stages of his battle with cancer.  Very sad.  This guy was a keeper. I think I'm going to listen to Music From Big Pink for awhile.-JK

Dear Friends,
Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey. ...

Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration... he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage...

We appreciate all the love and support and concern.
From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy

Iconic Dick goes stiffie...

I don't want to go all Erich Segal on you, but what can you say about an 82 year old Dick who died?  That he was really swell, that he was head and shoulders (well, perhaps not shoulders) above his contemporaries, that he loved a good beat and the Stones, that he helped us watch balls drop each New Year's Eve?  Rapper RantOn said it best, "We all dug the Dickster.  Whether it be American Bandstand or New Year's Rockin' Eve or any of that other shit he be doin', the Dick had style, a stroke of genius if you will.  No envy, Yo, the Dick deserves a big hand."  Tru dat, Rant.

Please remember to tip your Ho...

Just some pre-Pres stress relief (ABC News)

A senior administration official briefed on the accusations against the Secret Service agents pulled from duty in Colombia tells ABC News that a heated argument between at least one of the alleged prostitutes and at least one of the Secret Service agents first alerted authorities of the Hotel Caribe in Cartagena to the cavorting between Secret Service agents and prostitutes.  The argument was a dispute over the bill for services rendered, the administration official said.  Read More

Working Girl Playlist:

She Works Hard For the Money (Donna Summer)

House of the Rising Sun (Animals)

Sweet Cream Ladies, Forward March (Box Tops)
There She Goes Again (Velvet Underground)
Tenderloin (Rancid)
Lady Marmalade (Labelle)
Babylon Sister (Steely Dan)
Call Me (Blondie)
Roxanne (Police)
Lucky Dogs Make Me Horny (Johnny Gumbo Party Band)

Been busy, will be back on track come Tuesday...

Jimmy Buffett acoustic with Mac McAnally will fill Eddie Vedder's vacated Jazz Fest spot.  May opt for Esperanza Spaulding and/or Florence + the Machine.  Saints' owner Tom Benson has purchased the NBA Hornets and wants to change their name.  How 'bout the New Orleans Johnny Gumbos in honor of the late beloved Jazz Fest icon!

Suggestion from Maryalice:  "Peter says you're heading to New Orleans for a little relaxation (New Orleans/relaxation--oxymoron;-)  My favorite place in the US.  If it's still there, spend a few hours at Andre's World Beat in the Quarter.  Two or three floors of music and all the Hurricanes you can stomach!"  Can't find it, though.

Jane Monheit performs at the Mattatuck Museum in The Bury tonight.  Cafe Nine gets Kinky Friedman  for performance and booksigning on June 6.  Very cool.

Eddie Vedder cancels Jazz Fest appearance.... who will replace???...

(nola.com) -Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder has canceled his scheduled appearance at the 2012 New Orleans Jazz Fest. He has postponed the rest of his 15-city ukulele tour to the fall, in order to recover from temporary nerve damage in his right arm that resulted from a back injury sustained earlier this year.  Read More

Feel like getting your ass kicked? Alabama Shakes at One-Eyed Jack's in New Orleans...

(nola.livemusicblog.com) - The early portion of the set was highlighted by moments of pure and syrupy band syncopation (see “On Your Way“) that would be contrasted by a raw and uproarious latter half to the show. The band kept things straight-laced on the first leg, working within the confines of a few familiar blues and gospel arrangements rooted in the soil of the Southland – moaningly slow at times and fiery trudging and room-filling when the tempo picks up. These more familiar sounds were highlighted on the band’s insta-famous EP and were later traded for some interesting hybrid compositions – including a couple Dick Dale-meets-Carl Perkins surf-a-billy tunes that stood out from the whole set. The brief set blew by in a blink, but not before silver-tongued lead singer Brittany Howard took full command of the room, stomping around the stage and gaining the house’s full and utmost attention, while asking with a beggar’s emphasis: “I hope you really love me/And I hope you like me too”.

It’s hard to conceive of a more impassioned and rawer talent out there than Howard, and at this point in her career, she is still brimming over with newfangled enthusiasm to the recent onslaught of support the band is experiencing. The well-deserved comparisons to Janis Joplin are unavoidable and neither an insult to Joplin nor a statement on any lack of originality for Howard. The bespectacled Shakes’ front woman finessed her way down the dark end of the street on “You Ain’t Alone” with a bell-clear high scream before bellowing out the signature throaty rasps made famous by the legendary dynamo Joplin on “Hold On”. Read More

The Night Tripper

Dr John Revamped by James McKinley (NY Times)

FOR decades Dr. John, the New Orleans pianist and songwriter, has stubbornly inhabited the psychedelic voodoo stage persona he created in the late 1960s. He still walks around with an African staff adorned with totems, bones, an alligator tooth, a vial full of a friend’s ashes and a juju bag.

But at 71, when many musicians might be cashing in on nostalgia tours or eyeing retirement, Dr. John appears to be stepping outside of that persona, both personally and professionally. He has an ambitious new album, “Locked Down” (Nonesuch), a collaboration with Dan Auerbach, the singer and guitarist from the popular blues-rock duo the Black Keys. And this weekend he begins a three-week residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a series of nine concerts intended to celebrate his contribution to American music over six decades.

Mr. Auerbach, 33, said one of his goals in producing the album was to persuade Dr. John to let his mask slip and to create songs about Mac Rebennack, his real self. “Sometimes, when you are a character, I think it can be draining emotionally and personally,” Mr. Auerbach said during an interview in the East Village. “And Mac as a human has so much to say and so many real-life experiences. I wanted the music of Dr. John and the lyrical content of Mac Rebennack.”  Dr. John said Mr. Auerbach had created a rough-edged sound during 17 intense days of recording in Nashville last fall. “He pushed and pulled me in some ways that made something different happen,” Dr. John said. “He’s an aware little cat.” Read More