Monday, February 04, 2013

A Groundhog Day with the Night Tripper...

JR is a good friend of Johnnykmusic as well as a close confidant of the late, sometimes-great Johnny Gumbo.  He pens his exclusive report after seeing Dr. John last Saturday night way up in the Great Northleft:

The Doctor was in Saturday night at Jazz Alley in downtown Seattle. Jazz Alley is a great venue, a throw back to the classic dinner clubs that is just the right size so you don't feel crunched in and yet you're close enough for interaction with the performers. We always enjoy ourselves there (saw Lee Ritenour in December, Tower of Power next month and Chick Corea in May). And the food ain't bad.
Mac was in his usual voodoo form...funky & mysterious. Ran through a lot of his standards (Iko Iko, Right Place, Wrong Time, Monkey Puzzle &  Mos' Scocious) and then a lot from the new album Locked Down that included a tune that Mac went back to his roots on lead quitar. I must say the Doctor is startin' to show his age although he will probably out live me and already has outlasted the late, great Johnny Gumbo. The voice isn't quite as crisp, he's got the old man shuffle, and the back is a little bent over but he's still "The Nite Tripper" in all his regalia. 

Now that he's split with the Lower 911, his "All New Band" is pickin' up the slack...Buddy Floyd on organ, Joel Jackson on guitar, Dwight Basley on bass, and Reggie Jackson (no not him) on drums. The star, however, is Sarah Morrow left over from the Lower 911 on a very hot and bluesy trombone. She can really get it goin and is the current band director. She and the Doctor sync well together. I don't think the "All New Band" has quite the charisma and group soul that the Lower 911 had but maybe the Doctor just wanted a younger group of guys backin him up. And maybe it was just the laid back Seattle crowd (home to Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft and Costco) that seemed to enjoy themselves but never really let go (like being at the end of a hot day drinkin beer at JazzFest!!). And he says he wants to do new things...whatever that means. I guess that's how you hang in there in the music business. Just keep re-inventing yourself.

Anyway, we enjoyed ourselves and it was good to come home again to that wonderful NOLA R&B.

JR

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