Ghost of Johnny Gumbo visits NYC, ignores friends...

"Happened to be in the Big Apple over the weekend for a reunion with a cousin and dropped by BB King's place on 42nd. Guess who? My favorite Latin performer. Unfortunately, the play list was limited to one song. Oh well, I guess his taco stand back in Mex is still doing well."

Support Waltfest...

Lucinda Williams at The Orpheum...

Chris D is an author, teacher, sportsman, troubadour and all-round something-or-other based in southeastern MA who, when not following all things Crimson (with the possible exception of King Crimson or Crimson and Clover), occasionally shares his music experiences with Johnnykmusic.  He recently attended Lucinda Williams' appearance at The Orpheum in Boston:

"Lucinda show was good rock, more to my taste than Jan's. She's not trying to cultivate a following any more; more interested in paying tribute to rock'n'roll. Rousing show in a cold theater." Read review below photo.

 

Lucinda Williams rocked into Boston on Wednesday Nov 19, playing a cold and underpopulated Orpheum Theatre. Her band played one long, extended set, increasing the heat from her first murmured number, Blessed, to a rocking crescendo two and a half hours later when she covered Neil Young’s Keep on Rockin in the Free World. As Lucinda gained steam, the power of her band, driven by old mate Butch Norton on his drumset, pushed her to abandon her acoustic guitar and pick up the electric. Butch knocked one of his drums off its moorings as he pounded away on one of the later numbers, but the band didn’t skip a beat.

Stuart Mathis took lead and solos all night, offering both slide accompaniment and hard rock licks. Bassist David Sutton enjoyed the large stage, too, even providing a bass substitute for Gregg Allman’s keyboard on a cover of Just Ain’t My Cross to Bear. Lucinda gave her traditional tribute to “beautiful losers” early in the set, on Drunken Angel and Lake Charles.

Lucinda can no longer be considered a singer-songwriter; the tracks of her Car Wheels have been erased with time. Like Dylan, she has learned the joy of a rockin’ band; as she says, “I need protection from the enemies of love  . . . .. I need protection from the enemies of rock’n’roll.” If you are thinking of catching a show, be ready for full throttle.

And she seemed quite content with giving up the stage to her bandmates, who have the perfect answer to “Who Took My Joy?” Though not completely gracious, Lucinda seemed at least even-tempered and happy.

Sunday morning pre-game trail mix...

Still a Fool (Angela Strehli) Deja Vu
Heard It Through the Grapevine (Creedence Clearwater Revival) Cosmo's Factory
If I Turned to You (The Iguanas)  The Iguanas
What Is Success (Allen Toussaint) The Allen Toussaint Collection
Suite For Lady & Prez (Sheila Jordan) The Crossing
Jive At Five (Zoot Sims) Down Home
Good Morning Heartache (Dinah Washington) Dinah Washington: Eight CDs
The Wolf & the Lamb (Tal Farlow) Trinity
Never Tell Your Mother She's Out of Tune (Ellen McIlwaine) Up From the Skies
Spanish Harlem (The Mamas & Papas) California Dreamin'
Take It All (Adele) 21
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum (Bob Dylan) Love & Theft
A Song For You (Donny Hathaway) Donny Hathaway Collection
This Time (Tracy Chapman) Crossroads
Roman Holiday (The Sawtelles) Dime Museum
Only a Fool Would Say That (Steely Dan) Can't Buy a Thrill
Together Again (Emmylou Harris) Elite Hotel

Carey, you're a mean old daddy...

(WSJ) Joni Mitchell on the Muse Behind ‘Carey’

The singer wrote her hit ‘Carey’ while camping out in a seaside cave on Crete in early 1970

After we arrived, Penelope and I rented a cinder-block hut in a nearby poppy field and walked down to the beach. As we stood staring out toward Turkey, an explosion went off behind us. I turned around just in time to see this guy with a red beard blowing through the door of a cafe. He was wearing a white turban, white Nehru shirt and white cotton pants. I said to Penelope, “What an entrance—I have to meet this guy.” He wasn’t hurt, but all the hair on his arms and legs had been singed from the blast. He was American and a cook at one of the cafes. Apparently, when he had lit the stove, it blew him out the door. That’s how Cary [Raditz] entered my life—ka-boom.  (complete article)

 

The Everlys: I'm through with countin' the stars above, you were the reason....

As a kid growing up in the transistor radio era of rock music, the Everly Brothers were not the center of the universe.  Yet, they were consistently there, hit after hit, until you said, "Hey, those harmonies are really cool.  And what the hell is with that steel guitar thing?"  Funny, those things you take for granted sometimes smack you in the face when you revisit later on.  This must have been quite an evening:

CLEVELAND - The music of the Everly Brothers was celebrated by a sold out crowd Saturday night. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum honored the singers for the 19th edition of their Music Masters Series. Fans of the Everly Brothers not only filled every seat inside the State Theatre, they also filled the stage. Musicians from around the world have been influenced by the Everlys' music. This concert was their opportunity to say thank you. Stars like Graham Nash, Peter Asher, Vince Gill, Shelby Lynne, J.D. Souther, Allison Moorer, and Emmylou Harris were on hand to honor their heroes. (more)

Can you name all these guys?

Who would you like to see at the 2015 New Orleans Jazz Fest?...

By Keith Spera, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune


The roster of the 2015 New Orleans Jazz Fest likely won't be unveiled until January. But fall is the season when the lineup takes shape, as major acts sketch out their touring plans for the coming year.

Longtime Jazz Fest producer/director Quint Davis and his team at Festival Productions Inc.-New Orleans, along with their partners at AEG Live, the international live entertainment powerhouse, are already filling in the blanks for 2015. The closing acts on the major stages - Acura, Samsung Galaxy (formerly Gentilly) and Congo Square - will be locked down in the coming weeks. (more)

Johnnykmusic suggestions:
Benjamin Booker, Drive-By Truckers, Jake Bugg, Zoe Muth & the High Rollers, Dex Romweber Duo, Lucinda Williams, James Hunter, Tony Joe White, Shelby Lynne, Justin Townes Earle, Low Cut Connie

New Lucinda coming...

(americansongwriter.com) Lucinda Williams will release a double album, Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone, on September 30. It’s the 61-year-old Grammy winner’s first collection of new songs since 2011′s Blessed.  It will be released on her new label Highway 20 Records, via Thirty Tigers. 

Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone‘s twenty songs include “Compassion,” based on a poem written by Williams’ father, acclaimed poet Miller Williams, and a cover of JJ Cale’s “Magnolia.”
Guest musicians include guitarists Bill Frisell, Tony Joe White, Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan, and Elvis Costello rhythm section members Pete Thomas (drums) and Davey Faragaher (bass) and Wallflowers guitarist Stuart Mathis. The Wallflowers’ Jakob Dylan sings harmony on “It’s Gonna Rain.”


Written by Tyler Rissier July 14th, 2014

Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone Track Listing:
Disc One:

Compassion
Protection
Burning Bridges
East Side Of Town
West Memphis
Cold Day In Hell
Foolishness
Wrong Number
Stand Right By Each Other
It’s Gonna Rain
Disc Two:
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Big Mess
When I Look At The World
Walk On
Temporary Nature (Of Any Precious Thing)
Everything But The Truth
This Old Heartache
Stowaway In Your Heart
One More Day
Magnolia

Benjamin Booker May Be the Next Big Thing...

(concertblogger.com)  All music journalists like to claim to find “the next big thing”, but 25 year-old Benjamin Booker might be IT.  Although, he is already opening for Jack White even before his debut album hits stores on Tuesday, August 19^th – so I hardly discovered him.  His self-titled debut was produced by Andrija Tokic, producer of Hurray for the Riff Raff, and another former White opener, The Alabama Shakes.  The album opener and single Violent Shiver grabs you with an immediate riff, making you think of Chuck Berry.  Booker describes his music as “punk blues.”  Throughout the album you certainly hear that attitude and vibe of punk and blues (maybe some Strokes, Black Keys type instrumentation & old school rocknroll)…but it is THAT voice that hooks you in and makes you press play again and again.  It’s hard to believe Booker’s 25, the voice so raspy you think he’s spent a lifetime yelling, making his voice hoarse.  (more)

'Happy anniversary, baby, got you on my mind' trail mix...

Cigarettes and Coffee (Otis Redding) Very Best of Otis Redding
Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Dr. John) Duke Elegant
You're the Man (Shelby Lynne) Suit Yourself
Explosion (Ely Paperboy Reed) Come And Get It
For Everyman (Jackson Browne) For Everyman
What's the Matter, Baby (Timi Yuro) Classic 60's Hits
Blee Bop Blues (Manhattan Transfer) Anthology
Candy Lips (Johnnie Ray) A Proper Introduction
Moon Dreams (Gerry Mulligan) Re-birth of the Blues
Ohio (Black Keys) Brothers
Me Needing You (The Pretty Things) Get a Buzz
Ain't Goin' Nowhere (James Hunter) The Hard Way
The Circle Married the Line (Feist) Metals
Last Train (Allen Toussaint) The Allen Toussaint Collection
One Monkey (Gillian Welch) Soul Journey

Dexter Romweber and Jack White...

Pool Hall Studs and I saw the Dex Romweber Duo (Dex on guitar/vocals and sister Sara on drums) along with about 50 people (if you count the members of the opening acts) late on a weekday night at Cafe Nine in New Haven.  Sorry you couldn't make it.

(Rolling Stone) Long before the Stripes, there were the Flat Duo Jets, Dexter Romweber's ferocious guitar-drums duo from North Carolina who blazed through the Eighties and Nineties playing some of the most face-melting roots-rock ever heard. Jack White has paid tribute to the influences of the Jets and the wild-eyed Romweber in a variety of places. In 2009's It Might Get Loud, a guitar summit pairing White with Jimmy Page and the Edge, White declared that seeing the Jets for the first time "opened up a whole new inspiration for me about the guitar." And he was downright effusive in the 2006 cult-classic Romweber documentary Two Headed Cow, calling Romweber "a huge influence on my music… one of the best-kept secrets of the rock & roll underground." In 2009 White recorded a seven-inch with Romweber, and in 2011 he reissued the Jets' long-out-of-print 1991 album Go Go Harlem Baby on his Third Man Records imprint.

Rockabilly Hero Dexter Romweber Honored by Jack White, Exene Cervenka in New Doc

Puss 'N Boots, Norah Jones' new project, coming to Hamden (2nd show added)...

(Blue Note Records)- After playing live together since 2008, Sasha Dobson, Norah Jones and Catherine Popper have at last taken their collaboration into the studio. No Fools, No Fun – their debut album – will be released on July 15 by Blue Note Records. The trio, known as Puss n Boots after flirtations with such monikers as Fangbanger, Dixie Fried and Shitstorm, will support the album with an East Coast run that kicks off on June 22 with an appearance at the Clearwater Festival in Croton-On-Hudson, NY. They will return to The Bell House in Brooklyn, one of their favorite hometown haunts, on July 15, play the 9:30 Club in Washington DC on July 17 and perform at the Newport Folk Festival (July 26-27).  (more)

Tour
6/22 – Croton-On-Hudson, NY @ Clearwater Festival
7/12 – Greenfield, MA @ Green River Festival
7/15 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House
7/17 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
7/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
7/22 – Hamden, CT @ The Ballroom at The Outer Space...
7/23 - Hamden, CT @ The Ballroom at The Outer Space...

Norah Jones live in New Orleans House of Blues

Don't know what you've got 'til it's gone...

Singer Dianne Mower Closes Out A Hartford Jazz Mainstay

Performs June 28 As Final Performer At Japanalia Eiko

(CTnow.com) On Saturday, June 28, singer Dianne Mower and a cast of top-notch musicians will head to Hartford's Japanalia Eiko to perform a diverse program of songs by Burt Bacharach, Dave Brubeck and everything in between.  This is nothing new; for the past half-decade, Mower has been a steady performer at Dan Blow's West End clothing boutique, which started hosting live jazz five years ago. What's different this time is that Japanalia is closing, and Mower's will be the final show in the space.

The end of Japanalia, Mower said, "means leaving a hole in the Hartford jazz scene, a big hole. It's one of the few venues where you can actually give a concert and people aren't ordering food… It's like you brought the band to your home and you invited your friends over. They set it up so beautifully that you are always a star, even though you are always among friends." (more)

Japanalia.com

It's "Kick Your Ass" Thursday!...

Jack White vists Conan O'Brien on opening night 2010, where they teamed up for some fabulous rockabilly on Eddie Cochran's Twenty Flight Rock.

Jack White's new album, Lazaretto, was released on Tuesday. Album review here

"Just One Drink"

It was the 3rd of June...

...another sleepy, dusty Delta day, I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was bailin' hay

50 years ago...

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote As Tears Go By in 1964, but did not initially record it for themselves, instead, they gave it to Mick's girlfriend, Marianne Faithfull, who had a big hit with it. The Stones then recorded it and had a bigger hit.  Faithfull would spiral into a long period of alcohol and drug abuse before getting clean in the late 70's.  She's still around and has recorded some cool stuff, though her ravaged voice is an acquired taste.  Truly one of the hottest babes of the 60's (IMHO).

Marianne Faithfull website


Marianne in 1964 lip-synching on some tv show

Stones version, then Faithfull's with pics

Marianne in 2010 with Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams' guitarist)

And the strangest of them all, Marianne Faithfull and David Bowie in 1973 doing Sonny & Cher!!!!

Marky G to drop new music...

The Twitterverse is abuzz with whispers of an imminent release of a new studio album, The Big Me, from Marky G & His Creole Crusaders.  Always thought to be the weaker of the rap/R&B duo, Pool Hall Studs (who for years underwhelmed the New Orleans music scene with late-night throwdowns at dba and Lucy's, often in collaboration with the late, almost-great, Johnny Gumbo), G ventures into reflective, silky smooth, lounge-lizard style vocals (picture a six four SNL Bill Murray with a crew cut) with cuts like JK Is THE Man (with a gentle bossa nova beat), the Billy Joel-ish I'm Madly in Love With Me and the twangy Who's the Better Cowboy, Barry?, a not-so-subtle nudge at his ex-Studmate, Barry D.

For The Big Me, G calls upon an all-star cast of musicians: his Jazz Fest buddy Pete Murano (Trombone Shorty) for lead guitar, Johnny (Hot Licks) K on upright bass, Scarlett O'Hara on fiddle and homemade watermelon gadgets, Barry D on drums/percussion/backing vocals/dinner reservations, and The Sultry Senecals on harmonies/footwear/dinner reservations.  Available for pre-order now on PHS Records.

Song listing:

1. Like Ferrell, But Way Funnier (a self-assessment)
2. Out of the Office Today (so go pound sand)
3. Face Plant on Tchoupitoulas (ode to Johnny Gumbo)
4. Madly in Love With Me
5. The Angels Want to Wear My Red Sox (with apologies to Elvis Costello)
6. JK Is THE Man!
7. Me 'n Ike Turner, Smackin'
8. Lucky Dog, You Hurt Me So Bad
9. Who's the Better Cowboy, Barry?
10. It's Cryin' Time Again (Ray Charles cover)
11. Burgers With Toasted Buns (who's Yo Mama?)
12. Mother's Lament
13. Slidin' the Tab Your Way, One More Time

The Black Keys Hangout Fest 2014 Full Set...

(Stereogum.com)The Black Keys played their first show since the release of their new album Turn Blue at Alabama’s Hangout Festival. The set was comprised of a good chunk of new material, including the first live performance of “Gotta Get Away.” Watch the full show minus the first song (“Howlin’ For You”) and check out the setlist below. (more)

SETLIST
“Howlin’ For You”
“Next Girl”
“Run Right Back”
“Same Old Thing”
“Dead And Gone”
“Gold On The Ceiling”
“It’s Up To You Now”
“Bullet In The Brain”
“Strange Times”
“Money Maker”
“Ten Cent Pistol”
“Gotta Get Away”
“She’s Long Gone”
“Tighten Up”
“Fever”
“Lonely Boy”
“Turn Blue”
“Nova Baby”
“Little Black Submarines”
“I Got Mine”

Saturday, end of week or beginning of weekend?...

Playlist:
Saturday in the Park (Chicago)
Another Saturday Night (Sam Cooke)
Another Lost Saturday (Pool Hall Studs)
Saturday Night Fish Fry (Frankie Ford)
The Heart of Saturday Night (Tom Waits)
If the Shoe Fits (The Scandalous Shoe Ladies)
I've Got Five Dollars (Faron Young)
Saturday Morning Song (Tom T. Hall)
Saturday's Child (The Monkees)
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (Elton John)
Saturday Love Machine (Johnny Gumbo Party Band)
Come Saturday Morning (Sandpipers)
Almost Saturday Night (John Fogerty)

Windy Sunday morning trail mix...

White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane) Live at
Every Night About This Time (Dirty Dozen Brass Band) Goin' Home: Tribute to Fats Domino
Summer (War) Best of...
Silver Rider (Robert Plant) Band of Joy
Help Me, Rhonda (Beach Boys) Summer days, Summer Nights
Trust (The Sawtelles) Tryptych
Don't Drive Me Away (Rob Stone & the C-Notes) No Worries
Ugly Truth (Lucinda Williams) Blessed
I'll Hold Your Head (Shelby Lynne) Revelation Road
Big Boss Man (Jimmy Reed) Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues
You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby (Dr. John) Mercernary
Turn Out My Lights (Justin Townes Earle) The Good Life
Lovin' In Vain (Rosie Flores) A Honky Tonk Reprise
On Your Way (Alabama Shakes) Boys & Girls
My One And Only Love (Chick Corea) Akoustic Band
How Deep Is the Ocean (Miles Davis) Ballads & Blues

Mystic Blues Festival...

This is a gorgeous song...

Hurray For the Riff Raff from a post-Jazz Fest concert with The Deslondes and Como Mamas at First Presbyterian Church in New Orleans.  St. Roch Blues:

HFTRR Tour Dates

Happy Piano Shirt Friday!

Yes, we know it's an accordion shirt - get over it.

New Orleans Jazz Fest 2014...

Not able to make it this year for the first time in ten, but do not worry, you will have a great time anyway!  I will miss the Pool Hall Studs (kinda), the Shoe Ladies' entourage, the Mark/Lisa Jersey Shore contingent, Marshall's Krewe, the late, almost-great Johnny Gumbo, etc.  Hope to be back in 2015.

Have a Bloody Mary at Lucy's on me (Mark/Barry will cover)!  Enjoy!

All of the parties cited above really know their music and need no help from me, but I'm going to throw out my favorites for 2014 Jazz Fest Weekend#2:

• Hurray For the Riff Raff- Okay, at the risk of overselling, you must see them for at least one of the three opportunities you will be afforded: 1) Thursday night at One-Eyed Jack's, 2) Friday at the Fest (2PM at Samsung Galaxy) and Friday night at First Presbyterian Church (can you byob?)
• Alabama Shakes- I wanted to see them the most! Closing Samsung Galaxy on Friday (so keep your spot from HFTRR).  Tough choices because The Iguanas (new album, Juarez, very good), Chaka Khan and the Lost Bayou Ramblers also close.
• Mia Borders- Also on Friday, but you'd have to get out to the Fairgrounds early (leaves out the PHS) because she and her band go on at noon! Worth it.
• Alejandro Escovedo and the Sensitive Boys- Also on Friday, catch them after HFTRR and before Alabama Shakes at the Fais Do Do Stage
• Johnny Winter- Saturday.  Yeah, go see Bruce, always cool, but he's on for about 5 hours so you owe it to yourself to check out Johnny at Blues Tent at 5:30
• Chick Corea- Very sorry to miss one of my all-time jazz favorites!  Sunday at 4PM at the Jazz Tent. 
• The Deslondes- Who? Yeah, I just stumbled across them myself, but these local guys are pretty damn good.  A couple are from HRFTRR and they've opened for Alabama Shakes. Catch them on Sunday at 1PM at Lagniappe Stage.
• Shorty is now The Man to close Jazz Fest (and I love him), but other very fine options are John Fogerty at Samsung, Aaron Neville at Blues Tent, and Terrance Blanchard at Jazz Tent.

 

Oh, nevermind, just disregard the above and do whatever the hell you want, 'cause you cannot lose (except maybe Christina Aguilera).

Finally, a handy little money-saving tip that Johnny Gumbo passed along to us a few years ago: "Always eat your dinner at the bar; that way, you do not have to tip."  Gumbo was chock full of those little nuggets of wisdom (and thrift)!  So, have fun, play hard and gulp down a cold Abita Amber on me; The Studs have it.  Wink.

Send me pics, video, comments, etc on Twitter, Facebook.  I'll post.

All the way from Brooklyn for some Saturday Night Fever...

With Garrett, Yvette, Lenora & Jonathan at Cafe9 for Holly Golightly after visiting The Reet

The Iguanas open LMF's new digs on Frenchman Street...

Setlist from SXSW tribute to Lou Reed...

The setlist from the show was as follows:

"Sweet Jane" – Alejandro Escovedo & Richard Barone
"Cool It Down" – The Bizarros
"Romeo Had Juliet" – Cheetah Chrome
"Femme Fatale" – Cindy Lee Berryhill
"Vicious" – BP Fallon & The Strypes
"Oh Sweet Nothing" – Bobby Bare Jr.
"I'm Waiting for My Man" – Garland Jeffreys
"Perfect Day" – Louise Goffin
"Waves of Fear" – The Fauntleroys
"I Love You Suzanne" – Rosie Flores
"Coney Island Baby" – Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3
"Candy Says" – Sharon Needles
"Smalltown" Joe Dallesandro"
"White Light/White Heat" – Alejandro Escovedo & Richard Barone
"All Tomorrow's Parties" – Richard Barone & Cindy Lee Berryhill
"Rock and Roll Heart" – Chuck Prophet
"Sally Can't Dance" – Jesse Malin
"Real Good Time Together" – The Fleshtones
"Walk on the Wild Side" – Suzanne Vega
"Kill Your Sons" – Wayne Kramer
"Pale Blue Eyes" – Lucinda Williams
"Run, Run, Run" – The Black Lips
"Sister Ray" – The Baseball Project
"What Goes On" – Sean Lennon
"Street Hassle" – Alejandro Escovedo
"Satellite of Love" – Spandau Ballet
"I'll Be Your Mirror" – Richard Barone
"Rock and Roll" – All-Stars

STORY

BP Fallon backed by the Strypes doing Reed's Vicious:

Sarah @ Hungry Tiger next Saturday night. Goin'?....

I'm so excited to announce the record release shows for my new album, Radio Sweetheart. I'll be playing almost all of the shows with my compadres, Girls, Guns and Glory, who also have a new record, Good Luck.  We're offering an exclusive download to anyone who buys advance tickets to any of the record release shows listed below. Me and Ward Hayden from GGG performing a low fi version of Sonny and Cher's 'Baby Don't Go'. Doesn't get better than that!  Simply send a screenshot of your ticket purchase receipt to sinclair@sarahborges.com, and we'll respond with the download. Easy as pie.

If you don't see your city on the list below, keep checking back, we're adding new dates daily.

XO
SB

February 7, 2014 - The Sinclair, Cambridge MA

February 8 2014 - The Hungry Tiger, Manchester, CT

March 28, 2014 - Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River, MA

April 3, 2014 - World Cafe Live at the Queen, Wilmington, DE

April 4, 2014 - Iota, Arlington, VA

April 5, 2014 - Ashland Coffee and Tea, Ashland, VA

May 17, 2014 - The Center for the Arts in Natick, Natick, MA

May 30, 2014 - Stoltz Listening Room at the Avalon Theater, Easton, MD

May 31, 2014 - Southland Ballroom, Raleigh, NC

June 1, 2014 - Tin Angel, Philadelphia, PA

Heard at Wood n Tap tonight, reminding me of sound blasting from Jonathan's room...

Black coat
White shoes
Black hat
Cadillac, yeah

The 2014 Jazz Fest lineup is out!...

Well, the suspense is over. At around one o'clock on Tuesday afternoon,  the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival released the 2014 festival lineup - and it is pretty damn good!  The headliners, scoffed at by Fest purists like the late cynic Johnny Gumbo, are outstanding (even given that Christina Aguilera is one of them).  But it is the depth that is impressive.  Forget the first weekend and Thursday of 2nd, 'cause we are not arriving until Thursday night.

On Friday, psyched about Alabama Shakes, but hoping everyone gets a chance to see locals-by-way-of-Bronx Hurray For the Riff Raff (great show at Cafe Nine last year), the legendary Alejandro Escovedo, Mia Borders, the Iguanas (hoping on a smaller stage), Lost Bayou Ramblers.  And that's not mentioning Chaka Khan, Amanda Shaw and Pharoah Sanders!

Saturday will be insane with Bruce and the boys - could break records (not necessarily a good thing, viewing-wise).  But beforehand we get Allen Toussaint, Johnny Winter, The Head & the Heart.

Sunday, we have Shorty closing (with our best bud Sneaky Pete on guitar). Really looking to see Delbert McClinton, Chick Corea and John Fogerty (there's a bathroom on the right).  The Radiators are back!  Aaron Neville, Terrence Blanchard.

Flights are booked.  Bring it!

NOJAZZFEST.COM

1st Weekend
Friday, April 25  -
Saturday, April 26 -
Sunday, April 27 -

2nd Weekend

Thursday, May 1 - (a bit light)

Friday, May 2 -  (loaded)
Alabama Shakes
Alejandro Escovedo & The Sensitive Boys 
Hurray for the Riff Raff
Theresa Andersson
Lost Bayou Ramblers
The Iguanas
Mia Borders
Amanda Shaw & the Cute Guys

Saturday, May 3 -
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Johnny Winter
Allen Toussaint

Sunday, May 4 - (loaded)
Arcade Fire
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Chick Corea & the Vigil 
John Fogerty
Aaron Neville
the Radiators
The Terence Blanchard Group

It's January, it's The Sawtelles!...

hello folks.  happy 2014!  we've finally got some gigs this month.

tomorrow, tues 14th we'll be at Klekolo World Coffee, court st Middletown 8p. free.

thurs 16th at Three Sheets/ ex-elm bar ex-rudys for Kriss Santala's singer songwriter nite.  music STARTS 9p w/Bill Beckett, we're on second at 9:30 followed by Matt Thomas (MT Bearington) and ending with Sam Perduta.  open mic follows.

thurs 23rd the SSP !! will be opening the DressUps/Bronson Rock show at the Outer Space.  music starts with us at 8pm.  $5.

check www.thesawtelles.com for other stuff that might be happening.

ciao.

P+J

Waiting for the 2014 Jazz Fest lineup (out next Tuesday)...

Speculation continues about who will show up at this year's Fest.  No, we are not talking about that persistent 'Return of Johnny Gumbo' rumor, we're talking about who will be included in the official lineup release on January 14.  Looks like one of my long time favorites, Chick Corea, is certain (since he posted it on his website). Hurray For the Riff Raff?

While we wait, does anyone look familiar in this Jimmy Fallon skit (Mark, you tight-pants guy)?

Bye, Bye (with) Love, Phil Everly...

(CNN) -- Singer Phil Everly -- one half of the groundbreaking, smooth-sounding, record-setting duo, the Everly Brothers -- has died, a hospital spokeswoman said.  He was 74.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Phil Everly and his brother, Don, ranked among the elite in the music world by virtue of their pitch-perfect harmonies and emotive lyrics.  Rolling Stone labeled the Everly Brothers "the most important vocal duo in rock," having influenced the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel and many other acts.  Along the way, they notched 35 Top 100 songs -- more than any other vocal pair.

The Everly Brothers' sound -- with Don's lower register generally ringing in perfect thirds with Phil's higher voice -- was the backbone of dozens of hits.  The two began as songwriters before signing a deal in 1957 with Cadence Records. They became international sensations over the next five years with tunes such as "Bye Bye Love," "Wake Up Little Susie," "When Will I Be Loved" and "All I Have to Do Is Dream." In terms of record sales, their chief rivals during this stretch were Elvis Presley and Pat Boone.

Their style -- a product of their blend of rock 'n' roll with Appalachian folk, bluegrass and other genres more closely aligned to their Kentucky roots -- helped them earn inductions in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame.  (more)

Anomalous Harmony, Present and Past - Norah Jones and Billie Joe Armstrong Sing Everly Brothers (NY TIMES article)

Foreverly - Roving Gambler

Happy New Year from Johnnykmusic!

Maybe I will get motivated again in 2014!