Trying something new - the $85 breakfast...

We're up too late to get our free hotel breakfast so we meet the Pool Hall Studs out at Brennan's on Royal.  No Lucy's.  This is in line with our theme for this year- If it's new, we will do.  Yes, it's really clever, isn't it.  All credit to those witty PHS.  We are seated adjacent to the courtyard.  Andy, a tall, young lad with perfectly coiffed blond hair is our waiter.  Bloody Marys.  We all decide to try the Table d'hôte Breakfast  Three Course Prix Fixe, which allows us an appetizer (they all go for the Strawberries With Double Cream, while I opt for Maude's Seafood Okra Gumbo), an entree (Eggs Benedict for Johnny Gumbo, Eggs Bayou Lafourche for Mark and me, and Eggs Nouvelle Orleans for Barry), and dessert (Bananas Foster is the iconic choice) - for $36.  Andy informs us that we have made excellent choices.   We are relieved because no one wants hear the dreaded, "God, that choice really sucks, you moron."  More Bloody Marys, then coffee.  Our bill is delivered as we plan our Fest attack strategy of the day,  Barry studies the bill intently, trying to figure out how our little breakfast ballooned to a tip-included $340!  We suggest that the prestigious litigation firm, Dodge Consulting, pick up the tab for us, but Johnny Gumbo politely declines.  The Fest calls.

Yes, folks, it's PIANO SHIRT FRIDAY! But what happened to Aretha?

Woke up this morning to review today's choices out at the Fairgrounds and saw that Aretha Franklin has been replaced by Earth, Wind & Fire as the closer at the Acura Stage.  That's the second time in recent years that she's pulled that stunt.  Johnny Gumbo is already dissing Jose Feliciano.

 

Thursday photos...

Just arriving in NOLA and checking in at my hotel, I meet up with the Studs at Deja Vu on Conti for our pub crawl while awaiting the arrival of Johnny Gumbo from the Left Coast

We venture out St. Charles to Cooter Brown's for a great Chicago Dog and one of their 400 beers

Order up the dogs at Cooter's right here

Sign along St. Charles while walking (foolishly) to Dos Jeffes on Tchoupitoulas

 Mark (aka The Big Me) and Johnny Gumbo caught during a tense game of pool at the Half Moon

Hot lead singer of band at Fatz Catz on Boubon Street

Stay Thursday, my friends...

Heading out to Bradley early Thursday morning with the Pool Hall Studs for the flight down to the Big Easy for my 6th Jazz Fest, meeting Johnny Gumbo, who will be arriving from Washington.  Stay tuned for reports of the festivities, including Piano Shirt Friday! 

Thursday evening music schedule at the Louisiana Music Factory:
6PM- Amanda Shaw & the Cute Guys
7PM- Shannon McNally & Hot Sauce
8PM- Lil' Band 'O Gold
9PM- Theresa Andersson

Photo gallery from 1st weekend

This is sad. Amy, whatchu wanna do?...

Amy Winehouse Bruises Boobs In Boozy Fall

The Rehab star has more breast issues...

15:04, Tuesday, 27 April 2010

Amy Winehouse has reportedly bruised her surgically enhanced boobs after a drunken fall.
The Rehab singer, who underwent a boob job just seven months ago was said to be back in hospital yesterday after taking a tumble, leaving her 32D chest 'battered and bruised.' Winehouse, who is allegedly back with ex-hubby Blake Fielder Civil not only hurt her breasts in the 'drunken' fall - she also injured her ribs and forehead after stumbling to the ground in her North London flat.  According to The Sun, Amy was taken to a private clinic in London's Harley Street, where she initially received her boob job and had to stay over night for observation.  A source told the tabloid that Wino was 'chaotic' in her drunken state and ran around the clinic topless and smelling of booze.  The insider then claims to the paper that Amy was asked by nurses to calm down and was then taken to a room where she was monitored for any concussion.  This is isn't the first time the singer has had problems with her boob implants. Only recently she was admitted to hospital with chest pains and in the past, the implants have even leaked causing Amy to be hospitalised.

Acoustic Valerie

Hey, aren't you guys the famous Sawtelles!!!!!....

What a gorgeous Spring day, boys and girls! An early morning round at Timberlin with the regulars (excepting Steve the Bod, who was probably at a video poker machine in Atlantic City; so we rented an Anderson), followed by a quick trip over to the Silver City's annual Daffodil Festival (alone, no one to play with, although The Reet said she'd go if I wanted) to catch Christine Ohlman/Rebel Montez and sample some of the other fine eclectic music usually on display. Had to park down at the bottom of the hill in the Centennial Plaza (is it still? and what centennial?). No matter, the walk back up the hill is good for you. Christine and her band are in fine form, performing a number of cuts from their recently issued album, The Deep End, as well as more familiar stuff from earlier albums (she has six), including the always killer version of Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away. Guesting on backup vocals/harmonica was the incomparable Robert Orsi of the D. Smith Blues Band. At the end of the set, I wandered over to the Jeff Crooms Welcome Stage where I expected Kicking Daisies to be some kind of homophobic S&M metal band, but found the second coming (3rd/4th?) of the Hansons entertaining an enthusiastic crowd of young teens and their parents. Kinda cute, sorta. Suddenly, my eye catches a familiar looking couple. Could it be? Yes, I think it is! Not completely certain, but, "Hey, aren't you guys the famous Sawtelles?" Slightly startled by the affront, they look at me and respond, "Yes, in fact, we ARE the famous Sawtelles." A lovely introductory chat ensued. The Plantsville-based Nerve Rock duo will play their final gig in a series of monthly appearances Friday May 14 at Typhoon (Thai, get it?) Restaurant on Main Street in Middletown. It's BYOB, great food and the set starts at 6:30PM. Make plans to be there (note to the Andersons and Valentes to clear their schedules). And they gave me a copy of the Sawtelles (well, I THINK they gave it to me)!

On my way out, I stopped to pick up a copy of The Hard Way and say hello to Christine, who made believe she remembered me. Mentioned that I saw she was going to play the Howlin' Wolf in New Orleans next Thursday and that I'd be in Nola for Jazz Fest with Johnny Gumbo and the Pool Hall Studs, but she said the event was way oversold because it was to benefit the New Orleans Musicians Fund. She'll jet back right after the show for a gig up in Northampton.  Missions accomplished, I head out toward the Centennial Plaza (is it still? and what centennial?), passing by the exiting River City Slim van filled with equipment and musicians (one of which looks like Bill Walton, circa 1974).  As I pull out onto I691, an ever-pompous John Sterling tells me the Yankees are beating up on the Angels (apparently their boyfriends are not back).  Back at the ranch, steaks on the grill and a glass of wine with The Reet.  A good day.



Music becoming a main attraction of fest (Record-Journal)

Celtics roll, Yanks don't...

Next Friday is...

PIANO SHIRT FRIDAY
at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival!




It was about mid-morning in hot, sticky New Orleans and I needed something wet to jump-start my day. Upon entering Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar on Tchoupitoulas St., I saw this guy in a faded yellow Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses, guzzling a tall Bloody Mary, holding court with a bunch of unsavory-looking characters from Connecticut. "Who is THAT?" I whispered to the barkeep.   "Careful what you say, son," he replied with equal parts awe and fear in his voice. "That, my friend, is Johnny Gumbo."

Johnny Gumbo will appear nude at Johnny Gumbo's Nude Lounge upon special request, an event not for the faint of heart (or anyone who has just eaten). The first 100 women in attendance receive a signed Johnny Gumbo Piano Shirt (the second 100 receive TWO signed shirts).

One week to go....

New Orleans street performer debuts at Jazz Fest

NEW ORLEANS – For most of his 65 years, street singer Elliott Small was famous only on a New Orleans corner — until an innovative 2008 Internet video went viral, bringing the white-bearded, overall clad musician with the turned up hat brim before a global audience in a worldwide collaboration performance of Ben E. King's classic, "Stand By Me."  Now Small, better known as Grandpa Elliott, will be a featured singer at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, one of the world's premiere music venues. The festival, which runs for two weekends each spring, kicks off Friday with more than 65 performances including Lionel Richie, The Black Crowes, Steel Pulse, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Baaba Maal and Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas.  Small debuts on Saturday in the Blues Tent. He's one of dozens of local musicians who will showcase their talent before an audience of thousands. Last year, more than 400,000 people attended the outdoor music, craft and food fest held at the Fair Grounds Race Course. - (complete article)


Very cool...

Just get on board...

Weekend update...

Keith, Sharie, Vin & Marcia on that midnight train to Georgia for some R&R (I'm assuming, knowing that group, that it's rockin' & rollin')....Gene & Bonnie off to Vegas with helpful gambling tips from Richard Harvey;  hey, did I see them in the front row last night, donning big ol' cowboy hats, at that country music awards show?...I see that Christine Ohlman will be appearing at the Howlin' Wolf in New Orleans next Thursday night; that's the day we arrive for Jazz Fest.....Came upon about 30 choppers in front of Smokin' With Chris while walking the trail Sunday noon; very cool, but no camera...

The trail mix:
Give Your Loving To Me (Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys) Night Tide
Strange Desire (Black Keys) Magic Potion
Tempus Fugit (Chick Corea) Remembering Bud Powell
The Match Game (Otis Redding) The Very Best of...
Tango Suite: Allegro (Yo-Yo Ma) Soul Of the Tango
Rocks Off (Rolling Stones) Exile On Main Street
Night Shift (Bob Marley & the Wailers) Rastaman Vibration
Oh Yeah Maybe Baby (Laura Nyro) Walk the Dog & Light the Light
Come Softly to Me (The Fleetwoods) Street Corner Singing
Dance and Boogie (The Pipettes) We Are the Pipettes
Popeye the Sailor Man (Kinky Friedman) Kinky Friedman
I Can't Help It (Linda Ronstadt) Heart Like a Wheel
Feel Your Groove (Bed Sidran) That's Life I Guess

The G-string....

Next weekend...

Saturday is Record Store Day (like you didn't know!)...

recordstoreday.com

(from Wikipedia, so it must be true)- Record Store Day was conceived by Chris Brown, employee of the independent record store chain, Bull Moose, located in Maine and New Hampshire and was founded in 2007 by Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Carrie Colliton, Amy Dorfman, Don Van Cleave and Brian Poehner as a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally. Record Store Day is celebrated the third Saturday in April.

Record Store Day is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day, and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet and greets with artists, parades, and DJs spinning records. Record Store Day is currently managed by Michael Kurtz, Carrie Colliton, Melanie Nipper, and Eric Levin.

Some suggestions:
Integrity 'N Music on the Silas Deane in Wethersfield - website
Turn It Up in Northampton, MA - website
Brass City Records - website

Rolling Stones issue unheard song for record stores
LONDON (Reuters) – The Rolling Stones will release "Plundered My Soul," a track never heard before, as a limited edition vinyl single to mark Record Store Day Saturday which aims to support struggling music retail outlets.  An iTunes digital download version of the track will be available from Friday, according Universal Music Group.  Plundered My Soul was discovered during work on the reissue of "Exile on Main Street," considered one of the group's most important albums, due on May 17. The song will be one of 10 bonus tracks on the deluxe edition.  Other never-heard-before tracks featured on the Exile reissue include "Dancing in the Light," "Following the River" and "Pass The Wine."  British band Blur is also supporting Record Store Day with its first single for seven years, also as a limited edition vinyl single.  The release is part of a series of seven-inch singles being issued by the band's label to mark the day, with The Beatles and Lily Allen among EMI's releases, limited to 1,000 copies each.

Should five per cent appear too small, be thankful I don't take it all...

Now my advice for those who die

Declare the pennies on your eyes

'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman

And you're working for no one but me.

HAPPY TAX DAY!

Saturday night may be made for fighting, but I'm just listening to my late afternoon trail mix...

I Want To Walk You Home (Paul McCartney featuring Allen Toussaint) Goin' Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino
Without Your Love (Al Anderson) Pay Before You Pump
Mother (Plastic Ono Band) Plastic Ono Band
Power Of the Gospel (Ben Harper) Fight For Your Mind
Blue Turning Gray Over You (Billie Holiday) Billie's Blues
High Water (Bob Dylan) Love & Theft
Come On (Lucinda Williams) West
Red River Rock (Johnny & the Hurricanes) Dean's Top 100- 1959
Picture Book (The Kinks) The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
Black Night (Guitar George Baker) Mojo Lady
St. James Infirmary (Allen Toussaint) The Bright Mississippi
Worried Life Blues (The Animals) The Complete Animals
Houses In Motion (Talking Heads) Best of...
Exactly Like You (Terrence Blanchard) Let's Get Lost

The Masters- hey, guys, it ain't freakin' church!...

Awwww gusta, Dave Loggins, worst lyrics ever...

David Simon's "Treme" moves to a Crescent City beat...

NEW ORLEANS (Billboard) - At a pizza joint in the Lower Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans, writer-producer David Simon is talking about his newest TV series, "Treme," which premieres Sunday (April 11) on HBO. 

"On one level," he says, "it's a celebration of American music." He interrupts himself, pausing in appreciation of a J. Geils Band blues cover playing on the radio, wondering about the song's source: "Is that Jimmy Reed?"  Simon is a music lover, pure and simple, his ear grabbed by whatever moves him, his mind moved to explore its history and context. That's no secret to fans of Simon's critically acclaimed HBO series "The Wire": During its five-year run, the show employed five versions of Tom Waits' "Down in the Hole" as themes, yielded two compilation CDs (one drawn exclusively from artists based in the show's setting, Baltimore) and nearly always positioned music as more than just a soundtrack bursting forth from a car speaker or jukebox.

With "Treme" (pronounced "truh-may"), Simon ups the ante, moving music to the foreground. Set in New Orleans, "Treme" picks up three months after the floods that resulted from the levee failures in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Culture -- which in New Orleans means a tight braid of music, cuisine, dance, visual art and street life -- is the primary focus of the series, as indeed it was and is the defining element of the city's identity and its recovery.  Familiar faces from Simon's troupe of actors show up as fictional cultural fixtures: Wendell Pierce (detective Bunk Moreland on "The Wire") plays Antoine Batiste, a trombonist we first encounter subbing with the real-life Rebirth Brass Band. Clarke Peters (detective Lester Freamon on "The Wire") plays the Mardi Gras Indian Chief Albert Lambreaux, chanting some of his best lines while beating a tambourine. 

The true-life heroes of New Orleans music figure prominently too: In addition to Rebirth, the list of musicians making cameo appearances, often in performance, includes trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, pianist/singer Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack, saxophonist Donald Harrison and Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews.  If Simon's new show is a fictional depiction of what truly drives life in New Orleans, as he explains, it's also a loving expression of what captured his attention decades ago and kept him coming back to the city through the years.

Billboard: How did Jazzfest affect your musical immersion in New Orleans?
Simon: When I first went to Jazzfest, I'd check out the national acts, the ones I knew. But then I started to make one discovery after another -- the guys I didn't know, should have known, wanted to know better. I heard Eddie Bo play by himself at a Piano Night at Tipitina's. Funky, soulful. I didn't know much about him, but I went over to Louisiana Music Factory the next day and copped some CDs. That's always the way it works, right? I discovered how much I loved Snooks Eaglin by walking into a club and hearing him taking requests and just killing everything. Human jukebox, indeed.- (complete article)

Unseasonably warm early May evening trail mix...

Love and Affection (Joan Armatrading) Joan Armatrading
Mashed Potato Time (Dee Dee Sharp) Hotkennedys- Surfin' at Groton Long Point
Learning How To Live (Lucinda Williams) West
My Girl Josephine (Doug Sahm) The Last Real Texas Blues Band
Sing For Your Supper (Mamas & Papas) California Dreamin'
River Is Waiting (John Fogerty) Revival
Funky Tonight (John Butler Trio) Grand National
Don't Step On It (James Hunter) Believe What I Say
I Love How You Love Me (Paris Sisters) Phil Spector- Back To Mono
House Of Blue Lights (Johnny & the East Coast Rockers) Live And Swingin'
Corner Stone (Bob Marley & the Wailers) Soul Rebels

It's good to know a plow guy!!!...

HAPPY EASTER, LADIES & GENTS...

Got the McGowans coming down from Framingham/Somerville, but our youngsters abandoned us for Syracuse and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.  Got Yanks/Sox tonight, but switching to Bitches v. Baylor (Lady??) Bears @9:30 PM for NCAA women's semis.  I had the Butler doing it last night, but couldn't stay up for (Jerry) West Virginia./Dukies.  Got Terrence Blanchard on the CD player (iPod won't shuffle).

Saturday afternoon pre-Final Four trail mix...

Your Long Journey (Robert Plant/Alison Krauss) Raising Sand
Crying (Roy Orbison) Only the Lonely- Live
He Stopped Loving Her Today (George Jones) 16 Biggest Hits
Rock Salt And Nails (Bob Dylan) Genuine Basement Tapes Vol I
I Don't Believe (The Paladins) Genuine Houserockin' Music
Just One of Those Things (Nat King Cole) The Billy May Sessions
My Favorite Revolution (Eugene Edwards) My Favorite Revolution
I Want To Love You (Delbert McClinton) Best Of...
Bongo Man A Come (Jimmy Cliff) Wonderful World Beautiful People
In the Still of the Night (Dion & the Belmonts) The Wanderer
Silent Sea (KT Tunstall) Eye To The Telescope
My Man (Billie Holiday) Billie's Blues
Crossroads (Tracy Chapman) Crossroads
I Can't Hide It (Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels) Sock It To Me

Ray Davies performs at La Zona Rosa as part of SXSW 2010 on March 18, 2010, in Austin, Texas.  (Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

Working Man's Café - Ray Davie...

No way you should spend more than a thou...

Voyeur West Hollywood: GOP Spent Funds At Club, Lavish Hotels [UPDATE]
The Daily Caller's Jonathan Strong has basically won the morning with a story about RNC Chairman Michael Steele's lavish lifestyle on the road. Strong reports that Steele "once raised the possibility of using party money to buy a private jet for his travel," and has run up some substantial tabs at some of our nation's nicest hotels. But if you ask me, he sort of buried the lede... probably strategically! Because look what awaits you in paragraph six:
Once on the ground, FEC filings suggest, Steele travels in style. A February RNC trip to California, for example, included a $9,099 stop at the Beverly Hills Hotel, $6,596 dropped at the nearby Four Seasons, and $1,620.71 spent [update: the amount is actually $1,946.25] at Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex.

Oh, wow, awesome. Note that Strong's done his due diligence on the amount spent. As of this writing, Voyeur's website is not loading, probably because every single staff member of the Democratic National Committee is currently on the site, looking for images of Steele in the champagne room. But check out some of the Yelp testimonials:

The girl at the door sent us in right away and told us to go to a table by the bar and get some free Champagne. Seriously. This club is amazing. There are topless "dancers" acting out S&M scenes throughout the night on one of the side stages, there's a half-naked girl hanging from a net across the ceiling and at one point I walked to the bathroom and pretty much just stopped dead in my tracks to watch two girls simulating oral sex in a glass case.

Really understated elegance here. Also, Lindsay Lohan was at our table at one point. - more





.

So, you are Jack White's ex-model wife and you want to make a record...

Karen Elson Is Dressing the Part, and Singing It (NY Times)
There she was Monday night at Le Poisson Rouge in the West Village, performing songs from her debut album in a voice that can go from retro-breathy chanteuse to rootsy belter in a few notes. It was the fourth stop in a whirlwind mini-tour that included Nashville, where she and Mr. White live with their two children, and Austin, Tex., where she played at the South by Southwest music festival. The shows were intended to introduce Ms. Elson as more than just a pretty face, or even a pretty voice, but as an artist in her own .

Mr. White was not there — he is touring in Australia with the Dead Weather, some of whose members also moonlight for Ms. Elson. Her bandmates include Mark Watrous (who has also played with the Raconteurs, another of Mr. White’s bands) on fiddle and pedal steel guitar, and Jackson Smith — son of Patti and husband to Meg White — on electric. The video for the album’s title song, in which Ms. Elson alone sings and strums while her band stands around in the shadows, has already racked up more than 54,000 YouTube views.  - (complete article).

Front and center (10th row) for Norah Jones at MGM Friday night...

Set list

1. I Wouldn't Need You

2. Tell Yer Mama

3. Light as a Feather

4. Chasing Pirates

5. Even Though

6. It's Gonna Be

7. Rosie's Lullaby

8. Waiting

9. Sunrise

10. Cold Cold Heart

11. Back to Manhattan

12. Sinkin' Soon

13. Bullrider (Johnny Cash cover)

14. Carnival Town

15. Man of the Hour

16. Don't Know Why

17. Young Blood

18. Come Away With Me

19. Strangers (Kinks cover)

Encore

20. How Many Times Have You Broken My Heart (Hank Williams cover)

21. Stuck

Htfd Courant's Eric Danton:

Given that grand pianos have become a fixture on stage when Norah Jones performs, it was a little startling to see her without one Friday night at MGM Grand at Foxwoods Theatre.  Then again, there wasn't so much piano on her latest album, either.  That record, last year's "The Fall," provided a sizable chunk of her set list, along with a smattering of songs from Jones' three earlier records and a cover or two.  The de-emphasis on piano wasn't the only change: members of her old touring band have scattered, and she performed with a new crew, including singer and multi-instrumentalist Sasha Dobson and guitarist Smokey Hormel, who has played with Tom Waits and Johnny Cash. -more

The City Billies- recommended by G-Man after seeing them at the Sullivan Hall in Brooklyn...

Twisting by the pool....

I've recently had to listen, via email, to the revisionist rantings of one of the Pool Hall Studs regarding our annual Jazz Fest pool competition.  In part "...AARP gents failed attempt every year at pool.  And I believe its now up to 5yrs and the PHS's are still victorious.  This might be your year if JR isn't running back & going to bed every night at 9:30pm..."

It was 2005, pre-Katrina, in the Warehouse District after a long day at the Fairgrounds.  I really didn't know these two guys Gumbo (actually, it was also pre-'Gumbo') traveled south with, but we stopped at Polynesian Joe's for a couple beers before dinner.  Pool?  Sure, why not.  It was either that or the beach volleyball pit and my back was still killing me from sleeping on the floor each night (yeah, JR didn't want me in his pullout couch-bed).  Rack 'em, I'll take JR.  Play for beers.  CRUSHED 'EM.  No big deal, friendly game.  Thanks for the beer, boys.  Cheers!  Sure, we got lucky, rack 'em up again.  CRUSHED 'EM.  Beers.  Rack 'em, CRUSHED 'EM.  No thanks, still working on all the other beers you bought.  Hey, JR (soon to be Johnny Gumbo), I'm getting the feeling that these guys are all pissed off because we CRUSHED 'EM.   And the big Ron Burgundy guy is saying something about us taking advantage 'cause they're wasted.  What's up?  Personally, we wouldn't be whining if we'd just been CRUSHED, but maybe they're really good and this hurts their pool hall cred.  Maybe, they fancy themselves POOL HALL STUDS!

Twisting By The Pool - Dire St...

Johnny Gumbo leaves sad news on the doorstep...

Gospel, blues artist Marva Wright dead at 62 (AP)
NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans blues and gospel singer Marva Wright died Tuesday at age 62, her former manager said. Adam Shipley confirmed that Wright died of complications from a stroke she suffered last year. She sang traditional jazz and gospel standards but was better known for sultry, sometimes bawdy blues songs. Among her best known songs were "Heartbreakin' Woman" and "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean." She released a series of albums on local and international record labels, and frequently performed in Europe and at blues festivals around the country. With her band, the BMWs, she drew large crowds for performances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

As a child, Wright listened to her mother sing and play piano at church. Among her childhood memories were visits to Chicago, the adopted home of New Orleans gospel great Mahalia Jackson, who had grown up with Wright's mother. "My mother would go to the national Baptist convention," Ms. Wright once said, according to an account in The Times-Picayune newspaper. "When it convened in Chicago, Mahalia would say, 'Girl, you don't need to get no hotel. Stay with me.' That's what my mother would do. I met Mahalia when I was 9 years old, but I never realized she was that popular until I got older." But Wright didn't start singing professionally until she was almost 40, according to a biography on her Web site. Wright was hospitalized last June after suffering a serious stroke following a gig at the CoCo Club on Bourbon Street. Relatives said then that she had just recovered from an earlier, less serious stroke.

K-Swiss television commercial reminded me of how great this song was in 1964 (so they tell me)...

Rivieras version


Ramones version

Excellent New Yorker article by John Colapinto profiling buzzworthy jazz bassist Esperanza Spaulding (read as I watched an anti-climactic K-State/BYU matchup)...

ABSTRACT: PROFILE of musician Esperanza Spalding. Not long ago, Esperanza Spalding, the prodigiously gifted bassist, singer, and composer, performed at Yoshi’s, a sushi restaurant and jazz club in Oakland, California. Spalding, twenty-five years old, was playing bass with the pianist McCoy Tyner, who, as part of the John Coltrane Quartet in the early sixties, helped create some of history’s most influential jazz music. Also performing with them were Ravi Coltrane and Francisco Mela. Female instrumentalists have been a rarity in jazz. Spalding, a slender, light-skinned black woman with a natural Afro, produced bursts of booming fragmented notes that drew gasps from the crowd. After the concert, she said, the performance “kind of reaffirmed my understanding of the music... Idol worship doesn’t help this music in any way.” In 2008, Spalding released her major-label début, “Esperanza,” which she recorded as a twenty-three-year-old instructor at the Berklee College of Music, in Boston. While the music was indisputably jazz, it suggested an almost bewildering array of influences—fusion, funk, soul, R. & B., Brazilian samba and Cuban son, pop balladry, chanted vocalese—with lyrics sung in Spalding’s three languages, English, Portuguese, and Spanish. It was jazz for the iPod age, and it rose quickly to No. 3 on the Billboard jazz chart, and stayed on the chart for sixty-two weeks. The freshness and excitement of her approach has led to her being called the “new hope for jazz.” Certainly, she arrives on the scene after a long period of conservatism and stagnation. Mentions Wynton Marsalis and the Young Lions movement. Spalding is passionate about trying to push the music into the future, to bring in fresh influences and voices, to prevent jazz from becoming merely a “museum piece.” (more)

Posted by John Colapinto

This week’s issue includes my Profile of the bassist, singer, and composer Esperanza Spalding. (Subscribers can read the full text online; others can pay to access the issue.) When I visited her home in Austin, Texas, I asked if I could shoot some video of her explaining how a song gets written and arranged. She happily obliged me by talking about the creation of an as-yet-untitled song:

Suggestion from Marcia (Marcia, Marcia) V...

Check out The Chieftains with Ry Cooder -San Patricios-and celebrate our Celtic/Spanish heritage - the O'Sullivan clan has a Spanish king in our family tree!

Persecución de Villa - The Chi...

(Boston Globe)-  In a surprise teaming that is likely Grammy bound, the Chieftains’ Paddy Moloney and Ry Cooder coproduced this cultural landmark disc. Their focus is the Saint Patrick’s Battalion, known as the San Patricios, composed mostly of disaffected Irish immigrants who deserted the US Army and fought for Mexico in the Mexican-American War of 1846. Some had been conscripted right from Ellis Island, and many objected to their mistreatment in the Army, Others simply didn’t want to shoot fellow Catholics. The story is told in Cooder’s original song, “The Sands of Mexico,’’ and in Liam Neeson’s guest narration on another track. But most of the record is a thrilling dip into traditional Mexican music by the likes of the exceptional Lila Downs, Los Folkloristas, Los Tigres del Norte (nailing the famed immigrant song “Canción Mixteca’’), Los Cenzontles, and 92-year-old vocalist Chavela Vargas, offering the weepily transcendent “Luz de Luna.’’ Linda Ronstadt also shows up with a song from her Mexican grandfather. Moloney plays tin whistle on many tracks, and he and Cooder emphasize the Irish/Mexican fusion by noting the 6/8 time signatures that are the same as Irish jigs. This project may be too esoteric for some, but it’s a vital reminder of a history long forgotten. STEVE MORSE

I just called to say I love you...

- OK, I would like to have a threesome with you and another girl you trust.
- I want to treat you rough, throw you around, spank and slap you
- Have you ever had a golden shower done to you? ... just morbid curiosity.
- You are my f**king whore. Hold you down while I choke you
(Read more Tiger sweet talk here)

She Likes a Little Spanking - ...

Day one: And I picked Villanova to win it all? Nice job!...

Fess Parker dies at 85- The Ballad of Davy Crockett
Ron Washington- Drivin' that train, high on cocaine (mom would be proud, kids)

Lonely days are gone, I'm a goin' home, my baby, she wrote me a letter........

Influential Big Star member Alex Chilton dies

By CHRIS TALBOTT, AP

Alex Chilton, the singer and guitarist who had a No. 1 hit as a gravel-voiced teen with "The Letter" and went on to influence a generation of musicians through his work with Big Star, died Wednesday in New Orleans. He was 59. The Memphis, Tenn., native died at a hospital after experiencing what appeared to be heart problems, said his longtime friend John Fry. Chilton had his first taste of fame with the Box Tops, the band he and his friends started in Memphis. He was 16 but sounded much older when "The Letter," which opens with the lines "Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane. Ain't got time to take a fast train ..." hit the top of the charts in 1967. Their other hits were "Soul Deep" and "Cry Like a Baby."

It was Chilton's work with a second Memphis band, Big Star, in the early 1970s that cemented his legacy as a pioneering voice for a generation of kids looking for something real in the glossy world of pop music. The band was never a commercial success, but R.E.M. counted Chilton as an influence, the Replacements name-checked him with their 1987 song "Alex Chilton," and his band still provides a template for musicians today. "In my opinion, Alex was the most talented triple threat musician out of Memphis — and that's saying a ton," Paul Westerberg, the former Replacements frontman, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "His versatility at soulful singing, pop rock songwriting, master of the folk idiom, and his delving into the avant garde, goes without equal. He was also a hell of a guitar player and a great guy."

Chilton's influence was widely felt in the 1980s and 1990s, when a generation of listeners looked to songs like "Thirteen," "I'm in Love With a Girl" and "In the Street" (widely known as the theme song for "That '70s Show") because they perfectly captured teen angst and relayed sometimes-dark emotions that were universal. - (complete article)

In The Street - Big Star

All we are is dust in the wind...

Please excuse the sometimes strange music, but here are my Final Four picks...

Semi-Finals
Kansas- Dust In the Wind v Pittsburgh- The Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble

West Virginia- The 1st class of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame v Villanova- The Philly Soul of the Intruders' Cowboys to Girls

Finals
Kansas- Eva Cassidy's Somewhere Over the Rainbow v Villanova- Some live Philly Soul from Billy Paul, Me & Mrs. Jones


Champion
Villanova- Neil Young's Philadelphia

Pre-madness trail mix...

Prove Your Love (Fleetwood Mac) Heroes Are Hard To Find
Failure (The La's) The La's
Changed The Locks (Lucinda Williams) Live at the Fillmore
Try (John Mayer Trio) Live in Concert
Just For the Fun of It (Nat King Cole) The Billy May Sessions
Speak For Me (Cat Power) You Are Free
Province (TV On the Radio) Return to Cookie Mountain
Speeding Motorcycle (Mary Lou Lord) Mary Lou Lord
Honky Tonk (Doug Sahm) The Last Real Texas Blues Band
Golden Slumbers (The Beatles) Abbey Road
No Pointing Arrows (The Heartless Bastards) All This Time
Cry a While (Bob Dylan) Love and Theft
When I Was a Young Girl (Feist) Let It Die

Beware the Ides of March!...

I'm the friendly stranger in the black sedan, won't you hop inside my car.  Great God in Heaven, you know I love you:


Get those brackets fine-tuned on this Ides of March ! (ESPN, part of the GO network)
Final Four prediction:
Kansas (looking pretty awesome these days, Dorothy)
Kentucky (except Calipari blows the big ones)
Pitt (my sleeper, even though they usually choke in NCAA)
Duke (not really buying this one, though)

Yes, it's official, despite Joe Lunardi's best efforts - the Huskies are NOT dancing...

Wake up, you lazy bastards!...

We've been waiting for you, you are an hour late!....  Bought a Club Trillion tee-shirt this morning.  Read Mark (The Shark) Titus' blog, it's cool.....  Ruthie Foster to appear (and, I assume, play) at Joe's Pub in NYC on April 13th.....

Interesting article by Sasha Freer-Jones in the New Yorker about Bill Withers: "“Ain’t No Sunshine” gave Withers his first gold record, earned him a Grammy, and, with later hits such as “Lean on Me” and “Use Me,” forms the cornerstone of a small but indispensable section of the American songbook. A new documentary about Withers, “Still Bill,” is an unshowy, confident attempt to render the personality of a man who wrote so well and then walked away, in 1985, adding only a handful of songs to his legacy since then." - (a conversation with Bill Withers)

Nothing but a heartache...

The Quinnipiac University Bobcats were rudely denied an invite to THE DANCE despite famous attendees at the Cathouse Wednesday night. Even ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi's presence couldn't help, although he did say that the UConn Huskies were still on the bubble. 

Heartache - Lowell George

BOBCATS tonight!

ESPN's Joe Lunardi just called, says the Huskies are back on the bubble...

The Huskies (bastards) begin their quest for the Big East title this afternoon (see Marky G for tickets, since he was so effective last year);  if you are looking for a silver lining, bet the probability factor since UConn hasn't won a Big East game in like ten years!  Looking for Stanley Robinson to have a breakout game (coughing).

The Huskies (bitches) continue their quest for Bill Walton (where did HE disappear to?) v West Virginia (can you be a Mountaineer and still be a lady?) this evening.

But MOST important is tomorrow night's Quinnipiac Bobcats game for BRACKETOLOGY history at the Bob Katz Center (aka the Cathouse) v Robert Morris.  The boys will be there.  Counting on Steve the Bod for some home cooking on the 35-second clock.

This is for Stanley (Styx) Robinson:

No way I'm going to eat those sandwiches after hearing this!...

D'Angelo accused of soliciting prostitute in NYC

NEW YORK – Authorities say D'Angelo was caught in New York City trying to pay $40 for sex with an undercover cop posing as a prostitute.   Police said Monday that the 36-year-old R&B singer was arrested early Saturday while behind the wheel of his Range Rover. D'Angelo's real name is Michael Archer. He says in a statement that he pleaded not guilty and plans to fight the charge. The statement says the singer hopes the public will "allow the American justice system to resolve the matter before jumping to any conclusions."

No, seriously, if the Huskies win the first game in the Big East tournament, I think they're in...

Post-game walkin' blues:
Secret Agent Man (Johnny Rivers) Greatest Hits
Your Love Is So Doggone Good (Esther Phillips) Jazz Moods
Same Kooks (The Hold Steady) Boys And Girls In America
Ancient Arms (Donna the Buffalo) Live From the American Ballroom
Dirt Road Blues (Bob Dylan) Time Out of Mind
Poor Ellen Smith (Laura Cantrell) Humming By the Flowered Vine
Bald Head (Professer Longhair) A Proper Introduction to...
Diggin' the New (Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros) Rock Art & the X-Ray Style
La Dicha Mia (Celia Cruz) The Mambo Kings
Love Is All We Have (Jesca Hoop) Kismet
Empty Room (Rob Stone & the C-Notes) Just My Luck

Wonderful dinner and conversation with Bonnie & Gene at Fratelli's in Wallingford to ease the pain of the Huskies.

Cat Power (and who is Bob Katz?)...

Gliding into a VIP parking area that only HOF clout could get (if truth be told, a tip of the hat to Billy Mecca, famed QU sportscaster and just-a-teenie-weenie-bit-below-athletic director, for the seats and the parking pass), we were amped up to watch the Quinnipiac University Bobcats (second best college hoops team in CT; nod to UConn women Huskies) take on the Monmouth Hawks in the first round of the Northeast Conference tourney at the Bob Katz Center (they no longer play at the Kahn Dome).  And we were still amped up after the parking guard told us to get the hell out of the VIP lot and go back into the semi-VIP lot.  No problem, officer, but I wish you would give QU icon Gene Zurolo a little more respect.  Inside, Steve (The Bod) Signor was, after serving a suspension for conduct unbecoming a 35-second clock operator, back at his appointed courtside station.  His signature move, leaving the table immediately after an under 35-seconds to go possession change (both halftime and gametime), is now history.  The place was electric, albeit low-voltage electric.  WE WIN, despite being T'd up for some asshole students throwing little promotional basketballs on the court in a tied ballgame!  For a split-second, I thought Gene was the culprit, but then I remembered that he could never throw that far.  Two to go for the first NCAA bid!  Sunday, 2PM at the Cathouse.

Damn you, Huskies!....

Let's see, if they beat South Florida, then beat....

Mush you Huskies; running out of time!...

Well, Vin and Keith failed miserably to bring home a 'W' on Senior Saturday, opting to forego their barechested NO/ON (see previously posted) in favor of UC (first half) and the curious, but foreshadowing, CU in the second (again, so aptly put by Keith, switched seats).

Kevin (aka The Big Right-hander) M, one of the few ESPN employees not currently suspended for various indiscretions,  checked out Ludicrous and the Blackeyed Peas last weekend, but has failed to file a report with johnnykmusic.

Meanwhile, the surging Quinnipiac Bobcats (nee Braves) will host the NEC post-season men's hoops tourney in its quest for an NCAA bid.  By capturing a share of the regular season championship (and owning the tie-breaker because of its win over Robert Morris), QU has already qualified for an NIT bid, something the Huskies have not yet accomplished.  A couple of notable baseball stud alumni will be in attendance Thursday v Monmouth; Gene and I also plan to be there.

Johnny (It's All About Me) Gumbo pens:
Sorry, the weather is so bad there in the Northeast. Just ain't fair. It was a little hazy here today in PV (or Puerto Vallarta to the the tourists) but the tan is lookin' good.  Back at you, big guy, JohnnyK & The Reet with friends Connie & Jeff in Hilton Head (circa 1979):

Tom "T-Bone" Wolk (he was a cool dude)...

T-Bone playing with Daryl Hall and Nick Lowe on Live at Daryl's House:

T-Bone Wolk, bass player for Hall & Oates, dies  (Hall/Oates statements)

LOS ANGELES – Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, who performed with scores of musicians but was best known as the longtime bass player for the band led by pop-rock stars Daryl Hall and John Oates, has died. He was 58. Wolk died Sunday in New York, hours after completing a recording session with Hall, who was working on a solo album, the duo's manager, Jonathan Wolfson, said Monday.   Wolfson said the cause of death was believed to be a heart attack.

Wolk had been scheduled to appear Monday night on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" with Hall and Oates.   A busy session musician, he appeared on literally scores of recordings with such varied artists as Bette Midler, Billy Joel and Avril Lavigne. He played bass on several of Elvis Costello's recordings, accordion on Robert Palmer's "Heavy Nova" and guitar on Carly Simon's "Coming Around Again."
He was also the bass player in NBC's "Saturday Night Live" house band from 1986 to 1992 when it was led by guitarist G.E. Smith.

On his Web site, Wolk described himself as "that guy with the hat" who people had seen performing with Hall & Oates since 1981. In later years he also became the band's music director. "Daryl used to refer to him as the ampersand in Hall & Oates," said Wolfson, adding both members of the duo were crushed by the loss.
"It's not if I will go on, but how," Hall said in a statement. "T-Bone was one of the most sensitive and good human beings that I have ever known." Oates called him "peerless." "Any instrument that he touched resonated with a sensitivity and skill level that I have never experienced while playing with any other musician," Oates said. "He possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of styles and musical history which he referenced to support all the artists that he played with over the years. "He became our band's musical director over time, leading by example and by the deference and respect that everyone who played alongside him so rightfully accorded him. He made everyone he played with better." - (complete article)
Another clip with T-Bone/Nick Lowe/Daryl Hall singing Lowe's Cruel To Be Kind