Missy Andersen's Soulful Debut!

I had not heard of Missy Andersen, a San Diego based vocalist before I received her impressive eponymously entitled release on Main Squeeze Records. Born in Detroit, raised in Queens, she has had a varied career (even a rap single) before coming under the tutelage of Earl Thomas. The present album shows up as blues on my Itunes, but it as centered as much on deep southern soul. It was recorded in Copenhagen with her husband Heine on guitar and a strong band that plays strongly in the classic Memphis Stax-Hi records vein. They may not be the reincarnation of the Hi Rhythm Section but they acquit themselves well as do the horns added to 4 of the seven selections.

There is a mix of some classic soul and blues including the opening rendition of the O.V. Wright classic “Ace of Spades,” Ann Pebbles “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” Etta James’ hit, “Tell Mama,” Junior Wells’ “Little By Little,” and Don Nix’s “Same Old Blues,” along with the original by Missy and the band, “New Feet,” a strutting soulful blues. The covers are musically not that far removed from the original recordings, but Missy does sing them with conviction and an unforced, full-throated, and soulful manner. The last number, “Stand Up and Dance,” has her strutting her stuff over an acoustic accompaniment with Nathan James on Dobro slide guitar. A complaint is that with 8 tunes, and just over a half hour of music, this is a short CD, but there is no filler here. It will be interesting to see how she follows this up, but she is someone I would love to see perform as she is one of the better soul-blues singers to come to my attention recently. Her website is http://www.missyandersen.com/ and this is available on cdbaby.com.

Esther Phillips sings "And I Love Him.

The introduction speaks for itself even if this is lip synced.

Duet between Hank Jones and Joe Lovano

It really does not get better than this. He turned 90 not too long ago and the jazz community expressed their love and admiration for him as among the greatest of all jazz pianists. Joe Lovano, one of today's outstanding tenor players is also a fan of the amazing Mr. Jones who has come a long way from playing at the Anchor Bar (in Buffalo and long before chicken wings were invented) across the street from where Art Tatum was playing.

A ripping "Tennessee Waltz"

I was surfing TV and came across CMT's program "Can You Duet?" and one of the contestants was one Avalon Peacock and her partner was Ryan Larkins and they launched into a marvelous rendition of "Tennessee Waltz." Avalon is the daughter of Annette Peacock and also a photographer. I wish I could shoot as well as she does. Enjoy.

I originally had Avalon as Gary Peacock's daughter but she corrected to me. Annette was married to Gary and kept the surname after the marriage dissolved, and is a significant composer, musician and much more. In any event, Avalon is a wonderful singer as this video makes clear.

Nathan Abshire's cajun blues

I started listening to cajun and zydeco music while I was in college at Case Western Reserve University. Nathan Abshire's "Pine Grove Blues" was a classic recording that I encountered back then. Abshire was an important figure in the revival of the accordion in post-World II cajun music. Here is a video of him at Fred's Lounge in Mamou, Louisiana. I don't understand French but one does not need to know the words to appreciate the soulfulness of his music.

Cannonball Adderly at his best

I think most will know the tune. Great stuff.

Big Bill Morganfield's solid Chicago Blues

When a child follows in the footsteps of iconic parent, it is easy to be overshadowed. Sometimes one has to pursue a different musical direction such as a John Lee Hooker, Jr. Big Bill Morganfield has chosen to perform in the tradition of his dad, Muddy Waters, which makes comparisons somewhat unavoidable. If Big Bill has not become a blues performer of his father's stature (and few who have lived are), it does not diminish the fact that he has become a solid purveyor of classic Chicago-styled blues as his latest album "Born Lover" (Black Shuck Records/Vizztone) displays.

Produced by Bob Margolin and Brian Bisesi who play guitar along with Morganfield here, the disc features a studio band of Chuck Cotton on drums, Mookie Brill on bass, Chuck Stern on keyboards and Steve Guyger on harmonica. Given this backing band, it is no wonder that the playing here is so strong, and reminiscent of the 1970s Muddy Waters band which Margolin was such an important part of. Stern and Guyger in particular deserve special mention for their superb playing.

There is a varied program of interpretations of older recordings including Little Walter's "It's Too Late Brother," the title tune by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf's "My Last Affair," and Lonesome Sundown's "Lonesome Lonely Blues," along with Morganfield's originals such as the topical "High Gas Prices," and "X-Rated Lover." The rhythm is always in the pocket and Guyger is in top form whether evoking Little Walter on "Born Lover," or Jimmy Reed, on the excellent take of Snooky Pryor's "Peace of Mind." Big Bill Morganfield may never reach the stature of his father, but that does not diminish the fact he has become a solid interpreter of the Chicago blues tradition and a keeper of the flame."Born Lover" is a very enjoyable collection of performances that rightfully should find a wide audience.

What does sex sound like?

There is something pretty sensuous about Ben Webster's sound on the tenor as this ballad shows.

Is this the Future of the Blues? Not Too Bright a Future If You Ask Me!

I must confess that I was not overwhelmed by the initial album by The Homemade Jamz Blues Band and seeing them play live, my impression was not changed much. Well they have a new Northern Blues CD, "I Got Blues For You," which I doubt I will listen to much any more. So what if I am older than their combined ages and they play these cute guitars. I mean at 15 years old, Grace Lee recorded with Lee Konitz and was his musical equal. She sounds like she was playing sax on some classic Blue Note Recordings. Sugar Chile Robinson recorded at a comparable age to these Mississippi teenagers, and made boogie woogie recordings marked by a rhythmic complexity and swing that exceeded his years and stand up today as solid piano blues. Not the case here. It does not help that the rhythms of bassist Kyle Perry and his sister Tara just plod along. The original songs by the trio's father Renaud come across as generic with little to distinguish them. While the oldest of the siblings, Ryan, continues to show promise as a guitarist and a singer, the songs and the accompaniment help prevent his performances from being memorable. I wish I could be encouraging about them, but they need to show more than a mere competence at playing musical instruments and show how they can swing, rock and funk it up, as opposed to merely pounding out a simple groove without any rhythmic nuance.

Irwin Mayfield & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra at JazzFest on May 2

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Originally uploaded by NoVARon

One of my favorite acts at the 2009 New Orelans Jazz & Heritage Festival was Irwin Mayfield & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. This superb big band led by another of the young lions, leading this superb band with too many terrific soloists to identify all, but tenor saxophonist Ed Pederson and clarinetist Evan Christopher each merit mention on numbers that featured their superb playing. While not imitative of the Ellington band, Mayfield's writing and arrangements evoked the Ellington band in the overall sound of the band and Mayfield’s writing of several numbers to put the spotlight on members of the band. It is a terrific aggregation and they have a superb recording, Book One (on World Village), of many of the numbers they performed this day. I believe the vocalist's name is Johnaye Kendrick.

The recording is available from the Louisiana Music Factory and Amazon. Irwin Mayfield books the jazz club at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in the French Quarter and is among those regularly performing there.

The first paragraph appeared in slightly different form in the June 2009 Jazz & Blues Report as part of my overvoew of this year's Jazz & Blues Report.

Dr. Michael White at the French Embassy

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Originally uploaded by NoVARon

One of the delights of the 2009 Duke Ellington Jazz Festival was a perfromance by Dr, Michael White & the Original Liberty Jazz Band at the French Embassy. From my review of the Festival, here are my observations on that event.

"Wednesday, June 10, La Maison Française at the French Embassy in Washington hosted a gala performance, Vivre La Nouvelle Orleans, with Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Orchestra. This event occurred on the day of the horrible shooting at the Holocaust Museum which made traffic in Washington DC more miserable than usual so the performance went on a little later than originally scheduled. The program opened with some awards to several DC elected officials short speeches from (among others) the French Ambassador; Charlie Fishman, the Festival’s Executive Producer; and former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial (current head of the National Urban league) who introduced Dr. White noting that he had taught Morial Spanish.

Then the evening belonged to clarinetist White and his marvelous band consisting of Gregory Stafford on trumpet and vocals, Lucien Barbarin on trombone, Detroit Brooks on banjo, Steven Pistorious on piano, Kerry Lewis on bass and Herman Lebeaux on drums. This is a classic line-up for groups playing traditional New Orleans jazz and from the opening moments of “Shake It, Break It,” the Original Liberty Jazz Band entertained with their marvelous music, played at a relaxed tempo and lacking the frenzy and hyper-ness of some “Dixieland jazz.” The contrapunctual playing during the heads, the marvelous solos with Stafford adding his husky vocals and the crisp rhythmic pulse made the entire evening a delight. Included were classic New Orleans numbers like Sam Morgan’s “Bogalusa Strut,” and originals based on their own experience but rooted in the New Orleans tradition like “Come Together” one of the selections to feature Stafford on vocals. White was featured on a superb rendition of “Summertime,” inspired by Sidney Bechet’s hit recording for Blue Note seventy-odd years ago. A hot original second line number had Paquito D’Rivera join the ensemble adding his contrasting clarinet style to White's before a marvelous take of Duke Ellington’s “Black & Tan Fantasy.”