As I type this, I am watching a video of the late Allen Toussaint on Qwest TV. It is a Baloise Session in Basel, Switzerland and was his next to last performance. He passed away after his performance the next day in Barcelona. During this performance, he performed "Get Out of My Life Woman," which he introduced noting he was the most recorded of the songs he had written. This week's Take 5 playlist is a short playlist of versions of this number.
First up we have Lee Dorsey, who made the original recording. This is from a live performance.
Next up is a version that many will be familiar with from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. This though is also from a live performance.
Next up is Joe Williams, the blues and balladeer master backed by the great Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra.
So many artists have done this including Jerry Garcia, Chris Robinson, the Jerry Garcia Band, and the great Albert King who recorded this on his classic album, "Born Under A Bad Sign."
We conclude with a live performance by Mr. Toussaint himself at the "2015 Dear Jerry Concert."
If one is already familiar with Mitch woods, then you will know what to expect with the live recording from the 2018 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Woods has been playing boogie-woogie and jump blues piano for decades and in the past couple of decades, has added a heavy dose of New Orleans R&B gumbo to his musical mix. He is a terrific pianist and a warm, natural singer who always brings a good-time party.
For this live recording, he had a band with Roger Lewis on baritone sax, Amadee Castenell and Brian 'Breeze' Cayolle on sax, John Fohl on guitar, Cornell Williams on bass, and Terence Higgins on drums. It is a tight band that captures the classic New Orleans sound on Woods' idiomatic original, "Solid Gold Cadillac," and his tribute to Professor Longhair, "Mojo Mambo." The last number is derived from Earl King's "Big Chief." The centerpiece of this lively set was three numbers associated with Fats Domino to whom the 2018 Festival was dedicated. Booting sax solos from Cayolle and Lewis enliven a relaxed "Blue Monday," and Lewis storms through his baritone sax solo on "Jambalaya." Then there is a terrific rendition of "Walking To New Orleans." The classic old Clarence Garlow recording, "Crawfishin'," is a rocking New Orleans flavored jump blues with a superb John Fohl guitar solo and more rousing baritone sax from Lewis, while "Rocket 88" becomes a storming boogie-woogie."
A closing rendition of the classic pop boogie-woogie number, "House of Blue Lights," puts a close to the party that Woods was leading at the Blues Tent that JazzFest day. Well recorded by Munck Music, this is another wonderfully performed Mitch Woods performance to add to his marvelous body of recordings.
I purchased this recording. Here is Mitch Woods doing a 2019 in-store appearance at the Louisiana Music Factory in New Orleans to promote "A Tip of the Hats to Fats."
When I was at the Louisiana Music Factory, I had selected a bunch of discs for purchase, and I asked co-owner Jerry Brock about anybody he would recommend. He suggested I pick up on Roland Stone, whose real name Roland LeBlanc and recorded for Ace Records in the late fifties and early sixties. Remember Me has been available for a couple years at least, but it is likely as new to you as it was to me. With Mac ‘Doctor John’ Rebennack (on piano and guitar) as part of a tight studio band that included Earl Stanley on bass, guitar and organ and some other musicians whose names may only mean something to those around New Orleans. What one gets is what the producer calls a “straight ahead R&B record.” And it’s a good one.
Roland Stone sounds as natural and soulful opening with the Smiley Lewis rocker Go On Fool, on which guitarist Stanley takes a tasty solo, followed by a New Orleans rearrangement of the Clovers’ classic Lovie Dovie, with some great piano from the good Doctor. Mix in a couple of classy pop flavored ballads, Try the Impossible, and The Masquerade is Over, with the soul of You Can Make It If You Try. Stir in Fats Domino’s rocking Please Don’t Leave Me, with more great crescent city boogie woogie, a couple of more Smiley Lewis classics and the memorable title track from Dr. John. Quite a gumbo!
Stone’s unforced delivery and the feeling he invests into these performances is matched by the delicious backing for an album of R&B that is readily remembered.
As indicated, I purchased this. This review originally appeared in the September 1995 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 204). Here in 1989 he is performing a ballad Just a Moment of Your Time.
While attending the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
for the first time at the end of April, I caught plenty of great blues,
zydeco and R&B. While he did not play the festival during the first
weekend, Tommy Ridgely was at Howlin’ Wolf, a New Orleans Club, as part
of a New Orleans Rhythm & Blues revue that also included Oliver
Morgan, pianist Eddie Bo and Earl King.
Ridgely, who first recorded with
Dave Bartholomew’s band in 1949, made such memorable sides as
Shrewsbury Blues, Looped, Jam Up and Gonna Meet My Girl. At the Howlin’
Wolf he stuck to the songs from his new album, Since the Blues Began and
his vocals were exquisite. I also saw him the next afternoon at Jimmy
Buffett’s Margaritaville where he played piano, and sang a wide range of
blues, backed by acoustic guitar and harp.
Since the Blues Began is a superb album, and shows Ridgely to be as
vital today as his first recordings with Dave Bartholomew’s band. He is
heard with a crack band that includes Sammy Berfect and Edward Frank on
keyboards, the incredible Snooks Eaglin on guitar, George Porter on bass
and Kaz Kazanoff and Tony Dagradi on saxophones. Ridgely may be close
to 70, but he still sings with great vigor and flexibility in his
delivery. He doesn’t sound his age.
He is obviously happy with the album
and there is no filler among the songs. There are some new recordings
of songs he waxed years ago, including I Heard That Story Before, and
Let’s Try to Talk It Over. The latter number may suggest why he was once
known as the “New King of the Stroll”. He contributed a number of new
songs, like the opening Pretty Lady ( many guys will be able to identify
with the sentiment of its lyrics), Running After You, and The World Is
Our Stage. Jody Siegel contributed the title song.
Ridgely’s lyrics
explore the varying aspects of male-female relationships from a
sophisticated, adult perspective. And, for someone whose early
recordings are classic jump blues in a Roy Brown vein, Tommy Ridgely
seems completely at home with the nineties Crescent City R&B groove.
To reiterate, Tommy Ridgely’s Since the Blues Began is a terrific disc.
I likely received my review copy from Black Top Records. This review appeared originally in the July-August 1995 Jazz and Blues Report (Issue 203). This is available used or as a download. Here is the original recording of I Heard That Story Before, that he remade for this album.
A recent Offbeat article analogized that Snooks Eaglin is to guitarists what Professor Longhair was to pianists. Further evidence of his distinctive musical styling is presented by his fourth album for Black Top, a set which may be the label’s most significant body of music.
His percussive, chicken-scratching guitar playing is immediately recognizable. His slightly sand-papered, but unmannered vocals deliver lyrics with wit or earnestness as required. His low-key approach certainly helps boost such trivial lyrics as Ling Ting Tong, and Skinny Minnie. At the same time, the simplicity of his vocal makes I’m Not Ashamed so believable.
There are a couple of great second line grooves, with Fats Domino’s Josephine, and the equally terrific, I Went to the Mardi Gras. Not everything works, as Snooks’ vocal lacks the vitality of Hank Ballard as he fails to pull off the Midnighters’ Let’s Go, Let’s Go (here titled Thrill on the Hill). The instrumental Answer Now, sports too much musical noodling, but the late night blues You and Me has more terrific playing, though its impact is somewhat diffused by its length.
This album does not reach the level of Out of Nowhere, my favorite of his earlier Black Top albums, but, given Snooks imagination, the variety of material, and his startling guitar playing, one can hardly go wrong with Soul’s Edge.
I likely received a review copy from Black Top. This review originally appeared in the May 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 201). This may be found used. Here is Snooks in performance.
More than a few years ago, Walter Wolfman Washington and the Roadmasters had a limited edition live recording. Also several sets from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival have been released through JazzFest Live. Now Frenchman Street Records has issued a new live recording (and also the first official Wolfman and the Roadmasters release in a number of years), Howlin' Live At DBA New Orleans (Frenchmen Street Records), capturing them at their regular Frenchmen Street club gig..
The Frenchmen Street club, d.b.a. is one of Wolfman’s musical homes and it is nice to capture what is likely a typical night of soulful blues and funk. In addition to his guitar and vocals, he is backed by his long-time bassist Jack Cruz; drummer, Wayne Maureau; saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter; and Antonio Gambrell on trumpet with rapper Blac Roi joining on one track.
Listening to Wolfman and the Roadmasters run through songs from over two decades of recording and longer performing, one is impressed by the tight, if occasionally ragged sound. The two horns of Carpenter and Gambrell provide punch with their riffs and solos while Wolfman, with his gravelly blues shouting and jazz-inflected blues guitar is a true original, as he sings I’m Tip Toeing Through; Girl I Want to Dance; Blue Moon Risin’; and Stop and Think. He also is able to mix his graveling growl with a gospel shout on the rendition of Bobby Bland’s Ain’t That Lovin’ You.
Nicely recorded, Howlin' Live At DBA New Orleans” is not simply a nice souvenir for those who see (or have seen) him live, but also solid representation of Wolfman's music. Recommended.
I purchased this from the Louisiana Music Factory, louisianamusicfactory.com. Here is a video of Wolfman live.
Irma Thomas' career was elevated from being a regional New Orleans treasure to an artist that received national and international recognition when she signed to Rounder Records. In 2000, Rounder celebrated its 30th Anniversary with the Rounder Heritage Series. One of the releases was devoted to her recordings for the label. This review originally appeared in the July/August 2001 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 252), although i have made minor changes. There are more recent compilations of Irma's work, including one that spans her half century career. This release is available as a download.
The Soul Queen of New Orleans, Irma Thomas has had a substantial and rewarding career since she signed with Rounder in the mid-1980s. A recent addition to the Rounder Heritage series celebrating the label’s 30th anniversary is If You Want It Come and Get It, a collection of 16 performances collected from six of the eight albums she has recorded for Rounder, including the collaboration with Marcia Ball and Tracey Nelson, Sing It! No tracks are included from her live album and also there are no tracks from her gospel album.
What stands out is the consistency and high level of her vocals. She is a warm singer who can belt it, but raises the roof mostly to accent the lyrics. Producer Scott Billington has constantly sought out choice new material along with finding lesser known gems, and she can tear into a soul ballad like Love of My Man as well as a rocking The New Rules, dealing with the new male-female relationships.
A wonderful singer she adds her own voice to songs associated with others, even with her straight reading of the Bobby Bland classic, Yield Not to Temptation, from the Sing It! album. Love Don’t Change is a previously unissued track from the sessions for that album. The rendition of the title track is an extended performance of the track from her Handy-Award winning album My Heart’s in Memphis. The later tune was co-written by Dan Penn, one of several songwriters who have brought material to producer Scott Billington over the years. The late Doc Pomus and Mac Rebennack (Dr. John) contributed I Never Fool Nobody But Me, with a nice New Orleans R&B piano backing from David Torkanowsky.
James Carroll Booker, that genius of New Orleans piano tradition, passed some 30 years ago on November 8, 1983, several months after Rounder issued his final studio recording Classified. Rounder has just issued an expanded version Classified: Remixed And Expanded to celebrate the Thirtieth Anniversary of the original release of along with a documentary about Booker, Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker. This new expanded Classified adds alternate takes and previously unissued recordings from the October 1982 sessions that produced the original LP.
To use a term associated with Duke Ellington, Booker was “Beyond Category.” The depth of his repertoire is suggested by the performances here including the opening signature title tune that opens this compilation which opens with some nice solo playing before joined by a small backing trio that included legendary tenor saxophonist, Alvin ‘Red’ Tyler. The contents of this include a Professor Longhair medley, two takes on Lloyd Price’s Lawdy Miss Clawdy (one of which is solo), Warsaw Concerto (which explains why he was sometimes called the Bronze Liberace and along with Madame X displays how accomplished he was a s pianist of classical music), a medley of Tico Tico / Papa Was a Rascal / So Swell When You're Well, (and this last number was one Aretha recorded), his solo piano reworking of Little Willie John’s Hit All Around the World, a manic vocal on King of the Road, the classic Art Neville ballad, All the Things You Are, and “Yes Sir, That's My Baby,” the one selection on which he plays the organ (with the sounding like he is playing a calliope for a carousel). This last track is one of the several with Red Tyler’s saxophone. Among these selections, a highlight is the Fats Domino flavored, One For the Highway, again with Red Tyler taking a choice tenor solo.
Thirty years after being originally released, Classified remains as a cornerstone of James Booker’s recorded legacy. His genius is well served by this well thought out and expanded reissue.
I received my review copy from Rounder Records. Here is a trailer for the film documentary, Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker.
The following is taken from the April 2007 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 292) when I did a lengthy review of a number of releases on The German Blue Label (a subsidiary of SPV Gmbh). This is the first of a number of posts from that composite review. My review copies were supplied by the publication. This is still in print. Of interest will be a double disc by the legendary Fats Domino
titled Sentimental Journey. Recorded in 1987, Fats was accompanied by his working band for what is a solid live
recording at the University of New Orleans as he revisits
so many classics including I’m Gonna be a Big Wheel
Someday, I’m Walking, Ain’t It a Shame, The Fat Man,
Walking to New Orleans, Blueberry Hill, My Girl Josephine, Let the Four Winds Blow, I’m in Love Again and Professor
Longhair’s Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The band is in solid
form and the Fat Man rocks and one gets to hear plenty of
his piano in addition to his warm, ingratiating vocals. Unfortunately no band personnel are listed though there is
plenty of fine sax, muted trumpet and guitar (featured with
Fats on the closing instrumental rendition of Sentimental
Journey). This is an enjoyable performance, although there is much live Domino available including a hot European concert with trumpeter Dave Bartholomew present and his Austin City Limits TV show (also available on DVD). Here is some Fats live.
In addition to posting current reviews of recordings, you know I also post reviews I have written for publications for five and more years ago. Today’s review is from 15 years ago and appeared in the April 1997 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 220 and likely was also published in the DC Blues Calendar which I edited for the DC Blues Society for nearly 20 years. I noted that I have not posted any of my Irma Thomas reviews, so this is in part to rectify that. Irma’s recording career has slowed down in recent years but the Soul Queen of New Orleans remains a national treasure.
For her seventh album for the Rounder label, The Story of My Life, Irma Thomas is backed by a stunning band of Crescent City stalwarts - bassist George Porter, drummer Raymond Weber, and pianist David Torkanowsky, along with guitarist Michael Toles plus horns and backing vocal choruses on several selections. Scott Billington who produced this one with Thomas, arranged for the songwriting team of Dan Penn, Jonnie Barnett and Carson Whitsett to contribute some songs, and there is new (or at least unfamiliar) material from Dawn Thomas, Sarah Brown and Lisa Mednick, and Allen Toussaint before Thomas closes with a very strong reading of Aretha’s recording of Dr. Feelgood.
The album has its share of Crescent City grooves on the opening funked up blues, No Use Talking, and the second line rhythm underlying her boost of independence, I Won’t Cry For You (from the afore-mentioned trio of Penn, Barnett and Whitsett). Dawn Thomas’ song, which gives the album its title, is a more straight-forward modern R&B ballad, while Love Don’t Get No Better Than This is an uptempo celebration of romance that Thomas delivers with an assurance that her decades of performing have given her. This is also evident on her soulful delivery of the mournful Hold Me While I Cry, which has a tasty tenor sax break from Charles Elam III, who also duets her on the ballad Get Here.
The liner notes speak about Thomas’ frustration with being treated as a oldies act due to her classic songs from the early sixties, but this is simply the latest Rounder recording that illustrates just how wonderful a vocalist she is, and the mix of blues, New Orleans, soul and some pop elements make for a most delicious musical stew.
I likely received a review copy from Rounder back in 1997. This should still be relatively easy to find. While not from this album, here is Irma singing one of the songs she is known for, even if many more know the Rolling Stones version.
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