A Taste of Dr John's Gumbo 50th Anniversary Celebration
4/26/2022 7:12pm

Gig promo

Well Part 2 of the previous post on Dr John's Gumbo is I will be performing it all live in New Orleans on Wed May 4 between the jazzfest weekends.   It will take place at a new to me venue/brewery called Zony Mash Beer Project.   A shout out to the owner, Adam, who is very supportive of live music over there and encouaged me to do it up.  The pics of the venue look great and the feedback I’ve gotten from local musicians has been A+.  

This gig started with Will Bernard and I looking to do a “duo gig or something” on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Zony Mash expressed some interest and it just snowballed into this.  Once I figured out it was the 50th Anniversary (4/20/92) of it's release I knew I had to ask the original drummer Freddie Staehle to join us.  I'm glad I did. He's 78 and still pulling 8 hour doubles on Bourbon Street without breaking a sweat.  He's super kind and put up with all my super geeky fan type questions.   He was also the drummer on Dr John's grammy winning CD Going Back To New Orleans. That one is from 1992 so even that one is 30 years old!

Joining Will Bernard (guitar) and I will be the highly regarded bassist James Singleton, my old buddy from his Katrina NYC days Simon Lott (drums/percusion),  Lee Allen expert Jason Mingledorf on tenor sax, the coolest cat and old brunch gig mate Joe Cabral on bari sax, and my old first call New Orleans trumpet player and friend Ian Smith.  

I'm tempted to add more folks! But I'm over budget. Buy some tickets and make me change my mind. Ha. Really looking forward to this. I’m glad jazzfest is back!

Here is the event brite ticket link.

Here is the venue page.

Here is the facebook event.

 

 

Dr John's Gumbo turns 50!
4/19/2022 4:57pm
This Dr. John album turns 50 tomorrow. Rolling Stone has it listed at #404 all time. It's one of my top 5 favorites. The piano is so good, Strong evolving grooves and flowery introductions. I pretty much learned all of it. The Lee Allen sax solo's are melodic, economic, compact and mesmerizing. I love Freddy Flambeaux Staehle's drum introduction on Junko Partner. 
 
Probably my first exposure to second line anything. I get the sense it is studied by a lot of drummers cause whenever I call that tune, that's the groove most drummers start to play.
 
The record is a gateway to New Orleans R&B. I dug this so I dug deeper. Check it out and play it for your children
 
 

1:1 Concerts were all that!
5/18/2021 9:34pm

Wow, So thankful to BAM, Silkroad Ensemble, The Brooklyn Navy Yard, and the audience for making my experience performing for the 1:1 Concerts so memorable.   It has been a long frustrating pandemic for all of us and these concerts were really a shot in the arm.  I performed in Building 77 on an unfinished 15th floor.  Bare dusty concrete, exposed mechanicals, and amazing view of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridge.  After the audience member was seated I would choose something to play on the beautiful upright piano. I mixed up set pieces, original, standards, and pure improvisation.  The BAM production staff made me feel like an all star and even forwarded me some moving thank you notes from the audience.   An amazing experience!

BAM 1:1 Concerts piano

 

BAM/Silkroad Ensemble 1:1 Concerts
5/1/2021 9:19pm

I'm very happy to announce I will be taking part in the Brooklyn Academy of Music's 1:1 Concert series! This event is programmed by the Silkroad Ensemble and will take place at the Brooklyn Navy Yard May 7 - May 16, 2021.  The premisie is one performer will play a 15 minute concert for one audience member at unique sites throughout the Yard.  

My performances will be May 9 and May 15th. For more information visit the event home page HERE.