My day begins at noon with the first of 4 educational conferences. The first is with the irrepressible R&B shouter Tommy Brown who is articulate, funny and informative about his 50+ years in music. This is followed by a superb session moderated by the great Holly George-Warren called “Here Come the Girls.” This panel is with guitar player and singer Barbara Lynn and the lovely La La Brooks. In this panel these 2 great women discussed their careers from the female perspective. This great panel was followed by a rather strange session with noted New Orleans record dealer Jim Russel. The afternoon was topped off with New Orleans pioneer arranger, bandleader and trumpeter Dave Bartholomew. Bartholomew is one of the great icons of New Orleans music and the session was a real treat moderated by the great British music historian John Broven and our own Dr. Ike.
Next we had a wonderful dinner with historian John Broven, Fats Domino biographer Rick Coleman, studio legend Cosimo Mattassa and singer Gerri Hall then it was off to the evening’s shows.
The second nights shows were more typical Stomp shows then the first night because they featured 2 of the Stomps great backing bands, Paul “Lil Buck” Sinegal and the Topcats and Deke Dickerson and the Eccophonics. One of the most distinctive features of the Stomp is joining these (often) aging performers with absolutely top notch backing bands, giving them settings probably far better than anything they would be able to muster on their own.
The first half of the night featured Lafayette guitar master Lil Buck backing a total of 8 performers. These included funk/R&B singer Willie West, swamp blues harmonica master Lazy Lester who played as good a set of “lazy” swamp blues as you could ever hear. Lester was followed by blued eyed soul singer Roy Head who literally tore the roof off with his high energy set ending with his signature smash “Treat Her Right.” Roy preceded Stomp favorite Barbara Lynn. I love spending time with Barbara who is such a quite, reserved lady. Barbara, who has lived in Beaumont Texas her entire life, is soft spoken and just a delight to be with, but put her on stage and her guitar might as well be a Tommy gun. She delivered a blazing show that had the audience eating out of her hand and screaming as she powered thru a set of R&B classics as well as her own giant hit “You’ll Lose a Good Thing.” Barbara was preceded by a surprise 2 song guest set by Ronnie Spector who looked and sounded great. Ronnie and Barbara were followed by elderly R&B singer/songwriter Sugar Pie DeSanto who did a superb (if oddly sexual) set of classic soul and R&B.
The nights last 4 acts were all backed by Deke Dickerson and his band the Eccophonics. Like Lil’ Buck, Dickerson is a master of (seemingly) all musical styles. Over the years we have seen him do Rockabilly, Western Swing, garage rock, country and all with enormous skill and sensitively. First up was Louisiana rockabilly icon Joe Clay. Joe’s always crowd pleasing set was followed by legendary truck driving country singer Red Simpson. Red’s understated delivery was masterful and Deke brought just the right amount of Bakersfield twang to the occasion – this set was a real treat. Next up was R&B singer Little Jesse who did a red hot, foot stompin’ set of classic R&B, ending with is totally rocking masterpiece “Hit, Git and Split.” The night ended with the original guitar hero of rock and country gentleman Duane Eddy who did a perfect set of his famous guitar instrumentals.
With a twang the 9th annual Ponderosa Stomp drew to a close. As always a great time, being thrilled in seeing performers you never thought you would see, many you barely knew about, but virtually all delightful, surprising and entertaining. The Stomp is a direct look into the face of so many American musical traditions. The Stomp is also an odd little cult; you see many of the same faces each year because for music fans once they come to the Stomp they simply refuse to ever miss it again. During one of the conferences the speaker asked the audience if there was anyone from Europe, in that one small group there were individuals that had flown in from Finland, Germany and England to attend the Stomp! I meet many folks from the Boston area and from all over the country so unique is The Ponderosa Stomp. I suspect most would agree with me when I say God bless the Ponderosa Stomp!
For more information please visit www.ponderosastomp.com
Monday, September 27, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Dateline - New Orleans - The Ponderosa Stomp, Day 1
It is 2:12AM and I am back in my hotel room after the first day of the 9th annual Ponderosa Stomp. The STOMP is America’s preeminent festival of obscure (and sometimes not so obscure) American garage rock, soul, rockabilly, R&B, swamp pop, surf, Cajun and other native styles. The DNA of the STOMP is the singular vision of its founder Ira “Dr. Ike” Padnos – eclecticism you can dance to, obscurity with a groove. This is a vision that connects with the deep roots that join all these great American musical traditions. The STOMP is very near and dear to my heart and after coming for 7 years it never ceases to surprise, delight and educate in very deep ways.
Day 1 began @ 10:00AM with a dedication of J&M studios @ the corner of Rampart and Dumaine as an official Rock n Roll Hall of Fame historic landmark. The ceremony was attended by the great Cosimo Mattasa who ran the famed studio from 1945 to the mid-1960’s and recorded almost all the music that came out of New Orleans for most of those years and bandleader and arranger Dave Bartholomew. It was a small ceremony but well attended and much deserved.
After the dedication @ J&M (which is now a Laundromat) I attended a short series of clips put together by film historical Joe Lauro showing vintage film of artists that had played the Stomp in past years. This was followed by a fascinating (work in progress) film on the New Orleans piano genius James Booker. After this it was a series of conference interviews that lasted all afternoon. First with guitar master Duane Eddie, followed by singer Gloria Jones, the surf greats The Trashmen and one of the lead vocalist for Huey Piano Smith and the Clowns, Gerri Hall, who lead the audience in a sing-along of their smash hit “Doncha Just Know it.”
A quick dinner and off to the evenings show, tonight was almost a perfect paradigm if what makes the Stomp so incredibly special. At 8:30 was Texas rockabilly pioneer Huelyn Duvall, followed by one of the most authentic R&B blues shouters I have ever heard, the irrepressible Tommy Brown (think Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris, Joe Turner, etc). Tommy was followed by La La Brooks, the lead singer of the Crystals (“And then he Kissed Me”,” Da Do Ron Ron”, “He’s a Rebel”). Ms. Brooks has the most amazing afro (huge and beautiful) I have ever seen and is a stunning & gorgeous performer and singer (sorry to gush - I may be in love!). Her set was spot on pop perfection backed by Boston’s own Jenny and the Delinquents! La La was followed by group I had never heard of “The Relatives” from Dallas Texas. Their set of funky, blazing gospel harmonies was mind-blowing; driving, soulful and uplifting. The Relatives was followed by Chicano rock pioneers Thee Midnighters from East LA. They played an incendiary set of great garage rock including their 1965 local LA hit “Whittier Boulevard.” The final set of the night were the Mid-West surf giants The Trashmen who played a killer set of perfect 1960’s garage/surf music including their timeless hit “Surfin Bird” (played twice @ Dr. Ike’s request).
So in the course of about 4 hours one careened with a sublime internal “Ponderosa Stomp” logic from 1950’s Texas Rockabilly, to a late 1940’s/early 1950’s blues/R&B shouter, to sublime early 1960’s Phil Spector AM radio pop, to blazing, righteous gospel followed by 2 slabs of rocket fueled mid-1960’s garage rock. That my dear reader is the summation of what is so extraordinary about the Ponderosa Stomp; it is not for the faint of heart, it is (in a word) music geek central. It is for listeners (and they fly from all over the world!) that really see and feel the deep vein that runs thru all this great American music – God bless the Ponderosa Stomp.
For more info visit www.ponderosastomp.com
Day 1 began @ 10:00AM with a dedication of J&M studios @ the corner of Rampart and Dumaine as an official Rock n Roll Hall of Fame historic landmark. The ceremony was attended by the great Cosimo Mattasa who ran the famed studio from 1945 to the mid-1960’s and recorded almost all the music that came out of New Orleans for most of those years and bandleader and arranger Dave Bartholomew. It was a small ceremony but well attended and much deserved.
After the dedication @ J&M (which is now a Laundromat) I attended a short series of clips put together by film historical Joe Lauro showing vintage film of artists that had played the Stomp in past years. This was followed by a fascinating (work in progress) film on the New Orleans piano genius James Booker. After this it was a series of conference interviews that lasted all afternoon. First with guitar master Duane Eddie, followed by singer Gloria Jones, the surf greats The Trashmen and one of the lead vocalist for Huey Piano Smith and the Clowns, Gerri Hall, who lead the audience in a sing-along of their smash hit “Doncha Just Know it.”
A quick dinner and off to the evenings show, tonight was almost a perfect paradigm if what makes the Stomp so incredibly special. At 8:30 was Texas rockabilly pioneer Huelyn Duvall, followed by one of the most authentic R&B blues shouters I have ever heard, the irrepressible Tommy Brown (think Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris, Joe Turner, etc). Tommy was followed by La La Brooks, the lead singer of the Crystals (“And then he Kissed Me”,” Da Do Ron Ron”, “He’s a Rebel”). Ms. Brooks has the most amazing afro (huge and beautiful) I have ever seen and is a stunning & gorgeous performer and singer (sorry to gush - I may be in love!). Her set was spot on pop perfection backed by Boston’s own Jenny and the Delinquents! La La was followed by group I had never heard of “The Relatives” from Dallas Texas. Their set of funky, blazing gospel harmonies was mind-blowing; driving, soulful and uplifting. The Relatives was followed by Chicano rock pioneers Thee Midnighters from East LA. They played an incendiary set of great garage rock including their 1965 local LA hit “Whittier Boulevard.” The final set of the night were the Mid-West surf giants The Trashmen who played a killer set of perfect 1960’s garage/surf music including their timeless hit “Surfin Bird” (played twice @ Dr. Ike’s request).
So in the course of about 4 hours one careened with a sublime internal “Ponderosa Stomp” logic from 1950’s Texas Rockabilly, to a late 1940’s/early 1950’s blues/R&B shouter, to sublime early 1960’s Phil Spector AM radio pop, to blazing, righteous gospel followed by 2 slabs of rocket fueled mid-1960’s garage rock. That my dear reader is the summation of what is so extraordinary about the Ponderosa Stomp; it is not for the faint of heart, it is (in a word) music geek central. It is for listeners (and they fly from all over the world!) that really see and feel the deep vein that runs thru all this great American music – God bless the Ponderosa Stomp.
For more info visit www.ponderosastomp.com
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Austerity, American Style
Much has written about David Stockman’s 7/31/10 Op-Ed piece in the in the New York Times; “Four Deformations of the Apocalypse.” It was a damning indictment of modern government economic policy starting back in the Nixon administration and moving forward, Stockman was head of OMB for the Regan administration. Stockman attacks deficit spending, Republican tax cuts, increased military budgets, Wall Street and the financial sector and the printing of money. He argues (among other things) that the Bush tax cuts, that he feels did not make sense in the first place, should be allowed to expire as part of a call for a new austerity.
Stockman’s article is something all Americans should read. I say this not because I think the piece is necessarily “correct” but because it is correct enough, and comes from the unique perspective Stockman offers. I think Stockman leans too heavily on increased taxation and not enough on spending cuts and government streamlining and re-organization – things that could have a significant impact on our governments spending (including ending the wars in Iraq & Afganistan).
All that being said the other thing Mr. Stockman had brought into the discussion is the idea of austerity. It seems that there is little doubt that the extreme size of the deficit is (when any adults happen to be elected to congress or the White House) going to lead to some very tough choices in our public and private life.
What remains to be seen, is if Americans, who have shown a very slight taste for austerity, have the moral fortitude to stomach this. Years of drunken, debt fueled spending (both public and private) have left Americans little equipped to fight this coming battle.
Stockman’s article is something all Americans should read. I say this not because I think the piece is necessarily “correct” but because it is correct enough, and comes from the unique perspective Stockman offers. I think Stockman leans too heavily on increased taxation and not enough on spending cuts and government streamlining and re-organization – things that could have a significant impact on our governments spending (including ending the wars in Iraq & Afganistan).
All that being said the other thing Mr. Stockman had brought into the discussion is the idea of austerity. It seems that there is little doubt that the extreme size of the deficit is (when any adults happen to be elected to congress or the White House) going to lead to some very tough choices in our public and private life.
What remains to be seen, is if Americans, who have shown a very slight taste for austerity, have the moral fortitude to stomach this. Years of drunken, debt fueled spending (both public and private) have left Americans little equipped to fight this coming battle.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Iggy and an Ode to the Joy of the “really cool” American Songbook, OR my week in music OR the summer of 2010 swings to a close
As is often said, variety is the spice of life and for me music is one of my key “spices,” and last week proved exceptional. On Sunday 8/29/10 we went out to Tanglewood to hear our friend John Relyea sing the bass/baritone lead in the BSO’s annual Tanglewood closing performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
The 9th symphony, so familiar and the subject of much parody (The Beatles "Help") with its famous “Ode to Joy” chorus has the singular ability to blow past all that familiarity and strike the listener deep in the heart. It is at once huge and epic and yet utterly human, melodic and accessible. It is “King Lear,” it is “Lord of the Rings,” or “Mozart’s Requiem” – epic yet intimate, and ultimately a very moving work of art. Beethoven’s ability to write such a powerful “Ode of Joy” at such a (seemingly) low point in his life reminds us that Joy is a choice we make in our life and not a natural feeling that springs forth as a result of some outside force, event, emotion or person.
I cannot really pretend to critique the performance that day under the baton of the aging maestro Kurt Masur as I am not familiar enough with classical music, but the very sold out audience on the beautiful, sunny and warm afternoon were apparently as overwhelmed by what they had heard as I had been and the performers were called back for 3 curtain calls. It was the type of performance one felt very privileged to attend, deeply life affirming and dare I say it, joyous.
On Tuesday we found ourselves and the House of Blues in Boston to see Iggy and the Stooges. This show was blisteringly loud, ferocious and amazing and to quote my learned friend Mark Poulin who attended the show with me pithily observed “as advertised.”
The Stooges were a band who existed for a few incendiary years in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s and recorded 3 legendary albums, including an all-time classic “Raw Power.” The band we saw that night was essentially the “Raw Power” band with the great James Williamson on guitar, and the set list was all Stooges material. This was about as far as you could get from a bland retread of past glories. This group of AARP members (all over 60) was up to playing these proto-punk masterpieces with an energy level that equaled the “Raw Power” of the old days. Iggy Pop was amazing; shirtless, bruised and broken but still possessing a remarkable life force (and voice) that connected is a very direct way with the largely younger audience (James Williamson describes Iggy as an “in your face” front man). He still stage dives (!?!) and works as hard as any performer I have ever seen to connect in a really personal, physical way with his audience. He is rewarded with for all his life-long hard work with what can only be described as a quasi-violent, semi-controlled love fest with Iggy as a sort of benevolent, grand old wizard at the helm, and thoroughly enjoying every minute of the mosh pit madness taking place around him.
On Saturday we ventured back out to Tanglewood for its jazz festival. In the afternoon we attended the second annual live taping of the “Radio Deluxe” show with John Pizzarelli, his wife Jessica Molasky and his great quartet. John Pizzarelli is one of my favorite performers, a fine jazz guitarist and an excellent singer dedicated to the ongoing health of the American songbook. In a funny way he always makes me think of Bruce Springsteen. John has a similar quality as a performer in that he clearly loves being on stage and always appears to always be having the time of his life. Being in the audience I am always thoroughly convinced that there is simply no other place John would rather be then on that stage at that moment in time, and that is a quality I have only witnessed consistently in one other performer, Mr. Springsteen (must be something in that New Jersey water!).
As I said, the concert was a live taping of John Pizzarelli’s ”Radio Deluxe” radio show that is heard coast to coast (locally on WNBP in Newburyport, MA) and of course streaming on www.johnpizzarelli.com. The show is done in an urbane style of the classic, live radio; with stories, conversation, humor, special guests and music. Its core value is a celebration of the American Songbook but it also consistently pushes the listener to new music and performers. Ms. Molasky is a well-known Broadway singer and actress and seems to have a bit more expansive tastes then her husband and often adds a more contemporary flavor to the show.
The show opened with John and the quartet and included a couple of wonderful performances with Ms. Molasky including an inventive “mash up” of “While me Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Killing me Softly with His Song” with John doing the George Harrison tune and Jessica doing the song made famous by Roberta Flack.
The special guest this year was singer Jane Monheit who sounded and looked spectacular, as she and John did an exquisite duet of “Tonight you Belong to Me” and Jane closed her short set with a smokin’ version of Annie Ross’s “Twisted.”
I was VERY heartened to see John’s dad Bucky Pizzarelli’s Benedetto 7 string guitar on stage when we arrived knowing that we were going to get to see him. At almost 85 years young Bucky is a jazz & jazz guitar national treasure and one of the most joyous (there’s that word again!) performers I have ever seen. He sits on stage, laughs and simply beams with happiness. His playing is still flawless and it is always an honor to see and hear him. He and John did a short interview segment and then played a gorgeous duet on Django Reinhardt’s “Nuages.”
That night we heard Kurt Elling and his trio. If you have not heard Kurt sing, it is a really a singular experience. He is somewhat of an acquired taste, heavily mannered and improvisational in his interpretation of songs but also very artful and deeply felt in his delivery. In this he always makes me think of my friend, the late great Betty Carter who had a similar approach to jazz singing (I suspect Kurt recognizes this as well, he recorded Betty’s song “Tight” on a recent CD).
The evenings opening set was Elling’s backing group, the Lawrence Hobgood trio. If you have not heard Mr. Elling you might not know that he has one of music’s greatest accompanist/arrangers/collaborators in Mr. Hobgood, and their opening set was simply gorgeous. Some of the set was drawn from Mr. Hobgood’s highly recommended CD “When the Heart Dances.” Hobgood told me after the show that it was the Tanglewood Jazz Fest staff who suggested he do the opening set for Mr. Elling – Bravo!
Kurt Elling, suave and handsome, has the really cool hipster persona that amazingly does not come off as fake or overly ironic. Like Ella Fitzgerald he is very much part of the band and interacts directly with the group as he sings and the interplay is fantastic. He treated us with such ballads as “Stairway to the Stars” and “Dedicated to You,” and a genre bending, inventive arrangement of the Beatles “Norwegian Wood” with guest guitarist John McLean. His intonation is perfect and his range is stunning and for us he capped off a really amazing week of music. For this listener we really dug the way he closed out our summer is a really cool style.
The 9th symphony, so familiar and the subject of much parody (The Beatles "Help") with its famous “Ode to Joy” chorus has the singular ability to blow past all that familiarity and strike the listener deep in the heart. It is at once huge and epic and yet utterly human, melodic and accessible. It is “King Lear,” it is “Lord of the Rings,” or “Mozart’s Requiem” – epic yet intimate, and ultimately a very moving work of art. Beethoven’s ability to write such a powerful “Ode of Joy” at such a (seemingly) low point in his life reminds us that Joy is a choice we make in our life and not a natural feeling that springs forth as a result of some outside force, event, emotion or person.
I cannot really pretend to critique the performance that day under the baton of the aging maestro Kurt Masur as I am not familiar enough with classical music, but the very sold out audience on the beautiful, sunny and warm afternoon were apparently as overwhelmed by what they had heard as I had been and the performers were called back for 3 curtain calls. It was the type of performance one felt very privileged to attend, deeply life affirming and dare I say it, joyous.
On Tuesday we found ourselves and the House of Blues in Boston to see Iggy and the Stooges. This show was blisteringly loud, ferocious and amazing and to quote my learned friend Mark Poulin who attended the show with me pithily observed “as advertised.”
The Stooges were a band who existed for a few incendiary years in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s and recorded 3 legendary albums, including an all-time classic “Raw Power.” The band we saw that night was essentially the “Raw Power” band with the great James Williamson on guitar, and the set list was all Stooges material. This was about as far as you could get from a bland retread of past glories. This group of AARP members (all over 60) was up to playing these proto-punk masterpieces with an energy level that equaled the “Raw Power” of the old days. Iggy Pop was amazing; shirtless, bruised and broken but still possessing a remarkable life force (and voice) that connected is a very direct way with the largely younger audience (James Williamson describes Iggy as an “in your face” front man). He still stage dives (!?!) and works as hard as any performer I have ever seen to connect in a really personal, physical way with his audience. He is rewarded with for all his life-long hard work with what can only be described as a quasi-violent, semi-controlled love fest with Iggy as a sort of benevolent, grand old wizard at the helm, and thoroughly enjoying every minute of the mosh pit madness taking place around him.
On Saturday we ventured back out to Tanglewood for its jazz festival. In the afternoon we attended the second annual live taping of the “Radio Deluxe” show with John Pizzarelli, his wife Jessica Molasky and his great quartet. John Pizzarelli is one of my favorite performers, a fine jazz guitarist and an excellent singer dedicated to the ongoing health of the American songbook. In a funny way he always makes me think of Bruce Springsteen. John has a similar quality as a performer in that he clearly loves being on stage and always appears to always be having the time of his life. Being in the audience I am always thoroughly convinced that there is simply no other place John would rather be then on that stage at that moment in time, and that is a quality I have only witnessed consistently in one other performer, Mr. Springsteen (must be something in that New Jersey water!).
As I said, the concert was a live taping of John Pizzarelli’s ”Radio Deluxe” radio show that is heard coast to coast (locally on WNBP in Newburyport, MA) and of course streaming on www.johnpizzarelli.com. The show is done in an urbane style of the classic, live radio; with stories, conversation, humor, special guests and music. Its core value is a celebration of the American Songbook but it also consistently pushes the listener to new music and performers. Ms. Molasky is a well-known Broadway singer and actress and seems to have a bit more expansive tastes then her husband and often adds a more contemporary flavor to the show.
The show opened with John and the quartet and included a couple of wonderful performances with Ms. Molasky including an inventive “mash up” of “While me Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Killing me Softly with His Song” with John doing the George Harrison tune and Jessica doing the song made famous by Roberta Flack.
The special guest this year was singer Jane Monheit who sounded and looked spectacular, as she and John did an exquisite duet of “Tonight you Belong to Me” and Jane closed her short set with a smokin’ version of Annie Ross’s “Twisted.”
I was VERY heartened to see John’s dad Bucky Pizzarelli’s Benedetto 7 string guitar on stage when we arrived knowing that we were going to get to see him. At almost 85 years young Bucky is a jazz & jazz guitar national treasure and one of the most joyous (there’s that word again!) performers I have ever seen. He sits on stage, laughs and simply beams with happiness. His playing is still flawless and it is always an honor to see and hear him. He and John did a short interview segment and then played a gorgeous duet on Django Reinhardt’s “Nuages.”
That night we heard Kurt Elling and his trio. If you have not heard Kurt sing, it is a really a singular experience. He is somewhat of an acquired taste, heavily mannered and improvisational in his interpretation of songs but also very artful and deeply felt in his delivery. In this he always makes me think of my friend, the late great Betty Carter who had a similar approach to jazz singing (I suspect Kurt recognizes this as well, he recorded Betty’s song “Tight” on a recent CD).
The evenings opening set was Elling’s backing group, the Lawrence Hobgood trio. If you have not heard Mr. Elling you might not know that he has one of music’s greatest accompanist/arrangers/collaborators in Mr. Hobgood, and their opening set was simply gorgeous. Some of the set was drawn from Mr. Hobgood’s highly recommended CD “When the Heart Dances.” Hobgood told me after the show that it was the Tanglewood Jazz Fest staff who suggested he do the opening set for Mr. Elling – Bravo!
Kurt Elling, suave and handsome, has the really cool hipster persona that amazingly does not come off as fake or overly ironic. Like Ella Fitzgerald he is very much part of the band and interacts directly with the group as he sings and the interplay is fantastic. He treated us with such ballads as “Stairway to the Stars” and “Dedicated to You,” and a genre bending, inventive arrangement of the Beatles “Norwegian Wood” with guest guitarist John McLean. His intonation is perfect and his range is stunning and for us he capped off a really amazing week of music. For this listener we really dug the way he closed out our summer is a really cool style.
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