Down in New Orleans where everything’s fine….

Thus sang Stick McGhee in the famous “Wine Spodee-O-Dee” back in the late 40’s.  As the 10^th anniversary of the Ponderosa Stomp comes to a close everything is indeed fine, but there was no wine (at least for this guy!).  The elusive qualities of “the Stomp” that make it simply one of the most special and unique musical events in the world also demands a serious commitment, the Stomp is not for the faint of heart.  Over the course of the 2 nights you are unlikely to get more then 6 to 8 hours of sleep, that is, if you plan on attending the 2 consecutive nights of 8+ hour shows that include conferences in the daytime starting @ 11 in the morning!  That is why I say “drinkin’ wine Spodee-O-Dee” is probably not a good idea for serious Stomp attendees.

The Ponderosa Stomp (named after a tune by the swamp blues harp master Lazy Lester) springs from the strange and wonderful mind of our fearless leader Ira “Dr Ike” Padnos who after 10 years NEVER fails to surprise and delight his audience.  It is a truism that once you come to 1 Stomp you never want to miss another one.  That is the reason you see the same faces year after year coming from all over the world.  Beyond the innovative bookings, if there is a secret to the Ponderosa Stomp it is in its bands.  The DNA of the Stomp might be found in what has become its 4 key bands, Lil Buck and the Top Cats, led by Paul “Lil’Buck” Sinegal, Deke Dickerson & the Eccophonics, The Bo-Keys, and Michael Hurtt and his Haunted Hearts.  These 4 amazing groups bring a level of skill, heart and soul to the proceedings that succeed virtually 100% of the time in making these older and often fragile (to coin a term Deke Dickerson used with me last night) sound great.  If the Stomp has a secret, at least one that exists outside the weird and wonderful mind of Dr Ike, that may be it.

Ponderosa Stomp nights typically have a theme if you will, as each night tends to be “anchored” by a particular musical style and/or performer.  For the special 10^th anniversary, Friday night featured and artist the Dr Ike has been trying to get for years, Allen Toussaint.   Toussaint has visited the stomp in the past and on one amazing occasion appeared on stage with the late Wardell Quezerque and Dave Bartholomew.  Fans of New Orleans R&B were stunned to see all 3 of its most revered arrangers & composers on stage at the same time. 

For his first official Stomp appearance Allen brought his great working band but thankfully left behind the “show band” aspects of his usual appearances (I have written about this in an earlier blog) and came to do some serious playing.  As is typical with the Stomp, Dr Ike got Toussaint to do a couple of his old “Wild Tousan” tunes: “Whirlaway” and “Java” that he rarely performs.  Toussaint then backed up the delightful Clarence “Frogman” Henry in a rollicking (I Don’t Know Why I Love You) “But I Do” and “Ain’t got no Home,” Robert Parker in a smokin’ version of his hit “Barefootin’,” and ended with a medley of his own compositions including a robust singalong from the audience on Ernie K-Doe’s massive hit “A Certain Girl” (which as produced and written by Toussaint).  All this was part of a tribute to the ailing Cosimo Mattasa the engineer and owner of the famed New Orleans recording studio J&M that was such an integral part of recording in New Orleans. 

Other highlights of the first night was an incredible set of delta blues from Bobby Rush and a tribute to the great Louisiana record label “Excello” with wonderful performances by Classie Ballou, Carol Fran and Lazy Lester full of trademark swamp pop, blues and gulf-coast soul.

Saturday night’s main event was a Stax Records tribute with The Bo-Keys Memphis soul band backing what are the 3 greatest male soul singers alive; William Bell, Eddie Floyd and Otis Clay.   We were extraordinarily blessed to attend the Saturday afternoon rehearsal watching these great singers interacting with Scott Bomar’s all-star Memphis soul band The Bo-Keys as they worked out a set that included such soul classics as “Raise your Hand” and “Knock on Wood” by Eddie Floyd, “Trying to Live my Life Without You” and “Got to Get Back” by Otis Clay (“Got to Get Back” is the title track from the fabulous new record by The Bo-Keys) , William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water” and “I Forgot to be Your Lover” and songwriter Sir Mack Rice doing his classic “Mustang Sally.”  The Bo-Keys are a mix of Memphis veterans such as guitarist Charles “Skip” Pitts, drummer Harold Grimes, keyboard player Archie “Hubby” Turner, and trumpeter Ben Cauley as well as younger players such as band leader and bassist Scott Bomar.  This band lays down a wicked and ferocious Memphis groove that literally blew the roof of the club.  Their 2+ hour set (that started after midnight!) had no highpoints or lowpoints but was one continuous blast furnace of deep Memphis soul and serious testifying by these master singers who command the stage with stunning authority, energy and grace.  I have no doubt that any modern configuration of band or singers that could have conjured up such an authentic and powerful Memphis soul stew.

Other highlights of the night was stomping set of early Chicago blues with Billy Boy Arnold, a rip-roaring session with 80+ year old sax honker Big Jay McNeely (who a fellow Stomp attendee said was “moving slow, but blowing hard”) and a short high energy set by Louisiana rockabilly master Joe Clay all backed with typical genius by Deke Dickerson.   

So there you have it, the rich fabric of American roots music presented by the original practitioners, the “real deal,” performed in a loving environment with taste, skill, soul, sensitivity and love.  Every year I leave New Orleans with one simple thought, God Bless “Dr Ike” and the Ponderosa Stomp.

Porgy and Bess

In 1976 I saw the magnificent production by the Houston Grand Opera Company of George and Ira Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess (libretto by Ira and DuBose Heyward).  I remember sitting in the theatre for almost 15 minutes weeping uncontrollably I was so overcome with the sadness and emotion of the ending and the song “I’m on my Way.”   This story of the crippled African American man and his love of the fast living, drug addict Bess has always been, since that time, the most moving performance of anything I have ever witnessed.

This past month we were truly blessed to see a semi-performed Porgy and Bess at Tanglewood and the brilliant new production at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge.  The Tanglewood performance with the BSO and chorus was sort of half acted out on a concert stage, no costumes or sets.  I suspect to the singers it just made sense to acknowledge the actions taking place rather than just standing there.  This performance was engaging and well sung (of course!) but the chorus was way too large and tended to overwhelm the singers, but this was a very satisfying production.  While the Tanglewood production was a full “operatic” creation the ART has taken a different approach
(with the blessing of the Gershwin Estate) moving Porgy and Bess back to being more of a musical and a little less of an Opera.

Director Diane Paulus, musical adaptor Deidra Murray and playwright Susan-Lori Parks have essentially re-imagined the play, adding bits of dialogue to make the story flow better and make more sense.  They have with great intelligence and respect for the music tried to look at the characters as actual people and create and underpinning of motivation and character development that does not make the story “better” but fleshes it out a bit more (now you have to keep in mind that we (THANKFULLY) saw the production late in the run when the travesty of the much discussed “happy ending” had been removed).

In the ART production Bess (played by the magnificent Audra McDonald) is a battered woman in the modern sense. Porgy (Norm Lewis) is not rolling around on a cart (like Eddie Murphy in “Trading Places”) but walking with a cane, Sportin’ Life (wonderfully realized by David Allen Grier) is a not the flashy cartoonish drug dealer with slick moves but a real lowlife playing on folks weaknesses for sex and drugs.  In this production Sportin’ Life does not want Bess for himself but clearly he wants to pimp her in NY.  Philip Boykin is the best Crown I have ever seen, and gets to the real heart of the true malevolence and violent evil of this character (he was booed when he took his curtain call, much to his delight as he curtsied!).

Is the production perfect, no, the none too subtle scar they put on Audra McDonalds’ cheek was a bit much, I thought the orchestrations were at times a little thin in their attempt to move Porgy and Bess from opera to “show,” the set was classic ART minimalist but at the end of the day none of this mattered.  It all worked and, again, they honored the characters, story and the music.  These are some of the most beautiful and moving songs ever written, focusing the story line a little, modernizing the characters and language simple cannot minimize or denigrate the deep emotion of a well sung and passionate performance of “I Loves you Porgy” and that we had here in abundance.    

PBS celebrates free market capitalism!

Recently came across a TV show featuring Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on PBS called “Faces of America.” In the show he researches the ancestry of famous American’s, then meets with them to enlighten them about their family history.  If features such folks as Yo-Yo Ma, Meryl Streep, Mike Nichols and Queen Noor.  One segment I saw concerned the great Italian chef Mario Batali. Who commented on hearing some of the troubles that his ancestors had gone thru by saying: “I would have gone back to Italy.”  Gates then asked him, would you be here today talking to me if they had gone back to Italy, and he responded “no.”

This was true in many of the histories, families that had endured great hardships, but had survived and prospered within a system that offered no help, just opportunity and reward for intelligence and hard work.  In the case of champion skater Kristi Yamaguchi, her ancestors had been interned during WWII and all their property confiscated!  While this was not stated, most of the stories I heard were profound testaments to classic free market capitalism, not 1 family (that I heard) had benefited from any government programs, entitlements, preferential treatment, quotas, aid or any other form of help.  They came to America for opportunity; their work ethic, ambition and intelligence was the only other ingredient needed to succeed.       

Tax Incentives & “Loopholes,” or how stupid can the tax code get???

No doubt the president will be proposing some business tax breaks on Thursday night, and that got me thinking – do these do any good, will they promote growth or job creation?  My short answer is no.  I say that not because I don’t think there are tax policies that might help businesses by promoting expansion and growth, it is just that few of these recently have been around long enough to take root.  To gain any traction a business tax incentive has to be in effect for (at least) several years, 6 month and 1 year incentives are not around long enough to become inculcated into business planning and yield the desired result.  Most small business owners don’t even become aware of some of these tax deductions before they expire!

Many of these incentives just drain treasury with not one iota of the desired result.  Some of the new business tax credits; employment credits for new employee retained for more than a year, the credit for providing employee health insurance, and the plethora of energy credits are examples of less than effective tax incentives.  Why do I say “less then effective?” – Because they probably do not change any business owner’s behavior, they just provide tax breaks after the fact when firms like ours prepare the companies tax return. 

Conversely let us look at a long standing tax incentive that is well known to many business owners, the section 179 depreciation deduction.  This election to write off a chunk of tangible equipment in a single year has been in the code for many years and has become a staple of small business planning.  Every year I have dozens of conversations with business client that start out with; “should I buy a vehicle/truck/equipment before the end of the year.”  This is an example of a tax incentive that is designed to foster investment in tangible assets and it clearly accomplishes that goal. 

I am not necessarily a fan of “tax incentives” as many are clearly loopholes designed by and for specific interests/entities by corrupt politicians.  Need some examples?: Hedge fund managers that (essentially) get to declare compensation as long term capital gains, corporate deferred compensation and stock option schemes, electric & alternative auto credits, accelerated depreciation on corporate jets and last but not least MOST of the corporate and personal energy credits and deductions (“energy” credits are the reason GE got a tax benefit/refund of $3.2 billion from the IRS, and I am sure they lobbied ferociously for each and every one of them! – see below).

When I Googled “tax loopholes” I got discussions on the mortgage interest & charitable donation deduction, tax free municipal bond interest and long-term capital gains rates, it made me think that for some a tax loophole is anything somebody else gets to take advantage of.  

Let us take the famous case of General Electric (from the NYT 03.24.2011);  

General Electric reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

Its American tax bill?  None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.

That may be hard to fathom for the millions of American business owners and households now preparing their own returns, but low taxes are nothing new for G.E. The company has been cutting the percentage of its American profits paid to the I.R.S. for years, resulting in a far lower rate than at most multinational companies.

Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore. G.E.’s giant tax department, led by a bow-tied former official treasury named John Samuels, is often referred to as the world’s best tax law firm. Indeed, the company’s slogan “Imagination at Work” fits this department well. The team includes former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.

While General Electric is one of the most skilled at reducing its tax burden, many other companies have become better at this as well. Although the top corporate tax rate in the United States is 35 percent, one of the highest in the world, companies have been increasingly using a maze of shelters, tax credits and subsidies to pay far less.

If there was ever an argument for tax simplification this might be it, when a huge company like GE spends millions in tax planning and lobbying to yield not only 0 taxes but an actual refund of $3.2 million dollars!  If you couple this with the fact that over 50% of American taxpayers pay no income tax or that General Electric’s Chairman and CEO, Jeffrey Immelt is now head of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and you know you have an incredibly corrupt and broken system.

Illiminate MOST if not all tax incentives, credits and deductions in favor of lower tax rates, let GE fire its tax attorney staff and lobbyist (maybe they can go to work on rebuilding American infrastructure projects!) and allow the millions of small business owners to concentrate of running their business instead of keeping up with the idiotic, ever changing minutiae of our tax code.

Happy Labor Day 2011!  

Pure Pop for Now People

On April 2nd we were treated to a wonderful “unplugged” show with the Boston based trio Buffalo Tom (featuring Newburyport’s own Tom Maginnis on drums).  Buffalo Tom was opening the new Loft space of the Portsmouth Music Hall.  The band was touring to support this year’s excellent “Skins” disk.  The acoustic setting complimented the voice of singer Bill Janovitz as he did not have to strain as much.  In this quieter setting I missed the powerful roar the band typically displays, but this show allowed me to appreciate the group’s lyrics and wonderful punk/pop melodic sensibilities all the more.  New songs such as “She’s Not Your Thing” and “The Kids Just Sleep” really shined.

Last month we finally caught up with The Smithereens, a band I have been listening to for over 30 years.  They were touring behind their great new record “2011,” their first record of new material in 12 years.  Amazingly, they sounded as fresh an energetic as if they were playing for the first time.  Classics like “Blood and Roses” and “Behind a Wall of Sleep” rocked with great muscle and authority.  The band still has 3 original members, and roared thru their show without a setlist with leader Pat DeNinzio’s calling out the songs as they went along.  The Smithereens have been biding their time recently with odd cover records (Beatles “B-Sides,” Tommy, etc) so the quality of the new CD was a surprise.  I asked Pat after the show why the delay when they obviously had so much good material and he told me that the record company did not want to release it, and only did so after the group agreed to release their “Tommy” cover disc (further evidence, if you needed it, of how fucked up the current record industry is).

On a final note, the new disk by New Jersey Pop-Meisters “Fountains of Wayne” called “Sky Full of Holes” is excellent, power pop at its best! (FOW is another band who has evaded me in concert)  

Sayings Heard Recently

Here are 3 sayings I have come across recently that I liked:

·       From a church letter board in Ossipee, New Hampshire:

“Excuses are the nails which hold the house of failure together”

·       From a client during an Internal Revenue Service audit (referring to a receipt that was being discussed):

You know the old saying: “you can have it good, fast or cheap, pick 2”

·       This from a professor discussing whether New Yorkers would heed the warnings concerning hurricane Irene:

You know the old saying about New Yorkers: “You can always tell a New Yorker, but you can’t tell them much”