“Meeksies Visit and Happy Birthday to me”
Paul, a financial advisor that Denny and I share, invited us to lunch at Porgy’s seafood restaurant. I had never been and was looking forward to it based on all the positive reviews. The place is run exclusively by ladies and they were busy cleaning and stocking fish when we arrived. They have a few daily specials based on what’s fresh and I selected the crawfish roll. Denny and Paul split a triggerfish (never heard of it but it looked good) and a soft shell crab sandwich. We shared a ceviche tostada to start and I’ll go back just to have that. It’s also one of McD’s favourites.
Here’s the fresh fish cabinet selection – not huge but a good variety:
The restaurant is fresh and modern inside:
Kenny and Kara picked me up for a drink before our event on Wednesday night. We enjoyed the fancy inside room at the Columns.
Our event was a book reading and discussion across the street at the Garden District Book Store. The book was the 331/3 Violent Femmes edition from Nic Brown.
For any youngsters that stumbled on this, 331/3 is the speed that a long playing (LP) record spins at. The Violent Femmes are an 80s band best known for “Blister in the Sun” – they have a very unique style and musical makeup that was reviewed at the talk.
The group gathered in the Chicory coffee shop rather than the book store – a first and one that worked out well for a decent crowd. It makes me wonder about the economics of these book tours. 30 people attend and buy a $15 book – the $450 wouldn’t even cover the travel expenses for Nic alone. Maybe they think folks like us generate a bunch of buzz?
The evening finished up with a cool performance:
Diana arrived home shortly after the event concluded. No more babysitting of me required.
Diana dropped into pickleball on Thursday while I got my teeth cleaned. My hygienist is very pregnant (due 6/18) and I felt fortunate to get in before she goes out on leave – she does a very good job.
The Stephen Colbert show ended on Thursday night. This is the 10:30pm show that I watch most nights before bed. Colbert has been uber critical of Trump and became a casualty as some media moguls wanted to do a merger that needed Trump administration approval. Paul McCartney was the main guest:
There were a couple of excellent musical performances to finish out the show. This was at the Ed Sullivan theater where the Beatles first performed.
The Meeksies (Sean and Sheri) arrived on Friday afternoon – staying in the cottage at Chez Ogan. They had a bit of hassle from the thunder and lightning – bags couldn’t be unloaded until the lightning passed etc. That meant they were late to meet us and Denny at Chais Delachaise for their excellent Happy Hour. They ultimately arrived and we had a good time.
The octopus was excellent.
After this stop, we drove over to St Joe’s bar to meet up with the extended Krewe – Alex, Thom, Fred, Kelly, Peggy, Mason, Jack, Brennen and probably several others that I don’t remember. Diana and I didn’t stay for very long.
My birthday celebration was at N7 (possibly my top New Orleans eatery) and included Kenny, Kara, Denny, Anne, Sean and Sheri. What a treat:
I had some beets that were deliciously smoky and charred, followed by a wonderful croque madame. Thanks to Diana for organizing this festivity so far in advance.
After N7, Denny tried hard to entertain me – music at BMC (way too loud and no seating), R Bar (now famous for Shia LeBouef’s Mardi Gras incident) – also too loud – seemed like everyone in there was yelling to each other. We made quick exits from both. I took some flack for being old and intolerant – it was my birthday and I wasn’t going to do what I didn’t want to do.
We retired to our home and relaxed on the porch. Much better.
Diana ordered some Theo’s pizzas for dinner and I had a very nice time visiting and opening gifts.
We met the group at the Red Dog diner for brunch on Sunday. The company was good and I didn’t love my huevos rancheros – way too salty. I’ve had a couple of dodgy meals there and have no reason to return.
Kenny picked up Diana for a French Quarter ramble with the group on Sunday afternoon. I was happy to chill at home. They had a good time, including a Taro reading for Sean.
I’m still working my way through “Doxology” by Nell Zink. I don’t love it and continue to get sucked in deeper and deeper. We’re now at 9/11 and the impact on various characters.
Here’s a review of the new Tedeschi Trucks band album. They were a huge favourite of mine at Jazzfest – orders of magnitude better than most of what you saw there. This is a great album.
Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks and their band are one of the hottest items in the blues rock world. Some write them off as a a rock band, but they are truly more than that.
I’ve watched Trucks expand his repertoire over the years. Adding his wife to the band certainly places a larger emphasis on the blues and roots music in their releases and shows. What I’ve always felt is that Derek grew up in the shadow of the Allman Brothers and internalized the essence of what Duane Allman was doing before his untimely passing. Duane spent years at Muscle Shoals and gained a superb knowledge of so many genres of music. I see what Truck has done as a continuation of where the Allman Brothers might have gone had Duane lived on. The deep ties to the blues, the jazzy and improvisational nature of the jams that are so much more than just a local jam, the R&B infusion into the mix, the expansion of instrumental use in the music, a strong set of vocalists to lead and back the band, and just an amazing depth of knowledge and feeling for what makes music tick.
This album offers us 11 new songs to savor. Susan fronts the band for ten of the cuts and plays guitar on most of them. Mike Mattison is up front for “Under The Knife.” Trucks, of course, is on lead guitar. Mattison sings on all but one track and adds his guitar to many of them. Brandon Boone is primarily on bass; also appearing on bass is Mike Elizondo. Tyler Greenwell and Isaac Eady share the drumming duties. On B3 and keyboards is Gabe Dixon. Adding backing vocals and percussion are Alecia Chakpur and Mark Rivers. Horns are provided by Emmanuel Echem (trumpet), Elizabeth Lea (trombone) and Kebbi Williams (sax). Elizondo also adds keys to a few tracks. Austin Hoke is on cello and Abe rounds is on percussion for “Shout Out.”
“Crazy Cryin’” gets the album started. It’s a cut with a slick groove and features Tedeschi singing of a relationship that has not worked out. It’s funky and cool, and Trucks comes in with an amazing short guitar solo late in the cut that makes it even better. Backing vocals add nicely to the mix.
Next is “I Got You” with some acoustic guitar added to the electric guitar. It’s an up tempo and fun love song. Derek offers an early restrained guitar solo. The organ and horns are sweet in support here as are the backing vocals. Trucks takes us home with a prolonged guitar solo that eventually fades to wrap it up.
“Who Am I” is a pretty ballad that Susan sings with passion as Trucks strums out some equally pretty licks with restrained poignancy until the end when he lets go to again take us home with some vibrant signature guitar to enjoy.
Up next is “Hero” is a passionate and emotional cut where Tedeshi pleads to leave where they are at as she reiterates the theme as she sings, “I’m not your hero, I’m number zero.” The song builds into a dervish of instrumental anguish to conclude, a wild ride that finally comes to resolution.
“What In The World” is another cut with sweet acoustic guitars, some ethereal organ and horns. and Tedeschi testifying with true feeling. Trucks steps in to punctuate the tune with his electric slide guitar. Beautiful stuff here.
The title track is next and picks the pace up significantly. Vibrant guitar, strident vocals and a driving beat make this one a winner. Trucks offers a concluding solo to once again finish things off and it’s in your face and it’s just wickedly cool guitar.
Mattison leads the fray for “Under the Knife,” a song with a very cool groove, great horns and a sweet pacing that makes the song interesting. Derek offers up an echoey guitar solo and Susan backs Mike to add a nice touch to the sound.
“Be Kind” bounces along with the horns and organ helping to drive the song as the electric guitars layer over each other to cool effect. Dixon adds a sweet and distorted piano solo that is quite cool. Overall, it’s a driving and fun number.
Then it’s time for “Devil Be Gone,” as Tedeschi casts our the devil while the guitar rings loud and clear in support of that idea. It’s a driving and vital cut with a heavy beat and the players and the singers give it their all in support. Susan and Derek take us home vocally and on guitar on this one.
“Shout Out” is a lighter track with Tedeschi shouting out to ask the person to return to her for support. It’s got a ton of feeling and the cut builds and builds in vocal and instrumental intensity to hearken the person to return. Nicely done.
The album concludes with “Ride On,” where Tedeschi sings, ”I guess I’m just along for the ride.” The songs is a country/southern rocker that is emotive and quite slick. Slide guitar adds emotion to the sing as Trucks wails his way to the end to add to the tension and feeling.
This is another superb studio album for Tedeschi and Trucks. Every song is crafted well to allow each musician to become part of the continuum they create in every song. I truly loved this album; it is another winner for the band that will garner many an accolade for them. Well done!