New Orleans Social Club live!
New Orleans Social Club
Millennium Park, Chicago
Friday, August 24, 2007
Of all the stories chronicling the disasters of Hurricane Katrina, few explore the cultural devastation left in her wake. New Orleans was a hotbed of musical and cultural creation. Besides centuries-old jazz traditions, the city has also birthed its own brand of funk, rock, soul and hip-hop. Icons such as the Neville Brothers, Fats Domino, Dr. John, Irma Thomas, and The Meters all call New Orleans home. But Katrina has wiped out much of the infrastructure needed to maintain such a vital musical heritage. So as New Orleans struggles to regain its economic foothold, so does its music.
Sing Me Back Home aims to put New Orleans musical history back into the spotlight. The two-and-a-half-hour concert mixed a cavalcade of talent celebrating New Orleans’ formidable legacies. The New Orleans Social Club — a take on the Buena Vista Club as well as the tradition of social aid and pleasure clubs whose parades are essential to Mardi Gras, brought together five legendary New Orleans musicians.
Led by gregarious guitarist Leo Nocentelli , who pioneered the fast-paced, funk sound with The Meters, the band includes Ivan Neville of the gifted New Orleans musical family on keyboards, the dapper, classically trained piano wizard Henry Butler, Neville Brothers and Harry Connick Jr. bassist Tony Hall, and virtuoso percussionist Raymond Weber. Stirring up a whirlwind of funky rhythms, the group served a joyous helping of New Orleans good-time music. A transcendent, groove-heavy version of “On My Mind” lifted the show past convention while Nocentelli’s announcement “We gonna’ take y’all to the Mardi Gras with Henry Butler” treated the mostly middle-aged crowd to a rollicking keyboard frenzy by the fedora-topped Butler. Ivan Neville’s poignant version of John Fogerty’s “Unfortunate Son” turned the Vietnam protest song into a scorching and funky indictment of America’s neglect of New Orleans. Guest singer John Boutté underscored that sentiment with a delicate soul version of Annie Lennox’s “Cry,” earning a standing ovation for his heartfelt crooning.
The Hot 8 Brass Band, a group of 20-something street musicians, represented the future of New Orleans music well. A hot, short set of fiery blasts and signature tunes, such as “The Kitchen Special,” revealed the dedication to history as well as innovation that still lives on. Although one member lost his legs in a roadside accident after Katrina and one member was killed during the violent crime waves that followed the storm, the group continues to advocate New Orleans’ cultural survival. They were the first to play music for evacuees and led an anti-crime march earlier this year.
“The Queen Of New Orleans Soul,” Irma Thomas, won a standing ovation as she glided out in a yellow head-wrap and draped, yellow-and-green dress. Her clear, rich vocals danced around her upbeat 1960 hit, “Look Up.” “You have to understand the love we have for our home,” she told the crowd. “You have to come and see for yourselves. We’re there, we’re growing.” She ended with a ’50s soul-rocker, “Yield Not To Temptation.”
That Koko Taylor performed in a concert dedicated to New Orleans music shows a curious note in the stellar lineup. Although Chicago’s musical connections to New Orleans are famous, Taylor doesn’t represent any of them. Her brand of blues is a throaty, urban version as opposed to the melodious, jazzy, New Orleans version. (There are handfuls of notable Chicago Musicians with serious New Orleans connections who could have performed but I suppose none of them is the queen of the blues.) Strolling in covered in a black sequined suit, Taylor looked good after a long illness. She commanded a raucous standing ovation and responded with a shaky version of “Let The Good Times Roll.” Her voice cracked occasionally but by the time she tackled her signature “Wang Dang Doodle,” she was in top form.
— Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
Category: Live Reviews, Weekly
