Artist of the Week #3: Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns

It's been a while, but I've been frolicking in New Orleans for the last week, so I was understandably distracted. The music in NOLA is incredible - live music pretty much every day, and the musicians are fantastic. I went to Preservation Hall, checked out Bourbon St and Frenchman, and strolled around the French quarter to the sounds of jazz. Needless to say, I was in heaven. The coolest thing was that there was a much stronger connection between the dancers and the musicians than in most other scene's I'd been to. Part of that was due to the fact that most of the musicians were from a similar generation. One of my favorite bands to listen to was Meschiya Lake's (she rotated through musicians though some were pretty consistent). I love the vintage brass sound, and her voice suits the music perfectly. Check out "I Ain't Got Nuthin But the Blues" from her album Lucky Devil (for those interested, I think Peter Loggins plays the washboard on some of the tracks).

I Ain't Got Nuthin But the Blues - Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (Lucky Devil)

Mike and Reuel Workshop

Hey all - I realize I haven't been posting regularly, even though it was my plan to post at least once a week with my "artist of the week" endeavor. Needless to say, I've been busy, in part with this. We've been organizing a workshop to get Mike "The Girl" Legget (formerly from Philadelphia, currently residing in Cincinnati) and Reuel Reis (formerly from Nashville, currently in New Orleans) to come to Boston and teach a weekend workshop. Needless to say it's happening - and soon! Dec 11-12, we'll have two full days of classes, as well as a Saturday night dance where yours truly will be throwing down some blues, accompanied by Mike and DJ John Brooks.

Hope to see you there!

11-13-10

MIT Blues Dance

-Driving Wheel - Etta James
-Burning Fire - Otis Spann's South Side Band
-Sugar Mama Blues - Snooky Pryor & Mel Brown
-Lonely Avenue - Ray Charles
-Blues in the Night - Ledisi
-I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues - Diane Hoffman
-Love Me Like A Man - Bonnie Raitt
-Blues Is My Story - Brother Yusef
-You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had - Muddy Waters
-All Over You - Jim Byrnes
-Lord, Don't Move the Mountain - Angela Strehli
-Blues Is My Wailin' Wall - Mighty Mo Rodgers
-Red Mud - Chris Thomas King
-Burn Down the Cornfield - Charlie Musselwhite
-Wade in the Water - The Blind Boys of Alabama
-Don't Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down - Eric Bibb, Rory Block, Maria Muldaur
-Please Mr Jailer - Wynona Carr
-Kansas City Wrinkles - Count Basie
-Do I Move You? - Nina Simone
-Fumblin' With The Blues - Tom Waits
-Follow The Drinking Gourd - Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, Eric Bibb

11-06-10

"Everything But Dance" Evening Dance

I DJ'ed a quick set for the EBD evening dance on Saturday. I took the DJing classes (taught by John Brooks, Devona Cartier and Julie Brown), which was awesome cause I got to pick their brains for two days straight. About 15 minutes towards the end of my set, as I'm winding down the dancers (I had last set of the night), Devona comes up to me and says: "You know what I want to see? Make them dance fast." Alas, Devona's wishes shouldn't go ignored ... so I tried. I succeeded, but was sweating bullets, and the last couple of songs of my set were haphazardly placed. Everything up to Ray Charles I'm happy with ... after that, I was at a loss of where to go. I think I need to listen to my music more ... do more research. But it was an insane kind of thrill to sweat through the end of that set. I must be crazy to enjoy that.

-That's Why I'm Crying - Koko Taylor
-Gimme A Penny - Big Mama Thornton
-Sittin' & Cryin' the Blues - Willie Dixon & Memphis Slim
-Short Dressed Woman - Lafayette Leake
-Kansas City Wrinkles - Count Basie
-Sugar Blues - Preservation Hall Jazz Band
-Summertime - Renee Olstead
-Please Mr Jailer - Wynona Carr
-I Got a Woman - Ray Charles
-Power of the Blues - Brother Yusef
-Home - Marc Broussard

10-30-10

Artisan's Asylum Halloween Dance

This might just be the most unusual set I've DJed in a while ... half the people were blues dancers, half were non-dancers, and the description I was given ran along the lines of ... fun party music that's good to dance to. Allrighty then ...

-Fireflies - Mofro
-Bad Seraphim - Alien Fashion Show
-Mercy On Me - Christina Aguilera
-Get Back Temptation - Ollabelle
-You Can Leave Your Hat On - Etta James
-Mercy - Duffy
-100 Days, 100 Nights - Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
-Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
-Brown Skin - India Arie
-Can't Stop Thinking About You - Martin Sexton
-I Idolize You - Lizz Wright
-Alice - Patti Plinko and Her Boy
-Sinkin' Soon - Norah Jones
-Missed Me - Dresden Dolls

10-24-10

Blues Muse Sunday Night Dance

-The World Keeps On Turning - Fleetwood Mac

-Idle Hours - Victoria Spivey & Lonnie Johnson

-Gimme A Penny - Big Mama Thornton

-That's Why I'm Crying - Koko Taylor

-Black Night - John Lee Hooker

-Follow the Drinking Gourd - Linda Tillery & Cultural Heritage Choir, Eric Bibb

-I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues - Diane Hoffman

-Dark Sunshine - Dr Michael White

-Kansas City Wrinkles - Count Basie

-Tombstone Blues - Ronnie Magri & His New Orleans Jazz Band

-How Come My Dog Don't Bark When You Come Around - Dr John

-Trouble in Mind - Aretha Franklin

-Down Home Blues - Etta James

-Ruby Mae - Snooky Pryor & Mel Brown

-Come Home Blues - Jennifer Nettles Band

-Come On In My Kitchen - Porterdavis

-No Need Pissin' On A Skunk - Saffire - the Uppity Blues Women

-If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin' On It - Ruth Brown

-Stormy Blues - Billie Holiday

-Harlem Nocturne - Sam Taylor & His All Star Jazz Band

-Blues for Mama - Nina Simone

10-21-10

Blues Muse Friday Main Dance

Blues Muse is hands down one of my favorite events, and Philadelphia has quickly made my list of favorite dance scenes. The level of dancing was awesome, all the instructors were great, the music was good, and people in general were so much fun to hang out with.

I DJ'd two sets over the weekend, and am pretty happy with how they went. Here's the Friday set:

-Driving Wheel - Etta James
-Love Me or Leave Me - the Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet
-Springtime Blues - Billy Boy Arnold
-Decoration Day - Sunnyland Slim
-You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had - Muddy Waters
-Sugar Mama Blues - Snooky Pryor & Mel Brown
-Another Man Done Gone - Irma Thomas
-My Handy Man Ain't Handy No More - Alberta Hunter
-Sugar Blues - Preservation Hall Jazz Band
-One Hour Mama - Saffire - the Uppity Blues Women
-Last Call - Ronnie Magri & His New Orleans Jazz Band
-Sunshine in the Shade - Satan & Adam
-Deep in the Delta - Brother Yusef
-Love Me Like a Man - Bonnie Raitt
-Lord, Don't Move the Mountain - Angela Strehli
-Rain - Charlie Baty
-Red Mud - Chris Thomas King
-Don't Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down - Eric Bibb, Rory Block, Maria Muldaur
-Muddy Water Blues - Paul Rodgers
-Tell Me More And More And Then Some - Nina Simone
-Saga of Bill Bailey - Nancy Wilson