So where was the daddy last night? On the hook when the earth shook; on the concrete where the people meet, soul-dropping, finger popping on the outer edges of time, hearts and minds, talking trash, lifting cash and speaking third person 24/7.Yes, the daddy was out on the town. The daddy lives in Minneapolis but crossed city lines to St. Paul to brave the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts and check out "Blues in the Night," a musical with an all-black-cast.
The daddy says the musical wasn't all that. It only included one of the tightest band this side of the Muddy Waters Chicago blues band of the late 1960's. I'm just saying: these guys played the blues like they just came up highway 61 from the Mississippi delta and can't EVEN afford a hamburger at White Castle (And you know how small and cheap they are).
It only featured some of the best performers in Minnesota (Jamecia Bennett, Julius C. Collins III, Debbie Duncan, and Regina Marie Williams). Julius dapped, strutted, shouted and flirted; the sistahs swayed and sashayed, shook and dipped them wild and crazy hips; and they straight-up sang their assesses off.
But the highlight for the daddy was Debbie Duncan's rendition of "Lover Man." Lawd, have mercy: The sistah's croon was so powerful yet so sweet, so sad yet so strong for so long that it almost brought a tear to the daddy's eyes. He had to make a fist, hit himself in the chest, and remember that he was a football player back in the day...whew!... the daddy had to check himself.
Not to be outdone, the other sistahs joined in with Debbie to close out Act I with "Take it right back," an uptempo, perfectly harmonized, feminist dissing of a womanizing brotha who stayed out late, came home drunk, and smelled like something other than alcohol (brothas: women got a strong sense of smell, you know what i'm saying?).
All in all, the daddy found out two things tonight:
1. He should spend less time TALKING about supporting black folks and spend more time actually SUPPORTING black folks. He does a few things but not enough (Don't laugh. Some of you could do more too. Of the some 250 or more people in the audience, I only counted six black folks); and
2. When the daddy speaks in third person, he's feeling good!
Hey, if you're going to be in the twin cities, call the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts (651-224-4222) and say you want tickets to see "The Blues in the Night." It'll be here until May 18th.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: To get a better flavor for the musical, click on the photo
up top on the right and hear the stars of the show sing and talk
about the program.
.gif)
6 comments:
Dear MacDaddy,
I, too, 'experienced' the performance of BLUES IN THE NIGHT, but as I white lady, though I live in the 'Hood, I could not BEGIN to desribe the nuances of the show the way you did! Thanks for that...It helped me to articulate what I FELT in my gut about the BLUES! You sure do have a gift for writing AND for THE BLUES!
Waddaya mean "almost" brought a tear to your eye?
Hell, when I'm screamin in the barnyard wailin away with Muddy or the Howlin Wolf man blastin out my CD player in the barn I usually git some tears ever once in a while.
I figure there's a whole bunch of people who lived pain free lives since blues aint the most popular music in the world.
nuninthehood: I know you're a nun, but something tells me that, once in a while, you'd like to sit at a piano and sang "The Thrill is gone" or "Wild women don't get the blues." But don't worry. Your secret is safe with me.
Sagacious: I think you know your blues. And "The Wolf," as he was called, is one of my favorites. By the way, i'm going to do a post real soon about Hubert Sumlin, a great guitarist and the Wolf's leading guitarist until he died. I'll be checking you out over at sagacioushillbilly.
Mac, I used to have a very extensive album collection of all kinds of good stuff like Mississippi John Hurt, one with MW and HW together, even one with Howlin Wolf and the Rolloing Stones. . . I'm not crazy about the Stones, but this album was great.
My first wife carted off all the albums. I stashed the last crate when I realized what she was doing but it was too late. She refused to give me the ones she wasn't interested in. . . like all the old blues stuff. . . man was I singin the blues for a looooong time. I even tried to get it into the divorce agreement. The judge wouldn't have it. Said she was tired of trivial shit in divorces. . . I tried to explain to her how non-trivial it was that I get my blues albums back but she wouldn't listen. . . and a black woman at that! Yudda think she'd a understood!
You've inspired me. I need to get online and see what good stuff is available. I'd like to hear some of that good stuff again.
sagacious: Hang with me. I'm going to be writing about the blues big time. When I was growing up, blues artists came to my house and played with my dad, who was a guitarist. My dad could also read music. These guys came to my house to get my dad to put their songs to music. That's how I got to see guys like John Lee Hooker, T. Bone Walker, Little Walter, and Sam Maghett (Magic Sam, another great guitarist). When I visited my aunt in Chicago, I would sneak out of the house and go to bars. Since some of those guys already knew me, they would let me stay and listen, even though I was under age. They were great. I don't know about others, but, being a blues lover, I think you'll like it. Be well.
I wanna hear all about that Daddy! They came to your house?! I was in my 20s before I even heard of some of those guys. . . except Muddy Waters. I got turned onto an album of his when I was in early HS. . . .standing there in his long white robe with his guitar, I figured he was right next to being as wise as a god.
Just bought me a new bottle neck the other day. Strangest thing, it was in a little country store.
Gotta git out the ol LP, tune it up to E and give it a try.
Post a Comment