SILLY SOUR GRAPES
Just finished a cover-to-cover marathon read of the June issue and am enjoying a post-Fest echo, but I have to write in response to Bunny Matthews’ cowardly attack on Wynton Marsalis in the Masters of Louisiana Music profile of Louis Moreau Gottschalk.
At the end of an otherwise informative piece, Matthews offers a lengthy quote from S. Frederick Starr, author of Bamboula! The Life and Times of Louis Moreau Gottschalk, that for all intents and purposes calls Wynton a racist and anti-Semite, because he failed to follow through on an offhand fantasy for a proposed Gottschalk festival. Starr’s quote cites an unnamed source who told him Wynton lost interest in the festival after finding out on page 3 of his book that Gottschalk was white and part Jewish… and Matthews uses this bit of silly sour grapes to attack not only Wynton but a group of Dillard University organizers who didn’t follow up on a 1969 Gottschalk piano competition …again, in Starr’s mind, because they found out Gottschalk was white and part Jewish. A good journalist would have chased this story beyond what sounds like Starr’s paranoid ravings before branding people racist and anti-Semitic.
—Joseph Blake, Victoria, BC, Canada
We attempted to contact Wynton Marsalis for his response to Dr. Starr’s allegations. According to Marsalis’ office, Wynton Marsalis is on tour in North America and Europe until early August and was not available for comment.—Ed.
PUBLICITY STUNT?
File under: “This can’t be true/it must be a publicity stunt!!”—regarding Alex McMurray’s rumored employment at Disneyland/Tokyo. The management probably doesn’t encourage improvising spontaneous versions of “Junko Partner” and “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker.” There must be an easier way to tour Japan!
—Ned Flood, New England Chapter
of the Fingerbowl Fan Club, Medford, MA
Yes, Ned, it’s absolutely true: for the next six months, Alex McMurray will be employed as a singing pirate (shiver me timbers!) at Disneyland in Tokyo. Whether or not he’s exchanging his right hand for a hook cannot be confirmed.—Ed.
YEAR AFTER YEAR
I’ve never met Quint Davis nor do I care to, but he sure takes a lot of criticism for a Festival that people keep coming back to year after year after year and bringing more friends year after year. Somebody must be doing something right, besides me. ’Till ’03 and the next Quint Davis screw-up.
—Walt Miles, E. Lansdowne, PA
NO EXCUSES
I am a subscriber to OffBeat for many years and this was my twenty-third New Orleans Jazz Fest.
I want to thank you [Geraldine Wyckoff] for writing such good articles on the Wynton concert as well as Wayne Shorter. I believe that the Wayne Shorter Quartet took jazz a full step ahead. Wynton finally did unite the Septet, what I’ve been waiting, for nine years at least, to hear. No excuses are acceptable for the sound system in the Jazz Tent.
—Dorothy R. Siesel, (Jazz at Woodstock) Woodstock, NY
MISLEADING STATEMENTS
I’m writing to correct some misleading statements that appear in an ad for Goldband Records that ran on page 111 of your Jazz Fest issue.
The ad promotes an album by the Hackberry Ramblers that features a vocalist named Linda Dodd LaPointe. The Hackberry Ramblers’ reputation is based on the work of Luderin Darbone and Edwin Duhon, who founded the band back in 1933 and still lead it today. Ms. LaPointe is a talented musician but she is not nor has never been a member of the Hackberry Ramblers. We accompanied her as studio musicians on a session for Goldband in 1993 with the understanding that it was Ms. LaPointe’s solo album. Goldband didn’t inform us that the album would bear the Hackberry Ramblers’ name; had we known then we wouldn’t have participated.
In addition, the Goldband ad seeks to take credit for the Hackberry Ramblers’ resurgent success during the past 15 years, including the band’s Grammy nomination. That nomination was for an album entitled Deep Water, released in 1997 by the Hot Biscuits Recording Company (please see our ad on page 64 of the Jazz Fest issue.) The truth is that Goldband has contributed absolutely nothing as “the Ramblers have amassed even more awards and credits in the music business.”
We don’t hold Ms. LaPointe responsible for any of these false statements, and we wish her well, but we don’t appreciate Goldband’s attempt to exploit our years of hard work with a contrived album that bears no resemblance to the Hackberry Ramblers’ current sound. Thanks for this opportunity to state our case
—Ben Sandmel, for the Hackberry Ramblers and the Hot Biscuits Recording Co., New Orleans, LA
DANCEAPHOBIA
The reason I’m writing is because I almost got kicked out of the Jazz Fest Blues Tent during Snooks Eaglin’s set on the last Saturday. OK, New Orleans, yes, I admit it. I was doing something I was apparently not supposed to be doing. What is that crime? Dancing!!! Anyone who is familiar with Snooks knows that dancing is inevitable during his shows. I couldn’t help it, and I’m not going to apologize. Some miserably unhappy wretch named Jaretta (sp?) who was working “Security” at stage right, told me to sit down. I sat down for a minute, then I stood back up. She came over to me again and told me to sit down. I ignored her. She started screaming with uncontrollable anger, “I told you to sit down!” I told her that I was not going to sit down, that I was dancing. I told her to chill out, enjoy the show, and leave me alone. She started flinging her finger, and said, “No dancing. No dancing.”
I have tried to make sense of Jazz Fest’s decision to hire danceaphobic Nazis to run the Blues Tent. What’s up? Are we to sit down on our gluteals and listen as John Mooney rips or when Walter “Wolfman” grooves? Dancing is a form of gratitude to these amazing performers who so enrich our lives. It’s literally impossible for me not to dance to some music. So, I started thinking…and I realized that I have never once seen Quint Davis dance, or even sway his hips to the music. He’s usually sitting down when he’s backstage. Quint, are you becoming a danceaphobe as you get older? Is this “No dancing in the Blues Tent” dictum coming from you?
—Susan Wetzel, New Orleans in San Diego, CA
MORE PUBLICITY
I was pleasantly surprised to see a review of my new CD, especially since I had not submitted any review copies. The review is strange as most reviews are, but the reason I’m writing to you is there are so many errors of fact as to concern me. I will address each one below. Apparently the reviewer got hold of one of the pre-release copies, which had no information on it.
1. I have not played at Pat O’Briens since September of 2001, 2. “Ain’t Got No Room For The Blues” was written by Nora Wixted, 3. “Lullaby” was written by Jay Griggs, 4. Leon Redbone wrote “I Want To Be Seduced,” not Leon Russell.
As I say in the Doug Duffy tune on my CD “Publicity, I don’t care what you say just as long as you talk about me.”
Thanks as always for your hard work making New Orleans a better place to be a musician.
—John Autin, New Orleans, LA
R-I-N-G-O AND RINGO WAS HIS NAME
I was disappointed to see the fine cartoonist Bunny Matthews reveal his less-than adept musicology in his rebuttal to letters challenging his attacks on Ringo Starr’s drumming, and the Beatles’ music generally (OffBeat April ’02). Most readers of your publication would probably agree that there is no real connection between Ringo’s distinct (if limited) talent and the great virtuosity of so many fine New Orleans drummers. Yet it is no small matter for a musician to contribute an instantly recognizable style, something many technically proficient musicians never achieve though Ringo has (ditto for Harrison’s slide work, which Eric Clapton, for one, must surely envy). It is not worth further defending the Beatles’ music from Mr. Matthews’ rather gratuitous attacks, for it is after all, really only a matter of taste. I did, however, want to comment on his statement that “the Beatles singlehandedly destroyed the New Orleans recording industry.” This spurious charge has, with slight variations, been leveled against them by various (basically jealous) sectors of the American music industry. An argument could even be made to the contrary. It took a minimalist, back-to-the-roots outfit like the Beatles, steeped in rockabilly and R&B, to cut through the schlock which pop music had degenerated into in the early 1960s, otherwise we may as well have been doomed to decades of Bobby Vees, et al. There is no evidence whatsoever that New Orleans music, however deserving, would itself have been able to break through the mounting swirls of all that cotton candy, nor of what shape its recording industry might have grown (or shrunken) into had the Fab 4 not “crossed the pond.” What is certain, however, is that the emergence of Soul from R&B had every bit as much impact on the music industry nationwide as did the British Invasion, especially in the R&B market. Also certain is that the revival of interest in rhythm and roots music provoked by the Beatles and many other British groups who followed them brought many royalty checks and much recognition to New Orleans musicians. Songs like “I Like It Like That,” “A Certain Girl,” and “Fortune Teller” may have surfaced on the R&B charts in America before the British Invasion, but they became known internationally afterwards; indeed, almost all of the groups in the first line of that invasion covered at least one New Orleans song. Incidentally, the only performer apart from Carl Perkins whom the Beatles liked enough to release covers of more than two of his songs was New Orleans-born Larry Williams, author of “Dizzy Miss Lizzie,” “Slow Down,” and “Bad Boy” (and Lennon remained true to New Orleans, doing Williams’ “Bony Moronie,” Lloyd Price’s “Just Because,” and Lee Dorsey’s “Ya Ya” on his solo back-to-the-rootsRock and Roll lp).
—Russell Desmond, New Orleans, LA
THE BEST SOUND
I’d like to continue to subscribe, because I like to read your magazine. Every month I receive it and really enjoy it. Recently, I especially like the New Orleans street brass band and second lines. Every time I visit New Orleans, I really look forward to seeing the brass bands, they make me feel high, keeps lifting me higher.
I want to read more articles like the July 2001 edition with Miss Geraldine Wyckoff’s brass band story. Brass band music is the best sound for me.
—Jun Futami, Kanagawa, Japan
NOT A REAL VOCALIST
Dean Shapiro criticized my vocal ability on an album that he reviewed…. no biggie, as I have never professed to being a “real” vocalist, for I am a trumpet player! But he did criticize Eddie Powers, who is a New Orleans vocal legend with an extremely good voice. Eddie has made some big hits in his day. He is getting older these days but I have to defend his voice. His voice is still very good! I am sure that Dean Shapiro wasn’t criticizing the quality of the voice but maybe the age of the tune being sung.
—Marco Mannino, New Orleans, LA
DISSATISFIED AND DISGUSTED
First, I felt sorry for the musicians who opened for Cassandra Wilson at the CAC because they faced an angry, highly dissatisfied, and disgusted crowd before they even played a note. Second, I felt sorry for the ladies who dressed for a fine evening of music only to discover that they would have to stand in their high heels for three-and-a-half hours on concrete. Third, I felt stupid for not somehow knowing beforehand that to receive the basic amenities of tap water, a folding chair, and a bathroom with a light so that I could see where I was pissing and not a pitch-black Port-O-Let, I would have to buy a $100 VIP ticket. Evidently the $30 ticket wasn’t enough. I don’t know of any concert hall anywhere that charges that price for these basic services.
Forget the bathroom and tap water. Having a chair would have made up for the quality of the acoustics a warehouse has to offer. But add the poor acoustics to all of the above and the final insult of being charged a $1 for water even though I used the same cup I purchased with a $5 drink and my music experience at the CAC was the worst I have ever had by far.
—Sam Smith, New Orleans, LA
