To say that the North Mississippi Allstars bounded onto the Acura stage on the afternoon of Sunday, April 27, 2014, is somewhat of an understatement.
Luther Dickinson’s energy was so boundless and contagious that the simple act of sound checking the big bass drum he brought on stage turned into a boogie session. Alvin Youngblood Hart quickly joined Luther on guitar, and pretty soon, the sound check had turned into part of the show.
Photo by Stephen Maloney
Luther bounced around, grinning ear to ear, pounding on that old bass drum and singing into the police issue megaphone he had strapped to the top.
On the other side of the stage, his brother, drummer Cody Dickinson, fiddled extensively with the pedal effects he had hooked up to his homemade electric washboard.
Photo by Stephen Maloney
Cody would have likely spent hours getting the sound just right, but Luther called across the stage that it was time to start the show. With a fistbump and a quiet, smiling exchange between the two brothers, Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis began his introduction, and the show was officially underway.
Photo by Stephen Maloney
I was lucky enough to be in the crowd 14 years ago when the North Mississippi Allstars played the Acura stage for the first time. While that long ago set had me on my feet from the opening notes, this one was vastly different. With Lightnin’ Malcolm on bass, Hart on second guitar, Otha Turner’s granddaughter Sharde Thomas on cane fife, and the Dickinson brothers tearing it up on slide guitar and drums, this show had a much more relaxed feel.
Photo by Stephen Maloney
Cody was terrific behind the drum set, but I soon found out he has some impressive hidden talents. The man can climb like a monkey. Seriously, if anyone was ever born for parkour, it was Cody Dickinson.
After his electric washboard solo, Cody scampered down off the stage, across the speakers, through the photo pit, and onto the crowd barriers. Nimble as a spider monkey, he scampered across the barricades before making his way back up to the stage over by Luther, who by this time was playing bass as Lightnin’ Malcolm had taken up residence behind the drums.
Photo by Stephen Maloney
When Cody made it back to his washboard, which he had cast off quickly to begin his wild flight, he found it had cracked up when it hit the ground. So, being the wildman that he is, Cody proceeded to tear that washboard into pieces, which he gleefully handed out to the crowd – directly above my head.
Photo by Stephen Maloney
I can now add “ducked flying pieces of electric washboard while taking pictures” to my résumé.
Luther, meanwhile, ended up playing a serious solo on a guitar made out of a tin can and what appeared to be a broomstick.
Photo by Stephen Maloney
To those of you complaining about a lack of heritage at the Jazz and Heritage festival, I present without further comment a picture of a North Mississippi bluesman on the festival’s main stage stopping the show with a slide solo played on a guitar made from a tin can.
Photo by Stephen Maloney
Hart would later join in on the improvised instrument act, playing a cigar box guitar. So we had a howler monkey wildman on drums, a trio of improvised instruments, and one of the most energetic blues sets I have ever seen.
Must be Jazz Fest!
