After two weeks of performance from the likes of Allen Toussaint, Eric Clapton, the funky Meters, John Fogerty, Bruce Springsteen, Phish, Trombone Shorty, and the ridiculously huge tribute to Dr. John on Saturday, May 2, at the Saenger, could there be any mojo left in the city to top off this incredibly memorable Jazz Fest 2014?
Jonathon "Boogie" Long. (Photo by: Elsa Hahne)
Mid-City Lanes Rock ‘n’ Bowl answered with a resounding “yes.” The venue’s final Fest lineup included three of the best guitar players that the state of Louisiana has to offer: Jonathon “Boogie” Long, Tab Benoit, and slide guitar guru Sonny Landreth.
First to the stage: Jonathon “Boogie” Long. I was able to catch Long last year at a nighttime show and I was very interested to see how a year had developed this budding performer. When I arrived, Long was in the middle of a gut-wrenching solo in “Louisiana 1927” that immediately got my undivided attention.
His set included an extended rendition of B.B King’s “Sell My Monkey” and Peter Green’s “Black Magic Woman.” Long confessed to having a slight bit of road fatigue as it was the band’s third gig in twenty-four hours (with the first being in St. Louis).
Despite the grueling work schedule, he wrapped up his set with a high-energy romp through Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”
It seems that Long’s year on the road opening for B.B. King and performing around the country has set him on a fast path to a very exciting career.
Sonny Landreth’s tour-de-force approach to slide guitar playing is an art that is uniquely his. While he does incorporate the stylings of the blues slide greats, Landreth’s melodic sense sends his slide playing into a whole other atmosphere—filled with lush harmonics and overtones that have come to define his sound.
Sonny Landreth at Jazz Fest 2014. (Photo by: Stephen Maloney)
His set at Rock’ n’Bowl on Sunday night found him dipping back into the classics, including Elmore James’ “It Hurts Me Too” (an absolute ground zero for blues slide playing), Big Bill Broonzy’s “Key To The Highway,” as well as a unique arrangement to Robert Johnson’s “Walkin’ Blues.”
After starting with two original instrumentals, Landreth’s original composition “Promised Land” got the audience of Mid-City Lanes into zydeco dance mode.
My favorite selection of the evening was “The U.S.S. Zydecoldsmobile” which also featured the percussion expertise of drummer Brian Brignac.
Throughout the entire night, Mid-City Lanes owner John Blancher seemed to materialize on stage out of the thin air with the promise of “It ain’t over until we say it is.” The foreshadowing of a Sonny Landreth/Tab Benoit late night jam session definitely sent a bolt of electricity through this festival fatigued, but energized, Jazz Fest crowd.
Tab Benoit arrived on The Rock ‘n’ Bowl stage shortly after midnight. He wasted no time sending the crowd into an immediate dance frenzy after launching into Lil’ Bob’s “I Got Loaded,” backed by his own “One Foot In The Bayou.”
The party was indeed on at Mid-City Lanes as the hula-hoops appeared for the first time that evening (a sure sign that dancing on top of the bar was not far behind).
“Oh, it’s going to be one of those Rock ‘n’ Bowl Jazz Fest shows,” Benoit said after wrapping up “Bayou Boogie.” “Fine by me.”
The powerful growl of “Shelter Me” followed, with a pointed solo by guitarist Brint Anderson of George Porter’s Runnin’ Pardners, who joined the band for the evening.
I’ve always admired Tab’s ability to reach back into the New Orleans songbook and make an obscure classic his own. For this performance, Benoit showcased Toussaint McCall’s “Nothing Takes The Places of You” which was followed by Blancher and Benoit exchanging stories about the old days at Rock ‘N’ Bowl in 1989 when he first began performing at Mid-City Lanes.
“We drove from Houma and got paid $180 for the whole band to split,” Benoit said. “We went up on our price since then. We’re at $190.”
The crowd’s anticipation of a jam was met around one o’clock in the morning as Sonny Landreth re-appeared to add his guitar lines with Tab on “We Make A Good Gumbo.” The middle of the song saw the band drop out, leaving these two guitar legends center stage and fretting it out against each other.
What followed next could only be described as a Yardbirds-like “rave up” as Sonny Landreth and Tab Benoit sent the audience all the way up the 21 frets of a Fender Stratocaster. The two continued on stage together for almost another half an hour.
After an incredible night of blues guitar, and an unforgettable two weeks of classic performances from the Fairgrounds to Mid-City and beyond, let the countdown to Jazz Fest 2015 begin!
