Last tuesday I had the immense pleasure of attending a concert by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at the New Morning club in Paris. I really thought I wouldn't be able to make it. I was in the middle of moving houses and issues with the old house forced me to go way out of Paris in the afternoon and drop my wife to the new house on the way back. By then it was so late that I got stuck in the traffic jams.
I could see the clock ticking, and I was only very slowly getting closer to the venue. The gig was due to start at 9 PM, and by 8:45 I was still quite a way away, so I decided to ditch my car in the first parking lot I found and catch the metro for the rest of the way. I finally arrived litteraly minutes before the gig started, feeling winded, cracnky and knackered after four days of packing,cleaning, moving boxes and unpacking.
After three minutes of the Dirty Dozen thang, I was grinning like a lunatic and grooving despite my excessive weight. Man, what a band... The gig started with the drums and sousaphone laying a groove for Jamie McLean's guitar. Then, gradually, the others joined in to lay the riff-esque groundwork for a rousing version of Charlie Dozen (I think). The sound where I was standing was awesome, and I could feel my guts vibrate along with the barytone sax when Roger Lewis hit the low register.
They followed by another two instrumentals in the same funky-groovy vein, and the audience was already totally wild. It was really a sight to behold. I often despair of music audiences who, it sometimes seems, turn their back on music as an art for music as a consumable product, but being part of that audience reconciled me with my fellow music enthusiasts !
Efraim Towns then presented the band and its New Orleans roots as an introduction to Just a Closer Walk with Thee, followed by what sounded like a funkified medley of N'awlins tunes, including Oh when the Saints. The gig then oscillated between fairly straight New Orleans gems (Junco Partner, I'll Fly Away, My Feet Can't Fail me Now, etc.) with Efraim singing and original instrumentals of the funky variety, amidst which I recognised Unclean Waters (with the obligatory Fire in the Bayou tease at the beginning), Inside Straight, Remember When and others.
The band played for three amazing hours with just a short break in the middle which game me the opportunity to talk with Jamie McLean, who turned out to be a very nice and open gentleman on top of an amazing guitar player. I asked how it felt being the only harmony instrument in a band of solo instruments, and he said that he enjoyed the great freedom it conveyed, since he could pretty much go anywhere he wanted with little fear of clashing with the other instruments.
After the end of the second set, the crowd called for an encore (unsurprisingly), and Roger Lewis (barytone), Kevin Harris (tenor) and Terrence Higgens (drums) jumped back on stage for what can only be described as a hip-hop tune sung by Roger Lewis, the "dirty old man". Very groovy and hilarious as he encouraged ladies to join him on stage.
The gig then finished with Ain't Nothin' but a Party, a fitting finale: it was indeed nothing but ! I was particularly blown by the barytone sound of Roger Lewis, and the interplay between the four horns on building riffs to sustain the melodies. Sometimes the riffs would be lain by the barytone and tenor, sometimes by the barytone and the trombone and the remaining two instruments would then play the theme. Jamie McLean's subtle accompaniments and his occasional fiery solos were also a great pleasure.
Three hours of pure bliss with numbers taken from all my favourtite albums : Buck Jump, the reference for their funky-jazz side, Medicated Magic, their most varied and representative of the whole range, Funeral for a Friend, the quieter, "back to the roots" trip, and the New Orleans Album, not to forget We Got Robbed, the amazing live performance. There were even quite a few numbers I'm pretty sure I hadn't heard before. Hopefully new upcoming stuff !
All through the gig I tried to take photos with my mobile, but most of them ended up either over-exposed or blurred. I found a French language website with some nice photos here, if you're interested !
I have been silent way too long, let's just say that 2006 had a rocky start, and things are not improving yet. Bad excuses, I know, but excuses nonetheless. In the meantime, I just wanted to point you to an amusing entry to the Photoshop Contests at Worth1000.com. It's a harmonica, only it's just got one hole. Here's the 
