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BLUES FALLIN' DOWN LIKE RAIN - Review from the Vault (1/18/06)

Concert Reviews

Submitted by admin on Tue, 2006-12-19 21:44.

Setbreak.com Concert Review

Merkin Concert Hall

Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8PM

Kaufman Center

presents

Blues Fallin’ Down Like Rain

The New York Guitar Festival

John Schaefer, host

The Music of “Mississippi” John Hurt

Jorma Kaukonen, guitar and vocals

with Barry Mitterhoff, mandolin, active mandolin, and tenor guitar

Bill Morrissey, guitar and vocals

Jen Chapin Trio

Jen Chapin, vocals

Stephen Crump, bass

Jamie Fox, electric guitar

Review by Jeremy Kashnow (January 19^th, 2006)

January in New York City is a riddle. This is winter’s home and Motherfucker Nature hunts you through her maze gnawing her sharp wind at the scraps of skin between your fleece and cap. Why would anyone choose this fierce game over the calm California sunshine hiding on the good coast? This was the question pounding my gulliver as I braved the cold near Lincoln Center last night.

The answer came quickly: People endure weather’s hostility because The City is the center of The Universe and this machine churns out the best of whatever you can imagine all night, every night. And like all great gifts, The City feeds you a brand of fun you wouldn’t necessarily think to get yourself. This place doesn’t just give great answers; it asks great questions.

This is a business David Spelman knows well and as co-founder of the New York Guitar Festival he’s been helping The City ask great questions since 1999. This past Wednesday night he assembled an all-star cast of diverse musicians to celebrate the music of legendary bluesman “Mississippi” John Hurt.

This was the first in a series of four performances held on consecutive Wednesdays this month titled, “Blues Fallin’ Down Like Rain.” Each concert features a handful of contemporary musicians paying homage to a thoughtfully chosen blues icon. John Schaeffer, of WNYC, is hosting these friendly events and his brief interviews complement the music by weaving witty banter through pointed historical queries.

The events are held at the Kaufman Foundation’s Merkin Concert Hall on 67^th Street in the short block between Broadway and Amsterdam. This intimate venue will entertain a few hundred lucky guests with a priceless blend of acoustic fidelity, comfortable seating, and unobstructed views throughout the hall.

For a seasoned music fiend like me, this gem of a hall is a real find. It’s the kind of place that reminds you just how complacent we’ve become – accepting mediocre sound and rude staff as the norm rather than the exception. Most of my typical haunts were designed long ago with a different purpose in mind and later modified to host music concerts. The impact of a specially designed venue on the overall experience cannot be emphasized enough. As we have all come to know - “setting” is half of The Equation.

I’m not sure whose name I noticed first; “Mississippi” John Hurt or Jorma Kaukonen, but the combination of the two certainly caught my attention. I was first introduced to Hurt’s music through the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band of the late 80’s. Spike Driver’s Blues and The Ballad of Casey Jones appear on the live album, Almost Acoustic, from the Fall of ’87. And Louis Collins appeared frequently during the Garcia/Grisman collaborations of the early 90’s. By the time a friend turned me on to Hurt’s album, The 1928 Sessions, I was well-prepared to become an instant fan.

Jorma Kaukonen is known best for his pioneering work with Jefferson Airplane and later Hot Tuna. His raw improvisational style is perhaps the most enduring example of how the San Francisco sound has evolved over the years. His guitar-work is insidious and it will infect you whether you see him in a variation of Tuna at a club like The Sweetwater or as a special guest at any show around the Bay.

The opportunity to hear Jorma and other hand-picked musicians interpret the music of “Mississippi” John Hurt’ seemed like an excellent answer to the question always bouncing around my head: “What would I really like to hear tonight?”

The night began with the Jen Chapin Trio, featuring Jen on vocals, Stephen Crump on stand-up acoustic bass, and Jamie Fox on electric guitar. They played a quick set including I’m Satisfied, Farther Along and Funky Butt.

Stephen Crump demonstrated his versatility with the bass (using the bow on Farther Along) giving Jamie Fox ample room to explore the higher end of the cleft. Jen’s vocal style revealed her family heritage (she is the daughter of folk legend Harry Chapin) as she led the crowd through these old Southern tales.

Jen is a New York-based singer/songwriter and her feminine folk-feel offered the evening’s most unusual perspective on Hurt’s music. While her sweet sound was an interesting lens through which to interpret the Blues, her style felt awkward at times leaving us not at all sure what to the rest of the evening had in store.

Bill Morrissey took the stage and greeted us with a story about meeting Hurt back in 1966, just a month or so before he died. Discussing Hurt’s impact on music in general, he noted that in the same way it is said that every songwriter has been influenced by Bob Dylan, every guitar player has been influenced by “Mississippi” John Hurt whether they realize it or not.

Bill’s gritty acoustic performance began with Avalon Blues, the song responsible for Hurt’s resurgence of popularity in the sixties. This was followed by Hard Time in the Old Town Tonight. He then asked the crowd if Jen had played Funky Butt, to which we hesitantly responded with a slew of inconsistence. He had a terrible time getting a straight answer because we wanted to hear his interpretation of this tune; a request which he promptly granted once he appreciated our humorous tactic.

If You Don’t Want Me led into an ambitious, crowd-engaging sing-a-long of Louis Collins. We joined in for the chorus, chanting “Angels Laid Him Away, Away / Laid Him Six Feet Under The Clay / Angels Laid Him Away.” Jorma Kaukonen then made a cameo, joining Bill for an extended rendition of Payday to help him close the set.

The next act was the unexpected highlight of the night. Dan Zanes (of Del Fuegos fame) is blazing a trail through the world of twenty-first century children’s music and he took the stage with a group of chillun’s calling themselves the “How Not To Get Rich Orchestra.” This distinguished team boasted twin fiddles, mandolin, ukulele, and vocalist with a couple of adults on guitar and squeezebox to chaperone. These youngsters were adorable and they led us through a bluegrass-infused sing-a-long of My Creole Belle just before the intermission. It was a tremendous ending to the set and left us all giggling with admiration. Dan’s work was well-appreciated; not only does this type of ensemble produce A+ entertainment, but it will surely help point the next-next generation in the right direction.

David Spelman and Kerryn Tolhurst began the second set with an instrumental medley of Hurt originals to warm us up. Tolhurst’s twelve-string smoked through what sounded at times like a cocktail of Louis Collins and Stack-O-Lee Blues (as most of Hurt’s tunes do).

Brandan Ross took the stage with an odd arsenal of axes including a couple of full-sized acoustics and a pint-sized soprano. The unique format of this event gave us the opportunity to hear multiple interpretations of certain songs and with Bill and Jorma’s rendition of Payday still fresh in our minds, Brandan delivered a much softer and more personal performance on his diminutive soprano guitar. He followed this with Moaning the Blues and The Chicken.

Jorma Kaukonen and Barry Mitterhoff fed us a generous helping of traditional Mississippi Blues for the final performance of the evening. Stack O’Lee Blues began the set with Barry on mandolin as they told the classic tale of Billy de Lyon’s demise. Casey Jones (or The Ballad Of) shared with us the escapades of the legendary railway engineer. Praying On The Old Camp Ground had us preaching, singing, and praying around the nighttime fire to the twang of Barry’s banjo. Walkin’ The Floor came next, followed by Ain’t No Tellin’ – the first track on Hurt’s 1928 Sessions album. Nobody’s Business But My Own and Big Leg Blues closed out the show.