Dr John Live at the Village Gate – 2 CD Set
This double album is a previously unissued live set at the Village Gate in New York City. Dr John’s showcase was captured on March 5th, 1988, with 7 tracks on CD #1 & 5 on CD #2. Produced for release by Cheryl Pawelski & Karla Pratt. The CD is a handsome 6-panel with liner notes by Joe Marchese, but has no stitched insert, lyrics or show photos of the event.
The legendary New Orleans musician Dr John (Mac Rebennack) laid down 12 tracks at a building erected in 1896 as a flophouse & by 1958 a nightclub that was a Greenwich Village landmark. It’s now a CVS pharmacy. History has an odd sense of humor.
With a tight 7-piece band, Dr. John (pianist/singer/bandleader/songwriter/producer & arranger) on this evening for Live at the Village Gate – 2 CD Set (Dropped Nov. 21/Omnivore Recordings) was fortunate that Barbara “BB” Becker, Dr John’s de facto manager, pressed the record button on her tape recorder.
Sound-wise, the performance was pristine & Dr John, in fine voice, was entertaining throughout the session. Backed by a stellar group from the opening tunes. “Renegade,” a Dr John & Gerry Goffin original with the Night Tripper’s rap break, or should I say hipster dialogue. On “Qualified” (a Jesse Hill/Dr John tune) with its amazing groove & another dialogue punctuated by saxes. Both have marvelous solos & piano playing.
A song with a Billie Holiday jazz flair warms up with “Life Is a One-Way Ticket.” Tantalising, slow, then bluesy & magnetically strong to the ears. The Lew Soloff trumpet pierces the nightclub atmosphere. You can almost smell the draft beer, Chesterfields & Lucky Strikes burning in the darkness. Then a smoker Joe Caro guitar with steely threads along the lissome-graceful 88 keys of the piano just beneath the guitar’s soaring barbed-wire notes. Followed by a strangled trumpet high note. Superb as it slides back into Dr John’s connective tissue piano. This was excellent.
On a night like this, the band could’ve backed up Frank Sinatra. It’s admirable when a band can rehearse just enough & not lose their looseness, which this music requires to release its magic absorbingly into the room. Dr John has his funkier moments. Nothing is contrived.
He was an artist for select tastes, but there was no doubt his style was purely original, always creative & challenging. The tag, the Night Tripper, may have been too weird for some, the fashion a bit outlandish & the weird LP covers may have put off some record buyers in the early days. But over the years, Dr John became an endearingly respected artist. I liked his vocal intonation, tone on rare songs like Jack Dupree’s “One Dirty Woman.” As distinctive a voice as Tom Waits, John Prine, Dylan & Leonard Cohen. A signature voice you knew when his voice pierced the air. On this tune, the lead guitarist Joe Caro takes a run reminiscent of the sound Eric Gale negotiated with powerful, full-fat notes.
A bit darker & swampy in a New Orleans motif is Dr John’s original “I’ve Been Hoodooed.” As decoratively gutsy with cocktail shaker bluster as the best latter-day Tom Waits. What a pair those artists would’ve made live. Creed Taylor-type hippopotamus sax notes bellow & intertwine with an exhilarating trumpet. Bracingly smart music.
The 2nd CD contains 5 more traditionally oriented numbers. Starting with a loosening up medley of old R&R “Let The Good Times Roll/Ooh Poo Pah Doo.” Effective but not essential, Dr John. It does possess a suave guitar solo & some hot sax that gives the song the value added. The rollicking “Mess Around” is more like it – invigorating, steamy & danceable. A muscular trumpet & guitar dominate & peel paint from the walls. Terrific.
Dr John reaches back into the warm & reminiscent Hoagy Carmichael-Stuart Gorrell songbook for their classic “Georgia On My Mind.” With the right vocal tonality for this slow classic that transcends eras. Dr John’s wonderful arrangement blossoms. I wish I could play piano to play this song. It’s a bit nostalgic now, but this is an engaging set of music.
Highlights – CD #1 (50:15) – “Renegade,” “Qualified,” “Life Is a One-Way Ticket,” “One Dirty Woman,” “I’ve Been Hoodooed,” & “Rain.”
CD #2 (43:34) – “Let The Good Times Roll/Ooh Poo Pah Doo,” “Mess Around,” “Georgia On My Mind,” & “Mama Roux.”
Musicians – Ronnie Cuber (baritone sax), Lou Marini (tenor sax), Lew Soloff (trumpet), Joe Caro (guitar), Wilbur Bascomb (bass), Richard Crooks (drums) & Trazi Williams (congas).
Cover CD photo courtesy of Joseph A. Rosen. CD @ Amazon & https://omnivorerecordings.com/shop/live-at-the-village-gate/
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