Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Summer 2008 - (Page 94)

The music of words, and the words of music A spring flood of CDs and books As high water threatens to burst the banks of the Mississippi, optimists and antiquarians alike are reminded of the fertile soil, deposited by annual spring floods, that gave Egypt the sobriquet “the gift of the Nile.” Aficionados of Louisiana music will likewise benefit from the beneficent deluge of fine new releases that occurs during the annual rite of spring that is Jazzfest — officially the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Among such gifts this year, is the aptly-entitled retrospective set Just a Little Bit of Everything by the veteran New Orleans saxophonist Herbert Hardesty (www.herberthardesty.com). Born in 1925, Hardesty’s diverse, distinguished resumé includes rhythm & blues and jazz, both traditional and modern. Hardesty has toured and recorded with Fats Domino ever since 1949 — continuing to do so on the rare occasions when Domino still performs — and is also an active member of Dr. John’s band. In past years, Hardesty accompanied Roy “Good Rocking Tonight” Brown, Professor Longhair, Smiley Lewis, Shirley and Lee, and renaissance man Dave Bartholomew, among other luminaries. In the traditional New Orleans jazz vein, Hardesty learned his craft with such noted bandleaders as Joe Robichaux, Sidney Devignes, and Papa Celestin. Upon moving to Las Vegas — although he is still a frequent visitor to New Orleans — Hardesty’s professional scope expanded to recording sessions with the likes of such modern/progressive jazz icons as Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie, and the jazzinfused crooners Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. Just A Little Bit Of Everything does not anthologize the entire breadth of Hardesty’s work, presumably because of the daunting legalities involved in reissuing recordings by Sinatra et al. Even so, the album finds Hardesty covering a wide stylistic gamut from New Orleans R&B to basic blues, jazz standards such as Duke Ellington’s “Caravan,” steamy sax ballads, album notes do not include personnel listings or recording dates; the sound quality would seem to indicate that the material — some of which is from live performances — dates back to the early 1960s. But the absence of such data does not detract from the pure pleasure of listening to Hardesty’ music. Still in peak form at age 83, Hardesty performed with many bands on the recent roots-music extravaganza known as The Ponderosa Stomp (www.ponderosastomp.com), which was held in New Orleans at the House of Blues. Among the numerous other highlights of the two-evening event, which coincides with Jazzfest week, was a rare performance by the erstwhile New Orleans R&B singer James “Sugarboy” Crawford. Crawford is best known for the 1954 hit “Jockomo,” which set traditional Mardi Gras chants in a then cuttingedge, commercial R&B arrangement. Crawford continued to record prolifically until 1963, when a severe beating by police almost killed him. After slowly regaining his health, Crawford turned away from secular music and now sings gospel material only; significantly, the nickname “Sugarboy” was not used to bill him at The Ponderosa Stomp. It is no small achievement to take the stage at a packed nightclub and captivate a crowd with a set of allreligious material, yet Crawford did just that, hushing a rowdy audience into rapt attention. Fifty years later, his urbane-yet-urgent soaring voice remains remarkably unchanged, and the dynamics once used on songs such as “She Gotta Wobble When She Walks” translate well to “Amazing Grace” and “Walk Around Heaven All Day.” The singer was accompanied by his grandson, the noted pianist Davell Crawford, whose dramatic and much-filigreed keyboard work and the Hardesty originals “Perdida Street,” “Adam and Eve,” “Beatin’ and Blowin’,” and the title track. Hardesty unifies this varied material with a pleasingly rich tone and phrasing that is always rhythmically precise yet never feels hurried. His accompanists include the venerated New Orleans R&B guitarists Roy Montrell and Walter “Papoose” Nelson, and jazz pianist Hank Jones. Unfortunately, the 94 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Summer 2008 http://www.ponderosastomp.com http://www.herberthardesty.com http://www.herberthardesty.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Summer 2008

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Summer 2008 Contents Friends Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities George Rodrigue’s Louisiana: Cajuns, Blue Dogs & Beyond Katrina The Historic New Orleans Collection After The Flood Faubourg Marigny: The Creole “Suburb” Preserving New Orleans Jazz, One Generation at a Time: Conversation & Music with Tom Sancton Louisiana Foodways Louisiana Architecture Baton Rouge Photographs, 1863-1910 Jazz Notes The Ogden Museum of Southern Art Louisiana Association of Museums Nature of the “Beast” Louisiana State Museum Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Summer 2008

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