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Piano Night at Tipitina's 1994 |
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New Orleans
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Wednesday, 18 January 2006 18:53 |
The Professor Longhair Foundation Presents
6th Annual Piano Night at Tipitina's
By John Sinclair
It's Piano Night at Tipitina's, the funky uptown New Orleans nightclub, and a diverse cast of New Orleans pianists--including Eddie Bo, Tommy Ridgley, Jon Cleary, David Torkanowky, Dave Paquette, Davell Crawford, Walter Lewis, David Thomas Roberts, Tom McDermott, Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes, Tom Worrell, and Tom Roberts--has gathered to remember and honor New Orleans piano giant Henry Roeland Byrd, better known to music lovers everywhere as Professor Longhair.
The players who have assembled on April 27, 1994 under the aegis of the Professor Longhair Foundation to perform at the sixth annual Piano Night join Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, Ellis Marsalis, Art Neville, Henry Butler, Willie Tee, and many others on the all-star roster of living piano greats who meet each year during JazzFest to pay homage to the late Roy Byrd and help raise money for a permanent memorial to "the Bach of Rock."
No New Orleans pianist has been better loved by the public and his peers than Professor Longhair, who made musical history in the Crescent City by forging a dynamic new synthesis from elements of ragtime, calypso, Afro-Cuban, boogie woogie, blues, traditional and modern jazz--combined with the street beat of the Mardi Gras Indians and the marching brass bands--which at once reflected the complexity of post-war urban life in the Deep South and pointed out the musical direction to be followed for the next 50 years.
Born in Bogalusa, Louisiana on December 19, 1918 and raised in Algiers and downtown New Orleans, Fess came of age between the World Wars and emerged full-blown as an important piano stylist and composer after World War II.
His early recordings, made for Star Talent, Mercury, Atlantic, Federal, Wasco, Ebb, Ron, and Watch Records between 1949-1964, were never big commercial hits, but "his influence on the entire course of New Orleans R&B cannot be overstated," as Jerry Wexler has pointed out. "He was the instructor and role model for such keyboard giants as Fats Domino, Huey Smith, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, James Booker, and Art Neville."
Fess's recordings of "Go to the Mardi Gras" (1959) and "Big Chief" (1964) are still heard all over the Crescent City every Carnival season, but they were not enough to ensure work for him as a performing artist during the 1960s and he left the music world for several years.
Re-discovered by fans from England and New Orleans in 1970-71, Professor Longhair began a new career under the direction of Quint Davis and Allison Minor which took his music to audiences all over the United States and Europe before his death at 61 on January 30, 1980.
Professor Longhair's music continues to attract and delight generations of new listeners as it is issued and re-issued on CDs like Crawfish Fiesta (Alligator Records), Rock 'N' Roll Gumbo (Dancing Cat), Houseparty New Orleans Style (Rounder), Mardi Gras in Baton Rouge (Rhino), New Orleans Piano (Atlantic), Mardi Gras in New Orleans (Nighthawk), and the recent two-disc boxed set, 'Fess, compiled by Rhino Records.
A sensitive and moving portrait of Professor Longhair in action can be seen in Stevenson Palfi's award-winning film, Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together (now available on videotape), which features Fess in the company of fellow pianists Isadore "Tuts" Washington and Allen Toussaint. The three were to perform together in concert, but Fess passed away in his sleep the night before the show. Instead, the film climaxes with scenes from Fess's wake and funeral procession as the New Orleans piano community put their main man away in grand style.
* * * * *
Piano Night is the brainchild of the Professor Longhair Foundation, incorporated as a Louisiana non-profit organization in March 1987 following several years of discussion and planning by a group of devoted Professor Longhair enthusiasts--including the pianist's widow, Alice Walton Byrd--who felt the need to establish a permanent memorial to the great pianist and composer Henry Roeland Byrd.
From the outset, the Foundation focused on the creation of an appropriate memorial to Professor Longhair which would be located at the corner of Napoleon Avenue and Tchoupitoulas Street, across from the music club named for one of Fess's most popular compositions and initially operated by R&B enthusiasts as a place where Byrd could always have a gig.
Initially inspired by the donation of a bust of Professor Longhair sculpted by artist/musician Coco Robicheaux in 1983, the group was encouraged to proceed with its mission when it gained the active support of several City Council members. Early members of the Foundation included Alice Walton Byrd, Coco Robicheaux, Michael P. Smith, Paul Howrilla, Michael Bruno, and Joseph Crawford, the current President. After incorporation they were joined by Emilio "Monk" Dupre, Tad Jones, Jim Peddecord, and Gloria Powers.
The Foundation established its Advisory Board in 1988 and developed the annual Piano Night fund-raiser held at Tipitina's during Jazz Fest. Since 1989, through the efforts of the New Orleans piano community, Piano Night has raised a net total of $10,000 for development of the Professor Longhair memorial project.
In 1992 the Arts Council of New Orleans designated the proposed Professor Longhair memorial as a 'Percent For Art' site and committed $40,000 to the project. This sum has been matched with the Foundation's $10,000 contribution, and artist/designer David Tureau has been chosen by an ACNO panel to design, fabricate, and install the initial stage of the project, which may eventually stretch all the way along the Napoleon Avenue neutral ground from the Mississippi River to Magazine Street.
David Tureau's design for the park includes a photo-etched bronze sculpture of Professor Longhair, 7' high X 6' X 2'6", utilizing Michael P. Smith's classic photo of Fess standing arms crossed in front of a piano, behind which another image of Fess sits at the keyboard. The plaza's name, Professor Longhair Square, will be sandblasted into colored concrete paving, along with verses from Fess's songs and quotes by and about Professor Longhair.
When completed, the Professor Longhair Memorial will be New Orleans' first musical memorial and park dedicated to an African-American rhythm & blues artist--the great Henry Roeland Byrd.
You can join the pianists on this record and the Professor Longhair Foundation in the effort to establish a permanent memorial to Professor Longhair by becoming a member of the Foundation.
ARTIST BIOS
TOM WORRELL worked with Solomon Burke's band for years and is a devotee of the music of James Booker and Professor Longhair.
TOM ROBERTS is a ragtime and stride specialist from Pittsburgh who lives in New Orleans and works regularly with the Silver Leaf Jazz Band.
DAVID THOMAS ROBERTS is a native of Mississippi who is widely hailed as America's foremost contemporay ragtime composer.
BRUCE "SUNPIE" BARNES is best known as an accordianist, harmonica player and leader of the Louisiana Sunspots who loves the music of Fess.
TOM McDERMOTT, a ragtime prodigy as a teenager, developed his blues piano artistry under the tutelage of Clarence "Buckwater" Washington.
DAVID TORKANOWSKY is one of the city's leading contemporary session pianists and a regular member of the modern jazz group Astral Project.
DAVE PAQUETTE, a veteran of the New Orleans piano wars, was David Torkanowsky's first piano teacher and his special guest for Piano Night.
WALTER LEWIS has worked as a solo pianist in New Orleans since the 1930s and was a 20-year member of Danny Barker's Jazz Hounds.
DAVELL CRAWFORD, grandson of the legendary James "Sugar Boy" Crawford, has made a terrific impact as a teenage pianist and vocalist with remarkable artistry in the R&B, gospel, jazz, and pop idioms.
TOMMY RIDGLEY, a master showman, singer, pianist and bandleader, is one of New Orleans' most durable attractions whose recording career stretches back to 1949.
JON CLEARY, the British pianist and composer, is one of the foremost modern-day exponents of the music of Professor Longhair.
EDDIE BO (Edwin Bocage), a contemporary of Professor Longhair, is the masterful Crescent City pianist, composer, producer and performer who has cut dozens of influential recordings since the early 1950s.
The Professor Longhair Foundation Presents
PIANO NIGHT AT TIPITINA'S
Wednesday, April 27, 1994
MC: Ricky Castrillo
1 Tom Worrell: "Crawfish Fiesta" (2:40)
2 Tom Roberts: "The Perfect Rag" (2:43)
3 David Thomas Roberts: "Toulouse Street" (3:56)
4 Bruce 'Sunpie' Barnes: "My Baby Don't Wear No Drawers" (4:26)
5 Tom McDermott: "Let Them Talk"/"The Mule Walk" (6:28)
6 David Torkanowksy & Dave Paquette: "Piano Blues" (4:27)
7 David Torkanowksy: "Professor Longhair Is Passing By" (4:31)
8 Walter Lewis: "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself A Letter" (2:36)
9 Davell Crawford: "Davell's Boogie Woogie" (4:34)
10 Tommy Ridgley: "Down Home Blues" (4:49)
11 Jon Cleary: "Tee Nah Nah" (7:20)
12 Eddie Bo: "Check Mr. Popeye" (5:35)
Recorded by Tony Brooke & Cory Smith for WWOZ Radio New Orleans
Produced by John Sinclair & Jerry Brock
for The Professor Longhair Foundation
Executive Producer: Gloria Powers
The Professor Longhair Foundation would like to thank the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, Breoadcast Music Inc (BMI), Miller Beer, Gambit, WWOZ Radio, the Music & Entertainment Commission of New Orleans, the entire staff at Tipitina's, and our many volunteer staff members for their support of Piano Night at Tipitina's.
The producers would like to thank Gloria Powers, Sadie Peterson Colar, Sherman Bernard, Ricky Castrillo, Michael P. Smith, Barry Smith at the Louisiana Music Factory, Penny Sinclair at Big Chief Productions, David Freedman at WWOZ Radio, Tony Brooke & Cory Smith of DAT On-Site, Keith Keller at Chez Flames Recording, Rick Cioffi & Greg Reilly, Scott Santos and everybody at Ovation Records for their help in realizing this project.
SADIE PETERSON COLAR, born in 1901, has worked with jazz greats going back to 1916, from the legendary Chris Kelly and Buddy Petit to Papa Celestin and her husband, Kid Sheik Colar. We regret that her performance could not be represented on this album.
--New Orleans
February 23, 1995
(c) 1995, 2006 John Sincair. All Rights Reserved.
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