Myron Walden gets funky

Myron Walden blew the roof off of Fat Cat last Friday night (which is hard to do since Fat Cat's a basement club!) with his band Countryfied. They mixed funk, soul, blues, gospel, jazz, and rock and roll into an intoxicating, high energy show and Myron was working hard onstage. Jared Gold was incredible on organ and Kenneth Salters amazed on the drums. If you're into Booker T & The MGs or Jimmy Smith, you'll be into Myron Walden's Countryfied. As he reminded us, both musically and in his comments between the songs, he grew up in the south, and you can feel it listening to his playing.

Here I am with Myron and Shore Fire's own Miyako Hannan:



Here's Myron wailing:

You see this cat Shaft is a bad mother...

(Shut your mouth.)

That would be Shaft, John Shaft. Sadly, the man who penned the film's immortal theme, Isaac Hayes, has died, at 65. The Times obituary by Ben Sisario may forever redefine the parenthetical use of "furthermore."

Hayes' first recording session was with Otis Redding. With his partner David Porter, he helped create the distinctive sound of Stax Records, which released some of my favorite music of all time.

I produced a soul music project once that wound up being mostly Stax artists, and when I drove cross-country on my way back from LA to NYC, planned my route so I could visit the Stax Museum of American Soul Music on McLemore Avenue in Memphis , one of the better museums anywhere, which contains, among other exhibits, Hayes'1972 peacock blue, gold-trimmed two-door Eldorado Cadillac.

The next time you use a manual toothbrush, try doing it in rhythm to the opening of this tune and see if your recommended two minutes don't go a lot faster:

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Monday night I ventured out to farthest Brooklyn to see John Legend at Wingate Field, part of the excellent and free MLK series presented for three decades by inimitable Brooklyn Borough president Marty Markowitz.

Legend put on a strong, energetic show for the 16,000 attendees that demonstrated his range, from big numbers with the other 11 people on stage (including horn section and three backup singers) to my favorite, just him at the piano singing "Ordinary People," one of the best relationship songs of the past decade. Estelle, just shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, opened.

I so love that I live in a city that puts on free shows like this, and the Philharmonic, and the Metropolitan Opera, and Central Park's Summerstage.

I love even more that Legend donated his performance fee to his own Show Me Foundation, which helps kids in Ghana, and to Camp Brooklyn, which sends Brooklyn kids to sleepaway camp.

Coming soon to Wingate: Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and Patti Labelle.

Souled Out at Blender Theater

James Hunter took the Blender Theater by storm last night. After a lovely set by Tift Merritt, Hunter and his 5-piece band played rhythm and blues grooves alternating with melodic ballads. These guys are tight and so hip! Then, New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint came out to sing and play a little electric piano. They did a rendition of Lee Dorsey's "Get Out Of My Life, Woman" followed by two Hunter originals off the new album 'The Hard Way,' which came out Tuesday.


Here's James spinning a yarn for Shore Fire's Matt Hanks and soul/jazz journalist Ashley Kahn.
















Whoa! James and indulge our zombie sides together!





It's been a busy week for James; Monday, he appeared on Conan O'Brien; Tuesday, he headlined World Cafe Live in Philly, Wednesday in NYC. This morning, James, GO Records' Steve Erdman, James' lovely mother Daphne, and I made our bleary-eyed way over to the CW11 Morning News, where James performed. Here he with CW11 entertainment anchor Emily Frances.

Stomping In New Orleans

Just got back from New Orleans where I was working at the Ponderosa Stomp. Two nights of insane rock n' roll is their motto, and it's spot on. The music started around 6:30 each night and didn't finish until about 3:30. Musical highlights were numerous: Wardell Quezergue's set with Mac Rebennack (aka Dr. John), Jean Knight ("Mr. Big Stuff"), Tammy Lynn, and Tony Owens; the incredible delta blues of Louisiana Red; supercharged rockabilly from the Collins Kids; Eddie Bo showing us a history of funk; the Tail Dragger (a Howlin' Wolf protege) crawling onstage; Barbara Lynn ("We Got A Good Thing Goin'"); and the highly energized ? and the Mysterians; and many more.

The beauty of the Stomp is that it's all there at once and you can literally see and hear the connections between blues, rockabilly, swamp pop, girl groups, surf, funk, soul, gospel, garage rock and psych. The downside is that at any given time, there are often two or three amazing acts playing; it's an embarrassment of riches! Other amazing moments included joking around with Roy Head ("Treat Her Right") and eating a new dish called Pasta-laya backstage with Stomp organizer Grace Callahan. Congratulations to Stomp curator Dr. Ike on an incredible festival. My advice to you? Start planning a trip to New Orleans in late April next year.

Here's Bill Kopp of SKOPE Magazine following an interview with the Green Fuz.








Here's Mac Rebbenack, better known as Dr. John, sitting in during the Wardell Quezergue Rhythm & Blues Revue, one of the highlights of the Stomp for me.










Curator Dr. Ira "Dr. Ike" Padnos was interviewed by Phillip Rollins of MTV.com's Street Team at the Louisiana Museum Cabildo.







Here's swamp blues legend Lazy Lester (original singer of the song "Ponderosa Stomp"), New Orleans electric bluesman Little Freddie King, and Mrs. Samantha Padnos (Stomp organizer and Dr. Ike's wife).







Here's Lester, ? (of Question Mark and the Mysterians) and yours truly backstage.

Ryan Shaw & Bonsai Trees

Ryan Shaw displayed his incredible chops last week on Martha Stewart, wowing the crowd. He sounded great during sound check, but Ryan really connects when there's an audience present. Met bookers Jeffry Culbreth and Maura Kelly, who treated us well in the green room. Martha, for her part, praised Ryan's "timeless" soul music.

Ryan and band are hysterical backstage, cracking non-stop jokes over turkey sandwiches and fresh fruit and, I'm told, the best cappucinos a green room has to offer.

Meanwhile, we learned how to shop for ecofriendly products with Josh Dorfman, "The Lazy Environmentalist"; how to make Poule au Pot with Anne Willan; and saw a multitude of gorgeous bonsai trees on the expansive set.



L-R, here's Rob (pictured with his gorgeous 1969 Telecaster), Keith, Martha, Ryan and Tiny (with awesome 5-string bass).

To see Ryan sing "We Got Love," click here and click "next" in the video box.