[Dixielandjazz] Dr. John brings a taste of New Orleans to NYC

[Steve barbone]

Cabaret Review | Dr. John

Crescent City Doctor, Alone, Pays a Call



    
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Review of Dr. John Follows: Note especially that the "forum" is "Popular
Music". What?????

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

NY TIMES By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: May 18, 2005

Beyond his passion for channeling the mythical spirit of New Orleans, Mac
Rebennack, the keyboardist, guitarist, singer and arranger better known as
Dr. John, lives inside his self-invented character: an archetypal Crescent
City hipster and ironic conjurer of spells, by turns Mephistophelean,
sentimental and ribald.
 
Hiroko Masuike for the New York Times
Dr. John performing in a solo engagement at Au Bar on Monday.

Forum: Popular Music

The question hovering in the air on Monday evening at Au Bar, where he began
his first New York solo engagement in 20 years, was how much does a
performer have to sacrifice to live inside his larger-than-life character.
With his loud purple jacket, earring, hat and graying ear-to-ear beard, he
juggled the roles of trickster, magician, sage, curator and nostalgist.

Accompanying himself on piano, he treated the keyboard as a resounding blues
orchestra. His touch was heavy, the grooves remained mostly at midtempo, and
there was little of the accelerated boogie-woogie associated with New
Orleans. The most powerful numbers set up propulsive blues vamps that lasted
throughout a song and elicited handclaps and foot stomps.

In Dr. John's musical universe all popular song can be brought down to the
blues and its tributaries. Popular melodies like Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays,"
Cole Porter's "Love for Sale," Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood" and
Harold Arlen's "Come Rain or Come Shine" were effectively hammered down into
grinding blues grooves.

The best numbers were racy vignettes like "Hen Layin' Rooster," "How Come My
Dog Don't Bark When You Come 'Round?" and "Do You Call That a Buddy," in
which the singer came out from under the piano to have some fun. He is a
wonderful singing storyteller whose barnyard humor and playful growl fused
with his piano into something rollicking, earthy and fundamental.

Performances through Saturday and May 25 to 29 at Au Bar, 41 East 58th
Street, Manhattan, (212) 308-9455.