I sometimes compile musical diaries for my DKos friends.
There’s a certain style of piano playing with a certain New Orleans flavor. I thought perhaps people would like to hear some good examples of this unique style, along with some comments.
Suggestion: If your connection is fast enough, you can start a song playing and then open a new page in your browser to read other Daily Kos diaries while you listen to the music.
More under the fold.
Professor Longhair (1918-1980)
Professor Longhair defines the quintessential New Orleans style (here’shis Wikipedia page). If you listen to only one song in this diary, make it this one. I wish I had the talent to play like this. Here’s Professor Longhair doing "Tipitina" (he starts with arpeggios and fanfares; the main song starts at about :33). I get a thrill from his yodeling vocals, too. Here’s the prototypical genius of the New Orleans piano:
He was born Henry Roeland Byrd, but was generally known as "Professor Longhair" (or "Fess" for short). Some New Orleans pianists – Allan Toussaint and Dr. John – credit him as their greatest influence.
Professor Longhair recorded a bunch of records in the 1950s, although he never achieved the popularity of Fats Domino (who had a very similar New Orleans piano style). He fell on hard times in the 1960s (when he couldn’t get musical gigs and worked as a janitor for a while) and then began to make a comeback in the ‘70s. He died in 1980, while he was in the middle of making a documentary called "Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together." Here’s a clip from that movie, with Professor Longhair, Allan Toussaint, and Tuts Washington. Fess has the light blue shirt, Toussaint is the younger guy in the white shirt/brown vest, Tuts has the dark shirt/dark jacket/brimmed hat and he’s the first to play.
Three pianists jamming together and improvising. The song has a basic boogie woogie structure, spiced by the New Orleans piano style.
If you’re a piano player, you might want to watch the clip below where Allan Toussaint explains the stylistic inventions of Professor Longhair.
Dr. John (1940-)
Although his given name is Malcolm "Mac" Rebennack, Jr., he’s usually called Dr. John.
Here’s Dr. John doing "Iko Iko" – a song I picked for this diary because you can watch his fingers on the piano and try to figure out how he does it. This is fascinating to watch if you’re a pianist.
He performed as "Dr. John, The Night Tripper," in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, a persona that combined psychedelic and voodoo (with a touch of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins). Then he had a big hit song, "Right Place Wrong Time" followed by "Such A Night." He was popular as a session musician – you can hear him on songs by the Rolling Stones, Carly Simon and James Taylor ("Mockingbird"), Rickie Lee Jones, and Harry Connick, Jr.
Champion Jack Dupree (1908-1992)
Let’s travel back in time. His birth name was William Thomas Dupree. According to his Wikipedia biography, Champion Jack Dupree was orphaned at the age of two and grew up in "The New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs (also the alma mater of Louis Armstrong)."
In this clip, he’s getting old. I’d have to classify him as a blues musician. But listen to his piano style. It’s got that New Orleans flavor.
James Booker (1939-1983)
Here's what Wikipedia says. According to the guy who uploaded this song to YouTube:
Its been written that if you ask anybody who is not from New Orleans who is the greatest pianist from the Big Easy, you will hear names like Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint, Fats Domino, Dr. John and Harry Connick Jr. Ask anybody from New Orleans who is the best pianist and theyll tell you 9 out of 10 times, James Booker.
Here’s the clip (sorry, it has no video outside of a single still photo). The song’s melody and structure are exactly the same as "St. Louis Blues" by W.C. Handy, the father of the blues. Here’s the song (and yeah, he’s good – and you can hear the New Orleans piano style in the song):
Bill Payne (1949-)
First I’ll say a few things about about Lowell George (1945-1979). Great singer, great songwriter, musical genius, co-founder of Little Feat. He died at the age of 34 from an accidental drug overdose.
If you’ll be my Dixie chicken, I’ll be your Tennessee lamb. Here’s a video of Little Feat, with Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, and Jesse Winchester, (and Lowell George playing guitar and singing lead vocals before he died):
It’s really sad that Lowell George died at a young age from an overdose.
But the other co-founder of Little Feat, the other genius of Little Feat was Bill Payne (who wrote the song "Oh Atlanta"). OK, he was born in Waco, Texas. But he picked up the N.O. style. According to Wikipedia, Payne has worked and recorded with other musicians "including J. J. Cale, Doobie Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Bryan Adams, Pink Floyd, Bob Seger, Toto, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Helen Watson, Stevie Nicks, Shocking Edison, and Stephen Bruton."
Here’s Bill Payne on piano, playing his song "Oh Atlanta" with a definite New Orleans style:
Jelly Roll Morton (1885-1941)
His birth name was Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe. Another great pianist from New Orleans. Here’s what Wikipedia says about him.
The following is a song done in ragtime style recorded from a piano roll recorded by Jelly Roll Morton. You can hear the hints of the New Orleans piano style in it.
Bix Beiderbecke (1903-1931)
Here’s Marian McPartland playing the piano composition "In a Mist" by Bix Beiderbecke, who died at the age of 28. Here’s the Wikipedia link. Beiderbecke was a white kid from Davenport, Iowa (on the Mississippi River, which connects to New Orleans). Bix died at a young age (probably related to alcoholism), but his short-lived musical flame burned bright, like Jimi Hendrix or Kurt Cobain or Janis Joplin or many other musicians. The genius of Bix Beiderbecke was extinguished too soon.
Thanks for reading these words and for listening to the songs. I hope you enjoyed them.