Joe Muscara Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 My wife and I spent three nights in New Orleans last week over Christmas. The first night (Christmas Eve) we saw our own Josh Paxton accompanying Antoine Diel at the Roosevelt Hotel. They both were amazing. If you get a chance to check Antoine out, I recommend it. We got to hang with Josh a bit between sets, too. Christmas Night we saw Scott (smanzella) playing with Leroy Marshall at Bourbon O on the corner of Bourbon and Orleans. Despite its location, it was a cool bar with good drinks. Leroy and the band put on a great, entertaining show. He plays there regularly as well. We also got to hang with Scott between sets and after the show. The night of Boxing Day, we got together with Josh and Beth at Buffa's. The piano player that started at 8 was great, Tom McDermott. He's another New Orleans-style player, and he played some things that Josh can explain better than I can. I just know it was unusual and impressive. I had not heard of him before that night, but I hope to catch him again sometime. Since Josh gigs there at times, they all knew him and had him sit in. For one tune, Josh and Tom played, the same piano. Tom described it as a "six hands" version of his song Martin's Mambo as Michelle Welchons was playing percussion on the set as well. I managed to record a video of the three of them and posted it with Tom and Josh's permission. Enjoy! [video:youtube] Quote "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nursers Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 That is so damn cool on so many levels! :thu: I had no idea there were digital cajons either! Quote The Keyboard Chronicles Podcast Check out your fellow forumites in an Apple Music playlist Check out your fellow forumites in a Spotify playlist My Music: Stainless Fields Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Lobo Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 Thank you for this! Quote These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Paxton Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 Thanks Joe, it was great to see you guys! Tom is one of the first pianists I met when I moved to New Orleans over 25 years ago. I had gone to the Tulane jazz archive to research James Booker, and they had a whole thick folder full of articles about him, but they were mostly record reviews and local newspaper interviews. There was only one thing that dealt with his playing: an article from Piano Today magazine by a guy named Tom McDermott, who apparently lived in New Orleans. So I did what you did back then: looked him up in the white pages, found his number, and left a message on his answering machine introducing myself and asking if he gave lessons. We got together, discovered we had a lot of the same musical interests, and became fast friends. The tune is one that was on Tom's first record. I learned it because it was his take on a left-hand pattern that he and I had both independently stolen from Harry Connick Jr.'s version of "Avalon" â basically a Booker approach applied to a Fess rhumba rhythm. That was our first-ever attempt at playing the tune together, so I guess we pulled it off acceptably well. (Buffa's is a pretty relaxed gig, where you can get away with trying stuff like that.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkaster Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 Nice guys. Quote "Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello" noblevibes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Quinn Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 Excellent! Quote https://alquinn.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted December 31, 2019 Author Share Posted December 31, 2019 It's always great to see you guys as well, Josh, even when you're not playing. Seeing you play is a huge bonus. Another cool thing we did on this trip was to visit the New Orleans Jazz Museum. They had a section dedicated to Louis Prima, which was as much fun as he was, apparently. (I probably heard some of his stuff when I was a kid in the Italian side of the family, but I'm not sure.) They had a room dedicated to Fess including that horrible RMI he had, and two smaller rooms with stuff about the Jazz and Heritage Festival. They also had a room where there was Fats' piano that was damaged in Katrina, a piano that had belonged to Dr. John, and Louis Armstrong's very first cornet. You don't see those kinds of things every day. Quote "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted December 31, 2019 Author Share Posted December 31, 2019 Upright from Tipitina's Quote "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted December 31, 2019 Author Share Posted December 31, 2019 Dr. John's piano Quote "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted December 31, 2019 Author Share Posted December 31, 2019 Fats Domino's Steinway B (which isn't a "baby grand" like the placard claims!) Quote "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 the New Orleans Jazz Museum. They had a section dedicated to Louis Prima, which was as much fun as he was, apparently. I first heard Loius Prima as a kid watching Disney's "The Jungle Book". He performed the song "I Wan'na Be Like You". Still dig that song today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted December 31, 2019 Author Share Posted December 31, 2019 the New Orleans Jazz Museum. They had a section dedicated to Louis Prima, which was as much fun as he was, apparently. I first heard Loius Prima as a kid watching Disney's "The Jungle Book". He performed the song "I Wan'na Be Like You". Still dig that song today. Yeah, that was his "comeback" after falling out of favor to rock and roll and all that. It was a part of the display. They were also showing the documentary about him at the entrance. It was on YT but it's gone now. I hope I can find it somewhere. Quote "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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