Despite tremendous winds -- so strong that nearly all the booths at the Lafayette Square concert were NOT set up, for fear of blowing away, so strong that every gust brought handfuls of dust and grit from all over into your face and eyes and mouth -- the Wednesday at the Square Concert went on as scheduled. Big Man and I met up with my sister D and we three found a good spot in front of what would have been the sound booth but was this week just a sound table. I do believe the crowd was dampened a bit by the extreme wind, so it wasn't as packed as one might have expected. But that just means it as easier to find a good spot to sit, and there were no lines for food (which also was just tables, and not booths, due to the wind).
Irvin Mayfield needed no warm-up group, and just took over the whole two hours. A big band, with Kid Chocolate Brown as the second trumpet, Shannon Powell on drums, David Torkanowsky on the piano, a sax player, and a bassist. Big surprise: Creole jazz banjoist Don Vappie -- nice! They started with some classics, and frankly, I've never seen Irvin so relaxed and comfortable onstage. His playing was smooth and sharp at the same time, and he gave lots of encouragement to his bandmates.
Sitting in the back of the stage were three young women dressed in burlesque-type outfits, and we could not figure out why they were there (though they did seem to be enjoying themselves to the music). Big Man commented, "I think Irvin's been on Bourbon Street too long!" But it became clear in the second half of the show.
The second set began with a tune by some kids that Irvin's is teaching music to, what he called his "Saddy students." (Didja ever notice that working class New Orleanians try to drop and compress syllables, and upper crust New Orleanians stretch them out?) These kids were absolutely terrific, especially this tiny trumpeter, who couldn't have been any more than 8 years old, if he was that, who totally blew us all away with his skillful jazz solo. Irvin said into the mike, "Y'all give him a big hand, this boy tryin' to steal my gig!" We screamed and hollered. I wish I had caught his name, 'cause I feel like years from now, we will want to say, "Oh yeah, I first saw him when he was just a little kid, one of Irvin's students, playing at a Wednesday at the Square concert, back in the day."
After the students left, Irvin led the band through some local favorite tunes, and then called up his next guest -- who was none other than "Trombone Shorty" Troy Andrews!! Wow! Irvin handed Troy his horn, and Troy blew a great version of "Do What You Wanna." With no horn to blow, Irvin was left to vocalize, and to our amazement, he began exhorting the crowd to "shake what yo' mama gave ya" and "c'mon, mama, shake yo' ass." He doesn't sound like THAT when he plays up North!
Irvin himself seemed to emphasize his at-homeness, telling the crowd, "You don't find THIS in Houston, you don't find this in Los Angeles, you don't find this in New York, you don't find this in Chicago" and so on, the crowd appropriately hollering, "NO!" to each iteration of another city.
After Shorty left -- with the crowds screams and applause in his ears, no doubt -- leaving the fancy matte Monette horn to Irvin, Irvin called up another guest, this time Sasha Masakowski. Little Sasha, daughter of jazz guitarist Steve Masakowski, who I last saw opening for Aaron Neville at the House of Blues last December, has really grown into her voice and persona -- she was hot as fire, doing an incredible smoky version of "St. James Infirmary." Whew.
And then when SHE left, Irvin called up Miss Trixie Minx, of the burlesque troupe that appears every Friday night at midnight at Irvin's Bourbon Street club, and one of the three burly-Q ladies that had been adorning the stage all during the first set. Trixie preened and pranced and flirted with giant white feather fans to Vappie's rendition of Blue Lu Barker's steamy classic "Don't You Feel My Leg." It was pretty hot, though, as such things go, it was pretty tame. I mean, you can see more skin on most beaches. It's not like she was actually stripping and showing body parts or anything. Still and all, it's hard to believe this would be public-park, family-friendly fare anywhere but New Orleans. (And indeed, Irvin started up again with his, "They're not doing THAT in Houston, etc." You bet they're not.)
The party was still going on, with Irvin threatening to hold a second line from Lafayette Square to his club on Bourbon as Big Man and I left to see if we had gotten a parking ticket. (Our luck held -- we hadn't.) As we walked, we tried to decide why Irvin seemed so different tonight than the ways we had seen him in Philadelphia and Cape May and Wilmington when we lived up North. Part of it might be just the passage of years -- Irvin has matured as a man and as a player, and that surely contributes to it. But it was not just maturity and confidence that we noticed -- it was also the looseness, the sense of playfulness that Irvin brought to this show. (And all those shout-outs to the crowd.) It has to be his feeling so at home in this special place -- it was New Orleans helping him to be that way. A wonderful thing. Probably the best Wednesday at the Square we've ever attended.
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