Late Night Gumbo Party
Big Al & The Heavyweights
by Alex Vagelatos
For some time, New Orleans-flavored music has been a preferred background toyuppie parties from Main to California. Every big city, no matter how cold itsclimate, has its own aficionados of the terminally upbeat, bouncy music that isa mixture of styles, not unlike the food and the lifestyles of the American citythat most resembles a third world country. Even if there is a whiff of thefaddish in the popularity of this musical gumbo, it is infinitely preferable tothe thin gruel served up by oh, say, Jimmy Buffett.
The recent lawsuit by the young woman who said she was improperlyphotographed for the “Girls of Mardi Gras” video notwithstanding (Fox Newsshowed the offending clip over and over again, no doubt to her bitter chagrin),the New Orleans mix of Zydeco, Cajun, blues, rock n’ roll, Caribbean andAfrican rhythms that makes up this music is irresistible. It conjures up for me,at least, not Bourbon Street but rather a scene of drinking, eating and dancingon the front porch of some modest shack in the Louisiana countryside.
Interestingly, the excellent Big Al & The Heavyweights’ fifth release, LateNight Gumbo Party, is a little less gumbo and a little more chitlins thanwhat I’ve heard of their previous efforts. In other words, in addition to therequisite New Orleans-style songs, such as the title track, “Hey, HeyNanette” and “Take Me Back to New Orleans,” there is an awful lot ofblues-tinged rock n’ roll and 70s-style funk. This is an advisory, not acriticism. BA&TH are a terrific band, and Late Night Gumbo Party iswell produced and mixed. Each player — drummer Al Lauro, guitarist and leadsinger Tim Wagoner, harmonic player Harmonica Red and bass guitarist CalvinJohnson — has his chance to be heard and heard clearly. But the preponderanceof blues is interesting, considering that BA&TH insist they are not a bluesband.
Despite such delightful lines as “Straight up on St. Charles Ave./ rightpast the oak trees to the Audubon Zoo,” much of Late Night Gumbo Party evokesnot scenes of New Orleans but rather the blues/rock of Derek and the Dominoes.On a couple of cuts, such as “I Should Have Loved You,” Wagoner sings likeEric Clapton and plays likes Duane Allman. Not that there’s anything wrongwith that. The playing of the estimable Mr. Red on “Real Good Time,” and“Flavor of the Month,” however, adds a soulful spiciness not found on Layla.And if the complete recipe never quite provides the nutrition of that fameddouble album, it certainly tastes like the real thing and makes for some greatleftovers.
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