Tuesday through Friday, bassist Peter Harris holds a residency at The Bayou Bar, a small box of a dining room and bar inside the Ponchartrain Hotel on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. Now that it's been discovered, it is hard to keep people away, especially me. Each night is different, with Tuesday being touted as The OGs, which features a semi-usual quartet consisting of Harris, drummers John Vidacovich and Stanton Moore alternating, pianists David Torkanowsky and Dwight Fitch trading off, and horn players like Tony Dagradi, Derek Douget, Wessell Anderson and John Michael Bradford, coming and going as available. While many of these names might mean nothing to you, I can tell you, these are the elite jazz players of the Crescent City. Think of them as the '61 Yankees, or supergroups like the Traveling Wilburys and Blind Faith.
I won't bore you with the details of the rest of the week. Just trust me. If I lived in New Orleans, this is where I'd be every night, especially Wednesdays, which Peter Harris calls Firm Roots. Holding court is a band featuring any combo from the names above, but (almost) always The New Orleans Groovemeister on drums. The Groovemeister is the one and only Herlin Riley, who I have mentioned on these pages before.
Admission is free and it fills up fast.
I was there this past Wednesday and Friday. I had to see Herlin but was surprised when Peter Harris introduced the players. On drums in the Groovemeister's chair, was a young kid named Travis Simmons. I knew he'd be good. You can't hack away like Meg White, or me, and get to play with these guys, though I admit feeling a bit disappointed at the absence of Mr. Riley. About an hour into the set, I had forgotten about Herlin's absence. Travis Simmons stunned the entire room.
As I stood, mouth agape, possibly drooling, I felt as if I was not just hearing, but seeing Tony Williams or Art Blakey or Elvin Jones. Simmons was not only able to swing and rarely miss, he pounded that set with an intensity I haven't witness in some time. He channeled the greatest jazz drummers right before my eyes.
Finally, after about 75 minutes, Herlin Riley shows up and plays the last three songs of the first set, and of course, wowed the entire room with his brand of Crescent City cool and finesse. Simmons thanked Herlin for allowing him to sit in and that was that, another New Orleans night for the books.
Apologies in advance for the Zapruder like footage, but it's the best I could do under tight conditons.
Just watch Travis Simmons set fire to The Bayou Bar.
The Quinn Martin epilogue tomorrow.
7 comments:
That was not hyperbole. Wow. Thanks for that footage. Is there more? I look forward to more tales from your second home.
Nice! Simmons is relatively new to the NO scene - he started playing in the city, after we left, but friends there told me about him. That is a great place to catch some amazing jazz shows. Was fortunate to have caught an Astral Project re-union (sort of) there, with all but Masakowski playing.
Tasty!
- Paul in DK
Tantalizing!
That was what you sold in your description -- very very hot! It drove home to me that, while I'm not a jazz fan in general, I do love jazz drumming.
C in California
Welcome back, BTW.😎
Got more footage? I'd like to see more evidence. Those are some pretty heavy names you're comparing him to. No Jack Dejohnette, Max Roach? Sandy and I had been huge fans of McCoy Tyner for decades before his death. We saw him every time he played between San Diego and Santa Barbara. When he played with ensembles, he had some great sidemen, including Elvin Jones, Ron Carter, Alphonse Mouzon, Billy Cobham, Tony Williams, Stanley Clarke etc. You get the picture. I've seen him solo, with trios, quartets, quintets, sextets, septets. The trio he had thru the 1990's had Avery Sharpe on bass and Aaron Scott on drums. The first time I saw this line-up was 1989. I didn't like Scott's playing style at first. But he grew on me after seeing the whole five night-run at the Catalina. That fucker never ever played the same thing twice. He was a whole different trip from most jazz drummers. At least to us with our limited jazz knowledge. He was good enough for McCoy who kept him for years. Besides, McCoy never played the songs the same way twice, either. When firing on all cylinders, these guys would play off each other and give as good as they got. Aside from all his sideman albums, I've got about three feet of albums where McCoy is the leader. Just listened to Infinity this past weekend. That's the one with Brecker guesting. It's totally boss. Was surfacationing in Colombia when I got the word he died. Last time we saw him he had a quartet with Joe Lovano guesting in Costa Mesa.
Anyway, is this Simmons guy on any recordings? The epilog should be right around the corner for you to wrap it up with a bow.
Welcome back if I haven't said it already. And don't get too homesick for away.
VR
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