I don't know all of the facts regarding Sal Geloso. I do know that he has somehow flown under my radar, and I consider myself a loyal follower of all things New Orleans.
Recently, I started seeing the name Sally Baby's Silver Dollars popping up while checking out the music scene a few weeks before my trip south. I did some YouTubing and found more than I bargained for, including a video from 2011 of Geloso busking in Brooklyn's Bedford Avenue subway station, a 50 minute film showcasing the Silver Dollars, an official video from 2025, and a Tiny Desk Concert that blew my mind.
I decided I had to see this band called Sally Baby's Silver Dollars and so on Saturday, 4/11, I caught the band at The Broadside on a perfectly hot New Orleans afternoon. Geloso, who also doubles as a New Orleans tour guide, introduced himself and the band, saying he was working on two or three hours sleep, but felt spirited. He then said, "I feel moved to play this one, a Ned Towns song called 'How Can You Baby-Sit A Man.'" (Opening with a deep soul cover? I'm in!) Within seconds, I knew there was no turning back. Geloso's voice is at times, somewhere between Sam Cooke and Otis Redding when he plays soul music. Occasionally, he sounds Cab Calloway when swinging, or Leon Redbone when he stays traditional. He and the band knocked every genre out of the park.
From what I could gather, Geloso is from San Francisco, where he started playing folk music. It is unclear how long he has been in New Orleans. One friend said, "He just moved here." Offbeat Magazine mentions how he has been playing in the French Quarter on Royal Street for 15 years. There is only one official release available on Bandcamp, a six track E.P. from 2025, that seems unreasonably priced at $20 for a half dozen MP3s. But almost everything I found on YouTube has turned me into a temporary fanboy. Watching these guys live, especially the brilliant horn section who have meticulously arranged their parts for each song, as opposed to just blowing solos, gives me a feeling that they are about to explode into the must-see act in New Orleans.
I was crushed to find out I had just missed their performance at Joe's Pub in N.Y.C. on March 31st, just a few days before I discovered the band.
Trust me, and find 20 minutes to check out Sally Baby's Silver Dollars' Tiny Desk Concert.
Welcome back Sal....and wow! These guys are great. I'll be at Jazz Fest next weekend and just saw that they are playing Thursday AM so will def get there early to see them!
ReplyDeleteThey can play, and he can sing.
ReplyDeleteGreat to have you back and showcasing underappreciated gems!
ReplyDeleteWOW!
ReplyDeleteSecond, Holy Fuck!
ReplyDeleteFirst line was supposed to read
Delete"First, welcome back"
Thanks for clearing that up. I was going crazy thinking I might have deleted a comment.
DeleteExcellent! I read Rickie Lee Jones autobiography (Last Chance Texaco - HIGHLY recommended) and Sally Baby's Silver Dollars sound and look like something out of that book - an era of America that's generally been washed away. But not with these guys!
ReplyDeleteAnd they even avoid the cul-de-sac of, say, Squirrel Nut Zippers, whom I enjoyed but always knew the joke would end, the shtick would fade. With Sally Baby, it almost goes there, but doesn't - there's more longevity ahead for these arrangements, these songs, this type of singing, than other throwback bands.
Thanks for sharing this.
Also, on the Tiny Desk concert, that's the first time I can remember seeing a full piano wheeled up into the space.
It seems there is always another great New Orleans act to discover! Deep well in that city for sure. This is great, thanks Sal
ReplyDeleteHe definitely was not performing in NO when I was still there. Like you, I saw the name popping up frequently on a bunch of NO sites and then started to find his music. He sounds a lot like Ernie K-Doe and King James and the Special Men. King James (Jimmy Horn) was/is a real interesting and sad story. Horn is from Utah but moved to NO and actually became friends with K-Doe and was mentored by him. Horn starts performing regularly and around 2015, he is taking off in NO. Got a few gigs in NYC and then covid hits, and he just loses it. Allegedly is suffering from addictions, and just abandons his music career and instead starts making his own "exclusive" perfume brands. No idea what he is up to these days. There was one King James album issued, but like a lot of NO music and musicians, the studio versions were tame compared to the live shows (he had a steady weekly gig at the Saturn). Hopefully, Sally gets more out of of his career.
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