After what seemed like an eternity in the car Charlie, who I thought was asleep the whole time, opened his eyes and a smile broke on his face. “Let’s get this done!!!”. With that he headed off for his rehearsal and I ecstatically drove home to prepare for our session the next day before heading out again for the show.
That evening the Mardi Gras festival come to us!! Incredible musicianship with big beats, sub sonic Tuba riffs, swinging tenors, talking trombones and wailing clarinets that combined into an irresistible groove. Half way through Charlie kicked off on solo clarinet then broke into song. What a voice!!
After one of the best concerts I’ve been to we met up and he reminisced about his early years and I complemented him on his vocal prowess. I also tried to eek out any information on my heroes like Professor Longhair, Huey “Piano” Smith, James Booker and the good Dr.John, all giants of New Orleans piano all of whom he knew. Nursing a bourbon he regaled one fascinating story after another whilst I complemented him on his vocal prowess.
The evening came to an end and Charlie took his last sip, bid his farewells and with a sly grin said that he would be more than happy to do the vocals on the album as well.
I felt like a low class grifter!!
That night the stars seemed to twinkle that much brighter.
