{"id":1394,"date":"2015-10-01T14:49:23","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T13:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/?p=1394"},"modified":"2018-07-14T17:20:07","modified_gmt":"2018-07-14T16:20:07","slug":"cultivating-new-orleans-music-in-england-the-end-of-an-impossible-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/cultivating-new-orleans-music-in-england-the-end-of-an-impossible-dream","title":{"rendered":"Cultivating New Orleans Music In England – The End Of An Impossible Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Forty4,
My band, ‘Forty4’, actually playing to a rare Northwest audience in 2015 who dig our music! Sadly, this club has ceased to operate which is a huge blow to the Northwest Blues circuit. Photograph by Lucas Campbell.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some things you shouldn\u2019t even try, but what the hell, if the recipe looks good on paper, then why shouldn\u2019t you have a go? Unfortunately, even when the ingredients are right, the cooking is perfect and the dish is served with passion, adventurous cuisine can often fail to arouse the taste buds of regular diners.<\/p>\n

Apply this analogy to music and it can set the modus operandi for a band that spend the best part of 10 years trying to break into a scene, yet fail to cut the cake, without realising the reasons why. Sometimes you need to see up close the source of what you venerate, in order to realise where and why you have been getting things so wrong.\u00a0 In a monumental personal eureka moment, my experience at a recent \u2018Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen\u2019 gig delivered themuch needed clarity evading me for so long. Not only did the band slay me in every positive way possible, they also provided the final missing piece of a musical jigsaw puzzle I\u2019d been searching for the best part of a decade.<\/p>\n

The Start of A 10 Year Learning Curve<\/h3>\n

It all started back in 2005 when a new name hit the fringes of the drumming world with his take on New Orleans street-beat drumming. Having already had my interest in drumming history stirred up by Lenny Kravitz drummer, Zoro, Stanton Moore took another large slice on my roster of historical study material, his double-DVD set simulating a gift from the Gods of New Orleans drumming. Suddenly, all those \u2018Meters\u2019 tunes, Little Richard, Louis Jordan and \u2018Neville Brothers\u2019 cuts stated to make sense rhythmically.<\/p>\n

My late awakening to New Orleans music and realisation about its contribution to not only the history of the modern drum set, but entire the course of modern popular music, was akin to discovering the keys to the biggest musical treasure chest imaginable; I was hook & sling to the cause, soul sold to the 2nd line. Next problem – where do you get to mash up some N\u2019awlins chops in England?<\/p>\n

Enter the \u2018Forty4\u2019 band project and our optimistic idea to mix Blues, Soul, Funk, Jazz and R&B and take it to the British gig-street. We would achieve this by selling it to the current British Blues circuit and sliding in our niche alongside the glut of guitar-slinger groups, hoping our fresh fruit would stand out against the predictable, tired produce. Well, we certainly honed a sound like no one else in the UK, got ourselves on BBC Radio 2, Blues festivals, Jazz festivals and picked up a small following of loyal appreciators. But despite our efforts, we remained frustratingly tagged as an amazing band of musicians, but too far outside of the British \u2018mainstream\u2019 Blues taste radar.<\/p>\n

Revelation No.1<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s an early Monday evening in 2008 and I\u2019m eating dinner, half-listening to the radio. BBC Radio 2 are broadcasting the weekly Paul Jones Blues show and it\u2019s just about audible behind table conversation. Like a dog sleeping with one eye open, I am aware that Jones is interviewing ex-pat musician and long-time New Orleans resident, Jon Cleary. I\u2019ve heard he plays piano in the Bonnie Raitt band and is pretty good on his own but at this point, I\u2019m unaware exactly<\/em> how good he is. I know he\u2019s a fairly regular visitor here, coming home to play the UK Blues and Jazz festivals but up to now, I have yet to hear him. What happens over the next 40 minutes becomes one of those life-changing musical moments.<\/p>\n

Following a short interview, Paul Jones broadcasts highlights from a gig recorded earlier in Exeter featuring Cleary and his New Orleans band, \u2018The Absolute Monster Gentlemen\u2019. This is where my inner sleeping dog gets fully woken as I dive over to the radio. It\u2019s all there \u2013 Funk, New Orleans piano, Jazz, R&B, the whole historical gamut of Afro-American music and I\u2019m cemented to the tiny DAB radio speakers. All the rhythmical study I\u2019ve been pursuing is being fed to me on an audible plate and I cannot believe it\u2019s alive and kicking on a boring Monday night\u2019s British radio. During that moment, I feel a massive kick of hope and optimism, believing that it really is<\/em> possible to play rhythmically flavourful music in the UK. \u2018The Absolute Monster Gentlemen\u2019 are off the scale musically and I cannot help but laugh at the sheer brilliance of their New Orleans grooves moving my inner rhythmic core. The rhythm section of Cornell Williams (Bass guitar), Derwin \u2018Big D\u2019 Perkins (Guitar) and Eddie Christmas (Drums) are easily on a par with any of the greatest rhythm sections in popular music history, yet will remain unknown amongst the majority of my English contemporaries.<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding the obscurity factor, with Jon Cleary being a favourite of Paul Jones and playing all the major Blues festivals, surely that must mean that a band like \u2018Forty4\u2019 could pick up on the back of that vibe and be successful with their own thing, right? Wrong\u2026<\/p>\n

Despite being completely different from every other band on the British Blues circuit, our plan gradually backfires as we perplex people with our fusion of influences and a rhythm section that is clearly the envy of the traditional Blues bands that inhabit the festival circuit. My 2nd line street-beat in our rendition of \u2018The Meters\u2019 classic, \u2018Hey Pocky A-Way\u2019 makes people move, but they seem somewhat confused. Likewise, our version of Howlin\u2019 Wolf\u2019s \u2018Forty Four\u2019 delivered with a slow New Orleans marching feel also mystifies and we are treated to polite applause, as though we\u2019ve done something really good \u2013 but no one\u2019s really sure what it is!<\/p>\n

We are indeed, a different sounding band, but we lack the distinct British Blues-Rock sound that has been cultivating here since the late 1960s. Sure, we have guitar solos, but they\u2019re delivered as a side-salad, rather than a main course. It seems we are destined to be misunderstood, misinterpreted and eventually, ignored, as the menu of British Guitar\/Harmonica pseudo-funk Rock-Blues is recycled for the umpteenth time. Not even being played on the Paul Jones show can improve our luck; we inhabit the fringes of the \u2018critically acclaimed\u2019 and gradually withdraw from whatever is left of the seemingly shrinking British Blues circuit. It takes us nearly 10 years to discover it is not a home for \u2018Forty4\u2019 music.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, I am still on a voyage of musical discovery and have been keeping my ear to the ground for Jon Cleary\u2019s activities since the radio broadcast. In fact, the broadcast gig is so<\/em> good, I track it down on BBC iPlayer and burn my own CD! My collection of official Jon Cleary CD\u2019s continues to grow, yet he does seem to be a \u2018best kept secret\u2019 as far as the British Blues circuit are concerned. Many of the circuit\u2019s bands and promoters I speak to have never heard of him \u2013 \u201cJon who?<\/em>\u201d is often the response I get when making polite small-talk with other bands at festivals\u2026yet the man is making it back to his own country to play.<\/p>\n

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I fail to see the last two gigs Jon Clearly does in the UK before putting \u2018The Absolute Monster Gentlemen\u2019 on hold. Maryport Blues Festival 2008 and one in 2009 at the now defunct \u2018Bluefunk Club\u2019 at Poynton put on by the brilliant Garry White become his parting British gigs before disbanding. Until (and if) he decides to regroup as a quartet in the future, I am left contemplating my missed British gig opportunities.<\/p>\n

Hope Springs! (By Way Of Manchester)<\/h3>\n
\"Jon
Only \u00a312 (plus booking fee scalping) but still a bargain!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 2015 and I am ecstatic to read that Jon Cleary is back with \u2018The Absolute Monster Gentlemen\u2019 plus a new album and will be doing dates in the UK! Better still, they are playing in the Northwest of England, right on my doorstep in Manchester; I cannot buy my ticket fast enough.<\/p>\n

The Manchester venue he\u2019s playing is the excellent \u2018Band On The Wall\u2019, a place I have visited on quite a few occasions to see musical events considered to be of little interest to my nearest city, Liverpool. Although Liverpool is a fantastic example of a multi-cultural city flourishing in diversity, when it comes to music, there is a bit less of a cosmopolitan vibe to it than its footballing\u00a0 rival. Naturally and rightly so, Liverpool celebrates its musical culture around its \u2018Beatles\u2019 legend that dominates the cash-flow opportunities for music venues. Although Manchester is equally as diverse in ethnic culture, it doesn\u2019t have one isolated band phenomenon to hang its pride from. Thus, it is a city with a far wider choice of music venues, specialising in the gamut of musical diversities reflected within its varied population. The \u2018Band On The Wall\u2019 is about as diverse as venues come, hosting pretty much every style of music out there – Jazz, Indie, Funk, Soul, Latin, Rock \u2013 there are seemingly no boundaries, making it the ideal place for Jon Cleary to bring his hot New Orleans talent.<\/p>\n

Thursday 20th August 2015, a damp evening in Manchester, but I\u2019m high on anticipation as I munch through a dubious plate of tired looking rice & curry. In a couple of hours, I will finally get to see what I have been waiting six frustrating years for.<\/p>\n

It is disappointing to see a below-capacity crowd, especially considering there is talk of the London shows being sold out. None the less, there are enough people here showing their appreciation as the band open with a favourite of mine, \u2018When You Get Back\u2019. At this moment, I fall easily into adopting the rare personal role of punter-at-a-gig. Everything about this band makes me smile \u2013 the grooves, the rhythmic flavours, the musical melting pot that is New Orleans, brought to within spitting distance of my ears. At times, I find it impossible to stop myself openly laughing at how good it is, my own joy reflected in the equally irresistibly infectious smiles coming from Cornell Williams and Derwin \u2018Big D\u2019 Perkins. They are visibly loving every second of the performance, as are their audience, now successfully shepherded to the front of the stage by Cleary\u2019s invite. As I stand face-to-face with the band, things start to fall into place about my current moment in time and how it relates to my own frustrating musical pursuits of the last decade.<\/p>\n

Revelation No.2 (The Biggie\u2026)<\/h3>\n
\"Jon
Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen captured at the Manchester Band On The Wall, 20\/08\/15. Photograph by Rosy Greer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is during the song \u2018Bringing Back The Home\u2019 from Cleary\u2019s new album, \u2018GoGo Juice\u2019 that I receive a huge revelation that will strike change in my perception of where I fit into the big musical scheme of things. This particular song talks about the 10 year road to recovery for New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina with lyrics referencing the musical heritage of New Orleans. In particular, it\u2019s the repeating, hypnotic chorus line that switches a light on in my head:<\/p>\n

\u201cJazz,<\/em><\/p>\n

Funk,<\/em><\/p>\n

Rhythm & Blues and Soul<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The fuzzy darkness is now illuminated, all becomes clear as years of musical frustration are wiped away and I realise the point I\u2019ve been missing:<\/p>\n

Culture<\/strong>; it\u2019s all about recognising your culture.<\/p>\n

As much as I would love the music of ‘Forty4’ appreciated in my home country, as much as we have tried to add a mix of Gumbo into our music and offer something different, it is simply not possible to try and transplant an alien culture into an environment that has no natural connection to it. Yes, we\u2019re good, we can assimilate a New Orleans vibe, people tell us we play it quite well and with some authenticity \u2013 but we don\u2019t come from that culture. This becomes starkly obvious when you stand in front of a real New Orleans band and realise that everything you are hearing is directly connected to a musical culture completely to your own:<\/p>\n

\u201cJazz,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Funk,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Rhythm & Blues and Soul<\/em>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

We come from the Northwest of England and all of the above are not naturally occurring within our culture. Whilst we have a strong musical heritage, it is quite removed from the melting-pot that makes up the unique sound of New Orleans. In order to understand where I came from, it was necessary for me to remind myself of a few historical facts about the musical culture of my immediate locality…<\/p>\n