Cebar Is Still Brimming with Soul

Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans
The Barns of Wolf Trap, Vienna, Virginia, January 22

A couple of years ago, the last time I saw Paul Cebar, he was walking solo into Rock ‘n’ Bowl in New Orleans, guitar in hand, ready to jam with whoever was on the bill that night. It’s appropriate to conjure up this image, that of a man who just soaks in different musical influences around him and infuses his music with them.

He’s been at it for decades. Feeling like some jump blues? Some reggae? Some Caribbean? Some New Orleans zydeco? Some Afro-Cuban funk? You get all of that in one Cebar show.

Cebar’s two sets at this sold-out Barns of Wolf Trap show were filled with his usual high-energy tunes, but what made this show especially fun was Cebar’s exceptionally good mood. He was really letting loose and having fun up there and both his band and the crowd responded.

Ever wonder if eclectic, free-spirited folks [who dance at live music shows] exist in this town? The room was filled with them, colorfully clad folks of all ages, forming conga lines, swing dancing, having a ball.

While Cebar fans will come to his shows regardless of when he last released new material, the Milwaukeeans do have a new album out that includes some prefiously unreleased songs he’s been playing for years at shows such as “Her New Church” and “I Got Trouble.” Some songs on the new venture, Tommorow [sic] Sound Now for Yes Music People, are co-written with such musical notables as zydeco great Terrance Simien and Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos fame. One song he played from the new album, is a beautiful tribute to guitarist Marv Tarplin, Smokey Robinson’s right-hand man for the last 40 years, called “Marv’s Flut­tering Guitar.”

The show featured songs from Cebar’s entire catalogue. Longtime band member Bob Jennings put down his saxophone and picked up an accordion for the zydeco tune, “Twice Little Sixteen,” a gem from Cebar’s 1993 debut album, That Unihinged Thing. Cebar closed the show with a dedication to the late great Eddie Bo from New Orleans, a cover he’s been performing for years, “Check Your Bucket.”

From the swingin’ “Please Don’t Tell Me More About My Baby,” off of Upstroke for the Downfolk, to the gospel-tinged “Who Can Love Who and How,” from his newest album, Cebar and his band cranked out one danceable song after another to an elated crowd.

An Extraordinary Evening of Gospel and Jazz

The Blind Boys of Alabama w/ the Preservation Hall Jazz Band

January 8, The Warner Theater, Washington, D.C.

In the presence of great New Orleans jazz, your body cannot sit still; when there’s great gospel, your soul is moving too. Such was the case last night at the Warner Theater, where an incredible double bill featured Preservation Hall Jazz Band with the Blind Boys of Alabama.

Preservation Hall played a peppy set of traditional New Orleans jazz, including a sultry “St. James Infirmary,” and concluded with a traditional second-line parade, with some of the crowd (me included) getting in line behind the band, marching up the aisle, and getting on stage to boogie to a rousing “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

Next up, the Blind Boys of Alabama took the stage and had the crowd clapping and swaying to their unparalleled gospel. They played several songs backed by Preservation Hall but mostly performed backed by organ, drums, guitar, and bass. The three singers (two of them second-generation members) harmonized, were funny and charming, and brimmed with soul.

And, as five-time Grammy winners, they played several songs from Grammy-winning albums, including Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready” and “There Will Be a Light,” written by Ben Harper. In the last decade, the Blind Boys won a Grammy for best traditional gospel album four years in a row. Last year, they won one for their latest album, Down in New Orleans, a collaboration with Preservation Hall that also featured the legendary Allen Toussaint. Last year, they also were honored a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Both bands have had turnover throughout the years. In fact, three of the original singers of Blind Boys (founded in 1939 at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind) are deceased; Jimmy Carter still fronts the boys (along with Bishop Billy Bowers and Ben Moore). Another founder, Clarence Fountain, no longer tours due to health reasons. Preservation Hall also has seen quite a bit of turnover in its five decades though clarinetist Charlie Gabriel and trombonist Frank Demond have been with the band for decades. And tuba player Ben Jaffe, the guy with the wild hair, is the son of founding member Allan Jaffe.

One highlight was a soulful version of Amazing Grace set to the music of the folk-rock classic “The House of the Rising Sun.” The encore, amplified by Preservation Hall’s horns, was a spirited version of the gospel classic, “Down by the Riverside.” The crowd left light-hearted, with a sprightly step and a smile.

Emmet, Fans Ring in the New Year

Emmet Swimming w/ No Second Troy
Iota, Arlington, Virginia
New Year's Eve

photo: Todd Watts (rt.) and Erik Wenberg

Emmet Swimming played two long sets to a crowd of longtime and newer fans at Iota to ring in the New Year. A small club with great acoustics, Iota provided the perfect intimate setting to enjoy this seminal Washington-area rock band.

The quartet sounded tight as usual as they rolled through several albums of original material and a couple of songs from their most recent release, the EP Bathing in the New Economy. “Please Don’t Call Her” from that EP showcases guitarist Erik Wenberg’s sweet vocals. And, in “The Dance,” lead singer Todd Watts enjoys emphasizing the line, “thanks Epic Records,” a jab at the record label that carried a couple of their later albums before splitting off due to creative differences.

One good piece of creative advice from the label was adding a piano part to the song, “Motorway.” Generally, that part is omitted live for lack of a keyboardist, but that night the part was ably played by the band’s friend David Strickland, who also sat in on a couple of other tunes on accordion.

Three of the boys are original members: Watts, Wenberg, and drummer Tamer Eid. Bassist Scotty Brotemarkle was a longtime band friend before finally joining them. He throws every emotion behind playing and singing backing vocals, and remains endlessly entertaining to watch.

Something did seem strangely absent from their set that night. It was most curious that they didn’t play a single song from their debut album, Dark When the Snow Falls, notably “Hey Jesse” which has been a staple at their shows. But I am eternally happy to hear my favorites from their second album, Wake, including “Listen to the River,” “When Morning Comes,” and “Expect Me,” the latter of which was the first song they played in the new year.

Ringing in the new year with Emmet—a band I have loved and gone to see in concert since they began in the early 90s when I arrived in the area to begin college at Maryland—seemed not just appropriate, but the perfect thing to do as I reflect on recent years and look forward toward what I hope will be an exciting decade.