Jack McDuff Benefit at Showman's Cafe in NYC - 11/20/00

From: Bob Davis (earthjuice@prodigy.net)
Date: Tue Nov 21 2000 - 16:29:24 CET

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    I'm not sure if this is off topic for "acid jazz", but I do know that there
    are a few people here that are Jack McDuff who might be interested.
    ------------------------------------------
    Last night my brother Mike and I attended this event, unfortunately I was
    only able to stay for about an hour and a half (you will find out why later)

    Once again, my apologies to Rickey Vincent for the format of this review

    THE MUSIC:

    Ya know, people here on the internet talk a good game about Funk, but what
    is it really and how can you indentify it?
    Here it is, less than 12 hrs. since I left there and I can't even give you
    any kind of set listing except for a few songs

    · Breezin
    · This Masqurade
    · My Favorite Things
    · Assorted JAMMING from a bunch of tunes that I know in my head, but I can't
    name for you right now

    All I can tell you was that it was one of the BADDEST SHOWS I HAVE EVER BEEN
    TO

    Here is a list of the perfomers
    · George Benson
    · Seleno Clarke
    · Joey DeFrancesco
    · Larry Goldings
    · Nathan Lucas
    · Melvin Davis
    · Tony Malone
    · Kyle Koehler
    · Joe Friedman
    · Rob Bargad
    · Ra d a m EMAIL souljazz Schwartz
    · Wayne Henderson
    · Anthony Nelson
    · Vincent Seneri
    · Ian McDonald
    · Jerry Weldon
    · Andrew Beals
    · Joe Mahnarelli
    · Micheal Ledonne
    · David Lee Jones
    · Gerald Brazel
    · Jonathan Hartman
    · Jimmy "Preacher" Robbins
    · Karell Ruzika
    · Joey Morant
    · Tootsie Bean
    · Max Schweiger
    · Paul Bollenbach
    · James Stewart

    Obviously Benson dominated the show, playing a few of his hits and, talking
    about the difference between "Harlem Crowds" and "Downtown Crowds", jamming
    with the other musicians and talking about how he started his career, at the
    age of 18, playing in Jack McDuff's band

    THE PEOPLE

    We got there around 8pm
    We opened up the door of the Showmans Club, located on 125th St in the
    village of Harlem to enter.

    The Showmans club is a very simple place
    When you walk into the door, the first thing that you see, to your right is
    a very long bar with a mirror that runs the full length of the bar. To your
    left there is a wall that also runs the length of the bar
    The distance between the mirrored wall on one side and the wall on the other
    side is about 10-12 feet.
    At the far end of the bar is a small stage that is no more than 7X7 squared
    This joint seats no more that about 25 people

    As we entered, there was a sea of people inside.
    I would estimate that there were well over 200 people inside
    They were all there for the same reason I was, to pay tribute to one of the
    GREATEST organ players in history, Jack McDuff!!!!!!!!!!

    This was a SERIOUS "old school" Harlem Jazz crowd, mostly people in their
    mid 50's and up.
    There was SERIOUS conversation going on, SERIOUS drinking going on and
    BLASTING in the background was some SERIOUS FUNK.
    That's right, I said FUNK.
    This was not cerebral mind expanding type of Jazz that people who write for
    Downbeat magazine or that "music critics" prefer.
    This was the type of FUNK that the older people in the neighborhood that I
    grew up in would be playing on their record players when they had their
    "Saturday Night Fish Fry's". Hell this is the type of Jazz that (god
    forbid) you could even dance to if you wanted to
    That's right, these were the REAL FUNKATEERS, people wearing pinky rings and
    stuff :)
    One lady there said to me.
    "Are You from Harlem"
    I said ..NO, I live in New Jersey
    She said: "That's ok baby, you can stay here."

    Every time a new performer came into the door they had to make their way to
    the back of the place thru the crowd to get to the bandstand I got my face
    CRUSHED up against the wall on the right side

    The ONE

    Mike and I weren't sure of the start time of the event.
    We met in midtown Manhattan
    As we drove thru the streets of Manhattan, we joked about some of the places
    we passed that we remembered from when we had grown up, talked about some of
    the redevelopment going on in Harlem and about the continuing proliferation
    of poverty, on the RICHEST island in the world.

    Once inside, we talked about the way that the people inside were bonded to
    each other, most seemed to know each other and at times it felt like we had
    crashed a party of.

    The people inside were defiantly ON THE ONE with each other, brought
    together to salute a great musician who had impacted their lives. Perhaps
    even more so it was a community celebrating a Harlem music scene that barely
    exists anymore, that they have to wonder what the future holds.

    As we left (we had to after an hour and a half, we couldn't breathe anymore)
    and walked to where the car was parked, Mike said" I gotta come back here
    again" and I said "yeah me too, this place is badd, as a matter of fact,
    they are having Gloria Lynne here tomorrow night.

    We both looked at each other and laughed, knowing full well that neither one
    of us would be able to come back again the very next night.

    However, we both agreed that when we went back we would do so together and
    maybe even bring our father, cuz "this was his kind of joint".

    For me, that was the best part of the whole evening.:)

    ------------------------------------------------------
    Bob Davis
    ------------------------------------------------------
    http://www.soul-patrol.com/ - Click Here For SOUL PATROL
    ------------------------------------------------------
    http://music.bb.prodigy.net/ - Click Here for PRODIGY MUSIC
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