Among the many things happening in New York this month is the 30th Anniversary Blue Note Jazz Festival. While I have something of an allergy to jazz – the result of a traumatic smooth jazz experience early in life – but when I saw Cowboy Mouth among the show listings I couldn’t resist.
But first let me talk about the openers for a minute. Sharon Little, who is a tiny person with a big beautiful voice, was first up:
Followed by the Jon Batiste Band:
This is only a small fraction of the band; they actually took up almost the entire stage. And they were incredible. Highlights of their set include a jazz-funk rendition of These Are A Few of My Favorite Things, the piano melody shining like a bright beacon amid the horns and drums; a stomp-along funk-heavy Iko Iko; and a sweet sad St. James Infirmary gliding into a tight, focused Hi Di Ho, Batiste conducting them so gracefully that it was almost invisible.
And then it was time for the main event. The one, the only, the joyful ruckus, Cowboy Mouth.
If you have not seen them before, you should know that there are some things that are not optional at Cowboy Mouth shows, including: putting your hands in the air and waving and/or clapping, screaming, jumping up and down, and otherwise rocking the hell out. Also, they open and close every show by asking each member of the audience to hug the person next to them, whether it is a friend or a stranger. They are totally committed to raucous positivity, and their set was basically a 90 minute celebration of the joys (and sorrows, but mostly joys) of being alive. Their motto is, essentially, Life is too short, let’s rock and roll.
I am terrible with setlists but I know they played Belly, Voodoo Shop, It’s So Sad About Me, Tell the Girl, Everybody Loves Jill (complete with a hail of red plastic spoons), Take Me Back to New Orleans, they closed down with a mash-up of I Believe and Jenny Says, and the encore was The Avenue. There was also a new song, which may have been called Enough Drama. Other highlights included the band leading the crowd in an Amen chorus for This Little Light of Mine; a spontaneous between-songs burst of Who Dat?, the New Orleans Saints fight song from somewhere in the center of the crowd; and a punk-rock version of Iko Iko.
It was truly an epic evening. Their next tour starts tomorrow, June 16th, in Greensboro, SC, and after that they will be spending several weeks wending their way through the South and portions of the Midwest. If they come near you, go and see them. It will be a good time.
A few more pictures:
Fred LeBlanc, gleefully drumming.
John Thomas Griffith (piano) and Cassandra Faulconer (bass)
Cassandra Faulconer (bass) and Matt Jones (guitar)
And one more of Fred LeBlanc and the fleur-de-lis