• Advertise
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
    • Become a print subscriber
    • Sign up for e-Newsletter
    • e-Editions
Thursday, September 28, 2023
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
No Result
View All Result

REVIEW | Lowertown Blues & Funk Festival

by Dwight Hobbes
July 27, 2016
21
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn
Booker T. Jones
Booker T. Jones Photo courtesy of Lowertown Blues and Funk Festival

A yearly blues festival in the Twin Cities is a great idea. There are several jazz joints and more rock clubs than you can shake a stick at, but not a single place to go on a regular basis and enjoy some good old fashioned, gut bucket, down-in-the-alley original soul music. Having it in Lowertown, St. Paul is even better, as the bohemian locale, Mears Park specifically, is perfectly suited to host such an event.

So, it’s with pleased anticipation that one shows up to catch the third installment of the fledgling program, offhandedly hoping it continues as an annual throw down. They’ve gotten ambitious, and this time around have made it a two-day affair, the previous night seeing funk performances by The Family Stone, Otis Day and the Knights and more. Hence, it’s now called the Blues & Funk Festival (www.lowertownbluesfestival.com).

It’s honestly not in the least an out of place question to ask why Booker T. Jones of Booker T. & the MG’s fame is headlining blues night. Sure, he’s an R&B immortal, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.  Better than that, he led the legendary house band at Stax Records working with the likes of Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd and Albert King. He also produced Bill Withers’ debut Just as I Am, which yielded the classic “Ain’t No Sunshine.” The man’s pedigree is undeniable. Still, it’s a legitimate, if fairly idle consideration as to how come he’s on the bill, let alone closing the show.

Would that this incidental issue were the worst concern of the concert. Jones’ set starts off just fine. Warming up with a little bit of free-form loosening by the four-piece outfit (organ, bass, drums, guitar), followed by a tidy rendition of his minor hit, the title tune from the old Clint Eastwood Hang ‘em High.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

An odd thing then happens. Jones gets up from behind his Hammond B3, straps on a guitar (playing rhythm with his pedestrian lead guitarist doing the solos) to talk-sing The Jimi Hendrix Experience version of the rock chestnut “Hey Joe.” To be sure, Hendrix himself sorta talk-sang everything he did, but he got away with it because he did it with passion (not to mention playing hellified guitar). Jones’ execution basically amounts to shuck and jive, telephoned in at that.

Okay, so it’s a departure hardly worth getting bent out of shape over. Except, Jones stays on guitar and stays at the mic for Muddy Waters’ timeless staple “I’m a Man” and does just as bad a job on that, repeating Waters’ shoot-from-the-hip rhetoric with all the grit passion of a sleep walker. Then, he gives “Respect” a listless run-through: whether you loved Otis Redding’s original or Aretha Franklin’s cover, Jones’ offering comes nowhere near comparing, weak as dishwater.

The thing is, one can easily imagine him having stayed at the keys, dashing off cool arrangements of all three songs. But, where he got the idea he’s a vocalist at all, much less a soul singer, defies explanation. It’s a real break that he sits back down to perform a sweet rendition of “Summertime” and, of course, his signature song “Green Onions.”

He can’t leave well enough alone, though, and gets back up to strum the guitar and drag his tuneless voice through a tortured, hopelessly belabored interpretation of Prince’s “Purple Rain.”

This, it goes without saying, is not what one expected to encounter at such a promising program.  Disappointing doesn’t come close to describing it. On the bright side, you get to walk away saying you saw Booker T. Jones perform live.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

 

 

Dwight Hobbes welcomes reader responses to P.O. Box 50357, Mpls., 55403. 

Support Black local news

Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.

Donate Now!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Obama’s legacy: Are we better off? Dr. Malveaux weighs in

Next Post

Allen, Brown giving back through SAQ camp

Dwight Hobbes

Dwight Hobbes is a contributing writer at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. He can be reached at dhobbes@spokesman-recorder.com.

You Might Also Like

Linemen lead St. Paul Central past city rival
Sports

Linemen lead St. Paul Central past city rival

What should the community do with the Third Precinct now?
Local

City Council reneges on Third Precinct proposal

Hennepin County attorney to handle investigation into Cobb killing
Local

Hennepin County attorney to handle investigation into Cobb killing

The debate over police officers in schools
Local

The debate over police officers in schools

Sickle Cell Awareness Month: Breakthrough treatments on the horizon
Health & Wellness

Sickle Cell Awareness Month: Breakthrough treatments on the horizon

Health department concerned about Stillwater water supply, but says it is safe to drink
Local

Health department concerned about Stillwater water supply, but says it is safe to drink

Next Post
Allen, Brown giving back through SAQ camp

Allen, Brown giving back through SAQ camp

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

Sep 12
September 12 @ 6:30 pm-December 18 @ 9:30 pm Recurring

Vic Volare Presents MUSIC FOR MARTINIS ft: Vic’s Fabulous Nightclub Academy

Sep 28
7:30 pm-9:30 pm Recurring

Ayodele Casel Rooted

Sep 30
9:00 am-1:00 pm Recurring

Cars and Caves

Sep 30
10:00 am-12:00 pm

dem Blessings for Parents: A Morning of Creative Nourishment with Sharon Bridgforth

View Calendar
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Read our latest e-Edition!

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe

  • Home/Office Delivery
  • Weekly e-newsletter
  • e-Editions

Support

  • Donate
  • Subscribe
  • MSR Newsstand Locations

Connect

  • About
    • MSR Staff
  • Contact
  • Send a news tip
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

No Result
View All Result
  • News & Features
    • Local
    • National
  • All Sections
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health & Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • MN Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Business
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
      • Small Business Month Celebration
    • Opinion
    • Sports
  • Events
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • Donate
  • Subscribe

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: