Ponderosa Stomp Music Conference Day 2

The Music Conference is the brain child of the Stomp’s founder, Ira Padnos aka “Dr. Ike”,  and one of the things that make the Stomp so unique and beloved by music heads.  Think of it as a continuing education seminar with panel discussions featuring the musicians, producers, engineers and industry types. 

As I was checking in at the music conference I spied Dr. Ike across the room and told him I had just rode in on my motorcycle from Minnesota to attend and he was most gracious to pose for a photo.  The City of New Orleans and music lovers in general owe Ira Padnos and the Secret Knights of the Mau Mau their heartfelt gratitude for the incredible work of the Ponderation Stomp Foundation in preserving the legacy of this country's greatest natural resource, our musicians.

I had got into News Orleans too late in the afternoon the day before to attend day one of the music conference, much to my regret.  I would have loved to have attended the engineering panel which included Rick Hall of Fame studio in Muscle Shoals fame and most importantly, the legendary Cosimo Matassa.  I also missed an oral history session with Dave Bartholomew, the greatest band leader in New Orleans history. See the full schedule for Day 1 on the following page and Day 2’s schedule immediately below.

TUESDAY APRIL 28TH 2009

ARSENAL

11:00 - 12:00 Oral History: Johnny Powers & Hurtt
12:00 - 12:30 flip room
12:30 - 1:30 Memphis Soul Panel: Robert Gordon, Scott Bomar, Otis Clay, Teenie Hodges, Roosevelt Jamison
1:30 - 2:00 flip room
2:00 - 3:00 Brice Nice/Dennis Coffey/DJ Soul Sister
3:00 - 3:30 flip room
3:30 - 4:30 Oral History: James Blood Ulmer with Dr. Ike

FIRST FLOOR

11:00 - 12:30 Joe Lauro Historic Films
12:30 - 1 flip room
1:00 - 2:00 Marshall Chess, John Broven, Joe Bihari
2:00 - 2:30 Film: The Legend of Bo Diddley (30 min)
2:30 - 3:00 Discussion: Lady Bo & Hurtt & Holly
3:00 - 3:30 flip room
3:30 - 5:00 Film: America’s Lost Band (60 min) Q&A with Barry Tashian

2nd annual Ponderosa Stomp Music Conference

MONDAY APRIL 27TH 2009

ARSENAL: THIRD FLOOR

11:30 - 12:30 Oral History: Gayle Dean Wardlow & Mark Hoffman
12:30 - 1:00 flip room
1:00 - 2:00 Oral History: Classie Ballou & Ben Sandmel
2:00 - 2:30 flip room
2:30 - 3:30 Engineering Panel: Mark Bingham, Joe Bihari, Rick Hall, Cosimo Matassa, Bob Sullivan
3:30 - 4:00 flip room
4:00 - 5:00 Oral History: Dave Bartholomew and guests

FIRST FLOOR

11:00 - 12:30 Film: Dirt Road to Psychedelia (72 min) Q&A with director Scott Conn
12:30 - 1:00 flip room
1:00 - 2:30 Film: Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan (90 min)
2:30 - 3:30 Discussion: Peter Guralnick, Robert Gordon & Cowboy Jack Clement
3:30 - 4:00 flip room
4:00 - 5:00 Louisiana Hayride Panel: Nick Spitzer, Maggie Warwick, Bob Sullivan, Dale Hawkins

In the early afternoon I attended the Ponderosa Stomp Music History Conference session on Memphis Soul featuring three of the greats, Mabon “Teenie” Hodges, guitarist and leader of the vaunted Hi Rhythm Section, the legendary soul singer and former Hi artist and a personal favorite of mine, Otis Clay and O.V. Wright collaborator and co-writer, Roosevelt Jamison. 

I had always wanted to see the Hi Rhythm Section, regarded as among the greatest session groups in the history of American Music (along with the Stax house band, the Swampers at Muscle Shoals, the Wrecking Crew out West and the Funk Brothers at Motown), but never thought I would ever get the chance as top session players rarely played live, or at least,  not live as an ensemble.  Just another example of what makes the Ponderosa Stomp so great!

It was so cool to be in a room of approximately 100 other die hard music lovers, reporters and industry people who care as much and know more about, my favorite passion, music. There were people who came from as far away as Amsterdam and Australia.  I met a Japanese couple (the husband was a doctor, or maybe his first name was Dochi(sp)), and although they spoke little English, were some of the most ardent and enthusiastic fans you could ever meet. If only the public in this country would turn off American Idol and commercial radio and pull their collective heads out of their asses and pay attention to what the rest of the world recognizes as one of this country's greatest and unique contributions to mankind: soul, jazz and rhythm and blues.

I got goose bumps listening to the panel discuss their craft and reminisce about making some of the greatest music ever set to wax. Teenie Hodges told the story of writing "Take Me to the River" with Ann Peebles during a stay in Boston when the evening’s plans got cancelled due to an unexpected snow storm.  Teenie told how they went back to their hotel and Teenie started telling Ann about his musical roots in gospel and his religious experiences including being baptized in a pond which Ann turned into the "river". 

Teenie Hodges is a genuine music genius but a sensitive and incredibly profound man as well, as are all of the panelists which included famed music writer Robert Gordon and Scott Bomar, leader of the Bokeys. 

The Bokeys are a wonderful second generation band from Memphis and heirs apparent to the Stax sound.  I say that last part with all due respect as Scott gives selflessly of himself to the Stax Academy Charter School, one of my favorite charities.

At Ponderosa Stomp No. 10, which I attended 2 years later, Scott and the Bokeys were the house band for the soul head liners which included Eddie Floyd, William Bell and the great, unsung guitarist and creator of the iconic guitar lick in the “Theme from Shaft”, Skip Pitts.  Sadly, Skip passed away the following year but I will always remember the look of joy on Skips’ face as he performed with the Bokeys and delivered a top notch performance.  Again, it was one of those American Express, priceless moments that the Ponderosa Stomp is known for and gets seared into the minds of Stomp attendees for the rest of their lives.

During the panel discussion Otis Clay told the funniest story about he and his band backing O.V. Wright and how O.V., one of the greatest, most charismatic performers and one of the finest soul singers that ever lived, could steal your own back-up band and the show from you right under your very nose. All the panelists laughed and shared stories of O.V. ‘s "dictionary" knowledge of music charts and changes, which is how he could undermine your authority as leader and steal your own band.  Otis described O.V.’s ability to make an audience line up to "witness" that they feel the blues by lining up to shake his hand during a song.  O.V. was so good at getting his audiences to “witness”, to the point where, as Otis described, "...you would have thought they were handing out (free) blenders".

Roosevelt Jamison made one of the most profound statements about the music industry specifically and the creation of art in general, and I paraphrase "soul music, our music in the 1960's were about expressing our love for our (band) mates, in music and thru lyrics. It was romantic music. It was expressing the great gift God gave to us as humans, which is love. We were so into expressing the great love and beauty that we did not pay enough, if any, attention to the business side of things". 

Beautiful words spoken by an artist and shame on the business and management people who historically cheated and stolen from the artists and musicians. Amen.

After the music conference I did a little exploring around the Arsenal checking out the museum which I recommend for all history buffs.

Also at the Arsenal at that time was an exhibition put on by the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation as part of its education program entitled Unsung Heroes:  The Secret History of Louisiana Rock ‘n’ Roll.  So after checking out the military and war history exhibit I spent a good deal of time learning more about the history of Louisiana music including one of my personal idols, Paul “Lil Buck” Sinegal and his big band the Top Cats.  The following slide show are the photos I took of the exhibit set to the music “Monkey in a Sack” by Lil Buck and the Top Cats.

The artists featured in the  Unsung Heroes exhibition were a lot of my favorite artists and the reason I became interested in attending the Ponderosa Stomp.  Unfortunately for me, with each passing year, more and more of the artists I wanted to see were passing away.  Most knowledgeable music fans are familiar with the greats of New Orleans and greater  Louisiana music like Allen Toussaint, Fats Domino, Mac Rebennack, Lee Dorsey, Lloyd Price, Dave Bartholomew, Guitar Slim, Slim Harpo, Huey Piano Smith, Eddie Bo and Earl King, but it was so cool to see some of the lesser known artists finally getting their due like Smiley Lewis, Shirley and Lee, Chris Kenner, Willie Tee, Jessie Hill, Ernie K-Doe, Robert Parker, Lazy Lester and the before mentioned Paul Alton Sinegal to name a few. 

The Ponderosa Stomp has taught me about Cosimo Matassa, engineer and owner of the legendary J & M Recording Studio where rock and roll was born and so many iconic songs were recorded as well as the lesser known, Wardell Quezergue and his contribution to the New Orleans Funk scene.  This exhibition epitomizes what the Stomp is all about:  spreading the word about this country’s greatest resource which has now all but vanished.  For this important work Ira Padnos and his Knights of the Mau Mau have earned the respect and gratitude of all music lovers.

 Following my taking in the incredible exhibition on the Unsung Heroes I hurried back to my hotel room to get ready for Night One of my first Ponderosa Stomp Music Festival.  If there is a better way to prepare for your first Stomp I cannot imagine what it would be!  Before I knew it, it was almost 6 PM and time to head for the House of Blues where the doors were already open and music had begun when I entered. 

The following video is a slide show of photos I took with the exception of the line up shots, all but two of which were taken off line, so you could recognize the performers.