Submitted by Al Kanovsky 05/18/14
They call the band "21 BLUE",
BLUES for the 21st century. The band members include music educators from Florida
A&M, who also happen to be world class musicians and recording artists for Tribal Records. Out front is Longineu Parsons, vocals, trumpet, flute and recorders.
Alongside on guitar is Ted Shumate. Playing bass we had Chris DeLorean Fullerton.
Keys and trombone was Robert Griffin and at the kit with 4 cymbals plus top-hat
was young Ray Nelson. They opened the show with "Little Sunflower". It gave the
audience the opportunity to enjoy the musicianship of all the band members. My
table-mates included a young man, Murray, visiting from Montreal. Alongside were
two very lovely women, Melissa and Dawn. It was their first time at Arts Garage.
Later on I would ask if it was as good for them as it was for me.
Longineu then
sang and played "St. James Infirmary BLUES". Memorable lines from that standard
include--"a box-back coat and a Stetson hat" -- "20 crap-shooting pall bearers
and a chorus girl to sing me a song" -- "20 dollar gold piece on my pocket chain
so the boys will know I died standing pat". Can anyone match that for a dying
mans wish? Ted takes and does a 5* solo and Chris follows suit. During Chris's
solo you listened to the space between the notes, which are just as important as
the notes themselves. The unison work, trumpet/guitar on Ted's original "Blue
Romance", was exceptional. Longineu picks up his flute and the funky tune
played has all my table-mates bobbing their heads in time. The band decides they
are going to do "Spoonful" in G. The lyric to this R&B tune from back in
the day has different meanings to different folks. "A spoonful of diamonds -- A
spoonful of water -- A spoonful of ??? Longineu employs the use of the plunger
mute which reminded me of its use by all of the young trumpet players at the
Essentially Ellington competition. I am seriously considering going in to the
"plumbing supply" business.
The BLUES, since birth, always included racy or
double entendre lyrics. The tradition was still in play when they did
"911-6969". Longineu doing the vocal and Chris maintaining on bass. The program
included Santana and James Brown hits. The next tune took you to New Orleans
with a song "I Want To Make Sweet Love To You". It's a BLUES tune but Longineu's
trumpet solo included double tongued triplets, be-bop riffs and a quote of
"Flight of the Bumble-Bee".
Mr. Parsons wrote a song titled "African Nights". It
is a haunting melody and Logineau chose the recorder to play it. As a matter of
fact he chose two of the instruments and at times played them simultaneously.
Ted payed homage to James Brown with his next song. Getting back to the BLUES
and suggestive lyrics L.P. sang "Crazy 'bout That Thang" making it obvious what
'that thang' is. Robert Griffin finally got the chance to show his T-bone chops
on this one. "Black Magic Women" had Ray Nelson showing off his talent and
versatility, using mallets and nice use of all 4 cymbals. The show closed with
Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World". It was as good for Melissa and Dawn
as it was for me.
All this happened at Arts Garage in Delray Beach. When I
walked in I was warmly greeted by Alyona (director), Lailani (Ass't) and
Eric (volunteer). When I offered my ticket at the door, a comely woman said,
"Hello, Al". I admit to being flattered by the recognition. Her name is Renee and
I hope she remembers me next time.
Longineu's next stop will be Carnegie Hall in NYC. He will be featured with an all-star cast in the "Black Stars of the Great White Way" performance.
Al's Disclaimer:
A short note: The reason I write this is because I love music and words. I do not book acts. I do not promote acts. I do not accept invitations to review artists. I go to venues of my own choice. When and where is not influenced by anything other than who I would like to hear that night or day. If I don't like what I hear, I won't write about it. When I like it I let you all know. I never mention a name without asking permission. "Pardon me, Miss. Would you like to dance?"
~ ~ ~
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Nice overall write write up. I was also at the show and enjoyed it very much. You forgot to mention that Ted did an awesome rendition of Jimi Hendrix's song "third rock from the sun" which he told the audience was his inspiration to start playing guitar at 16 after watching Hendrix perform it live. In addition to Black Magic Woman, they also played an excellent rendition of Samba Pa Ti by Santana...both very difficult songs to play on the guitar. It's hard to sometimes remember everything at a show but I certainly won't forget how those 2 songs were played so well.
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