Thursday, July 24, 2014

BLUES N'AT

   Hartwood Acres will have a definite Mardi Gras atmosphere this weekend as the Pittsburgh Blues Festival celebrates it's 20th anniversary with Dr. John. The award-winning singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist will headline Saturday night, July 26 at 9pm.

    Malcom John "Mac" Rebannack, Jr. was born on November 21, 1940 and raised in the Crescent City. As a teenager, Mac (he had yet to dub himself "Dr. John") was inspired by fellow New Orleans native Professor Longhair. He began gigging around the area at various clubs. He also found work as a producer.

     In the 1960s Mac made the move to the west coast as an in-demand session musician. In the late '60s he began to incorporate New Orleans symbolism into his live shows. New Orleans rhythm and blues met head-on with Los Angeles psychedelia to create "Dr. John, The Night Tripper". He bolstered this persona with the release of his debut disc, 1968's "Gris Gris". Dr. John eventually dropped "The Night Tripper" portion of his moniker but continued to merge voodoo, creole and psychedelia for the remainder of the 1960s and some of the 1970s.

      Dr. John's 1972 album, "Dr. John's Gumbo" said goodbye to the psychedelics and brought more of a New Orleans flavor to his sound, paying homage to his roots by covering New Olreans standards on the entire record.

     1973 saw the release of Dr. John's most commercially successful album, "In the Right Place". It also introduced the doctor's foray into funk, a genre that continues to influence his music today. The album scored a Top 20 hit with the single "Right Place Wrong Time".

      Today, Dr. John has won multiple Grammy awards as well as many other honors. He was inducted into both the Blues Hall of Fame and the  Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2007. He received induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. His albums "Gris Gris" and "Dr. John's Gumbo" ranked in Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" at #143 and #402, respectively. He even found time to publish his autobiography in 1994, "Under the Hoodoo Moon".

       When he's not receiving doctorates or winning awards, Dr. John continues to bring the music world his mish-mash of blues, with touches of voodoo, funk, jazz, zydeco and boogie woogie-rock and roll.

        Grab your beads and enjoy the music of Dr. John Saturday night. If you can't make it Saturday, don't worry. The Pittsburgh Blues Festival will be celebrating their 20th anniversary all weekend long, from Friday, July 25 to Sunday, July 27, with plenty of blues, food and good times.

        Until next time, boys and girls. Keep It Bluesy!






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