I hung in New Orleans for a week around Jazz Fest , mostly working, but also having some fun at the fest and at night. My buddy Jeff and I went to see 78 year old Little Freddie King , ostensibly to see a set and then go to another show, but Freddie was so good that we stuck around for two sets (and our friend Caitlin joined us!). Freddie plays what he calls gutbucket blues, with his manager/label head "Wacko" Wade on the drums and a longtime harmonica player with him. I know from reading his Living Blues feature that King used to be a student of BB King. I think he knows what gets people dancing in NOLA isn't King-style blues. His good friend and fellow bluesman Alabama Slim walked in at one point and immediately a woman started dancing with him. I noticed that King played a lot of Louisiana blues: namely Slim Harpo's "Scratch My Back" (a personal favorite), a Jimmy Reed tune, and Guitar Slim's "Things That I Used To Do." He started one ...
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