Big Easy Strut: The Essential Professor Longhair

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Total Tracks: 14   Total Length: 56:43

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John Morthland

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John Morthland has been writing about music since the days of electronically rechanneled stereo and duophonic sound. His name has darkened the mastheads of Roll...more »

04.22.11
A spirited, eccentric live set recorded just weeks before his death.
2006 | Label: Fuel 2000 / The Orchard

By now, the hallowed Longhair's rhumbafied r&b is so well known to fans of New Orleans music that it's almost taken for granted. But how can you take for granted a guy who, backed by a full band including horns, turns in a live set as spirited and eccentric — even for him — as this one, just weeks before his 1980 death? From the dizzying opener of "Tipitina" through the snappy "How Long Has the Train Been Gone," the cascading "Hey Now Baby," the truly weird — even for him — "I'm Movin 'On," and the clattering "Hey Little Girl," Fess simply knocks 'em dead.

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They Say All Music Guide

For starters, the subtitle “The Essential Professor Longhair” is more than a little misleading. This set is a presentation of the great Roy Byrd, performing at a northside Chicago club called Biddy Mulligan’s in December of 1979, shortly before his death. While it is far from the “essential” Professor Longhair, this is a smoking live date that fans will no doubt want to own. With the exception of “I Got My Mojo Working,” most of his concert staples are in this mix and the sound quality is right up there. This is not the place to start with the Professor — perhaps New Orleans Piano on Atlantic is the one for that. Nonetheless, for those who dig New Orleans music at its rawest, and Longhair in tear-it-up mode, Big Easy Strut is a nice one to have on the shelf. – Thom Jurek

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