Tag Archives: austin music hall

Live Music Austin Downtown 9.23.10

Here are some clips from the Khabele School music department fundraiser, held at the Omni Hotel downtown on Sept. 23, 2010. We had performances from all the ensembles of Khabele School and solo performances, too. This school has a very outstanding music department as you can see in these clips. I organized the last set, which incorporated performances from the choir, high school jazz ensemble and the Khabele All-Stars. The first song, “Run Sinner Run” features vocals from the choir, with Grant Sides on bass, Sam Kanoff on guitar and Phil Bridges on drums. Chelsea Toler is the first of the choir to sing and she also accompanied me on the whole set.

We got to do several of my favorite songs, including “If There Was,” which happens to be one that I wrote. The great Terri Lord joins us here on drums.

The first time I heard “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone, I cried. This one is a duet with the fabulous Chelsea Toler, who attended Berkelee School of Music this summer.

Sean Toler and Lois Richwine organized the show and Marshall Escamilla & Marc Lionetti, of Khabele School, are the music instructors for these talented students. Here we do another of my favorite songs, “Goin Down Slow,” written by Willie Dixon for Howlin Wolf. Jon Dee on Guitar and unexpectedly, Luke Pharr joins us on piano. Luke is one of the many outstanding musicians at the Khabele School. My son, Dashiell Sublett, is one of them, and he joined us on the last three songs, but that video has not been uploaded to youtube yet. I’ll add it later if/when that happens.

The benefit was a big success and a great time was had by all. Thanks to Gary Pharr for shooting the video. Thanks to Bob Widenhof for doing the sound. Thanks to everybody for pitching in and contributing in all the various ways. Other than the Howlin Wolf birthday show I did in June, this was my favorite gig of the year.

Leave a Comment

Filed under JESSE'S GIGS

JUNE 10, 2010: BIG HOWLIN WOLF BIRTHDAY JAM

CONTINENTAL CLUB/Austin:
HOWLIN WOLF BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE SHOW

Lordy, Lordy, Mizz Izzy!

THURS. 6/10/10
ROCKIN BLUES, BEAU COUP GUEST STARS

SEE THE POSTER HERE.

JUST ADDED: Anne McCue…..

Gary Clark, Jr. … Sonny James! … Terri Lord! … Brad Fordham!! … Lee Shupp!!… And Davey Jones can make it after all…

This June 10 marks 100 years since the birth of one of the greatest artists of all time. Chester Arthur Burnett, named after a president, then renamed after that primeval beast and that spirit that takes possession of so many of us in those wee hours of the night, HOWLIN WOLF

You mixed my drink with a can of Red Devil Lye.

Here’s a few song titles to stir those frozen memory banks: Spoonful, How Many More Years, Wang Dang Doodle, Back Door Man, Killin Floor…

a k a THE MIGHTY WOLF.… a k a the godfather of rock n’ roll, blues, punk and everything that howls in the night.

Here’s some more: Smokestack Lightning, I Walked From Dallas, You Gonna Wreck My Life, Commit a Crime, I Asked for Water, You Gave Me Gasoline

Join me on Thursday, June 10, at the Continental Club, that world-famous Mecca of Cool on South Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas. We will be playing all-Wolf, all night. We are still working on the details, but so far, the list of performers includes:

Jesse Sublett, my terrible self, your loyal correspondent
Jon Dee Graham
Terri Lord
David Murray

DAVY JONES
Izzy Cox
Tom Lewis
Walter “Big Foot Chester” Daniels
Gary Clark, Jr.
Dominique Davalos
Bill Anderson & Joe Doerr of Churchwood
Bevis Griffin
Kathy Valentine (tentative)
Greg Izor & The Box Kickers
Eve Monsees & Mike Buck (Eve & the Exiles)
Sonny James
Sam Kanoff (super hot 16 year old six-string assassin)
John Burnett (NPR + WhoDo )
Brad Fordham
Michael Ramos
Madman Charlie Terrell
Lee Shupp

And more to be announced soon. Check back for updates. It’s gonna be a helluva party.

Cheers,
Jesse

PS: Ain’t Superstitious, Cadillac Daddy, Oh Red, Just My Color, Built for Comfort, 300 Pounds of Joy, Goin Down Slow, Dust My Broom, Forty-Four, Howlin’ For My Darlin, Do the Do

The Mighty Wolf

5 Comments

Filed under BLUES, MURDER BALLADS & OTHER COOL RACKET, JESSE'S GIGS

ART BLOG #2: New work, Ruta Maya 9.17.09

I’m uploading 15 new pen & ink pix from my new little black book, which is actually red. Tragically, I lost my last little black book. It happened last week when I went to Dallas and Fort Worth, so between here and there and in between, who knows? Johnny Reno and Christina put me up for the night and Johnny and I hung out in his studio for a while, but Johnny says no dice, it ain’t nowhere to be found. I expect to see it on ebay soon. Fortunately I had not only scanned all or nearly all of the art inside, but I had removed or pasted over the most embarrassing of the song lyrics I had scribbled in there. Actually, many of these drawings originated in that manner. First, have about four or five espressos (the lever model Pavoni is the one we have; it makes a killer shot), take a walk at the lake and scribble all the new ideas for songs and/or prose in the book. Later, in a more reflective mode, look them over and realize that 90 percent of that was crap. So I sketch in a naked woman over the writing and add color with my Faber Castell Pitt art pens. Or I might paste some other lyrics or clippings or something over the offending lines. Whatever.
When I mention espresso, by the way, I am talking about dark harrar, which comes from Ethiopia, the mother of coffee. Centuries of history in every cup. I only buy my whole beans from Texas Coffee Traders, which imports them and roasts them to perfection.
Now I have these new ones, mostly naked women, from the weekend. Perhaps the rain was partial inspiration. Many more birds on the lake since the rain. Yesterday I spotted one little green heron, one yellow crown night heron, at least ten common egrets and a whopping 15 (yes, fifteen) green parrots. I don’t count the swans, ducks, pigeons or coots, as they’re always there.
Ruta Maya International on South Congress, Thursday Sept. 17, we’ll be having Bohemian Beat Night, with live music, including blues, murder ballads and word jazz. Hip stuff. Young Sam Kanoff, of Austin’s Khabele School, will be joining me on guitar, along with Doug Marcis on drums, Bruce Salmon on bass. My set begins at 9 PM. Around 10:15 or so, Harold McMillan and the Word Jazz Low Stars will do a set with a stunning array of local spoken word artists, including Thom “The World Poet” Moon and Ricardo Acevedo. After 11;30 or so, expect madness. More murder ballads, spoken word, Beat vibes, etc.
Do I have to explain all this? I think not.
Cover is only $5, college students get a discount. Cigars, coffee, beer, wine, espresso, sandwiches, cookes, brownies. What more could you want? Don’t answer that… just come!

2 Comments

Filed under MY ART BLOG

Todd Wolfson, Public Eye

Normally, you hear the words “bike wreck” and you expect some road rash, occasionally a bit of amnesia from a head wound, but Austin’s mean streets (perpetually under construction, it seems) were the site this summer of a bike spill that nearly ended the career of one of the most dependable and vividly artistic chroniclers of the city’s world-renowned music and arts scene. A leisurely cruise on July 11 turned into a Frankenstein movie for our beloved photographer, Todd V. Wolfson, when his front wheel hit a small black hole in the pavement universe and he was catapulted over the handlebars. His forehead took some of the impact but the worst of it was his elbow, so elaborately smashed that the surgeon declared it to be absolutely one of the worst cases he had ever encountered. The elbow joint was split in half and there were two other compound fractures. We all know how hard-headed Toddy is, so the eleven stitches required should come as something of a shock as well. How many needles were broken during the suturing we were not told. 

The Skunks by Todd Wolfson, overjoyed when they heard they had been voted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame after 30 years.

The Skunks by Todd Wolfson, overjoyed when they heard they had been voted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame after 30 years.

Todd being ministered to by caring public, from left, clockwise, Mickey Mann, Maria Corbalan, Samera Owhadian,Lois Richwine

Todd being ministered to by caring public, from left, clockwise, Mickey Mann, Maria Corbalan, Samera Owhadian,Lois Richwine


Toddy suffered internal injuries, too, but let’s get to the point, since they turned out to not be life threatening. His arm was put back together with the help of 16 (that’s right, sixteen) metal pins, and the whole right limb encased in a strange, sci-fi type brace with an adjustable elbow hinge on it, which makes him look like the offspring of a soap opera star and RoboCop. Or Son of Frankenstein, maybe.

Did we mention the staggering medical bills? Enough to gag a maggot, to scare a buzzard off a gut wagon. Then there’s the painful road of rehabilitation and therapy so that he may regain some percentage of the use of his right elbow again.

Yes, even a hack photographer needs two arms to do his magic, and Toddy is no hack. He needs help.

For the past 30 years, Todd V. Wolfson has been one of the keenest eyes of the Austin music scene. The list of Austin artists he has worked with runs the alphabetical gamut from A for Alejandro to Z (Although I can’t think of any Z-bands at the moment). We need him back in action and we need your help.

Therefore, a big party to raise money. Yes, I’m on the bill, playing with my colleague of the past 31 years, Jon Dee Graham. We’ll be doing our murder ballad set. But there are many other great artists. The list of confirmed artists is at the end of this post.

Included here are the photos Todd did for the jacket of my last book (Never the Same Again: A Rock N’ Roll Gothic) and the photo for the induction of The Skunks 2008 to the Austin Music Hall of Fame, also one of a recent visit to bring him some of Lois’ home cooking. I know it helped put me back together many times over the years we’ve been together. When Todd sends me pix of his robo-arm, I will post those here, too. If you are a friend of his on FaceBook, you can find them yourself.

The show will be on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at Antone’s nightclub in Austin. Go to Putting Todd Back Together to buy tickets online and find more info or even donate money online.

CONFIRMED BAND LIST/NOT IN PERFORMANCE ORDER:

Jon Dee Graham & Jesse Sublett
The Trishas
Skyrocket!
Paula Nelson
Ian McLagan & The Bump Band
Alejandro Escovedo
Carolyn Wonderland
Triple Cobra
Will Sexton & Ruby James
Special Guests

Contact JoRae for more info.

The portrait photo for my last book, Never The Same Again: A Rock n' Roll Gothic.

The portrait photo for my last book, Never The Same Again: A Rock n' Roll Gothic.