I went to see a couple of friends play a show last night at the infamous Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. The fun thing that happens is friends know other friends and the world starts to shrink. My friend John introduced me to Quincy who was there to see her brother Randy. So everyone had someone to see. The small part of it is that I had met Quincy before some time ago. But didn’t know her all that well. After the show several of us took off to Randy’s condo, made food, drank, and played music until the wee hours of morning.
All kinds of songs from originals to transformed covers came out. It was an amazing amount of fun and it’s something that would be awesome to do a whole lot more. It may very well do that. I know that people are now starting to invite others to game night at my joint. That’s a good sign. Thus Quincy and Randy have now been introduced into the fold.
Speaking of long things I’m pulling out a tune by a man I’ve seen in concert before he passed away. Very powerful performer. Chris Whitley was one of those musicians who you would watch and your jaw would hit the floor because it was obviously he was channeling something beyond the norm. A bunch of that seemed to be happening last night. Song after song and chords and melodies and lines and singing and moving around. It was fun.
Long Way Around is like an intense jam. That’s what Chris was – intense. Bizarre chords, great stories and moving vocals around strange melodies. This whole album rocks from front to back. It’s hard to say pick only one song. It’s one of those things where once you get the Chris Whitley bug you end up going all the way in to his catalog and exploring the musical landscape.
I hope the bug bites you today! Go get it!