Quezergue Onstage and Behind The Scenes

From left, Quezergue, Sam Henry, Charlie Moore, Tony Owens, and unidentified band members at the 2007 French Quarter Festival

Going to the final day of the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans last weekend inspired me to do a series of posts on some more records that Wardell Quezergue had a hand in birthing. Sunday afternoon, I got to see the fine band that he put together for the festival and was directing from a chair on stage left. We got there after the start of the set; and they were cooking on a jazz/funk instrumental. When that ended, singer Tony Owens came to the stage and let loose with a string of outstanding vocal performances on some of the tunes that he had recorded back in the 1970s and some classic blues and soul. After that rare treat, Al Johnson got up and sang his local seasonal standard, "Carnival Time". He had us all thinking it was Mardi Gras again.Though obviously not in the best of health, Quezergue led the band with enthusiasm and class, impressing everybody with his arranging talents as expressed through his band of seasoned players. There on the riverside, I had another one of those overwhelming experiences, hearing New Orleans music directly from musicians who have given so much to their local culture and to the world, and are still at it - and all over it. There are those of you who know from experience what I'm talking about. For those who don't, you simply must hear New Orleans music live sometime. Recordings are, at best, artificial constructs only able to hint (if we're lucky) at the magic of a live performance. No matter how many you buy or listen to, you're still far removed from the real deal. Of course, many of the real deals are no longer with us; but its the ones still kickin' I'm talking about.

The sermon being over, let's kick off the musical portion of the service with something from late in Quezergue's association with Malaco Records in Jackson, Mississippi. The label really owes much of its existence to the talented artists and great songs he brought to the studio from New Orleans early on that helped them get off the ground with some substantial hits and quality production work that influence their musical direction for many years.



"E-Ni-Me-Ni-Mi-Ni-Mo" (Small-Quezergue-Royal)
Elliott Small, Malaco 1031, 1976
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"E-Ni-Me-Ni-Mi-Ni-Mo (Part 2)"
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Here's some fine mid-70's garden variety funk groove from Malaco Studios, deftly arranged by Wardell Quezergue. Musical similarities abound to the sound of the performer Quezergue had worked with the most at Malaco, King Floyd; and it certainly seems to be no accident. Floyd and Quezergue had a falling out one or two years prior to this and no longer worked together. As I have mentioned in previous posts on Floyd, Malaco was having increasing difficulty with the singer due to his erractic, demanding behavior - and lack of hits. The label seems to have wanted to make a King Floyd record without having to deal with the man himself, using the same arranger and musicians, their extremely proficient house band, with James Stroud on the drumming throne. The featured singer, Elliott Small (a/k/a Elliot Small) even affects some of Floyd's vocal mannerisms, too; but the unique harmonical solo on Part 2 is all his own. None of that helped get this record airplay and sales, though; and the effort became just another recording footnote, although one that you can shake your booty to. Could have been worse!

I don't really know why Small gets the producing credit for this one (see label). Maybe he came to Malaco with the concept already in mind, then co-wrote the tune with Quezergue and guitarist Teddy Royal for the session. Or maybe Small approached Quezergue first, since they had worked together before. In any case, I'm guessing the nursery rhyme lyrics were Small's doing, while Royal composed the backing track; and Quezergue finished up with the horn charts and general arrangement. That is based on my extensive talks with Royal and his discussions of how the arranger called on him to come up with melodies and basic grooves when they collaborated. I would also assume that Teddy is playing one of the guitar parts on the track. I'll have to ask him about that.

I must confess that in the year and a half since I posted Elliott Small's earlier, much different collaboration with Quezergue, "Girls Are Made For Lovin'" (note: audio re-activated while this post is hot), I haven't learned much more about the singer/songwriter, even after several phone conversations and meeting him. Shortly after that post, I was contacted by friends of Elliott who live outside of Baton Rogue and had taken him in after Katrina. They had found my piece on him and wanted me to know where he was. When he finally moved back to New Orleans, they gave me his cell phone number; and I talked to him several times. He confirmed that, as I had discovered in my research, for a number of years he has been one of the regular street performers in the French Quarter, where he goes by the name of 'Grandpa', playing harmonica and singing. At the time of Katrina, he was partnered with blues performer Stoney B; and they had played at least one gig at a music festival. But it seems they were separated by the storm. Anyway, Elliott was much more interested in me helping him try to get a gig than in talking about the past and his record-making days. So, I gave him the number of a guy I know who used to book blues acts and, I thought, might be able to help; but I don't think they ever connected. The last time I spoke with Elliott he was back performing on the street; and I introduced myself to him between songs, as he was playing tunes with two women outside Cafe Du Monde. I'm not sure he even knew who I was. Next time I see him though, I'm going to drop a goodly amount in the kitty and request "E-Ni-Me-Ni-Mi-Ni-Mo".

The A-side of this single, plus a number of other Quezergue productions can be heard on the box set Malaco retrospective The Last Soul Company.