I knew this was going to be a slow blog and it's not because of lack of content, more lack of time in my life.
Right now I'm very busy but for a great reason: I'm at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival every day shooting photos for WWOZ. And while I'm shooting a lot of different things, there's a pretty fantastic gospel tent right by the entrance and I've been dropping in pretty often.
See the reason I don't really go after any modern gospel is that SOOO much of it has such cheesy production. Drum machines all over, everything way too smooth. I can't stand it, and a lot of the groups here sound that way on record too. But live? Whoooooooa man
Today right after I saw Allen Toussaint I caught one of the best shows I've seen at Jazz Fest. The Selvy's from Arkansas made up for Aretha Franklin's cancellation that day with the force of 5 Arethas.... with coordinated outfits AND dance moves, and really a whole lot of sweetness. The only band I've seen pack the tent like they did were the Blind Boys of Alabama, but I doubt most people knew who the Selvy's were before stepping foot in there. I could hardly take pictures because everybody was dancing.
To give you an idea (this is not jazzfest)
While there were plenty of other groups that impressed, the next best were Voices of Distinction, a foursome of ladies out of Baton Rouge
Honestly, their myspace sounds horrible and they're not putting nearly as much soul into it as their live show. But MAN, that live show.
What do you get out of this? It's not like I expect to see postings for the next Voices of Distinction tour. I have no idea, I guess it's just good to remind that the genre is still fun for all the same reasons when you see it live. I thought it was worth mentioning and I guess I'll post more as I see fit
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