[Photos by acidjack]
North Mississippi Allstars guitarist/vocalist Luther Dickinson has made a life mission of keeping Delta blues alive while continuing to expand the genre through his own new efforts. His latest project, The Wandering, finds him teaming up with four exceptional female musicians – Amy LaVere, Shannon McNally, Valerie June, and Sharde Thomas – to honor the richness and diversity of the blues with a new record that combines new tracks and well-loved standards. This show at the grown ups’ music paradise Joe’s Pub was a perfect platform to showcase the members’ individual and collective talents. Dickinson, as ringleader of the proceedings, gave a solo set before the band went on, which included several favorites from the NMAS catalog like RL Burnside’s “Po’ Black Maddie”. When The Wandering took the stage, the dynamic shifted, with the four women sharing and trading the spotlight as Dickinson provided the strings. The quintet’s devotion to and love for their material is obvious; aside from the luxe surroundings and high-end sound system, you could have been in a balmy Delta club a hundred years ago. The band gave an inspired and different take on Leadbelly’s “In the Pines” (most recently popularized by Nirvana), the old standard “Glory, Glory”, and a somewhat more recent rock classic, The Byrds’ “Hey Mr. Spaceman”, among others. While each of the performers shined, one of our newest favorites, Amy LaVere, fresh off of a performance with Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes at Bowery Ballroom, particularly shined on the vocals and upright bass. Although the just-over-an-hour set was too short by half in my opinion, it established The Wandering as a formidable new entry in the modern blues arena.
Johnny Fried Chicken Boy and I faced some challenges setting up for this show, but we ended up with our mics situated in an ideal location in the center of the venue. This recording is from my Schoeps MK5 cardiods, and boasts a full, rich sound that reflects the venue’s excellent acoustics. Enjoy!
Note: The Luther Dickinson solo set and The Wandering set MP3s are offered together in a single download. The FLACs are separate direct downloads.
Stream “Po’ Black Maddie” [Luther Dickinson Solo]
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/N0409NMAS9002/08 Po’ Black Maddie.mp3]
Stream “Hey Mr. Spaceman” [The Byrds]
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/N0409NMAS9002/13 Hey Mr Spaceman.mp3]
Stream “In the Pines”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/N0409NMAS9002/07 In the Pines.mp3]
Luther Set and Wandering Set MP3 files [HERE] | The Wandering FLAC files [HERE] | Luther Dickinson FLAC files [HERE]
If the FLAC links are no longer working, email nyctaper for the FLAC files
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Luther Dickinson
2012-05-14
Joe’s Pub
New York, NY USA
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com
Schoeps MK5 [cardiod]>KCY>Z-PFA>Aerco MP-2>Sony PCM-M10>24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, envelope crowd noise, amplify and balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks
01 [unknown]
02 Blind Lemon and the Hook Man
03 [banter]
04 [unknown 2]
05 Let It Roll
06 Breckenridge Blues
07 [banter]
08 Po’ Black Maddie [RL Burnside]
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The Wandering
2012-05-14
Joe’s Pub
New York, NY USA
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com
Schoeps MK5 [cardiod]>KCY>Z-PFA>Aerco MP-2>Sony PCM-M10>24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, envelope crowd noise, amplify and balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks
01 [intro]
02 Sittin’ On Top of the World [Doc Watson]
03 Love, Life and Money [Marianne Faithfull]
04 If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day [Robert Johnson]
05 [unknown]
06 Loving Her Was Easier [Kris Kristofferson]
07 In the Pines [Leadbelly]
08 [unknown]
09 You Are My Sunshine
10 Glory, Glory
11 [encore break]
12 Working Woman Blues
13 Mr. Spaceman [The Byrds]
14 Drinking Muddy Water
15 My Babe [Little Walter]
If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT The Wandering, like them on Facebook, and purchase their record Go On Now, You Can’t Stay Here from Amazon or your favorite retailer.
Sittin’ On Top of the World predates Doc Watson by a bit. It’s originally from 1930, by the Mississippi Sheiks.
Is “Lay Me Down A Pallet on Your Floor” from Luther’s set in there somewhere? What a great show this was – thank you for recording it!
Found “Lay me down” at beginning of Burnside Banter and Wang Dang Doodle at end on “Loving Him” in Wandering set after finally listening to the whole show. Thanks again! Did you guys video the whole thing as well? I just got most of Luther’s set, missed first 2 songs and drained my phone.