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"MUSIC IS THE ULTIMATE CONVERSATION.....LETS TALK." I have the soul & the sound of New Orleans in my blood. Born & raised here I have been working since 1966. I have been lucky enough to have worked with some of the creators of the New Orleans sound , such as Professor Longhair, ( I subbed for Johnny Vidacovich ) Ernie K Doe, Eddie Bo, Frankie Ford, Irma Thomas, Robert Parker (Bare Footin'), to mention a few. At 20 I was lucky enough to do the Wayne Cochran & C C Rider gig, the best school of life & music ever. While with this band I had the chance to play with some of musics' greatest such as Red Rodney ( played with Charlie Parker ), Jaco, ( the name speaks for itself ) I appear in Jaco's book & on two tribute cd's. One for Warner Brothers & the other Holiday Park Records. Some other players were Lee Thornburg ( Tower of Power ), Al Sylvestrie ( major motion picture music producer ),Dick Oats ( east coast sax legend ) Randy Emerick ( Miami's first call for everything musical ) , Lon Price ( legendary tenor sax ) & the list goes on forever. During those years with Wayne, we recorded a landmark record for Epic Records at Columbia Studios in San Francisco. At that time we played a lil place called Keystone Berkley were some local band opened up for us, oh yeah, I think they were called Tower Of Power. lol. I think something about seeing an R & B band with 11 horns (4 trumpets, 4saxes & 3 trombones) & a 3 piece rhythm section changed their lives. We also played FILMORE WEST in it's hay day. Wayne's band backed up JERRY LEE LEWIS on the MIDNIGHT SPECIAL. during those yrs. we did several T.V. shows along with 15 weeks a yr. in Vegas After that I quit touring for 15 yrs to raise a family. During that time I was part of an extension of Wayne's band. Charles Brent who was the musical director for Wayne along with Luther Kent formed a six piece horn band called Luther Kent & Trick Bag. With former horn players from Wayne's band & one of the rhythm sections , myself, David lee Watson ( bass ) & Charlie Brent ( guitar & arranger ). This band proved to be one of a kind to never ever be surpassed or duplicated. In between those years I also established myself as a first call sub. working an assortment of gigs from society dances & balls to the Bourbon St. grind. At one point before I started touring again I worked with 3 different bands 7 days a week with 5 days of doubles minimum for 2 years. It was then I realized I was working way too much. In the early 90's I was asked to do some world tours with Dr. Hook featuring Ray Sawyer. Working with this stellar band especially band members J P Fitting ( bass ), Rick Boyd ( guitar ) & Peter Hanson ( keys & babysitter of spoiled band members like myself ) gave me the fever. Soon after I joined national touring blues man Tab Benoit. I toured & recorded with Tab for 6 yrs. In 2000 I returned to New Orleans to re establish my roots. Since then I have been back into the local scene with occasional road trips In 2005 unfortunately, my house was flooded with 20 ft. of water during Hurricane Katrina & I lost ALL OF MY EARTHLY possessions. I MEAN EVERYTHING. But my family & I are alive & are struggling to go forward. I THANK THE COUNTRY, NOT THE POLITICIANS FOR THEIR LOVE & SUPPORT. WE WILL NEED IT FOR A LONG TIME. DON'T FORGET US. ALL WE CAN PROMISE IN RETURN IS GOOD FOOD , GOOD TIMES & GOOD MUSIC. COME & SEE. Someone told me that typing in CAPS is like screaming. Well, sometimes I have to scream to get your attention. One footnote. This is a life story I'd like to share & my stories could fill volumes, but I'll just start with this one. To me this will give you an idea of the standard this band was famous for. After a show one night,when I was with Wayne Cochran,I was whining about not being able to cut the show because of things I had no control of that hindered me from doing my best. I was new, barely 20, & as I sat in the dressing room in Vegas telling my woes to Artie Glenn & Bob Gable ( that should have raised a red flag there !! ) One after another looked me in the eye & first Artie said " You know ALLYN, you got too many excuses" & then Gable chimed in with his usual candor & said " NO ONE SAID IT WAS GOING TO BE EASY DUMB ASS!! " I was crushed, but the light bulb went off after that & made me realize no matter how justified " excuses were not acceptable" in this band. It was a life lesson & standard I have adhered to all my life with much thanks to two of the best friends I could ever have. ALSO I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT, I AM NOW THE RECIPIENT OF A DW DRUM ENDORSEMENT. I WANT TO THANK THE PEOPLE AT DW & PETER ERSKINE FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE LOVE & ART OF PLAYING DRUMS. ABOVE ARE SOME PICTURES OF A RECENT TRIP TO FT LAUDERDALE TO VISIT EX CC RIDERS & FRIENDS. AS THE YEARS PROGRESS THERE ARE FEWER & FEWER OF US TO SHARE OUR MEMORIES. THIS MAKES OUR MEETINGS ALL THE MORE SPECIAL. BELOW ARE SOME PICTURES FROM MY RECENT TRIP TO NORWAY FOR THE SILDAJAZZ FESTIVAL FOLLOWED BY A MUSICAL REVIEW OF OUR TRIP. NORWAY REVIEW: Big Luther Kent’s band (despite having lengthy delays arriving to Norway,) was on fire on all of the performances I attended, and as usual; Mr. Kent ’s first rate vocals were wowing the crowds, (as well as me,) to extreme delights. Luther’s crack band of New Orleans based musicians consisted of; old time Luther Kent band-mates Bruce Elsensohn who killed on piano, and the propulsive drummer Allyn Robinson, plus Luther’s Silda Jazz organizer H.R. Ziifle on his hot guitar, and the driving bass of Glen LeBlanc. Luther and his band were well received in Norway ; so much so innuendos were made to bring Luther and his band back to SildaJazz next year. Works for me, as I won’t mind carrying Big Luther’s bags back to Norway- OK Luther? One of the many other nice musician amenities of Silda Jazz included a late night musician hang where after the regularly scheduled public performances; the musicians had a nice venue to jam at, and were offered a great bowl of fish soup, beer, and to freely let loose and carry on into the wee hours. On one particular evening, Luther Kent’s band was offered a generous amount of kroner (dollars) to lead the jam which started around 2:00am, this jam turned into an international blowout of musicians from across the universe, all under the tutelage and leadership of Luther’s wailing vocals and song selections, needless to say a great time was had by all! As I previously mentioned; SildaJazz is a world class event; that cares well for its patrons, and also treats the performers royally. Speaking of being well cared for, I would personally like to thank Silda Jazz’s Bjarne Dankel Jr., and press coordinator Unni Hilt for making my stay in Norway so very special! SildaJazz has already established next years festival dates on the Scandinavian Jazz Calender for 2008; and they are August 6th through August 10th. Unni Hilt tells me that the 2008 Festival is in its planning stages and they are promising that SildaJazz 2008 will be the largest and most promising ever. In the meantime; keep checking http://www.sildajazz. no/english for next year’s lineup. I look forward to being there next year, with Big Luther Kent of course! Bob Putignano is a regular contributing writer to Goldmine & Big City Rhythm and Blues magazines, the Yonkers Tribune, Westchester Times Tribune and formerly recognized and listed in the Library of Congress and can be reached through www.SoundsofBlue.com THIS SHOULD BE GOOD FOR A LAUGH. LIVE TV WASN'T WHAT IT IS TODAY IN 1972. THIS IS A IMPROMPTU JAM WITH JERRY LEE LEWIS & THE BEE GEES ON THE "MIDNIGHT SPECIAL". THE SOUND IS HORRIBLE AND NO BODY COULD HEAR ANYTHING....BUT HEY, IT'S THE BEE GEES & JERRY LEE.