MARCH 20, 2014
For the next fifty-seven days we would be away
from “Stones World” and doing a number of interesting and exciting events, work
on Charlane, seeing about our Savannah house and trying to get a bit of rest
in-between.
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| Gypsy Moth |
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| Bambi at Charlane Plantation |
Starting with the fact that we were home 16
days before we thought we would, that gave me the chance to get some things
done on Charlane that I otherwise would not have. Within a couple of days being
home, I saw that there would be an opportunity to get some prescribed burning
done, so I plowed into that. I cut fire breaks where I thought the most
critical areas were and went to work.
I wound up getting something like 250 or
so acres done, which was great. There
had been quite a lot of rain, so there was plenty of moisture in the
ground….and in one case I even got stuck in my tractor trying to cut a break.
But all in all, it went really well and I was pleased with the results I got. I
rode around most every day, checking on things, doing a bit of mowing, making
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| Sweeping The Forest Floor..Indian Culture |
plans for planting feed plots and just doing whatever seemed like needed doing.
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| Red Barn Before |
We also re-engaged with some painting and
construction. Our painter, Dana Billingsly and his helper Darryl went to work
first on Rose Lane’s “Red Barn
They repaired some rotted wood, hammered some
boards in here and there and then painted it a fresh red. The old tin roof got
a coat of green.
They also worked on our house….again, fixing some rotted wood
here and there, pressure washing the whole house and spot painting some areas.
It gave us a beautiful fresh spring look. Other projects included them putting
a couple of coats of stain on some of the outbuildings…like our skinning
station, parts of my mechanic shop and shed and our new woodworking shop. He
also pressure washed the Bullard House and the Lodge. They both need fresh
coats of stain, but we decided to wait until we got back from the European tour
to do that. Our friend and somewhat new builder, Emmitt Shurling and his two
man crew of Keith and John Chance (father-son) re-worked our garden
to double it in
size and started on a new chicken coupe and chicken yard for us. They also did
some other various repairs around the place. Hal had planted our new garden and
was tending to it daily. He planted corn, squash, greens, tomatoes and some
other plants. We tidied up our yard and in general fluffed things up all
around.
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| The After Glow Red Barn |
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| Keith John and Emmitt with new CP sign |
I had some other things already on the books
for April and May. First was to accept an award from the Pacific Forest Trust
out in California. Called the “Out of the Box” award, it is in recognition of
finding unique ways to promote sustainable forestry and to get positive message
about forestry to the general public.
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| Pacific Land Trust Award |
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| San Francisco |
Rose Lane and I flew out to San Francisco on April 23, and our event was on the 24th. The night we arrived, we were invited to dinner by Nick Pritzker and Dave Schools. Nick is a billionaire out of the famous Pritzker family that have various interests in many businesses..but mostly known for owning the Hyatt Regency chain of hotels. Nick is also very interested and active in issues like global warming , climate change, renewable energy and other similar issues. His daughter, Regan (sp?), is on the board of PFT and he had contacted me a couple of weeks prior to the event to set up a dinner. We had a great time with them and talked about a range of things from music to environmental challenges.
The next day I did some media…for MNN, and also
for the PFT event. I met with a writer from USA Today to do a feature and later
with Dan Ashley of KGO, one of the main TV stations in the Bay Area. Dan is a
friend and we’ve known each other a long time. He has always been gracious to
me and has given me several good spots on the station. All that went well, and
our event was that evening. Our pal Richard Kerris and his wife Nat would join
us at our invitation, and our friends Joel and Deri Silver would also join us
at our invite. Nick and his daughter were there, of course. Connie Best, who is
the co-CEO with Laurie Wayburn of PFT had lunch with us that afternoon and were
very gracious hosts to us for the event. There was quite a good crowd…maybe
150-200 or so of some of SF’s top players and philanthropists. It went really
well…I gave a short acceptance and played a few tunes for the crowd. We made
some new friends and afterwards went to the Four Seasons with Richard and Nat
to hang out with them for a while. Great fun all the way around.
The next day we were off…but I went to the
board meeting of PFT for a while which was fun, informative and interesting.
They do some very good work and are all dedicated to their purpose. Rosie and I
had dinner on our own that evening at a casual place…and the next day we were
off to New Orleans...
NEW ORLEANS AND DR. JOHN
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| Chuck with his Master Mac Rebbanack |
We didn’t do much the next day….just relaxed
and walked around the French Quarter some. Dinner was at at G.W Fins, owned and
run by our friend Tenney Flynn, a wonderful and talented Chef. Tenney is the
brother-in-law of Gerry Hansen, the drummer I usually work with for my shows.
He was most gracious….sending us extra dishes and spending a good bit of time
with us. Nice start to a wonderful week
and a half in the city.
The 28th was my birthday, and we had dinner
with our good friend Quint Davis (long time producer of the Jazz Fest) and his
date Suzzie at the Canal Street Grill. That was another good one and made for a
good birthday memory. On the 29th we continued our routine of rest, me hitting
the gym, walking the Quarter and eating well. Another birthday in New Orleans….not
a bad proposition at all!
4/29
One more day off before rehearsals start for the show. Don Was, Kenny Aronoff and Keith Wortman and most of his team came in today, although I didn’t spend much time with them. I texted Keith about dinner…he had suggested a band dinner that night…but I guess it really didn’t turn into exactly that, and so Rosie and I went out together one more time to Arnaud’s.
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| Chuck with Jimmy Vaughn and Don Was |
One more day off before rehearsals start for the show. Don Was, Kenny Aronoff and Keith Wortman and most of his team came in today, although I didn’t spend much time with them. I texted Keith about dinner…he had suggested a band dinner that night…but I guess it really didn’t turn into exactly that, and so Rosie and I went out together one more time to Arnaud’s.
4/30-5/2
Time to “make the doughnuts”. Rehearsals start
today. The core band was me, Don Was on bass, Kenny Aronoff on drums, Brian and
Brint Alexander on guitars, Jon Gros (pronounced “grow”) on organ. There was a
3 piece horn section…Mark Mullins on trombone (who played with me two years
prior when I did my gig at Jazz Fest), Bobby ? on trumpet and Chris ? on sax.
We rehearsed at the Joy Theater, which was right across from the Saenger
Theater where the show would be.
We proceeded to learn the tunes that had been
sent to us by Keith with a list of the various artists that would be featured
for them in the keys we thought they would do them in. All went quite smoothly
and everyone got along great…and everyone contributed well. George Porter, Jr.
would replace Don on some of the songs as bass player. Nice guy, very
enthusiastic…if perhaps a bit too “take charge”. Great player, and certainly
knows the New Orleans songbook well with his history.
As the days progressed we went through a great
number of songs….the different artists started coming in one by one and the
arrangements got tighter and tighter. Mac (Dr. John) came in as well…it was so
great to see my old friend and mentor again, and he was most gracious to me.
His musical director and trombone player, Sarah Morrow was with him, and she
was very helpful in the arrangements of the tunes he would do. A list of the
songs and artists are listed at the end of this entry. It was a lot of work…I
had actually started learning the songs when Rose Lane and I were in Savannah
some 10 days or so prior, and also spent time on them at home at Charlane. So
as the rehearsals progressed, I began to feel more and more confident and was
really enjoying the experience. I was to have my own feature in the show…a tune
called “Traveling Mood”.
The last night of rehearsals, May 2, Don Was
and I sat in with Warren Haynes’ band Gov’t Mule at the Saenger….that was great
fun, too.
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| Rose Lane with Kenny Aranoff and Ashley Longshore |
Showtime…and there would be a very special
guest that had only come about the night before…Bruce Springsteen. He was
playing the Jazz Fest with his band late afternoon of the 3rd and would rush to
the Saenger to participate. He would be the first guest on the first song….with
Mac on stage as well. Brian Williams, the well known news anchor, would
introduce the show with the curtain closed….and when it opened, there we all
were…playing “Right Place, Wrong Time”….not a bad opener! The show went
great….with all the various guests, a cracker-jack band….lots of cameras to
record it and in a wonderful setting…it certainly made for one heck of a
memory. I was quite pleased with my own feature and had so much fun backing up
all the other artists. It will be shown on the AXS tv channel at some point,
and will be made into a DVD to be released before too long. Here is the set
list:
The Musical Mojo of Dr, John:
Celebrating Mac & his Music
Friday, May 3rd, 2014
Saenger Theatre, New Orleans
Rough Set List Draft v3:
1. Bruce Springsteen and Mac -
Right Place, Wrong Time
2. Cyril Neville - Indian Red
3. Blind Boys of Alabama -
Blue Skies / Will The Circle Be
Unbroken (Medley)
4. Anders Osborne & Bill Kreutzmann
- Somebody Changed The Lock
5. Anders Osborne & Bill
Kreutzmann - R U For Real
6. Shannon McNally- Street
Life (Bobby Charles)
7. Jason Isbell - Blow Wind
Blow
8. Allen Toussaint - Life
9. John Boutte - Make A Better
World
10. George Porter Jr. &
Zigaboo Modeliste - Junco Pardner
*11. Irma Thomas - Since I
Fell For You
*12. Tab Benoit – Stack-a-Lee
*13. Big Chief Monk Boudreax -
Big Chief
*14. Dave Malone - Goodnight
Irene
Intermission….Part 2:
1. Widespread Panic - How Come
My Dog Don’t Bark
2. Widespread Panic - Familiar
Reality
3. Chuck Leavell - Traveling
Mood
4. Mavis Staples - Lay My
Burden Down
5. Jimmie Vaughan - Let The
Good Times Roll
7. Jimmie & Lucinda -
Those Lonely Nights or Stack-a-Lee
8. Ryan Bingham - Back By The
River
9. Warren Haynes - You Lie
10. John Fogerty - New Orleans
(Gary US Bonds)
11. Cyril (and Mac!) - Peace
Brother Peace
13. Mac - New Island Soiree
14. Mac & Terence
Blanchard - Rain
15. Mac - Gilded Splinters
(featuring Sarah Morrow)
16. Mac - Such A Night (featuring
Sarah Morrow)
Encore:
1. Mac – Storm Warning
2. ALL ARTISTS – IKO, IKO
*with George Porter Jr staying
on with the house band
5/4-6
With that all done, Rose Lane and I flew back
home the next day, on the 4th. I would have a few days at home before having to
fly to New York for some media for MNN and to make a presentation to the New
York Music Educators. I spent the days at home overlooking some of the work
being done…the painting and repair stuff….as well as practicing for an upcoming
two gigs of my own in Montgomery… and just going with the flow. I had to drive
up to Atlanta airport on the 5th to do an in person interview to get my “Global
Entry” card…a card that allows you to travel internationally with less hassle
in security lines and making life a bit easier in that regard.
5/7-9
Flew to New York for my work there. Had dinner
with Joel Babbit at the Carlyle Cafe and to watch my pal Steve Tyrell do his
show there. We had seen Steve before during the last run that the Stones did in
the NY area. He is such a pro and such a nice guy….great fun. This show he
focused on the songs of Sammy Kahn. Excellent!
The next day would be various media hits for
MNN….Fast Company, Bloomberg, WSJ and some other stuff. That evening I had
dinner with my partner in irocku, Howard Citron, and our irocku team….we had
good fun socializing and planning a bit for the presentation that would take
place the next day. This would be a group of some 50 music educators in the NY
city area. Barbara Murray was our main contact…she is over some 1,000 music
educators in the area.
The 9th was the day of the presentation.
Barbara was wonderful to work with and was excited to have us there with some
of her teachers. I had some degree of trepidation about it…as it was to be a 3
hour event, and I wasn’t sure I could fill that much time. But as it turned
out, it went incredibly well and the time was, if anything, too short. Cary
Brown and Collin DeJoseph would chime in from time to time about our irocku
methodology, and Howard did a good job of introducing the event and introducing
me. Cary did an especially outstanding job. He is a monster player and a good
presenter. One other young fellow, Matthew Watnabe, also chimed in some and did
a good job. Barbara and all the teachers were sincerely impressed and Barbara
later wrote me in an email that without exception they all felt it was the best
event of it’s type that they had ever attended. Now, if we can get them to buy
into the irocku system….and grow it through the NY city and state education
system….wow, it would be huge! But we have a way to go before that could
happen. Bottom line is that it was a fantastic first step.
I flew home after the event, getting in very
late and tired, but feeling good about the days I had spent there.
5/10-13
Continued my routine of work at Charlane,
practicing piano and just enjoying my days at home before the coming
activities. I got in some mowing (which I love to do) in the yard, riding
around in my Bad Boy Buggy or my Arctic Cat four-wheeler, enjoying our dogs, sitting
on the porch in the evenings with Rose Lane having cocktails, etc.
5/14
Drove up to Watkinsville, Ga to rehearse the
band for my upcoming show in Montgomery for their River Jam. We would have two
new guys this time….Nick Johnson on guitar and Seth Hendershot on drums. They
play with Randall Bramblett in his band sometimes….both excellent players and
came to rehearsal very well prepared. So that went smoothly and I drove back.
5/15
My last real day at home before the Montgomery
shows and the upcoming Stones tour. Aside from the usual, I had made a list up
of things I wanted Scotty Simpson and Hal Hamilton to try and get done in our
absence. We rode around and discussed what was on the list, me letting them
know what I thought the priorities would be. No way to get it all done, but
wanted to make sure they had plenty to think about and plenty to do. We also
did the major packing of the bags.
5/16
Drove to Montgomery. The first show, that
evening, would be at the Montgomery Museum of Arts and Science. My cousin,
Windy (Winston) Leavell, had arranged it. It would be a solo gig…a sort of
“talk show” format with me playing some songs and him acting as MC, asking me
questions about my career. It was a private event, a benefit for the Museum,
but one that I would be paid $7.5K for.
Windy’s significant other, his partner Amy, would accompany us. Our friend
Daniel Hughes, a long time Charlane Plantation client, was one of the sponsors
and was there as well. There was maybe 120 or so folks…so very intimate. Set
“in the round”, the piano was in the middle of the room, surrounded by tables
with folks all around. Windy did an excellent job and the event couldn’t have
gone better. Not only was it fun and a success, but it helped to endear me to
the Montgomery community….not a bad thing. Afterwards we went to dinner with
them at a seafood place called ??. In attendance were some of the sponsors….and
there was probably 15 or so folks there. Nice way to wind down.
5/17
The band drove in from Birmingham where they had
a gig with Randall the night before. We got things set up in the afternoon, did
a sound check and had some time off before doing the show. This was an outdoor
event, down by the River. Free to the public, but a nice paying gig at $10K.
The two shows together made it doable for me.
Rose Lane and I went over to Windy and Amy’s
house for a bit….walked the streets of downtown Montgomery some, drove around
and killed time. We stopped in at the Hank Williams Museum
to look around. We
were the closers of the show and our set started at 9 and went to about 10:30.
The band rocked, and the “new guys” did a fab job. There was a pretty decent
crowd….maybe less that I would have liked, but certainly respectable…and I was
told that there were more folks there than in past years, so all in all a good
gig. We had a drink in the bar of the Embasy Suites (where we stayed the two
nights) with Windy and Amy before retiring….we had said our goodbyes to the
guys in the band prior.
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| Rose Lane vampiing outside Hank William Museum |
5/18
We were up around 9 and quickly packed up to
head back home. We would only have a few hours there….as we were to fly to Oslo
and meet up with the Stones for rehearsals. They had actually already started
rehearsing a week before in London. I had given notice a good three months back
that I had these gigs, and at that time they had not confirmed the European
tour or when rehearsals would start. So I made it clear to them that I was not
going to back out of my shows and they would see me when I could get there.
Rosie and I closed up all our bags and loaded
up the car…saying goodbye to our animals and taking a last look at Charlane for
some 6 weeks. Hal picked us up to drive us to the Atlanta airport. We stopped
by Rosaline’s house to say goodbye to her and headed north. Hal dropped us off,
we checked in and flew Air France to Paris to connect to another AF flight to
Oslo. Since it was a night flight, we arrived in Oslo on the 19th, in the late
afternoon. Tired, I opted not to go to the rehearsal place even though the band
was there…we had dinner and crashed out.
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