Rock 'n Roll Gumbo [Sunnyside]

Performer: Professor Longhair
Engineer: Stephen Hodges
Producer: Philippe Rault; Philippe Rault
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Personnel: [Henry Roeland Byrd] a.k.a. Professor Longhair (piano, vocals), Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (guitar, violin), Julius Farmer (bass), Edwin "Sheeba" Kimbraugh (drums), Alfred "Uganda" Roberts (conga). Additional personnel: Jerry Jumonville (baritone & tenor saxophones), Steve Madaio (trumpet). Recorded at Studio In The Country, Bogalusa, Louisiana on April 3-4, 1974. Includes liner notes by George Winston and Philippe Rault. ROCK 'N' ROLL GUMBO contains songs from one of the Professor's final recording sessions in the early 70s. This was remixed in 1985 with "the piano brought up a little higher in the mix," horns newly added to one track, plus two previously unreleased songs. Personnel: Professor Longhair (vocals, piano); Julius Farmer (bass instrument); Sheba (drums); Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (guitar, violin); Jerry Jumonville (tenor saxophone); Steve Madaio (trumpet); Alfred "Uganda" Roberts (congas). Audio Mixer: Stephen Hodges. Liner Note Author: Philippe Rault. Recording information: Studio In The Country, Bogalusa, LA (04/03/1974/04/04/1974). Photographer: Barry Kaiser. Arranger: Henry Roeland Byrd. One of Professor Longhair's finest latter-day albums, ROCK 'N' ROLL GUMBO finds the New Orleans legend getting his groove back after years out of the public eye. The revered pianist/vocalist (born Henry Roeland Byrd) performs many of his best-known proto-rock-&-roll/R&B numbers, including the celebratory "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" (replete with energetic whistling) and the rollicking "Tipitina." As if hearing Fess behind the eighty-eights again weren't enough, GUMBO pairs him up with blues jack-of-all-trades Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, who sits in on both guitar and violin. Supported by a tight backing band, Longhair and Brown ease into Little Walter's sauntering "Mean Old World" and the Hank Williams classic "Jambalaya," among others, clearly having a good time. Although this album, recorded in 1974, marked the beginning of Longhair's comeback, it unfortunately proved to be one of his last studio sessions before his death in 1980, making it a significant document of this Big Easy icon's legacy. This delightful Professor Longhair album has almost slipped through the cracks more times than a skinny feather in the wind. Recorded in April 1974 in Bogalusa, LA (Professor Longhair's birthplace) just days after his house had burned to the ground, the sessions feature Longhair on piano and vocals, longtime friend Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown on guitar and violin, Julius Farmer on bass, and the Professor's longtime percussion team, drummer Sheba and conga player Alfred "Uganda" Roberts. Producer Philippe Rault coaxed a bright, lively sound from these musicians and the resulting album, Rock 'n Roll Gumbo, which features 12 of the 14 tracks cut in the two days, was easily one of Longhair's best. Initially, it was only released in Europe, and only saw a limited and local release in the U.S. when Warren Hildebrand's Mardi Gras Records put it out in 1978. Still virtually unheard by all but a lucky few, producer Rault revisited the album in 1985 for George Winston's Dancing Cat label, reinserting the two songs that had been left off the initial release, the infectious as sugar "Rum and Coke" and the marvelous "Mardi Gras in New Orleans," on which tenor saxophonist Jerry Jumonville and trumpeter Steve Madaio were brought in to overdub horns some ten years after the original sessions. The two additional songs made the album even better, and it is this augmented version that Sunnyside has now released in 2006. "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" is now the lead track, and it sets the fun, celebratory tone of the whole sequence, which grooves and swings in classic Professor Longhair gumbo style from start to finish, driven in part by the funky, deadened drum sound Rault got from Sheba and Roberts. This is simply a classic Professor Longhair album, and longtime fans and newcomers alike will find it completely irresistible. ~ Steve Leggett

New Orleans pianist Henry Byrd, known to the world at large as Professor Longhair, or just "'Fess," was a vital bridge between jazz, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues in the middle of the 20th century. An interpreter, stylist, and innovator, he's a prime figure in New Orleans's rich musical history. His whooping vocal style and percussive, highly rhythmic piano playing are hallmarks of the New Orleans R&B style, and many of his songs ("Big Chief," "Tipitina") have become standards of the genre.

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