New Orleans

Monday 3 February - Thursday 6 February - ublues enjoys a few days in the magical city of New Orleans, a hotbed of jazz, blues and funk and historically the birthplace of jazz, being a meeting place of the blues, cajun, zydeco, african, West Indian and French music. The music coming out of this region has a unique rhythm to it, and is a cornerstone of alot of funk music as we know it today. Not only does this city have beautiful music, it also has beautiful scenery, (see below) and great food!

Above - Crossing the worlds longest bridge, stretching about 42km across a large lake. Put in context Singapore is about 46km wide .

Below - The highlight of New Orleans was catching the Johnny Vidacovich Trio on Wednesday night at the Maple Leaf Bar. Vidacovich is a local legend and drum wizard, with incredible groove, feel and technique, and is a leading exponent of New Orleans rhythms. His Trio on this night comprised of jazz protege Nicholas Payton on trumpet and George Porter Jr, perhaps best known as bassplayer from premier 70s funk outfit, The Meters. The band got some time to hang out and chat with George Porter Jr, who is a very warm, humble and friendly person.

Above - Nicholas Payton and George Porter Jr ripping it up!

Below - Johnny Vidacovich

Below - With George Porter Jr.

Below - The Maple Leaf Bar, a small and dimly-lit venue outside the French Quarter, away from the regular tourist attractions, and a host to a packed out audience that Wednesday night!

Above and below - Nicholas Payton, trumpeter extraordinaire

Tokyo

Friday 7 February - Sunday 9 February - On the way back from the USA, ublues stopped for 2 nights in Tokyo for a change of scene. The brief visit was total eye-opening experience. After the overall largeness and excesses of the United States, the food and music venues in Tokyo were a polar opposite. The couple of pictures below illustrate. ublues visited the Checkerboard Blues Bar as soon as they got off the plane and what greeted them was a stage was no more than 5'x6', where 4 dedicated Japanese bluesmen pounded out gutsy Chicago-style blues (complete with phonetically-learned lyrics!). The crowd compromised of mostly young and very enthusiastic Japanese students, reflecting the society's deep appreciation for the blues. Danny and Trevor got up for a jam (one at a time, as 5 people onstage was definitely enough of a challenge), and the warm reception received was certainly a highlight of the whole trip.

Above - Steven Black from WalkerAsia.com (UBLUES Fest's webcast and media partner) and Sachako (r) who showed us around Tokyo.

more pics from USA tour

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