Joe Krown interview pt. 2

Below is a continuation of this week's lead Tunes story, an interview with famed New Orleans organ player Joe Krown. He'll perform with his trio, including Walter "Wolfman" Washington and Russell Batiste, Jr., at the Triad Stage this Friday, July 30.


YW!: The whole thing (the trio) started at the Maple Leaf, right?

The whole thing started when I really wanted to do something with Walter in an organ group. Just the sound of his guitar made me think I could get a relationship kind of like the way Jimmy Smith had with Kenny Burrell. He’s got that twangy country, bluesy sound. He had a cleaner sound kind of like that way the organ players picked their guitar players for the organ trios. Jack McDuff always had George Benson in the early part of his career. Jimmy Smith always had Kenny Burrell. They all had a similar touch to their sound and Walter has that sound. I was really trying to pursue Walter first and I had talked to the Maple Leaf about maybe giving us a steady Sunday night. I was looking to leave an organ at a club where I could do this and get a weekly where I wouldn’t have to move the organ. I’ve had a relationship with The Maple Leaf and I talked to the club owner and he said “Yeah, we’ll try it. Get a celebrity drummer and we’ll make it work.” So I tried everyone in town and I kept coming back to Russell because it just fit what we wanted. I was Russell, you’re the guy we want and if you want to take every Sunday we’ll give it to you. As things have turned out, it caught on.
YW!: I’ve heard that Russell and Walter are a couple of fiery personalities both on the stage and off.

JK: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. It’s a very different situation. I mean I wasn’t surprised by it, I’m totally used to it. I mean I worked with Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown for 15 years, you want to talk about a fiery personality. I mean eccentric is a part of what you have to deal with with artists. Russell is extremely eccentric, Walter is very eccentric. Walter’s 66 or something and the aging has calmed it down. I would imagine that Walter was much wilder in his 30s and 40s than he has been in his 50s and 60s.


YW!: One of the strongest musical undercurrents in David Simon’s NOLA biopic Treme was that established musicians tend to hang their head in regard to playing Bourbon Street.

JK: I had a song on the Episode 2 and appeared on Episode 4, so I know all about Treme. I’m totally about it. Mostly the guys who end up on Bourbon Street that are the more popular guys are drummers, because they can walk in and play the job. It’s a little more difficult for me because I might not know the entire set of music. I might know the songs, but not the arrangements whereas a drummer can walk in a little easier. There are some oases on Bourbon Street, The Maison Bourbon does trad music, Preservation Hall does trad music. I work every Friday night at Irving Mayfield’s Playhouse and that’s a real music club. Straight up music club with New Orleans music and I do what they’re billing as the Professor’s Series because when I play piano it’s very much like Booker or Longhair did. When I’m out on the road I get a lot of guys like Tom McDermott or Tom Worrell who are very much into the traditional New Orleans boogie, that sound that Booker had. We all study that stuff really strongly.

I’ve worked there for years because I was touring with Gatemouth and it was a place that was always looking for people to fill. It’s become a mill in the sense that you really gotta play cover music really hard. Most of the musicians in town are not like embarrassed by it, but don’t go around and publicize the fact that they’re playing “Mustang Sally” at the Famous Door with such and such, you know? There are places that have real music, or creative music I should say, but most of the places are cover places where if you don’t know it in the first five seconds they won’t play.


YW!: It seems that each successive generation of New Orleans musicians are like the rings on a tree, building and building on the overall body. What do you see and hear in guys like Big Sam and Corey Henry that contribute to the big picture?

JK: The guy to really watch right now is Troy Andrews (also known as Trombone Shorty). He’s definitely got the right idea about it. The thing about New Orleans is that there’s a big party spirit and there’s a strong sense of “Somebody put your hands together, somebody scream” and the real ticket is to get somebody up there that does that, but also has a real unique musical thing. I don’t really know anything about Corey and Sam has a real nice energy, but the guy who’s really rising to the top is Troy. He’s young, he’s good looking, he’s doing all the right music, he’s writing music that’s got some depth to it.

Sometimes there are a lot of groups that have the right idea about presenting music, but when they go to play it falls kinda short for me, either lyrically or musically, but they have a really great energy. There’s a lot of guys out there that do that kind of thing. I don’t want to mention any names, because I don’t want to speak negatively of anyone. Big Sam to me is on the right course and has strong potential to bring that out, but the guy right who who’s really doing it is Troy. It’s because he’s got it all together and not only does he have this great party spirit, but he’s got a great band of young guys who all came up together and have stayed together.

To be honest he learned it all from his older brother James. James brought him on the road when he was nine and taught him. James could have been right up there too. He should be right up there with Kermit, but James’ business is not right. He doesn’t handle his stuff the way he should. Corey, I’m not real familiar with his music, I’ve never seen him play. He’s not real active in New Orleans. Big Sam, we’ve done tons and tons of shows with him and he kills. He kills, flat out. He’s a vibrant performer and he’s got a real strong powerful band. Same thing with Shorty, but I think Shorty’s got an edge. You’re talking about a Cadillac or a Lincoln really.