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mitchwoods.com Mitch Woods & his Rocket 88's
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ROAD NEWS
closer to a wonderful few weeks. The Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indians
featuring Big Chief Bo Dollis closed out the Heritage Stage. Paul Shafer
(from David Letterman show) was their special guest and as he left the
stage they invited me up to play and join the festivities. Couldn't think
of a better way to end jazz fest. Later that night we continued on at
Ray's Boom Boom Room on Frenchman St.
Will be heading for Memphis for the Blues Awards ceremony. Hope to see
everyone there and continue the music and the party.
Let the good times roll !
Its been quite a wild ride so far down in New Orleans.
Played the late
show at Howlin' Wolf with Tab Benoit's Voice Of The Wetlands ending up
at 4:30 in the wee wee hours on saturday. Went in the studio and
recorded on the Voice Of The Wetlands Allstars CD. This is going to be a
great one featuring Tab Benoit, Dr. John, Alan Toussaint, Cyril Neville,
Gaynell Neville, George Porter, Waylon Tibidoux, Johnny Vidacovich, and
Jumpin Johnnie Sansome. It was an awesome session and I was proud to be
invited to play on it. Look for it this fall.
Played the grand opening of Lafite Guest House with my special guest
Ephraim, trumpet from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Big thanx to Carol and
Joe. If anyone is looking to visit Nawlins this is the place to stay.
Let me know by email and I'll hook you up. On wednesday got to play a
street fest on Frenchman Street put on by Willy Nelson and Gaynell
Neville to help raise money for children of the 9th ward. My guests on that
were the funky Kirk Joseph on sousaphone and Eric Bolivar on drums. Lots
of fun.
Thursday got invited to play after the phenomenal Henry Butler (fellow
Blues Award nominee) on the piano at the Monteleone.
Also just got the news from Roger Naber that I will be holding court
late night on the piano at Club 88 on the Legendary Blues Cruise in
January 08.
Lookin forward to seeing all my friends here at Jazzfest this weekend.
Will update as it all unfolds.
Laissez Bon Ton Roulet !
Hola from Barcelona,
In the studio now recording a new cd for El Toro Records to be released
in September. Playing with The Lazy Jumpers who tour Spain and UK
regularly. Great musicians and good guys. I think we'll manage to make a
jumpin cd between tapas and mucho copas de Rioja.
Sat in last night at Harlem Club and Monasterio the night before in the
old center of Barcelona. Both places were packed and the crowd loved the boogie.
The CD will be distributed through Proper in UK and Bear Family in
Germany as well as Bertols throughout Europe. So expect to see lots more
dates over the pond.
Next I am headed for Lugano Switzerland to play the International
Boogie Woogie festival. Looking forward to meeting my fellow piano pounders
the legendary-Little Willie Littlefield,
German Boogiemeister- Axel Zwigenberger, Swiss boogieman-Silvan Zinng
and others. There is a big following for the traditional boogie woogie
style and I will be radiatin' the 88s jus like back in the ol
USofA........boogie on ......see you in Memphis for the Blues Awards where I
will
be hangin with my fellow nominees for Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of
the Year .........hasta la vista baby!
Mitch
Greetings from Thailand,
Things are going great here. Played 2 nights at the Blues Factory with
Ken "Snowman" Minahan and rocked the house. Now up in Pai at the Bebop
Cafe way up northern Thailand in the golden triangle. Beautiful town.
Club is rockin'. Playing with Joe Cummings on guitar, who wrote the
Lonely Planet guidebook to Thailand. So in good hands. Off tomorrow to get
some beach time playing at Coco Blues on the island of Ko Samui. Will
definitely return to Thailand again. Great people, great food, fun music
and more. Wishing everyone a happy thanksgiving from the Land of
Smiles. See you soon.
Mitch
South China Morning Press...
FLASH BULLETIN It's been a wild ride this month. Performing in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Shanghai! Lots of new fans worldwide. In New Orleans now for Jazzfest. It has been rough on the people of New Orleans but they will survive and rebuild I hope everyone can come and support the culture that is so vital here. I am glad to be playing music here and have some last minute additions to the calendar. Thur May 4 in store appearance at Tower Records 2pm New Orleans 4pm instore appearance at Good Rockin Records, Pere Antoine Alley French quarter w/ Rick Coleman, author of the new Fats Domino Biography. Sat May 6 perfroming with blues belter Marva Wright at Sheraton New Orleans 8:30 pm-11pm Look for me jammin at the clubs and further updates to come Let the good times roll!
Mitch is Appearing today at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival at Lagniappe Stage "A living tribute to Fats Domino with Herb Hardesty, Reggie Hall, Rick Coleman, author of the Fats biography, and special guests. 12:15pm Plus appearing with the Wild Magnolias at the Acura stage. 1pm
Greetings from Hong Kong! What a long and great trip it has been so
far.
I am sitting having the best Chinese seafood lunch ever on Lamma
Island, a 20 minute ferry ride from downtown HK where I will be playing at
Grappa's Cellar this weekend.
The energy here is strong. So many people and a world class city par
excellence.
Just finished at the JVC Waiheke Island Jazz Festival. Also another
beautiful island just off Auckland New Zealand.
Was backed by the Dan Barnett Big Band from Sydney. A great swingin
world class band and fun guys.
Featured on the fest was Vernal Bagneris performing a night in old New
Orleans. Vernal produced the Broadway show "One Mo Time" and
choreographed the Ray Charles movie. The Kiwis took well to the boogie and I look
forward to touring there again.
Waiheke is also known as the island of wine, so I did a brisk trade in
CDs for their wonderful wine!
The gig in Cairns, Australia, gateway to the Great Barrier Reef was a
blast and big success. The Swingin Alley Cats, who perform regularly
backed me at The Reef Casino. The Ozzies have already asked me back for
next year. Good on ya, mate. Lookin forward to it.
There are some great things comin' up when I return, after a quick
swing down to New Orleans for the Jazzfest. Looking forward with mixed
feelings to seeing the city and all my musical friends for the first time
post-Katrina. Keep posted on the website for more info about the long
time coming official release of Mitch Woods Big Easy Boogie cd/dvd in
late May, featuring the Fats Domino band. May 26 will be the cd/dvd
release party at 142 Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley with the Fats Domino
horns and drummer Earl Palmer on the bill with me! Don't miss this one.
Check here for details.
Will send more news as it happens on my world tour. Will stop in
Shanghai as well to check out the music scene there.
Til I see you, keep on boogeyin' and all the best
Mitch