Black Eye Blues

 One of the wonderful films that rolled out this month is “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” the latest in Denzel Washington’s exciting ongoing project to bring the best of the late August Wilson’s plays to the screen. That movie — an excellent vehicle for the Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman — has introduced a lot of people to the recordings of jazz legend Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, often called “the mother of the blues.” But we in The Flood are proud to say that we started doing Ma Rainey tunes, gosh, more than 40 years ago. Early on we recognized a kindred spirit in Ma through her randy lyrics and raucous wit. Shoot, even now, nearly a century after it was recorded, most of Ma Rainey’s music is meant for the midnight hour and afterward. And, hey, we’re still doing Ma’s songs. For instance, here, from a rehearsal we had a month or so before the the movie’s release, we roll out “Black Eye Blues,” in which Miss Rainey offered up this heartfelt warning to an errant lover: “You low-down alligator, you watch ’n’ sooner or later I’ll catch ya with your breeches down!” Ah, Ma, you could paint a picture!

Up a Lazy River

 America has always had amazing songwriters whose works simply change the way we all talk to each other, none more so than the great Hoagy Carmichael. In his 80 years, Hoagy wrote hundreds of songs, including 50 that achieved hit record status for numerous artists, and they still do.  For example, a few years, Norah Jones charted with Hoagy’s “The Nearness of You,” a song that was written and first recorded 40 years before Norah was even born. But, then, shoot, any of Hoagy’s wonderful songs would be enough to build a legend on. “Georgia on My Mind.” “Skylark.” “Heart and Soul.” ‘Stardust.” The Flood’s been doing Hoagy Carmichael songs for decades, and we’re sure to be adding some more to our repertoire in the new year. But we always come back to this one, our favorite, the first of Hoagy’s tunes we ever tackled.

Trouble in Mind

 Here’s a song that grew up in the after-dark world of New Orleans at the turn of the last century. “Trouble in Mind” was written by a pioneer jazzman named Richard M. Jones, who grew in the Crescent City and, while still a teenager, was pounding piano in the houses of New Orleans’ red-light district known as Storyville. He also sometimes led a small band that included other jazz forefathers like cornet player Joe Oliver, who later would be crowned “King Oliver.” But back to the song. In the the spring of 1924 “Trouble in Mind” was among the first blues recordings ever made. But it was two years later, in 1926 in Chicago, that singer Betha “Chippie” Hill popularized it with a rendition she recorded for Okeh Records with Richard Jones on piano and another young horn man, a 25-year-old Louis Armstrong, on cornet. Since those days, this song of New Orleans has been revisited by everyone from Big Bill Broonzy to Dinah Washington and Nina Simone. Here’s the latest Flood take on the tune from a recent rehearsal.

Stray Dogs and Alley Cats

 A few weeks before COVID came along and started slapping us all around, Paul Martin looked up at one of The Flood’s weekly rehearsals and said, “Hey, fellows, have we ever thought about doing this song?” And then he sang a verse or two of a gorgeous old tune from Virginia’s Lonesome River Band. Well, shoot, we fell in love with it right then and there and wanted to start working on it, but of course, the Coronavirus had other ideas. With months of quarantine and cancellations, our masks and social distancing, the song got kind of lost in the shuffle for a while, until a few weeks ago when our newest bandmate, Vanessa Coffman, asked for it. And we’re so glad she did, because that put the tune back front and center. Now, as usual with Flood matters, the arrangement is still evolving — truth to tell, it probably always will be, knowing us — but here’s a kind of status report from last night’s rehearsal. That’s Paul Martin singing lead, with his fellow Paul, Paul Callicoat, providing all that cool harmony on the chorus. Doug Chaffin’s Paul Reed Smith guitar is finding just right feeling for the fills and mid-song, Veezy Coffman steps up with a spot-on sax solo. Here’s the tune Paul had on his mind all those months ago.

Jelly Roll Baker

 Between the holidays and then snowy weather, we’ve not had a full band rehearsal lately, but last Friday — the day after Thanksgiving — was a warm, sunny day, and we had even further reason to be thankful that day, because that’s when we finally drew Doug Chaffin back into Flood affairs. Now, Doug’s been away for more than month. During these COVID-19 days, he needed to self-isolate for a few weeks in preparation for a little outpatient surgery. Well, now the surgery is done — everything went just fine — he’s back and rarin’ to play. To the mini-jam session with Vanessa and Charlie, Doug even brought a guest of honor: the 1958 Gibson Les Paul that his daddy bought him brand new more than 50 years ago when Doug was still a teenager. That valuable classic guitar doesn’t leave the Chaffin house much, but Friday was a special occasion. Here’s a tune we started the session off with, a cover a 1942 composition by the great New Orleans bluesman Lonnie Johnson called “Jelly Roll Baker.”