Music Review - Wardell Quezergue - Honoring a New Orleans and R&B Arranger at Alice Tully Hall - NYTimes.com
Honoring an R&B Arranger Who Helped Singers Shine Arrangers don’t get noticed much. Like cinematographers, they usually fill in the structures and concepts of others: songwriters and producers, who call on arrangers to deploy horns, strings or other sounds that might unobtrusively improve a song. But people who read album credits recognize that Wardell Quezergue, a working musician since 1953, is the rare exception: an arranger whose long career reveals him as a consistent catalyst of New Orleans R&B, and not just because he shares the songwriting credit on a ubiquitous New Orleans song, “It Ain’t My Fault.”
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Stephanie BergerFrom left, the singers Athelgra Gabriel, Rosa Hawkins, Barbara Hawkins and Tammy Lynn performing at Alice Tully Hall.
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At Alice Tully Hall on Sunday night, the Lincoln Center Festival allied itself with the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation — the New Orleans record collectors-turned-promoters who find the musicians behind the obscure singles — to present a tribute to Mr. Quezergue. His wryly understated arrangements for horn sections in particular, drawing on local parade traditions and big-band jazz, often prod, tease or talk back to a singer and a song, with a chortling layer of syncopation that has helped define New Orleans rock.
Mr. Quezergue (pronounced keh-ZAIRG), now blind, lost his musical archives in the flood following Hurricane Katrina, but he arranged the music for the concert and conducted the band; he also recently released an album, “Music for Children Ages 3 to 103.” During changes, the band played reprises of “It Ain’t My Fault,” with a staccato horn melody bouncing off Hurley Blanchard’s stop-start drumming.
Mr. Quezergue is so well respected in his hometown, where he has been called “the Creole Beethoven,” that the concert assembled major New Orleans figures, including Mac Rebennack (Dr. John), the Dixie Cups, Robert Parker and Jean Knight, who have all been abetted by Mr. Quezergue’s arrangements. Onstage, as on the records, the arrangements were self-effacing showcases that flattered their quirky singers. Ms. Knight thanked him for “looking for this lady with this strange, different voice” to sing what became her major hit, “Mr. Big Stuff.”
Dorothy Moore, from Mississippi, performed with a voice as deep and sultry as it was when she had a hit with Mr. Quezergue’s arrangement of “Misty Blue” in 1976. In its archival way, the Ponderosa Stomp booked Mr. Rebennack to perform songs he wrote in the late 1950s: sly, funny, nearly forgotten New Orleans rockers like “Carry On” and “Lights Out.”
The lineup also included lesser-known New Orleans singers: Tony Owens, a raspy soul shouter who sang bluesy Earl King hits along with his own 1970 R&B hit, “Confessin’ a Feeling,” and Tammy Lynn, whose voice is rawer than it was in the 1960s but who turned her 1971 hit “Mojo Hannah” into a voodoo incantation, with Mr. Rebennack on piano and Zigaboo Modeliste, from the Meters, on drums.
The decorous Alice Tully Hall was not the ideal place for a Ponderosa Stomp. At home in New Orleans, it’s a dance party, not a seated concert. So the music took a little time to thaw the room.
When Mr. Parker sang his 1966 hit “Barefootin’,” which was produced by Mr. Quezergue, there was a touch of uncomfortable honesty when he sang: “Everybody get on your feet/You make me nervous when you’re in your seat.” But the Dixie Cups, the New Orleans girl group, had distributed napkins before the concert, to be waved over the New Orleans second-line parade beat, and they got the audience up and dancing for “Iko Iko,” which they turned into a medley of Mardi Gras songs and “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
After their segment, Rosa Hawkins of the Dixie Cups turned to Mr. Quezergue and said, “Thanks for the hits.”
August 1, 2009
Wardell Quezergue - Honoring a New Orleans and R&B Arranger at Alice Tully Hall - NYTimes.com
dirty diana 
DICK'S DIANA ROSS WEBSITE - LETTERS TO DIANA
DIANA I HAVE BEEN A FAN OF YOURS AND THE SUPREMES SINCE 1962. IM 56 YEARS OLD FROM CHICAGO. WILL BE A DIANA ROSS AND THE SUPREMES FAN TIL I DIE. HOWEVER A TRUE REUNION WE ALL ARE AWAITING FROM YOU, MARY AND CINDY. LETS GIVE IT ONE MORE GOOD TRY OK? FANS ARE AWAITING BEFORE WE ALL GET TOO OLD. SMILE. ALSO MISS ROSS IS A NEW ALBUM COMING OUT SOON? GET ASHFORD AND SIMPSON OR MICHAEL NARADA WALDEN OR NILES RODGERS THIS TIME TO DO IT. ONLY THEY KNOW YOUR MUSIC WHICH WE ALL ENJOY. ITS TIME FOR A HIT ALBUM LIKE THE BOSS MISS ROSS. WE ARE WAITING. THE SHOW NEEDS TO BE REVAMPED ALSO WITH OTHER SONGS AND HITS U HAVE MADE, SUCH AS NO ONE GETS THE PRIZE, THE BOSS, LOVE HANGOVER,
ITS MY TURN, ONCE IN THE MORNING, TUNES FROM THE BABY ITS ME ALBUM. OTHER SUPREMES HITS SUCH AS YOU KEEP ME HANGIN ON, COME SEE ABOUT ME, STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE, BACK IN MY ARMS AGAIN, NOTHING BUT HEARACHES, I HEAR A SYMPHONY. LADY SINGS THE BLUES STUFF NEEDS TO BE DELETED FROM THE SHOW. OR MAYBE 1 SONG FROM LADY SINGS THE BLUES AND THAT SONG IS GIVE ME A PIGFOOT. THATS WHAT THE FANS WANT. JUST PASSIN IT ALONG FROM WHAT I HAVE HEARD FROM OTHER FANS. DIANA U CAN DO IT. REVAMP YOUR SHOW AND SANG BOSS MISS ROSS SANG
SUPREMELY YOURS, GUS FROM CHICAGO,ILLINOIS
Hello,
I would like to - if I may - introduce myself....My name is Simon, I'm a 49 year old Englishman living with my partner of 34 years Howard, in Sky Valley California.
Last Christmas we had the joy of having my mother visit us from the UK, now for 87 she is in great shape however she does have dementia, so her short term memory is shot, however her long turn memory is unbelievable.
She reminded me of my 4th birthday, when she asked me what I wanted I began to sing "Baby Love." The next fond memory she told was around 1966 I was watching "The Sounds Of Motown"/Ready, Steady, Go! special, sitting in front of the huge B/W TV under your spell. As the closing credits came up, I found myself (like all little boys) excited!!!! I called out to my mother, she came in I said "Look!", she looked down and smacked me over the head with a wash cloth.
Two years pass and for my birthday once again, my parents take me to see Diana Ross and the Supremes at the Talk Of The Town, throughout the entire performance my Dad keeps telling me to stand up. "I can't!" was all I could say.
The next time I saw you live was in '72 at the Royal Albert Hall. By then I was 12 and able to control my excitement a little better.
As I said I'm now 49, and yes I still get excited (in a different way) every time I get to see you.
You've been with me my whole life, you are the soundtrack to my life and I thank you and I hope this little story from my youth brings a smile to your heart.
I wish you happiness in all you do.
Simon
I am Joshua Russell. I live in Springfield, Ohio USA. All I got to say is I love you Miss Ross, your voice and the way you sing. Keep it up. Your music has helped me through hard times, stress and down times. Everytime I hear your music it helps me. I love you Miss Ross. I cannot wait to see you again in concert. Keep it up girl. You are the Diva.
Dear Miss Ross,
It is hard to fathom that one person can provide such emotion just by being. You are that person for me. I have had some tough losses in my life and through it all, I turned to your music and lyrics. They have helped me through some very dark times and made me a much better person as a result. To this day, and I am 46 now, I turn to you when I am sad, when I am happy, and when I want or need to be reminded just how wonderful life really is.
Thank you Miss Ross for sharing your heart, your soul and your total beauty as a human being with all of us. May God bless you and always keep you in his hand.
Mark Moore
Houston, TX
Dear Diana:
Just a brief note to tell you how much and how long I have cherished you. There is absolutely no one who knows me who doesn't know that as fact. What a lovely thing to have had you on my life's adventure. Your presence, your style, your music has had me transfixed throughout. It has gotten me through so many rough patches, appearances and records something to look forward to and is so interwoven into my life's fabric. It has always been such a positive, loving and exciting love affair with someone so worthy of such. Seeing you live so feels like seeing the dearest of friends, friends since the days of the Latin Casino in New Jersey. It was love at first sight for the ten year old I was. My adoration of you has never dimmed or wavered. You have graced the world, certainly mine, and I am so grateful that yours is the music that has always made my heart dance. While I was at your Houston lecture, I am unable to make "Diana in Dallas." It saddens me that I am not able to be there with the Diana Ross fans but I will be anxiously awaiting the next opportunity to see you. Thank you for every joy that all of us who love you feel. My world would be considerably emptier without you.
Love,
Michael Castaldo
Philadelphia, PA
DIANA you know I still love you. The message in your music has made me the person that I am today, strong, confident and positive even in the most difficult of times. Your music is my mantra.
I've watched you grow as you've watched all us fans grow.
When you made fun of me during a concert; when you held my hand and sang to me; and when you watched as I sat in the front row with many members of my family as you performed on our stage here in Michigan. Many dreams come true. My love and adoration for you came full-circle that night.
And even though I am no longer as "enthusiastic" as I once was, you are still in my heart as you have been the past thirty years.
Take care and keep spreadin' love...
-Rob J. Peters
"JELL-O Head" by Andrew Salomone
a portrait of Bill Cosby made out of JELL-O shots.
Exhibited at Buoy Gallery on July 12, 2009 (Bill Cosby's Birthday)
