Artist: Professor Longhair
Album: Fess Up - Collectible 2 DVD set
Label: Polly Waring Presents
Release Date: 4.24.2018
Legendary New Orleans piano maestro Professor Longhair is the focus of this incredible 2-DVD set released in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of his birth. The set is comprised of two separate works. One DVD is a new restoration of the late Stevenson Palfi’s remarkable 1982 documentary “Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together,” featuring Longhair, Tuts Washington and Allen Toussaint. Getting these three legendary players together was an incredible accomplishment in itself, as Professor Longhair, or “Fess,” led the proceedings for some jamming where the players freely shared their talents and talked about how the three of them all influenced each other. Fantastic clips of Fess playing with Dr. John, The Meters and other clips from Allen Toussaint sessions are also included, in addition to excerpts from a documentary about director Palfi’s filmmaking process. This entire disc by itself is more than worth the price of admission. But there is more. Lots more.
The second disc is a priceless hour-and-a-half interview with Professor Longhair that was done in the months before he died in 1980. His sincerity, humility, humanity and prodigious originality and talent shine through the interview. He talks about being taught to play by his mother who could “play anything she got her hands on” and how he was exposed to the Latin/Caribbean rhythms that were vital to his sound while he served in The Civilian Conservation Corps in his late teens. This was followed by gigs in “Spasm Bands,” so-called because they were led by tap dancers with spasm-like movements. There is not enough time to tell even a fraction of the highlights of this interview, but as a pianist, I was brought to tears by this disc. It is a MUST for anyone who loves New Orleans piano, music and culture. Grateful thanks to Polly Waring, the widow of Stevenson Palfi, for releasing this incredible body of work in honor of Professor Longhair.
—Dave Keyes
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