VS.             

What I should have done and planned to do:

Get caught up with some hot new youth music that one can dance to. I had two such albums in the chamba: Charli XCX’s Pop 2 and Princess Nokia’s 1992 (Deluxe), the latter of which I am quite excited about hearing.

What I actually DID do:

Listened to two of my all-time favorite albums of New Orleans-based music, both starring famous Mardi Gras Indian Big Chiefs: The Wild Magnolias (with Bo Dollis and Monk Boudreaux, plus Snooks Eaglin on guitar) and The Wild Tchoupitoulas (with George Landry, plus Ziggy Modeliste on drums). Definitely danceable, still sounds young, oh so comfortable to my ear, heart, and mind. All triggered by a friend changing his Facebook profile to a Mardi Gras Indian pic. Hey–it’s…

Also, to create a great environment for Nicole’s cooking, I played Eddie Cleanhead Vinson’s absolutely magnificent Kidney Stew is Fine, on which he is supported by none other than Jay McShann on piano and T-Bone Walker on guitar, and the out of print Down the Road A Piece: The Best of Amos Milburn, on which you can hear where Johnnie Johnson probably picked up some tricks. That latter also has the great Maxwell Davis on sax and arrangements.

Short-shrift department: All those 45s I bought in Louisiana, plus the Sarayah CD, which I repeat-played all over again.