Page 33 - BiTS_11_NOVEMBER_2022

BiTS: Yes. Let’s talk a bit about ‘Michigan Water Blues’, which actually happens to be one of my
very favourite of Jelly Roll Morton’s tunes, particularly because of what’s happened in Flint,
Michigan with their water as well. Doesn’t taste like cherry wine anymore.

GM: Yes, well, that was
The Jim Kweskin Jug Band performs at the 1964 Newport Folk
another tune I learned as a
Festival. From left: Mel Lyman, Maria Muldaur, Geoff Muldaur,
little kid and I dreamt of going
Jim Kweskin and Bill Keith. (Photo courtesy Jim Kweskin/Joe
to New Orleans and
Alper)
eventually I did and I lived
there in the French Quarter in
61 and 62, and Jelly Roll’s a
unique sound for jazz in
America because of all the
influences of Spanish and
Creole and even Haitian and
all the different types of beats
and sounds and French music,
and so that’s another piece
that I always knew I could do
in a chamber arrangement
that I just kept on the shelf in case I ever did that and I was given the opportunity to do it, so
there you go again.

BiTS: Was the recording of this stuff a kind of organic event? I take it that you had all the dots
down, but did people make suggestions as you were recording?

GM: The musicians never questioned my notes. They would ask what my intent was. Like I said,
when you’re trying to communicate what you want, you write it in a certain way and they say
well, we don’t do it that way. We do it this way and you learn how to communicate. It was organic
in that the vocals are all live. I’m in the room with the musicians and we’re all doing it at the

same time, and it’s not like you’d make a rock and roll record.

BiTS: That was going to be my next question.

GM: This was very organic, as you put it, but live and real with a few little overdubs here and
there.

BiTS: Tell me something about Lady Claren
Lady Claren McFadden
McFadden, who I’d not heard of before this record.

GM: Well, everybody in Holland has heard of her. I
didn’t know about her either, but she’s fantastic
and she actually is a woman from Rochester, New
York and went to the Eastman School, but she’s
been in the Netherlands maybe 25-30 years and
she performs all over the world.

BiTS: Fabulous voice.

GM: She’s a wonderful soprano. She was knighted
while I was writing the album notes. We found out
that she was knighted in the Netherlands, which
was pretty nice to be able to add that to her name of Lady, instead of just Claren [chuckles].