12/20/2018 


The Johnny Vidacovich Trio 2002-09-29 The Maple Leaf - New Orleans, LA - Peak Caffeination 


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The Johnny Vidacovich Trio 2002-09-29 The 
Maple Leaf - New Orleans, LA 

december 7, 2018 by peakcaffeination 


(Checkout my intro to The Johnny Vidacovich Trio) 

I remember Johnny’s wife Deborah telling us how big of a “get” it was to get Willie T to play 
with George and Johnny. I still feel stupid not being impressed. I knew of the name Willie 
Tee, but that was about it. I looked him upon the internet and knew of a few of his tunes 
but didn’t really know what I was getting into. 

Wilson Turbinton (a.k.a. Willie Tee) was a bridge between generations of musicians in 
New Orleans and one of the most influential figures of his era. His brother Earl Turbinton 


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12/20/2018 


The Johnny Vidacovich Trio 2002-09-29 The Maple Leaf - New Orleans, LA - Peak Caffeination 


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single as a Teenager in the 60s at the tail end of what I consider the New Orleans R&.B era 
or the Fats Domino era. Many of the songs that make Willie Te so influential came in the 
late 60s and early 70s. I had not listened to much of this before this show, but I have since 
and it’s clear the influence of this music on the directions of New Orleans in the 70s to 
today. His music, like most New Orleans music, is a blend of funk, soul, and R&.B that 
makes it not something that fits in a single bin. The influences are apparently further 
reaching than that when you look at the number of musicians that have sampled his 
work. He did a great album with his brother. Brothers For Life, and they sadly died within 
a month of each other in 2007 after being relocated due to Katrina. All this being said, I 
feel dumb not appreciating what I was in for at this show. 


The first set started off with Willie Tee laying down his “effects” while George and Johnny 
establish a groove. The melody Willie plays is very feels very familiar but I do not know 
what it is(if you know the names to any of the songs they do in the first set please 
comment). Johnny brought his mic down to do Nature’s Rock n’ Roll which was not as 
good as usual. Willie Tee eventually started a melody that became another jam with a 
familiar melody that I can not place. After a bit they do a great What’s Going On, which is 
tough to pull off since I associate that song so much with Marvin Gaye’s voice but they pull 
it off. After a bit of jamming and introductions they bring it back to New Orleans with Big 
Chief. 


The second set started with more familiar jamming that mostly revolved around Willie but 
had sections where George and Johnny asserting themselves. Dr. Watson was brief and the 
jamming moved away from what Johnny had started. George eventually started the bass 
line for Funkify Your Life and Russell came on stage to sing. I’ve discussed it before, 

Russell Batiste the drummer is elite. Russell Batiste the singer is not my favorite. They 
play it out though and after they introduce the band Russell eventually “takes over” the 
drum chair from Johnny and plays the rest of the show. The back half of this set is a 
fantastic New Orleans Medley consisting of a lot of the classics you would hear at a Funky 
Meters show done with Willie Tee, George and Russell. 

This show covered a lot of musical ground but I will primarily remember it as the show that 
taught me about Willie Tee. He was a legend of New Orleans music and a major hole in my 
musical education. I like to take a historical view of the music and Willie Tee’s place in 
New Orleans musical history is up there at the highest echelon. 


On The Recordings: 


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12/20/2018 


The Johnny Vidacovich Trio 2002-09-29 The Maple Leaf - New Orleans, LA - Peak Caffeination 


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worked out about the same. The tone of what this band was doing feels beautifully 


captured to me in this recording. 


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