C.J. Chenier, the High 48s and the Lowertown Roots & Blues Fest

I think they said it was the 3rd annual Lowertown Roots Music Festival at Mears Park in St. Paul. More to the point, it's part of what seems to be an endless stream of music coming from Mears Park, which is a fine little venue. It's just 1 single square city block, and it's hemmed it by trees and water features, so the open area in the center in front of the bandshell is pretty small. Intimate would be another word for it, even though it's outdoors.

There was plenty of room Saturday July 27, however, for the hardy souls who braved the wet 60 degree weather to see C.J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band close the show following terrific sets by the High 48s and Randy Sabien's Violin Roots Ensemble (as they were advertised) or Randy Sabien and the Fiddlehead Band (as they introduced themselves from the stage). Nordic Angst and Paul Dahlin Spelmanslag also performed.

Event organizers provided a few rows of seating directly in front of the stage, with ample room behind that for folks who brought their own seating or who preferred to stand or to dance. And if you wanna dance, it doesn't get much better than C.J. and his Red Hots. They call it zydeco but rock 'n roll would be as good a description--rootsy, '50s and early '60s style rock 'n roll, before it got all artsy and poetic and all of that. It was just good visceral music in those days, and that's what Chenier and friends are playing now. I don't think I've seen a clutch of dancers who looked like they were having more fun than these folks did on Saturday night.

Still, for my taste, give me the High 48s and their traditional bluegrass. I'd never seen them but as 1 bluegrass fan sitting nearby said, "They're way better than Monroe Crossing." The 1st thing that jumped out at me was the creative, powerful and impeccably executed banjo picking of Anthony Ihrig. And the last thing was a total kick-out-the-jams fiddle solo by Eric Christopher on the chestnut "Orange Blossom Special."

Now, I'm not really a total fan of guys singing through their noses and that's what you get with traditional bluegrass but I was willing to overlook it a bit here because these guys are just so freaking good and tight as an instrumental ensemble, and they played 3 or 4 instrumentals including Ihrig's terrific "Over the Clover."

Very highly recommended.

The event is co-sponsored by the McNally & Smith Music School where Randy Sabien teaches violin or fiddle or both. His ensemble consisted of guitar, bass, drums and 3-count 'em--3 fiddles. I was told that the other 2 fiddles (alongside Sabien) were his students. They played at a professional level if you asked me. I'd call their style sort of a light country-rock with a hint of jazz. Very pleasant. I would hope to see them again sometime.

Nordic Angst, on the other hand, was a bit dull. They do traditional Scandanavian (Norwegian, mostly) folk tunes with a bit of 21st century attitude including some nice electric guitar work. But they talked at way too great a length about where the songs came from and what they meant. Just play the freakin' tune!

My wife and I hung in for 6-and-a-half hours despite the cold, rainy weather. The music and the venue proved good enough to overcome and to provide an overall positive feeling the next morning.