Tayari's Blog: 92 Ain't Nothing But A Number
Posted by TayariJones on July 31, 2007 03:54 PM
Filed under
Living For The City
Raquel Hill has John Hope Franklin and Tyehimba Jess has Les Paul.
Yesterday, I placed a call to Tyehimba Jess right before getting on the Path train to return to Jersey. “I’m on my way to a concert,” he said. (He knows that I love myself a concert.) “I’ll pay your cover,” he promised. “I’ll even buy you a gimlet.” (He had me at “concert”, but I gladly accepted all the other promises.)
Once we were in the taxi, he explained that was a rare opportunity. The headliner, Les Paul, is 92 years old. “He’s not going to be on the planet for long! The man is a legend! He changed the sound of the blues!”
When we got to The Iridium Jazz Club, there was a line wrapped around the building. Les Paul’s fans were many and devoted. The man sells out two shows every Monday. Word spread through the crowd that the show was sold out.
“I’m sorry, Tyehimba,” I said. “I know you must be disappointed.”
“Wait,” he said. “Maybe there will be some extra seats.”
“Well,” I said. “If there’s only one seat left, I want you to take it.”
“Really?” he said.
“Yeah, really.”
He got all choked up. “Thanks Sis.”
“It’s fine,” I said, disentangling myself and pushing him a little toward the door way. “Take the last seat.”
From behind us, people in line commented, “That’s a good woman.”
Luckily, there were seats for both of us, though we couldn’t sit together.
Les Paul is 92, but doesn’t look a day over 80. His nightclub show has the friendly vibe of a variety show. Guest musicians, whom he refers to as “friends” bring their instruments, hoping to be asked to play. One “friend” was a young violinist who treated us to a gorgeous rendition of “Someone to Watch Over Me.”
When he was done and the applause died down, Les Paul said, “Can you play a hoedown?”
“A hoedown?” squeaked the young fiddler. “I’m a Jew from Chicago!” But he gave it a try anyway.
After the youngsters, The Steve Miller Band joined Les Paul on the stage and played several tunes. The most memorable was a harmonica arrangement of “Georgia On My Mind.” (Whenever I hear that song, I consider it a personal tribute.)
I must tell you that Les Paul is a little frisky when it comes to the ladies. (Verbally, at least.) He said to his female bass player, “You make me feel like a condemned building with a new flag pole.” She laughed and tossed her hair before revealing herself to 
be an extremely talented bassist, even though Les Paul said she was too pretty to hide behind a big ugly bass. My heart went out to her at that point. I can’t imagine being a grown woman of 35 of so having to pretend to be a giggly school girl in order to perform with a master. (I could see that the humor was wearing thin with her.)
Les Paul is getting up in years, but he can still handle a guitar. The story is that his right arm is fused in place after a bad break. The doctor set it in a crook so he could still play his guitar. Often when he played, he was wearing his game face, performing for the crowd, but sometimes, it was as though he forgot we were there. The notes were clear as water.
After the show, Tyehimba made his way over to me.
“Yeah?” he said.
“Oh yeah,” I said.
In the back of the cab, Tyehimba took out his harmonica. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all,” I said. “Not at all.”
(Sadly, I didn’t get any pictures… I didn’t know I was going anywhere so I didn’t take my camera, but I found these on flickr.)
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There are 2 comments on "92 Ain't Nothing But A Number". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.
Comment #1, by Ladylee ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tayarijones.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
Another great Groupie story indeed :)
August 1, 2007 05:50 AM
Comment #2, by Michael Fischer
I love your groupie stories too...that should be your next book...something about groupies;-)
August 2, 2007 06:26 AM