The music continues in Jackson

The Stomp may be over but the music has continued for the most part. After foolishly staying at the hotel to watch a disappointing England game we went to the Ace Hotel for the gospel brunch and caught a great set by the Mighty Rocks of Harmony, a nine piece group immaculately dressed in lilac three piece suits and brown and white shoes. After a trip to Domino and Euclid for some records and a decent meal on Bourbon Strert we went to One Eyed Jacks. The support group Redondo Beat featured two go go dancers but were otherwise quite boring, but the Royal Pendletons, featuring Michael Hurtt, were excellent. As well as some garage type numbers they included blues classics such as Lonely Lonely Nights and Toussaint McCall's Nothing Takes The Place Of You. Deke Dickerson guested on one number.
Next day we headed up to Mississippi, stopping off at Hazlehurst where Robert Johnson was born. There's a small museum there and I bought some interesting promo 45s from an antique shop. We met up with Noah in Farish Street, Jackson, and went for a coffee. He's on his way to Richmond and then Detroit, but no doubt we will be catching him in the UK again soon. In the  evening we made a return visit to the Blue Monday blues jam at Hal and Mal's. Dorothy Moore was there celebrating her birthday but unfortunately didn't sing. There were plenty of others who did, however, backed by an excellent guitarist called Lonnie George plus band. These including Abdul Rasheed, Pat Brown, who hosted the evening, a good bluesman called Fred T, several female singers, including Patricia Thomas and a busty lady called Sheila, a soul man called Denis who was good on a couple of Johnny Taylor numbers, and Percy, dressed in a sparkly jacket, who was excellent on a couple of Al Green songs. Finally Pat and Denis duetted on Since I Fell For You and Daddy's Home.
The following day started well with breakfast at an IHOP where the chatty waitress reminded us of Mrs Overall. We drove through Port Gibson and Fayette looking at blues markers and arrived in Natchez. David Dreyer at the local AfricanAmerican museum gave us a fascinating tour and talk about the racial history and black literature of the area and we took a look at more markers, including one for the Ealey family overlooking the river. Things started to go downhill from there. We drove to Baton Rouge and had great trouble finding where the hotels were located. Then we went to a bar where Henry Gray was supposed to be playing only to find that he was unwell. To top it all we found that a tyre on the rental car had been damaged by a pot hole. We will need to sort that out in the morning before we can continue our road trip. Never mind. The evening meal and beers were good, even without music
Nick Cobban.