Live Review: John Boutte - 11/17/24 Dew Drop Inn New Orleans, LA

John Boutte

11/17/24 Dew Drop Inn New Orleans, LA

On Sunday November 17th at noon in New Orleans something special happened. The great New Orleans artist John Boutte took the legendary Dew Drop Inn stage for the first time, singing an emotional set of songs to an intimate crowd.  

The Dew Drop Inn, located in the Central City area of New Orleans, was a vital part of the city from 1940 through 1970 acting as a hub for black musicians in the heavily segregated south. Complete with a barber shop, club and inn, the location hosted an amazing lineup of music legends such as Big Joe Turner, Huey "Piano" Smith, Allen Toussaint, Ray Charles, James Brown, Otis Redding, the list goes on and on.

  

Little Richard wrote a song about it and Dave Bartholomew was a band leader there. The club also welcomed all people at time when it was against the law to do so. It feel into disrepair from the 70's into the new millennium, but has been completely renovated and reopened in March of this year. The club has been attracting local acts and tourists who explore the history, the culture and the future as live music has returned to the famous stage.

  

Boutte eased out amongst friends, fans and family, supported by his backing duo of bass player Nobumasa Ozaki and guitarist Caleb Tokarska as the crowd settled in with an excellent buffet brunch provided by the Inn. The tasty sausage and eggs were outshined by the classic dishes of red beans and rice and gumbo as the trio sound checked.

Once good to go the velvet voiced Boutte wasted no time in delivering heartfelt singing, lighting up the classic venue. His version of Steve Goodman's  "City of New Orleans" transformed the song into an emotional plea as the extended number rolled down the tracks with joy and pain expertly. Boutte naturally talked between songs from everything from the current bleak state of affairs when it came to government, the history of the club we were in, and his love of family which led into his tribute to the women around him titled "Sisters". 

For that song a young sax player, Hakeem Salaam a student from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts joined the trio and added excellent smooth brass work. Salaam had planned to only play the one song, but with the loose feel of the show he stayed on and excellently added to more. 

"Fly Me To The Moon" was another fantastic adventure with Tokarska's brilliant sounding guitar melodically flowed with joy as Salaam added phrases and a solid solo. Boutte not only sang gracefully he played tambourine with energy as his drummer had to go to the Saints game and miss the show. Nothing more was needed though as Salaam stayed to contribute on the grooving "Straighten Up & Fly Right". 

Paying tribute to the local legend Boutte delivered Toussaint's "Lipstick Traces (on a Cigarette)" with special background singers from the crowd, his sister and a WWOZ host, whose name I missed, but was celebrating a birthday. Boutte serenaded her with "Happy Birthday" before poetically discussing the need for an educated and engaged populace. After the talk he delivered an emotional, soft and flowing rendition of Donny Hathaway's "Someday We'll All Be Free".  Before leaving the stage Salaam took a second to thank Boutte, who he had just met that day, commenting that he was a special artist sharing this music with a younger generation; the love was mutual. 

The energy picked up for the blues of "All Around The World" as Boutte hopped up and sang as the bass and guitar grooved, as Torkarska's playing was a highlight all set. Taking a break after an hour of playing Boutte thanked the crowd and saved some bigger tunes for the second set, but unfortunately I had to leave.  Even catching one set from Boutte and band was an utter delight as he can emotionally maneuver classics in new ways, adding a spark to dark days.