Mojo for Jojo at Empress Theatre, December 5, 2021

Vallejo Community Arts Foundation presents Mojo for Jojo - A Post-House Fire Fundraiser for Joe 'JoJo' Russo featuring a long cast of blues heavyweights
Empress Theatre
330 Virginia St, Vallejo, CA 94590 USA
4:00 PM, Sunday, December 5, 2021

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2021 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2021 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[4:01 PM] {lights down: Introductory yack by promoter Todd Chandler}
{yack by booker Geoff Drake}
{announcements and band introduction by emcee Timm Walker}
{performers out}

1. [4:08 PM] Heaven's On the Other Side
2. [4:14 PM] Ain't That the Way Love Goes
3. [4:20 PM] Up All Night
4. [4:27 PM] It's a Pleasure » {add Ed Early: trombone, mid-tune}
   [4:35 PM] {post-set announcements; set break}

• Ed Early: trombone;
• Steve Ehrmann: bass;
• Kevin Hayes: drums;
• Jim Pugh: Hammond organ, keyboards;
• Paul Revelli: drums, harmony vox;
• Mighty Mike Schermer: guitar, vox.

[4:36 PM] {Timm Walker introduces Chris Cain and his band}
[4:37 PM] {Timm talks about the history of blues jams at the Empress}
[4:39 PM] {back announce to name the performers from Set 1}
{dead air to get everything together for the next set}
[4:48 PM] {Greetings from Chris}

1. [4:49 PM] Good Evening Baby
2. [4:56 PM] My Baby Caught the Train
3. [5:04 PM] Drinking Straight Tequila
   {TW swaps in for DB; DKM & GR swap places}
4. [5:12 PM] Me and My Baby Don't Get Along but One One Day at a Time
   [5:19 PM] {post-set announcements; set break}

• Don Bassey: bass;
• Chris Cain: guitar, vox;
• Kevin Hayes: drums;
• David K. Mathews: Hammond organ, keyboards;
• Greg Rahn: Hammond organ, keyboards;
• Timm Walker: bass.

[5:29 PM] {more announcements while the band is getting ready}

1. [5:31 PM] Can I Change My Mind?
2. [5:38 PM] Part Time Love
   {add Willy Jordan & Baxter Robinson on harmony vox}
   {Stabe Wilson is onstage with his tenor sax, but leaves once he realizes his mic is muted}
3. [5:44 PM] Everybody Needs Love
4. [5:51 PM] How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?
   [5:58 PM] {post-set announcements; brief set break}

• Christoffer "Kid" Andersen: guitar;
• Steve Ehrmann: bass;
• Kevin Hayes: drums;
• Willy Jordan: harmony vox;
• Jim Pugh: Hammond organ, keyboards;
• Baxter Robertson: harmony vox;
• Marcel Smith: vox.

[6:01 PM] {looks like the band is almost ready: NC: harmonica; KR: guitar}

1. [6:03 PM] Shake It Up, Shake It Down (KR)
   {Nic & Kyle swap instruments and places; Pete Devine swaps in for Willy Jordan}
2. [6:10 PM] Honey You Don't Know My Mind (NC)
   [6:19 PM] {post-set announcements; set break}

• Nic Clark: guitar, harmonica, vox;
• Angelo J Rossi AKA AJ Crawdaddy: guitar;
• Ruth Davies: electric contrabass;
• Pete Devine: drums;
• Willy Jordan: drums;
• Baxter Robertson: Hammond organ, keyboards;
• Kyle Roland: guitar, harmonica, vox;
• Stabe Wilson: tenor saxophone.

1. [6:24 PM] Too Close Together
   {Paul Revelli swaps in for Pete Devine}
2. [6:34 PM] Resentment File
3. [6:43 PM] (unidentified slow blues)
4. [6:53 PM] Living Hand to Mouth
   [7:01 PM] {post-set announcements; set break}

• Christoffer "Kid" Andersen: guitar;
• Ruth Davies: electric contrabass;
• Pete Devine: drums;
• Rick Estrin: harmonica, vox;
• Jim Pugh: Hammond organ, keyboards;
• Paul Revelli: drums;
• Baxter Robertson: Hammond organ, keyboards, harmony vox;

[7:16 PM] {Announcements & Band Introduction from Timm Walker}

1. [7:17 PM] Talkin' 'bout Jojo (WJ)
   [7:25 PM] {drop WJ; add Chris Cain to play guitar and sing lead on next tune; add 2nd unidentified guitarist on a Gibson SG}
2. [7:26 PM] It's My Soul (CC)
   {drop 2nd guitarist; add RE: harmonica; WJ: hand percussion}
3. [7:32 PM] Sugar Coated Love (NW)
   {drop RE; add EE: trombone; KR: harmonica; SW: alto saxophone}
4. [7:38 PM] My Baby Wants to Leave Me (CC)
   {drop CC; KR swaps to guitar}
5. [7:51 PM] Next Time You See Me (EE)
   {Willy: “we got a request for one more to end the show tonight”}
6. [8:03 PM] Talkin' 'bout Jojo (WJ)
   [8:07 PM] {final words from Chandler; show ends}

• Christoffer "Kid" Andersen: guitar;
• Elvin Bishop: guitar, vox;
• Chris Cain: guitar, vox;
• Ruth Davies: electric contrabass;
• Ed Early: trombone, vox;
• Rick Estrin: harmonica;
• Willy Jordan: lead vox, hand percussion;
• Jim Pugh: Hammond organ, keyboards;
• Paul Revelli: drums;
• Kyle Roland: guitar, harmonica;
• Stabe Wilson: alto saxophone;
• Nancy Wright: tenor saxophone, vox.

I was a little worried to find a long line waiting to get in when we arrived (early!) at the venue, but being around 50th in line meant we still had a good selection of seats by the time we were admitted: maybe many of the folks ahead of us were VIPs with reserved seats in front who arrived early for a meet and greet? I dunno. Good for them if they had more money to send to Jojo!

Richard Freedman posted a promo article in the local paper that gives plenty of background on Jojo's sad situation.

At over four hours without any significant set break, today's gig was a real marathon! We lucked out, and for the most part the folks seated around us were fairly quiet: the loud mouths who wanted to party spent most of their time in the bar or on the dance floor! At times I felt like the crowd energy was kinda low – no one except the drunks seemed to want to sing along, and the audience response to various greetings and exhortations from the stage was tepid at best – but maybe that's par for the course when the average attendee age had to be over 65. A good thing about that was that most everyone stayed masked (drinkers excepted, again!), and as the door staff was pretty careful to double check vax status, I felt fairly safe inside. Of course it helped that despite a “sell out”, capacity seems to have been lowered a bit – I bet that pre-pandemic days would have seen another 100+ folks packed in and partying hard.

This was our first visit to the Empress, and I was impressed: they've got the place fixed up pretty nicely. The sound was dialed in pretty well – I didn't notice any boom or echo from the empty space – and the PA was a style I'd never seen before: four panels, roughly 2 ft x 4 ft x ?6 inches thick? hanging from the ceiling on each side. Electrostatics of some sort? I meant to go ask the sound guy, but without a clear break, I never got around to it, and forgot to check in before I left. Something for future research.

With the performers schlepping and patching their own gear, set turnovers weren't particularly quick, but to be fair, nothing really dragged out too long. If anything, I would have asked for another hour in the room, but added a 45-min dinner break or two shorter breaks instead of the effort to keep things rolling ahead the whole time.

Elvin Bishop's set was certainly something most of us present were looking forward to, but as he sadly croaked at the start of his set: “you ain't gonna hear me singing tonight 'cuz a frog done grabbed my voice.” With plenty of guests on hand, finding others to step up for lead vocal wasn't a problem, and that role got passed around with each tune. More folks joined the band as the set progressed, and with a default mode of “each player gets a solo”, the tunes got stretched out a bit longer than I would have preferred. Designating a music director to run the show ought to have prevented that issue from happening. Nonetheless, the twelve minutes (!) of Next Time You See Me were still pretty good, and I'm glad that Chandler (or someone) thought to have the band reprise Elvin's new tune to wrap up the night.

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2021 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2021 event list! ☸ On to the next event!