The Penang Blues Brothers reconvened at Kim Gooi’s place for a late night jam last weekend, just prior to my return from Penang to Lagos. I joined Joe Goh on electric guitar and Kim on harp and acoustic. The blues spirit flowed freely as it always does when we get together, helped along in this instance by the product of the Isle of Jura. It is rejuvenating to play with these two – we routinely reach the sought-after (and all too rare) state of mind where the musicians are on the same wavelength, pick up their instruments, begin to play, time suspends, and the clock moves three of four hours ahead before the music pauses.
I've been tied up with settling back in to work after the holidays and haven’t had sufficient time to go through and master all the recordings from last Friday. Of course, the batteries on my Zoom quit after about 2-1/2 hours, leaving some of the most spontaneous and creative parts of the jam in the air, never to be captured again. I did, however, cut out one track for sharing – Ain't Nobody’s Business – in tribute to the classic 1959 session by Jimmy Witherspoon with Ben Webster on tenor. “I'm three times seven, that makes twenty-one” – the age at which I first appreciated ‘Spoon’s rendition. Long, long ago now, a clear memory in the dim past. An appreciation that survives until today. Fortunately, I edited out most of my insipid vocal.
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