THE ZEN of HUMIDITY

FONK HORN - RHYTHMS from NEW ORLEANS

CHARLIE MILLER and FREDDY STAEHLE
by Bunny Matthews (New Orleans Writer)

New Orleans Music
 

There has never been a recording exactly like this: Charlie Miller and Freddy Staehle, both
Native New Orleanians and both lifetime "podnahs" of Dr. John, conspire on, respectively
trumpet, voice, flute (Miller)and drums (Staehle). Actually, drums is not entirely accurate-
Staehle plays what he calls the "Winger Tree," an assemblage of drums, percussion
instruments, tree branches, and ostrich feathers that looks like it sprung from the imagination 
of Dr. Seuss. The duo - sans bass, keyboards, or anything else that might clutter their
mission - tackles a selection of traditional New Orleans peices ("Saints Go Marchin In",
"Careless Love", "Didn't He Ramble," etc.) in a decidedly non-traditional manner.
The only other music that comes close to this is perhaps something by Tom Waits - if Tom 
Waits were to cut "Just A Closer Walk With Thee", which in the case of Miller and Staehle,
is transformed into two songs: "Just a Closer Strut With Thee" and "Closer Romp With Thee"

The effect is extremely mellow - as if one were hearing the muffled sounds of a trumpet and 
drums from across a French Quarter patio, the music reverberating against peeling stucco
and shredded banana leaves and chipped cups of cafe-au-lait, and sunbathing green lizards
and the bare bodies of sleeping girls. It's the Zen of Humidity, Fonk with an "o". Omnipotent!
 
 

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