| Blues |
A short message from my friend Gilbert Guyonnet (Radio Clapas/ ABS Magazine): I’m watching, and, boom, this magnificent album that I immediately start spinning. As soon as Walter’s voice appears, I have the strange impression of listening to a cousin of Ray Charles, but Walter has something more “Roots” in him. The comparison stops there; for the rest, there is a permanent emotion on this album, linked to moments both soulful and smiling, between blues and even some jazz riffs… So I try a search on the web, and quickly I come across this article from The New York Times, “Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington, New Orleans Musical Luminary, Dies at 79”.
There are so many talents in the USA, diverse and varied, that I missed this artist, whose father was a baker and his mother cleaned houses here and there. Originally from New Orleans, married in 2021 and passed away in December 2022… There remains an interview from 2015, or rather an excerpt, visible here. A well-filled life, perfectly explained in The New York Times, so I won’t go back to it… That distinctive voice, which, from the first listen, seems familiar, slices of life unfolding in eight tracks on this posthumous album, moments of joy, instances, moments of sorrow, an indefinable artist, an impressive guitarist with more of a jazz soul than a bluesman, that’s what makes the quality of his compositions.
In 2022, Walter knew he had cancer but continued to perform, including at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, where he used to perform regularly. His last performance took place at the Bogalusa Blues and Heritage Festival in September. “Since I was little,” he said in a 2015 video interview for the online channel Mr. Porter, “I always wanted to be a pillar of New Orleans and music. Once you become yourself and understand why you want to be a musician, you will be recognized, especially at home.” In these few words, everything is said, and the profound humanity that fills this album says a lot about this man. I would have truly loved to see him in concert, to meet him, unfortunately, it will not be the case. We can only, in connection with the artistic qualities and the formidable career of Walter Wolfman Washington, be filled with deep respect. In mutual agreement between the editorial teams of Bayou Blue Radio and Paris-Move, we classify this fantastic album in the category of our “must-haves.”
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, November 23rd 2023
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