# CD review: Mitch Woods – A Tip Of The Hat To Fats 2019: Video, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/08/04/cd-review-mitch-woods-a-tip-of-the-hat-to-fats-2019-video-cd-cover/
- Published: 2019-08-04T00:25:30+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Pianist and regular Blues Cruise piano bar host Mitch Woods is no stranger to 
New Orleans or to Jazzfest but in 2018 the festival organizers asked him to dedicate
his show to the recently departed Fats Domino and Mitch responded with a show that
incorporated several of Fats’ best known numbers. Mitch’s ‘Rocket 88’s’ for the 
occasion was a who’s-who of New Orleans players: John Fohl (Dr John) on guitar, 
Cornell Williams (Jon Cleary) on bass and Terence Higgins (Tab Benoit) on drums,
plus a horn section of Roger Lewis (founder of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band) on baritone,
Amadée Castenell and Brian ‘Breeze’ Cayolle on tenor (both veterans of Allen Toussaint’s
band).**

The show opens with Mitch’s “Solid Gold Cadillac” before the horns are featured 
on Wynonie Harris’ “Down Boy Down”. Mitch dedicates his tune “Mojo Mambo” to Professor
Longhair and there can be fewer songs more typical of Louisiana than “Crawfishin”
on which Mitch encourages the audience to make crawfish gestures.

Of course a live album will retain some of the spoken intros and it could be argued
that there is a little too much of that here but, on the other hand, it helps to
appreciate the timing of the festival so soon after Fats’ passing, well captured
in Mitch’s remarks that introduce the Fats section of the show. “Blue Monday” starts
us off, Dave Bartholomew’s famous tune well played by the band with an excellent
horn arrangement; Mitch introduces the band either side of “Jambalaya” (with a storming
bari solo by Roger) which is as frequently associated with Fats as it is with its
author, Hank Williams, and surely no tune represents Fats’ legacy better than “Walking
To New Orleans” with Mitch’s piano underpinning a relaxed version which also includes
a superb tenor solo by Amadée.

After the Fats section Mitch concludes the show with two songs that show off his
fine piano skills to the max: the tune that gives the band its name, Ike Turner’s“
Rocket 88”, in a rocking, foot-tapping version, and a classic boogie-woogie tune,“
The House Of Blue Lights”, originally by Don Raye and Freddie Slack but also covered
by the Andrews Sisters.

Overall a fun CD with plenty to enjoy: a fine band with exciting horns, a nostalgic
trip back through some Fats Domino hits and a typically exuberant performance by
Mitch.

![Image result for Mitch Woods – A Tip Of The Hat To Fats](https://i0.wp.com/s3.
amazonaws.com/zachisit-data/lmf/media/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/03023905/mitch-
woods-a-tip-of-the-hat-to-fats.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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