REDISCOVERING LONNIE JOHNSON - CD Release Party @ World Cafe Live (3/27/08)

Last night was indeed a special evening.  Anytime you need to get a bunch of musicians to agree on something (anything really) you have your work cut out for you.  But in this case everything fell into place.  I am of course talking about Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson at the World Cafe Live.  Some shows are great and they live on in your memory not simply because of the music but also because of the sincerity and good feelings that surround the music and that comes from only one place, the audience.  I have played many shows in my life and I can tell you that when the audience is "giving back" it elevates the experience to another level, one that is unavailable otherwise.  Having the wife and daughter of Lonnie Johnson and their extended family with us last night brought the concert into the realm of the legendary.  Lonnie himself has been gone for 38 years but the love and memories that people have for and about him are very much alive.  The Blues Anatomy crew, Real Live Horns, Joe Mass and Jef Lee Johnson invested this performance with a depth of feeling that cannot be purchased for any price.  Folks came down from New York City to attend this performance and when people are willing to travel 111 miles for an hour of music you know you are doing something right.  I saw many familiar faces and some that I have never seen before but I’m not sure I have ever seen so many of them smiling, some smiling even through their tears.  I am quite sure that there was one proud spirit who was also beaming, knowing that at least in Philadelphia, in the hearts and minds of those who loved him, he was never going to be forgotten.  Thank you Mr. Johnson, thank you for the music.

-Aaron Levinson (Producer of Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson)
03/28/2008