Brian Williams 65th birthday bash at Abilene in Rochester, New York
Geez! I remember when Brian Williams was 60 and we celebrated his birthday at the Little Theater Café while his band Lumiere played. On Labor Day afternoon Bob Henrie, his brother, his girlfriend and an assorted cast of musicians connected to the Middlesex scene performed at Abilene as we celebrated Brian’s 65th.
We asked Brian how he felt and answered “Great” with his characteristically big smile. There were a few qualifiers but I won’t get into that. Mostly, he said, music keeps you young.
Brian Williams, John Mooney and Joe Beard performing live in a backyard in Brighton
John Mooney (center, above) used to be pretty big around here. He left home at 15 and began playing with Joe Beard (right, above). Joe introduced John to Son House, who lived in Rochester for many years, and John still shows that influence. He moved to New Orleans in 1976 and played regularly with Earl King, The Meters and Professor Longhair.
The John Mooney Trio from the Rochester days reunited over the weekend for a City gig and a warmup backyard barbecue gig at a home in Brighton. Brian Williams (on the left, above) played bass in that trio along with Bob Cooper on keyboards. Peggi bought her red Farfisa organ from Bob Cooper back in the late seventies. Brian invited us to the party. The Blues book was written a long time ago but it always sounds great when in good hands.
We took a walk up to the lake today and watched the sail surfers darting back and forth. We cut back through the park and visually eavesdropped on the various subcultures of picnickers. We watched a City cop tell an ice cream vendor he couldn’t sell in the park. We came across a park patrol woman and told her we had seen a guy on one of the trails digging up plants and putting them in a five gallon bucket. She told us, “There’s a lot of people doin’ what they shouldn’t be doin’ today”.
