# Music by Genre > Jazz/Blues Variants, Bossa, Choro, Klezmer >  "Hugh Laurie: Let Them Talk"

## Ed Goist

_Hugh Laurie: Let Them Talk – A Celebration of New Orleans Blues_
Watching this right now on my local PBS affiliate.
Fantastic stuff!
Already two mandolin sightings:
* a black-faced Collings A-style played during _"You Don't Know my Mind"_
* The fellow leading the Luckenbach song circle in _"Copperhead Road"_ was playing what I believe was a Jon Mann acoustic 2-Point.(?)
Great stuff!

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## Psyberbilly

> _Hugh Laurie: Let Them Talk – A Celebration of New Orleans Blues_
> Watching this right now on my local PBS affiliate.
> Fantastic stuff!
> Already two mandolin sightings:
> * a black-faced Collings A-style played during "You Don't Know my Mind"
> * The fellow leading the Luckenbach song circle in _"Copperhead Road"_ was playing what I believe was a Jon Mann acoustic 2-Point.(?)
> Great stuff!


We get to Luckenbach fairly regularly to pick out back under the oak tree . I havent seen the show yet , but would be willing to bet that the fellow playing the two point is one of the bartenders there , " Copperhead Road " is the song he usually likes to do . There is another lady who shows up a lot on Sundays , she has a very nice late 20's F4 she brings along . Lotsa nice mandolins in this neck of the woods for some reason ! 

I just auto-tuned the satellite to catch the show when it replays on Sunday !

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## JEStanek

They did a nice profile on Hugh and this record on CBS Sunday Morning two weeks ago.



Jamie

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## journeybear

And he's on Leno tonight. Just chat; not the musical guest. He also did an interview earlier this week on Tavis Smiley. I'm sure that's available at pbs.org. As to his Great Performances appearance - had no idea there was going to be MC but glad to hear it. Missed tonight's broadcast due to work, but I taped it, gonna watch it tomorrow - oh wait, there's football ... OK, I'll watch it Sunday - oh wait, there's football ... OK, I'll watch it Monday - oh wait, I got a gig ... OK ...   :Whistling:  ... well, I taped it, so I'll watch it when I can.  :Wink:  Got home about 40 minutes in, just in time for our provider's signal to go out for a minute.  :Disbelief:  And no rebroadcast in our area in the near future. Feh!  :Mad:

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## MandoSquirrel

I passed up a chance to watch this, because, as I was browsing in a store last weekend, I made a point to look at the CD playing in-store. It was this CD, and the vocals were incompatible with the music. It would probably be fine with the guest vocalists, but Mr. Laurie's vocals were not adequate to the material, and completely ruined the tunes for me.

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## mandopops

I'm with mandosquirrel on this. It's down right painful to hear him attempt to sing the blues. The guest vocalists are fine. Irma Thomas does sing lead on "John Henry" & that works. Dr. John does "After you've gone" but for me it's only OK. I think Tom Jones & Irma on "Baby please Make a Change" is my favorite track. 
I'm a fan of Hugh Laurie & think he can play, but this stuff ...ouch.I would like hear him do is something like playing Piano and doing old English Music Hall tunes. He was quite fun in this context in the "Jeeves & Wooster" series.

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## Pete Braccio

I actually thought he did a wonderful job on the vocals. I especially liked the fact that he put his own spin on every piece. 

Maybe the uniqueness of the presentation was what threw people off. He was not trying to sound like a southern blues player (as if all southern blues players sound alike).

Bottom line is to each his own, YMMV, etc.

Pete

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## Ed Goist

The Mandolin Cafe is a very tough room...No doubt...
Book at your own risk, and don't expect an encore.

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## bingoccc

Sorry - one more vote for his vocals not cutting it.  Having said that, I love his passion for the music.  After he's through with _House_ I hope he considers a new show.  _Jeeves and Wooster Revisited_, their later years.  They move to New Orleans and Bertie joins a blues band (just to play, not sing).  I still remember the episode where he took up the trombone and Jeeves was ready to quit.

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## John Morton

I caught part of that Hugh Laurie thing on PBS.  IMHO everything that was good about it was pinched from the fabulous Allen Toussaint project The Bright Mississippi, produced by Joe Henry.  It's one of those recordings with a sound, a theme and players that all work together to express a vision - to my mind, a masterpiece.  The promotional teaser is pretty good at conveying the flavor:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4VKMkVF0P8
YouTubes for the whole album in order, starting here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7mDD...C6B13CC131508C

I recognized the sound of the record the moment I switched to the Laurie show, but regrettably Toussaint was relegated to pretending to conduct the band while Laurie pretended to play and sing New Orleans.  And Tom Jones?, give me a break!  Is he from the Welsh Quarter of New Orleans?  

I'm not sure which of the Bright Miss. band was on the job, but Jay Bellerose was unmistakable.  JB is a drummer who loves old styles, and plays on antique gear, including a giant bass drum from the Civil War era.

John

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## mrmando

Joe Henry produced this disc as well, did he not?

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## journeybear

Yessir. Just happened to be reading up on this.

I generally don't begrudge someone stepping out of his comfort zone into less familiar or sure territory - it takes some gumption - if it is done with respect and one's heart in the right place. That does seem to be the case here. I am not going to argue with anyone dissatisfied with Hugh Laurie's singing voice - not his strong point - but I am grateful for the effort to bring a bit more attention to the music and milieu that both he and I love.

Yes, Ed - tough room. Though I prefer to think of us as a discerning, perhaps even erudite audience.  :Wink:

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## ald

Well, I think one of the problems is he used to do comic stuff and one of the types of  sketches he did was musical parodies at the piano and with a guitar. With this in mind, his voice sounds a bit on the comical side, as though he were still taking the mick. I don't think it matters that Tom Jones is Welsh he's just not a blues singer (I always wondered why they picked him for the Scorsese-produced series to represent the Welsh blues scene - Andy Fairthweather Lowe would have been a better choice, for example). Mr Jones was a kind of Welsh Teddy Boy to start with, who bellowed through everything like Frankie Laine. And still does.

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## bingoccc

Anyone curious can see a few snippets here - http://www.hughlaurieblues.com/video,listing.htm

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## JEStanek

Having only known Laurie's work in Stuart Little Movies and House, I wasn't predjudiced by any comedic performances.  I liked the music on the tracks I've heard more than the singing.  I didn't think the singing was awful it just didn't work great for me.  I think this is a case where a person's celebrity is helping records sales (or even a record happening).  As to wether or not people should like it or not, that's not my call.

Jamie

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## mandopete

Not crazy about the music on this show, but did anyone else notice the nice selection of microphones being used?

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## mandopops

I'm glad the Toussaint "Bright Mississippi" album was brought up. This is an outstanding recording. Traditional material ,yet not tired sounding at all. Including Monk's "Bright Mississippi" (based on "Sweet Georgia Brown") nice addition.  Django's "Blue Drag" again great choice. My wife,not a Blues freak like her husband by any means, couldn't stop playing it.

We saw Toussaint w/ most of the players from the album last January( Tousaint's Birthday)at Chicago's Symphony Ctr. Tremendous. Like on the album, Nicholas Payton, & Don Bryon brought a modern Jazz touch and it was simply glorious. Toussaint even played Professor Longhair's "Tipitina, apt for a New Orlean's Pianist, but still a surprise. This is the track someone should have told Mr. Laurie to not embarrass himself by including on his record.

 Bluesy,soulful,tasty,spirited,a most satisfing evening of Music. Toussaint was humble & a true Southern gentleman throughout. I can't say enuf.

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## mrmando

> Having only known Laurie's work in Stuart Little Movies and House, I wasn't predjudiced by any comedic performances.


Ouch. That must mean the Stuart Little movies aren't funny. 

If you have a Netflix streaming subscription, check out "A Bit of Fry & Laurie" or the last couple of seasons of "Blackadder." No mandolins, but Hugh does sing and play piano a fair amount on "Fry & Laurie." And he's very funny in a very British sort of a way.

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## JEStanek

I'm a big Python and other BBC Comedies fan.  His roles in Stuart Little were endearing but not comedic.  NOLA is my second favorite city ever and I believe there's room in their style for Hugh.

Jamie

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## mandroid

Up on the web for those who missed the telecast.  http://video.pbs.org/video/2146104923

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