Telling the Truth

Larry says he has mostly always worked with people who are better than he is.  He certainly has surrounded himself with world class artists and gigs that he loves playing. “Experiencing what the world has to offer with a team you’ve had a little bit to do with assembling…it’s been nothing but extraordinary.”  

I’ve admired Larry Van Loon for quite awhile.  At one time, he was the keyboardist for the house band that played at the Starlite Dinner Club in Madison and I was the keyboardist for the house band at the Executive Inn in Bowling Green, KY.  Jokingly, Michelle (the bass player) and I used to call ourselves the “Starlite North.”  Both clubs were dance and dinner venues requiring a set list of everything from top 40 pop to very traditional country standards.  Think Nelly to “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”

I was first made aware of the Starlite by Kenne Cramer, who became a regular sub for our band’s guitar player.  He invited me to come check out the band and as soon as I heard Larry play a few notes seated at his B3,  I knew he was a supreme musician.  He was very capable of covering all the parts to the songs, yet he went much further adding tasteful soul and poignancy to the songs.  His singing style made me think of New Orleans, a town I had visited several times.  I wasn’t aware of his Kansas City background, but now it all makes sense.  I was hearing the blues spilling out in his expressive playing and singing.  

During our conversation, I asked Larry to define the blues.  He elaborated on some stylistic aspects that make the blues accessible to all musicians who understand them.  In closing, I’m including some quotes that help describe the subtleties of this incredible musical art form.  

“Particularly with the blues, it’s not just about bad times.  It’s about the healing spirit.”  Taj Mahal

“The Blues are the true facts of life expressed in words and song, inspiration, feeling, and understanding.”  Willie Dixon

“The blues was bleeding the same blood as me.”  B. B. King

“The blues is an impulse to keep the painful details and episodes of a brutal experience alive in one’s aching consciousness, to finger its jagged grain, and to transcend it, not by the consolation of philosophy but by squeezing from it a near-tragic, near-comic lyricism.  As a form, the blues is an autobiographical chronicle of personal catastrophe expressed lyrically.”  Ralph Ellison

“The Blues contain so much joy and sadness at the same time.”  Bill Charlap

“The blues ain’t nothing but a good man feelin’ bad.”  Leon Redbone

“I love all music.  I kind of figure if you’re telling the truth, I’m gonna love it.”  Larry Van Loon