She turned to the crowd around her
And these were the words she said
… let him go, god bless him
Such drama, huh, in the telling of the New Orleans classic words tweaked 'n' all known to many jazz lovers going way back to the 1920s and Louis Armstrong and his Savoy Ballroom Five's 1929 released version. Shenel Johns' vocal take from TRIAD - let him go, god bless him (into the great spirit world that is) is surely part of the real meaning of this classic combination of mortuary, the bar room milieu ''where the usual crowd was there'' and deep, deep revenge. The murdering protagonist still claims possession of her formerly beloved's soul in this fine rendering, a Marie Laveau like atmosphere even descends if you want to run the voodoo down a little given a bit of poetic licence as such image making is without being too fanciful possible. Shenel takes the tempo way down after the initial marimba punctuated build up, Dom and on mistily evocative in the trumpet line and some deftly layered accordion flavouring. Shenel Johns, top. Read a full album of the album-of-the-week from which 'St James Infirmary Blues' is drawn also called TRIAD here
Tags: the track