A beautiful 2 LP 180 gram vinyl set with gatefold sleeve – Dr John performs an excellent set on piano live in the UK in 1988 and is joined for the last three numbers by his original Night Tripper tenor sax player Plas Johnson. Malcolm John \”Mac\” Rebennack, Jr. was born in New Orleans in 1940. He was raised in the smart Third Ward and became hooked on the city\’s rich musical heritage at an early age, forming a Rhythm & Blues band, \”The Spades\”, while still at high school. Adept on both piano and guitar, he went on to become one of the first white musicians to play on R & B sessions in New Orleans and during the late1950s he became a staff musician for the legendary \”Ace Records\” where he dabbled in production and also recorded under his own name. Two gems from this period are the Bo Diddleyesque \”Storm Warning\” and \”Morgus The Magnificent\” (recorded under the pseudonym of Morgus and The Three Ghouls), both of these tracks feature searing guitar work by Mac.In 1968 Mac burst on a far wider unsuspecting international audience with his cult Atlantic Records album release, \”Gris-Gris\”. Recorded under his now famous alter ego of Dr John (The Night Tripper), the album combined voodoo rhythms and chants with the New Orleans and Louisiana music traditions, resulting in a heady psychedelic mix that instantly appealed to far left music lovers most of who knew little or nothing of the musical roots of the album. This of course hardly mattered and the good Doctor has addressed this via his subsequent 20 or so album releases, many of which lean heavily on New Orleans classic material as well as his own self-penned numbers. This present release is no exception with at least eight of the twelve tracks being R & B classics plus \”I Walk On Guilded Splinters from the afore-mentioned \”Gris-Gris\”. The last three tracks include the original tenor sax player from that album, Plas Johnson.