Jam Logs, the Podcast of The 1937 Flood

 This song has been rattling around in the Floodisphere for a long time. Originally for us it was an instrumental. It became a Michelle Lewis special when the Chick Singer was still with the band. Then, when Michelle moved on, it looked like the tune might retire. But last night darned if it didn’t poke its head in the door and become of a fun vehicle for for Veezy and Sam in the solo space, and now… well, it appears “All of Me” is ready for another rebirth.

 Last night we just barely had a quorum — about half the band had other obligations — but, as we always say around here, whenever two or three gather in its name, it is The Flood. And, as this will testify, Danny and Randy brought more than enough juice to power up the solos!

Earlier this week, when Veezy and Danny created their own thoughtful impressions of this old Appalachian tune, they were also communing with the spirit of a Floodster they never met. It was more than 40 years ago that the late Roger Samples sat down in the Bowens’ kitchen one hot summer’s night and strung together the chords that would become The Flood’s unique take on this tune. Wouldn’t Rog be smiling right about now, just knowing his ideas lives on?  

 This tune’s still relatively new for us, but last night we found the groove. Just listen to Randy’s heartbeat of a bass line under Charlie’s vocals as we pass it off for sensuous soliloquies by Veezy, Danny and Sam, a flowing sweet and earnest conversation among friends.

 This tune, which only a few years older than our band, by all rights ought to be The Flood’s theme song. The fact is, though, we’ve been doing it only about a dozen years or so, which is — well, “yesterday,” in FloodSpeak — but since then, we have embraced it. And in this, our latest rendition, we’re loving how Danny Cox and Veezy Coffman are just owning it!

 St. Patrick’s Day has always been a special time in the Floodisphere, and when it falls on our regular gathering night, well, the rehearsal turns into a bit of a céilí. Last night we brought out a number of rollicking tunes from the old sod, but evening ended on a quieter note, with this meditative old melody.

 Danny Cox’s years of close attention to guitar greats like Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed has perfectly prepared him for this solid old song. And like his heroes, Dan is an innovator, not an imitator. Just listen as Danny crafts four — count ‘em, four! — choruses to this song, bringing fresh ideas to each one of them.

 We’ve been doing this song for a dozen years of so,  but it’s always new, depending on who’s on hand to handle the solos. Last night it was Veezy and Danny’s turn to find sweet new nuance in all those old familiar chords.

Now, we first started playing with this song about a year ago, but it’s been languishing for a while. It was just waiting for a blue and rainy evening like last night when Veezy, Danny, Randy and Charlie could revisit it. It sounds like it’s ready to be a regular in our repertoire now.

 What a wonderful family the Coffmans are, a young household full of musicians and artists, students and teachers. We feel so fortunate to know them through the transformative music of their eldest. Each week 21-year-old Vaness Coffman’s playing takes our ears to brand new places. Now, when Veezy plays her solo jazz sets at venues around our area, she’ll often mentions that every member of her family has a favorite song, and if you’re lucky, she’ll play them for you sometime during that night. Well, high on our list from that collection is her mom’s favorite. Julianne Coffman teaches music in the Cabell County schools and her Veezy tune is this 1948 jazz standard by Sonny Burke. So here it is, from last night’s Flood gathering: “Black Coffee.”