Kevin Mahogany Sings Big Joe Turner

When: Wednesday, July 22, 2008 • Where: Dakota • Who: Kevin Mahogany, voice; the Godfathers of Groove (Reuben Wilson, Hammond B-3; Grant Green Jr., guitar; J.T. Lewis, drums); Kathy Kosins, guest vocals

We try to see Kevin Mahogany whenever he comes to town. There aren’t many male vocalists and his velvety baritone is delicious to hear.

The Joe Turner gig seems to be his thing right now; his main website hasn’t been updated since July 2007 and he has a newer Kansas City Revue site. In the Robert Altman film Kansas City, Mahogany plays a character based on Turner.

Tonight’s set, the last of four in their two-night Dakota stay, begins with the Godfathers (formerly the Masters of Groove) on their own. They make it sound and look so easy. (Throughout the evening, Grant Green Jr. is especially fun to watch, his face joyful and expressive.) Mahogany comes through the curtain and starts with “Times Getting’ Tougher than Tough” (“Things are getting rougher than rough/You know I make a lot of money but I keep on spendin’ the stuff”). He swings, he scats, he’s relaxed and easy and fine.

On “I Want a Little Girl to Call My Own,” the crooner becomes a belter, singing in his higher register with more of an edge. The velvet is back on “Teach Me Tonight.” Wilson’s B-3 makes that wonderful popping sound.



“I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water” turns into a scat-and-drums dialogue; Mahogany becomes a drum set, singing sticks and brushes, snare and cymbals. Lewis takes a long solo and the song transitions into “Every Day I’ve Got the Blues,” during which Kosins comes on stage. She scats, too. I enjoy hearing the two of them together. Mahogany exits and heads for the bar, leaving Kosins on stage to carry two or three tunes.

Mahogany returns for the close, praises his band (on Wilson and the B-3: “Taming that beast is not easy”), and gives us “Route 66” and “Since I Fell for You.” The first set ended with a rousing encore, but there’s no encore for the final set. Frankly, this crowd doesn’t deserve one.

There has been a weird vibe in the room for most of the set. It’s far from a full house and people have chosen to sit away from the stage; there’s no one up front, which Mahogany comments on and clearly doesn’t like. He tries to engage the crowd with patter and gets nowhere.

I’ve seen him before larger audiences, most recently with the JazzMN Big Band. Those were high-energy, generous, exciting shows. Some performers ignore their audience, some soldier on despite crowd noise or indifference, but some—including Mahogany—seem to need what an audience can give: respect, attention, enthusiasm, love. Hand him that and you’ll get a lot in return. Tonight’s crowd is flat, unresponsive, and lazy. Too bad for everyone.

Photos by John Whiting.

Kevin Mahogany and the JazzMN Big Band

When: 3/22/08
Where: Hopkins High School Performing Arts Center
Who: JazzMN Big Band, Douglas Snapp, artistic director; Jimmy Hamilton, guest pianist; Kevin Mahogany, guest vocalist

A very enjoyable show from start to finish. JazzMN played the first half: "Greetings and Salutations" (Thad Jones), "7th Heaven" (Steve Huffsteter; a tune Snapp heard in LA last year and enjoyed), Chick Corea's "La Fiesta," "Come Rain or Come Shine." Jimmy Hamilton (a local pianist Snapp thinks we should know but a lot of us don't because he performs mainly at the Lafayette Country Club, and who belongs to that?) took over for Mary Louise Knutson at the piano for three tunes including Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much Anymore."

Following intermission, Kevin Mahogany gave us several songs of his choosing. I learned only recently that when a big band features a guest vocalist, he or she provides the charts, and the arrangements depend on how skilled the band is. We heard "Satin Doll," "Everything I Have Is Yours," "In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down)," "Yardbird Suite," and a song by Mahogany, "Three Little Words." I came to hear his smooth, rich baritone and his scatting; Mahogany is a terrific scat singer. Surprising many in the audience, Snapp scatted with him on one song.



Mahogany was warm and generous and funny. He's a big man who's been dieting, and his custom-made suit was a few sizes too large for him. He told us after the show that he hasn't had time to have it taken in.

Near the end, Snapp announced JazzMn's next season, which will be its tenth (a considerable achievement for a big band these days):

October 18: The Latin Side of Conrad Herwig
December 20: A JazzMn Christmas (their first Christmas concert)
February 14: Nicholas Payton's Gumbo Nouveau
April 4: Ken Peplowski: Benny Goodman Protege

My MinnPost preview of this show.
More from my interview with Kevin Mahogany.

Kevin Mahogany

Kevin Mahogany sounds as yummy on the phone as he does when he sings. When I interviewed him for MinnPost about his upcoming performance with the JazzMN Big Band, I probably kept him on the line longer than I should have.

I mentioned how much I liked one of the songs on Another Time Another Place, his 1997 release on Warner Bros. It's a sassy, light-hearted banter between two men about the same woman. Mahogany wrote it and recorded it as a duet with country singer Randy Travis, which seems an unlikely choice but makes sense when you listen. It's all about the voices. Mahogany told me more:

It surprised a lot of people when we did that. I always thought [Travis] had a wonderful voice. When you hear that combination, it worked great. I was writing a duet for two men and didn't want to split a standard tune in half. [Travis] agreed to do it with me. We were both on Warner Bros. We had such a great time. As much fun as you hear on the record, that's how much we had in the studio, if not more so. What makes it exciting is that [Travis] has less twang [in his voice] than in his country music. And jazz people had the chance to hear an incredible singer who sings country.

On the recording, Travis doesn't scat (Mahogany does), but he swings.

Photo of Kevin Mahogany from his MySpace page.