ROCKIN' JAKE'S KOOL KILLER KOLE SLAW

[This is good to make the night before you are going to use it, so that all the veggies get to marinate in the dressing and spices]
VEGGIES:
Red Cabbage
Green Cabbage
Scallions
Carrots
Red Onion
Green,Red,Orange peppers
SPICES/HERBS:
Celery seed
Caraway seed
Sesame seed
Coarse salt (kosher or sea salt)
Fresh ground black pepper (large grind)
Fresh cilantro
Fresh basil
Fresh garlic
DRESSING:
Fresh lime juice
Orange juice
100% Maple Syrup
Olive Oil
Balsamic vinegar
DIRECTIONS:
-With a very sharp knife, slice the cabbage, both red and green, into VERY thin slices and then cut those slices in half.
-Slice the scallions very thin on the bias (at an angle).
-Cut the carrots into very thin matchsticks.
-Then cut the onions and peppers very thinly and place all veggies into a large bowl.
-By hand, mix all veggies thoroughly. If it looks like you need one or more of the veggies, add it.
-Dump all the spices/herbs into the veggies, be somewhat liberal with all but the caraway and celery seed (you wanna lay back a little on those spices).
-Stick your hands in the bowl and mix everything up thoroughly.
-Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a separate bowl, with proportions to your taste.
-Add the dressing (save a little to add later)to the veggies and mix thoroughly.
-Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or tin foil.
-Put in the fridge and turn the mixture every few hours, to get a nice blend of the dressing on everything. Be sure to toss the whole shebang again before you serve and add more dressing if necessary.
-This will last a few days in the fridge and really gets better for the first few days when it gets a tad wilted.

With nothing to do in the van for hours, I decided to compile the best cowbell songs in music history. This list is by no means complete and hope you'll send me your list so I can compile the master list.
Here's my list (I forgot a couple though):
1.Low Rider- War
2.Grazin' In The Grass- Hugh Masakela
3.Mississippi Queen- Mountain
4.We're An American Band- GFRR
5.My Old School (check out the guitar solo)- Steely Dan
6.Don't Fear The Reaper- Blue Erster Cult
7.Hair Of The Dog- Nazareth
8.Oye Como Va- Santana

9. Time Has Come Today- Chambers Bros.
Whatcha got?

Another tough week for losing great musicians out of New Orleans.. One I knew quite well and the other just knew from seeing him at clubs.  Oliver Morgan was a truly sweet man. Great guy.too and lots of fun. We went to Finland together with my band for a couple weeks of shows in the early nineties.  There were some rough traveling conditions, but Oliver never complained. We had a great time over there. Oliver also graced me by agreeing to sing the lead vocals on a new song I wrote with Angelo Nocentelli and TJ Wheeler. It was the first song i ever recorded and co-produced. a Mardi Gras ditty called "Show Me Your Pretties". You can find the song on my first CD, "Let's Go Get Em" on Rabadash Records.  Many years later, I shared a very touching moment with him. I went with a friend to visit him at his home on tennessee st. in the lower 9th, shortly after he had his stroke, I tried to cheer him up as best I could, but he broke down in tears when talking about he may never sing again. Well thankfully he did come back and did some sporadic gigging the last few years. Thank you Oliver for the joy and music you have giiven.

I got a chance to see Earl Turbinton quite a bit in the early 90's when I was working at a club across from the convention center, the shortl-lived CHARLIE B'S (May Charlie Rest in Peace).   As dysfunctionally as the club was run, there were some truly spectacular musical experiences there. That's for another blog.

I always enjoyed Earls appearances, they always had a great degree of depth and soul.. He had that deep Coltrane- searching thing, and usually had great local modern jazz  accompanying him.

The world's culture is poorer without these two fine artists, but their music and soul live on.