Musical wake

The musical tribute and wake for Paul deLay was an extraordinary event. The ballroom at the Art Museum was crowded with a sold-out crowd of 1000. Food and drink were available, making for a real party atmosphere. The music traced the history of Paul deLay's various bands, beginning with Brown Sugar, his first. Here was an extraordinary reunion on stage of three original members and a talented harmonica player, three of whom went on to found their own successful blues bands: Jim Mesi, "the Italian chainsaw," on guitar; Lloyd Jones on drums (an accomplished blues guitarist in his own right); Al Kuzens on bass; and standing in for Paul, the talented Bill Rhoades on harp. Rhoades did a great job. The Brown Sugar reunion was the highlight of the night for me (although we did leave early).

The next set was "the 80s band," led by Dave (D.K.) Stewart on piano, Mesi, and adding Don Campbell on bass. This was the band I partied with. An interesting observation: with each new band, the music moved away from traditional blues to add more pop and jazz influenced numbers, and Paul's chromatic came more into play. This was musically more interesting, no doubt, but I belong to the old school of blues and love the traditional stuff best.


The members of Brown Sugar look so young! And Paul (on the right) is so skinny. At the memorial, I saw some faces from the past that looked very old indeed, especially of those who haven't stopped partying. Nothing ages the skin like booze and cigarettes. I saw some old deLay groupies who are ten or more years younger than I am and who looked twenty years older.

After a couple sets, we left and went to dinner at O'Connors in Multnomah Village. A good way to end the night, which included grief along with the celebration of Paul's life and music. As H put it, it doesn't seem right that Paul deLay isn't in the world.