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Shoo-bee-doo

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Parent Issue
Day
17
Month
December
Year
1975
Copyright
Creative Commons (Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike)
OCR Text

Shoo-Bee-Doo

And the Principles of Utility/At Sonny Wilson's Celebrity Room, Nov 28

Those of you who missed the Mahavishnu Orchestra/Jan Hammer concert at Masonic Temple November 28th could have caught a mouthful immediately following the show at Sunnie Wilson's Celebrity Room (downtown Detroit at Griswold and State), where the pots were on till a quarter to three.

The "Shoo Bee Doo Show" was in full flight, with multi-saxophonist/composer David "Magnanimous" McMurray on flutes and Afro-horn, "Sir" Rod Williams, piano, percussionist Ali Mora on drums, and Prof. Doo Bee on the Shoo Bee Bass with lots of vocal gestures and all that jazz. The fellas had just left "The 7th Heaven," a Sir Rod original, concluding the second act of "Topless Jazz-a-Go-Go," as Mr. Doo puts it. ("This used to be another go-go bar when it was the Blue Note," recalls Shoo Bee Doo Bee.)

The show was so hot until smokers lit cigarettes from the band stand's ass. Many wanted to call a fire truck when Los Angeles pianist Stu Goldberg, in town for the Mahavishnu date, together with Detroit's own virtuoso contra-bassist Ralphe Armstrong (Goldberg's stablemate in the MahaOrchestra) and one of the leading pianists of the newly-dubbed "fusion music," Mr. Jan Hammer, all strolled onto the set. All-time favorite composer/saxophonist Allen Barnes, a popular Detroiter now residing in Washington, D.C., whose smash single composition "Summer Love" propelled Donald Byrd's Blackbyrds to the top of' the charts, had already started a fire with his horn when the other three unexpected jazz celebrities entered Sunnie's Celebrity Room.

By then Shoo Bee had everything but pawned his bass, gripping, griping and grunting a medley of original compositions down the widely open mouths of the startled audience ("Reminiscent of some shit I heard," someone had said), and his newly-released composition, "Doo Da Days," romped and stomped.

Following a warm welcome to the downtown nitespot, the unexpected Motor City guests were immediately acknowledged and thunderously applauded down front to the now-burning bandstand. With Ralphe Armstrong's strong arm strumming the bass out front, stating a very musically "So What," the band ploughed their way through the steaming room until way beyond closing, leaving a mangled mess of music makers and takers in their wake. And as Big Charlie Red always said, "Where there's smoke, there's fire."

The Bee Doo and his band can be heard by themselves and with other of their friends at Sunnie Wilson's every Friday and Saturday night from now on. An ace will get you in, but it might take a fire truck to get you out. -- Bimbo Bevins

photo: Derryck Fort

Shoo-Bee-Doo