"Woodblind Meets Teague Alexy" CD release at Havana's in Superior. Photos by Jill Fisher.

As music events celebrating the holiday season start to pile up with competing gigs amongst the many venues, it seems there is something to suit everyone’s taste. 

One of these is Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Christmas, which will be presented twice this year at the West Theatre. This family-friendly show was inaugurated last December and was so wonderful it is being reprised to add to our holiday cheer. 

On Wednesday evening, Nov. 20, there was a release party for the Woodblind Meets Teague Alexy CD at Havana’s in Superior. This is a bar and restaurant (featuring “authentic Cuban food”) that looks to be developing into a regular music venue, with a raised platform for a stage and ample dance floor. There could have been more tables and seating for folks, as many had to stand in this section of the bar for this show.

The stage was jam packed with the members of Woodblind’s “Big Band”—Jason Wussow (acoustic guitar, vocals), Veikko Lepisto (standup bass, vocals), Eli Bissonett (violin), Jimi Cooper (electric guitar), Tyler Dubla (drums) and George Ellsworth (organ) – plus Teague (vocals, harmonica, percussion) and Jen West (vocals), who contributed to the recording. 

And as if there weren’t sufficient sound makers, Eric Cyr of Cyr and the Cosmonauts joined the crew playing trombone. 

And these weren’t all of the musicians who contributed to the album that included dubbing by TNT HiFi. Those others were Bryan “Lefty” Johnson, who played congas and sang, Jacob Mahon on organ and vocals and Matt Wasman on baritone saxophone.

It was an interesting and, in some ways, a strange mix of talents on display. Without an attempt to reproduce the “dubs” featured on the album, Woodblind’s ska repertoire was the foundation for this musical performance. 

Those familiar selections are always upbeat with a spritely sound even when the lyrics are rather dark or dire. Teague’s original songs were overlaid on ska riffs. “The Only Man In Love” and “Straw Man” from the album revealed his distinctive vocals and provided a marked contrast to the pop and whistles of Veikko and Jason. These were as danceable as Woodblind’s ska tunes.

During the break between sets, Jen West soloed with five of her original songs, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. She has a clear voice with a high register, which added nice harmonies, both live on this evening and on the CD. The second set got going with Teague’s “Lion’s Share.”  

The “Dubs” on Woodblind Meets Teague Alexy give the CD a whole other dimension with Teague’s voice, along with others, intertwined with electronic loops and effects such as reverb, delay and echo. It also includes some “toasting” (rapping over the basic dub music) by Charley Anderson on “Dancing Floor Dub” (my favorite on the album) and “Lion’s Share Dub.” 

Some songs are duplicated with and without dubs. The dubs on this recording include tunes that incorporate bits of lyrics from other songs, creating a unifying effect amongst them.

For those of you who wish to witness this interesting amalgamation of musicians for yourselves, get to Wussow’s Concert Café on Saturday, Dec. 7, where there’ll be further celebration of this Teague Alexy/Woodblind collaboration. The fun starts at 7 pm.

On Thursday, Nov. 21, West Theatre launched this holiday season with a “Holiday Spirits” show by Harmonious Wail, a trio made up of husband and wife team Sims and Maggie Delaney-Potthoff together with a backup bassist, on this evening, Aden Stier. 

Harmonious Wail

Sims plays mandolin, ukelele and guitar and takes occasional lead vocals while Maggie is the primary vocalist and percussionist. In his introduction of the group, theater-owner Bob Boone noted that Maggie has been nominated for Wisconsin‘s Female Vocalist of 2025.  

The promotional materials for this group describe HW’s music as “Americana-infused gypsy jazz,” which may be what the audience turned out to hear. 

However, despite their allegiance to Django Reinhardt, demonstrated by their fine rendition of “Minor Swing” (that legendary player’s best-known tune), the playlist ran the gamut of jazz standards, popular and several seasonal songs. 

Their first number “Let It Snow” was a convincing start with Maggie’s pure jazz vocals. She further amazed by providing percussion with brushes on simple wine box! It was surprisingly effective, as was her use of shakers, guiro (looks like a cheese grater) and large hand drum. 

Harmonious Wail's Wine box drum

If that wasn’t sufficient, Maggie scatted her way through “Move,” a Miles Davis classic, demonstrating their jazz creds. Throughout Sims put on a virtuoso display on the mandolin. Aden’s bass-playing was highlighted with several solos.

Other tunes HW performed in the first set included “What the World Needs Now” (recorded in 1965 by Jackie DeShannon), a beautiful delivery of Joni Mitchell’s “River” by Maggie which brought us back to the show’s holiday theme, “Lagavulin Bay,” “As Happy As I Am” and returning to a seasonal favorite, “My Favorite Things.” Maggie’s scatting on this latter number rescued it from holiday overload.

In their second set, HW brought their jazz sensibilities with Jimmy Heath’s “Our Little Town,” a jazz transformation of “Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem.” 

Then there was Fats Waller’s “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie” and an original song of theirs sung in French – a lovely melody preceded by a story of the intimate greeting the title of the song, “Cou Cou,” conveys. Following up was “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and the Louis Armstrong hit “What A Wonderful World.” I was a bit surprised at the amount of vibrato in Maggie’s rendition of “Wonderful World,” after not hearing nearly as much in her preceding vocals. 

Interspersed among the numbers, Sims told of their connections to Scotland and Ireland and the music tours they lead there, inviting those interested audience members in joining them next spring. He also mentioned the Midwest Gypsy Swing Fest they host in Madison, Wis., which features the repertoire of Django Rienhardt. The next one is will be Feb. 8, 2025.

The unusually small audience for this concert at the West showed its appreciation for Harmonious Wail with warm applause. An acoustic encore, totally without mics, showcased not only their musical versatility but also the fine acoustics of the theater. 

In attempting to summarize the overall ambiance of this concert, I kept thinking it was a well-honed and polished act that one might see in a posh Parisian nightclub and reminiscent of the club scenes in movies of the 1930s. I imagine there’d be increased enjoyment of this show if experienced in a more intimate venue. For some (such as the Curmudgeon) who would rather have heard more hot club jazz, the seasonal theme lessened their appreciation of the show; for most of us though, it was a welcome prologue to the fast approaching holidays.

UPCOMING: Lots of music and dancing opportunities are on hand this Thanksgiving weekend as well as crowding the early December calendar. One that I plan to attend is Laurie BoeDee’s show at Cedar Lounge in Superior on Saturday, Nov. 30. She is a fairly recent transplant to the Twin Ports from Austin, Texas, and brings with her a bodacious guitar style that is sure to raise one’s spirits this season. See you there!