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Peter Heitz. Photos by Jill Fisher.

A short stop at Sir Ben’s on Wednesday, Feb. 25, provided a taste of what Peter Heitz (our friendly bartender) had to offer music-wise and it was a treat to hear him play his Gibson Resonator guitar with slide.

The Curmudgeon and I were both impressed with his playing and more so with his raspy, old man vocals (think Tom Waits) on his original song “Coffee Black.”

Fact is he is one of those singer-songwriters who plays mostly his own compositions. There was an acoustic guitar on stage but we missed hearing him play it. We plan to get back there to hear him play a full two-hour gig on Wednesday, April 22, before the bluegrass jam takes over the place.

After that evening “opener” it was off to see the seasoned bluesman Tinsley Ellis at the West Theatre. He is on his Labor of Love tour, which is the title of his latest album, released earlier this year.

The C and I had seen him only once before, back in March 2024, which I covered in this column (March 21, 2024, Reader) Meeting him in the adjoining Alhambra Lounge before the concert, he said he “came to play!”

When he took the stage at 7:45 pm, he noted that he had been to Duluth in every possible weather scenario. I guess the high snowbanks impressed him!

His first number was a slow blues instrumental after which he launched into a rousing performance of “Farm Workers,” which may be unrecorded at this point, since I couldn’t find it on any of his previous albums.

Tinsley Ellis

Indeed, the first set was mostly older tunes such as “Cut You Loose” and “A Quitter Never Wins” from his 1994 album, Storm Warning.

“Ice Cream In Hell” from the 2020 album of the same name and “28 Days” from Devil May Care (2022).

As before, he was full of stories of well-known blues musicians he’s played with — Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Johnny Lang, Greg Allman, etc.

Even he recognized he was being a name dropper!

He switched out his acoustic guitar for a very shiny and highly reflective 1937 National Steel resonator to play “Hoodoo Woman” with slide from Labor of Love and which he first released as a single last December.

After that he spoke of almost meeting Howlin’ Wolf when he was 16 and played a song most in the audience knew since they all howled like wolves at the appropriate chorus.

The last song was a foot-stomping cover of “It’s Time To Go Now” by Gladys Knight & The Pips.

During the break Ellis sold and signed his vinyl and CDs. Back on the stage he began with a cover of “Gotta Love Somebody,” which he attributed to Muddy Waters.

He also played several tunes from his 2022 Naked Truth album: “Grown Ass Man,” “Hoochie Mama” and “Tallahassee Blues.” 

Surprisingly, Ellis did not perform all of the songs from Labor of Love, but he did play “Too Broke.” He finished out this fine concert with covers of “Love In Vain Blues” by Robert Johnson and the jazz and blues standard “St. James Infirmary Blues.”

His fans were more than satisfied with this Tinsley Ellis concert. I’m quite sure he will be back in these parts again.

I want to add a short note about the C’s and my Friday night outing on Feb. 27. It had been a while since we’ve seen Russ Sackett perform. On this evening he soloed, providing the musical entertainment at Sir Ben’s, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar.

Russ Sackett

His vocals are strong and enjoyable while his repertoire of covers is extensive. He plays a great mix of tunes that most folks know, along with some of his original compositions. Two of the latter were “My Appreciation” and “Time Is Short.” We loved his fast-paced rendition of Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” as well as “Tangled Up In Blue.”

Other covers included Paul Simon’s “Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard,” complete with excellent whistling, and a wonderful take on Pink Floyd’s “Breath.”

Russ is one of our most accomplished local musicians; it’s worthwhile to take in one of his shows from time to time.   

After all that, the highlight of this weekend was the “Gershwin” concert at Sacred Heart Music Center on Saturday, Feb 28.

There aren’t enough superlatives to convey the wondrous music we heard here. It was vocalist Prudence Johnson that drew me to this musical event. I initially only knew of Johnson through her many appearances on the radio program Prairie Home Companion back in the day.

Gershwin concert at Sacred Heart

But then I rediscovered her last fall when she performed in the “Gales of November,” which she produced as well. (Nov.13, 2025, Reader) As I realized in re-reading my column, that production included the two musicians who also accompanied her on this evening: Dan Chouinard (piano) and Randy Sabien (violin).

In addition to hearing the timeless classics written by George Gershwin, the lyrics of which were written by his older brother Ira, we learned something of those early times in the introductions to each.

First up was “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” a 1937 tune written for the movie Shall We Dance? with Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers.

Following that with “S Wonderful” (1927), Prudence told us that songwriters of that era liked to play with the language. (Not so different from these days!) She explained that the song “How Long Has This Been Going On” was about the sensation of falling in love for the first time and got a laugh when she admitted “it’s been a while for me.”

Another tidbit of information was that at first Ira Gershwin used the pseudonym Arthur Francis, not being sure of being a credit to the Gershwin family name. “The Man I Love,” published at the end of 1924, was supposed to be a tune for the musical comedy Lady Be Good by the Gershwins, but was cut and rejected from others. The song didn’t really become popular until the Benny Goodman Quartet performed it in 1938 at Carnegie Hall. Since then it’s been recorded by numerous singers and is included in what has come to be called “the Great American Songbook.”

Prudence asserted that this song captured the feeling of New York and even America at that time, though I must confess this wasn’t evident to me.

Prudence gave over the stage to Chouinard and Sabien for the performance of the tune “Lady Be Good.” Before playing it, Sabien demonstrated two different jazz styles by violinists Stéphane Grappelli (light French style) and Joe Venuti (swingier and more upbeat), which he combined for this rendition of the immensely popular song.

A violin solo followed which segued nicely into “Summertime” from the Gershwin folk opera Porgy and Bess (1934-35). This ushered in several numbers from that opera: “My Man’s Gone Now,” “I Loves You, Porgy,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “I Got Plenty of Nothing.”

With explanations for how each song told the story, it was sort of a Cliff Notes version of the opera. Nicely done.

After a short intermission, Chouinard opened the second half soloing “Rhapsody in Blue” on Sacred Heart’s Baldwin concert grand piano, which he praised. He shared the background of the song, which was written during the ragtime era, where Gershwin was playing newly published sheet music out on the street to promote new songs.

George Gershwin was only 25 years old when he composed the piece. As the story goes, he hadn’t yet written it when read in a newspaper article that he was to  perform it within a month’s time with the Paul Whiteman band.

Chouinard explained that the piece was originally 17 minutes long but after years of playing it, dating back to high school days, and later at parties and in piano bars he said: “large sections have sort of broken off and drifted away like the polar icecap.”

The seven-minute version of it he played was that portion Gershwin himself performed. It was so sublime he received a standing ovation.

When Prudence and Sabien rejoined Chouinard on stage, they lit into “Vodka,” a tune with sassy lyrics and gypsy violin accompaniment.

Prudence’s expressive vocalizations are perfection and her two accompanists provide the variety and sophistication that a Gershwin concert deserves.

Next was a major mood change with “Someone To Watch Over Me.” For some reason this one always brings tears to my eyes. I think some other folks may have had the same reaction.

Finishing out the concert, Chouinard and Sabien played an instrumental version of the 1930 “I Got Rhythm,” which has become a jazz standard. (There was a couple who couldn’t resist cutting up the dance floor to this one!) We learned that its jazz form came to be known as “rhythm changes” which has been copied and used ever since.

Second to the last number was “Our Love Is Here To Stay,” written by George Gershwin shortly before he died of a brain tumor at 38 years of age. It was sentimentality in its best expression.

“They All Laughed,” which was written for the 1937 Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire film Shall We Dance, was the final song of the evening. In summary, these three consummate musicians performed a splendid  concert that meets and raises the bar of excellence we are fortunate to enjoy in the Northland.

If my written version of this Gershwin concert makes you wish you’d been there, I suggest you see the live stream of it on Sacred Heart’s YouTube.

And if it moves you as much as it did me, you’ll want to make a donation to this volunteer-supported venue that brings us so much wonderful music.

UPCOMING: This Friday, March 6, you might want to catch Between Howls at Wussows when they kick off their “Buds Tour” and are joined by Boss Mama and Elsa Krantz.

Then on Saturday, March 7, SHMC is bringing us more jazz with the music of Kavyesh Kaviraj. If that isn’t your thing, maybe you’d like to take in The Twin Ports Highlanders Pipes & Drums on Saturday, March 7, which will perform their “Thistles & Shamrocks” concert at Weber Hall on the UMD campus beginning at 7 pm. See you out there!