all together now

The Hurricane relief benefit brought the Philadelphia music scene together again for a great cause. I caught some of the performers at world cafe live. While the crowd should have been bigger, those who attended witnessed a lively, occasionally ragged evening of heartfelt music. Highlights for me included a rocking Joseph Parsons, the always engaging Ben Arnold, a beautiful duet on a Allen Toussaint ballad by Mutlu and Amos Lee, and a moving rendition of Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" by John Francis. Appropriately joining the locals were previously booked Susan Cowsill and her band from Louisiana. She is quite good and absolutely nailed the Lucinda Williams song referencing Lake Pontchatrain. She has a new album this November. I would be interested to hear about the shows that night at any other venues.