Papa Mali
Waterfront Blues Festival
Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Portland, OR.
July 4, 2005

Recorded from KBOO FM, a local all volunteer radio station. There is some inherent reception problems scattered throughout these recordings. The station is not very powerful and the team had some problems on the first day of the festival getting everything "plugged in". All in all some great music with a few tolerable "blurps".

FM > MD > HDD > CDWav (for splitting) > FLAC

No set lists or art. Hope you all enjoy the shows....twofthrs.

Papa Mali
Southern Fried Soul, Blunted Delta Blues, New Orleans Funk, and Tribal Hoodoo Rhythms

Although currently based in Austin, Texas, bandleader MALCOLM WELBOURNE's personification "PAPA MALI" is a salute to his home territory of north Louisiana. Malcolm was born in Mississippi and raised in Shreveport, where absorbing the blues along Bayou Pierre was just as much a matter of course as chasing the mosquito fogging truck with friends—and equally intoxicating. He spent his summers with grandparents in New Orleans digging that city's rhythm (and blues) and after hearing the Wild Tchoupitoulas and the Meters on the streets of New Orleans at age eleven, he developed an early and ongoing attachment to Crescent City funk. It was Burning Spear's band that gave Malcolm the nickname "Papa Mali" years ago while touring with Spear and the Killer Bees.

With one critically aclaimed CD Thunder Chicken (produced by Dan Prothero and released on San Francisco boutique label, Fog City Records—the same team that introduced the world to Galactic, Mofro and Greyboy Allstars keyboard wiz, Robert Walters) and another Prothero-produced Swampland release in the works, Papa Mali is positioned to make an impact in 2005 and beyond.

Although Papa Mali is essentially a solo artist, slide guitarist, singer/songwriter and acclaimed producer, he is usually seen in the company of some of the funkiest and greasiest musicians on the planet. Recent collaborations include Cyril Neville (Neville Bros), Big Chief Monk Boudereaux of the Golden Eagles, Anders Osborne, Omar Dykes(of Howlers fame), Jesse Mae Hemphill, Lavelle White, Ruthie Foster, Kevin Russell (Gourds) and too many more to name.

His current touring lineup is perhaps his best ever. Featuring the young ferocious rhythm team of Robbie Kidd (drums) and Aaron Wilkinson (bass), Mali is finally able to cover the many styles of roots, soul, swamp and slide guitar driven juke joint funk that have made him a national attraction on the club and festival circuit, while bringing a new element to the mix - a solid backing track for a new batch of 'song-oriented' originals. Insiders have already caught the vibe and begun referring to the fresh flavored lineup as "PM3" (abbr. Papa Mali Trio.)