By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Philly Gumbo
The upcoming week is a week for celebrations.
Valentine’s Day is February 14. Mardi Gras is February 17. The Asian Lunar New Year is February 17.
This weekend, two of these holidays will be celebrated simultaneously at 118 North (118 North Wayne Avenue, Wayne, 118northwayne.com) when Philly Gumbo plays a Mardi Gras/Valentine’s Day show.
On February 14, the venue on Philly’s Main Line hosts “Philly Gumbo: A Mardi Gras Party.”
“We’ll be leaning more on a Mardi Gras vibe than we do in our regular shows,” said Philly Gumbo’s Randall Grass, during a phone interview Wednesday evening from his home in Mount Airy.
“In addition to ‘Iko Iko,’ which is always in our set list, we be playing songs like Irma Thomas’ ‘I Done Got Over It,’ The Meters’ ‘Hey Pocky Way,’ and “Big Chief’ by Professor Longhair.
Philly Gumbo has long been associated with New Orleans. The music of the Crescent City has been an integral part of the Philadelphia-based band’s sound for four decades.
When people think of New Orleans, they think of Mardi Gras and the wild celebrations along the city’s Bourbon Street.
Mardi Gras refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday.
Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday,” reflecting the practice of the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before the ritual Lenten sacrifices and fasting of the Lenten season.
Mardi Gras in New Orleans includes days of partying in the streets and bars, marching bands, parades, beads and the decadent King’s Cake.
Philly Gumbo always celebrates Mardi Gras in style.
According to Grass, one of the band’s co-founders, “Not everyone can make it to New Orleans for Mardi Gras but not to worry — if you’re in the Philadelphia area, Mardi Gras will come to you.
“You can celebrate New Orleans-style courtesy of Philly Gumbo, the band who pioneered Philadelphia area Mardi Gras celebrations more than three decades ago. The band will bring its unique mix of New Orleans R & B, Mardi Gras anthems, blues, funk and reggae to 118 North.”
Aside from the authentic NOLA party music, free Mardi Gras beads and New Orleans-themed drink specials will enhance the Mardi Gras mood. Revelers can expect to dance and sing along to such Mardi Gras anthems as “Brother John”, “Mardi Gras Mambo” and more.
“Philly Gumbo began bringing authentic New Orleans music to area audiences in the 1980’s,” said Grass. “Indeed, the mix of music the band delivered was similar to what one would have heard at a Neville Brothers show at Tipitina’s in uptown New Orleans around the same time.
“That’s no accident as Philly Gumbo was greatly inspired by the Neville’s precursor band, the fabled funk band The Meters. Early on, the band held Mardi-Gras-themed shows annually in the Mardi Gras season and an offshoot of the band, The Wild Bohemians, initiated a South Street parade tradition that has continued to this day.
“But the spirit of Mardi Gras is a year-round thing for Philly Gumbo — it’s all about getting people up on their feet, swaying and dancing in one happy partying crowd. Costumes encouraged but not required.”
The longevity of Philly Gumbo, Philadelphia’s longest-running band, is legendary.
Early in 2020, Philly Gumbo kicked off what was to be the band’s 40th year as a performing band with a sold-out show at World Café Live. Then COVID hit and live music shut down almost completely.
The “core four” of Randall Grass, Tim Hayes, Pete Eshelman, and Bert Harris have been together throughout the four decades with India Rex joining in 2010 and saxophonist Richard Orr, who used to sit in back in the day, joining in 2014.
“The six of us have been together for 12 years,” said Grass. “India has been our longest running singer.”
Philly Gumbo has pioneered New Orleans music – and a new tradition of Mardi Gras celebrations – in Philadelphia.
“I was doing a reggae show on WXPN in 1980,” said Grass, during a phone interview Wednesday morning from his home in Mount Airy. “My friend Walt Taylor was doing Top Ranking, a reggae magazine.
“One day, we sat around my place and did a song together and it was great. So, we formed a duo with him singing and me on piano. We started with a duo gig at Taker’s Café in Germantown.
“Then, I was in Third Street Jazz and saw a flyer from a drummer looking for a gig playing reggae, blues and New Orleans. It was a perfect match. That drummer was Tim Hayes and soon we were a trio.
“Then we heard about guitarist Pete Eshelman who had been playing with the reggae group Roots Vibration. We had rotating bass players at the beginning and then Bert Harris settled in.”
Guitarist, vocalist and harmonica player Richard Johnson rounded out the “classic” line-up of the 1980’s which established a decade-long Saturday night residency at fabled bohemian club Bacchanal on South Street while regularly playing legendary rock club J.C. Dobbs at the other end of South Street.
“Within the first year, we found our niche,” said Grass. “It was musically great — reggae, New Orleans, blues, Memphis style music. It was a dream band for us. We love those genres, and we found a group that could play all of them.”
“When we started, we were playing every Saturday night at Bacchanal on South Street. We did that for more than 10 years.
“We released a 12-inch single in 1984 – an original reggae tune ‘Holy War’ on one side and an obscure New Orleans tune, ‘Mardi Gras’, on the other side.
“We played at clubs all around Philly – JC Dobbs, Chestnut Cabaret, Equator, Khyber Pass. And we also used to play a lot at Joe’s Lounge in West Chester.”
None of those clubs exist anymore and Philly Gumbo has outlived them all.
“We also played a lot in New York at clubs like SOBs and Tramps. We played in Washington, D.C. at Kilimanjaro Club and Musikfest in Bethlehem.”
Philly Gumbo made appearances at major festivals such as The Atlantic City Summer Music Festival, Jam On The River, The West Oak Lane Jazz Festival and more followed as the band’s reputation grew.
“We played a lot of festivals including Jambalaya Jam on Penn’s Landing and Media’s State Street Blues Stroll,” said Grass. “As years went by, we got very selective.”
Grass has stayed busy. He is General Manager and Vice President of A&R at Shanachie Records and the author of a soon-to-be-released book on Philly music.
“About 10 years ago, we released the CD, ‘Come and Get It,’ featuring our current vocalist, India Rex,” said Grass. “But we haven’t been in the studio for a while.”
Video link for Philly Gumbo – https://youtu.be/6dU8iItvt5w.
The Philly Gumbo show on February 14 will start at 7 p.m. Tickets are $24.70.
Other upcoming shows at 118 North are Strangers Stopping Strangers on February 12, East Nash Grass on February 13, Emmanuel Ohemeng III and Perpetual Motion on February 15 and Open Mic Night on February 18.
This weekend’s entertainment lineup will also feature another band who has been around for decades – five to be exact.
The Blackbyrds
The Blackbyrds, who are headlining a show on February 15 at City Winery (990 Filbert Street, Philadelphia, www.citywinery.com), are an American rhythm and blues and jazz-funk fusion group, formed in Washington, D.C., in 1973.
The first incarnation of the band lasted from 1973-1981. The current incarnation came into existence just before the turn of the century.
The Blackbyrds were reformed in 1999 by drummer and founding member Keith Killgo and later recorded “Gotta Fly” in 2012 on K-Wes Indi Records.
“I reformed the band in 1999, and we’ve been working steadily pretty much ever since,” said Keith Killgo, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from his home in Silver Spring, Maryland.
“It was easy to put the band together. The music was already there and Joe and I played on it.”
The Blackbyrds were formed in the early 1970s as part of the legendary jazz trumpeter Dr. Donald Byrd’s brainchild to expose college students to the real world of music.
In his own words to “bridge the gap between academia and the real world,” Byrd envisioned taking active students at Howard University in Washington, DC on a real-world field trip which would expose them to ins and outs of the music business.
The name The Blackbyrds was derived from Byrd’s most successful record, “Blackbyrd,” which appeared on Blue Note Records.
The group featured some of Byrd’s Howard University students: Kevin Toney (keyboards), Keith Killgo (vocals, drums), Joe Hall (bass guitar), Allan Barnes (saxophone, clarinet), and Barney Perry (guitar). Orville Saunders (guitar), and Jay Jones (flute, saxophone) joined later.
The Blackbyrds signed with Fantasy Records in 1973. Their 1975 hit “Walking in Rhythm” received a Grammy nomination and sold over one million copies by May 1975 to achieve gold certification.
The Blackbyrds were at the cutting edge of jazz fusion, R&B and funk in the 1970s. They expanded the boundaries of black music in one of the most musically fertile decades of the past century.
The band’s success includes several highly touted albums, film scores (“Cornbread” and “Earl and Me”), as well as supporting such iconic artists as Roberta Flack, B.B. King, Herbie Hancock and Gladys Knight & the Pips.
The Blackbyrds’ self-titled debut album put the group on the map with “Do It, Fluid,” a funky laid-back party anthem. The group followed that initial success with a string of albums over the next five years.
“Flying Start” (1974) yielded their biggest hit, the Grammy-nominated “Walking in Rhythm.” “City Life” (1975) featured the hit “Happy Music” and the iconic “Rock Creek Park,” which remains one of the most sampled jazz-funk tracks to this day.
Other hit songs by the Blackbyrds at that time were hits such as “Supernatural Feeling,” Grammy-nominated “Unfinished Business,” “Time is Movin’,” “Dreaming About You” and “Flyin’ High.”
Now, it’s 2026 and the Blackbyrds are still flying.
Under the leadership of Killgo, the band continues to record, tour and perform globally.
Killgo, who graduated from Howard University, studied at Bradley University and American University and got his Masters at Argosy University, has also had his “day job” for a long time.
“I’ve been a teacher for 37 years in Washington, D.C.,” said Killgo. “I teach at Friendship Public Charter School in the Southeast. I’m the band director and I teach music, graphic design and psychology.”
The Blackbyrds current lineup includes original founding members Keith Killgo (drums and vocals) and Joe Hall (bass), Paul Spires (vocals), Dominique Toney (vocals), daughter of original band keyboardist Kevin Toney, Roberto Villeda (keyboards), Charles Wright (guitar), Thad Wilson (trumpet), Marshall Keys (saxophone) and Sean Anthony (percussion).
The Blackbyrds’ signature sound combines jazz techniques with R&B, funk, gospel and classical and has heavily influenced hip-hop. The band has been sampled by countless hip-hop artists over the decades, including Grandmaster Flash, Tupac, De La Soul, NWA, Eric B. & Rakim, Heavy D, Gang Starr, MF Doom, Wiz Khalifa, Nas, Ice Cube, and most recently, Jeezy.
“We do Blackbyrds’ songs and Donald Byrd songs,” said Killgo. “Me and Joe Hall are only original members left. We lost Allan Barnes and then Kevin Toney.
“Over 50 years, we’ve had quite a few people in the band. Right now, we have two horns, guitar, bass, drums, percussion and two singers. Our current band has about 250 songs we can play.
“Audiences at our shows have been a combination of old and new. We’ve been getting a younger white audience that is interested in jazz/funk fusion.”
Video link for the Blackbyrds – https://youtu.be/5y3CBI260Z8.
The show at City Winery on February 15 will start at
Tickets start at $36.
Other upcoming shows at City Winery are Jeff Mauro on February 12, Patti Austin on February 13, Eric Benet on February 14 and Davide de Pierro on February 16,
Another Valentine’s Day show will feature the Dukes of Destiny at Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org).
The Dukes’ 2026 lineup features Ray Adler on guitar, Mike O’Rourke on drums, Mike Blair on bass, Glenn Bickel on keyboards, and John Colgan-Davis on vocals and harmonica.
The band will play in Kennett Square on February 14 and then in Glenside on February 28 at The Royal Glenside.
“At The Flash, we are doing a couple of our favorite blues love songs,” said Colgan-Davis. At the The Royal Glenside, we will be doing a dance party.”
It will be a busy weekend for Colgan-Davis who will travel to this area from his home in Mount Airy again on Sunday.
On February 15, Colgan-Davis will play a brunch show at BierHaul – Farmhouse (341 Thornton Road, Thornton, www.bierhaul.com) with guitarist, singer and West Chester native Johnny Never in the Brother John acoustic duo.
Johnny Never – a.k.a. John Dorchester — is a multi-discipline artist/creator who grew up in West Chester and attended West Chester Henderson before graduating from Westtown School.
The two veteran blues musicians performed together for about seven years using the moniker “The Two Johns.” In 202, the Johns decided that it was time for a change.
Last summer, the two veteran musicians had a CD release party and the official debut of Brother John with a show in Chester County at the Steel City Coffeehouse in Phoenixville.
“We decided it was time for a name change because our playing had become more intertwined,” said Colgan-Davis. “We would both be playing and it sounded like one person doing everything. We listen to each other really well.”
At the show at Steel City, Brother John introduced its brand-new album, “Black Crow.”
“John is an incredible songwriter,” said Colgan-Davis. “His lyrics are amazing.
“This album has new and vintage blues. The vintage stuff goes back to Skip James and Charlie Patton. We also have some of Johnny Never’s newer stuff which is in a similar style.
“We recorded the album in a couple of studios in Philadelphia. We also did some recording at Johnny’s studio. It was recorded over the past three years.”
East Coast bluesman Johnny Never has a mission to deliver pure, unadulterated vintage blues to those who already love the blues as well as those who have never heard it.
Often referred to by blues enthusiasts as “the real deal,” Never pays homage to, but does not mimic, the vast array of original bluesmen that gave birth to the genre more than a century ago.
He is known for his covers of artists like Son House, Robert Johnson, and Charlie Patton.
His original compositions possess the qualities of the genuine article, delivered through deft finger-style guitar work and a voice that reeks of authenticity.
Colgan-Davis, harmonica and vocals, started playing the harmonica in local blues and folk clubs back in the late 1960s while he was still a high school student.
He played and recorded with Philadelphia singer-guitarist Jesse Graves and played with Bonnie Raitt when she lived in Philadelphia in the early 1970s.
Through Raitt, he had the opportunity to meet and play with Mississippi Fred McDowell, Arthur Crudup, Buddy Guy, Skip James, Mississippi John Hurt, and others. He has also jammed with James Cotton, John Hammond, Charlie Musselwhite, John Lee Hooker, Bill Dicey, and Louisiana Red.
Colgan-Davis has toured nationally and has recorded two CDs — “Cold and Lonesome on a Train” and “Heroes and Hard Times.”
A founding member of The Dukes of Destiny, Colgan-Davis also taught social studies at Friends Select School in Philadelphia for 29 years and has written articles and supplements for The Philadelphia Inquirer on Blacks in the American West, Black Literature, the History of Black Philadelphia, and other topics.
For a long time, the two Philly area blues aces were aware of each other and their talents. A few years ago, their paths came together.
“A few years ago, Johnny and I were at the same gig and started talking,” said Colgan-Davis.
“We started hanging out together. Then, I sat in with him at a mini festival, but I can’t remember where. It was somewhere out in the country.”
In a phone interview, Never said, “John is a great harmonica player. I’ve been playing blues for decades and had a parting of ways with my previous harmonica player. I called John up to see what would happen.”
Colgan-Davis said, “For the past few years, we’ve been playing as The Two Johns. Our first real show was at Hummingbird on Mars in Wilmington.
“I love playing acoustic again. There are things you can do as an acoustic harp player that you can’t do with a loud band.
“Johnny is a very good picker and a great slide player. He’s also a great Piedmont Blues player.”
Colgan-Davis and the harmonica have a long history together.
“I started acoustic harmonica when I was in high school at Philadelphia’s Central High School,” said Colgan-Davis. “Central High had a folk music club, and we had a budget big enough to being Skip James and Son House to play at our school.
“With Brother John, we play a couple songs I played in high school – including Son House’s ‘Death Letter Blues.’ We play a lot of Piedmont Blues, ragtime and some 1920s jazz ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’,’ a Fats Waller song. We do things I haven’t found a way to do with the Dukes of Destiny.”
As an adolescent, Never had a keen interest in landscape painting and filmmaking — studying painting with Nantucket artist, Warren Krebs, and filmmaking with Earl Fowler, whose famous brother, Jim, made nature films for Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom.”
“I’ve had a bunch of different jobs,” said Never/Dorchester. “I started as an AFA painter and then got into commercial filmmaking from 1993-2014. Now, I’m back to being a fine artist working in oils”
He is also back to being a fine musician who has teamed with Colgan-Davis to keep early acoustic blues alive.
Video link for Brother John — https://youtu.be/ny2EmfXYMR0.
Video link for Dukes of Destiny – https://youtu.be/aa-n5NZm950.
The show on February 14 at Kennett Flash will start at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $25.
The show on February 15 at BierHaul – Farmhouse will run from 1-4 p.m.
Other upcoming shows at Kennett Flash are Jazz Jam on February 12 and Open Mic on February 15.
The Candlelight Theater (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, www.candlelighttheatredelaware.org) is starting off
2026 with one of Broadway’s most highly acclaimed comedies — “The Producers.” The show is running now through February 22.
Tickets, which include dinner and show, are $77.50 for adults and $35 for children (ages 4-12). “Show Only” tickets, which have limited availability, cost $35.
Another popular and familiar show is running now through February 15 at People’s Light (39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, peopleslight.org) – “Steel Magnolias.”
“Steel Magnolias” is a hilarious and heart-wrenching American classic.
The reigning ladies of a small Louisiana parish spend Saturday mornings at Truvy Jones’ beauty parlor.
Video link for People’s Light — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zICXuBNoPuY.
“Steel Magnolias” will run now through February 22 on the Steinbright Stage at People’s Light.
Ticket prices start at $59.
Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) is presenting Kate Gaffney and Benjamin Chandler with Dina Hall on February 12, Slim and the South Street Hustle with Jon Hay on February 13, Criag Bickhardt on February 14 and The Blues Muthas with Steve Shanahan on February 15.
Elkton Music Hall (107 North Street, Elkton, Maryland, www.elktonmusichall.com) will host Vanessa Collier on February 12, J.D. Webb on February 13, Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers on February 14,
